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

[Mmmmcheese]

Have gone with LMFs title suggestion :)

Attempting to catch up?.

Thanks all for the sympathy and haddocks. plu the bottom hinge of the stairgate was screwed into the skirting board and it transpires that was only stuck to the wall rather than screwed to it! The culprit didn?t own up though.

Hugs and haddocks for hawthers

AWCH hot sex? Any kind would be impressive in this house!

Welcome easily and happymama and welcome back Coolhand

Oi great to hear all is well with Ali. I?m not sure you have a routine there, I seem to remember when DD was this age she would get into a ?routine? for a few days and then it would all change again. They like to keep you on your toes!

Coolhand thanks, I?m hoping to get a bit of rest today because DD is at nursery, but I am already looking forward to a quiet weekend ahead! Hope the jabs go OK, DS has his tomorrow.

Bee good news on the prolapse, and !

Benny good luck with the jabs too

Headache here too. The exhaustion of the weekend let my defences down and I have succumbed to the cold that I?d previously managed to stave off. Very little planned for the day.

DD went down at 11, fed at 2,4 and 6 then DS woke up screaming at 6.30. Bleurgh. I hate that the nights are getting harder, makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong. She doesn't take much milk at night but needs just as much winding before I put her down. So frustrating. Going to try and put her down earlier tonight, not sure what difference it will make but have to try something!

Is it bad for LOs for them to nap in the bouncy chair during the day? Their backs aren't straight but then they're all curled up when asleep in the sling so it can't be too bad can it?

Morning - isnt it amazing how different each day can be. This time yesterday freya was grizzling and feeding all morning, ds was playing up and I had yet to get dressed, have breakfast or make the beds. Today freya is happy, ds is playing trains nicely and I have accomplished all of the above! Freya still feeding mind you.

Quite a nice day here today so aim to take dcs to the farm park to feed the animals and have a run around. Freya went from 10-4.30 last night - she (and I) woke for the normal 2am ish feed but I ignored her as she just grizzled a bit and she went back to sleep. would be lovely if it continued.

wondering whether I can work up the courage (and energy) to dtd after valentine's meal (courtesy of tescos) tonight.

mmm freya naps in her bouncy chair at times. Poor girl ends up having most of her sleep in the car seat due to being out for ds. not ideal but not sure what else you do when you have more than 1.

Right, had large injection of coffee and feel better now! After days of Miri needing constant rocking and feeding she is a bit more chilled today so I feel better now.

mmm I tend to assume that if they aren't comfortable they will wake up. Miri has all of her day time sleep in the sling scrunched up as did the older two so it is unlikely to be a problem.

kate sounds hellish! Hope you are taking it easy today, I have an Aunty (much younger than my Mum so her kids are 10, 8 and 6) who does similar things, I have taken to pretending to be out!

bee great news!

Having a day at home today, doing boring stuff like washing and watching Dr Who and a bit of batch cooking. And I didn't just buy a very expensive new feeder and drinker for the chickens. Nope.

Hi all, hope everyone is having a good day.

Eva slept from 7.45 until 1am, then feed and back down until 5.45. She's now asleep in the Moses, think we may have turned a corner.

Hi ladies

Well as soon as I hit send he woke up tried to put him down twice he refused so in end I started crying which whipped DH into action finally .......don't know why it took me crying to get him out of bed since he couldn't have been asleep with all the noise. By then it was 7am he'd started his feed at 5.30 so was hungry after not being fed since last night so gave him more food and he finally conked back out. Didn't see point of returning to bed by then so got the first post pregnancy sex out of the way finally (wasn't that bad actually) before LO woke up again and threw up on himself as he'd eaten too much which I just knew would happen. Been out for coffee with a friend to get out of house and he's been asleep ever since off to the HV at 2.

Benny and Mopsy I shared your pain when going through the same decision about the feeding am sure you are right and will feel better about it in a few days. Going to try sell my pump on eBay since it was £100 that would def make me feel better to get some money back.

Having bad day for the second day running.

My chilled out, calm, never crys baby HAS TURNED

She has been crying, clingy, will not sleep anywhere except on my, will not go to DH, in bouncer or swing or mosses and she just crys, she is feeding ok but when not feeding crys and then does not want food!

I feel guilty cos Air has no attention from me at the mo as i'm with Hope all the time and i'm ill and i'm soooooo tired and i have run out of real coffee

I have not be able to do any house work and feel crap about it.

Also DH give me a valetine day card today and my reply was "Oh is that today, i forgot."

bulgher moan moan moan - losses the will to moan anymore

This thread moves so fast! I've been reading but was too tired/feeling sorry for self to post. I shall try to catch-up!

Just want to say thanks for support re DP's planned trip to Goa; I had wondered if I was being unreasonable but after speaking to FIL's partner & you lot I sat him down for a chat about it on Sunday morning. Didn't go at all well, ended with me in tears & him being very mean. The long & short of it is that he doesn't think this child-rearing/housekeeping malarkey is all that difficult & I'll be fine on my own. Also the cost implications aren't my problem as he's the one earning the money So, I'm ignoring Valentine's day this year He's used to an array of heart-shaped baked goods so this will hit him where it really hurts; his stomach Nothing's booked yet & he says he hasn't decided but I tried & failed to reason with him so I'm not going to stew over it for the next month.

In other news; my toothache turned out to be due to the mini screw the orthodontist put in my jaw waay back in October...it's infected & pretty yucky but I'm too scared to arrange an emergency appt to get it out; I'm hoping it'll have cleared up in time for my regular appt next week. I've been gargling salt water every half hour >_< which is fun!!!

Oi Not sure I'd even bother with the appt unless you're worried about something; I had a joint 8 week appt with DS & my check up consisted of GP asking if I was ok & me saying I'm fine No contraception talk, no checking my stomach muscles were ok for exercise, no follow up on my episiotomy or monstrous hemorrhoids >_<

Welcome back coolhand LOVE the name change & welcome easily & happymama

Belated ((hugs)) for hawthers, your GP sounds useless & uninformed; I definitely wouldn't see him/her again.

msb did your cat ever turn up? Try not to worry too much if not; ours was missing for a week but sauntered in on Sunday; we've had her locked in ever since in case she's found a new family.

For those of you with long slim LO's, this doesn't solve the sleepsuit problem but you can get vest extenders so their vests at least fit more snugly.

Really interested to hear which educational toys you're all buying; DS is still only napping in my arms at the moment so I need to keep him amused...he's been watching me cook whilst in the bouncy chair recently which seems to work for 30-40mins as long as describe what I'm doing. I feel like a tv cook

AIMS for the week:

Get out for a walk every day (poosplosion yesterday scuppered that one!)
Eat more healthily (I've been surviving on cake & )
Meet tyel (who is in Cornwall this week) for a coffee
Batch cooking
Pick some photos of DS to get printed
Exercise

Eeek! Post is enormous, sorry, I've been adding to it in between jobs since this morning.

honey will malaria season have started in Goa by the time/if your DH goes to the wedding? My parents went last April and had to take anti-malarials for weeks before and after so obviously not possible for you and LO to go (as I think you mentioned was a possibility before), never mind the risk of TB.

so my day has consisted of... getting to sleep at 4.30am after DD2s screamingness then woken up at 5am with more DD2 crying then 20 mins later managing to sleep whilst cradling her in my arms (DH abandoned our bedroom at 3.30am for the spare), then being awoken at 7am by DD1 screaming as she's had a temperature - she ran into the bathroom and into the shower and just started to hurl the shampoo etc at me so made a dr appointment and was told she has an ear infection and not to panic if her ear drums burst and leak puss , but I still took the DDs to play group as DD1 still desperately wanted to go, but the most impressive part of my day which it has taken me almost 11 weeks to work up to was managing to take the two DDs out in the double buggy with our 4 dogs on my own (buggy acts as wind sail on the shore front, dogs pulling on leads for around 30 mins of the walk, under 4 hours sleep). I am so pleased with myself I just ate my usual treated myself to a whole packet of chocolate fingers. No wonder the pregnancy weight isn't shifting

figgy at least you got some use of your pump, I remember I wasted £100 on the electric tommee tippee (only £100 in boots, £50 everywhere else) - I used it for a week and it has virtually no resale value (I would not want to inflict its uselessness on anyone else).

Hi, all. Getting over the stutter/echo a bit by showing pages instead of big run of the hread. Think I have identified a new laptopthough, as tablets still can't do lots of things PCs can (most importantl downloading CBeebies programmes to my mp4 play er). Also posting on MN is a headache with this.

Just wanted to say, thoug: OiMissus, if you wantt to do something which will be done at 8 week check, you can check Ali's reflexes (info in red book), like stepping. These disappear with time, so that's why checks are so early in life. Ours are at 8 weeks as well - Bromley and, before, in Lewisham.

Also wanted to say that we don't need DHs/DPs to celebrate Valentine's Day: I was in ll-girls schools till I was 17, and we did exchange valentines there, too, so please arllow me to resurrect that and wish you all a vry happy valentine's day, to all of us, as we know ach other's beauty (entirely blindly) and are all trying to support one another, in the urest form of philia - friendship-love.

Hope to get out to Waitrose to pick up pork dnner for DH (I hate smell of pork, so this is my treat to him) an also balloon for DS, my second-littlest valentine!

Thanks MsB I'm having a lovely relaxing day today, with lots of cuddles with little man and even a short nap together this afternoon . I'm pleased to hear Miri is more settled today

(hugs) and sympathy to Air

and the same to Honey. Maybe a heart-shaped haddock for your DP this year? Say hello to Tyel from all of us when you meet up

Feeling more positive today. Met up with my Nct ladies for a bitch rant about the gp and they've talked good sense and reassured me. A good tip from one wad to feed f some expressed milk after I think he has finished a feed. I can then see whether he is hungry or not if he wolfes it down and also see how much he takes. Just done this and I had to persuade him to have more than just a small amount and think I managed to squeeze another 20 mls in but he wasn't awfully keen. This should in theory 1 reassure me that he is having s good feed and 2 cram in the calories which should help his weight. WE WILL SUCCEED.

Also got my first proper smile at 5 this morning and now he's got the hang of it I'm getting streams of them. Brilliant timing f, just what mummy needed.

Oh and hi to tyel too. Have been thinking about her (not in a stalkerish way i promise) and how she is getting on with bf following her hosp stay. Hope she is doing ok.

Jabs went ok, horrible when they were done ( and big screams) but he settled down well after. Fingers crossed there are no after effects. We both have colds (thanks to DSIL). Will be putting my foot down to refuse cuddles from infected family next time!!

So happy you got some smiles hawthers, you certainly deserve them!

Oh bloody hell, I thought today was all going a bit too well. Picked DD up from nursery to be told she's had 2 lots of diarhoea (sp?) this afternoon and isn't allowed back there for 48 hours, which therefore means next tues for us. Gutted because I thought she was finally well again and because nursery was her only activity this week due to half term. Not looking forward to the evening ahead. DH not due back from work until late and it's so hard to give DD the attention she needs when ill along with doing DS's evening mega-feeds :(

kate sorry o hear that she's ill, hope she's on the mend soon.

air you have my sympathy, Eva has been like that on and off for weeks, some days have been bloody hard work! Just cope the best you can, on a bad day I tell myself as long as everyone gets fed nothing else matters.

Best behaviour here again today, which seems very odd. The HV said that most problems sort themselves out by 3 months, she was 12 weeks(!!) yesterday and has been so happy the last couple of days. I done a 2 mile round trip to the library today, I feel so much better for going out 2 days running, and actually a lot less tired so will try to keep it up. We had our surveyor for free solar panels this morning, all going well they should be fitted next month, if anyone is interested it's The Green Home Company, they're only doing them until the end of March. They lease the roof space, we get to use any electricity produced but not store any, they make their money by selling anything left back to the grid so it doesn't cost us anything!

Does anyone know a good place I can get a second-hand sling? I absolutely love babywearing (who'd have thought it?!) but I read last night that stretchy wraps can sag when baby starts getting heavy, plus I think it'll be really hot in summer. I was thinking about getting a woven wrap (I like Ellaroo) but not sure I can justify the £55 price tag. It needs to be somewhere online really as I'm on the far east of Suffolk so nowhere near any major cities.

Sorry that was a bit epic!

Bee they invited us both but there was no way I'd travel anywhere that has malaria with DS; I'm allergic to anti-malarial tablets anyway. A wedding in the UK would be enough of a mission for me! Hadn't thought about risk of diseases :( Will I have to quarantine DP when he gets back?!

My very romantic OH just got in from work & handed me a card with E.T on the front Apparently the V day cards were too chintzy! I'm accepting the Ferrero Rocher as they're from Rocco too

I'll send tyel your best wishes & try to get her posting again!

Oh no kate, what a bummer. Swift recovery soon!

Got a PM from Tyel and she may update on thread herself at some point, she's been convalescing , sounds like she's doing OK

Boo to colds benny, hope yours both clear up soon.

Am at brother's house and due to dS's -ahem - activities, am in that on-the-final-babygrow mode... No puking/explosions til we get home please!!

Educational toys: my two loved anything with lights and music. If you want to pretend you're eductating them at this stage get a leapfrog "Baby Tad" (has nice night-night music, nursery rhymes and some primitive colour/shape game) or the "plush counting caterpillar" (numbers 1-5, some classical music and
Primitive musical "styles". Neither make you totally rip your hair out. Honest.

leapfrog counting caterpillar

Oh no, they've stopped making baby Tad!

Bst thing to be honest is get your bottom down to an NCT nearly New Sale(plug your postcode into their website) and you'll get a whole sackfull of baby toys for the price of that one caterpillar, probably including the caterpillar as well!!!

Bit random but has anyone had a period yet?

Bloody hell DS has gone from 9lb 4oz at birth to 13lbs today he's not even 8 weeks til Thursday

I love second hand baby sales! Always come back with a huge bag of toys and books for about £5. Also have a look in charity shops, bit hit and miss but I have got some great stuff in there for DS. I just give everything a good wash/spray with Dettol.

Not got period back and not expectring it for ages. Took 11 months after DS was born. I bfed him for 12 months.

DH is cooking dinner tonight which is lovely but I'm worried it means we'll eat really late and I need sleep! Looking forward to a nice glass of wine though :)

Today I tidied the cupboard under the stairs. My glamarous life!

No period here yet either thought it had started but must have just been random spotting as was only a day or so now that have stopped BFing I expect it'll be on it's way.

I dOn't get periods back til I've stopped BF entirely. That said you can't guarantee contrapeption purely from BF (some try it but there is a failure rate) so no chancing it ladies unless you want another one!!!

Still awaiting dH back from work, am exlressing a bottle as DS is zonked faar too early....bodes ill for the night shift....

I want another one! figgy I've had spotting a three weeks ago, thn again last week but nothing since. I think I may have possibly ovulated last week but no way of really knowing for certain.