November 2011 - all aboard the Bumbo love train!

[Caliphora]

Started new thread, ladies - unimaginative name, but I figured it was suitable now we've been loving it up with out seats :)

Good luck with the holiday busyboysmum - hope it goes well and Luke gets over his cold (he can go swimming without having had jabs but if he's full of a cold may not like it).

Totally second the idea of baby cinema - it was a great film and DS had a feed and slept on my chest for most of the film. No one stresses if baby cries and I think that helps mum to relax. We even had mums walking their babies up and down the cinema to settle them and another changed her baby on the floor (wasn't as bad as it sounds!) and no one tutted or sighed. i even got to eat my pick n mix from selfridges!!

Feeling tired today. DP away and so DD sleeps with me and she wet the bed for the first time in ages. The wet bed turned into needing a poo at 2am,which then unsettled DS due to her noisy antics!
Going to mop kitchen floor then put DS to bed for a nap and may join him. Feel guilty as it's a gorgeous day - should go for a walk or to the zoo maybe but I've not even got the energy to hang the washing out so it's in the drier! DP back tomorrow so only one more bed and bathtime to do alone. Do need a shower but sleep may take priority today - I can always shower tonight.

Poor DS, he is teething badly and very dribbly and grizzzly. Feels like it's taking it out of him cos he's so little to have teeth.

I need to do the baby cinema too!

Abi has discovered how to blow raspberries! Hilarity ensues!

I need a moral compass here:
The perfect job has cropped up in the perfect location, and my contact in the company has practically guaranteed an interview.
It would mean putting Abi in day care from 5 months, and I wanted to stay home as long as possible, but... It's just too good to pass! Very, very rarely does a job like this crop up in my area, and it would be very good pay in an industry I love...
Argh! What do I do?!

Afternoon all,

the snot continues in this house, but it is getting better....

Busy, hope the caravan goes well, I have almost gotten DH to agree to buying one, hopefully before the summer, so looking forward to a few adventures before I go to work...

Clara, I was at Centreparcs in Cumbria a couple of weeks ago, was a good break, although DH got a stinking cold and therefore my plan to make let him look after J and give me a break didn't go to plan...still he has an insight into how much hard work he can be and therefore loads more respect for my day, especially when nothing gets achieved.

Cali, I would say definitely go for the job, Abi might have to go into childcare sooner than you hoped for, but you could spend a lot longer regretting not going for the chance. My only comment would be to check your contract with your current employer, the exact same thing happened to me, a similar job to mine but a lot closer to family and friends, just a month ago, but my contract states that if I don't go back to work I have to pay back all my maternity pay, which is a lot more money than we have, so in my case I have to hope something similar comes up after I go back to work.

Cali go for it, see if you can string out the start date another month perhaps, then work for a year then have another baby

Cali definitely go for it - happy mummy = happy baby = happy family. It is not going to be financially beneficial for me to work until my middle one is in school (it's about break even) but I love my job & I know I'm a better quality Mummy for the time I spend away from them. If you are successful maybe look into a childminder instead if a nursery until she's a bit older

Cali what a dilemma. If it really is the perfect job, I'd go for it. At 5months, Abi won't remember being put into daycare and you won't get the awful separation anxiety you get around 9-12months (which is hell - picture leaving baby sobbing with arms outstretched towards you. Shudder). Is it ft or pt and are the hours flexible? It will be much easier if it's flexible as babies do get lots of illnesses once they start nursery (imo a good thing as it means less time off school when they start as they've built up immunity) but it will mean time off at short notice for you. I'm lucky that I work from home, so can work and have poorly baby but it really is a juggling act. If you have lots of support and it's the job for you, you will be happy and so will your family.

Again, just my exerience but I prefer a nursery to childminder. Nurseries don't close at short notice whem staff are ill and childmoinders will take 4 weeks off a year holiday - generally in school holidays if they have their own kids, which means you end up paying inflated prices for your own hols before you have to. If you get the right nursery, it is fab to see your baby interact and play.

cali I would def take the job. I'm headed back to work when Em is 7 months so not too far behind you. I spent a good 10 mins today reading the feb 2011 thread and wondering why no one was familiar I fear my brain has turned to mush. I figured I'd better get back to work before I forget what my job is:)

Wow to all the babes getting teeth!! Nothing here yet, but I didn't get teeth until I was 14 months....

Hi clara and welcome back pips

Emme Had second of jabs today so she is fussy and drowsy. Glad to have them over with!!

Cali, I'd say the same as everyone else, as long as teh finances work - that is, the childcare isn't all your new salary plus some.

MrsA - you have described my nightmares, I go back to work when W is 12 mths and my heart will break if he looks abandoned.

Cali I'm with everyone else here, I think if you want the job and its viable you should go for it.

And, conflicting advice alert, I'll give the other side of the story and tell you how great childminders are! Mine is fantastic, and in the five years I've used her she has never once let me down, and she doesn't take as much annual leave as the local nurseries do so its win win .

Oh dear twojacks not much of a break for you then! Still it is nice for OH's to get a little insight and know we don't just sit drinking coffee all day and it's actually really hard work! We're off to the Cumbria one too. Really looking forward to it. DS1 loves it there.
Cali sounds like a fantastic offer. Hope you manage to decide without too much stress

My little one has such a bad cold. Feel so sorry for him. DS1 never got ill until he was about one luckily but as DS1 is at nursery he is ill constantly and gives everything to DS2

First long trip with Abi today - scary! She's currently sleeping and we're waiting to bundle her up in her carseat and driving to London... I'm nervous, but we've planned service stops along the route and it shouldn't take more than 5 hours - hopefully she'll sleep most of the way, too!

We drove to London with Caitlin a couple

...of weeks ago in the car. It was actually fine. She slept pretty much the whole way. We stopped a couple of times for feeds and nappy changes. She was absolutely fine. She was a bit unhappier on the way home but just because she was overtired but fighting sleep. She cried a bit so we stopped three or four times on the way back to check she was ok but she was just making a noise to protest that she was tired and how dare we not have her in her bed! Good luck!

Hope journey goes well Cali

I am starting to get a bit worn down by this 4-feeds-a-night malarkey that DS is settling on at the moment, it's making me a bit fragile. We have to go away next week as the builders are knocking 1/2 the house through for our extension - we might go abroad and I'm dreading it. I can just tell what will happen - DH will insist that he deserves loads of lie-ins as he is stressed at work and he'll abandon me in some dangerous unknown environment with bored toddler and wingey baby and I won't have any of the support groups/relatives that I have here and then he'll expect me to stay up with him in the evenings..
How ungrateful am I!!!

ladies, hold my hand ! My period is late. I absolutely can not believe it, it just struck me this morning, and when I sat down and thought about it, I think its maybe been nearly 5 weeks. I haven't taken a test (way too terrified), and realistically I don't see how I could be pg (action has been, er, limited as my CS wound has never fully healed and I've been quite sick with colds/coughs etc for about 6 weeks now, and also precautions have been taken when we have done anything) but I'm just shellshocked, I've been sitting here all day thinking 'oh crap, oh crap'. Told DH and he said 'thats a bit crap, being a single mother to 3 children would be exhausting for you'. Thankfully he was laughing as he said it, he definitely was only joking, if we're in it, we're in it together. But we now have our 2 children, and that has always been the plan, we have always been adamant that there will be no more. Him because he just doesn't want any more, me because the thought of being pg and giving birth again terrifies me. Arrrgggh.

Oh treacle, my goodness. Only one way to be sure and its to take a test. I don't mean this to be flippant but if its positive then it really must have meant to be.

You are feeling shattered and still recovering from major surgery. You'll feel stronger soon.

I just couldn't settle, so grabbed my handbag and jumped in the car an hour ago to go to Tescos to buy a test, with DH calling out the door after me 'stop panicking'. The neighbours must have wondered what was going on

Anyway, to my relief, I don't need to join this years November antenatal thread after all. I even bought one of the fancy pants digital tests, so that there was no chance of getting the reading wrong. But the 3 mins I waited for that test were the most nervewracking of my life. But, heres the thing. DS is sitting in his rocking swing gurgling and smiling at me, and now I'm sitting here thinking 'would it really have been that bad? DH took it all better than I thought he would when I confided in him this afternoon......' I must officially be insane!!

It's funny isn't it that you thought 'would it have been so bad'. Bless you.

I told dp about, think he just raised his eyebrows thinking that if it happened to us it would have been a miracle...ahem.

Well E us in her own room now and sleeping slightly longer so things may improve. Ha ha

Treacle glad you're over your fright

Oh Sasa you sound fed up. Hope you're ok can you not suggest staying closer to home so you can maybe get more help? Have you tried talking to your OH about how tired you are? Hope things settle for you soon.

Morning all, we've gone quiet! Hope everyone had a good day yesterday.

My phone line & therefore broadband are broken & mobile connection is rubbish

Sas- what a pain, how can you cope with all those wakenings still? Bet you are exhausted. Made me laugh about your hubby though - a friend of mine has had a new baby and is going to bed at 9pm to cope with the night feeds - her hubby has been complaining that he feels lonely downstairs on his own! How selfish are these men???

All going well here, decorating today with my posse of grandmas and grandpa took Luke out for a lovely walk to give us some time to get it all done.

Luke is getting more and more with it, chewing his hands like crazy, smiling and babbling, loving playing in his jumperoo.

Hope everyone else is well

Sasa that sounds tough. Men. Ha. DP was away last week for 3 days - 4th trip away since 2nd week of jan. I just about coped on my own with the 2 and was feeling quite pleased that I'd managed to keep them fed, washed, clothed and in bed by 7.30 every night. When he came home, he found a roast chicken I'd cut bits off to have for lunch whilst i waited for the AA as i had a puncture. He had the nerve to have a go at me for 'cutting it wrong' and also 'the mustard is in the wrong place in the fridge'. The last straw was on Saturday morning when i took DD downstairs for breakfast and brought her back up again to get dressed/have shower. DP had fed DS and fallen back to sleep with him (I never get to do that). He then complained DD had left her toy Minnie Mouse on the floor I could have cheerfully killed him.
Ended up sobbing on the loo and then having a looong conversation with him while DD watched Fireman Sam.

DS had his 3 month jabs today and he is 3 months old and 13lbs 11oz. Right on the 50th percentile. He is smiling and laughing and is really very chilled out and sleeping well.

We are having a good week so far.