April 2011; springtime arrivals - blackbird, song thrush, mistle thrush, nipple thrush, nappy thrush...

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

Here we are, our new thread and this time we all have our babies !

I thought we were getting thrush again, but then realised I had let ds's latch get sloppy. He was constantly clicking and tutting at the breast but I was too distracted to notice.

Ds and I made butterfly cakes together this morning, ds got to choose the colour of the buttercream icing ..... It is a very lurid shade of pink and they are covered in sugar strands. You can never have enough sugar!

Lis thanks for your thrush knowledge. If only M would start doing her Gene Simmons impressions again I might get a better look at her tongue. I'll try the scape test and have a closer look at her bum at the next nappy change! I'm also goign to go to the local breastfeeding group tomorrow for some socialising now our massage course has finished so I might get a second opinion there.

Petal we've not been able to get M to take a bottle, though as I'm not going back to work until next year (that sounds ages away! :) ) I'm not too worried - it was just something to do with the excess milk collected in the breast shells from my right side gusher!

Aye Lis she sounds like a one of Miss Jean Broidie's gals.

Big relief for cycle that your sister's wedding went well :)

I'm going to ad my family to the list of those who had to return from holiday early, although not due to children.

You might remember that DH was going to go into work and commute in leaving myself and the two children to holiday on the coast? Well it seems it was not to be as he forgot to not only pack any work trousers but the two weekend days we did have there at the start were guided entirely by him forgetting to pack his swimming trunks too. So two days of him watching at the side with baby and me doing the toddler swimming lessons followed by me driving us all home. Except it doesn't stop there. The people who were staying to look after the dog decided to stay the whole week rather just go home 10 minutes drive from here the day or following after we arrived home so i returned to not only a mess but also i found myself spending up until Saturday night running a full board hotel and finding that they had put their washing in with ours and just cooked and ate when they felt like it, their teenage daughter causing a problem with local la resulting in him de-nuding all my roses in the front. Hygiene was not their top priority (filthy loo never washing up etc) and H (notice no D), my toddler, my dog and myself are all ill with a sickness i can only liken to delhibelly, spent yesterday very unwell and today called the dr, they said to call back if still the same after 4 more days. The thing that is quite telling is that the same people were here helping out when the children were sick last time..a co-incidence? Either way, I didn't get a holiday :(
Do you think I'm being judgy pants and sound awful?

Ah and when I called them today to ask if they were unwell they said that one of them is always unwell like that and it doesn't warrant a trip to the drs..even suggested that they had a delicate disposition and that i had given them something...sigh...now i must sound awful.

*add not ad sorry I've got a fever and two poorly children.

and at your dog sitters. Why would they stay at your house when they only live 10 minutes away. And to eat all your food and use your electric .

And (((((hugs))))) hope you feel better soon.

Cheeky buggers Arch! Can't believe that on top of staying without invitation they put their washing in with yours

Wow Lis, what a cow. If you buckle and do a lemon drizzle I've got a fab recipe I'm willing to share.

Turns out my sister complained to another relative about H being at the wedding. Am really hurt, but at least it's over.

Oh Cycle thats shit. And I think a fab time to break out my newfound MN phrase. Tell her to go to the far side of f@ck!! maybe a bit extreme, but I like it!

I will not buckle to the alpha mumminess, although you can still share if you like!

Bloody hell arch what a nightmare :( I wouldn't let those people in my house again! Can you get away with that or are they relations?

Cycle :(:( Are you going to speak to her about it? My brother and I really fell out because he wouldn't let us bring DS1 to his wedding, and then he threw a hissy fit because we left after the meal to go home to DS1 for his bedtime. We didn't speak for a whole year before his wedding, and now another year on we are slowly mending things. But I will never forgive him for the way he behaved about it.

T is really screamy and hard work atm. Teeth I think, or the heat, or a combination. He has fed and fed and fed today, and finally conked out on DH about 10 minutes ago. That combined with the fact that DS1 got out of bed about 20 times before he feel asleep this evening has left us completely knackered.

Cycle - :( re your sister.

Arch - nightmare!! Can you make sure they never get to 'help' again? Do they have keys? I'd change the locks they sound awful.

DD is v clingy in the daytime atm too, can't put her down to sleep, she used to be able to but no longer. Feeling a bit frustrated with lack of ability to do anything else but it will pass..

She also got up for the babysitter last night so didn't get to bed until 10pm (v late for her), up at 4 for a feed and still asleep now, the so-and-so.

right best get boys dressed for school...

Arch that sounds like a nightmare. Hope you're all feeling better soon.

Cycle that's a real shame about your sis.

Lis it actually worked! After a screamy day we've had a great night: 9:30-3:00 and 3:30-7:00. I woke up before him again (with a ginormous boob, of course), makes all the difference.

Lis they said that they stayed because their dog was being snippy with ours at theirs.

And wait for it Ali in two weeks they were going to be R's godmothers. In pregnancy they were so helpful, although staying rather a long time we got on very well and our priest insists that godparents are practicing Catholics which none of my family are, and there's so few of my family left (Dad resents even stepping in a Church and my one female relative can't come because my cousin is in hospital). They don't have keys. My DH and I were bemused about why they stayed a whole week and I kept raising the subject politely for example " you must be missing your own things and beds". I couldn't deal with the level of the noise in the house. They spoke over each other constantly. I was looking forward to the baptism but now I'm not so sure. I see them every single week at Mass.

Oh as a special surprise I came on my period yesterday and when I went to get a towel out of the well stocked box in the bathroom I noticed that out of around 24 towels there was 3 left. Great....I can only assume it was their teenage daughter.

This morning I have managed to get toddler to eat a banana which is a huge improvement :)
I'm no better, in fact worse, DH was pitiful last night but cannot take time off work. Little R is blissful protected by breast milk and doesn't seem to be ill at all. It is making me wonder if I should express some and give us all some? Is that weird?
Those replacement salt& fluid sachets seem to make me feel worse but I'm worried if I don't take them i will not be able to keep up milk supply. Any one have any advice?

arch for you at your lack of holiday/extra hassle. Such a shame :(

cycle I agree you need to sort it out with your sister, if only to get rid of the feeling that she was talking behind your back.

petal hurrah for a good night. I only wish it had worked here.

JKS 10pm is an early bed for us! Although he then doesn't wake properly until 10am... I might need to work out what our ideal bedtime is and GF him.

Last night was horrible. DH was late home for me to go to the gym, came back at 8.15 to discover a sleeping in sling unbathed baby. Had 10 mins to shower and re-dress before he and BIL then buggered off to do something for an hour and a half, dinner was really rushed and poor M only got bathed around 10pm when he was getting overtired and cranky so wouldn't settle. And he refused a bottle for the first time ever because I went along with DH's suggestion of giving it after the bath when M is used to having boob to sleep (bad habit, I know). Grrr. So I had an upset, hungry, tired, Velcro baby who had to come in with us so I slept badly! It just feels like DH gets away with not dealing with the consequences of his actions. Of course M napping at 8 means he's going to sleep later, a late bath means a later bed with a cranky baby, a bottle isn't part of his routine so he won't like it - common sense, no?!

arch Have you tried eating apple sauce? Sounds daft but it worked for me when I had D&V the other week. It's not too heavy on the stomach but has quite a high liquid content so helps keep you a bit more hydrated as well. Home made is best as you can make it more liquid-y but out of a jar would work too.

Lol @ "Morningside set" Lis my auntie is one of those! Apparently the main reason my uncle married her we don't speak to them or more they don't speak to us.....we're too common! Glad you're not bowing to AM pressure though!

Arch sounds like you're having a horrendous time! Poor you. Didn't realise you were catholic, I am too, although non practising. Was hoping I might have R baptised as I was but doubt the church will allow it a) because I haven't been in about 15 years and b) because DP and I are unmarried!

Cycle Am sad for you re: your sisters comments, hope you can get it all sorted out with her, although I really don't understand her logic. I have come to the conclusion that people without children have absolutley NO clue!! One of our friends was itching to come and visit and catch up with us all and see R last week so I'd said to her just text and we'll arrange it. Next thing I get a text saying..."there's a music festival on Friday night, you guys should come", errrm hello.....shall we just leave R at home and she can see to herself!!? Clueless!!

I also have a clingy baby just now, daytimes are becoming more and more difficult. R will only sleep for around 20-40 minutes at a stretch so really doesn't leave much time to do anything else. I can shower but need to leave hair drying until the next little nap!! And my bathroom is a disgrace, I really need to clean it but would have to do it in installments!! Think I might just disappear tonight once DP gets home and get it done. He really needs to be spending more time with R anyway, she is starting to only want me when she's upset and that's no use, pretty sure it's a direct result of DP constantly working late and refusing to feed her, apparently she won't take the bottle properly from him

Have HV today but it's pis*ing down - not looking forward to that at all!!

Chilli Trying to remember if it was you that has had AF already, did your cycle just go straight back to normal or has it been a bit erratic? I'm waiting for mine and can't decide if it's a bit late or just sorting itself out?! Eeeeep hope I'm not preggers with no.2!!

Pissing down here too, therefore B and I will mainly be sitting on the sofa!! Was going to go to the BF group, but can't be bothered!!

Mum and dad are staying tonight as they are flying from Edinburgh tomorrow to Tennerife, lucky Bs!!

This will be the first time I've seen my mum since the "DH will divorce you" chat. We've spoken on the phone, but I've not been as chatty I think. I really want to say something, but the moment has passed now.

My bathroom needs cleaning too, I'm glad I'm not the only one living in a cesspit! Will go and spray bleach liberally around and hope the smell makes mum think I've actually cleaned it!! Need to hoover and mop the floors again after B puked from one side of the livingroom to the other last night. Was a bit of an exorcist moment. Bless!

Now everyone! I know AF=Period on here but what does AF actually stand for?? One I've puzzled over for a while!!

Lol it puzzled me for a long time too Lis it stands for Aunt Flo, think it's an american term. If aunt flo is visiting it means you have your period. Kinda like how round here people might say the painters were in!!!

Oh also meant to ask earlier, does anyone elses LO constantly have their tongue hanging out?? R does it ALL the time and she looks a little bit silly!!

Aaaaargh! Toothache is driving me mad!

Have made an appointment for this afternoon, am in agony!

Thanks for the kind words girls, I think I'm going to just let it go over the wedding. I bent over backwards and it clearly wasn't enough for her, I think it is that she just has no clue how hard it was for me, I expressed and froze milk in advance, my boobs hurt so much from not feeding that I cried in the toilets at the reception and I was stressed about it from the day he was born. My parents and other sister thought she was being outrageous too and I'm worried that if I go mad over it it'll cause a huge family row so I'd rather just take some time out to cool off and leave it.

I think part of the reason I'm so cross is that there were two children at the wedding ceremony, they were both about 10. No children?

Poor you Arch, hope you feel better soon x

Looking forward to your next AM update Lis! I didn't think those women really existed either. Can't wait to hear the reaction to your cake sabotage.

Arch so sorry your holiday was a lot less than relaxing. I think you need to go round to your dog sitter's place with a carrier bag and empty their cupboards & fridge.

MrsW I cleaned the shower yesterday while I was in there as I realised it wasn't happening otherwise. S will sleep hours in the sling but that's not helpful when I need a shower and if I transfer her she'll sleep about another 10 mins before stirring. Just long enough to get in shower and give it a good scrub. Can't believe it's come to this!

That's so disappointing about your sister cycle. Ouch to toothache too, and you can't even take anything strong to help the pain. G&A at the dentist maybe?

S is still sleeping rubbish since the jabs last Thursday. Last night her first stretch which is usually the longest was only 4hrs when last week it was 8 or 9hrs. I know some people have it worse but I made the error of getting used to that pattern and am now struggling to keep my eyes open. Yawn. Am starting to think this isn't a reaction to the jabs just a sleep regression.

Caramello We've had a bit of a sleep regression as well, nothing major and I really still can't complain but like you I had gotten used to having a good sleep at night! R has gone back to getting up for a feed at 5 rather than the usual 6.30 - 7am :( I thought she would increase her long sleep so I could start making bed time earlier but obviously it's not to be. Now beginning to think I should have taken the hit earlier and just made bed time about 7.30pm regardless of how many night feeds that incurred. Ho hum I think radically changing the routine now would be a bit much of a shock to all of us so will just have to persevere a bit longer and hope for the best!!

Ok, for people who would like their lo to settle earlier in the evening, here is what I have done with all three and it seems to have worked for all of them.

Two to Three sleeps a day.
Morning, lunchtime and afternoon.
The first sleep is often within an hour or two of waking up for the day.
No sleep after 16:30.
Bath between 6pm and 7pm.
Big long feed in a dark quiet room., put in cot when ready.
Dream feed at 10.30ish.
Awake and up and dressed by 8.30am, then it all starts again.

Feed whenever you like, I don't feed to a schedule.
Let them sleep when they need it and you will slowly see a pattern. Once you get into a pattern you can tweak it to suit.
I have always fed to sleep when they were little and I have never had a problem doing this. nearly everything people do is a prop to get them to slepp, whether it be rocking, singing, dummy, music etc etc. If you don't want to feed them to sleep, wait until they are a bit older then start working on it during the daytime naps.

Hope this helps, but remember this is what works for ME, you and are your baby may need something different. Trust your instincts and you'll find your way.

MrsW can you nudge bedtime forward 10mins per night to try and get bedtime a bit earlier?

Like ILTMIMI I don't think feeding to sleep is a problem if it works. Whatever works I say. I worried with DS that feeding him to sleep would cause problems down the track but when the time came to give up the boob it wasn't a problem at all. Shocked the hell out of me and made me think that this time round I'll do whatever works at the time and worry about what may happen when the time comes!

Mrs Wajs yes, it was me thinking my periods were back. Seemed to have one at 6 weeks and 10 weeks, i think. However the 10 weeks might have been breakthrough bleeding having started the mini pill and I've had nothing since (fingers crossed).

cycle hope you get your tooth sorted.

Went to the breastfeeding group this morning. Clearly more of a social event as everyone knew each other and the youngest baby was 11 weeks, but that's fine. The danger is if i go every week I'll be calling at the Italian bakery next door for something for lunch every week too :)

Bedtime here is about 9pm then she'll sleep until 5 or 6 feed and change then back to sleep til 8 or 9. We do bath and massage before bed, into sleeping bag then feed in the dark and into her crib virtually asleep. She used to then wake after 10 minutes but now tends to stay asleep. DH and I keep expecting a bad night but so far so good.

DH made the mistake of pouring the gripe water down M's open mouth while she was crying last night - she looked shocked, then there was a pause and fountain of vomit down my bra (I was holding her), all over me and her. How we missed the bed I don't know. DH then changed M while I changed me and the poor girl spend a while looking sorry for herself and coughing :( a feed eventually cheered her up but I don't think we'll be rushing to try the gripe water again!

Hello all, not posted for a while, but have been lurking!

Had a busy week. It was my uncles funeral last fri. My MIL looked after G by pushing him around in the pram in a nearby park during the service at the crematorium then joined us for the wake at a nearby hotel. G was a star he slept for a bit then enjoyed being cooed over and cuddled by all my relatives!

We have been having major sleep issues though. Well when I say we, I mean G and me, Dh just snores through G's crying!
G has gone into his own room as all his snuffling and grunting was keeping me awake, and we have also had to stop swaddling as he was too big for his swaddle blanket and kept escaping. For the last 4 nights he has been waking every 2 hours, weep!! The only thing that settles him is boobs. Even a 4 hour stretch of sleep would be a major luxury at the moment. The longest he has ever slept in one stretch is about 5 hours and that has only been on a few occasions. He is 11 weeks old now, and seems to be getting worse rather than better sleeping at night. I am bloody knackered and I think I look rather like this most of the time!

Cycle glad to hear you got through the wedding. Although I am v on your behalf at your sisters attitude. How is your toothache now?

Arch hope you and the children get better soon.

Lis I love your alpha mummy story. I still haven't really got any local mummy friends. I go to a mum and baby group at the local GP surgery, and also postnatal yoga but it's quite hard getting to know people when they already know each other eg from antenatal nct groups , so they already meet up in smaller groups. They are all pretty friendly though, and I have yet to meet anyone as bossy as your alpha Mummy. I agree you should make a delicious chocolate cake, and just watch her face everyone comments how tasty it is

Anyone want to clean my bathroom? I have resorted to taking a flash wipe into the shower and cleaning the bath and nearby surfaces whilst I'm showering! I often clean the loo when dd is in the bath.

Just received the uniform list for when dd starts kindergarten in Sept. Bloody hell. I thought she could wear any old grey skirt and red polo shirt but it has to be specific ones. She needs a full games kit, school book bag, pump bag, skirt, polo shirt, fleece, waterproof trousers and cagoul, black shoes, pumps, summer dress, jumper, the list is endless. Will have to make sure I arrive first in the queue for the second hand sale, as I'm certainly not going to fork out full price for that lot!