FEB 2010 Tottering into our second year...!

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

A few first birthdays left, then we're full tilt into walking/talking and a mountain of mischief

Ha, that's one aspect of pregnancy I'm very happy not to have - the insomnia.

Sorry to hear you've felt so dodgy, Abs, but lovely to hear from you. I enjoyed the description of your DD's relationship with the dogs! You and me can enjoy TTC next month, then. The Spanish advice is to wait for three periods after a mc, but an obstetrician friend of mine told me to get straight on with it once the bleeding has stopped. The same thing (mmc) happened to her and she followed her own advice, got pregnant two months later without having another period. This one's going fine for her so far.

How is your friend's wife doing, SG?

Yes, Scones, there is a 13-month sleep regression (55 weeks, it's usually a few weeks either side of that), so all being well, you should be through it very soon (same with you, Abs)

DD did her usual thing of waking a couple of hours after zonking, but resettled with a cuddle and a lullaby and a bit of fidgeting. Then that was it until 06.15, so not too bad at all.

BTW what's your "recipe", out of interest BG?

Hiya, another crap sleeper last night! DS whinged/cried from 8pm til 12.30am when I gave up and gave him a dummy. He then slept (and us) til 6.30am. It is also so out of character. I think it may due to the fact that he only has one nap now in the morning and get overtired. So at the present he's asleep in the car. Fingers crossed the night will be better...

Wave to Abs

IC glad to know you already thinking of ttc.

Champing at the bit, SB

Yes, we're alternating between one and two naps at the moment, depending on when DD wakes in the morning. If it's before 07.00, she has two naps. If it's after, only one.

IC I remember reading a few months ago that the advice had definitely changed to just start trying straight away after a mc. Good luck - and enjoy the trying. You asked after my friend's wife - well she's making an improvement but because of the tracheaotomy still can't speak yet. She's very weak - particularly down the left side - and her memory seems shot. She may need to come up to London for thoracic surgery very shortly and her DH has been told she will be in rehab for months. He wrote the most lovely post yesterday about dancing with her at their wedding to their first song - Movin' On Up by Primal Scream and how he was thinking of that because yesterday evening they were meant to be seeing Primal Scream live doing Screamadelica - dancing to that song. He went on to say how he is trying to work out how to cancel their holidays and going through her diary to cancel things for her. So sad. He is being so brave and brilliant.

Stan good news though that she has woken up I guess? Haven't followed the posts properly (they only come up on my facebook page when you comment on his updates) but it didn't look too good at one point at all.

IC my recipe is to take metformin, a drug normally given to diabetics (it can regulate hormones in polycystic ovary syndrome which has the nice side effect of improving egg quality) for a few months before ttc, then remember I ovulate a few days earlier than I think. Then do the deed . Once pregnant I have to take extra progesterone until wk 12 just to support things a bit because my ovaries get a bit panicky (after 12wks the baby's placenta takes over producing the right hormones). Worked first attempt with dd2 .

'and' has the nice side effect..
Sorry, typing too quickly... dinner is nearly ready and smells good

Blimey, BG, you certainly honed your technique to perfection! Most impressive.

Ah, that's very moving SG, he sounds like a lovely guy. I'm glad his wife is out of immediate danger, but it sounds like it's going to be a long, hard road to recovery for her. Must be very tough on the children, too. Everything crossed for them.
Cool first dance tune, too - I love that faux gospel! My a capella choir used to attempt to do it (but we were pretty shite... )

Hmm...re naps, DD just took over half an hour of fidgeting and protesting before finally getting off to sleep, so I'm starting to think two naps even on an early wake-up day is too much. Before I drop the second one, I think I'll experiment with cutting it down to 30mins max.....

IC well, it would have been nice to know all I know now when I had my first mc 12 years ago... By now I can happily lecture most doctors on PCOS and that it is possible to have the textbook version but without being overweight. Etc. etc.

As for naps, dd2 is doing her slightly unnerving big sleeps again. She was up at 7 this morning, then slept half an hour in the pushchair despite dh's attempts to wake her. Then slept from 12 to half past 3 (dh was home so I let her sleep when I went to collect dd1 from nursery), and then insisted on going to bed at her usual time of 6.30. She does have quite a heavy cold though so just seems to need more sleep. Normally she is down to 90 minutes after lunch if I am lucky...

Abs I am not a dog person but your description of how much fun your dd has made me smile. Pictures please!!

afternoon all

we were up at 5 today and am shattered (as well as very sore after my run, but that's my own stupid fault)

saw the doc today, things seem fine. He snuck a smear test in there though and scan is next week.

scones I agree that is a high price for the book.

Yes, I got smear-tested as well pre scan....what's that all about?? In the UK I got told I couldn't have a smear done because I was pregnant...

after the smear which I was too afraid to argue, I felt silly refusing an internal. He was flabbergasted that they don't do them in the UK. He couldn't understand the no need to measure everything point.

PA glad to hear that everything seems to be okay.

BG that's 2 great happy ending to your 'baking' recipes

As well as the 13 months SR is there a gross spur? DS (who always had a good apetite) seems to be hungry more than usual at the moment. This has produced some choking moment as he putss too much food in his mouth and tries to swallow everything without chewing.

bethy good luck for tomorrow.

Hi all. I haven't even read the last couple of pages properly cos life is mental. I did, however, spot that I cross-posted with PA the other night and it made it look like I wasn't wishing her sticky pregnancy thoughts - I obviously am.

DS1 is having a pH study on Friday to find out whether he still has reflux when he is 3 next week. They will pin him down and then stick a tube up his nose and down into his tummy and then expect him to leave it there for 24 hours. It is as hideous as it sounds and I am dreading it (especially as I have a phobia of vomiting which he is quite likely to do when they insert it). Hospital have told us nothing other than to arrive at 2:30p.m and were amazed when I rang for info re accommodating his diet etc.. while we are on the ward.

Meanwhile, MIL came back from New Zealand, demanded a visit from her grandsons and then proceeded to tell us that they can't help us out this weekend as they are going to a Bar Mitzvah. To say I was seething, is an understatement, especially as it is their son's birthday on Friday as well..

We have resolved that one and have several lovely friends to help us look after DS2 while we concentrate on DS1.

DS1 is now ill though, so not sure it will go ahead at all. I'm also trying to work 4 full days a week at the mo and plan DS1's party for next weekend (and attend a conference in Wolverhampton on Tuesday all day- doesn't really work with childcare!!)

Anyway, sorry to moan and not respond to you lovely folk properly but wanted to explain my absence and ask for your continued good wishes and patience!!

bethylou :( sounds like so much stress have some {{{hugs}}} and chocolate. It is amazing how even to this day, we are patients and not people. Fingers crossed for you.

As for your MIL on your behalf.

and no worries I knew we had cross posted

Thanks so much. For once, I am feeling truly overwhelmed by the situation(s). I was ranting about MIL to DH the other night - I think he was quite concerned that I was about to start family war!! Off to try and get DS1's temperature down - it's sitting neatly at 38.9 and I can't get it down tonight. A long night ahead me thinks..

Bethy That all sounds horrendous. You poor thing. I really hope DS1 gets well enough to have the procedure - horrid though it is - better to get it over than have it looming I always think.

MIL sounds awful. What a selfish cow.

Did DS2 go in for an overnight sleep apnoea study or am I imagining things? If he did, how did it go?

PA Glad things are looking fine with the pregnancy. It's so worrying when you get bleeding. I don't think they do smears here on pregnant women. Why irritate the cervix? Anyway glad you are all ok and have stuck up for youself (and baby) with regards to internal exams.

Sorry about your tiredness too. Don't blame yourself for going out for a run. Sometimes you just need the headspace/time for yourself.

BG Sounds like you got it sorted re treatment to get/stay pregnant now - but I'm so sorry for all your losses. Terribly hard.

SG Thanks for the update about your friend and his wife. He does sound like such a lovely bloke. It must be so hard for him and their children. I hope she continues to recover.

The Fertility Friends forum is a bit 'wet' I remember on my clinic's thread I started a revolt because there's so many swearwords they autochange - we were all using creative ways of writing them down using numbers and misspellings. Don't blame you for flouncing.

ABs Sorry to hear about the food poisoning. It's just grim. I love your description of how DD interacts with the dogs!

IC Hope you are ok today. I'm also contemplating going over to one nap soon.

I'm sorry for anyone I've missed but to all.

Amazingly DS is still asleep. It's 8.50. We had a disturbed night (two feeds when shush patting etc didn't work) and DH took him downstairs to sleep on the sofa with DS in the pram around 5 and they're still there. I checked they were breathing!

I've not been around so much as I'm trying to limit my internet use to just an hour in the evening after DS goes to bed as it was sucking up all my free time, I'd be straight on when he napped and sometimes even when he was awake, but as he's still asleep I thought I'd come on and catch up with you lot.

New things he's doing - he climbs off the sofa backwards now rather than trying to dive onto the floor, he has taken a couple of steps unaided just over the past couple of days (first time was on his actual due-date birthday), he's babbling a lot more - he's not putting blocks on top of one another though (very impressed with whoever it was did that). He will put a stacking cup inside another one or a smaller toy inside a cup, he'll clap his hands if you say "clap hands".

My tongue is still all ulcer-y and my throat is dry and swollen. I went to the GP on Tuesday and he ordered a load of blood tests which I had yesterday and I'm going back Monday week (the 4th). I got quite depressed, felt so run down - another reason why I'm going on the internet less, so I can get to bed earlier and try to get a bit more sleep (although DS is not working with me on that) - and ended up crying in the consulting room. I've not been able to eat anything except soup for days. Sorry for moaning me-me-me post when others here are having it a lot harder than me.

Big hugs to bethy - poor wee mite, I'm not surprised you're dreading DS1 having to go through that. Massive sympathy. Hopefully it won't be as bad as you think.....
I'm not surprised you're peeved at your MIL too.... sounds like your DS' grandmothers both need a shake from time to time..!

Likewise Bc, I'm not surprised you're feeling so down. I suspect the sleep deprivation has a lot to do with it, it really is shit isn't it? More hugs for you too. You deserve a break, especially from the health problems.
I like the clapping on cue, most impressive!

I'm fine today, thanks Bc. DD woke at about 01.20 and fidgeted for a while after I put her back in her cot, so I dossed down in her room, occasionally shushing her from the mattress on the floor. It worked and after I'd fallen asleep myself and woken up again around 04.00 I snuck back into my own bed. She then slept until 07.45, so it's a one-nap day today. She's currently in the trundler, fingers crossed she gets at least 1.5 hours....

DD did quite a lot of unsupported standing yesterday. Not for huge amounts of time, but still...! (she's the tower-builder, btw Bc - I'll try and capture it on film and stick a clip on the blog, but it's tricky because every time the camera comes out she wants to come and play with it...)

Not sure about a growth spurt around now, SB, but as they are generally getting more active around now, especially with trying to walk etc. an increased appetite is probably par for the course. DD is also eating more since she started crawling faster and cruising with such enthusiasm. We're up to two poos a day

beth keeping fingers crossed all goes well

Re walking, I still don't count what dd2 does as proper walking but I am mean. She will let go and do up to 3 or 4 steps between things (we have sofas and old blanket boxes at suitable distances for her). She also cruises a lot and stands around the place just because she can . Oh, but although she can't walk, she can hop! She spent ages on dd1's basic trampoline (square one with a bar to hold on to) in the garden yesterday and absolutely loved it!

I told dh off this morning for whining he is tired...dd2 slept from 6.30pm to 7.30am without a peep out of her. Told him most babies don't do that! Okay, so he went to bed far too late himself and dd1 got up slightly on the wrong side of 6.30 (which meant I got up with her and he hid under the duvet), but still, he has no idea how lucky he is!

Ooh, you're busy on here. I keep looking and reading, but never get time to post. So apologies for missing anyone out.

Sorry that the B's are having a hard time healthwise. Sounds hard going. Abs you still sound under the weather.

PA glad you are going OK. IC sounds like you are doing brilliantly.

No standing or walking here, needless to say. But I agree with the meanness on saying when they are walking - with DD1, I only said she was walking when she did 19 steps, fell over, then got up and did another dozen steps! With such high standards in mind, DD2 will be about seven before she's walking. I've stopped fretting about the lack of standing or pulling up, and will worry (again) if in three months time she hasn't moved on at all.

She does a lot of other cute stuff though - no tower building, mind - we-ve had clapping on demand for a while (she can do foot bashing at the right place during Happy and You Know It as well as clapping), she leans in and does eskimo and normal kisses, and my favourite thing is that she puts her hands above her head and says "Yay"! We also have very clear Dada and Mama, and she feels bits of her face if you ask her where her nose/ears/eyes etc are (not the right ones, I hasten to add, but it's a start).

My Dad is out of hospital, with no diagnosis of what happened. First they thought a heart attack, then a pulmonary embolism, then heart failure. Now they don't know. So he's a bit worried about it happening again (he collapsed on the golf course and had very low BP and HR for about six hours, so much so that he was barely conscious), but at least he's home and out of the beautiful looking but horribly inefficient new hospital in Birmingham!

Yepee, we had our normal sleep again last night. Today DS had a late morning nap which mean that he was all smiley when we got home (that's so nice).

He can also built tower with his staking cups but loves more putting it down and then clapps! He also send kisses to my mum on skype and will give me kisses but not to DH He doesn't walk yet but like walking on his knees.

bethy good luck I hope your DS1 gets well and the hospital stay goes well (I still wonder how they expect a 3 yo to stay still while linked to a tub?) at your MIL attitude.

bc I too agree that you sound like you need a rest.

Sleep deprivation is so exhausting. Last week my gp diagnosed me with a chest infection and exhaustion! I can't wait tomorrow 4pm as it'll be the weekend.

Forgot to say CS glad your dad is out and better.

Just realised dd2 is brighter than I thought . She still does not speak much but will answer questions by nodding or shaking her head, and is very decisive in her decisions! Baby related things of course: Do you want water/banana/yoghurt. Have you had enough? Should we go for a walk? Do you want to sleep? Have you done a poo? - Mama is a nosy old cow
Haven't tried her with building blocks yet though IC
Waving at everyone... I have a toddler hanging on my arm while I try to type and a baby stinking the place out with her freshly filled nappy. She's also just tried to brush her teeth with my hairbrush... Better go

They do catch you out, don't they BG?

A couple of weeks ago I said "Come on DD2, we need to go and get your sister from school," and she obligingly crawled off and returned with her coat.

beth I think it's safe to say that we're all thinking of you today. Hope it's going OK x