November 09, new skills are fun - look what I can do now, Mum!

[DontWorryBaby]

New thread for our little handfuls!

oh i like e emoticon!

OMG, I cannot wait to work a three day week every week. Got so much done today... including a meal from scratch for dinner and a nice syrup sponge just out the oven! Feel like we're starting the weekend without an insurmountable list of housework to be done.

Anyone have any difficulties with SPD in pregnancy? I didn't have first time around but it's definitely picking up now. I have been out with Ethan today in the pram, off and on the buses (had to stand on all of them) then trying to half walk/half carry him up the two flights of stairs to our flat. Might just be feeling worse after so much exertion but have been feeling pain between my legs for a while now.

Juicy How is work with your horrible colleague now? Did you speak to the boss?

Just got home, shift was ok as I managed to avoid horrible colleague apart from him yelling 'awright gorgeous' down the corridor. Havent even seen my boss as he's had his days off when I've been working. Am on holiday next week though so will make sure that I talk to him as soon as possible as I dont want his behavior to continue like that.

Not sure If I had SPD in my last pregnancy but I was in pain whenever I walked anywhere even the local shop and way TMI but the variose veins down there weren't helping either. Rest as much as poss and see the dr if it gest worse.

Hello! Been crazy busy here, trying to get work done with every spare minute and therefore no mumsnetting time. Lurking when I can. M started walking on the day she turned 14 mos and hasn't looked back - taking her lumps and soldiering on. She's really not a baby anymore!

Congrats skorp!!! V jealous!

Pav glad to hear about the cough mumble cough going better ;) Get your lie-ins when you can. Would you move to CA if you came to the states? You know it was sunny and 21° here today Not that I'm one to talk, I'm still trying to move back to the UK!

Juicy I'm so sorry you have to put up with such a horrid coworker! I hope he is not long for your workplace...

scarlotti what a crazy time... I second the massage suggestion xx

DWB My pg yoga teacher told us not to squat, keep our legs parallel as much as possible if we noticed pain like that. Hope it subsides.

Colds here too. I've been blowing my nose so often that M now picks up anything that looks like a handkerchief and makes blowing noises into it! Then she likes to rub the cloth on the nearest surface, I guess imitating me cleaning? But now DH is convinced I am blowing my nose into the tea towels and using them to clean!

Question: do teeth come in the same order for all babies or is there some variation? M has her four frontmost teeth (2 top, 2 bottom) and I was expecting the next ones to be the four neighboring those. But after a bad night last night I noticed she has 3-4 premolars coming in all at once. Ouch!

DH was out at a basketball game tonight with the boys so I had a quiet evening and some after M went to bed. Very nice, actually :)

longwayaway yes without a doubt, if we move to US it will be to CA. Problem is, family live in Modesto and apparantly it has been hit hard by recession, so it is probably not going to happen. The other option is move to his mother's in Santa Fe. But, while I like Santa Fe to visit, not sure I could live there (although she does have a big house with 4 bathrooms and only an hour away from Sandia Peak for DH to go skiing! ).

DWB I had fairly bad spd in my last pg, the midwife referred me to physio at the hospital and they were great. Checked me out and gave me soem exercises, also gave me a support belt that was very helpful, especially at the end when it got heavy.

Pav thanks for your words. I am taking this very slowly. I would still have a lot to forgive DH for and him me. Whilst he was not that supportive over the last year or so, I was very cold and withheld any kind of affection. Part of this process is also to acknowledge my part on what went on and take responsibility for it. As much as I'd love to blame it all on him, that's just not the case At the moment, I am enjoying discovering my husband again (in every sense ) and we're both benefitting from the deep conversations as to why we did what we did, and what we each want individually from the future. He will stay in the flat for at least the 6 month lease he signed up for, which has another 3 months to run and we will then see where we are.

lovely to see all the others popping in. No walking here but much more desire to stand and will walk holding on to my hands so I don't think it will be long!

Scarlotti I don't think it's too bad just yet, but I'm aware of there being something which definitely wasn't there first time around. It's a kind of muscular pain between my legs and also twinges depending on what I do. This morning getting out of bed my pelvis kind of cracked though and it's been alright today. Will keep an eye on it, if it gets much worse I'll phone the midwife.

So it's Sunday evening, I worked three days last week, and we've just had a really good weekend. Apart from my two trips to the hospital yesterday for an anti d jag... but we've been out to soft play this afternoon as a family and had a nice walk in the park yesterday. We don't usually have much time for things like that so reaping the benefits of me having more time to do housework Thu/Fri and not needing to do a 'big shop' this weekend (as I did an online sainsburys shop - have I told you guys about the sainsburys family meal planner yet??). A three day week is the plan when I go back after DS2 so it's been nice to see how it might work.

Hope everyone else had a nice weekend - pav hope you've been too busy socialising to post and things are continuing to improve with that-which-must-not-be-mentioned!

DWB no not out socialising alas, as people were busy/being boring so a good friend came over with wine and we watched The Final Destination then Star Trek [sad emoticon] gossiped and got drunk. It was actualy lovely as although I did not leave the house, DH did (with her DH, they went to play x-box at another friend's house then friend's DH picked her up later) so we had a nice girly time and I stayed up til gone midnight And despite lots of wine, no hangover the next day. Yay!

The Word That Cannot Be Mentioned. Not so great, but not terrible either. He has been going to sleep and sleeping well but had a couple pf bad nights, just waking more and then yesterday no nap at all in the day (he is just too busy you know?!!) so he was in bed by 6pm, which meant awake and alert by 5am after waking at 2am/4:15am, no nap today (too busy again) but we forced him to stay awake til 7pm. However I have had a good chance to catch up on some of the thousand odd hours sleep I am due, and feel this is not a step backwards just a bit of routine adjustment due to him now walking properly and wanting to do it every second of the day. Also DD has a friend over to play today and he spent pretty much all day in awe of them and following them around like a puppy. Soooooo sweet. Just adorable and a taste of things to come!

oh and I know several people with two children who do 3 day weeks, a mix of different days but it works well for them, they have a good work/life balance.

But you are a teacher aren't you? Will you find/do you know yet how your timetable will work? Can that fit around your hours well? I ask because my friend had been going down to 3 days, but the way her lectures worked she had a huge gap in the day on two days, so in effect while only working 3 full days in terms of pay, she actually was in for 4 days, but she worked in 6th form college so maybe why?

I enjoy working 5 mornings as it suits my morning burst of brain energy which starts to fade in the day, it means I don't crash and burn and then spend my whole days off recovering from the days at work (which I did before Roo, with DD). but, I only work 20 mins walk down the road so leave at 7:45 (am always 5-10mins late!) and home by 1:30 (on the rare occasions I actually finish on time).

No, DH is the teacher, I work in finance so easy enough to have three days of 9-5 or something similar. I think you're right to view this as a blip in the new routine, he'll get back to it shortly. That's something else I've enjoyed about having a few days at home, Ethan quite definitely needs a nap around 11:30/12 for an hour so it's been good to implement that at home.

I quickly mopped the kitchen earlier while DH was getting Ethan into his pyjamas for bed. Ethan was desperate to have a shot of the mop so we let him stand in the hall and mop the edge of the kitchen. You shouldve seen the tantrum when I picked him up to go into bed. Legs kicking, screaming, trying to squirm out of my arms... Funny, but I dread to think what they might turn into in the next few months!

DWB I did laugh at your mop comment on fb! Re the getting out of bed, you need to try and keep your pelvis steady so you're not pulling any muscles. So swing both legs out of bed then get up, if that makes sense. If you try and keep your knees together when turning in bed, or getting out of bed/car etc. then that will really help.

I try to lie on my back, bring my knees up then turn my entire body to the side at the same time when getting up in the morning. I'm having pain in my pelvis rolling from one side to the other in bed. Not sure how to avoid that other than actually standing up and lying down again.

Morning.

What a week! Monday to Thursday nights got progressively worse with sleep - about 3 hours sleep in total on Thursday. Felt like a zombie, as am already knackered (early pg blues...). Teeth I think, although nothing to show for it yet. Nothing would shut her up. Only boob. So had a massive blister on my right nipple. What. Is. That. All. About. FGS! She's not a newborn anymore.

Bit better Friday and Saturday night, not too good last night. Get up at six for work. How do I tap into more of that maternal patience thing...?

Apologies for the me me me me me post. Feeling sorry for myself.

Wow. I just asked Ethan if he wanted to go to bed for a nap and he nodded. Currently fast asleep.

Skorpion that sounds like torture! Can you nap at work on lunch? My friend used to go out to her car for a nap on some lunch hours!

DWB I don't take any breaks at work as it means I can leave earlier. It's a very long day for Lucy as it is and she's usually ratty on the way home.

Need to snap out of moaning. Sorry.

Wow, proper communication both ways, am impressed!

Going back a few posts, Lucy 'helps' with cleaning, too. Either grabs a piece of tissue or uses her hands to 'wipe' floors. So sweet.

Rosa doesn't 'help' with cleaning at all.Probably because she doesn't see me doing it enough

Had our first day in the 'big kids' room at nursery today (when I say big I mean 1-2 yr olds!) and our new big car seat finally arrived AND Rosa made a sudden spurt of walking progress over the weekend; she's now about 70/30 walk/crawl so it's feeling like some kind of official bye bye baby, hello toddler today, sob!

Sorry to hear about lack of sleep skorpion, what a hellish week. I think it is perfectly acceptable to be me-me-me when you're sleep deprived as there is little else you can think about.

Scarlotti - good to hear that you and DH are able to talk frankly about things. That's really positive, regardless of the eventual outcome and it sounds like you've got your head screwed on about taking it slowly. In most respects anyway...!?!

longway Lovely to hear news of M

Hope the SPD isn't troubling you too badly today DWB

Have you managed to speak to your boss about your co-worker yet juicy?

I'm using my new iPad ant it's taking me ages to get used to typing on the thing!

DWB-hope the pain doesn't get any worse for you. It is harder on your body the second time around, well that's how I felt. Hope you get lots of rest. Are you nesting?! You seem to be doing lots of housework!

Scarlotti- lovely news to read. I wish you all the best!

C enjoys using a baby wipe to clean our floor! No tantrums yet but I know it's just a matter of time.

Our nights are up and down too. I'm tired this week already. C Just wants me all of the time and not daddy. DH doesn't mind but does get a little put out when c clearly wants me instead. Im really worried about how I'm going to give up bf him. I would like to now but c isn't ready. I have tried the bottle and beaker but
plays with it. I'm hoping once he is walking he will start to forget about the boob and I can wean him. Who knows! I am asked often if I'm still bf him. I get the odd look when I say yes.

Not nesting, I've had a few days off as both grans booked holidays at the same time so time at home to catch up on things which have been seriously neglected. Ethan certainly doesn't see us doing housework much, other than the necessary laundry/cooking/dishes, so I think it's the novelty that has him interested at the moment! He has been an absolute joy the past few days. Apart from nodding earlier when I asked if he wanted a nap, I decided to bath him after he swept yoghurt through his hair and asked if he wanted a bath, cue "baf! baf! baf!" and toddling into the bathroom, then talking about bubbles! It's been great spending more time with him, I hate working full-time as I miss so much but needs must for another few months... not that it seems to be doing us much good financially. DH is paid v little as a temp teacher as holidays aren't covered so he's not bringing home much more than I should on a three day week but we still have the childcare costs and travelling (x2). Really starting to feel the pinch with prices rising and salaries not keeping up. Hopefully the economy will start looking up quickly!

Sorry for the ramble, tired and posting from phone!

Thanks for your support, Ladies, I can always count on you.

DWB Ethan sounds so cute. I know what you mean about the financial trouble... I'm afraid my way of dealing with it is head firmly in the sand. It's not just the day to day stuff but also the future. Do you think your DH will find it easier to find a permanent position next year? He teaches maths, is that right? Has he thought of private tutoring, don't know if that's any good as an idea.

MsI Goodness, that's a big leap forward for Rosa. I'm holding on to Lucy's babyhood tightly.

Fruit I have the same worries about stopping bf. Lucy seems addicted to it, especially at night. Last night it was again the only thing that got her off to sleep again. I feel my supply is diminishing rapidly now and am really worried what I'll do once it's gone. She won't even look at a bottle or cup of cows milk, and then there's the comfort thing as well. Even though I only feed her twice - evening to sleep and at night or morning - I think it will be a big hurdle for her to give up. How often do you feed C?

Oh, and meant to say, Scarlotti, What a positive twist, glad you are taking things so gently. I hope you will both rediscover what you thought may have been lost for good.

Scorpion-I enjoy reading your posts! You have a lovely way with words. How are you feeling? C feeds very often. Feed to nap, feed to sleep, feed during night, and when ever he feels like it! A lot of this is my own doing by allowing him free reign. But with cold after cold and teething there never seems a good time to wean. He also puts his hand down my top when having a cuddle. A total boob monster. He will drink some milk out of a bottle but it gives him no comfort, he plays with it and tips it on floor. He would cope perfectly well if dh was to look after him as he would end up taking the bottle properly, but when I'm around he only has eyes for me. I need to do something as I would like to have some of my freedom back.

A bad night here again. At least the sun is out.

Skorpion Funny you should mention tutoring, he's just had a new enquiry so will be starting with someone shortly. He has tutored before, but it always seems to pick up around this time of year with exams approaching. We'll just have to save as much as possible before I finish up in May as I then drop to Maternity Allowance of just under £500 per month and he will drop to a grand income of nil during the summer holidays. Grumble grumble grumble! I really don't see how we can survive but he knows he'll need to find a job for the summer. Just a major PITA as I was looking forward to seven weeks of joint parenting with the new baby. But must keep a roof over our heads!

Fruit Thanks for a lovely compliment

Lucy slept better last night, woke up at 2.30, came in with us and was boobed back to sleep, maybe around 3.30? I went to bed at 9pm, so got a good stretch. Feel a bit better, as I made a decision to just stop resisting and continue feeding her on demand at night as long as I can.

Sorry to hear you had another bad night. I agree that doesn't sound like good time at all to wean. It is so easy to provide comfort this way, what else could you do?

DWB all I can say is what we usually say talking about finances - something will turn up! As you can see we're always very grown up about stuff like that...

dwb just a quick line to you as busy/lurking - do you know that when your income drops to Maternity pay only you can let CTC people know and ask them to calculate your CTC based on projected/approximate income for the year ahead not based on past income like they normally do? It applies when income goes down. They don't suggest it in my experience but they do it when asked. At the end of the next financial year they will ask for confirmation of income actually earned. It might make a difference.

Also, you take off £100 per week of your Maternity pay when you declare your income, so say you estimate you will earn around £20k for 2011/2012, including SMP and you are receiving 30 weeks of SMP in that year, you deduct 30 x £100 from that figure of £20k so you declare £17k as your earnings - as an example.

That probably doesn't make sense does it?!!

Haven't been here for a while, read everything... and forgot it. I guess the combination of breastfeeding brain with pregnancy brain is not great

DWB, I hope your financial problems won't be as big as you see them now. You seem to get a lot of advice from those wise ladies on here and your DH might just get that teaching position you are hoping for.

skorpion, you must be really tired. I agree with you, just feed her as much as she needs it for now. If she is really teething, than you have no chance to nightwean anyway. It's just lost energy.
I'm quite sure that nightweaning (or I suppose weaning in general) is mainly about choosing the right time.
I've just spent the last three nights on the couch for this purpose while DH dealt with Paula and actually it was reall easy. So far. Tonight it will be just her and me as he is going out. So we'll see. But I am quite positve about it as she never wanted to bf in the mornings when I was back in bed.
She had been really good and happy lately, had spent almost all day with daddy on saturday and it just seemed a good idea to try it then.
I'm now down to two feeds, one right after dinner around 6 and then at bedtime. I never expected it to be those two but it somehow happened.
I am wondering about my milk level too though as my breasts didn't get full in those three nights. Oh well, I'll see how it goes, is she decides to stop or if I will end up bf two... there is still a long way to go until then.

helping, Paula is "helping" a lot with laundry. She likes hanging her wipes on the lowest level of the airer. She hangs the first one really carefully which takes about a minute. Then she chooses the second wipe from the basket (difficult decision), rips the first one off the line and hangs the second one veeery carefully in that exact same spot which takes about a minute. And so it continues. By the time I have finished the rest, there is a pile of wipes on the floor but obviously I am not allowed to hang them properly or even touch them