The CRESH Creche and Spa - What's your excuse for not going back to work?

[Backinthebox]

Liking maternity leave too much? Can't be arsed to go back to your old job? Why not get made redundant, set up a company, have another baybee or even fall off a horse? Anything to spend more time with our little darlings! And it's so naice here - pass the gin!

Good luck with that lights invest in rubber sheeting perhaps? :o I am impressed with your driving plans, you are nuts brave. I am a bit nervous about a 4 hr trip down south let alone 14 hrs.

Forgot to say, would love another meet up cossie which direction are you from where we met last time? Its pretty much north/south for the other three of us (I think curly?) so maybe we could find somewhere a bit nearer you that wouldn't be too much further for us lot, make it a bit fairer/easier? I need to return your pump as its not getting used, I am happy to post it back to you but returning it face to face would be even better!

Hurray! Squeaks has finally learned to stand up

cos, rock, I have previously met a friend from Leeds at a spot that was 1hr 10 mins for each of us, Might be the same from rocket's gaff. I'll post on FB. It's also v near lyra, I think.

Hello, just venturing in from the deli. Baybee aka BiteyBach is now 17 days old and has let me put him down long enough to turn the computer on. I have been having a great time catching up on face book and spending all my money in the John Lewis sale. I haven't done any food shopping though so please accept this offering of plastic cheese until I do the tesco order.

Sprocket the FDH also went back to work today, BiteyBach and I spent all morning in bed, was brilliant!

Was going to post my horror birth story but it is very long and the boy has just started to issue demands from his moses basket. These baybees are very time consuming aren't they?

Yay Bitey. John Lewis sale?

Hello, I can see both sides of the charity/ corporate debate. Though interesting what Light says about the shiny wings at GOSH. Maybe Disney could support, say, to pluck a completely random example, Aberdeen's NeoNatal Unit. Yeah, thought not!

I don't bother so much about Disney films, esp Pixar, but I dread the Disney Princess stage.

Bitey, yes please to birth story (ignoring fact I have never done mine!)

Speaking of which, tangentially, we had a neurology appt today with EA. They're pretty happy with how she is doing, but referring her for another EEG, as she's been having jumps. I've been reading a bit more on epilepsy and of course focussing on the worst case scenarios. Slap me now!

Yey for biteme write up your birth story in word then C&P. Less chance of random baby keyboard bashing losing the whole lot. 17 days eh? How time flys :o

meds step away from t'internet! Must be very hard not to imagine the worst but it's great that the medical types are pleased with her progress.

Well done Bitey!

Lights I have driving plans too. Tomorrow I am going to drive to the end of our track and back. I hope. Here's hoping the leg works, eh? I can't see why I would need legs that much to drive. After all, so many people keep telling me I'll be fine to get back to work ASAP since you don't need legs to fly. Love it when people know more about my job than me. Apparently the autopilot does it all - well the car has cruise control so I reckon I will be A-OK!

PS Med I used to sell an anti-epilepsy drug once upon a time, and there are loads of people over-diagnosed. Don't go panicking just yet!

I've now convinced myself she will have learning difficulties. Time for bed I think.

Go to bed and stop thinking about it Medee. She's a gorgeous baby. It must be awful not quite knowing what might be. But, none of us know if our babies might have problems ahead. I know you have specific reason to worry so it's different. But any of us could have problems.

I know my SIL is very worried what the future holds for TinyNephew and if he's ever going to hit his milestones. I can't imagine having to live with those thoughts. So all I can advise is what she says, take each day as it comes and celebrate the day you have. Don't spend it worrying about what the next day might bring, or you'll miss too much.

Oh med. Muser is right. It is too early for you to know anything and stop torturing yourself and take every day as it comes. It must be worrying but you'll drive yourself mad googling. Google is the devil!

thanks Muse, wise words indeed, and much wiser ones to take with me to bed than the previous thoughts.

Deffo stop with the googling meds any one of our baybees could have LDs, and there isn?t a thing you can do about it other than fight their corner when you need to, and you have already proven yourselves capable of that with her tough start, so you?re one ahead of those of us who?ve had an easier ride so far I reckons. muse has very wise words.

rockets I?m in Leeds, so would be coming over the M62 ? I guess Manchester might work for you and I but don?t know how that works for casp and fans.

box good luck with the drive!!

Why do I keep thinking fp lives in deepest Somerset ?

silv Because she comes across as a yokel?

medee Obviously I've not met you or EA, but from the way you talk about her, it seems she is a million miles away from a child with severe dependencies. And, whilst only anecdotal, I have known two people with epilepsy, both living "normal" lives. One was the husband of my mum's best friend, he held down a normal job, had 4 kids - wasn't allowed to drive obviously and then had a mid-life crisis and fucked off to India. Not sure if that's related. Then another was a girl we met on a riding holiday, she had a fit in her room one night and her sister + cousin were not too worried, it was much more "don't tell her mum, she'll only get upset". Oh actually I know a third person who was diagnosed in her early 20s, aside from being a massive Bridezilla twat she seems quite normal - although is under the impression her husband is a "DJ". Owning a few CD's and an ipod doesn't make you a DJ!

As for the son of my colleague, the little boy who got meningitis at 9 months, he now has his implant hearing aid and is now responding to sound in a more positive manner and his speech is coming on leaps and bounds. They are beginning to suspect "behavioural issues" though - and whilst he's as bright as a button she is currently having him tested for "ishoos" because he can't concentrate and does everything at 150mph. This might of course just be a reaction to having "normal" hearing again.

thanks all - I know epilepsy can be lived with in a "normal" life, just I read about an infantile form which has these spasms she has been having (and call me paranoid but I am sure her development has slowed on some things, though possibly while she works on others) which has the hallmarks of a particular form, which in majority of cases leads to a really severe form of which 90% have LDs. I know, I know...

Anyway, we had an OK night last night, brought into bed with me this morning, and it was lovely waking up a wee while later to her smiling face.

It's pointless saying "step away from the Google". When will the team be able to give you more definitive answers? You are incredibly strong of character though and you will get through this and you will be able to work with any long-term complications which may arise. As far as milestones go, there seem to be enormous variances - even in the children who have not been through EA's difficult start. Just this morning I read a thread about "when did yours start to walk?" and the answers came back as far as I read, between 9 and 21+ months... Bear will most certainly miss the "coherent speech" milestone due to the multiple languages used with him. But it's not a race. Anyone who thinks/says it is can fuck off or get polly to administer a royal c-k!

I read that as she got in to bed with you and weed on you.

Meds totally agree with what Muse said. What will be will be, and chances are she'll be fine - Squib had cerebral lesions and oedema at 3 days old, but everyone told us at the time that stuff that happens in babies' brains is a far lower long term risk than stuff that happens to adults - they are so undeveloped they can "re-wire" themselves in amazing ways. You will probably have a gut instinct as a mother if something isn't right, but try not to pick up on every single milestone she doesn't hit on target - babies are individuals and do things at their own speed. Einstein didn't talk 'till he was 4 years old!!!

Don't know if it's any help, but Squib is being monitored v. closely to check that he is hitting his developmental targets by the consultant who was initially responsible for him in NICU, so that they can pick up any issues. Are they doing the same for EA? They check him at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months, and check stuff like coordination, motor & communication skills etc. Want me to look up the name of the tests they are running to see if you can demand the same for EA? I'd look now but his papers are in the room where he's napping at the mo.

I agree with alps I think there is such a variation of development when they are tiny that you can?t really say yet that it?s slowed. I know babies who sat at 5 months and babies who sat at 8 or 9 months, Artie is only just crawling at 11m, and all the other babies in our nct group were crawling way earlier, I know one baby who was cruising round the furniture at 8m, but crawled at 10m ? some babies say first words at under a year, some not till over 2.

Well, she was a little damp this morning, but it was MrM's side of the bed!

Epilepsy and its various forms take a long time to diagnose, as it is a clinical diagnosis. EEG's and the like just give extra info to the doctors, rather than being diagnostic tools in themselves.

Light we would have been, but as she had the subsequent fits and we are now under neurology's care, it would be doubling up of monitoring. We got told that too about the plasticity of baby brains, so here's hoping.

I guess I was just worried that she wasn't doing her rolling attempts as much as she had been a few weeks ago, and she's not as chatty as she was. But then she's doing more with her head control, and blowing raspberries so not as if she is doing nothing.

And apparently, her new favourite place to nap is in the middle of our bed. I popped her down yesterday for a minute to call my friend and when I returned she was asleep. Put her down for her morning nap over an hour ago, she protested so I brought her out her cot onto our bed and she fell asleep very quickly and is still asleep!

Ok. Sounds like she's getting all the right care. Don't worry about the rolling thing. Squib did it a few times at 11 weeks, and then promptly forgot all about how to do it until 5 months!

God, I miss the days when I could just put him down anywhere and he'd conk out... I'm on a mission to ensure that at least one nap a day is in his pushchair now, so I don't find myself trapped in the house, now that he's discovered the joys of napping in bed. And to think 2 months ago I was stressing because he wouldn't nap in his cot. We're never happy are we?

Artie was the same re rolling ? he went both ways at Christmas and then forgot how again for about 2 months.

thanks, that is reassuring to know.