October 2012 babies - over here nobbers!

[Smorgs]

This really will be the thread where all our babies start sleeping through the night... right?!

Where are you again? You can probably find YouTube videos to do it at home, but it's not the same as getting out and talking to real people. That was my NY resolution, to make sure I got out every day.

Also, having to get the tube and train tomorrow for the first time with the sling. Am SHITTING it.

bora, I just chat to her all day. I explain everything that I'm doing. today I'm wearing a woolly jumper and so I told her how we get wool from sheep and also meat and milk and how the sheep live on the farm, and how sheep milk is there to feed their babies like she has my milk, but we make cheese from their milk and we don't make cheese from mummy's milk blah blah blah. she does 'chat' back. I think her first words are going to be 'shut the hell UP mum!'

London, and when you're chatting to her are you just carrying her around with you?

I can do the chatting thing but seem up run out of material after about 10 minutes, or I feel silly and we end up sitting, looking t each other...

Either that, or stick her on a chair (we've got the stokke one) or even just put her on the bed / floor and sit next to her. Sometimes I carry her around each room talking 'this is the kitchen where we cook, this is the toilet where we do poos' etc or show her photos of our families and friends or our holidays, telling her about all the people and where they live etc.
It's just waffle to fill the silence really- I'm not a singer and I don't really know any baby songs. My friend told me off for singing John Lennon's Imagine to her. He said I was trying to turn her into a communist. So what if I am?

It's also because she's apparently likely to be a very late starter with speaking because she'll be bilingual so I figure the more exposure to language, the better.

that was the most pointless "physio" ever. there was no actual therapy involved?!!!
physio: so... any problems with your bowels?
me: no
physio: any pelvic or back pain?
me: just a bit of back pain really...
physio: are you breastfeeding?
me: yes?
physio: ok your fine, off you go!!!

so this third degree tear business counts for nothing? not once did she mention the words pelvic floor exercises (i also squeeze every time i see those words!!!) and even though the ENTIRE physio department was devoid of patients, my appointment was still 10 mins late. grr!

'She's sleeping now' (© Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman) Must stop worrying...they said at the apotek to give '2 and a half ml' of liquid paracetamol if she gets a fever. Isn't that like less that a teardrop or something??

bora - I try to have her on the playmat (where she goes a bit bonkers 'air-running' and hits stuff manically) for up to 45 mins a day. Basically I try to keep her with me 'cos she's a social baby. I have a Tripp Trapp with a baby seat attachment I take her in that or the bouncer to whatever room I'm in/at my desk and whatever I'm doing, I try to talk to her, tell her what stuff is, interact, goof around...I also sing little songs and often try to put her name in the lyrics or just make silly songs up if the bottom lip starts wobbling...she's never more content than when she's had trips out in the car or pram though - new stuff to try to look at and people to charm! :)

Smorgs - Right back atcha on the heroic catch up! :) I also thought I would 'go green' with nappies before DD was born. However, being in Norway puts a different complexion on a lot of things. For starters, all the electricity here is renewable hydro-electricity from the many many waterfalls littered all over this land. Secondly, disposable nappies are very cheap here - about £1.40 for 36 and at least 50% of the brands are swan-marked and almost 100% biodegradable with little or no plasticised components (as far as I can see). This was great news to me as I would never have coped with all the laundering required in the early days and DD's poo is staining quite a lot of things, even with Vanish .

Wisdom teeth wise, I had 2 upper ones out and local and found it fine. I hardly felt most of the injections. The only not so nice one is in your palette but that's over in a second. Once anaesthetised, each tooth extraction took about 60 seconds and I wouldn't even know it had happened. The 24 hours afterwards can be a little uncomfortable (I needed to constantly rinse with Absolut!) but altogether not at all bad - not really much different from a normal tooth extraction.

We have baby cinema here in Stavanger but I haven't tried it yet. It's strictly only for parents with small children and the lights are definitely more up and the volume quieter. Think it's the only way I'm going to get to see the Hobbit so may try it out tomorrow or next week. If I time it right I won't have to feed DD anyway. Have a feeling she might get bored in a carrycot though so I would probably watch most of it pacing up and down the aisle .

ooh cross-posted with LondonMrs - much the same here really and DD's going to be bi-lingual too. Try not to feel silly if it's just you and her :). She'll never think you're a prat. For now, you're her idol! :) Another thing baby Fjord loves is looking at photos, especially of herself, other babies and family on the iPhone. She gets so excited she has even been known to flick the screen across herself with her hand! (I have video evidence of this...)

Living the pelvic floor reminders! They really help!

Cherry, what I was clumsily trying to do there was be supportive - which I'm a bit shit at to be honest, need more practice. It's hard to have days like that whether continual or one off, in fact probably harder if one offs because they are unexpected and you're not used to them and so not prepared for them either. Sorry if I sounded like a nobber!

Who asked if others' feeds are getting shorter? it's the opposite here, used to be done in 10 mins and can now take up to an hour as my supply is settling down a bit.

I'm off to part one of my 8-part "Help, I'm dysfunctional" workshop tonight. Mixed feelings. I get a mini book and homework each session. The sessions are meant to be practical and skills-based. These things are good. But... the leaflet says they are fun. This fills me with fear. I don't want to interact with other people, or think of twenty green things or introduce myself with 2 facts and a lie or any of that rubbish that I make my new class do at the start of every academic year. I'm not laid back enough to have fun at this sort of thing ffs, why do they think I'm there in the first place? Anyway, PMA and all that, if it helps me be calmer and more patient and less frustrated and less angry and ultimately happier in myself then that's great.

Fjord, 2.5ml is half a teaspoon. Most pharmacies will give you a plastic syringe if you're anal and want to measure.

Ooh, bilingual babies! What is the other language London? I'm guessing Norwegian for miniFjord. My dad's Cuban and I lament the fact that I don't speak Spanish

Balls. I have my physio appointment for my 3b tear tomorrow. Didn't occur to me that there might be an internal?!! AND I have to get on the stupid train and stupid tube with the baby. WAAAAAHHHHH!

hubby is French bora

Bora you'll be fine on the tube! The sling is the best thing for it. I went from Beckenham junction to West Hampstead on the overground, then back to Victoria on the Jubilee line - my biggest fear was the escalator - I was looking suspiciously at everyone behind me, giving them looks that said "DO NOT TOPPLE AND FALL ON MY PRECIOUS BABY!"

But it was fine, people didn't elbow me or rush past like they did when i was pregnant, and I always got a seat :) Much easier than I anticipated. In fact, I am much more fearful of being outside with DS once it gets dark, even if it's 4pm, than the tube. Curse you, short winter days!

Re speaking to your baby - I try to talk a lot but mostly end up just saying hello over and over I don't think I do enough play-matting or tummy time. Another thing to feel guilty about.

We too had good intentions of reusuable nappies - we had a whole pack of terry cloths, the bin, these natural nuts to disinfect them with etc etc. But like the hopes of a home - and natural - birth, it all went down the pan. We did it a few times but they look MASSIVE! So bulky. I dunno - I feel very guilty about the landfill contribution but I literally cannot cope with them right now.

Totally, totally get the "now what do we do" sensation. I try to get out every day, even if it's just a wander around the charity shops. We've swum a few times, done yoga, stuff like that. Then I attempt to sort out the chaos that is out flat.

DS had his check up today. Total nightmare. Forgot his red book, was sent home to get it, all under the pressure of knowing I was cocking up other peoples' appointments even though the GP is ALWAYS running late. The usual conversation about weight - so bloody sick of it now. It's such a non-issue that they seem determined to turn into an issue. Smorgs you're totally right about our babies being long and thin - why do they seem so determined to make it an issue?? Then the cross-examination about vaccinations and our plans. And it's just days like this, i feel like giving up!

Cherry, Squid DS does that too! And mirrors too - haha - the other night he was smiling very coquettishly at himself, then laughing and burying his head in my shoulder, then repeat again. He was literally flirting with himself!

Oren, that was my problem with the reusables too. They were so bulky she could hardly move. A friend of mine blames bulky reusable nappies for the fact that her son never crawled and didn't walk till he was almost 2. Almost certainly bollocks but she insists.

PELVIC FLOORS!!!

Hahahaha the PELVIC FLOOR REMINDER!

I have to stop my wee mid flow - a good way to build up the muscle strength apparently.

Re your friend:apparently some babies bypass crawling, and go straight to walking. they just scooch along on their bottoms!

sorry to hear you had such a shite day yesterday cherry, hope he's settled a bit now. grrrr I hate those kinda days... always end up saying loudly what the hell is wrong? to a baby who can't answer, trying everything then it magically resolves when I give her to DH!

Thanks for sympathy over my poor calf smorgs cherry fjord. Cows are smarter than we think and her mates are looking for her this morning . ahhh well they'll forget by tomorrow. I don't quite know how it got onto the topic but the guy who hit her told DH that his daughter will still only go to sleep on him or his wife... and she's 7 YEARS old I think I'll be making more of an effort to put DD down awake from now on

Yay for no leaks with your cloth nappies squid . We got heaps for a while then I figured out it was cos they were too small and all stopped when I went up a size! And thanks for the running tips too. Sounds like C25K is the way to go!

bora IKWYM about not always knowing what to do with bubba when awake too! I lie her on a towel (catches the spew) and if she's in a happy mood tickle her, kiss her, play tongue poking games, sing a few off key nursery rhmes and read books. If I want to get stuff done i leave her there with a couple of toys to shove in her mouth and she's happy for quite a while! But her favourite thing ever was at a kids party yesterday... her 4yo cousin read, played music and showed her toys and she was delighted. So go borrow a toddler (someone had one to give away yesterday )

at your day out first sort of thing I would do too!

Woohoo on all the pelvic floor (squeeze) reminders... at this rate we'll be super strength in no time

I am just starting on reusable a properly after finding them waaaay too bulky until now. I got a set of 20 little lambs nappies with all the inserts, boosters and wraps for £60 second hand on eBay but they were too big and leaked and just swamped babyfunch at first. we were also given loads of size 1 disposables by friends who hadn't used them up so got through them first. I used the nappy lady enquiry form on her website to ask why the little lambs leaked so badly and she said their wraps are rubbish and to try Motherease Rikki wraps with the LL nappies instead. She was dead right, they have not leaked since and we are saving a fair bit of money.

RE the Eco side of things I am getting asked about that by NCT group friends - my answer goes along the lines of: generally I believe that the energy crisis is going to get fixed for the UK before the landfill crisis, therefore I am less worried about the energy used in washing the nappies which I suspect I do in fewer and larger loads than more house proud mums could tolerate than I am about adding to landfill. And now I would probably very happily just use disposables if I hadn't invested 60 quid in the Little Lambs, now that I know how stressful having a baby to care for is!! I am with you there Orenishii!

Well done smiley for returning to work, I am back to teaching in 6 weeks and though it is earlier than most it feels right for me and I know babyfunch will be fine with the childcare arranged (DH but with six more weeks' training from me!)

confession - i am a physio & i am rubbish at doing my pelvic floor ex's - u guys r so motivated & put me to shame. mickey, that sounds like a bit of a rubbish assessment. would have thought u'd be offered an internal if u have incontinence or prolapse. orienishi, it's ok to figure out where the pelvic floor muscles r by stopping the flow of urine, but best not to ec's this way as can create probs with your bladder. cherry, glad u survived your sh1tty day - u sounded really down and u r normally so chipper. bora, i was feeling the same about not.knowing what to do with babybeccus at home. much better now we go out more- she loves looking out from the pram & people watching in cafes. when at home we chat, read stories, do baby massage, tummy time, play gyn and bouncy chair and change mat kick time. londonmrs, orienshi & elpis, please remember to check your private messages

Beccus thanks, I wondered if that woud be the case re stopping mid flow.