November 05 Babies - They're here!

[rodeo1]

Well, some are here!

Congratulations LilJ- love the name;I don't think there's one name I haven't loved - we are a stylish lot! Kristingle - I feel for you, and not sure what I would do in your situation - whatever you mustn't have regrets, afetr all you've done the hard work over the last 9 (10!) months, and will get a gorgeous baby at the end of it .
Twinkle - yes, I'll see you at main entrance of Piccadily about 10.20ish by the time I get there from platform 14. I don't think I ever had your mobile no?? - I remember you texted me, so assume you have mine? (what are we like!). Just in case you haven't, it is 07957 904065. Will make sure it's charged and switched on!
Had a practice run this morning and went to local cafe for breakfast, and fed Libby. As would happen she was sick everywhere (I think because I propped her up in pram after bottle so I could eat my croisant!), but I was remarkably calm (3rd baby thing!) and just wrapped her in blanket while I finished my latte (she was asleep and oblivious!). So not to worry TWINKLE, I will be prepared tommorrow with spare change of clothes! .
BTW bought a brill flask from Jojo maman bebe for heating bottles/jars. It's a FisherPrice (sp?) one that's really compact, and has a really handy lid opening thingy. Much better for lugging around that Thermos.
Well, am going to investigate Slimming World, as getting sick of tucking my tummy into trousers!
Diege

Wow Londoner - sleeps through from 11.30 to 6.30??!!! so jealous!! . Got a 5 hour strech again last night, which suits me, but 7 hours...what I could do with that!!!

Help me anyone! I'm trying to figure out whether to take washables to America or not! And I've got to know by a few hours time as we're leaving tomorrow! We're there for 2 mths. I guess my main reasoning is fewer leaks, and I hate changing his clothes all the time - and so does he - he doesn't mind a nappy change, but hates a clothes change! Can anyone give any advice?

Londoner - yes the wraps arrived - ordered them from Nappy Lady. They leaked at first, but then I realised I needed to make sure the nappy wasn't sticking out, so then it was fine. They're definitely nicer than plastic pants, and while I was at it I got some fleece liners too, so now he must be really comfy - funny that he's still crying Thanks for the bf info - does help, thank you - what's a gut buster though?!

Nova - I change after every feed too with washables, and do 3hrly like you. But also if I hear him poo, or if he's crying when he should be sleeping and I'm trying to exhaust the options! I seem to go thru alot more than 5 tho - I think bcos whenever I put a nice clean one under him he decides to do something on it (and on his clothes!) so I end up using 2/3 a change sometimes!

beartime, would definitely take washables if I were you, yes, if you have access to a washing machine?
Sorry...'gut buster' is my husband's term for when the baby has eaten so much they can hardly move.....literally ready to burst...lol, you know how they do, and then make load of 'creaking' sounds and 'machine gun' noises?

You can always buy disposables there if you change your mind...

Londoner, can you tell me why - I mean I do want to - but want some reassurance that I'm making the right decision!

Nova - how was the Britsih Museum meet?

beartime, oh, I see well, personally, I am a newcomer to washables but have found them so much easier, so far, than disposables. I never run out and if I do I can probably pop a bit of an old towel or a flannel or anything else to hand in as a nappy... I have noticably less leaks than I did with disposables... they smell better than disp and are more comfy I reckon.... I feel I have less washing as I'm washing less clothes because of less leaks IYSWIM.... I was always changing baby's outfits due to wet leaks in middle of night with previous children who wore disp nappies and I'm not doing that this time...
It could be that she's not a heavy wetter, but I doubt it as she eats loads during the day and her nappies are always soaking wet when changed during the day at regular 3 hour intervals...Hth?

hi just back fron ANOTHER lunch i'm alady with a baby who lunches alot. making up for all those missed lunches when i was at work.....

re cinema golden i already have plans 4 tonorrow - wld u believe another LUNCH. STARTING hum IT'S CHRISTMAS!! by slade. oh dear

will check out perhaps holloway odeon 4 next week???

amfeeding and bad at 1 handed typing so bye 4 now

Jen - tell me about it, wish I had shares in Giraffe the amount of money/time I spend in there.

Thanks Londoner - that does help. How about the flight? Had to change due to leaks already today, and don't fancy doing that on the flight, but maybe cloth is a bit OTT? Also I don't know if all the dirty nappies would fit in my totsbots nappy bags (I have two, and its a 20hr total trip??????)

Hi, hope Kristina's doing well whatever she decided, our last November baby! Although we still haven't heard from BOB, I do hope her and her baby are ok.

I use the reusables too, although not the trendy totsbots! We've user prefolds and they don't leak unless you forget to change them have done that a couple of times. I do use a disposale overnight though, the prefolds aren't quite absorbent enough to cope with all her wee! Paps, I don't change mine at night either, and they don't poo overnight, is that why? I thought all babies didn't (Another !)

Beartime, why don't you take some of each?

Nova, ooh, I'd love to just pop into the British Museum for coffee you lucky Londoners! It's very impressive isn't it. Also love the cafe at the National Gallery, they do a lovely pate ploughmans there, yum! So glad you're getting smiles too, but they did make us wait for them didn't they?!

We're getting regular 5 hours at nights now from about 11 to half 4 usually, although after half 4 she wakes every 2 hours to be fed to make up for it!

Right, she's squarking again

Beartime, will you be able to log on to MN over there? If not, hope you have a brill time and a fab Christmas

x x x

I am going to take some disposables eithrt way, but with cloth I think its kinda all or nothing! How many changes of clothes should I take for baby on flight if use dispisables? sorry bfing! Might be able to log on, but not for first two weeks as staying with DH's computer illiterate grandma!

Hiya

Still haven't caught up with all messages. Feel quite out of it having been off for so long. Thought I'd take advantage of 'Grandpa Grumps' holding Sam for a while!!!!

Things have been ok here, but have got a hell of a lot better since we introduced the 'fantastic' formula. Was BFing but found myself feeding for 45mins on each side every hour and Sam was still crying and not satisfied. I felt like too much of a failure to try formula at first (blame the bloody NCT) and was convinced I'd carry on, but them my cracked nipples became even worse and I got the worst case of mastitis the doctor at A and E had ever seen, now that was a great Sunday night!!!!!! After everyone telling me Sam couldn't be latching on properly I got someone to take a look, they couldn't find anything wrong at all and finally the 'professionals' told me to try formula. I now have a different baby, content, on a consistent 3 hour feed routine and sleeping between 10 and 3, he is now even going longer than 3, we did till 6 this morning. I am still BFing but topping up with formula, he is having 25fl ozs of formula and whatever from me, when I did a yield I produced 150mil in 15mins, so he is getting quite a bit from me!!!!! Still have one cracked nipple though and that is bloody sore!!!!!!!!!

As for nappies I am a disposable bird, couldn't get used to idea of reusables in the end and those biodegradable ones are crap!!!!!

Sam now weighs 10lbs and is 1 month old!!!!!! and is putting on a lb a week and eveyone seems really pleased with him.

As for the birth, was 17 hours long, got stuck at 7 cm for 5 hours, had waters broken and ended up having epidural (done 8 times as couldn't find right spot) and lying on back with legs in stirrupy things, so much for NCT natural birth positions!!!!! found pushing bit the worst and found myself screaming ad MWs when they saw the ears to just pull!!!!!!!!! Anyway, had no tears, or stitches or anything and was out of hossy the next day, was in less than 24 hours on ward!

DH took piccies of whole thing, they were amazing to see afterwards!!!!!

Right better go as I have little man back and he is not happy!!!

BBYYEEEE

enthusia - nice to he3ar from you
lol at 'pull from the ears' - i said same thing!!! really f*cked off by that point, all midwives telling me that they can see the head and the tops of his ears. i said 'pull him out! pull him out!' and i r4eally wawsn't joking either....feel a bit guilty about that bit now - not v. earth mother is it to want baby 'yanked out'.....

ahh he is wonderful.

so your babe is putting on a lb a week? mine is only putting on half a pound and he was around same weight as yours at birth 8lb 5oz...mayb3e i should investigat4e the magic formula.,

Hi Enthusia Good to see you back on MN.

I just started using the breast pump today and it has taken me 45minutes to express 40ml of milk Baby gulped it down in two minutes flat!

Baby will no longer settle in cot. DH has been taking him out for cuddles in the night and is now very happy to sleep under his arm. m/w says its fine as long as he's not covered up etc.. but my mother insists it's a bad move and that we'll regret it later. Anyone else taking/taken baby to bed?

There is a lot to be said for Gas and Air (giggle giggle) it was a life saviour during those long hours!

Evening ladies.

Just bathed Ella & she's all swaddled up like a little papoose & currently being cuddled by daddy. He's making her watch rugby but she prefers to stare at his face instead, just like her mummy!!

I did a bit of retail therapy with her today. Got to start 'em young, I say. God, I looked as rough as the proverbial badger's arse today which was made worse by being surrounded by 18yr old girls in tiny jeans in River Island. Wrong shop to be in 3 wks after giving birth, perhaps.

Speaking of jeans, managed to squeeeeze into my size 14 jeans & was still able to exhale so I felt a minor miracle had occurred. Sadly, when I fell PG I was a size 10 for the first time in my life so I've got a long way to go.

Londoner, I'm glad my advice has helped you. Needless to say - & we're all sensible adults here - I know the recommended position is on their back for sleeping but I've decided to put Ella on her side because I'm a mother, not because I'm a health care professional. Glad I cleared that one up!! I can't see her overheating more on her side than on her back,IMHO, so that's how she sleeps.

Enthusia glad to see you're back online. It sounds like you've had a realy rough time with the BF & you clearly deserve a medal for getting this far.

Jen, I remember shouting rather loudly, "get me some decent pain relief instead of the crap you've just given me." Oh, & also, "Get this F*cking thing out NOW" Ha ha.

Well, Off to get Ella off to bed. Good luck to Kristina, Hope baby born soon.

Chacha, I co-slept with ds. It wasn't intentional but it meant I got slightly more sleep that way. He shared my bed until he was 11 months!! I thought I had a bladder problem as I kept going to the loo at least 6 times a night. It wasn't until he was sleeping in his cot that I realised that everytime he distubed me, I thought I needed a wee. I slept right through on the first night without him & I swore he wasn't getting back in!!

If you want to know more about co-sleeping, there's a book called Three in a Bed by Deborah Harris which gives you the confidence to do it without worrying about harming them. I think it's a matter for each parent, really. If you don't mind the disruption then go for it. Babies love to be near to you & I think it fosters security & independence in your LO. However, some parents find it ruins their sleep & their relationship, so there's lots to consider. Just because you do it when they're tiny doesn't necessarily mean you'll be doing it forever.

LOL Karma about your shopping trip! Agree, River Island isn't the best place to visit at 3 weeks post-baby, though for real punishment you should try New Look . BTW I placed dd1 on her side rather than back as my health visitor recommended it (side/back were seen as same benefits a few years ago - not sure, as you say, how one is 'superior' to other), and it really helped her sleep. It really was a life saver for us .
Well, off to bed now in anticipation of my big trip out to see Twinkle tommorrow!
Diege

Hi there Enthusia, I wouldn't worry I'm sure you'll be posting like you were never away soon .

Natalie is also gaining nearly 1lb a week, but we've been told to keep an eye on such rapid gain as she's climbing a bit steeply. She might have been having a bit of a growth spurt though as she's gone back down in the amount she's drinking.

The main reason I ask about re-usables is because she seems to leak with disposables. She does manage all night with just one though, but that is in the next size up so is pretty big. Just wasn't sure if the wetness against the skin would cause more discomfort for her, and therefore I'd end up changing her more frequently than with disposables?

The lunch meet was ok Golden, although we ended up talking about children/babies. It can be hard to have a 'real' chat with people you've just met though, but they were lovely ladies. I think they'll be doing another one in the new year.

Does anyone else put their baby to bed before they go to bed? Natalie has a regular bed time of 8.30 which gives DH and I time to chill out or do stuff. Last night she refused her dream feed so went through from 8.30 - 3, then on until 7.30. I actually got really worried that she was sick - lol! I'm hoping it wasn't a one off.

Lol at babies that sound like machine guns - Natalie makes sooo much noise, creaking doors, whinny-ing horses, machine guns, laughter, it's very funny.

Chacha - I love bringing Nat into bed, so I wouldn't worry about what is 'right' too much, do what you feel works for you. It doesn't mean you'll have to do it forever, Nat goes down in her basket fine, but I'll bring her into bed if she starts to stir and fuss.

Diege, Thanks for that! I feel quite proud that I've been able to help. BTW, I DID go into New Look too. Only managed 2 mins in there, though. Believe it or not, the thing that made me go in there was a black & white stripy top that I thought would catch Ella's eyes as she fed. What a saddo!! Then I came to the conclusion that horizontal stripes were likely to make me look PG again, so off I scuttled to M&S to buy some fattening Cheese & onion bread.

hiya all, just checking in, had bad night last night and ended up finally going to bed at 3.30am! dp rolled over at 3.15am saying "you alright love? managed to get a decent amount of sleep?" to which i barked at him "NO I bl**dy havent, I havent even been to sleep yet"! -my patience was deff starting to wear thin by then!! not sure why he wouldnt settle, think he had wind, but couldnt get him to bring any up!

dps back to work tommorrow as hes feeling loads better, so i have them both on my own (first time for mornings as dp is on 6-2pm this week) am really worried about how i will cope as dp has been getting ds1 up,dressed and breakfasted whilst i feed alfie every morning, so i will bwe either getting up at 5.30am when dp leaves or letting alf scream for a bit whilst i sort out ds1....

hehehe, have just bought alfie a adourable humphreys corner newborn outfit of ebay, a little t-shirt, jeans and cardi, its sooo cute!-must ban myself from there.....have been really bad buying stuff this past month! ooopps!

m/w came today, he now weighs 7lb 13oz, so nearly back to his birth weight! shes coming back next monday to weigh again

ps, have received a few CATS from some of you about the group, anyone else want to join? added a few more pics last night

well im off xxx
L