December 2011: Smiles and giggles and coffee and truffles.....

[aethelfleda]

Voila, a new positive thinking thread for us!

Onward and upward, ladies. Do come on and post if you're a lurker or want to join our merry band, all welcome!!

Nits usually look like little semi-translucent crtters the size of little ants (there are several stages), the eggs are light yellow rather than dark, and oval shaped rather than flat. Best way to check for nits is to get one of these "nitty gritty" combs plus the very cheapest conditioner you can get (17p tesco value type). Wet kiddies hair, no shampoo, then about 1/4 bottle of conditioner, then comb through the whole head in sections: this is called "wet combing" and works better thn the icky chemical treatments as they don't always work!
Nits are most common initially on the back part of the scalp line behind the ears, but then spread all over (I'm itching jist writing this!!!)
If you find nits then repeat the wet combing every two days for ten days after which hopefully all will be gone.

Sitting up (wow) danny doesnt try to roll over yet, hates his tummy time, makes very little attempt to go anywhere actually!!

Oh and here's an official like leaflet about nits, them I'm pumping and of to bed!!

nit leaflet

Thanks so much mega-star aethel :) much clearer than the NHS website and don't thinkl DS has them after all buyt will keep a lookout.

We have antilop chair and love it. It can even go in the dishwasher! And v easy to sling in the car to take to other people's houses for lunch etc

In the dishwasher!! That's so brilliant. Am definitely going to do that

pluto dd1 can speak/understand as much Berber as English and dh is also trying to introduce her to Arabic, so we are hoping dd2 wil find it easier with an older sibling to chat to in both languages.

Awch dd2 is in 6/9 clothes now, I think they must have all shrunk from dd1 wearing them.

figgy I've brought out the big guns this week on dd2s cradle cap- I tried olive oil but it wasn't great and it was messy, so I have instead been getting her scalp very wet in the bath to soften it, then using an old soft bristled tooth brush(dd1s old toothbrush) to gentle remove it, after 2 days of this it's almost gone, I'm really pleased as its been hard as her hair is getting in the way. on the down side the hair looks really flakey straight after but when it dries it gets much better unlike olive oil which makes it look like I've used brill crime on her head.

BeeMyBaby, do you speak either Berber or Arabic? Even if not, it's great to have bilingual children! Do your Dh's relatives speak/understand English, or are these lanuages their only link to the DDs?

Awww, DD has finally stopped crying after over an hour of straining, wailing and thrashing (she's trying to poo). I winded, manipulated, jigged, massaged and gripe-watered her (not wanting to feed her again, as over-feeding was probably what caused the problem in the first place), but when she finally calmed down a bit, I gave her a bit of a suckle and it's calmed her the rest of the way down wihout her having taken much actual milk!

Bleurgh...

Pirran behaved beautifully at the funeral today until he threw up down my cleavage during the last hymn (I fed him during the sermon to keep him quiet). I even had a muslin over my shoulder but he wriggled and aimed right down my top which of course was black and showed it horribly! Everyone cooed over him and said they loved to see the new generation at a funeral while I hid behind a pillar frantically mopping.

In other news, I think the piles I picked up during late pregnancy/childbirth are back suddenly there is a lot of pain when I do pelvic floor exercises and blood when I go. Or who knows, perhaps yet another delightful after-effect of the appendicitis. Sorry TMI I know. I guess I shall hie myself to the GP...feel like I live in that surgery. I bet they have a black mark next to my name as a nuisance patient when I call!

Think Pirran is finally asleep again - bet he wakes up in an hour though I will catch up with everyone now.

tyel that sucks re piles. Hope they resolve soon -does the glamour of motherhood never end?

Also feel like our surgery will have us marked as frequent flyers. At the moment would be happy to have a single week without a drs appt. Hmm not this week and i've got at least two next week. Total pants.

busy day of making a birthday cake for DH and doing the weekly shop tomorrow with DS2.

We have a tripp trapp which I think is really good and we'll be getting another one for DS2 in due course.

Keep meaning to say thanks to mmm for your thoughts about my blocked ducts. It was much appreciated. Think the problem was a blocked duct that I resolved but then had a milk blister which never really resolved so kept getting a back up of milk. All clear now touch wood.

Urgh.

DS2 still has diarhoea so feeding every couple of hours. DS1 has an ear infection and is v grumpy. Waved goodbye to DH who is away for 3 months. Temporary singlemumdom here I come. LMF not sure how you do it full time, I have every respect for you.

Bleurgh

PS Hawthers and tyel, fret not, the drs expect to see more of us at times like these. There is a category of patients called unofficially "heartsinks" who come in weekly with persistant "I'm not right doctor" symptoms and every time one set of symptoms is explained/settled/cured another equally serious-sounding set of symptoms pops up to take its place. These are the ladies (usually ladies) who one week give all the symptoms of serious headache, the next week DVT, the next week colon cancer, the next week coeliac disease, the next week restless legs and insomnia, the next week gallstones... The point being they are always ubhappy snd ill but any physical tests done are negative for multiple diseases. They also commonly get all over body pain and severe farigue. The challenge as a GP is to look sift through the million and one symptoms, reassure the patient, screen for depression/anxiety, and be very careful not to miss true disease (as over time these patients do get actual diseases just like everyone else and it's a real skill to pick it up amid all the symptoms). Believe me, you guys are not in the heartsink category, we've all just had babies and it messes with our bodies!!!

Ps good luck scooby!!

pluto - I only speak English though I understand the few words DD1 can say in Berber as I'd otherwise be a bit stuck, but the more she learns the harder I find it to keep up. MIL and SIL speak a little English to me but never to DD1 (they speak to her on Skype a few times a week), and my BILS don't speak any English (although all of them speak fluent Berber/Arabic/French).

Re highchairs - we have a Svan (similar to the trip trap with its various features), and I love it, but unsure looking back that it justified the expense.

scooby, the end is in sight already... As BeeMyBaby reminds us, skype is there, and of course we are here, too!

Good to know no-one's going to make an episode of "House"! Is that where you got the term "frequent flyers", hawthers?

BeeMyBaby, that's a brilliant attitude, totally the opposite of the OP on another thread I'm contributing to at the moment. I must admit I had a bit of a go at the OP, as she's whining that she has told her MIL not to teach her child foreign words (the child is already 16m, fgs), and moaning that - o the horror - the MIL is nevertheless encouraging the child to call her (grandmother) something in her own language and also possibly discussing pee and poo (yet who doesn't need to talk about such things with a child?!)! It is implied that the OP herself is not of entirely English background, so maybe she has issues about her own ethnicity, but that's no reason to cut your child off from the rest of the family, especially if the rest of the family doesn't speak English (or not as a first language)! Of course, it's possible that the MIL is dreadful in many ways, but getting all stroppy about language seems the most ridiculous stand to take....

Oops, I'm having a go again.

DD has still not pooed, and her poor tummy is all hard, but she took her milk feed and went back to bed, so I guess it's no longer really hurting. I'm cancelling the trip to the bank this morning, though, as even normal poos go everywhere, so this one is really going to be the "litre of mustard yellow paint" Mmmcheese (Mmmyellowpaint) was talking about!

Figgy Sorry the olive oil didn't work for you. always works here

Tyel Sorry your piles have returned.

Scooby You will be fine. There are times when I'd prefer going back to being a single mum as would make life do much easier! 3 mths will fly by

You'll rock it Scooby don't worry. Best soggy milk soaked foot forward:o

Apart from putting the washing on, I am going to have a chill out day today

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I am mute with shock, a chill day dsm?!