April 2012 - Feeding, Facebook and finally summer!!

[Flisspaps]

Apologies for the rubbish thread title - thought I'd cobble something together though!

marshmallow - no haven't been to a regular BF group, LLL has a meeting in September but I won't be around. Maybe I go to a BF cafe. I'll see .... I'm worried (what else) that I am not able to continue b'feeding now that I had to introduce formula top ups. Is there a key/ secret to do it right and my milk doesn't dry up? BF is so important to me as it allowed me to spend and eventually enjoy time with DS.

Maybe the One O Clock Clubs are only a local thing - after all, I live in Nappy Valley: www.wandsworth.gov.uk/info/200016/childcare/330/one_oclock_and_one_oclock_childrens_centres

It's really good to meet other mums and some dads with sing&rhyme time, playgroups, b'feeding drop drop ins .... I like it and it's all free!

Has anyone tickets for THE GAMES and plans going, with or without DC?

I think the one o'clock clubs are a London thing? My nephew used to go, he's 23 now :). It's just a free drop in club for mums and babies, there's s lot more around now do you don't really hear about them so much.

I'm going to the Games! So excited I can't tell you. I have showjumping tickets for 5th Aug. Taking my dad as DH has no desire to go at all!! do DH will have a day with DD :)

Aaargh I think the teething has started here... DD was up all evening and miserable untill 1 am when DH finally got back from a night pharmacy with baby bonjela . Had already given her the first ever calpol ( 2 separate doses) and fed her twice after the usual bedtime feed... Luckily she then finally slept 6 h . Feeding ATM and planning to sleep a bit more after if she 'll let me . Lucky DS (7) is old enough watch a DVD while I rest ...
We've got tickets to the Athletics . All 4 of us that is. Might have to take DD now that don't have anyone to watch her since inlaws can't help ... Wish me luck is all I say :( worried about the journey there and back ( it's in the evening ) mainly ...

It's going to be looong days. We have Canoeing Tickets somewhere up North London (in far far away land) and one has to be there 90mins before and our session is 1.30 - 5.30pm. We leave DS with my friends mother who lives close by. I hope that I'm not going to be explode ... should be like a night sleeping through?

And we've got Beach Volleyball, 9-11pm and going in to Central London will be "fun".

May I please ask ... who has a small baby? R is between 9 - 25% and he is so tiny compared to the other babies. The doctor is ok-ish as long as we are able to keep him there, he can't drop any further (we started at around 60%). I'm confused if he's doing fine or if he would do better on a higher %line. Not that there is much I could do except of giving up bfeeding and hope he gains more with formula.

No idea how big DS is. I certainly think he's not as big as you'd think given his mammoth birthweight, but I've not bothered to get him weighed. He looks and feels just right to me!

Olympics fever hasn't really hit the FP house. We didn't apply for tickets, and I've only been to London once (twice if you include Wembley stadium). It's just not something that seems particularly relevant to us, despite living about 8 miles from Much Wenlock (where one of the founders of the modern Olympics is from and one of the mascots is named after) - didn't bother seeing the giant cheese grater pass through the streets either. I think we're the only people we know who don't have a photo with a torch.

fliss I'm not olympic feaverd either. My friends brother has a torch as he is captain of the welsh rugby team so may ask him if I can have a pic of the kids with it but I didn't go and watch.

thaleia your ds is fine on that line. My sil ds was on it and is more than healthy, my ds1 is on it now and was 50 to 75 as a baby and he is fine (just not today :(). In a way I would have liked a to be smaller, he's just growing so fast and is in 3-6 clothes since 9 weeks etc harder to carry him everywhere I get pins and needles in my arms lol.

Thaleia my milk is still seemingly fine even though I'm giving formula too, all the worries that milk supply would vanish suddenly seemed unfounded in my case at least. I did find it was getting hard to express enough for the night time feed a few weeks back & went back on the fenugreek which seemed to help. Also I just keep making sure I get several good BF sessions in per day if I feel things are slipping towards too much formula.

Don't know much about Wandsworth area (I'm over the border in Lambeth) but there is probably a local network if you look on Twitter - there's a person there called @StreathamMums who organises meet ups in the Streatham area - bit out of my local patch but there may be equivalent things going on in Balham/Clapham etc.

Thaleia , my R is not small like yours but she did start around 90 perc and did drop to 50 perc by 8 w of age. Now she's 12 w and I'll have to go to the health visitor to have her weighed to hear where she is now. She is eating more and to me she looks similar proportions so hoping we've stayed on the curve . They don't wan't her to go down more either and she is FF so not all FF babies end up big... DS was born 75 perc but dropped to 50 perc and stayed there until about 2 1/2 when he became a nightmare to feed and dropped to 9-25 per . Luckily he changed his eating habits at about 3 1/2 and bounced back and has been at 50 perc ever since ( now is 7 1/2y). Now he eats pretty much anything . Am dreading weening R somewhat in case she turns out to be as difficult as her big brother. It was battle for a few years but at least I now know he turned out fine!
Also we live in the same area as u I think if you'd like to meet for coffee then pm me :)!

... Since I noticed how the 0-3 m babygros were getting small ( length and also the foot part) I tried on a 3-6 babygro and she was swimming in it !:) quite comical . It was huge ... I guess we're between sizes . I'm going to get a few more wears out of the 3 m size ones before packing them away :( and moving on to the 6 m . Dresses and cardigans of both sizes are fine though . I'm feeling a bit sad about putting the little clothes away if this is our last baby :(... I have this feeling of not being sure but because how hard it would be to go about having one more DH is thinking this is it . Also even though I'm not too old (37) you'd think I would have a few more years left to use my eggs for another surrogacy but my hormone levels and egg count were not promising last time around with DD so feels like she was a minor miracle on all counts . It's just a horrible feeling like the clocks ticking and DD is only 3 m old! I wish I could just think we could do it again in 2 y or something which might otherwise be realistic . I think by then my eggs might be gone though. If I wanted to freeze them for surrogacy ( we didn't have any left over from having DD) I'd have to do that in the US and that would require all the travelling again . That is if we wanted to do another round of surrogacy there like with DD which worked out but was quite a journey . Last time it was A two week long trip for the ivf and now we can't ask for my inlaws to watch the kids either since DMIL isn't well also DH is starting a new a job and can't just go and work in the NY office like last summer. So this is in the back of my mind even though we haven't yet finished the legal process here for this baba.

Welcome back thaleia ive just been looking at lyra weight and clothes size, I've not been worrying about her size to much! She inbetween sizes too, still in 0-3's and they say up to 14.5lbs. She is 13.5lbs at 15wks. Some of her 3-6 size fit, but some are far to big.

Hello to gobble sounds lovely living Abroad for a while, but a shame about the bf in public thing! I go A bf support every Monday L loves it, change of seen and other babies. Plus the bf counsellor is fab.

I think she is teething, she bit down on my boob this morning! Eeeeekkk
She is little whingy and chomping on everything, she also put her dummy to the side and chews it! I Gave her some Calpol today and lots bongela.
Also back to 3hr feds a night! :(

Don't U just hate it when U need the toilet and baby is asleep on you?

Where is averyone putting there babies for naps? L still loves sleeping on People lol x

DS has (this last week) started napping in the pram - he has to be swaddled and have the white noise app going on the phone (someone here recommended it - the paid version seems to be louder than the free one!)

He will sometimes sleep if I pat him whilst he's in there, but more often than not he's got to be asleep first. I don't care either way - being able to put him down has given me a whole new freedom!

He usually does 45 minutes, but today he did two hours and had to be woken up as we were going out (sleeping in the wrong buggy!) and yesterday did 3 hours. Right now he's asleep in the car seat but I figured he'd only sleep 45 minutes probably so I'm not too bothered about leaving him in there. In fact, he's woken up now...

And if your DD is teething then ibuprofen might help, but thinking about it I think it's 6mo before they can have it :(

That's great news fliss. DS2 only naps in the buggy if it's moving. Or if he's so bloody tired that he's cried himself to sleep while I've faffed around trying to get out of the house.

Atm he's napping while he feeds. Which means I'm getting less done than usual.

nordic know what you mean about not being quite ready to make that decision yet about whether your family is complete. For us having another means I'd have to work another couple of years to save up for maternity leave, we'd definitely have to do a loft conversion as we're currently in a 2 bed. We'd need a bigger car. I'd need to go back to the private consultant to retest my nk cells level, get back on the steroids and start the rollercoaster process of ttc. Then worry about more mc's. It just sounds too hard to think about at the moment, but I suppose if the desire for another child becomes strong enough we'll find a way. Right now though I'm grateful for my lot.

Bill naps all over the place: on me, in his soon-to-be-too-small cocoon, on his playmat, in his swing. I'm planning on starting a 'nap time' for him, in his big cot. But not till he's older: maybe 5-6 months.

Snap on the 0-3/3-6 issue! It means I can keep him in his cute 0-3s a little longer, though...it'll be hard to move on from some of those.

Had a clingy day today...fair enough as he had jabs yesterday. Typical timing though: I'm supposed to be stripping wallpaper, packing for the holiday & sorting the house - and DH isn't back till later. DS comes first and the walls (& washing up!) will have to wait.

We're having conversations about family size too. On the one hand, we love it being the 3 of us, and don't feel the need for any more - especially with the practicalities Digital Girl mentioned & my hideous pregnancy. DH is an only child and never felt he missed out. On the other hand, Bill will never have first cousins, so it might be good for him to have a sibling. I also saw how much DH sacrificed caring for his parents when they were old and unwell. If he'd had brothers & sisters the care could've been shared, rather than him sacrificing his career to look after them. (next time I moan about him, remind me what a good man I have).

Ooh! Where are you going on your holiday henrietta? We've booked a trip to Sardinia for September. DS will be 4 months old. Slightly scared but excited at the same time.

I've got tickets for the Olympics. My mum will be coming down to look after DS HOWEVER... to throw a spanner in the works he has just decided he doesn't like to take a bottle anymore. I went out to see friends last night and came home to a very worried DP saying DS had refused to feed all night :( I think we're just going to have to really work on it over the next week and hope he changes his mind. Grrr.

When I was pregnant and even before we had any children I always wanted two. To me it was the perfect amount for holidays, our 3 bedroom house, normal cars, childcare etc. Dh is going to have a vasectomy now we have two but it worries me its so final. If we had the money I would have another but financially its tight now and I couldn't do 8 years more paying for nursery, especially here its so expensive comparative with wages.

When DD was born I was adamant that I didn't want another, but we kept everything 'just in case'. In my mind though, I knew I didn't want just one even though that's what I told everyone.

This time though, I am certain. 2 children is me done. I have no problem getting rid of the clothes that we kept from DD and the stuff that DS has outgrown. The moses basket is being washed and listed for sale next week. My family 'feels' complete though and that point is different for everyone.

I've been more aware of DD size and weight because of what happened to DS in the first week when i breast fed him. He lost 25% of his weight and never got back on the birth weight curve. Now DD had dropped several centiles by 2 m age eventhough we gave her recommended amount of formula as often as recommended because inially she hardly ever wanted to finish her bottle or to have it more often. Maybe both were destined to be around 50 % where they both ended up...Now have no worries about her eating though . She drinks all her milk in record time !definitely a growth spurt. I'm just praying she won't fuss tonight like last ! Hasn't needed anything in the day as far as bonjela or calpol goes. Has been making up for her lost sleep last night by sleeping lots in the day . She naps in the buggy or the carseat if I'm using that outside and the Moses basket or the baby lounger in the house . Have been putting the basket lately in the cot to get her used to that for when the basket's too small .might try her there in a sleeping bag someday when she's all sleepy to see if she'd be ok or just scream... Maybe we can get another month out of the basket but then it must be too small for her.I Seem to remember DS moved into the cot in a sleeping bag at about 4m /5 m. This time we cAn't have the cot in our room like with DS who was with us for 1 1/2 y ( far too long trust me ) . It's in her room which is just on the other side of the Landing . Am aware of the recommended 6m in the same room but I think wE'll have to move her a month or so earlier .
It's a harder decision this family size if you have a more difficult time getting there or time isn't on your side. I just don't want to regret it later. With us the practicalities now seem so impossible . We have no help with the kids while we'd have to travel for the ivf and the surrogacy , it was /is sooo expensive , DH new job's not as flexible and also to be honest afterwards if we succeeded to have another I would need to have hired help because of my illness 2 is making me struggle at times . All this never mind how tirying and stressful all the constant paperwork and arranging things over continents was and putting myself through the IVF on the drugs ontop of the medications I'm already on and finally the emotional torture when u r trying and having a misscarriages or an ectopic like we did the first time around . Dh swore he'd never do it again ...We do have another bedroom and space in the car since just got a bigger one and moved house recently and in theory could financially strech to the three schoolfees etc in the future . It the getting there and me managing to look after them all. I do have several friends with 3 or 4 and its very common in the area we're in . I'd like to have the same option on the family size as i feel most of my frieds have . One life to live and so on ... Am very grateful for both of my little ones but now that i've seen that having another child was possible for us through surrogacy after years of misery my Heart is not agreeing with my head . DH is more sensible ... I do wish I could think that we have the option of doing this again in a few years but like I said my eggs might be gone by then and an egg donor is a whole different deal in every way than using our own . Sorry to go on and on ... ;)

I also used to always think two is my number , I don't know what has changed to make me feel like this . Just can't give it up yet ...

Maybe one reason is it'd be lovely to have one more that has a smaller age gap with DD . One more cool little person in our family . 3 would definitely be enough ...

I want another one nordic would love one of each, but wouldn't mind a little girl again. I think I will stop at 2, our house is only a two bed so we would have to move! :-)
I loved being pregnant, I want to do it again. But want to wait, for a couple of years and enjoy L.
My brother in law partner is pregnant, so will love cuddling a new born soon, she is due in Feb!

L slept for 2hrs earlier oooopps from 6-8, woke her up for a bath then bed. Fingers crossed that won't effect her sleeping. Im hoping she does longer than 3hrs tonight.
Just had a nice hot bath a glass of dh is out.

L sleeps on anyone in day, sometimes in bouncing chair and pram, I push the pram round the garden or take her for a quick walk to set her off. She will sleep well in a car seat too, drove to plymouth which is 2hrs away and she stayed asleep then whole time. she is so good when we take her out!

How many feeds is everyone doing? I'm still exclusively bf, only dropped from 8 from 10 per day, she normally feds from 5-10mins per time. Very rare 15mins. I thought she would be on less at 15wks! I think I still have a hungry baby lol

Im not watching or going to the olympics, too far away from me. my dad loves it, and has a job working on the water pollo. He can't wait and is staying in London for 2 weeks. X

I think I just have pfb syndrome. I can't imagine another baby being anywhere near as perfect as he is. How silly!

We're headed to the Lake District for a week. It's my parents ruby anniversary & they've rented a cottage for us all. Should be good. I am seriously you're off to Sardinia. It's high on my list of places I need need need to visit - along with Sicily and the Douro valley in Portugal. And NY, Sydney...I would seriously sell our house, buy an RV and travel for a few years whilst DS is young...if I could convince DH!

Ps feeding very different with me, Vicki! We have 5-6 in 24 hours, but they average 20-25 minutes a pop!

Henrietta I think I have noted myself displaying the classic signs and symptoms of pfb syndrome.

Took the baby out for fine dining last night! Initial look of surprise at the arrival of someone so little was followed by oodles of attention. We got moved up the queue for a table, had a visit from maitre d, and DH's single friends relished the attention our table got from ladies all around!!!

Our excursions are limited to evenings due to the heat however.
Booked our first holiday. Sicily in August. A cliche but results from his mother's fascination with The Godfather