Feb 2011- a bit late, but we're finally in post natal!

[debka]

Welcome everyone!!

Thanks folks, reastie as another nervous first timer I'm imagining all that might go wrong when really like tarlia said its a one off and she might love it! Its nice to see reassuring answers when I've been stressing about it, plus we'll be driving there in the day so hopefully she'll do a big sleep in the car.

Elle I have found that as long as I have one thing to do in the day it makes the long day seem a bit less daunting, today it is going to get dd weighed, yest it was going to Asda to get some photos developed I know what you mean though. Baby sensory sounds good, enjoy :)

MizK I've realised that if i were to get a job waitressing or in a bar b'cos its minimum wage I couldn't afford a nursery too, shame b'cos I like that kind of work so it would be evening and weekend only. Its all confusing isn't it, I need to start playing the lottery...

tarlia what job do you do?! (nosy cow emoticon)

Oh yeah, I've got the music channels on at the mo and dd is loving a bit of gaga, good girl!

lottery ponyo? Good idea - might try that - we once won £500 on a scratchcard . Might need a bit more than that now please

Soooooo bored today. Stuck upstairs with a misery of an alice as kitchen men busy down stairs - we already have a new oven and fridge in - and I've taken a gander at the sink we've ordered and it's one of those lovely white shiny ones - so exciting

elle I agree - having one thing to do every day really helps things - today my think is to post sth for dh and go and buy him a happy birthday daddy card for his bday tomorrow. Even little things give you a purpose to the day and things go a little quicker. I know what you mean - I feel sometimes like my life is just one dust cloud with nothing in it.

wiggles i'm laughing DH "patting" you, my DF does this whilst cocking his head to the side saying"hmm, are you ok" aprox every 5 mins!

I only work from 8am-9am and then again after school 3pm-5pm, this suits me just fine at the minute! During the day i potter about, go shopping, catch up with friends and clean park my bum on the couch!

Elle I was the same with Sofia, agree with everyone else, I did something every day. I didn't drive then, so we walked the dog, went to shops, postoffice. I hate being stuck in the house, even now I'd rather get the three of them in the car and go to Asda/Tescos, at a push pils than stay in!! I don't make friends easily, quelle surprise I hear you cry but have probably made more since Sofia started primary school than in the past 15 years!!

Reastie I may only use my kitchen as storage but I fully get why you are so excited, our house was brand new when we bought it and I marvelled at the shininess of the extra room kitchen

Well - funny story for the day..... my aunt, A's godmother is just back from Spain, she left a bag of pressies in for girls, said there's something for A with her name on it. Every time we go away, I try and get the girls a door plaque or the like with their name on it. Anyway I was very excited, opened up pressie, now my Spanish is tres basic but I have confirmed that it is an ashtray with the phrase "Smoke here......Anna" , ,

Thanks for the support guys, you are a lovely bunch. I do try to do something every day. Think I've been relying a bit too mich on popping to town and shopping though so have to think of cheap things! Think the main issue is DP has started a ne job this week so is now commuting. He only used to work 10m away so my days are now another couple of hours longer. I'll stop feeling sorry for myself now though...

reastie I got a new kitchen just before Christmas. It's beautiful and the tidiest and cleanest room in the house. I'm thinking of setting myself the project of decorating our bedroom so it's a lovely haven when R moves into her own room. I might be more inclined to keep that tidy then.

:) at wiggles and your lo's new ashtray....

wiggles and at the same time to the ashtray.

sadly kitchen is just a snazz up than a new one - spent too much on a new car to get new kitchen too :( same old cupboards/tiles/floor - just new sink/cooker/worksurfaces. still, it's exciting enough for me :) i'm on the hunt for a cheap second hand floor polisher to polish the tiles once its done but no joy - tried ebay (all either too far to collect or too pricey), gumtree and friday ad. anyone got any ideas?

elle are there any free baby coffee groups near you? when i get alice weighed they always tell me about coffee club type places for mothers of babies locally - might be worth finding out about? i'm hoping to try one next month. i might only go once and hate it but at least i've given it a shot. once i've made friends so to speak i'm fine but i'm quite bad at the initial bit iykwim.

Morning all! Ah, no, try again- afternoon all!! :)

After our traumatic evening last night S slept till 6.30 with a feed at 1, I was very pleased, and I caught up on sleep a bit too. Both girls asleep now (HOORAY!!!!! )

I'm the same, always try and get out of the house to do something every day. Problem is we live in a smaller than small village- it has a road, a pub and a church and about 4 houses all of which are off the road and down country lanes. Lots of boring lovely country walks but if I want to go anywhere it's a trip in the car. I am soooo of people who can just walk places. They are probably of my situation though! We have a massive garden, well, field really, with a fantastic climbing frame, lots of toys and my mum and dad just across the drive, although my mum's at the Marsden this week having chemo (booo).

BTW anyone know whether you can give blood whilst bfing? I've always been too scared to do it but my mum has to have more units of blood today and it's been an incentive to just do it, if I can. Plus the number of blood tests I had in pg got rid of my needle phobia! Is it much worse than a blood test?

wiggles ha ha ha ha at the ashtray! Lucky Anna, no excuse for her extinguishing her fag on the coffee table now!!

ledkr I think you scared wobblybumm off.....

Just had a look on website- apparently you can't give blood if you've given birth in the last 9 months.

deb you sound like me not having anything you can walk to - I live in a village a couple of doors away from my mum and also have a super big garden (well, my parents do, but I can access it from my garden ). All I can walk to is a village shop and post office . Hope your mum is OK while in hospital, poor thing (and for you - must be so upsetting)

just went to try and get DH a daddy bday card but it seems they expect all men to be fans of either cars, football, alcohol, boats or sheds . DH doesn't fit into any of those categories so will have to go without

alice crying again........

It seems a few of our babies are unsettled at the moment. After a day of brilliant naps yesterday, it took me an hour to settle Noah for bed last night then half hour of rocking after his feed at 2.30am. Am so tired today, I keep bursting into tears and begging him to go to sleep! He's had two 40 minute naps in his cot which took 20 minutes of rocking to get him off, I've now got him asleep on me! My nct friends and I used to notice that all our babies hd bad days at the same time, as if the moon affected them!
Sorry, no comment on previous posts, am too tired to take anything in at the moment.

emski there was a full moon yesterday!!!!

Can you sit in a comfy chair, put your head back and close your eyes? I used to do that when S was being a little sod stubborn and even if I didn't drop off, I rested a bit.

Emski don't laugh but Mr W swears there is a correlation between the crimes he deals with and a full moon, even on a normal dull on Tue night he would be called out on 999 a lot more if there's a full moon Olivia is currently running around the house signing "Glory Glory Man United" can only assume its come from playschool

is that what they do at playschool then wiggles ?

I'd say there's something in that full moon theory - my mad aunt is always more crazy on a full moon - whenever we have a family get together including her and it's around a full moon mum and I always get a little

reastie either that or she's a werewolf

Yes I did get scared off by ledkr! Nate was weird last night but then he is quite weird most nights - I am amazed and impressed by how well your babies are sleeping. A good night for us is a 6 hour stretch at the beginning then up after another 3 hours and that is unusual, and even if he is only up once or twice in the night we still have "morning shenanigans" where he wakes up really early for no reason and spends the rest of the morning yawning and rubbing his eyes as though it was my fault .

I was due to go back to work in July but have changed it to October - I have to leave the house at 645am and am not back until after 7pm so my plan to continue breastfeeding would not have worked, work is also 40 miles away and I have to work nights and lates sometimes too - in hindsight going back in July was a silly plan. It's scary that some people are starting keeping in touch days already!

Yes I find it hard to fill in the days - I have worked out that I spend nearly £20 a week on groups and classes and probably double that on coffee and cake healthy treats at cafes.

wobblybumm that's how Anna sleeps, she goes down for a good few hours, up for a feed, sleeps then sometimes up for another feed then a doze or up for the day, depending on how near 6am it is

Well dd weighs 10lb 4oz - woo! She's now having a kip so going to type fast before she wakes up

I've not bothered with the job app, decided to leave it to fate and see whats about in a few months when I would have been returning to work anyway.

wiggles lucky A - her very own ashtray! That has to be one of the most bizarre baby gifts ever?!

deb and reastie I can walk to surestart, asda, other shops etc but of course don't appreciate it and would love to live somewhere with fields and country lanes Hope things go well for your mum deb.

wobbly at going back to work in July, don't blame you for changing it! They are some long days you work.

MizK was it you that said that C is feeding every 2 hours? How much is she drinking? I make up 6oz bottles for dd for every 3 hrs but she hardly ever drinks them, don't know if I should be feeding her less but more often? Any other ff's do this? (have pm'd you btw :) )

emski nothing like as bad as what you've had but I was settling dd for 40 mins today to get her to sleep, she power napped for ten mins and was then awake again. Heres hoping for a better night for you tonight.

Really struggling today. I think I need some time to myself. DP gets to go to work, play football and go for jogs and I get to make dinner . I do volunteer to make dinner though and I'm not exactly ready for work yet...I'd be missing out,

I just had a massive strop at a teenager in the park who let her stupid snappy dogs run at me and snap my ankles. She kept saying "it's ok, they don't bit" as though that made it better. I told hr to get them on an f-ing lead. I was proper Maybe the full moon has sent me bonkers too.

R has been super-dozy today. And super-grumpy for most of the rest of the time. She is playing nicely on her mat now though.

wobblybum I think I'm going to up the weekly spend on activities. Feel like I'm trying to buy mummy friends!

Goodness I'm a whinge today. Someone shake me!

wobblybumm - if it makes you feel better, L is the worst sleeper ever. He's up at least every 3 hours, sometimes 1.5. Eats a bit, goes back to sleep for a while. I feel like an all-night buffet. 6 hours would be a dream. I dropped him in his swing at 9 this morning and had a nap on the sofa, we both woke at noon.

The HV weighed L today and he's 13 lbs 14 oz, no wonder my arms ache at the end of the day.

wiggles when i was nursing i worked in a big psychiatric unit,we always had extra staff over the full moon!! Tis true.
deb I was treated at the marsden by Nigel Sacks who is also Nigela Lawsons Dr. See i was destined to be a celebrity i tell thee. Best cancer hospital in the world.
wobblybum I hope i didnt really scare you off!Im a nice person i tell you.
You do seem to live the high life with all your cafe visits I have also decided to stay off longer,I work big ,long hrs like you do and altho would love to go back i cant imagine getting out of the hosue for 7.30 with 2 kids all packed up and ready to go to school and nursery.also D'd op will be from 6 months so im not sure i could leave her untill well afterwards cos of her special needs-meds and feeds.
I am lucky where i live as theres a nice little precinct with a co op and a cafe and library with a very small childrens centre only open 2 half days
There is anice park and a little water feature all the kids play in in the hot weather,it is a lovely place to bring up children and the schools are top in the county, oh yes there is a yooooof club too. Didnt mean to sound all braggy re the schools im not pushy academic wise its just an added bonus
D has also been hard work today,2 40 min naps,one to shred and one to shower,i wouldnt mind but when she wakes shes not ready,still has her eyes closed and is crying so is then a misery. It very hard for sure.
emski can dh have him tonight?I always feel so much better if i get a full night.Ask him before it builds up and you feel even worse.
ex pat poor you,its a nightmare when they do that,maybe he will sleep better when weaning.
D is watching the baby channel i can hear her singing along

ElleB take some time for yourself, I bet you feel guilty if you leave R, you need to treat being at home with R as a job, so you and partner both work full-time, you have evenings and weekends off, set aside time together for either the three or two of you (and I mean you and dp not R ) and then time for each of you on your own, he gets football on Tue evening, you get 3 hrs on a Thu evening and go out by yourself or see a friend. Don't stay in and hover

Ponyo I make Annas bottles up to 7oz, she started draining the odd 6oz, she would feed every 3 hrs during the day but stretches it out at night. She sometimes only takes three quarters of the bottle and then sometimes she'll have 2 bottles in 4 hours .

wiggles I officially adore the auntie who bought Anna an ashtray - there are no words!
debka your set up sounds idyllic - I'm well jel! although (at the risk of sounding like whingy Daily Mail reader) with petrol prices so high I bet it would be nice to be able to walk to more places.
ponyo Cassia has 7oz now as she drains 6oz, but bear in mind she weighs a mammoth 14lb 10oz so she needs it. Plus she sleeps from 630 ish to 3/4am without a feed so I think she packs in as much milk as she can in the day (touches wood nervously) I have just sent you a text - ooh its all exciting that I get to meet a Feb lady!
Elle whinge away, it does help as we are all in the same boat more or less. Don't let DP make you feel as though your maternity leave is a nice holiday from work - it's def not easy being at home all day particularly when you are used to working, God the amount of times my DP has opened the front door to find Cass thrust straight into his arms as I have been counting the minutes til he gets in! Sometimes you need a break from your baby, simple. Doesnt mean you don't love and adore her, but it's important that you get time to yourself or you'll go mental!
Poor emski, hope you get a decent night's sleep tonight.
Ooh Apprentice later, happy times! Need something to distract me from hunger pains - have been dieting since Saturday and I may actually weep with hunger.....(sobs theatrically)

glad you reminded me of apprentice woo.
elle and others too,its amazing the amount of time they get away from home isnt it.I was regarding dh the other day and remarked how lovely it must be to have ababy without all the pain and discomfort and disruption to your life and then do only 10% of the childcare.

ledkr get you, Nigella Lawson's dr eh! My mum's under Professor (no drs for MY mum) Johnston, he's brilliant.

elle that's why I can't understand people who choose to co-sleep, FGS I want at least my BED to myself! Shame I can't banish big hairy snoring DH as well!

Been worrying quietly all day about a Very Important Issue. Got our appointment in London for the EAT study tomorrow- and what do we WEAR!!?? Think I'll put Imy in a frock, Sabine can go in her smartest babygrow (can't be arsed with proper clothes), but what about ME??? Can't dress up much cos a) it'll look like I'm trying too hard, b) got to travel in the car, on a train then walk, all with a baby and 2yo and husband in tow c) got to carry a rucksack, will look stupid in posh clothes with a rucksack. PLUS has to be boob-accessible and discreet. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...............................

Well done mizk on your hunger pangs, I just ate a Twirl