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!!

Hiya everyone. I've left it too long as always, but had to share. Woke this morning to text off mum to say my SIL is finally having contractions and is on her way to hosp. Her due date was last tue. Is it weird that I am sitting here bf my gorgeous son but am very jealous.

Even of going through the actual labour

aethel, are you supposed to sterilise Sophie then or is soapy water ok?

kitty, jealous of baby, not weird at all. But jealous of labour??????? I NEVER want to have to go through that again! Although obvs will have to if minimopsy is to have a sibling !!

I think it's more the epicness (is this even a word??) of it all.

Seb was my first, this is her first, we're moving back down partly so we can share it all. I'm quite misty eyed. And apparently 3 months was all I needed to consider going thru it all again!

On the down side other SIL (DH sis) is visiting us this weekend so we prob won't get to meet new nephew until next weekend

Instead I get to listen to DH and SIL trading family history knowledge and trapse around various lancashire villages visiting churches etc tracing their maternal lineage.

nc we have black out blinds that attach to the inside of the curtains and it definitely helped with the 5am get ups for DS1.

Apologies for the tales of a baby who actually sleeps - hoping you won't lynch me as I'm getting same amount of sleep as most of you guys - not a lot!

Sophie the dog toy giraffe is good I was very skeptical but actually seemed to give the most relief and was easy to hold for small hands.

My DM was talking about weaning this morning and I suddenly felt very sad that this newborn phase is nearly over must get me another one :o

Northern Darcies blinds are blackout ones. She's had blackout blinds since birth. Sky Curtains are thick & lined in her room so no problem with early sunrise then.

Kitty How exciting on a new birth in the family :) We decided about 5mins after Sky was born that we wanted another one and i'd gladly go thru labour again as its not that bad IMO.

Sky was weighed this morning. In 4weeks shes put on 1.5lbs so now weighs 11lbs 13oz. However, has gone down from 25th centile to 9th centile only just under it tho so HV not to worried. Just need to try and get more milk into her over next 4 weeks, which is when she will be weighed again. Am not allowed to start weaning her till 20weeks as she can be a constipated baby. If I can get her to 26weeks on just milk then I can put her straight onto fruit & veg (all changed from 7yrs ago).

Hi, all. Left my phone (and whole bag) at the toddler group yesterday, so wasn't able to keep up with you all. The group leader's going to drop it round this AM (lovely lady), so I've not gone to yoga. I need a domestic morning, anyway, as we are low on clean clothes, clean dishes, and - oops! - just now, clean bottoms! (Mine is clean, I would like to stress!)

Back from our trip away and it's hard work to keep up with you ladies!

The trip was a success! The PIL have managed to cram a cot into their spare (single) room with two single beds (there's about an 8 inch gap left to walk in) which worked well. BabyYBR got lots of cuddles from her Grandma and Grandpa, we figured out how to do a bath in a bungalow with only a shower and the LO generally coped well with the long(er) journeys and upheaval. That gives us a confidence too.

OTOH she's getting more stroppy about bf - she wriggles and pulls off, and is increasingly inclined to chew nipple and not latch properly. It's not wind, and it's probably not what I'm eating since it's every time now. Contemplating giving up after the op.

Morning ladies . We are on our 3rd change of clothes each here today and went through 3 babygros last night, so plan for the day is lots of washing I think! Freya has caught DSs cough. DS is now better but Freya's cough is worse and so after every feed she is throwing up. I don't know whether to just give her a small amount of milk more often rather than the bigger bottle. she seems quite well in herself once she has thrown up and still smiling.

will be interested to know how the Neurotrac works out for you kate It is sadly stress incontinence I am suffering from, after 2 very quick births and DSs big head I think, so running is an issue. Think I will have to stick with swimming and cycling for now and see the GP if there is no improvement.

Northern - we have blackout blinds on both rooms - really helps in the summer with going to bed as well as morning. however, ironically DS is going through the bad dreams stage and doesnt wear nappies at night so we have to leave the hall light on and his door open at the moment!

Just found my box of music and my recorders and clarinet. Does anyone think that trying out a clarinet after not touching it for 10 years will be soothing to my little man??!! Good job I've got no reeds...

Kitty a friend of mine plays bagpipes and his DDs didn't seem to mind as infants. I'd say get going before they know any better, and by the time they do you'll be good enough!

jiggle how long will you wait for "no improvement"? I'm suffering urge incontinence after an episiotomy nightmare - I still get pain discomfort from the site so I'm not sure how long to leave it.

northern we have black-out lining on our curtains because I made them: it started with our bedroom because the fabric that was just right (colour/pattern) was far too thin (I wake up with the light) so when I subsequently made the curtains for the (then) spare room I used black-out lining also. It's not pitch because light comes in round the outsides a bit, but it is fairly dark. IMHO proper curtain fabric with proper lining should be fine, but since you've got blackout why not use it?

turns out it wasn't the cheese making DD1 vomit but a bug, so after vomiting at midnight, she then vomited at about 1am, so she didn't get any milk after that and dry wretched at 4am, 5am, 7.30am & 8.30am, although has been good since we went to the drs.

Is there any news kitty? I think most of us on this thread have felt broody/are already planning more, so I don't think it's weird that you're jealous at all!

Glad it was successful YBR, and it sounds like your LO was much enjoyed by the family! It's lovely when you get them over to see the rest of the family. With the bf, it sounds weird that she's suddenly being funny about it, but then my DS does this- sometimes has days where he'll feed less and fuss far more, or not like a boob for a day. MsB can probably offer advice; also, it may be that your LO will want it more post op as a comfort thing? But if it's not making either of you happy then you shouldn't put yourselves through it.

Sorry to hear you've both been suffering by proxy with DCs and vomiting Bee and jiggle, and your poor LOs; hope they're on the mend soon.

We've had a quiet but productive day; pies are made ready for the over, washing and drying done, garden book completed. DS's routine appears to be starting to change- he had a 1.5 hour sleep this morning, and then was awake for nearly 3 hours this afternoon, and we've had a few of these longer periods. But as I understand it, that's the way they're meant to go, so we'll go with the flow!

And thanks to all for the responses, DP will be hanging the blackout curtains this weekend!

Am just watching some of "Cars" with the DDs for night-night telly while DS feeds. DH is out at a celebratory post-viva meal for one of his students, so it's a solitary evening forcme once kids abed.

Am torn between an early night, a mad tidy, or a few chapters of something or other...

We went swimming after all. Ali was fine until the nasty teacher lady dunked him under. Then he didn't stop crying. :(
I think we need to go swimming more often to get him used to it.
We then went to mum's for lunch, and then to visit Granddad in his residential home. The nurses said that he's refusing food, and only taking a few sips of the nutrition drinks they give him. Although he had a choc ice last night. He didn't look good. It may not seem the right thing to say, but I hope that he doesn't have long. He's not been happy for a long time. He has Alzheimers. He is 93. His wife died 7 years ago, and he's wanted out since then.
Hey ho.
And then we drove up to our new house to look at it in the sunshine. :) We probably looked like burglars driving around, staring at houses.
Have organised some paperwork today - letters, proof of earnings etc.. Got a mortgage appointment next Tuesday.[very excited emoticon]
Then we had the poosplosion of poosplosions. All the way up his back and around the sides - his vest went straight into the bin. There was no scraping all that lot off!
I siad it was going to be a good day. And it has been.
And DH has proclaimed that we shall be doing the deed tonight.
I'd better get a bottle of wine down me!

Bit of a fail on my part- the bloody pastry had gone mouldy, so had to run round to the shop to see if they had any.
Nope.

So bought a lump of lard- as you do- and made my own. Although I make scones and pizza dough a fair bit, I haven't made actual pastry in years, and think I made it too wet.

Dinner will be interesting, doubly so if DS doesn't settle.

We had to bathe him tonight
He absolutely HATES his baths, and instantly goes red and screams like we're barbequing him, by far and away the worst crying he does. Will try to do without for a week and then getting in a bath with him, except for some reason the hot water comes out tepid in our bath.

A totally understandable POV Oi, and it's one I would hold (and have held) myself. When people get to the point where they're just existing, a pain-free death is often best, if that's what they want.

And I hear squeaking, dammit...

Hmm. Think the bed has a magnetic pull, I'm full of microwaved peri peri chicken (thank you Mr Aldi) and a quick prepare of tomorrow's school
Stuff is all I can face. (sport relief donation, footy kit for the DSs to wear to school, iced fairy cakes for the cake sale, usual paraphanalia).

(I didn't homebake the cakes, terrible mother: we bought two pallets of Sainsbury's dozen fairy cakes, and I let the DDs loose with jelly tots, choc chips and glitter sprinkles. We have the equivalent of chav pimped-up-ride fairy cakes. )

Ps mopsy, technically speaking I think sterilising is recommended for everything Prior to 6 months when the immune system gets going, but I'm not sure if the sophie would take it as it has a
Squeaker. I'm guessing surface clean it and then give up when baby is eating Daddy's trainers and the dog's leftovers??

I often wonder about the sterilising... I mean, they're at the stage now that anything near their face is fair game for a good gumming. Freya has now discovered her fists and they're in her mouth at every given opportunity (much preferred to the dummy!). I'm actually amazed at how much of her fist she can wedge in there actually. But my clothes, her clothes, my hands/fingers, bibs/muslins , the mirror on her playgym and blankets have all been in her mouth at some point today. How many germs could be carried on each?!?

In other news, I have a new addiction in the form of an app called Draw Something. My artistic skills require some polishing though!!

ybr - good question - not sure how long to wait if still no improvement. Doing pelvic floor as I sit here now! aethel any ideas onhow long before I should see my GP. (sorry you must get fed up of being the resident GP for us all when on maternity leave!! you are great though - wish you were my GP!)

air sorry to hear your news. I hope the funeral goes well.

oi - I know exactly what you mean. When my gran died it was obviously very sad but I also felt it was the right time for her.

Freya has managed to keep most of one bottle down today but quite a lot of the other 3 came up. she should have another bottle still but not sure I can face waking her to do it and the 2/3 changes that might be required afterwards!

DH was meant to come home early today. Wish he had not said anything in someways as I then had false expectations! Meeting finished at 4 so thought he would be home at 430. Came home later than expected but still in plenty time to play with DS, who had been looking forward to it, but DH decided to skype his friend instead. So actually he was no more use than normal but I had hoped for more. Whereas last night I knew he would be late so expected to do everything - not sure that makes sense, just want him to be useful with the DCs when he is here. Have however explained this to him without having a big argument, so that is a step forward at least.

jiggle, probably 6 months post birth is enough tome to be convince which way things are headed- but that's only a rough guess, if it was dire I might say sooner, if it's slowly improving maybe a little longer. Also when people go in depends on the psychological impact for them IYSWIM, someone who's very low cos of always having to wear pads etc would hopefully seek help, whereas the odd panty liner moment might not be such a big concern... There are no hard and fast rules, though lile most things there are probably local guidelines. Where in country are you again: manchester way??

Here's some information about the various treatments and what seems to work best...

I wonder the same MissRee; I think I read somewhere that the bottles need it as milk can get lodged in bits and become a breeding ground for bacteria that can make LOs really ill, as opposed to the normal germs as it were.
DS makes the most appalling noise when he's going at his fist; I think he somehow gets a seal and then it breaks, and it sounds exactly like someone's crushing the bones, sort of wet popping? Caused some interest in the doctor's waiting room...and as you say, it's a fist that's been on the floor, grabbed nappy bags, toys, etc.

I could murder one of those fairy cakes aethel, I spend all of my time thinking about cake... I bought a bag of biscuits today for my munching only and have hidden them from DP

No baby news yet, the contractions eased off again, but they are finally on their way to hospital as her waters have gone. So fingers crossed tomorrow. Which will be the 23rd. Exactly 3 calender months after his cousin!

Off to bed, full of chinese food after a farewell dinner with some ex-colleagues from my last job. Kettering to Manchester might be a bit far for a mid week catch up from now on....

DH gave up chocolate for lent and it is a bit disconcerting to see how quickly it disappears and I have noone else to blame!

DH might have to go on a 2 week business trip in mid-April. I am a bit nervous of dealing with both children on my own. It's just the morning and evening wake up and going to bed times that worry me. At the moment DH has a shower while DS plays in his cot then gets him dressed/brushes teeth/gives milk/does his physio while I feed DD and get washed and dressed. Then in the evening DH baths DS while I bath DD and I do DD's last feed in bed while DH puts DS to bed. I've never done it without him and no idea how I would cope. I suppose I would end up rushing around leaving one or other og them to cry at some point! I thinkl DS would miss out on his physio though. I might go to my parents for a week of it.

That is it I'm knackered. Totally full on day with the pair if them. If DS1 has eaten the sum total if one small meal today, I'd be surprised. The only casualty of the day es my temper which I lost around 5.15 and didn't get back until 7.30. Not fun times and I was not a nice mummy so feel awful. Tomorrow will be better, right?

Experiment #2 tonight. Have woken f for his 23.30 feed and then I'm going to leave him to see how long he kips for. Feel rather excited at the prospect of some proper sleep!