December 2011 - This too shall pass (with the help of imaginary woolly mammoths)

[Mmmmcheese]

Have gone with LMFs title suggestion :)

Still not gone to bed here as we went to a church thing tonight and DS woke up when the babysitter was here and had a total flip out at seeing a stranger in his room! Only got him back to sleep at 11.30, then had to shower etc and feed DD. Now she is wide awake.

I'm feeling so tired that I feel angry at everyting! Very strange as I'm usually a very calm easy-going person. Particularly feeling like I want to shout at DH! I think it doesn't help listening to him snore while I do all the night gfeeds/settling and then listening to him conplain how tired he is the next day. Can't believe DD is now wide awake. Argh!

Morning. No sleep so far, nipple chewage is the activity of choice here:/

Hi all!
aethel, sorry to hear you're fed up. Hope you're getting some sleep.

Mmm grrr at your husband, constantly surprised on here by the insensitivity of men!

So wrt our new routine attempts, minimopsy woke at 3:40. She usually wakes about now or a bit earlier with five feeds but had six yesterday. But I think I need to keep at it for two weeks, and if it doesn't work will just accept that she needs a night feed still and go back to five feeds a day!

LO. Ds doing OK, the snotsicker thingy is worth its weight in gold.

Sorry about your nipples chewage lmf, waggle a pot of fish pie puree at Octoboy (he's too small and cute gor a haddock, but he'll get the dtift).

Feeling less teed off:-a lot of last night was sheer fatigue.

Morning, I, too, have been a grumpy sod the last few days. I nearly lynched DH for wasting some cauliflower cheese. Ahem...
We moved into mum's yesterday. 'twas v annoying as I rushed to pack up the car and get here to meet workmen at 12. I was then stuck here, inside, til they arrived at 3:45. Grrrr! Then I had to stay here til they'd finished at 5:30pm. So DH had to go to pick up the other stuff on his way home from work - so he didn't get home until 7:30ish.
I took the dogs for a quick walk on the estate when he got home, they didn't need to be on the leads so I may be ok today with the pram.
Not that I have any time!
We're swimming today, and then meeting a colleague in Manchester for a quick lunch then a complementary hand and arm massage at Jo Malone in Harvey Nicks. I have never bought J.M. stuff before. The prices are silly. I WiLL NOT be conned into buying anything because the massage is nice! No!!!
If I have time I may go and get the boobs measured to get myself a nice nursing bra. My grotty early pregnancy bras fit me ok now, and are nursing bras, but cheap grey cotton is not very alluring, and of course now it becomes visible in flashes when I bf.
I've got to go to the house first as I've only got my walking boots here. Do they allow Walking boots in Harvey Nicks?

Kristy I've just checked my msgs - nothing there. Let me know if there's a meet up, I'll certainly try and be there. Thanks. X

oi, When we lived in Yorkshire I used to occasionally go to Harvey Nicks for bras: while their clothing is mostly insanely expensive, some of their lingerie is really quite affordable. Not sure if they will have nursing bras but worth a try!

Hey aethel, glad to hear you're feeling rested and more up. Tiredness colours everything, and it's as bad as hormones for leaping up and changing your personality unbidden.

How are the nipples this morning LMF? Do you need to get Octoboy checked out, and/or a visit from a consultant? Having your nips mangled just seems to be another thing you could do without.

The OHs do not seem to have read the memo, do they mmmm, that they are not allowed to complain about being tired, unless they are doing all of the night feeds, and all of the childcare.

Glad it's going OK so far with the house sitting Oi. With the JM stuff or similar, I always find that a small amount of something luxurious feels lovely and treaty without breaking the bank; maybe set yourself a budget and allow yourself to get something, even if it's just a guest soap
And speaking as someone who was chucked out of Harrods as a teenager- ripped jeans!- I've never had trouble with HN . The one in Manchester is rather lovely, although as all this development happened after I left, it still seems strange having such 'posh' places there!

Today we will try out the new activity mat. OH managed to put the bouncer together- however, we're finding that DS appears to like being flat on his back as opposed to at an angle. He wasn't fond of the rocker, and so I bought the absolute cheapest bouncer- seems like a good call!
Just seems rather dangerous having him on the floor though...

How're you feeling today MsB?

HV in 10 mins

Good luck Air, hope it goes well x

morning - AWCH we have swapped to gripe water as infacol did nothing for freya either. Boots sell one suitable from 1 month. Not sure how much it is helping but tends to get the poos through quickly and with rather explosive results!

Only way DH and I are not killing each other due to tireness is sleeping in separate rooms! Means he doesnt get disturbed by me feeding and I can feed in bed and I dont have to listen to his snoring. Another reason why we are yet to dtd!

Off to get my haircut today as ds at preschool - inspired by the chat on here! Going to bath freya and tank her up on milk on the hope she conks out for the hour!

Managed tescos this morning - spent a fortune, treated dh and me to their valentines meal for £15 as we wont be going out anywhere on tuesday and I have been horrid to dh recently so wanted to do something nice.

good luck air

Hope it's going well air.

Our Valentines will be spent traversing the country on various M'ways, praying Stoke's not too bad and that DS sleeps, so a truly romantic time ! We've sort of DTD, but it kind of needs working on, owing to the fact that we haven't done if for months and therefore I'm a bit, um, physically unused to it, IYKWIM....

Treated myself to a choc muffin for lunch, yum. Am just going to Skype my Mum, and then this afternoon will be putting together a list for our travels and trying out the new playmat together.

Not DTD yet, scared after big episiotomy :( maybe this weekend!!!

Good luck Air!

Thanks for all the tips re. gripe water, we tried it after a feed early today & he was so much more comfortable.
However he still managed a grand total of 2hrs sleep in 12 hrs!! Not crying all the time, just really interested in talking to everything.

Hope everything is better now LMF & he's latching well.

Hello! Feeling much more cheerful today. Spent the morning dashing about, baby clinic (Miri weighs 10lb 5 now at 8 weeks) then Story Time at the library where I managed to reassure a Mum who has recently moved to the UK from Pakistan about bfing in public in the UK, then swings where we enjoyed knocking the icicles off everything and home for lunch. I just need to keep myself going...

kir5ty Miri wears onsie, then jumper and trousers, hat and booties if we're going to be outside for a while and I'm not wearing this which I bought when DD2 was a baby!

air in advance to the HV!

I'm with you lot on hair needing stuff done to it! Mine is wavy and halfway down my back. I used to have a pixie crop when DD1 was a baby but I quite like having long hair, I actually find it lower maintenance than short hair. I might get an asymmetric fringe cut in, then the ends just tidied. I'm getting my new glasses on Saturday though...<a class="break-all" href="http://www.glassesetc.com/enlarge2.html?ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-94083471470698_2192_386910194?ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-94083471470698_2196_2326098" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">these ones

She called 10 after appoinment to say she is now coming 2.45

I'm not going to hold my breath tho!

I am writing the letter of complain - or was as hope is now awake!

Ah, never wanting to deviate from one of the primary laws of parenting, DS so far prefers the blanket on the floor to the bouncy chair or the swing, and the TV to the musical zoo playmat!

To be fair, he did spend about 40 minutes in the bouncy chair this lunchtime...

List time calls...I really enjoy doing lists, it's soooo sad.

Really pleased to hear you're sounding better MsB, activity, especially physical activity is so often the best thing. Is your DH around now?

Think its the week if the wobbles. Have been managing to be optimistic and positive about f's feeding and weight gain but today I've come crashing down and feel very weepy.

He doesn't seem settled after any feed (although he is 6 weeks si it could be a growth spurt right?) and the thing that gets me most is that he has baggy skin on his knees and hands. He just seems to fall asleep mid boob all the time. Just not too sure what more i can do. I'm expressing as much as I can, taking herbal supplements, feeding every 2 hrs in the day and 3 hrs at night but it just doesn't seem to make any difference.

Just don't know what else I can do and can't stop crying at the moment. Oh dear am such a whingey arse I know, sorry.

Nooooooooooooooo...Dsis has just phoned me to say she has chickenpox (again, that is three times in six months now, no idea how she manages it!) and she was round cuddling and wrestling with the big DDs yesterday!

Pox watch begins!

hawthers you could be describing my DD1, who was fine, just a slow gaining baby and general small person. Lack of contentment could be a growth spurt yes and six weeks is a common time for one. So, nappies...5/6 very wet ones a day and pooey ones in some kind of pattern? Does he spend any time in a 'quiet and alert state?' DD1 only did it occasionally, but it does vary on personality. Is he meeting milestones? Making eye contact sometimes, possibly smiling, occasionally holding his own head? Can you see/hear him swallowing when he nurses?

Hey msb thank you thank you

Nappies are good and wet annd he has been quiet and alert although currently shouty and awake....

Def swallowing and seems to be meeting milestones. Just finding it tough when there doesn't seem to be any result from all the effort I'm putting in.

Have your girls not had the pox after 3 exposures? If si might they have natural immunity?

hawthers it is tough. It honestly sounds as though he is fine, just slow to gain weight. How much has he been gaining? I felt as though I was doing it wrong or that there had to be something wrong with my milk, both nonsense of course but there is so much emphasis on weight that it is easy to feel really shitty when a baby gains slowly.

However, weight is going in the right direction, everything else is fine. There used to be a slow gainers thread on breast and bottle feeding...found it! It is an old thread, but you might find it helpful.

No, they haven't had it! This will be their first exposure since DD1 weaned though...

msb hope your DD's manage to avoid the pox, glad to hear you're feeling a bit better.

hawthers easier said than done but I wouldn't worry too much if he is gaining weight, could just be a slow gainer as msb said. FWIW the baby of SIL's colleague lost 3lb despite her best BFing efforts.

Eva has gained 5oz in a fortnight and now weighs 10lb, I'm very relieved as I expected her to have lost weight during her inability to keep feeds down while she was ill.

It must be really tough for you hawthers, as that regime just sounds punishing (think a few on this thread have endured it) and when you're doing your utmost and not getting the results you expect, I can imagine it grinds you down- all you want to do is the best for your DS.
But as he's doing all the things MsB's listed, I hope you feel more assured that he is thriving and doing well, and that you are providing all your baby needs.

That's a sod about the chickenpox MsB. When I went into work, our old Chief Exec came in (he's working for us again but in a different role) and he'd caught it- not shingles- from his daughter over Xmas, and has been left badly scarred by it, poor man.
Not sure what's best these days- do you want them to get it, so they've had it, or not get it as it's a horrible thing to have?! No idea what's advised by the NHS.

Mmmm, got beef curry for dinner tonight, and am enjoying a wee glass of wine as we'll be travelling all of tomorrow evening