FEB 2010 Two and a half to three...the "contrary age" (no it isn't! yes it is!)

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Come in, sit down, fresh coffee is brewing, Prosecco's in the fridge for later and there's a bumper box of Lindt chocolates for all....

Ah BG that's a shame....but better to know about it. Is there something to be done about the coughing now you know the cause?

Bc, SB, Mous

So, DD's decided she wants to go back to using her potty. We've been putting her in nappies in the morning, but she's increasingly dumping them on the floor in favour of the potty. No accidents at all today, but we're being relaxed about it and still putting DD in nappies (she's not objecting) then letting her use the potty when she wants to. Hopefully it will rebuild her confidence and we can dispense with nappies again(apart from naps - which is usually when she chooses to do a poo). Time will tell!

IC great news

BG DS was diagnosed with asthma since been a baby. Things which hepls are a blug in vaporiser and vicks rubs on his feet when the cough is there. Good luck

IC great news

BG DS was diagnosed with asthma since been a baby. Things which hepls are a blug in vaporiser and vicks rubs on his feet when the cough is there. Good luck

Oops it posted twice

I'm okay about the mild asthma and the GP made it quite clear that this is 'asthma season' related to repeated coughs and colds, and she may well grow out of it. She now has an inhaler to help her when necessary (ie when she has a cold) and we'll take it from there. There is no history of chest problems in the family (my own quite severe asthma is the result of a particularly nasty bout of pneumonia following a stay in New York in a slightly dodgy (cheap) hotel -treated as legionionnaires in the end when everything else failed- when I was 30).

I do feel pretty terrible about it because in typical mummy guilt I see a link between dd1 going to nursery between age 1 and 2 and promptly developing glue ear, and now dd2 developing asthma a few months after I went back to work... . I also fees somewhat guilty about the times I told her to stop whining in the past few months when she may have been feeling a bit rough . With hindsight, she's been under the weather for a bit now.

Oddly, since she's seen the doctor this morning she's gone downhill - almost as though he has sanctioned her feeling poorly. Once home she politely asked if she could please lie on the sofa, and spent most of the day there. She had a little lunch and then volunteered to go to her cot for a nap . I had to wake her to collect her sister from school. At dinner time she had about two mouthfuls and then wanted to sit on my lap for a cuddle. At 6.30 she asked whether she could possibly go to bed please (even though dh wasn't home yet).

She's now been up for a coughing fit (and a quick cuddle with dh) and is sleeping again. I have no idea what to do about tomorrow because she may well not be up to nursery but both dh and I have important meetings all day. I guess this really is when the shit hits the fan if you have no family near or alive...

BG how is she today?

DCs are in nursery. I've decided to finish nursery come end of January, even though I really like it now. I feel my mental space is vastly improved and I can't justify the expense anymore. Generally I feel DS does really well there. I think we did the settling in period wrong with DD and although she's alright and has normally a good time, she still struggles a bit transitioning in.

nk she looks really out of sorts in that fb picture. I can't remember when I was diagnosed, but it was pre primary school. It went away in teenage years and came back as a adult when I went to uni (and left the seaside town). Fingers crossed it's the infant viral asthma sort.

She's just about starting to get cheeky again so I think she's on the mend

Just got a giggle out of her (which ended in a hideous coughing fit so I won't do it again...)

Anyone else's bedtime get a bit hysterical once the nap got dropped?

survival is everything OK?

CP yes although she is now getting better and not getting quite so tired by bedtime. I also find that about once every ten days I need to firmly encourage her to have a lunchtime sleep because things are getting on top of her a bit.

Good to hear DD2 is feeling more herself BG!

CP on the days DD drops her nap (only about once a fortnight) we put her to bed half an hour earlier and generally seem to avoid the bedtime meltdown. That said, we haven't had several days of no naps stacking up, so we shall see.

More potty use today, although DD started getting funny about it later in the day - because she needed a poo, I suspect.....

DS had his second set of imms. Here's hoping the night will be okay.....

good to hear. We put her down an hour earlier but we still get it. She's still waking up 3 times a night as well which probably doesn't help. Like nk says, we get tired overrunning into next days. I also highly suspect that if she still had her dummy she would do lunchtime naps. Worked out she has slept through once in the past month.

I've only just booked DS 12/13 month jabs . I've been delaying as he has reacted to every other one.

DH has officially accepted the job

Good news on the potty IC. I used to ask DS2 each morning whether he waned pants or a nappy (cos I just wasn't bothered wih number 2 child!!) and he usually said pants. He seemed to respond well to the choice.

CP Is it a good thing that DH has accepted the job? It sounds like it could be, but I know that there are wider considerations. Can you keep your options open re the childcare in case the longer hours of solo parenting take it out of you? I'm sure you'll do a cracking job, but I know that some time out (at work/in the gym) really helps me to stay sane (and I really don't say that lightly). Thanks for asking how we are - see below.

BG both my two have an inhaler and hadn't used it until last week in over a year. Now, both have had a virus (cold, cough, rash, sore throat, temperature) and have both needed it again. We've had some family steaming sessions in the mornings in the bathroom to try and get us all sorted for the day! As I have asthma too, it's not really a surprise, but I did think they'd outgrown it. The doctors here don't daignose asthma until children are about 5 but DS1 had a brown inhaler for about a year too so we know what course we are on. I hope she feels better soon and you manage the childcare nightmare tomorrow. We know exactly how you feel.

I've had a couple of cuddly days on the sofa with both DS (as I have the virus too) and then went to Oxford today for a 3 day maths course (although I was coming back at night). 3:40p.m and I get a text saying DS1's on the way to A and E with Grandpa due to 'nasty head gash'. Cue falling apart mummy making a fool of herself in front of a room full of strangers as I gather my possessions, taxi back to the park and ride and then leg it up the motorway to join them. I arrived just as they finished patching him up and can't help but wonder if they'd have treated him differently if I'd been there to ask questions. It's still about 5mm apart, after glue and steri-strips, and I feel that if he was a girl they would have admited him and stitched it under anaesthetic. Obviously, I don't want him to have another general without good reason, but they've said he'll have a good scar and I can't help but think this would not have been allowed if he was a girl. I could just be overtired and emotional, but that's my current take on it. Have now had and chocolate and am preparing to go back to Oxford in the morning for another day of maths!! DH will take the two days off as the hospital said no school and I would have to refund the County Council £750 for not completing the course - as with BG it's all about juggling! I feel wretched that I wasn't there for DS1 today .

As usual, I've come on here and moaned - I'm really sorry. It's my birthday on Friday so that should be good! We've decided tonight that we won't go to see Bond until DS1 is clearly better, but after three days of maths, I might need a night on the sofa in front of tv anyway!!

Hi to the rest of you. Hope all is well (and BC the children make the best comments don't they?)

dd2 to dh just now 'Don't be sweet with me!'... She feels better and doesn't want special treatment

Survival Hope your ds1 is getting over the shock (and you! Have some on me)

Oh Survival what a nightmare, your poor DS1. Interesting you think he was treated less sensitively because he's a boy. That's outrageous if so.
I hope he gets well soon, gawd knows you could do without even more health worries

DS seems to have sailed through this set of imms - I haven't noticed any reaction at all thus far, although we won't be clear until tomorrow afternoon. Roll on the next batch..!

DD continues to wee in her potty (I think her nappy was dry all day today) but is reluctant to wear her Big Girl Knickers - I might get her training pants because putting on her nappy after every wee is a bit of a pain - if she doesn't opt for the knickers soon.

And I've resolved to take her to the GP and get her some laxative. The poo withholding has gone on for long enough and it's time to break the cycle. It will probably be a long process, but I don't think it's going to happen without some intervention to force her to go more regularly before they become uncomfortable or painful.

I tried to post some comments on the FB page and it said I didn't have the necessary permissions - anyone else had that? Weirdly, I'd successfully posted one comment before FB wouldn't let me add anything else......

IC I just checked and you're still admin on the fb group so I don't know. However, it looks like BG has disappeared from it?

IC Lactulose might be enough to keep things soft and pain free for her. Poor little thing but glad she now likes the potty.

Survival I don't think it's just boys. I know a girl who has a massive scar on her forehead which was glued really badly twice and is gaping. I do wonder what the medical reason for glueing is actually because it's pretty impossible to keep a screaming distressed child still enough to do it properly so the glue goes on top of the cut, not into it! When dd2 had her spectacular nose dive into the fireplace I had to pretty much lie on top of her, a nurse pressed the cut together (which made it bleed and difficult to see if the edges matched) and the slightly harrassed looking dr tried to put the glue on. Her scar is quite thick and fairly wide but luckily for her almost in her hairline. I am fairly sure it would have healed better with stitches, but what do I know....all my many scrapes as a child were all stitched. Feeling somewhat cynical, I guess throwing some superglue on/in a cut is faster.
Rant over.

dd2 coped well with a short day at nursery today and didn't cough too much in the day. She's made up for it since going to bed though. Her cough reminds me of when my younger brother had whooping cough as a baby.

survival you could look at it from the other side and be that girls looks are deemed to be so vital that it is worth the risk of a GA.

Still sounds a shocking situation all round for everyone. How is he today? Let me know if you want me to pick anything up for you tomorrow.

I'm trying to take on board on people have said about the nursery hours but I'm just not happy with savings going down anymore. As it is, I feel we have an OK amount to afford to move in a years time, if I were to get a job. Moving about as much as we have has certainly hit the finances and we don't have the room to top them up anymore.

Also I think one of the problems is I don't do anything in the time, which is now making me feel worse (I feel guilty for not having done anything but lack the drive to get up and do something). I have my climbing and badminton as fixed things now, plus tutoring is now four hours (over two sessions) so I will still have those things. I will look into preschools locally though, I just don't want to be moving her around loads.

No idea what the fb trouble is, looks fine from my end although I haven't tried to add anything today.

Thanks all. BG I did wonder today if the hospital treatment was money-related. DS1 got no pain relief the whole time, despite arriving screaming half an hour after it happened , he was glued, even though all involved have since said they are very surprised and are not sure it will hold, no sticker or certificate for bravery and no advice sheet for us (when we got one last time for a much more minor bump). Maybe they were just busy? Either way, I'm not impressed.

Thanks for the offer CP. I went back to the course today as DH has taken the time off. I sooo didn't want to leave them all this morning! I've been doing quadratic equations for the first time since I was 16 and have brain-ache!! I'm not sure when we send him back to school. I know it will be mending more by Monday but it's very open and I'd hate him to get it knocked. I've suggested DH has a chat with the Head at school tomorrow when they go in to collect homework for the weekend (mean teacher-mummy emoticom!!). Hopefully they can make a decision between them.

IC some lactulose sounds like a good idea and goes straight through without other side effects. Glad DD is doing well.

Off to watch the rest of Hunted. Sooo appreciate your support, as always.

that does sound horrid :(

as it happens I am tutoring GCSE maths

oooh is the new hunted out on iplayer

I've actually done a good amount of work today :) Have tomorrow afternoon as well, then two afternoons next week at which point I hope to have a rough draft of a proposal.

Survival - If it looks like the glue might not be holding I would take him back to the hospital and have it redone or stitched! And that's just so awful they gave him no pain relief, no stickers, nothing. Even if they were very busy, that's just no way to treat a distressed child. I am now fuming on your behalf....
For what it's worth, dd2's second scar on her eyelid did heal very well with glueing but it was superficial. I really don't think anything deep or large should be glued. I'll have to look into this because it's been bugging me for a while.

I'll be interested to hear what you find as I'm really not happy. It was gaping and deep.

mous good to get a more personal recommendation - ta!

am trying to persuade DH that we shouldn't be putting the mission, sisters of mercy or AC/DC on the playlist for musical statues at DD's bd party!!

survival BG :( hope the DC's are feeling better soon!

I got the results from my 360 appraisal at work today? made me cry. My team are really very lovely? between them and my managers i've come out as operating towards the top end across all 70 areas considered essential in a good manager? I pretty much marked myself as usually operating well below the required level? I think they're all wrong the coach thinks i might have issues with modesty and self-loathing? (i like her but think she's wrong )

i have an owl birthday cake and party feast to prepare for sunday so might not see you all much til next week!

thinking of you all, hope everyone ill improves and everyone well stays so?

(still so happy to back in the fold!!)