April 2011 - silence might be golden but the April ladies are diamond so chat on

[GlaikitFizzog]

Ta Dah!

Frak - hold on tight, don't get blown away!

Punch - could be, my Dad had cancerous cells on his foreskin so had to have a circumcision (which had some complications but he was fine a few weeks later) - obv he didn't tell me any of this, my Mum did. Can a man actually say the word foreskin to his daughter? Hope he's ok.

Well DH has gone out to a football match, i've enjoyed my tv + glass of wine + cat cuddles :) off to bed soon.

Sod the steak and Valentines Arch. Go to bed and just be if that is what you want to do.

It seems unfair you have to keep such a huge secret,i hope your dad feels able to talk soon.

Ruddy hell Frak, hope you're all ok. Is it causing much disruption?

I feel knackered. I have done running I haven't done running for nearly 20 years. Well, I say I've done running. I've done 2 miles of walk, run, walk, run etc. The wobbling going on when I get a speed up is a sight to behold

Oh fuck punch I am so sorry. Go to bed if you aren't already. Hugs.

Hold on tight frak

Thanks guys. i was aiming for bed but the dog just carried on going so when DH came in I took him to the emergency vets. Whilst waiting for him to get home I had worked out that while the dog was being quiet he had snuffled out the sweets that my DH had bought and hidden to give to me in the evening as a gift. Poor dog was so ill! Vet sent me home with advice of water rest, a bill and a shaking dog. I came home seared the steak and went to bed. Who says romance is dead?

Frak I hope all is well and that it passes quickly!

On the other hand poor dog had to cope with me being ill on him during the pregnancy with R, pay back?

Excellent payback punch Hope doggy is better today. And how are you? Did you get any sleep?

Thanks Outme. R is still waking at 10:30, which just needs a shush, then at 2am, she needs a feed then she's up for the day at 5:30 when she needs feed and changed and to play. Her brother will on the other hand go to bed and not be up til 9ish if I left him to his own devices.

Oh bloody hell punch :( how awful for you and your dad. It's really hard when you have to keep a secret like that and especially when you don't know all the details yourself. And trust the dog to get ill when you're already stressing out!! As for brothers, sometimes they just need to be told to sod off!! My brother is similarly doing my head in just now by dragging his heels with paying back my mum and dad what he owes them for SIL staying at the house. I don't think it's occurred to him that my dad is currently on SSP and that it would be really helpful if he just paid what he owes on time!!

Frak Hope you're all safe and sound, a cyclone sounds terrifying!

ILTMI Your running description made me :) I really need to start doing more exercise but finding it impossible now I'm back at work to even get out for walks with R in the buggy. I did so well losing my baby weight and a bit more but I think I've started to put some back on now and can't find the motivation to get it off again!!

In bug news R only had 2 episodes of diarrhoea yesterday and seems much brighter this morning so I have bitten the bullet and given her weetabix and banana for breakfast and she's gobbled it all up so I hope that's her on the mend, after 5 bloody days I've really had enough of it! She still can't go to nursery tomorrow though as she had a dirty nappy again this morning so isn't 48 hours clear. :( there's £40 down the pan!! Grrrrr.

punch I'm so sorry about your Dad, and how awful for you to not be able to talk about it. Tell you brother to sod off and grow up.

Frak Hope the roof stays on!

NBG and others with poorly babies, hugs and and sympathy.

We have all got this cold now, the boys are sleeping really badly - DS1 in particular is really quite unwell and is in and out of our room and bed several times a night so DH and I are both shattered.
In addition, T has suddenly dropped several daytime feeds. About bloody time, but the resulting over-supply has given me another bout of blocked ducts and I spent Valentines evening shivering under my patchwork quilt on the sofa!

ILike well done on the running I don't have the courage - the world isn't ready for the sight of my bum wobbling down the road

Punch sorry to hear about your Dad. Sounds like you've had a grim couple of days. Time for some ?

Punch, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad and sorry I didn't post yesterday when I first read it. As Frak said if it's in a delicate area maybe he need to speak to a man about it. FIL was a bit like that about his. He told everyone it was bowel cancer, but it was rectal I think and somewhere else I can't remember, but we only fund tht out after he finished his radiotherapy. Maybe DH can talk to him on the premise you are really worried and need to know more. As for Dbro, well you need to tell him wise up and grow a pair. And naughty dog eating your chocs!

Frak are you still in Kansas?

I have the lurgy now too , B is such a lovely sharing boy! I'm so lucky! Dh stayed off today to look after us, btu has to go back tomorrow. B is much better though, so I should only have snot to deal with from him.

My light AF has changed into a weird clotty dark bleed. I'm a bit worried about it TBH as I've never had anything like it. I'll make a app witht heGP tomorrow as I am going to ask for ADs I think. I'm in a hole, and although I can see the light at the top I need someone to throw me a rope to get there.

Sorry posted too soon, was going to say other stuff... hope poorly babies are getting better. We were back at the docs today to check up on her ear. It's still healing and still got gunk coming out of it so another appointment to check it in a couple of weeks. Fortunately it doesn't seem to be bothering her too much.
Sleep is still bad here - she woke 5 or 6 times last night but by the last one at 6.15 i refused to feed her or get out of bed. DH finally settled her at 7.15 and the alarm went off 10 minutes later :( I've decided to treat her as a mogwai and not feed her after midnight try some night weaning. The HV I spoke to today said not to feed her at all in the night but I think it's a bit much to expect her to go from every 3 hours to having to last 12 hours so I'll feed her when she wakes up to around midnight, then it's up to DH to settle her any way he can! I'm expecting we'll crack at some point but if we use feeding as a last rather than first resort it might be a start. I know she can sleep better - she was 2 weeks ago.

Clearly spoke too soon this morning, R is now worse than ever. After taking her morning bottle she then refused point blank to drink anything else all day and by 5pm hadn't passed any urine from her morning nappy changed. She also slept for about 4 hours in total during the course of the day. Took her to drs at 5.30 as i was worried that she was becoming quite poorly. Dr checked her over and now says she has a viral throat infection and her tonsils are huge and swollen hence why she's not drinking. Basically got told to take her home and give her fluids every 10 minutes via a syringe! Great in theory but not if your baby is screaming blue murder and spitting it back at you :( If she's no better in the morning and still refusing fluids its likely that she might have to be admitted to hospital for iv fluuds. I just don't know what i'm supposed to do other than force feed her which is distressing for us both but i really don't want her being admitted. And to top it all i'm supposed to be back at work tomorrow :( Aaaaaarrrgghh - when is this going to end!!??

NBG I really hope that R gets better overnight for you both :( sounds grim

Chilli I empathsise with the sleep derivation

ILTMIMI I'm impressed with you attempting to run!

Chilli I hope you get some sleep.

NBG how awful for you, and R poor little mite. Hopefully she will pick up overnight.

Just settled T, DS1 has slept since bedtime so far....

ladies!

Goodness me, is anyone alright?! I've been lurking a bit but it's so hard to find time to get on and say hello properly.

Massive hugs out to the poorly babies. NBG, hope things are better today. It sounds like little R is really unwell. I hope work is understanding and that she's on the mend soon. I haven't managed to work out who else has sick babies but hope all are better soon.

Ilike, impressed with your run. I keep threatening to start again, used to be a decent distance runner, but I just can't be arsed. By the time I get home from work and put C to bed I am far more interested in a big glass of red and the telly. Maybe when it's not so dark/cold.

Punch, I hope you manage to get to talk to your dad and that his treatment is successful. That sounds very tough.

Fizz, good on you. Sometimes asking for help is the way to start feeling better. You're doing brilliantly.

Frak, still with us?!

Outme, how are you? How many weeks now?

Cycle, hope France is lovely. Of course it is.

I was going to report in on sleep training and maybe this is useful for you Chilli. So, I got in touch with Nicola Watson (Child Sleep Solutions, if you Google). She charges £199 for a month of sleep support. You fill in a long questionnaire and she has a chat over the phone for about an hour. Then she draws up a sleep plan. You can decide how 'tough' you want it to be. I went down the pretty tough route, which I know isn't for some but we were getting an hour+ of crying at night regardless so I didn't actually think this was any worse.

So, a month on and C is now sleeping through till about half five/six am. We're trying to get that pushed a bit later and it is, gradually, but I feel human again. I don't really mind getting up at six as I get to spend some time with him before nursery. I have found it a huge help to have someone to use as a sounding board for the training, and I really like Nicola. Half the problem we had was because DH and I were so inconsistant with our response to night waking.

I think we would even be further along but we have to take two big breaks as C got Bronchiolitis and then a nasty cold, so it all went to pot and he was tucked up in bed with me for several nights, so we had to pretty much start again.

Hope that's useful to anyone who is really suffering.

It's my 'getting admitted to hospital and coming out two weeks later with a baby' anniversary tomorrow. It's really weird, I am spending lots of time thinking... "this time last year". What a year it's been!

Another epic post. Sorry!

How are the babies this morning?

JoEW lovely to see you! The sleep training sounds interesting. R is still waking a couple of times a night and is up for the day early.

Cycle I meant to say earlier. I hope you're warm and getting some early Vit D in sunshine :D

B is back to normal almost, just the snot rivers to deal with. I think I've stopped being sick. The toast I had this morning has stayed down and my guts aren't churning anymore. Thank God!

Although today I thin B might think I'm trying to kill him. He struggles when we get him dressed and refuses to lie down so we have to dress him standing up/sitting sometimes. Apart from this morning he wanted to stand on his head and flung himself over just as I was pulling his tshirt on and he whacked his head off the wall. He did that 10 seconds of no breathing silent crying then screamed the house down. Screamed so much he made himself sick all over me, him and the wall at the top of the stairs. We were covered. Stripped him off and put him on our bed until I could get myself stripped off, can you see where this is going??? As I extracted myself from my vomit soaked tshirt, he had a burst of speed and took a header off the bed. Thankfully I was sorting out washing in there before hand and it was in piles on the floor so he landed on that. All that was within about 5 minutes. He's fine, but my nerves are shredded. He is going to worry the life out of me when he's older!!

Awww god Fizz I will admit I lol'd a little bit at that, but in a sympathetic way!! Bloody kids eh, who would have them?!

Well thankfully R has perked up considerably. She woke for a feed at 4.30 and downed the lot and then had another at 8.30 so I'm about to try a lunch time feed to see how that goes but at the moment she's in her jumperoo coo'ing over the waybuloos.......actually I'm not going to say what I was going to as I always seem to jinx myself so we'll just leave it at that!

To add to todays stresses, my friend was supposed to be watching R for an hour this afternoon as she obviously can't go to nursery, my dad is in hospital for an op today and my mum is also at work til 1 (I usually leave at 12.30!) but she fell down the stairs last night and also happens to be 38 weeks pregnant!!! Babies fine but she's really hurt her back so she can't manage now so I've had to phone work and tell them I'll be late as need to wait for my mum to finish and do a quick swap over!! I feel like I'm doing a mental marathon at the moment what with R being ill and trying to juggle child care and that's before I've even started work, I'm on for 6 shifts too :( But hey, nobody said this would be easy!!

That should be *baby's not babies, she's not having twins!!

I'm loling now too NBG, but I wasn't at the time!
Hope your dads op goes well.

NBG I hope all goes smoothly for your dad and that your work are understanding that folk get ill umfortunately including little ones .

I'm so glad that babies are feeling better!

Rivers of snot I know what you man Fizz F is still displaying such visual treats and kindly providing extra aerobic exercise for his Mam to chase him with tissues and wrestle him to resolve it

Fizz here: take it to a sunny window and just have a moment

We also have fun with nappy changes and getting dressed Fizz. The bloody annoying little singing bear tends to keep her attention for just enough time to get a nappy on if we're lucky.

I feel better today. We had a 4 and a half hour stretch of sleep last night :) She got fed as usual then again a couple of times before midnight, then when she woke at 2 DH settled her which only took 20 mins! Then she woke again at 6 but didn't really want to settle with DH so I fed her and she had another couple of hours. Hoping it might follow something similar tonight.

We've been to soft play this morning (not half term here) and she's napping now so time to get stuff done.

I hope your dad's op went smoothly NBG, and I hope your friends back improves soon - not what you want at 38 weeks.

Good luck with your GP appt Fizz. You have a lot going on with you at the moment, take care and listen to Punch's advice, wise words.

Chilli what you are doing with sleep training (for want of a better word) is pretty much what we done with I. It defo improved things.

Wow, a year Jo. Did you ever get to France or did it all kick off beforehand?

I either have a d&v bug or food poisoning, luckily only mildly but enough to make me feel like a bag o' shite. I'll miss book group tonight which I'm gutted about. We read The Help. Anyone else read it? It's fab, thoroughly recommend it.

I also meant to say a few days ago that baby I has started crawling at last. Each day he gets better and more efficient at it .......

Hi all,

It sounds like some of you have been having a tough time since I last posted. I hope that the poorly babies are starting to improve now though and that you're all getting a bit more rest.

Sorry to hear about your dad Punch - what rotten news for you :(

Can't believe it's that time already Jo and that the first Aprilite (excluding Gormers' little one) is nearly 1. Eeeep, where has the time gone?!

Thanks for the feedback on the sleep fairy too. It sounds like she was worth the fee. Sleepwise, things have really improved here in 2012 < touch wood, touch wood, touch wood > and unless she's teething, we tend to only have one night time wake up. She did have a spell of sleeping though 7pm - 7am last month, but hasn't done it all in February. Not sure why, as we've done nothing different . However, I can cope with one waking, even with working.

At the moment, she's tending to wake sometime around 3:30/4:30 and is having a pretty big feed before going back in her cot and settling herself to sleep. However, this means that she's now completely disinterested in her pre-breakfast feed at 7:30ish. Fine in theory, but it means that as she doesn't feed again until mid afternoon, I'm getting really uncomfy during the day.

The point of the above essay, is that we're considering some night weaning at some point. Like you Jo, I'd be happy to start the day at 6ish, so it only means that we need to push her feed back by an hour and a half. Did the sleep fairy basically tell you that being consistent in your approach to resettling without milk is key?

Fizz Nappy changes and getting changed can be an ordeal here too. I posted about the stresses we were having a couple of weeks ago. I frequently have to chase a bare bummed baby round the house in a desperate attempt to put a clean nappy on her. God only knows what the neighbours think we're doing to her!

Meal times are also becoming more stressful. P is now insistent on feeding herself with a spoon. Good in theory, but in practise it means that she has taken to flinging spoonfuls of mush around the house and at me . She's got a bloody good aim for a nine month old too. We keep finding dried food in the most unlikely of places. If only she was so good at getting the stuff in her mouth!