December 2012 - Smiles all round!

[SpottyTeacakes]

And the one where Spotty's gang gets some sleep

isthatrue what do you do for a living? Are you self-employed?

honey what happened during your lab our? If its too traumatic to talk about then I totally understand. My first child was a horrendous experience too

Just had a lovely bath with dd. First one together as I normally like my bath scalding but it was really nice so I will def be repeating

I'm not surprised honey I've been told by many HV that us with prem babies are more likely to have pnd or PTSD. I found it really hard first time and had bonding issues and still found it awful this time even though I was expecting it! I think there should be support for parents of babies in SCBU I don't know why there isn't?!

Just read my post back and apologies if it seemed insensitive

Not to me Chloe

No, not insensitive chloe :)

Birth was very sudden and very quick at 33 weeks but D got whisked straight off to scbu and I never really dealt with the shock of if all happening so suddenly. Plus I had been supposed to have a planned section specifically because of my history of anxiety and depression do having a natural birth wasn't something I was prepared for.

Yes spotty I'm suprised there isn't more support for parents with babies in scbu. I think part of my problem is I'm still scared to fully bond with D as I'm not entirely convinced something isn't going to go wrong.

Oh honey that sounds very traumatic, your poor family

Oh honey, that sounds tough about bonding. I hope these feelings alleviate and you're getting all the support you need.

Little miss has barely slept today and so the bedtime routine has been tricky. She has started really crying when she gets overtired, which is new, and tonight I popped her back on the breast to calm her and she fell asleep almost instantly. Unfortunately, after swaddling her and putting her in the carrycot she woke up again so we're back to cuddling her to sleep. There are worse problems!

IsThat - everyone's eating your roast without you? Unfair! We're having a dinner of leftovers - just had first course (leftover Chinese I cooked on Friday) and then will move to second course (leftover roast pork my husband cooked yesterday). There are worse dinners!

Seconds, our little one has been grunting from about week 2. It did die down quite a lot, but has gotten more prominent in the last couple of nights. Weird!

chloe yep I work from home and self employed so no maternity pay. Went back to work when DS was 1month.

mama yeah we'll there was no point in everyone's getting cold, twas a bit rubbish though. Thankfully DH eats quick so we tag teamed dinner

Well after yesterday's pile talk mine have come back with a vengeance. I am dying. Is it worth going to the doctors or is it best to just get something over the counter? I have anusol but it's just not cutting it right now!

Everyone seems quiet... Hope that means there's lots of sleep going on.

I've spent a lot of this evening with Elijah on the boob for the first time since I left hospital. I'm trying to get bfing established now but he's still needing a bottle top up because I don't seem to have enough milk, hopefully it won't take too long to get stocks up. I'm going to the bfing cafe tomorrow to talk to the MW who runs it so hopefully will get some good advice.
Elijah has started making this cute little cooing noise when he seems in a good mood. It makes me smile so much because its so bloody cute. I'm still not sure we're getting non-wind related smiles though.

No sleep yet for us honey, am standing up jiggle-hugging ds to try to make him kip, mn-ing on my phone and seriously doing my back in in the process!
Sorry to hear about ptsd and bonding and really hope you get to talk it through and get any help you need..

isthat what do you work as? I am.going to become self employed due to employer action after the 15-week deadline for smp so have some leeway but doing property development on the side (am an architect), which is quite flexible, hence the free time..

To those of you with bedtime routines, when did you start/what do you do?

Well I did a successful dream feed and out ds down at ten. He woke at 12:38 so didn't make him sleep any longer bit better than him waking an hour after I'd gone to bed I suppose! I'm going to make a carrot cake this week I've just found a really easy recipe I love baking!

Wah! J woke me for feed drank an ounce and passed out again. See you all again in An hour

utopian I do admin stuff. It's no career and mindnumbingly boring. But needs must. And I can fit it around the kids as I don't need to answer to anyone often and I don't have set hours. I've been known to work 8pm-2am when I've not managed any work in the day as the kids were ill or something.

Well ds2 was awful in the evening and eventually gave up fighting his sleep around half 10 and just woke at 2. So not a bad sleep really. Do anyone else's boobs feel kinda bruised? It's hard to explain but my right feels bruised on the inside.

Sorry to those of you struggling with sleep but I can not believe how kind dd slept for tonight! She was absolutely knackered having not slept much during the day as out shopping but I put her to bed at 7pm after her bath and a feed, she woke up at 1am-6 hrs!!!! then again just now at 4am. She's not had much this feed though so could be up again very shortly

Chloe, that's a great stretch. I have been in bed now for 7 (!) hours - woke very briefly (not to feed) a couple of times but been mostly asleep. Husband did a feed at 12.30pm so she's been doing more consistent 3-4 hour stretches between feeds. Hope all my sleep helps - I'm coming down with a cold which is always a wretched time.

12.30am! That's one of my pet peeves too, getting that wrong.

Daydream, my baby's been cooing too, it's so lovely. I'm sure her smiles are genuine as she reacts to you being silly, so perhaps yours are too? The smiles came before cooing in my house.

Spotty, carrot cake yum! I made a raspberry and blueberry lime drizzle cake yesterday, it's a fab recipe off the BBC website.

CAKE...mum....

O is back to his old routine. Down at 12.40 which is later than normal but awake at 4 and now 5, expecting every hour now. If it weren't for the first 3-4hr stint I'd go crazy!

I have a moment of silliness coming / wwyd: we had tickets for a gig when i was pg that got canceled and rescheduled for Feb 17th. At the time we blithely assumed that we'd ask friends/family to babysit and enjoy an evening to ourselves.
Now time is upon us, we're trying to encourage O to accept bottles and seem to be getting there so could well be fine by then. Dh has asked his parents if they'd mind and they seem v happy to. My issue is That every time they've come so far they've said things like 'I'd better sit down to hold him', and generally seemed a bit tentative, which makes me worry about how they'll cope on their own for what could be almost 4 hours.
Also (a bit silly) when we mentioned casually, not as a worry, that O isn't sleeping through yet, mil suggested giving him formula overnight. To me this is overkill for what isn't a big problem for us and he's only just over 5 weeks anyway! If he has problems settling i wonder how they'll cope.. Dh was an only child and that was 30 years ago.

I'm probably being silly but am just a bit nervous of leaving him with them. I know I wouldn't be if it were my mother (we exactly share parenting principles,) or a friend of ours who has looked after a six month old very recently, and pils are lovely people who i really have no real reason to doubt but can't shake this worry.
We are going out for a meal the day before valentines and my mum will look after O for two hours, and we'll be 10 minutes walk up the road, so am hoping that will alleviate my worries. If we needed to come back quickly from the gig it would take about half an hour.

Des went down at 10 woke at 12:40,3:30,5 up for the day wanted feeding again at 6:15. I've got scratches all over my chest and he just headbutted me in the mouth. I'm in the angry armchair....I would be on the sobbing sofa but I've just done my make up and have to take dd to nursery.

Ten weeks today, where does the time go?!

spotty hugs. D has started fighting with my boobs too anf has given DH a nosebleed from headbutting him in the nose! Cab you and DS have a sleep while dd at nursery?

We had 8-1, 1:30-2:30, 3:30-4. And that was it. Must remember to check nappy, the wetness kept him awake although he was feeding fine. Oh, and i was lying awake for most of that/waking up randomly with a start. Ffs.

And dp, who has been lying beside me unmoving and breathing deeply, claims not to have slept either. Could have chatted and cheered me along then

Pidj I'm guilty of not checking the wetness at night! I think that's why ds was so grouchy at five this morning

Maybe honey, only if ds sleeps though also I need to do some washing and Hoover etc.

Good point on nappies Pidj - just got C up for a feed and she's soaked,
Even through her swaddle. Doesn't seem to bother her!

It bothers R, but i don't realise that's why he won't settle. Grr.