Dec 2011: Running around after our Cybermidgets...

[Aethelfleda]

Roll up, roll up, it's the Dec 11 new thread.
Prepare to be upgraded (if you can catch them!)

[Aethelfleda]

Rare night out with DH for his birthday: star trek film followed by dinner. Yum.

And now we return to the usual DIY-obsessed programming...

[mopsytop]

Hope dinner with FIL went OK xiao!

I've an interview tomorrow. Dreading it. Nerve-tastic

[Aethelfleda]

Good luck mopsy, you'll be fab!

[QueenofClean]

Good luck Mopsy.

Xiao - hope your weekend got better?!

We had a good weekend and back to work today....busy busy busy.

[Xiaoxiong]

Good luck mopsy!!

Well I made a pretty fabulous dinner if I do say so myself, with no strychnine in FIL's portion, and then I sat there in near silence the whole night (this is highly unusual if you've ever met me...) I replied "oh, fine" to pretty much every question. Finally he just talked to DH which was fine with me.

DS didn't know him and wouldn't go to him or be held by him at all but when DH and I were around DS was fabulous, chatty, laughing and showing off, showing how we raised a fabulous child and we do just fine without FIL's gracious presence in our lives.

When he finally left he said "good luck with everything in October" so I guess that means no more visits till then - result! Now I'm just worrying that in a week's time DH will receive 10 pages of handwritten emotional abuse/blackmail about how he "clearly wasn't welcome" and how he "is sorry if Xiao is still upset and cannot move on".

He did buy DS a really beautiful glossy adult reference book for which we will thank him, of course - 430 pages about birds, and it plays bird calls - it will be nice for him to look at in about 10 years.

But then we watched Eurovision and ate chocolate in bed, and DS slept till 8am(!!!) on Sunday morning, then met friends in London for lunch and played in Kensington Gardens - so the rest of the weekend was amazing

[Figgygal]

Morning all

Having a lovely time in Scotland weather very mixed but met up with all my friends seen family dh and getting along (ish) and the MC has stopped with pg test showing not pg anymore.

Dh and i had a nice night in hotel lat night got back this morning and ds has the pox he had 2 spots yesterday on his face but we thought they were just spots took. Him to a. Peppa pig Party with hundreds of. Children and today he is covered in them. Thinking back he did have a temp friday and was off food a bit .......woops. Supposed to fly back Wednesday so thats not happening dh is. Going to have to go without me and get back to work, im going to have to go shopping for more clothes and stay until the airline willl accept him.....they have said all the spots need to have scabbed that could be days!!!! Any ideas how. Long it takes? My mum's DR are going to see him today at 3pm to do a letter. For our travel insurance but this is the worst timing ever i feel awful for saying it but thank. God im not pg so looks like will be stuck in the house for the. Next few days. We were going to take him to a New softplay tomorrow and im supposed to. Be going to see. Star trek tonight hmm not sure that will be happening!

[GaryBuseysTeeth]

Figgy, 'glad' it's all over for you & hope you're feeling ok about it all?

Sorry to hear DS has the pox (and you're stuck!), no idea how long it takes but really hope you're all home soon.....pretty elaborate scheme just to get some new clothes, I like it

Xiao, glad the rest of the weekend made up for having to deal with FIL.
Congratulations on the restraint you showed in not poisoning him, how fab that you cooked an awesome meal too!

Good luck mopsy!!

Have bought an Ergo baby carrier, new off ebay, hope it arrives as it was a bargain!
Finally starting to prepare for possibly having a new baby, although mc due date is coming up in a few weeks & I'm feeling really emotional about it already (not sure if it's pg hormones or actual upset!!)

[Aethelfleda]

Day 7 is when you can go out again figgy (contagious for 72 hrs before spots to day 7 of them being visible.)

[Figgygal]

Am I literally housebound for the next week?? God this is rubbish!!

[mopsytop]

Figgy Minimopsy has the pox too. Sent home from nursery while I was at interview so Mr.Mopsy had to take afternoon off and is now downstairs working to make up hours.

Xiao well done on your restraint with the arsenic in FIL's food

I had killer headache all day which made presenting and interview very hard work but I have just unofficially had call to say I got job. Only two year fixed-term post but in this market that is pretty good really. Rotten hour long commute but given the market I'll just have to suck it up! Seems like a lovely, friendly department with lovely head of department.

[NorthernChinchilla]

Brief dash in to say....

CONGRATULATIONS MOPSY!

[Aethelfleda]

Wow, well done Mopsy!!!

figgy, the pox is annoying, you do have to stay away from company, there are ways to make it less dire (I have done this three times, can you tell?!)
The trouble is, even jollying along to sainsbury's can expose someone (eg a pregnant mum in the queue, a newborn or mum who's just had chemo recently and is still immunosuppressed) and you just don't know who's out there, so crowded places are def best avoided.
Things to stop yourself going crazy:

1. put DS in the buggy and walk each day. If you're taking a quiet route then you should be alright. If you need to go into the shops put on the raincover! (looks crazy but it's short term effective)
   
2. do an internet supermarket shop with some treats to make up for the isolation. Tell any friends locally he has the pox and set up some dates with immune friends (some will come over deliberately as they want to expose their DCs but that's up to them!)
   
3. on day 5/6 a little trip to a non packed playpark,
   
4. when he's less clingy see if you can get a babysit from your parents sp you get some human contact
   
5. good luck! Paracetamol syrup is your friend (avoid ibuprofen for once as it's not recommended in chickypox.)

[mopsytop]

Thanks for tips aethel. Didn't know about IBU so that's v useful. Shops a no no then. Boo. Need some bits tomo... And no playground! It is going to be a looonng week! Spots first appeared today so can I take her out normally again next Monday?

[Aethelfleda]

Yep, that's the idea figgy, seven days then you're ok next Monday. Ghe Americans vaccinate against chickenpox!

And we're day seven into DS's MMR jab, so I have had a clingy DS today. He had a super long nap, and got a bit warm, so is in bed with ibuprofen and light bedding. It's in a good cause....

I'm in mega kit making as am going to a re-enactment show at the weekend (yay!) and the DDs need new kit a

[Aethelfleda]

A-plenty...

[Figgygal]

Thanks aethel great tips!!

My mum wants to go shopping and out for dinner tomorrow will have to put foot down and say no!! You woyld think she would know better. He has to go back to dr tomorrow as they weren't 100% sure today it was the pox thought it could be because it was just so early so they want to see the difference after 24hrs, it could be a virus or it could be both When was there today they ran 30 minutes late by the time we got in he probably infected half the place

Star trek went out the window tonight as DS refused to go bed dh was wrangling with him screaming kicking and punching for 20 minutes refusing to give in he was such a blotchy screaming mess I had to take him away, he didn't see anything wrong with persevering and I knew if I left he'd do it again so ended up staying in. I've had it twice so can't catch but could I carry it and give to others ??

Sorry to hear about mini mopsy but YEAH on the job!!

Another week at my parents surrounded by Madeira cakes and Scottish delicacies such as tablet, macaroni pies, empire biscuits and butteries I will be huge!! My jeans r tight already

[Aethelfleda]

Figgy, it may just be a generational thing, our mums/dads and grandads childhood communities just all got measles/scarletina/rubella and got on with it, so chickenpox is kind of in the same boat (unfortunately they also then had polio kids with callipers, and deaf kids post measles. Thank heavens for immunizations.)

If you've had chickenpox twice it's cos you didn't develop immunity the first time: a very small number of people don't ever make antibodies so you may get it again!!! Prob you won't though. Don't worry, there is no carrier state for chickypox, if you do get it, you will know about it (and if you do, ring up your mum's GP pronto cos grownups with chickenpox need aciclovir tablets, it's a more severe infection in adulthood)

[janey223]

Congrats mopsy!!

Figgy I'm immune so ill have a glass bottle of bru, some well fired rolls on square sausage and as much tablet as you can find pronto!

Monkey has a poorly tummy, change of ingredients to contain soy arg! But he's not too bad.

I had my MMR today

[mopsytop]

aethel would you even say avoid walking her by the local shops? only going for walks where there are few people?

[QueenofClean]

Congrats Mopsy

Hope MiniM & FiggyBoy don't send you both round the twist!

[SevenReasonsToSmile]

Sorry to hear about the pox.

mopsy congrats on the job, great news!

xiao sounds like it went as expected with FIL, at least the rest of the weekend made up for it.

gary its fine to be upset around the time of your due date, I wasn't overly upset when mine came around but think I definitely would have been if I hadn't been pregnant again.

DD2 has a very gunky eye, anything I can do other than bathing it?

[Figgygal]

Gah ds up at 5.00 which commenced an hour long tv related tantrum waking up the whole household in the process, dh refused to accept that today when we are in someone elses house and he is ill is not the day to teach him he doesnt get tv whenever he wants. Ds not really eating except or drinking except the odd biscuit or dry toast but spots not worse than they were yesterday that i can tell. There are only 3-4. Big spots and then lots of rash......all very confusing!!!

[Xiaoxiong]

Just a quick one - 20 week scan this morning, very long legs and arms and the sonographer said it looks to be a big baby again. So definitely an ELCS then. And it's another boy!! (Would have been for either but a boy is a known quantity and can also go to school here if DH is still teaching here in 13 years).

[Figgygal]

Aw congrats on another boy xiao!!

[GaryBuseysTeeth]

Xiao! Congrats on the boy! Although how you're far enough along for a 20wk scan?!

Congrats on the job mopsy!

Figgy, hope DH has backed down on the tv rule...we have bad days here where it's on in the background for most of the day.
Hope you don't get cabin fever.

at everyone &