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.....

Aggh..! what a morning, got up at 5.30am, fed alfie till 7am, got alex up/dressed/breakfasted, ran out the house at 8am, pegged it to my friends house on the opposite side of town, dropped them off, explained rountines, dashed back into town, had hair done at 9am, dashed back to mates house, fed alfie, ran back into town for 11.30am, had makeup done, got back to mates house at 1.20pm, then back up home to quickly wizz round and tidy toast up off the floor and random items of clothing etc lol....photographer arrived dead on 2pm, had pics done, just put boys down for nap, can now breath........phew! hehehe, will catch up on posts tonight sometime, L x

my goodness ladies, what energy boosters are you all on!! I need a nap after just reading what you've all been up to.

Met a nice mum at Gymboree today so hopefully she'll be coming back. Natalie however was a little poo head, and didn't want to do anything. She's having a very tired day and wants to do a lot of sleeping (and i'm complaining about this because...??).

Rodeo - how can you miss the final!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chacha - DH is desperate to start trying for another baby, and I keep flipping between wanting and not wanting to. Have started again on the folic acid though.

I second nova- you have all made me feel very lazy , i was proud of myself for managing to go shopping and then cart three bags, oskar and the pram back up two flights of stairs ( who needs gym membership!?) hehe
Nova was it you who said a friend is pregnant and you got twangs of jealousy?
i saw my friend jasmine on sunday and she revealed she is 13 weeks, I felt pretty strange about it, isn't it odd?

to be honest, i'm with chacha, as lovely as it would be to have children close in age it's far too much to cope with at the moment with just oskar, especially if i got bad spd again i wouldn't be able to do anything.

Hi all,

Brokeback Mountain was great, really enjoyed it, sorry you couldn't make it BoB - well done on the N-Power thing..... don't feel bad about them hearing baby crying, it was their fault that Oskar was crying in the first place as you had to be on the phone to them!
ChaCha - apparently bf uses more calories than being pg, am also eating loads and expect to get bigger again before I get smaller again as you build up reserves for all that milk, have heard it referred to as 'milk fat' by professionals.......hth.
Nova - great to hear you sounding so chipper, glad you met a potential mum friend. Wow, how lovely having such a broody husband, is it nice or is it a bit of a pressure? Is it hard to know your own mind when your dh is so keen? Never been in that situation myself. My mum had my elder sister and I 14 months apart, she's Irish and it's a situation more commonly known as Irish twins, lol! My sister and I fought like cat and dog as young children but have been very close ever since early teens.
Busy - you crazy lady! What a day! How did the pics go in the end?
Rodeo - hope you enjoy work tonight.
Diege - hope you had a good day with your friend? When is that extended bf programme on d'you know? Fascinating!
Wow, just realised I've had a day with no sick children! Hooray! And it's the weekend, double Hooray!
Have a great weekend all!

Nova - lol at you calling Natalie a poo head lol that's what my 2 middle children call eachother, you are funny.

Hi all,

Well I had my meeting with my company and it looks like we're going to settle for redundancy and I'll get a decent package to go away rather than all the bother of lawyers & tribunals. We're still negotiating a figure, but I think it will be enough to allow me not work until N is 9 months or so. I'm more relieved that the whole thing is over than the money, but the money will come in handy .

ChaCha - I do about a 50/50 bf/formula mix and give him about 4 oz a feed - it is trial and error, but he'll only eat as much as he's hungry for and although starting out as a big baby he's now quite small for his age so I'm thinking of upping the amount he gets, as he empties the bottle pretty much every time. I also express the breastmilk during the day so I know how much he's getting and as I don;t seem to produce much at night I can give him the expressed bottle. I always put him on the breast for his first feed each day and make sure he gets a good 20-25 min feed. Hope this helps??

DH is in the States for his mother's funeral so I'm a single mum for the next week - wonder what mischief I can get up to ...

Hope all is well with everyone.

J xx

You alright Golden?

Evening everyone! Well, I was feeling tired, but even more so now reading others' posts, esp. Enthusia and Beksmum !!.
Day out with friend was good, though train trip on return not so good. Had to take an extra train back home, adding another 50 (yes 50!!) minutres to my journey, all because the closer station has steps that are impossible for a buggy - the staff won't help me anymore with the pram apparently because of 'health and safety!!! Worked out I could have got to London quicker on the Virgin express! Oh well, must make sure it doesn't put me off going out again, and just grit my teeth . Certainly spurring me on with the driving lessons though!
Glad ypu're feeling a little better after the tablets Rodeo - maybe they'll have the final on in the pub?
Londoner: yah, a day without poorly babies . Think the breast-feeding thing in on chanel 4 next Thursday. Bet we'll all be watching it .
Congrats LilJ on work deal!!! Bet you're gald it been resolved at least, and seems to fit in with your plans ok.
OH, and I have 'Irish twins' Love it! Don;t think I'll have another set though! .
Well, off to parents this weekend in Wales, so will catch up on MOnday!
Take care everyone, and speak soon!
Diege
ooh, final back on!

Yeah, congrats on sorting out those cheapskates LilJ, now you can relax and enjoy your time out with Nathaniel, yay!
Hey Diege, did you mention coming to London? We should all meet up in Hyde Park or someting in the summer for a massive picnic, hundreds of babies crawling everywhere, and maybe a few more baby bumps by the sound of things too.....
Saw a link about the bf programme and one of the women said something along the lines of 'whatever will they think up next...' for a (voyeuristic) tv show and suggested " Breast Feeding Big Brother - please report to the Dairy Room" lol!

Hi Londoner - been busy with some community work and had lots of visitors so no time to log on.

Anyone fancy meeting up next week?

Hi Golden, not you as well! Doing 3 milllion things at once that is, how on earth are you finding a gap in your day for Community work? Superwoman! How's the slimming going this week, feel completely bonkers asking you this when you're bf twin boys!
Busy weekend ahead with family stuff so best get started.... feeling lazy as E slept from 11pm-5am was up until 6am and then back to sleep between 6 and 10am... yay, that's 11 hours apart from the hour feed at 5......... feels great!
BoB, BEKs, Enthusia, Nova, anyone else? How about meet up at 12 midday at Zero Degrees Pizza Restaurant in Blackheath village this coming Thursday? E has jabs on Wednesday afternoon and BoB and Nova have Gymboree thing on Friday..... BEKs does this fit in around your nursery routine?

Just a quick post will catch up properly later but my dh is driving me nuts this morning so can't concentrate.

Londoner, Thursday sounds good to me as long as you ladies don't mind me bringing Ben along as well as he's not at pre-school on a Thursday.
Like Elizabeth Thomas has his jabs on Wednesday afternoon too, he should have had them this week but the cold got to him first.

Have a great weekend all. Beks

Haha! LOL at Poohead too Nova! Me and my sis used to call each other that when we were little!

Picnic in Hyde Park sounds fab Londoner! We should definitely do that!! They'll be crawling all over the place!! Wish I lived a bit closer to London! Looking forward to Meadowhall though

Cold loads better today, so work was fine! Don't worry Nova/Diege, got regular text updates from my sis and dp!! So glad Chantelle won! Sorry everyone but I love her!! I'll get over it, haha

Beks, hope dh doesn't do your head in too much today, the pest

Nova, me and my sister are 3 years apart and have always been really really close and were really good playmates, think it depend more on the childrens personalities rather than age gaps

Jess had a poo explosion this morning that dp dealt with. You should have heard the palaver coming from the bathroom 'OH JESUS, IT'S EVERYWHERE! YOU SHOULD COME AND SEE THIS (?).... IT'S RIGHT UP HER SHOULDERS.... BLOODY HELL!.... WIPES! WHERE ARE THE WIPES??... URGH, IT'S ON ME....' I'd gone momentarily deaf though so was unable to help out

Right dp has offered to do weekly shop with all children in tow do I feel mean enough to let him go through with it?!

Londoner - DH looks after boys when I do my community stuff, but I need to get a nanny pronto for a few hours a week to free me up.

Started my fitness routine yesterday - so knackered today. Got an eye infection too so don't look very glam at the moment. 3rd week of diet. I weigh in on Tues. Only lost 1lb last week. Hope it's more than than this time.

Ok am angry now!!! My old school didn't even have the decency to tell me they weren't calling me for interview. Just did nothing and I heard third hand from a friend at the school who had to ask the secretary covertly. Don't really mind not getting job, but what cowards. Apparently it was becuase I wanted to change the school and take it forward too much so would oppose the head on some matters. Bloody cowards.

Ok feel better now

Thanks for listening.

Enthusia - very for you, how rude ! What will you do now?

Diege you must be on mumsnet too much if you're dreaming about it!

Enthusia - it is quite normal for the evening to be a 'fussy time' as they call it here I think. Must be hard for you though - bet you're good at the one handed eating

Love the poem beks!

BoB - love your 'set off with all the baby junk' phrase - perfectly describes why i can't wait to get home from the USA as I have to do that about 5 times a day everyday here (eating out has its downfalls )

ChaCha - I dreamt I wa bfing Caleb and he was 11 years old, but not a full grown man!!

Nova - ditto on DH getting up earlier to spend time with baby - he now has his play half-hour everymorning, and the evening is peace beautiful peace!

NPower = BAD customer service. they sent us to the people who send you red letters for not paying our bill that they mischarged us, and kept saying they'd fix it and kept not fixing it. We switched to scottish power online.

Cha Cha - same with the appetite, and I've only lost 5lb since being here, and still have 30 to lose!!!!!!!!!!!!! How soon can you generally get pg again if bfing? I don't mean the rare cases, but the normal ones?

Anyone know what age their eyes become the colour they will be permanently? And their hair? Cos Caleb is almost 3 months now and has brown hair and blue eyes - i didn't even know that was possible!!

He is REALLY smiley now - i almost don't want to put him to bed cos its such fun playing with him! Got to go to Northern California for a 5 day trip tomorrow, ugh. Just the thought of travelling all day in between bfing, then staying at a hotel and having to set up the cot, then going again next morning, then setting it up again when we're there, then a 14hr trip back al in one day. Anyway must be content at least we get to see our nieces and get a tour of the jelly bean factory

J (F's mum! I don't know your nickname...). We met at the 1st time mums group. I finally got around to looking at this chat stuff...
What happenned last wednesday? The talk was so so interesting, but we all ended up going for sweets afterwards. You should have seen the waiter's face. 7 mums with buggies invading his place...
Anyway, how are you set for this week? Maybe we could do coffee after the wednseday meeting.

beartime=both me+dp have brown hair+eyes, my parents have brown hair and brown eyes, dps dad was brown hair and has brown eyes, dps mum has mousy blonde hair and green eyes-
alex has mousy blonde hair and blue eyes and so far so does alfie.

See here-

Nearly all Caucasian infants have blue eyes. This is mainly due to the fact that there are very few "melanocytes", or pigment cells, in the iris. And those melanocytes that are present contain very little pigment. In black and brown races the iris stroma is more dense and the melanocytes contain more pigment, giving rise to a blue-gray appearance. In all races, the pigment cells multiply as the child grows but if the cells contain little to no pigment the eye will stay relatively blue. Most Caucasian babies, though certainly not all, are born with dark gray-blue eyes that can take weeks or months to reveal their true color. Many African-American, Asian, and Hispanic babies are born with dark gray-brown eyes that don't change color significantly, but some may start out with hazel eyes that get darker as they approach 6 months.

Basically, the eye color you see after age 6 to 9 months will probably stick around, although some children who start out with blue eyes can end up with green eyes after a few years

hth x

Evening everyone! Got back from weekend in Wales, which was pretty stress-free and enjoyable, apart from Libby not taking too kindly to the travel cot (kept wedging her head against the net, and rubbing it ).
LOL Rodeo at DH changing nappy - very reminiscent of the (occasional) scenario here when DH rolls his sleeves up, esp frantic calls for wipes , and claims that it's the worst nappy she's ever done (like he can make such a judgement having changed 3 - yes 3 - of her nappies!!! ...you can tell you've touched a nerve . Hope you made him do the shop!
Can't remember who said it, but agree, 'yeahhh'for Chantelle!! Bit of a dim-wit, but so nice with it..was hoping she would win - loved the dress too .
Enthusia - what a cheek your school has , you must be livid. A least you have some time to explore other opportunities, but I'm sure it'll take some time before you can leave this one (the sort of thing you find yourself getting angry over at 3 in the morning, and then even crosser that they've made you so angry!)
Golden: I start proper SW classes tommorrow, having started well following the Green day 'principles'on my own, but then failing miserably. Have eaten up my supply of go-ahead yogurt-breaks so I can start with a clear conscience! . Have a stone and a half to lose .
LOndoner - don't tempt me with a London meet-up, I'll be on the train before you know it . When I pass my test I'll be there, but not sure if I would be up to train journey! I will be in LOndon for work in June for a day or two, so maybe could see a few of the Londoners then (as long as it's pretty close to Euston, knowing what my sense of direction is like ).
Well, getting CBB withdrawal symtoms...what can I watch now!
Diege and Liberty .

Enthusia - I would be so cross - how rude of them not to even have the decency to let you know. Still, at least you know exactly where you stand with them now grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Diege - I can't get to SW classes, they are very local but I'm so tired in the evenings there is just no chance. I've got the books and am trying to do it on my own. I think I am following principles well - but I only lost 1lb last week, and I don't think I have lost anything this week - so I'm doing something wrong. Maybe we should start a SW thread?

Would love to meet up when you are in London - I will be back at work then so it will be easy for me.

morning all, hope you had lovely weekends.

enthusia thats awful! how are the rest of you taking a break from a job doing? i can imagine it's often frustrating to be left out of decisions and miss out on important information.

we went to zerodegrees in blackheath for lunch yesterday, the talk of it the other day got me craving their pear and gorgonzola pizza..yum yum.

• we should plan a meet up, thusday is good for me.

i also took loads of photos with our new camera, but having loaded them onto the pc they are all either brilliant white or dark grey vaguely baby shaped blobs - must learn how to adjust the settings! hehee

goldenoldie, for a diet my mum swears by the south beach diet. i don't think it's too restrictive or difficult to prepare either.

i'm planning to get oskar a sling today so i can actually get the tube without annoying loads of people with my monster suv of a pram
can anyone advise which is best? i like the look of the baby bjorn ones, but i want one in red and can't find them anywhere.

Morning everyone! Had a good night (7 hours!), so feeling reasonably refreshed, though the more sleep I have, the more tired I feel - strange I know!
BOB: I have a baby bjorn sling, that's done for all 3 babies. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy peasy - there are helpful pictures on the actual label which is good. I agree about slings and public transport - takes a lot of the stress out of it, though what you lose it the ability to sit down with ease for any length of time, and the faff with carrying bottles/purses/keys etc. Choose it myself though over pram when faced with difficult travel .
Golden - know what you mean about SW classes - ours is two minutes walk, but at an odd time (will have to take Libby, and leave half-way through). I have been trying with the books/mags, but need the threat of public humiliation!BTW, a pound a week is really good, and will be pure fat as opposed to water. When I did it last time, I never lost more than a pound a week, and some weeks didn't lose any (a tough one). It's all about your metabolism adjusting apparently. I got to my target weight after a few months (then along came no.3...). Will let you know how I get on tonight. Oh, and a SW thread would be great..would you like to do the honours?
Well, time to start unpacking after the weekend...always the worst part!
Diege.

Morning

BoB, lol, I was thinking about that pear & g pizza in anticipation of Zero Degrees meet! Did you say Thursday was good for you too?
I would recommend the Wilkinet sling, a few of us have them on here.... although Papillon started a sling thread which is definitely worth a look
great sling thread

and also this here
Love the look of those self wrapping ones and spoke to a mum who swears by the long piece of cloth with two rings on the end, she was carrying her 13 month old on her hip with it..
Diege, glad you had a good w/end in Wales, lol at your dh & nappy changes.
Busy, v.interesting info on eye colour. My ds1 had grey/blue eyes until he was 7 when they changed to hazel and are now v.definitely dark brown! Dh and I have blue/green eyes as do all of his family but my dad had brown eyes.
Hi beartime, oops, just switched to N-Power. Good to hear you and Caleb are doing well.
Golden, where will you look for a nanny?
Rodeo, glad work was okay, lol at your dh on nappy changing too! Did you let him do the shop + kids?
BEKs, great, looks like Thursday's going to happen!
Anyone else fancy it?
JenJam, Karma, ChaCha, are you all okay?
Have a good day everyone! Aaaah, I love first thing on a Monday morning, a fresh chance to do all the things I didn't do last week.

BoB, saw this shop too, which I'm posting because it has some great (read fascinating) sling pics on it...... haven't used the shop myself.
Sling Pics