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

[jaggythistle]

eh. attempt at new thread. yo.

Gen, congratulations! I have dipped in and out of Fb at lunchtime on my phone - does his name start with an E or is that someone else?

Going back to work has made me start thinking about ttc again! Still no AF here, though, so we'll see. Also financially it might be a bit of a disaster. I'm still thinking ttc in Oct, though, if we can pay off the credit card by then and start saving for the next lot of mat leave!

Missing you ladies! Usually even when I'm too busy to post I still keep up with reading the thread, but at the mo I haven't even had time to lurk!

I do hope all is well in Italy Pomme, I hope all those trying sleep training are continuing to see great results (little A now sleeps through from 8pm to 9am each night, no wake ups, no crying, ), I hope all the mini No Brookers are well, I also hope all is well in the Dream household. I sooooo want to catch up on all Purple's news as well! Seriously missing Biscuits. Bah! Wretched RL getting in the way of my MN time!

Musical and Pet we should compare cat notes! Now that we're back home DD is finally taking an interest in our cats, and has started enthusiastically whacking stroking them at every opportunity! They've been very patient with the abuse attention so far, but I think they're a little tired of it!

At DD's third nursery settling in appointment yday I left her with the key worker for the first time, for half an hour. It went really well, she barely noticed me leave and didn't even bother to stop playing when I returned sob sob. It is becoming very apparent that the settling in sessions are more for the Mum than the baby! I found it really tough! I am glad she enjoys it though. Kiddie-free Fridays here I come!!

Please forgive my inadequate contribution to the thread in recent days, I'm hoping to get the house finished on Fri (when the annoying DH is around) and then I won't be spending every spare second unpacking stuff! Until then I'm just No Brooking for everyone!

Hope you found a way to catch up with a cat nap Jaggy?

Biscuits, we miss you!

Too, I've been thinking about TTC again quite a lot. Especially when I thought I spotted EWCM the other day . It'll most likely be a financial nightmare whenever we choose to do it... but I was thinking end of the year too. Have yet to fully convince DH mind..! No chance of us saving much as we need a new boiler this yr, and it needs resiting which will cost a fortune. Rubbish...

Poorly Iz here today :( Seemed ok this morn, was v quiet at baby group, and is now hot and sad. Clingy and cuddly which makes a change - so I've had a very unproductive but lovely afternoon of cuddles. Hoping it's nothing serious as she's only just shaken off her cold...!

We are on cold no 3 for ds2 since November grr .

Nap fail so far. We have just driven out to get a Chinese takeaway and let DS2 get a sleep.

DS1 seemed fine at nursery drop off, but cried his eyes out for about half an hour when he realised DH was gone. :( Key worker tried to call DH but he was out and she got mobile number
wrong. He was ok by hometime though.

Oh no, Jaggy, poor DS1.

Will post more later but am about to go home, yay!

Mmmmmm Chinese! Jaggy you're putting bad thoughts in my head! I need to diet before I go back to work at the end of April or I'm going to have to buy a whole new work wardrobe, and not for a good reason!

Loving the broody talk! Musical I'm another one who thinks irrational baby thoughts every time my ewcm shows up! In my case it's a useless DH causing the delay though, not money. Sigh.

Gotta go, I'm supposed to be getting lots of productive stuff done while my parents have DD!!

So i did my training course this morning and had three blissfully peaceful hours at work away from the dc :) . Three hours of the theory/laws behind paediatric manual handling though... practical next time, then hopefully that's it for another year.

You're probably all right. I have relaxed things a lot bit in the last week and we do some dvd time in the afternoon now. Postman pat is getting a bit repetitive but DD insists! The big issue that stops me contemplating nursery is we live in a village. There is a nursery here, but i have heard very mixed reviews of it. I'd be happier if DD was talking and could tell me if she was happy and how things were. While it may help with her separation anxieties, I seriously doubt it'd have any impact on her speech. She's fine at interacting with other children and adults at playgroups we go to, so I'm not worried about that side of things, but the separation thing is a pita. However, to put her in for a morning and have to drive her to one would be a 20 min drive each way, boys would fall asleep in the car but I'd have to get both out to take her in, it'd be such a nap-destroying pain I don't think it'd work. Looking at maybe a mothers help, seen an add for one, who's 19 and only charging £5.50 an hour (due to no experience) as a possible temporary thing. We'll see!

S has been a bit croupy and now coughing a lot so Sleep Hell continues here. Is he the only Mini Brooker still sleeping really terribly?! B wakes twice for a feed though, so suppose he's not marvellous either. Sigh. Still hoping for a miracle, but couldn't sleep train with a poorly s anyway.

Rubbish, meant to post properly and reply to you but dh says dinner ready, later Brookers :)

Welcome, Gen ! glad to hear things are going well.

I can't win with this thread - either it's too quiet or there's so much to say I get behind and can't namecheck everyone. Sorry I'm so rubbish.

Too glad work and nursery are going fine. Sorry to hear about the expressing troubles, but I think once the babies are this old the vast majority of people use formula, and the babies are fine with it. It's a lot easier than expressing, too! I'm quite relieved that I don't have to express any more. Im going back to work when DS will be just 11 months and he'll have formula then for sure. I'm thinking of introducing extra FF during the day to see if I can fill him up so he feeds less at night.

Pomme hope A sorts the sleep out so you have one less thing to stress about. Are you happy with where you're living? Have you started work yet or are you still settling in?

I'll just post this then try to come back and write some more...

Dream DS's sleep is appalling. I think he feeds more at night than during the day. He is up sometimes every hour. Once I've gone to bed I just bring him in with us and every time he squawks I roll him onto my boob. I'm creating terrible habits but I can't face sleep training or going to him throughout the night, so co-sleeping and all-night feeding it is for us here. :( I'm still holding out a vain hope that once he gets some teeth he'll sleep better.

One thought - could you leave the DTs in the car if they're asleep while you drop DD off somewhere? I sometimes leave DS for a bit. he doesn't usually wake up, especially if I leave a CD playing. Wish one could get a baby monitor for the car - I'd be more relaxed about letting him nap there without checking on him every minute!

R is mostly rubbish with the odd night of only one wake up to get my hopes up! Current problem is getting him to go to sleep at night. He falls asleep between 7 and 8 then pings to wide awake till 10 or 11. Hence my extreme tiredness. He's also been up at 1am and between 4and 5 which is when i am trying to get ready for work! I've been late every day this week.

Hmmm I see what you mean Dream about the drive to a nursery and how it might be more hassle than it's worth. FWIW my DS had speech delay (diagnosed by speech therapist) and I had the same concerns as you about not being able to say if he liked it or not. I decided to put him in playgroup from the age of 2 for 2 mornings a week without me even though he didn't talk at all. I figured that he'd still be able to let me know if he didn't want to go. It took a few times for him to get used to me not being there but he still goes to the same one now 4 times a week and he's now 4 and speaking almost perfectly. He loves it. I do believe it helped his speech and I do think it's because I wasn't there to make things easier for him and translate or speak on his behalf. Like you I'd done loads of different baby groups and classes with him, but I'd never left him until then. Maybe you could think about the local one and avoid the drive? If DD doesn't like it after a month then take her out? Separation anxiety is horrible though, I'm sure it must be hard for you as we'll as her. Weirdly enough DS and DD too so far will happily go to anyone

I'm looking forward to the next one of you guys going ahead and getting updiffed again. Who will be the first double brooker?

I made a mistake earlier and watched Tom Fletcher McFly's wedding speech on YouTube that people keep going on about. That bloody annoying song has been going round in my head all day ever since. I then showed a bit to DH and now he's pissed off with me because he's got it going round in his head too

Rats, can I not count as the first double brooker with the boys because I'm not allowed another baby?! yet

I could try that scarlet, I'd just hate prising her off me, she cried for 30 min asking for me today and was with beloved grandma, brothers and the nanny :( . It'd be traumatic for us both!!

pet, sorry to hear his sleep is so bad. though slightly relieved

Wish I'd never said two hour sleeps were bad though, now he's waking constantly with this cough its much worse!

scream, you sound incredibly busy. So glad little A settling at nursery so well, she's a little star! Thinking of you

How blooming rude of your A too pomme to resume her bad nightly ways, in foreign lands and all. Hope it settles soon, dying for more details of it all. How's the international school for DD1 going?

Hope cough is gone soon dream :(

Can I get today's virtual wet fish slap. All worried about how DS1 will get on with his first full 2.5 hours of nursery I just hate to think of him crying again, even tough I think he'll have fun once he gets used to it.

Slightly better sleep last night - I was in bd for 10 30, R was up justbefore 2, then co slept till I got up just after 4. yawn. Then he got up at 4.50 when I wanted to eat breakfast....

Too, yes that's me with baby E. so exciting that you and Musical are thinking about TTC again! I won't be having any more now, but I shall live vicariously through the brookers!

Jaggy your early starts sound horrible but I'm glad you had a better night last night.

Pet, are you a namechanger? I can't work out whether I know you or not.

Dream, I would recommend trying a few sessions of nursery for DD too. My DD started at a playgroup (one where you leave them for the morning) when she was 2 and it helped a lot with her speech and confidence. She still goes now as we couldn't get her into the preschool. The mother's help sounds like a good option too and surely a 19 year old would have lots of energy to cope with the demands of three little ones!

Scarlet, I'm going to have to watch that now!

Scream I hope you are doing ok. You sound very upbeat although I gather you must be going through a tough time. Great re A's sleep! I'm already looking forward to getting more sleep, but I know it will be ages yet! E is pretty good though, he seems to be settling into a pattern of two wakings during the night, which I can cope with.

Ninja, I'm excited that you are broody too! Do you think you will go for number three then?

Hope Biscuits is ok.

Waiting for first health visitor visit this morning - oh joy!

I'll look into a playgroup option generic, and wow for only two night wakings, what a treat!

Poor B up with a terrible cough and sounding really hoarse and wheezy. Great, double ill babies. Zombies R Us here for dh and I.

I've got the hv tomorrow...

Oh Dream, I don't know how you do it. Hope they get better soon. I think I passed the HV visit!

Was just away updating my mumsnet mates thingy, but I reckon you are all down as your 'standard' names rather than festive ones so it might not be working for you all. :( If my boss doesn't appear soon I will try to add acouple of new photos. :)

Hey, sorry I went AWOL.

Thank you so much everyone for all the support and advice on the breastfeeding. I made it along to the group at ikea, which was pretty good really. I'm quite shy and found it hard to talk as we were the youngest baby there (everyone was very shocked/impressed I'd made it out with a 2w old) and everyone else seemed to know each other. The health visitor gave me some advice on latching and showed me a new position to try - T straddling my thigh, then lean back with him against my tummy and let him find his own latch. I think the latch might be better like that, but I think he's actually a bit small for it, he struggles to hold his head steady for a whole feed, so either twists my nipple round so he can rest, or collapses into the nipple where he can't breathe and has to come off.
Still, I came away feeling reassured, and managed some good feeds at home with the new latch. He's ok doing it during the day, but overnight we're still stuck with bad latching for now. LLL tomorrow and I'm hoping to get some advice on holds from there too.

T seems to be a really good sleeper, compared to the babies on the dec thread. Last night he slept from 10-2, 2:30-5 then 5:30-9:30. After chatting with health visitor and midwife yesterday I'm further reassured about breastfeeding - if he was starving he wouldn't be sleeping as well. He's up over his birthweight now too, 9lb 1oz at 2w, from 8lb 8oz at birth. So, my only real problem is my extreme pain, and I can handle that if I have to. I admit though, I bought a bottle and a carton of formula yesterday too - an emergency escape plan to stop me feeling so trapped and helpless when struggling to feed in the middle of the night. I hope never to use it, but I think mentally it's quite important to have it there.

I need to go back and read, but from memory -

Dream as ever you are a super mum with a super tough, unrelenting job. I really hope the boys are better soon. The mums help sounds like a really good idea to me - I also like the idea of helping someone start out in a new career. If you're home at the same time as her there's not much risk in hiring her?

Scream hope things get let manic for you soon. Relationship breakdowns are so hard. My first marriage was a bit of a farce really, so not much I can advise on really (I ended up counselling him through depression over the end of his affair...). Just remember to keep looking after yourself, you're important, and you're you (and wonderful). You deserve to be happy.

Too I think we are near, I'm in Edinburgh close to ikea. I wouldn't want to put you out, but thank you very much for the offer of help. I may take you up on it if things don't improve, but for now I'm feeling more positive and in control. I'd be happy to meet up socially sometime though. I know precisely one person with a baby (well, 1yo) apart from my sister who's hundreds of miles away. Hoping the bf groups will help with that too, if I can get over the shyness.

Gen lovely to see you here.

T waking up... He's been napping on my chest which is lovely but surprisingly uncomfortable after a while.

gen I would love to go for a third but realistically I'm not sure if it will happen (although I find that extremely hard to accept). I'm 38 now, just moved into a new house which needs considerable work so totally skint for a good few years. We'd need to wait till dd gets free hours at least to afford it plus 2 would have to share a room as we've only got 3 beds and cannot afford to convert the loft for about another 15 years! I can dream though (and slowly work on dp who is totally besotted with dd) . Glad to hear E is settling into the world well
Oh dream not more illness! mothers help sounds like a great idea as they can help do all sorts including the tidying/ meal prep and stuff that stops you spending 'quality' time (for want of a better phrase) with the kidlets. They could also take either dd out or the boys out when its nap time so you get some time with the boys without dd or with dd without the boys.
jaggy not sure how you get up so early.....I feel tired just reading about 4am.

Brookers I may need some hand holding although I really hope not. My dad had what he thought was a water infection over Christmas, anti bs didn't work so he went back to have blood tests etc. These came back with not such good results and he's off to hospital today for more tests to see if its prostate cancer . He's terrified even though he won't say so as it is what his father died of and his symptoms started in a very similar way. If he has tests today does anyone know how long it takes for results to come back? I'm guessing if they think it might be cancer they'd do it pretty quick right?

stacks glad to hear the bf group was good. If it's any help I have found over the years you need to go to groups at least 6-8 times to get to know people, so do persevere and you may make some really good long term friends. Hope the lll group is good too.

I am also a bit broody for a tiny baby, but am slightly insane with just 2 so I think DH would be terrified I'd get worse. Also we don't have room for a 3rd - new house or car would be an issue. I am 34 nearly 35 so we may think about it again in a few years I guess.

thanks jaggy. On the subject of breakfast, get thee over to the product testing section and apply for the breakfast biscuit test!

Ninja when I was diagnosed with cancer it was about a week from test to surgery. That 'delay' was only for scans etc to see if things had spread and what the treatment plan would be. Also they had trouble getting in touch with me (house phone answer phone has been off). So from my experience things run quickly if anything is found. I can't remember how long it was before they told me initially, I think it was only a day or so.

Really, really hope everything turns out ok. Cancer is a terrifying prospect, I found I instantly associated it with a poor outcome, even though realistically treatment and outlooks are so, so much better now than they used to be. Brooking harder than you'd think possible for your dad, you, and your whole family!

Thanks stacks hopefully he'll know beginning of next week then. I can't imagine how awful you must have found the waiting. You're right it is a terrifying prospect and since he's in his 70's I have been very worried about the outcome. Fingers crossed he'll be ok.
Right I must have a quick shower then nip into town with dd to buy some birthday pressies and cards.