*~*~* August 2010 *~*~* where does the time go?

[CherryPie3]

Only 5 spaces left on the old thread - wonder how long it'll take us to fill ths one up?

Happy chatting :)

Hi everyone :)

No running off to twitter and abandoning us poor technophobes!

We had a great time at the Olympics and J was fine with my parents. I thought I'd really miss him but actually I could have happily stayed away another day

Anyone else spend their days having the same repetitive conversations over and over with their toddler? Example:
DS: car
Me: yes, car
DS: Man
Me: is there a man driving the car?
DS:
Repeat x 100 EVERY DAY

If I don't respond he just keeps saying 'Man man man man man' until I crack.
I suppose I should be glad he's talking as he's been a little bit slow on that front and isn't really putting words together yet.

Is anyone thinking about potty training yet? J quite likes sitting on his toilet seat and has done 2 poos there, apparently on purpose. I don't think he has much clue about weeing though. Yesterday he was naked just before getting in the bath and he was sitting on the floor playing with his willy when he weed on his hand and nearly jumped out of his skin. It was so funny! I'm thinking of having a go at training him in a few weeks if the weather's warm enough to leave him without trousers on for a few days.

Ah toddler conversations - often hilarious, yet frequently tedious.....DD is very bossy. I threw up in the bathroom sink yesterday (a return of morning sickness?!) and she told me to "Stop it Mummy. Wash your face". Cheeky monkey. We are planning a homebirth and for her not to be there - I'm starting to think that my labour actually wouldn't distress her at all but I'd have no sympathy whatsoever, she'd probably tell me to pull myself together.....

DD was 2 on Monday. She has started asking lately to go to the toilet and she sits on the training seat and once only, did a wee. Then she wipes her bottom. I'm encouraging this role play (even if it is tricky with my unwieldy 36 week bump) but with baby due in less than a month, I don't want to undertake potty training right now [plus it might be all a bit much for her, especially when I hear that toddlers can regress when a new one arrives. Has anyone experienced that?

Mat leave begins next Fri - bring it on!

Haha!! Marzi your toddler conversation made me crack up. We have exactly the same conversation out and about on our walks - and when we pass the garage at the end of our road -

DS: Broken car!
Me: yes
DS: mummy fix it!
Me: I can't fix it Eli
DS: Man fix it!
Me: yes

Feminism dies a small death...

And LOL Tea Gotta love a toddler's total lack of empathy! Although poor you on the return of morning sickness. Fingers crossed not. Re regression - Eli hasn't really. He likes to do a lot of 'copying the baby' including lying prone on the breastfeeding pillow and banging his head on my torso. This is apparently what breastfeeding looks like to him! I kind of can't believe he doesn't remember it at all, but I guess it was 8 months ago he stopped. A lifetime for him, I suppose. Anyhoo, he'll sometimes ask for milk when Linus is having a feed and sometimes asks to wear L's clothes, but that's about it.

Did I moan about having another kid with tongue tie? L is getting the dreaded snip done tomorrow (finally!) Hoping it'll make a difference to feeds...

And finally, Eli was 2 today! One of the last of our bunch, I'm guessing. We went to a city farm and did cake and candles but didn't go all out. Saving that for next year. I also got discharged by my midwife today - the same MW who delivered E two years ago! Amazing continuity. She even bought him a present, bless her. LOVE my home birth team.

Hope All's well with everyone xx

Hi all, sorry for prolonged absence. E turned two on the 21st and we had a party the weekend before, mostly adults and one baby friend. Her aunty and uncle bought her a bouncy castle (! it was sold to me as like a baby trampoline but it is huge)which she absolutely loved but takes about an hour to inflate. We also made that day her last ever BF - we've been having it not every morning for a few months and I told her it was the last time and she's been really good - occasionally asks to give my 'booboos' a kiss but doesn't go for the latch .

The big news here is I've ditched the pill and we are, very tentatively, TTC. More in a kind of, it'll be great when it happens, rather than frantic purposeful bunnysex and complicated calculations about dates My best friend is now pg with her first (due end of Jan) and it's intensified my broodiness, so here we go!

Hope everyone is enjoying the dying days of 'summer',. PS choc mocca fairy cakes for all on the table.

Gosh, weeks without a post! Come on ladies!!! We can keep the thread limping along a bit more, no?

Good luck TTC Belly sounds like a nice relaxed way to go about it. Very exciting! Don't forget your folic acid ;) And well done on hitting two years of breastfeeding. Sometimes I wonder whether I encouraged Eli to give up too soon - or perhaps he really wanted to as I was preggo. I'll never know!

The last week or so has been very hard here. L is a demanding little guy and even though our breastfeeding woes are calming down, he sleeps only in a sling, in motion. Juggling him and a two-year-old testing boundaries has made me a v tired, nagging, stressed mummy indeed and at the end of each day I feel like I've not got much right for either of them. A friend of mine with two said that this stage (2 months in) was the hardest for her. Am hoping it's just a phase as I'm not really enjoying much at the moment. Any of you ladies out there with two have any wise words to give?

Much love to all. Xx

It's my due date! Currently waiting for my 40 week midwife app still undecided (but thinking prob not) whether to let her give me a sweep.....will pop back on later, keeping the thread alive!

Good luck belly! Oh nat I've got it all ahead of me - I'll me looking to you for tips. S is particularly whingy and clingy these days, it tests my patience and LO hasn't arrived yet so I'm a bit nervous about handling it all.

Just had my 40 week app and declined the sweep, will have it at 41 weeks instead. Full moon this weekend though so here's hoping! Esp as we're so keen for a homebirth, I really really don't want to be induced.

Send me labour vibes please Mummies!

Any signs yet tea? And yes, I am indeed downing the folic daily.

Hello all - I am now the proud Mum of a little boy! Tadhg Ray was born at 3.11am on Monday Oct 1st....so just 5 days over. We had a gorgeous home birth and he was gently born in a birthing pool in our lounge after a super speedy labour! He's a right bruiser at 9 lbs 3 but no stitching required. Feeling tired with sore boobies and tender undercarriage but also euphoric.

I just knew on Sunday that things were about to kick off, felt heavy and different. We had friends from NZ visiting and had them stay at another friend's nearby, pretty sure they wouldn't want to hear me howling during transition! Anyway they had dinner at ours on Sunday evening and left around 10pm returning at 8am the following morning to have breakfast with us before their flight back - their faces when greeted by brand new baby were priceless!

Gentle contractions began around midnight and my waters started to trickle around 1.30am so we called the hospital shortly after that. Two lovely unobtrusive midwives were with us within half an hour and he popped out just an hour later. DD slept through the whole thing and met her little brother the next morning. I really couldn't have wished for a better birth.

DD is having a little trouble sharing Mummy and the relentless breastfeeding is confusing for her but we'll get there though I am dreading when DH goes back to work.

How is everyone else doing juggling newborn and toddler? Any tips apart from sticking her in front of CBeebies?

Well, I haven't come on for ages but I have been lurking. Just wanted to say a huge congrats to all of you who have had more babies, especially MakeTea as you are the most recent.

I am still far too able to recall the horror of childbirth to consider another. I also couldn't cope with it if I ended up with another non-sleeper, I did not enjoy the first 7 months at all :( Not sure it would be fair on any of the family to risk it again, but there is still time to change my mind!

Hope everyone is well!

Wow, I totally killed the thread! :(

Hi all, sorry for my long absence. Congratulations MakeTea! Hope all is going well and for nat too.
Well, DH and I were planning to start ttc in the spring but we decided once to not bother with a condom and I'm pregnant! Was a bit of a shock esp as it took 6 months of intensive trying to conceive J, but we're very happy. Am hoping to wean him soon as nipples are a bit sore but I think he's going to make it difficult...

Good to see you on the thread again vix. I couldn't imagine wanting another for a long time but the broodiness has finally come back (good job too!)

Congrats Marzi!! In the time since I posted we've decided we definitely want another one, will start TTC in the new year I think. Excited and full of trepidation!!

I'm still BFing morning and night and Alex shows no signs of giving up.

Too tired to post right now - night feeds - but marking spot to come back as i'd lost the thread. Congratulations marzi!

I'm not looking forward to night feeds again! Hope you're surviving ok MakeTea.
Pregnancy symptoms getting into full sway now - was sick on fri and feeling a bit iffy most of the time.
J has a d&v bug :( poor little thing. It's the first time he's had diarrhoea and it's Grim. Thank goodness it's the weekend so DH can deal with it!

wow, how exciting, another pregnancy! Nothing yet at our end (not for want of trying). Have gone from being fairly lacksadaiscal to feeling super broody. Think fertile thoughts for me. And good luck to all those struggling with morning sickness/ night feeds.

Congrats Marzi! Fab news. I know quite a few people who had to try v hard to conceive first time around who conceived second time almost by accident. The body is a strange thing.

And congrats again to Tea (tho I have been following her on Twitter) on what sounds like the most idyllic home birth ever. Brilliant name too - was on my short list!

Trying to think if I have anything other than the usual whining about lack of sleep to report. Looking after two is a major challenge some days - but when you get it 'right' it feels brilliant. Linus is almost 4 months now and Eli has mostly settled down to big brother-dom. The odd hitting/squashing incident aside! He's v loving towards L, which is wonderful to see. He is also turning into a monster toddler. Oh my! The tantrums! It's really testing my (rubbish) patience.

In 4 weeks, we give up our nanny share and I will officially be a SAHM. Quite nervous about it on a few levels but we just can't afford the childcare for two on my salary. Plus I want to try and retrain as a midwife anyway in a few years. Watch this space!

Much love to you all. Is it too early to offer round a plate of mince pies??!

Meant to say a hello and good luck to Vix! x

Good luck belly and vix !

Oh nat as much as I love my two, I find looking after two testing my patience to the limit! DD loves her baby brother, there really hasn't been any jealousy issues but I find it hard to leave the house with both of them so am feeling quite claustrophobic staying at home all the time. DS is 7 weeks now and barely sleeps during the day so I have him in the Baby Bjorn all the time and my back is killing and when they both decide to have a meltdown, I am tearing my hair out with the noise. I definitely need to persist with trying to get out but between feeds and nappy changes etc, it seems to be dark again already......

But I'm not trying to put anyone off, seeing them together melts my heart and if I was younger and had millions of pounds, I'd have lots more babies. I seem to suffer less from sleep deprivation second time round but that's because my expectations are so much lower. Also breast feeding waaaaay easier this time as I anticipated it being relentless and was careful to get the latch right from the very beginning.

We are stopping at two babies for sure but that won't prevent bump envy in the future....

nat don't you love that I tweet as a butcher (for DH) but am in fact veggie.....

Tea it literally makes me chuckle when you tweet about the shop, you mad veggie, you!

Juggling the two kids will get easier. I hit a real emotional brick wall at about two months in. It is incredibly hard work, particularly at mealtimes, , bedtime etc - basically the crabby pinch points of the day. And wearing a baby all the time while running around after a toddler is knackering. It has started to get a bit easier to get out of the house (thank god!!) things feel a bit relentless now and I'm starting to (whisper it!) enjoy bits about my days with both boys instead of literally gritting my teeth until DH gets home from work (don't let this put you off, ladies!!)

Oddly, I think it will be much easier when L can sit up/crawl. Even though I'll have two on the move, I won't have to hold him all the time and he'll be much more company for E. That's what I'm telling myself, anyway. In the meantime, get friends to come over and visit so you feel less cabin feverish. Someone who can hold the little one for a bit so you can rest your back/interact a bit more with your toddler. I also found getting L into a bit of a routine made me feel more in control of the day - particularly giving him a bedtime. This is something I didn't do first time round for six months or longer! But I needed it this time. May the force be with you!

Anyone with multiple kids feel like sharing their wisdom/experience? I feel a bit guilty that E barely watched TV until about 18 months and I rely on it loads now to keep him happy. He now toddlerishly demands 'watch Night Garden! Watch Octonauts!' as soon as he gets up

I'm quite scared about having 2 . My patience often runs out with just J at the moment so goodness knows what I'll be like on broken sleep while holding a crying baby!
Pregnancy seems to be going ok, not been quite as sick as I was was J but am struggling with the tiredness. Looking forward to Christmas and a bit of a rest (hopefully!)
J is being very cute at the moment. We've said things a few times eg when he's asked to go in an aeroplane or something, like 'maybe one day when you're older' and now he keeps saying 'J go in a hot air balloon, one day, older' or 'J ride horse, one day, older' or 'J drive digger, one day, older', all accompanied by a serious look and lots of nodding. He's got such a good memory now that I don't think he'll forget!
Hope everyone's well and good luck to the ttcers x

Where is everyone?! I had my 12 week scan this week, all fine. Was really nice to see it - it makes it all so much more real and exciting.

I hope everyone has a nice Christmas to look forward to. I'm looking forward to putting my feet up and being well fed at my in-laws
Also can't wait to watch J open his stocking!

Wahey Marzi - nice milestone to hit for Xmas. Hope you're feeling well. Lacking sleep here and perma-skint so struggling a bit to get into the festive spirit. Have offloaded E on in-laws to get last min shopping done, clean and decorate house etc. Phew! Can't wait to watch E open his stocking on the big day either. L, bless him, is getting old baby toys wrapped up (mostly for E to help him with). 2nd kids, eh?!

Merry Chriiiiiiiiistmasssssssss! Xx

Just thought I'd

Just thought I'd rattle this old thread again and see if I can wake anyone up?!