Still brooking no argument whatsoever that these babies are happy, healthy and awesome for 2013 too.

[jaggythistle]

eh. attempt at new thread. yo.

Hello everyone. I've been lurking too long and lost you all. Been quite busy with T and trying to get more things done these days. I've got a new complication too - think I might have mastitis. Though not the infected sort, just the painful kind. T wouldn't settle at all last night till 1am, but then slept through till 6:30! Lovely as the sleep was, I woke up with a really hard painful breast. Fed from it which helped, but still incredibly sore afterwards. T then slept till 8:30, and this time both breasts were hard and sore :( I've been reading about dealing with mastitis, and the advice is to feed from the sore breast often - 8-12 times a day. T only feeds about 12 times in a day, and only from one breast at a time.

So I've had a little go at expressing to empty the breast(s). It's not very comfortable at all :( Not sure what I was expecting it to feel like, but better than it does. Using a Tommy Tippee hand pump, and managed to get 1oz in about 5 minutes, after T had finished feeding. Is it usual to have that much left over after a feed? If I express the extra am I not going to make more and thus make problems worse?

Going to go along to the hospital breastfeeding clinic tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be able to give me some advice. I think I've actually had this problem for a while. My right breast has always been sore, painful before and after a feed with lots of burning pain. There's a large obvious lump in the centre of the great too which never leaves and is sore to poke at. It's really hard to massage when feeding, and especially when expressing.

Hmm, that's loads of me me me. Sorry.

Loopy, someone will fall in love with your house soon. Brooking extra hard for you to get lots of new interest soon.

Scream, so sorry to hear that things haven't improved with your DH. Things will get better for you though. I remember that 'failure' feeling too, made me not talk to anyone when things were bad with my XH. I hope you have someone to talk to, but remember we're always here. hugs

T is waking up. I've been a terrible Brooker recently, but I will make more if an effort from now on!

Eeek Pomme that's not nice. Especially when you've not been there that long. That's what I used to do in my previous life at work, along with disciplinarys and grievances etc and I never found it got any easier from a human POV. Your latest FB pics of the girls are very sweet. Are they both getting on ok at school?

Glad you're feeling better Too

I'm sure you'll get some good advice from the BF clinic Stacks. Apart from massaging I wouldn't know what to advise. Have you tried doing it in the shower with a comb? The only time I ever had a blocked duct I managed to get rid of it like that.

I have DS at home today. First virus of 2013 has begun with an awful night time cough. He's got bags under his eyes bigger than mine. Oh well, at least he managed a month with no illness. I think that's the longest he's gone in about 2 years.
DD is still a bit snotty but it doesn't seem to be bothering her. She's loving it now she can get around on the floor. DS is not amused. She is so interested in his Playmobil stuff so I've banished it to his bedroom as the bits are so tiny.

DH and I managed to get out for a meal on our own on Saturday night which was very nice. I told DH how much time I spend worrying about stuff and he thinks I'm a nutter and he thinks I spend too much time looking for bad stuff. Online, newspapers etc. I think he has a point so I'm going to try and get out a bit more with DD and find a class with her while DS is at playgroup. I only go swimming with her once a week whereas when DS was tiny I used to be out nearly every day.

Hey all. I have been lurking but busy as usual.

I had a blocked duct too this week and I cleared it with a big deep warm bath which I sat in and massaged and expressed. Also feed DS2 from different angles! Hope clinic helps you stacks.

I'm trying not to be on here too much as I find it hard to keep up and spend ages getting back up to speed. I don't think I can be as brave as biscuits and disappear though! Maybe just nocturnal visits with DS2. He is ok during the day apart from his runny nose, but up coughing a lot in the early hours. Yawn.

DS1 settling in ok at nursery so far...

Don't leave us, Jaggy! Ouch to the blocked duct - glad it's gone now.

Am really just lurking - am supposed to be helping DH paint the living room while M naps. Will be back later.

Lurking too, too bloody tired to post. 4:20am start yesterday, and 5am start today, with 2 hour stint of being up in the night both times. All S bar last night which was DD up for 2 hours.

Yawn.

Boo to the blocked ducts. I got a really cracked nipple the other day- agony , bah! That's not meant to happen now!!!

I found massaging it is so, so painful stacks but does really help, especially if you can do it a bit while they're feeding... I found it really hard to push through the pain and do it but it did help. But I'd say get better advice then from me!!!

Ooooh the excitement! Victor Meldew DH has just gone out to mither the electricity board people who knocked on the door 15 minutes ago. The houses all around us have had a power cut but we haven't . Next door has no one living in it currently so they're unsure about that. The men have some metal detector looky like thing going on and DH is following them round like a 3 year old boy

Jaggy you are not allowed to leave us! Biscuits has gone cold turkey on us for private reasons, (she's ok, nothing to worry about) the extra added time she's found has been an unexpected bonus. I aim to cut down on my general Internet usage, but I will still be posting on this thread and hope you all will be too.

FFS next door but one are having their drive dug up now! Apparently they can't go for 8 hours without electricity because they have no heating . I'm ranting that we had 3 days without heating in December when our boiler packed up and it was the coldest week of the Ffing year . Their kids are older teenagers. There's a massive digger making a racket a few metres away from DS's bedroom window. I'm not going to be happy if he wakes up.

I couldn't leave - I'd miss you all too much! I do tend to I
lurk more than post though...

Thank you all for the nappy distraction tactics! Scarlet, we're still using reusables but we have some disposables too, so I'll give that a go! I meant to today but forgot. In the meantime, I've found one toy that's working to keep her on her back some of the time (a big shaker rattle thing- thought she'd got bored of it but evidently not!). I've also become quite good at standing up nappy changes, seen as that's her favourite thing to do...!

Scarlet, what on earth are they doing digging up things at such a stupid time?! Hope the power issue has been resolved, and that the digging didn't disturb any of you..?

Stacks, sorry to hear about the blocked duct. I can also recommend massaging, and also getting T to feed from different angles to help clear it if you're able to do so? DH has found Iz and I on the bed with her feeding effectively 'upside down' quite often, as I seem to suffer from them a lot. I also (tmi a bit?) do a bit of a regular clear out of the ducts on my nipples manually by massaging them - I find it helps clear any sore blocked lumps, but also helps them to stop happening- for me at least!

Must dash - Iz asleep again, so it's transfer time here...

Boo to noisy diggers and sore nipples!

Doing 6 am shift again this week. Mega yawn.......

FFS, I keep getting brown spotting. It is infuriating! Go away or turn into actual AF, stop buggering around! I still haven't had AF back, so I keep thinking maybe this is it and then nothing.

Still lurking ladies! I'm just taking a little time to get my head straight and adjust my vision of the future. I keep catching myself planning things around the idea of being pg again in the summer, and living in a bigger house. Then I have to do the mental wet fish slap and realise that I won't be pg again for a long long time (even IF I find someone new), and my next home will probably be a tiny flat rather than a bigger house :( It's just taking a while to realign my sights.

Still No Brooking for you all though, and periodically dropping by to make sure you're all okay!

oh scream big hugs to you, it must be a difficult thing to get your head around. Have you told family and friends yet? You don't know you won't be pregnant for a long long time, you may meet someone who is The One and decide its the right thing at the right time. Hope little A is taking all the change in her stride.
Don't know how you get up so early jaggy
scarlet I am at your neighbours, how rude is that? I'd be furious.
too hope af makes her mind up soon.

Not much to report here, just the usual school run and money worries. Although hopefully money might be quite as absolutely terrible as I thought, apparently my tax code is about to change for the better which may make a difference, and if i'm lucky I might have a small pay rise this year. I have also requested that the pay scales attached to my job are reviewed to ensure they are correct and the job and dept have changed so much in the 3 years I've been there. Should know the outcome re my hours and possibly pay scale by end of thr week I think.
Must go have a shower, think I might trim my fringe too. its got to a horrible half grown out length and I don't like it.

Scream, hope you're doing ok. It must be so difficult to readjust your thinking :( Hope everything's going as well a possible for you, and that you're feeling happier despite all the change going on.

Ninja, I think money worries are part of the course with children, aren't they? :( Hoping the tax code change and pay rise all happen and are all fabulous!

Too, has AF turned up yet? :( Mine hasn't reappeared but I keep getting really bad period pain, so I prepare myself... and nothing happens. Doesn't help with the paranoia - every month I used to wonder/worry if I was pregnant, so of course with all these strange goings on it doesn't help, even though I know it's highly unlikely! Especially as I'm still BFing lots.

Full of colds here - Iz and I a lot, and DH has it too. She's so miserable, it's so sad... and was up for two hours in the middle of last night - eventually would only sleep upright. Urgh. Absolutely shattered, and I have a hellishly busy few days ahead. Typical...!

Scream, have been thinking about you a lot. How are you and little A doing? Have you moved back in with your folks, or has DH moved out? Brooking for you.

Ninja, money problems suck! We finally limped to payday, thank God, thanks to a loan from PIL but a lot of this month's money is already spent. At least we've got childcare vouchers with work (both of us) so the bulk of M's nursery fees are covered pre-tax. Actually, weirdly, my take-home pay isn't as badly affected as I thought it would be. I get £243 in childcare vouchers, as does DH, and M's monthly nursery bill is £531. If we could just get on top of the credit card a bit then we might actually be okay, now I'm back at work.

Oh, and Step Away From The Scissors! Cutting your own fringe is never a good idea unless you are actually a hairdresser, in which case please come round here and do mine.

Musical, Brooking for an immediate cessation in colds! M and I are also full of the cold - poor little M coughs and coughs in the night but doesn't really wake up, weirdly. She is absolutely covered in snot every morning, mind, and has been having a fair bit of Calpol over the last few days. How long can you keep giving a baby Calpol for?

AF has not arrived, grr. I keep wondering if I could possibly be pregnant, but it is highly unlikely as there hasn't been much in the way of sausage-hiding going on here, although when there has we've been going for the notoriously unreliable withdrawal method of contraception...My boobs don't seem different, although hard to tell as am still bfing. The only other symptom is that I've still got unpleasant food-poisoning effects going on, which is a bit weird because it's now Wednesday and I was poisoned on Thursday last week. I'm actually off work because my tummy is so dodgy and I don't dare eat anything except white bread and chocolate. Anyway, I remember getting a dicky tummy in early pg before. Not as badly as this, though.

How is everyone else? Jaggy, how are the early mornings going? Dream, how are you getting on with the return to work plans?

Scarlet, I meant to say that DH has got his CBT referral and has his first session tomorrow. I really hope he sticks it out. He keeps spiraling into these sloughs of despondency and I'm hoping CBT will help him recognise them starting and do something to stave them off. And I hope it can help with his spending problems.

I wish my childcare was the same price as yours too sadly it'll be 1099 a month for nursery for m plus breakfast and afterschool club for s
I now have a fringe and my hair looks miles better for it
hope your tummy feels better soon, right school run beckons.

£1099? Is that full-time? M's is 3 days a week.

nope, it's also 3 days a week. I just have nowhere else to moan about it
we always knew it'd be tight, we'll be ok but we might be eating s lot of beans for a while!

Yikes Ninja that seems a lot but the most important thing is that DD is childcare that you're completely happy with, even it it costs more than some of the alternatives. I meant to say thanks for the LeapPad recommendation, DS loves it. We managed to find some less expensive downloads for it online so it's keeping him entertained while he is off playgroup poorly again

Brooking that the CBT has some success for your DH Too. Mine has helped me come to terms with why I have anxiety but I'm still struggling to change the behaviour when the panic creeps in. I've become a lot more open with DH about it all and he is way more understanding that I thought he would be, so that's helped.

Brooking your colds all dry up ASAP Musical Snuffly babies are very sorrowful.

Scream I've been thinking about you lots. Hope you're managing ok (((hugs)))

How's it going Dream?

I'm off out for the evening with a friend and I'm so looking forward to it. I've not had any time away from either DH or DC for over a month which is ages for me. I'm desperate for a good laugh and a gossip.

Aaargh, I am still ill in a most unladylike way! Spoke to the nurse at work and she told me to go to the GP, and in the meantime, eat nothing but bread, eggs, potatoes, rice and pasta. No dairy, no sugar, no greens, no citrus fruit, no caffeine. She suggested dry bread for breakfast, with egg mashed onto it. And drink lots of cooled boiled water. Possibly having lots of chocolate last night was not a good idea. I'm waiting for it to be 8 o'clock so I can ring the doctor.

Scarlet, hope you had a great night out! DH's CBT actually doesn't start until next week - he misread the letter. Will let you know how he gets on.

Ninja, that's terrible - do you get childcare vouchers? I hope the government bring in this thing where working mothers get £2000 worth of tax-free childcare - although to you, that'd barely cover 2 months. Still, it'd be a bit of a help.

Sounds rubbish too. DH needed antibiotics to clear his bad food related infection, although his was complicated by the colitis.

Forgot to tell you I got first AF last Saturday. Previous pains were maybe egg hatching. Was a light and painless AF so not complaining too much... Got two months extra off compared to after DS1.

Having a shit day at work and really just want to go home.

oh too that sounds awful. I do hope you're better soon. I hope dh's cbt goes well.
What's up jaggy you don't sound like a happy bunny today.
scarlet I'm glad your ds likes his leappad. Ds adores his. His current favourite thing is to record himself making up rhymes about poos, wees and farts. Oh and blowing raspberries, lots of them Strange child.
Boring day stuck indoors today as waiting for a delivery and also got some people coming to insulate the loft for free. My life is a thrill a minute. I might ebay some stuff for some added excitement

Ach, just things going a bit wrong in the lab and my sleepy brain struggling. I have a tendency to panic irrationally if things feel like they are getting over my head a bit.

It's calming down a bit now, thanks :)

Having an equally boring day in Ninja. Was supposed to go to baby group, but Iz still too snotty I think. I think she'd enjoy it still, but not fair on the others. Rubbish.

Jaggy, glad it's calming down a bit now :) Sorry AF got you.. at least it was light and painless!

Too, I had some spotting yesterday, but no actual AF, argh! Sorry you're still feeling so completely rubbish - hope you got a doctor's appointment this morn. As for how much Calpol you can give, no idea - Iz doesn't like it! (not entirly sure she's my child - I love the stuff ). However, I do give her copious amounts of Nurofen instead... I often worry about how much is too much when she goes through a bout of being ill and I seem to be dosing her up lots.

Ninja, I'm shocked at how high your childcare rates are - though not really surpised, knowing where you are. Everything's such a ridiculous price around there! We looked at moving there briefly (lived there for three yrs), but realised we couldn't afford it really - very glad now, as there'd never be a hope of me going back to work at that price...

In laws round tomorrow to decorate the lounge, which means I have to clear it today.. they're also coming to stay, followed by my mother afterwards. All at a time when I have loads of work to do. I feel like a duck at the moment, calm on the surface, but underneath.... . Hoping it is AF making an arrival because that would explain my panic (I'm normally a calm soul!).

Childcare costs in Italy are much better (I'm paying ?400 a month for 25 hours a week - ie 3 days ish) because the ratios are lower so less staff. I thought this would be a real issue for me for A at nursery. It isnt at all, the nursery is amazing and I am more than happy with staff and ratios.

dd1's school however - ratios a BIG issue imo. A teacher plus assistant and 12 3 year olds = recipe for disaster. The teacher is a bit shouty and does time outs and things I have discovered through dd1's role play playing. I am so not sure about the school but dd1 seems happy and I think an Italian pre school might scare her.

Work a bit grim here - my dad and dh not getting on. MEN!

Sympathies to all ill and af/non af sufferers.

Apologies for me me me.

Hope all good with dream and return to work!