April 2009 Episode 15 Bebe & BB have babies n stuff

[PuzzleRocks]

Ta da

WFH that is really helpful - thanks. I will push for tests every couple of hours and I will be pushing for breast feed top ups as a first call if needed. I've heard about excess mucas with cs babies. Do you know any other way to relieve it bar sickness?

So far I have been really unimpressed with this hospital and their antenatal care (compared to DS' which were just brilliant). In hindsight I wish I'd pushed to go to the specialist maternity hospital an hour away but the collective thinking was that it was too far away should I need to be seen as an emergency which given my placenta issues is true!

Apparently from the people I've met post natal team are a bit lazy (hence ff pushing) with anyone not in scbu and you have to literally push for everything so I'm assuming they are going to absolutely hate me as I will be making sure things like that happen and the appropriate care is given to both babies. I'm not against ff but I'd rather they were bf'd if possible.

Haha there is one line, well three like a little cat scratch on one side but that's from DS that's just opened up again with these two. I'm hoping it will fade back like it did last time. I'm very veiny and piercings have stretched beyond belief! I'm 52 inches round at my biggest point and solid as a rock. Judging by my food intake and type, I'm sure there will be plenty of excess fat remaining when they are out though!!!

Auld glad she was suitably told off hopefully A is ok and not too traumatised by it all. Very nice of her mother to call and check on him.

Wow, that's a fantastic belly!

I was also thinking about barb the other day. Not sure it would be possible unless she's still on mn. Who was her birth buddy Puzz?

Auld glad DS1's first day back went ok - at least he didn't get bitten as well! What a brave boy not crying, I would have been in floods.

My DS1 claims not to have done anything on his first day of Year One.

Babies I wouldn't worry about Kara's belly obsession at nursery - from what I can gather the nursery nurses have generally seen it all and are not surprised by much! Although biting the wheels off cars is pretty impressive....

I don't think there is a way of bringing up the mucus short of sickness - DS1 had the same problem (also CS) and threw it all up when he was a few hours old. On the plus side, with both boys it was the FF top up that caused the sickness, and neither of them needed another one, so they didn't throw up any of the precious colostrum, and in fact didn't even take in the FF! (Not that FF is harmful in itself, I just didn't want it to interfere with establishing BF).

I was a bit cross as I'd felt a bit coerced into it, but in the grand scheme of things they both became championship breast feeders and it now seems like a very tiny issue, so although I would say stick to your guns, it's also worth keeping perspective on it - if they do it through a tube then there's no risk of nipple confusion. Sounds like I'm sitting on the fence, doesn't it!

Auld I want weekends that start on Thursdays! Back at work today after a week off and I SOOOOOOOOOOOOO don't want to be there.

Helloooooo Conker!

Ooh, I've just been on FB for the 1st time in ages and seen Frekkles' wedding photos! Lovely, happy ending...

Auld - That does sound as though it was handled in the best possible way.

SW - Clearly you can't keep a good woman down for long.

MrsFossil was Barbs buddy.

Hello everyone!
Sorry we missed the meet up, I hope you had a lovely time.
SeniorWrangler, were you really the top first in your year?! Gosh, how impressive. I didn't realise you did Maths, I thought you were some sort of social science.

Auld, lovely to hear from you. Yes, the Frekkles pictures are gorgeous, aren't they!

BB - good luck with everything. I think you are right to be tough about what you want. I struggled with this in various ways before the birth of dd2 but eventually (at 39 weeks) realised it was the only way.

(Did I tell you all my birth story? I had a CS booked when she was breech, then cancelled, then an induction booked, and then a natural birth in the end at 41 + 2)

We are all well here. I have a KIT day at work tomorrow which is a little scary. dd2 is deliciously chubby and smiley. dd1 told me today she was "a big girl" but when I asked her age she said, "2 weeks".

No, I most certainly was not the top first in my year, I came 5th in my year at music college (or thereabouts, anyway). And despite the fact the DfE seem determined to list me as a qualified maths teacher in their records, and refuse to be disabused of this fact, I have not studied maths past O'Level, which I took early and in which subject I have a Grade B, although I am really quite good at stats and did one term's Additional Maths in the Upper Fifth before dropping it to do more music instead. I also have two social science higher degrees.

Glad we have cleared that up

Aha!
SW, I need your advice re i-pods for duffers.
Have started a thread in geeky stuff, to my shame, but then thought you might be able to help.
Are you at home? Can I phone you? Have wasted hours trying to get the damn thing to work...

Hi vezzie!!!

In now - you can try ringing. Felix is watching CBeebies after a morning of fingerpainting and marching with tambourines and maracas to the sound of me playing Yellow Submarine on the piano. (Knackered now).

Any news from BB or Conker?

They have gone very quiet, haven't they?

I am currently having a hamster crisis.

I can't help with the hamster issue, I'm afraid, SW. I'd be tempted to get rid of the creature, but I'm in a bit of a "there are enough hassles in life without adding more" mood.

Hope BB and Conker are doing well. And the new mums are hanging in there, knowing that the crying and sleepless nights do come to an end.

Dare I ask for more insights into how other April 2009 babies are doing on the potty training front?

DS1 did it without any hassle, so I am woefully unprepared for A, who just doesn't get it. CM and I agreed to stop trying before summer holidays, as it seemed to be causing him some anxiety. He has gone bare-bummed a bit, but frankly never done much in the potty or toilet, other than a few pees chez CM and a few pooey farts (TMI!) chez Auld.

Yesterday CM & I decided to bite the bullet, and he went into pants. Peed in pants in the morning, peed and pooed in pants in the afternoon. Fab result.

This morning I was busy with DS1 and realised A had slipped upstairs v quietly. Found him behind his cot (where he has never gone before, was as if he was hiding, he'd pulled it out away from the wall and was between it and the wall), with poo in nappy and therefore also on carpet. Barf. Cleaned up, told him we don't poo on carpet as it's dirty, showered him off, went out.

Asked several times while out if needed pee/poo, to no avail.

Came home, he peed on the terrace as soon as I left him alone for a mo.

This afternoon, got up from nap (w nappy on), and before I could change him into pants, phone rang. I came back, he said "poo" and went to the loo. Poo was in nappy, plopped into toilet when I pulled nappy down. He looked very relieved and said "good boy, Mummy?" in such a hopeful little voice.

DH's suggestions:

1. stress him out, tell him off, be really strict I pointed out that he is already stressed about it.
2. get him constipated so he has to push and feels what's happening

My feeling: he's not really ready. I'll give it 2 weeks and if there is no progress shelve Project Potty for a month or two.

God, if you have read that poo-ridden screed, you deserve a medal.

Any ideas?

Every time he sits on the loo or potty and has a go, give him a chocolate button. that's my tactic.

Right, I'll have a scout and see what the local equivalent is, then.

Oh yes, and go mad with joy and excitement whenever he remotely gets it right, for example when the poo ended up in the toilet you could have applauded and said what a good boy he was to get it in there (even if it was by accident).

There is also a great book available on Amazon called Pirate Pete. Chris Evans mentioned it on air, so sales have gone mental, but it really is an excellent potty training book for boys. It has a button to press that makes it cheer at the end of every page.

Pirate Pete

Do you want me to post you some chocolate buttons?

This potty is also excellent for boys as it has a good willy guard and is very solid

Don't worry about the buttons, I can do smarties or sth similar. Thanks for offering, though!
I'm v impressed with willy guard potty, the French are still a bit simplistic in their approach to such matters, and anatomical subtleties have passed them by...
Book looks excellent, just the ticket, will see if I can get doting Scottish grandmother to track it down in a real bookshop, or wait till the Evans Effect subsides.

Re books, I have been reading the Enchanted Wood & the Magic Faraway Tree to DS1. Handmedowns from a colleague. Enid Blyton did like the adjective "queer" rather a lot. I can't bring myself to read it, keep replacing it with "strange", "odd", "peculiar". Stupid really, as if I want to update vocab, I should say "weird", but it doesn't fit in with the whole "ooh, I say Dick, cried Fanny, do let's climb up that frightfully high tree" thang.

DS1 loves them. Not helping him speak like a native 6yr old, though...!

Have just sneaked a look on Amazon (should be preparing lecture on rise of the novel. yawn) to see if they have the 3rd in the Faraway Tree series. From the blurb it seems Bessie and Fanny have become Beth and Frannie.

DS1 will freak if the characters change names half way through. Bet they speak differently an' all, y'know, all modern, like.
Must get doting grandma to trawl charity shops for old editions...!

I didn't know there was more than one Faraway Tree book!

Oh, God, yes.
The Enchanted Wood
The Magic Faraway Tree
(these are 2 I inherited from colleague. Read the 2nd one first by mistake, but DS1 quite likes it that way round, he says).

Acc to Amazon there is also The Faraway Folk. I can't wait. Think I'll maybe avoid it and slip on to the Famous Five/Secret Seven. They are OK to read aloud to a 6yr old, aren't they?

I loved the magic faraway tree!

Off to Arran next week then potty training starts in earnest so watching your progress with interest AA. I have a feeling ours is going to go the same way.....

hello all

I am still here and STILL pg! These babies are comfy! Have a CS booked in as my placenta is now firmly wedged in the exit hole (how lovely) so just counting down the days to 38 weeks now!

Auld we have also stopped as he isn't ready. He will follow you to the toilet, give you paper and want to flush and he will occasionally wee in the potty if it's in the middle of the room and he is naked. He hates pooing and weeing in the nappy and stops and looks all awkward when he is doing it but point blank refuses to do it in the potty / toilet of his own accord. Also with the twins coming and where he stopped speaking when my sisters baby was born, the HV and I both feel this could be something he focuses on to control when they arrive so i have decided to wait until they are here and then gradually bring it back in.

Other than that not much with us. K started nursery last week and has HUGE separation issues. I am having a bit of a battle with them and how they deal with his delayed speech and tears when mummy drops him off but think we have finally come round a corner and seem to have agreed on the best way ahead (after they saw today that my way worked and theirs didn't!! ). Not that I like to be right or anything...

Hope everyone is ok - SW just seen your PM will come back over the weekend.

Dxx

Oh. I saw your name and got all excited. Sorry you have a tricky exit hole.

I am very excited this evening as I have been making plans to meet some old friends soon, one of whom I haven't seen since she moved to Oz 5 years ago. My ex used to call us the toxic twins so should be a fun evening.