Nov 05 Babies - They're ALL here!

[Rodeo]

Here we go, was going to write something lovely and meaningful, but I'm not very good at it so I'll leave that to someone else.....

Enjoy your meet-ups girls - we definitely want pictures.

Off to bed now as tomorrow Tessa starts pre-school. I'm quite emotional about it, she is excited.

Morning all

Sorry girls but I won't be there today, am pretty knackered after a weekend away, wentup to Shrewbury and Bradford, staying overnight in bradford to see friends and family. Got back last night at about 6, which wasn't too bad but the house is a bombsight and I might well be coming to Manchester, and if so we will be leaving tomorrow evening so I have loads of prep to do for that. Wil def come to the next one though!!!! Promise!!!!!!

Weekend away was great, Sam was fab on journey and in hotel, complete angel. We even managed a meal in the hotel with him and he still slept through despite the change to his routine. Mind you I did keep things the same as I possible could. This has given me even more confidence for Manchester!!!!!

If we did come up we would be in Warrington on Wednesday, Liverpool on Thursday and Manchester on Friday, anyone around for a cuppa in those places on those days?????

ChaCha - glad to hear things are going much better now and that Zayn is a happy chappy. Would love to come up and see you next week, I am free Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday any of these days good for you?

I am glad to hear are some other bounce addicts out there. I am trying really hard to get off the bouncing but he sleeps so well once we have bounced him off. I only bounce until he is alseep and then he is fine. He loves sleeping in the car as well.

Nova - I tried doing prints using paint of Sam's hands and feet. Got great feet ones but no chance on hands got more paint on both of us than on the paper!!!!!

I think my milk is now drying up - anyone know whether this would happen or not as I thought it was supply and demand and that as long as Sam wanted some I would make as much as he wanted. My reasons for thinking it is drying is that he feeds for about 7 gulps on my breast and then gets really agitated hitting the breats and headbutting it then sucking again, but no swallowing follows, then he bobs on and bobs off, tries again but still no swallowing. I did a yield test yesterday but didn't even manage 1floz. Also this morning I haven't bf and they don't feel any different to normal despite now going nearly 12 hours without feeding from them. I was bf six times a day for about 10 mins but now Sam only manages about 3 mins before going mad!! What do you think?

What does everyone think of Jimmy Saville entering the CB house???? I only watched a tiny bit of him before he really freaked me out and I turned off!!!!!

Right - sorry if I haved missed anyone

Enthusia and Sam 9 weeks

Hi everyone,

I can't believe it. Ds2 is unwell, and I can't go to lunch today. Am so sorry BEKs and JenJam, I see Enthusia can't come either, feel crappy to let you down. Even considered bringing ds with me until I looked at him shivering away under 2 duvets whilst fully dressed. Then thought maybe I could ask you here, but seems you might all get what kids have and that wouldn't do. Poor fella, nasty growly throat too. Really hope dd1 doesn't get it before her op tomorrow, can't bear it! Was reallly looking forward to lunch out meeting you guys today, and sorry to blow you out at such short notice. .

Londoner, just logged on to check if things were ok for today, lucky I did. Hope ds2 is feeling better and that dd1 manages to keep it at bay until after the op tomorrow. Hope that goes well too by the way, i'll be thinking of you both.

Right best go and get ready as don't want to be late meeting Jenjam, speak to you all later Beks

Morning everyone!
Sorry to hear about ds being so poorly Londoner. How frustrating for you (and him of course!) - fingers crossed that dd doesn't get it! Sounds like you will have your hands full this week!
ENTHUSIA!: good to hear that you can come up North!, though shame about mssing your meet-up today. I live in Warrington, so could easily meet up on the Wednesday, although I will have dd2 with me on that day, as well as LIbby. Alternatively, I could meet up (and possibly so could Twinkle?) in Manchester on the Friday, when I would just have the baby. A further option would maybe me coming to see you for a hour or so in your hotel (the Village?) for a quick coffee, as dd2 is a bit of a time bomb at the moment!). Let me know what you think - don't want to overwhelm you!
Tessasmum: good luck with the pre-school. She will be FINE .
Nova: lol at hand/foot prints . She will love hearing the story when she is older!

thats what i thought Diege - it'll be a funny story in years to come.

Enthusia - i think the idea of jimmy is better than the reality. It didn't really work did it? it's better off left in the depths of nostalgia.

looking forward to the cinema today.

have fun at your meet-ups everyone x

Londoner - Sorry to hear that DS is poorly. What op is your DD having? I must have missed that!

Enthusia - Wednesday sounds good to me. Will confirm at weekend. Well done on all the visits up North!! In the words of Jenjam I try to get about the best I can pretending that I'm really not restricted at all, but alas..not the case! Good for you!

Nova - I like the idea of prints.
I hope you don't mind me asking, you had mentioned your mum before Christmas. Is she okay? I hope that everything will be alright. No need to comment btw, thinking of you, that's all.

Enjoy the meet up girls x

Oh Tessasmum - Hope all goes well for you tomorrow.

Morning guys,

Don't want to upset anyone (especially on a Monday morning!) but wondered if you'd seen this, I have emailed this morning and wondered if anymore of you wanted to do the same.

It is upsetting though so please be warned

protest against lenient sentences

Thanks for informing us of this Rodeo - truly shocking stuff. Will send e-mail.
Diege

Afternoon,

What miserable weather! Just a day of laundry and tidying up today.

Nova, I've always wondered how those clay things work, you can get bronzes cast of them to can't you? You must have to get them in a deep sleep first or drug them! Natalie's bedtime routine sounds great! Just put Jess down again last night and she drifted off after a bit of crying. Yippee!

Chacha, I've just been reading through some of the bf threads, I'm sorry things have been so tough for you lately. I am glad you've got plenty of advice too, Tiktok's brill! Hope things go well for you tomorrow, I'm sure you'll be rewarded with a nice weight gain and some peace of mind

Londoner, poor ds, hope he gets better soon. Good luck to you and dd for tomorrow, I'm sure things will go smoothly for you all. Going to have a look at you're new pics now!

Tessasmum, I bet Tessa loved her first day of pre-school! Is it a school nursery or a playgroup? Joe goes to a playgroup at the church hall and has just started to enjoy it. Think girls are ready for it sooner than boys though. How old is Tessa now?

Enthusia, Sam sounds very content Not sure about the bf, I fed Joe just at nights and first thing when he got to about 5 months, it went down gradually but there was always some there when he fed. Maybe you could start a quick thread on the bf bit? Would be a shame to give up completely seeing how much you overcame with your mastitis and cracked nips!

Hope you've had a lovely lunch Jen & Beks!

Crossed post Diege that's ok, glad you're going to e-mail. It says that the more people complain in 28 days the more likely they'll be to review it. It's worth a try. My BIL is a barrister in Birmingham so I might ask him, not the kind of topic one would like to discuss with their BIL though is it?

It's really awful and shocking, hope I haven't offended anyone with it

Diege - whatever is easiest for you really. I think we will be at the village, we were last time. Will know tonight. It would be great to see twinkle too. Will text her as she hasn't been on as often. When in Warrington I tend to spend most my time in Starbucks so could meet there, will let you know what twinkle says.

Rodeo - thanks might well do a thread after I have fed LO - I have been doing the formula and bf for about 5 weeks now so it might be the end for me. My breasts still feel the same now, so I don't think there's anything there.

ChCha - Wednesday would be fine, just let me know!!!!

Just seen the pics Londoner! You and dh look lovely, dp would love to take the kids to Glasto! And you look really young! (Not that I imagined you to look old, well older, god, shut up woman )

Afternoon! ENTHUSIA: Srarbucks would be great for me (but take hot water in a flask if you have A bottle, as they won't give it out (only scalding coffee!!). I would need to leave 2ish, to get dd1 from school, but pretty flexibke up to that time. Of course, if it's easier for Twinkle, then Friday mught be better in Manchester? (here I go again!! - probably best to see what Twinkle thinks .
Wish I could access these pictures, as I'm really curious to see what everyone looks like - shallow woman that I am . So now I'm thinking LOndoner is a really young Mary (as in William and Mary) - sort of late teens; not that I thought you were old(er) of course, god now it's my turn ..!!!

Afternoon girls, lol at all the foot in mouth comments this afternoon, keep it up!!

Jenjam, thanks for coming all the way from N. London to meet me today, it was really good to meet you, hope you got back ok. Finn is absolutely adorable, what a contented little guy, you've obviously got this parenting lark sussed.

Londoner, hope your ds is feeling better & that all goes ok tomorrow you've certainly had a bit of a week of it haven't you.

Nova was it the Magic Custard stuff that you used with Natalie? Sounds like you had fun making a mess.

Tesamum did Tessa enjoy her first day? Did you enjoy having some time alone with Ash? I can assure you your heart will melt the first time Tessa comes out with a painting or picture for you - just don't ask her what it's supposed to be

Right best go and play with Ben, hope everyone else is well Beks

I can't see anything about Magic Custard on the tin Beksmum, It was a gift so I'm not sure where it was from. Really glad we've done it now.

Well the cinema was a success, and I've booked my ticket for next week. It was like walking into a Bugaboo showroom though - gotta love those Notting Hill mummies !! I was glad I'd taken Nat in her carrier though as it would have been a nightmare waiting to get out with the buggy.

Chacha - thanks for your kind thoughts. You're in Oxford right? Maybe I could tag along on wednesday along with Enthusia as it's quite easy to get out onto the A40 from my house? Don't want to invite myself if you have plans, but just a thought??

LOL Nova at 'Bugaboo showroom' . I can imagine! A bit like that round here, with the ladies- who- lunch 'Cheshire set'; can't move in the 'village' for the red ones, though they seem oddly unselfconscious about it! Glad I got a Jane, although it's red too!
Quiet on here tonight! Hopefully everyone is meaningfully engaged in novels/getting an early night/watching ER! Re: CBB, think Preston is pushing it a bit with Chantelle - what would you think if you were his girlfriend .
Well, time for bed!
Diege and Liberty

I think I'd do what Pete said - cut off his dick!!! Seriously, I can't tolerate people who mess around with relationships like that.

Evening everyone and thank you for your support. Needless to say Tessa was absolutely fine at pre-school, just a few tears after I left, and has talked of little else all day
I also confess to a few tears on the way home, it felt as though she was taking her first step into the big outside world away from us, the beginning of her independence.

BEKS - didn't really get to spend that much time with Ash as he slept for most of it! Did get some exercise though as, true to form, I had to rush to be there on time to pick Tessa up. I now know I can make it in 12 minutes if really pushed but will arrive out of breath and nursing a stitch
Did think of you and the power walking Golden, could have done with a foot massage afterwards though did get homemade soup when we eventually made it back - MUCH slower on the way home as we go at Tessa's 'explore everything' pace

Karma - would be very interested in anything you find out about milk production over the course of the day. I used to try and express throughout the day last time but found the same as you-fine in the morning, nothing by evening. This time I haven't even bothered expressing other than first thing. Ash seems to drink me dry every evening (definitely deflated boobs syndrome!) but by morning both sides are well-filled and I have him on the left side and express from the right (never could get the hang of expressing left-handed!) Only started when he began sleeping through and I was waking up with that 'pined to the bed by weight of boobs' feeling

ChaCha - think you are doing brilliantly with the bf btw. I know it can be a real struggle at times, especially when they seem to want feeding ALL the time. I can remember sitting in one particular chair in our living room for almost 2 days with Tessa - my bum got REALLY numb and its a lovely soft chair. I didn't venture out at all until it had calmed down so I'm very impressed at your excursions. Glad you are getting more sleep now, it really makes a difference.

Londoner - are you a Glastonbury regular? I went the 2 years running that it rained! Loved it but got very fed up of the mud and haven't been back. Might try again when Ash is a bit older.

Right better go and get some sleep as my lovely boy, who has slept through for over a week, decided that he wanted a feed at 3.30am this morning, then his sister had a bad dream about 5am! Mummy needs her beauty sleep.
Night night

That should read 'pinned to the bed"

Ok little emotional here so sorry if I upset or anger anyone but need to get this question answered.

Am I really a bad mother for not exclusively breastfeeding Sam? Is he going to turn into an overweight, ill, stupid man? Is breast milk that critical that I have basically written off the rest of his future becuase at the moment that is how it feels!

Everyone else in my group of RL PG people are now BF (I know this is great) but they look at me (and my other bottle feeding friend) with pity and ay things like 'oh is that a bottle, can I have a look we haven't had to use one of them yet!' then you feel as if you have to justify your actions with big long explanations. I have a HV coming to day to in her words 'sort out my feeding problem' becuase Sam is gaining a lot of weight. She is convinced now that I should give up bf because the bottle after the bf is making him fat. Tried it yesterday and he was hungry and just wouldn't settle. She is now saying about restricting his food. Are you f*ing joking, who would like to spend a day with hungry Sam? Ohhh no hands what a suprise?!

Then I get given things to read about how great breast milk is in postnatal groups and during talks about the benefits of breast milk to hv turns to me and says 'well at least you had a go' or 'at least he got some'. Things come up in these talks about how less intelligent bottle fed babies are, how ill they get and how they can get obese so easily. Then they turn to me and say, 'but I'm sure that won't happen to you'. Even people when I am out look at me with the bottle, esp bf mums. First i BF and then I bottle, the first look is 'ahh a soul mate' and then 'oh no she is using a dreaded bottle'.

Am I really the spawn of satan, should I just tell Sam now to give up as he may as well as his Mum has already ruined his life? Is breast milk really that f*ing important and if so why don't they just keep you in your house under house arrest with a bodyguard making sure you are breast feeding. Why don't they just ban formula? That would be easier!

I gave up bf because Sam would not settle, nomatter how I much I fed him, because I was sore, ill and sinking further and further within myself.

Surely a happy mum feeding formula is better than a mum sinking into depression becuase she feels she has to breast feed?

Right feel a bit better now. Sorry if that angered or upset anyone but I worke up so upset about all of this and the HV is coming at 2 and I just feel crap. Really felt I needed to talk to someone about this and you, well your'e all just the best at listening and advice.

Hope this hasn't put you off meeting me this week Diege and Twinkle, I am not a mad women honest, just an incensed, upset, worried one. They call that kind of women a mother don't they?

OMG Enthusia! I can't believe what you have been putting yourself through - you are doing so well, and to have to put up with that sort of abuse from post-natal group is horrendous! We're not living in the middle ages, and you must do what feels right for you. I certainly would take their comments about bottle feeding causing ill health and obesity with a mountain of salt - perhaps if your baby was premature there would be a definite benefit, but the most important thing is to be able to be a relaxed, happy and confident mum, regardless of what method of feeding you are using. Sounds like some of the other mums in your group are a little insecure if they feeel they have to pass judgement on you like that!!!
Don't worry Enthusia, just hold on in there, hold your head up high and know that you've got a beautiful baby that has the best mum . Me and Twinkle will sort you out!
BTW, thinking now Manchester might be better for me as I had forgotten about Weds jo jingles class! I could cancel the class, and bluff it to dd2, but if Friday was just as easy it may be better (plus we could have a better chat without constant toddler interruptions!).
Hope this helps a bit - I went through it too with dd1 at my breast feeding support group, though not to the extent you're suffering. As with all stresses in life, you'll soon be on to the next one (you wait till solids!). Take care ,
Diege.

Thanks so much Deige, feeling much better now, just getting it off my chest helped. Have been bottling it up for so long and little things have just been adding daily. Never thought I could feel such a failure about feeding.

Manchester would be great for me, or you could do both. Apparently I will be in Warrington from 8am until about 5pm!!!!!! Wow that's a lot of tea in Starbucks!!!! I have text Twinkle, no reply yet though.

Just read your message again Diege and wanted to send a big hug for making me feel so much better, logical brain is clicking back in place slowly!

Oh God Enthusia, I completely agree with Enthusia, don't torment yourself! Sam is completely happy the way things are going. The first few weeks are the most important and he got loads of that. He needs you to be happy foremost that is the most important thing, please don't worry yourself. And tell the hv to stick it, you don't need a blithering idiot trying to undermine your confidence because it has taken a knock lately (by the breastapo . Trust your instincts, you're doing very well, these first few months are really hard for us all. And if bf is making you unhappy then stop, it's simple as that Hope your day gets better x x x