March 2013 - still too sleep deprived to think of a funky title

[StormyBrid]

Old thread here.

We seemed to be running out of space (again) so I made us a new thread.

Joining you in the slender baby corner pud, we weighed a week ago and she was 14lbs 4.5oz at 21 weeks. The rate she's going she might just manage to double her birth weight by six months.

Had to turn her over at ten to seven, went for a quick smoke before I get her up for breakfast, and it's all gone quiet. Has she gone back to sleep? Might sneak up there with a bottle and see if she'll eat then sleep. I could do with a bit more kip before we go scatter my grandparents' ashes later today. Pretty sure Dad said it's somewhere in the Lakes we're going, so with a bit of luck I can get a good six hours' kip in the car.

Stormy I hope the weather holds for you today.

Pud funny isn't it - weren't we due the same day? DS is a solid little unit, he's not fat, very tall and all muscle! No idea where he's getting it from, yet another thing to add to my list of paranoias that maybe he isn't ours....

I've been mapping his weight against the centiles and it's started going almost vertical. I think he's going to be a handful once he's mobile.

Accidentally gave him some of a 5 hour old bottle in the night in my tired haze - seems ok so hopefully no damage done. I was in the middle of a dream where we'd gone on holiday and he'd got lost, my phone was suddenly really complicated and I couldn't use it, and I'd forgotten to bring any food for him. Insecure much?!

Don't fret about the old bottle, Leni, it's a pretty small risk of an upset tummy, so doing it regularly is a bad idea but a one off will likely be fine.

Pud I got more excited about the highchair than any other bit of baby tat. He sits in it nicely already (like yours, my DS loves to sit up, surveying his kingdom) and joins me when I have lunch.

Leni he'll be fine. I'm sure we've all done it once, it just makes you more diligent in the future. Moving is so stressful even without kids, you have a perfectly adequate excuse.

Stormy I hope today goes ok for you and you get that extra sleep. Your lo loves her mornings nap eh?

Worse I know what you mean. I'd been doing planks and crunches with a semi-daily 10km on the exercise bike before I started doing the shred. If my core strength was on its arse I wouldn't go anywhere near. My abs feel pretty good, nicely toned but just hiding under the babby pooch. Have you sussed what's bugging your friend yet? I'd be tempted to be forthright about it. Take the cake and the baby and be lovely, but ask her to just come out with it.

I'm off to enrol DS at nursery today I feel like I'm practically sending him off to uni.

Just a quick one to say thanks all for giving me the push to face the music. I went to see my friend armed with a big bouquet and cute baby. Turns out it was a text. I worded something badly and it was misinterpreted. Women are complicated beings aren't they, I'm glad I'm not a bloke. I wish she'd just told me I was an ar5e, then it wouldn't have taken me two weeks of not noticing before I worked it out. Any way, we're friends again, and I feel much better, as she has gone above and beyond for me so many times I would never knowing do anything to upset her.

Phew. Not using text again. Ever!!!

Oh no Wors, glad it's sorted now. It's so hard with texts & emails isn't it? When you can't hear something being said it can often be taken in many ways, this was often a source of upset with me & DH in the early days. Well done for stepping up & going to see her, I'm rubbish at things like that sometimes.

Worse - I hate the whole misinterpretation of the typed word thing! Glad you made up

Said goodbye to my two lovely neighbour mummy friends and their DCs this morning. Finally realised I'm moving across London to a strange area...

I'm about to cook everything in the freezer in a 'curry' to avoid having to chuck it away. Fx we're in fit shape for the madness tomorrow and not poisoned!

Sold the bumbo chair on ebay and the bloody buyer hasn't paid. Someone else bought the boba wrap and then said they didn't want it. Don't people know the rules?!

Oh no Leni, poor eBay etiquette indeed! I've just bought a second hand maclaren for when we're taking a full car load of stuff and the dog too, it's great but new ones are so bloody expensive. Is there a local mums group online in your area? We've got a few and they've all got classified sections where it might be easier and more reliable to sell on plus saves the hassle of posting big things. Good luck with the move tomorrow.

It's DH's birthday today & we've had a really lovely day. Now all we need is to persuade this baby to sleep tonight and it'll be perfect if unlikely

Hope everyone's having a Good Friday night!

Evening all. And happy Friday.
plonky you inspired me. House is clean. worse I can report that we managed it only because a) it was raining so I didn?t feel I was missing anything more fun b) I didn?t want to waste another weekend day when DH is here doing dull shit like cleaning c) DD did three 45 min naps d) DD joined me on a large blanket for the bathrooms being cleaned and the dusting in each room and then into the chair whilst I hovered and e) my house is small. DH has gone to a leaving do so I sit on the sofa with DD asleep and no chores coming to mind. I feel most peculiar.

soyo I followed your horrid evening on here and was so pleased that DH got involved and that you had an ace night. How has she been since? Your advice about pelvic floor exercises was useful. I thought I?d been good at the exercises and the first gynae physio I saw said I was doing them right (she had her finger ...errr... in the right place to know) but the second said I was doing it all wrong because I couldn?t maintain breathing into my lower belly in and out throughout. She says I need to retrain my body to do it. I am beyond perplexed at what she even means. It?s like patting your tummy and rubbing your head!
worse good work with your friend. When I read your quandary I was going to say pretty much what VJ (is Wales fun by the way vj? Hope so!) said but was on the crap phone. It?s really hard to face situations like that so it?s nice that you managed it and that the air has been cleared. Sorry about your ongoing medical stuff. When is the date of your exploration? (Let's call it that. It sounds exciting and a bit glamorous that way. )
leni Good Luck. With the freezer concoction and the move! Exciting times. Don?t forget to pack the baby
pud what high chair did you go for? I am regretting the Stokke thing at present because it?s young baby addition doesn?t seem wildly practical for a baby who is going to smear it in crap three times a day who is weaning.
stormy are the fish in one of those tanks that are illuminated and have bubbles? I can?t think of anything more soothing and brilliant for babies to stare at. Lucky baby.

Purchased a doidy cup today. Anyone?s LO actually taking anything from them yet? Also got a space blanket. After going to crazy baby sensory class on Thursday it is the most fascinating thing ever and keeps her occupied for ages and ages.

One of my two bridesmaids (I say that to indicate that she?s a close friend) has lost her mucus plug She is 39 + some and has a favourable cervix. All those words seem like ancient history but I am so excited for her. I was anxious about my birth and it wasn?t a sneeze affair but there is part of me that is envious. But I?m not broody if that makes any sense.

hours ago so I read the whole thread Just clicked absentmindedly on the thread ?advertised? on the MN home page about how soon after birth people resume sex. Oh. My. God. Less than a week?! Not just the odd person, lots. I felt like a disgusting, crusty, car crash for weeks and weeks and could not sit down without wincing. soyo as a nethers expert please can you tell me whether some women have radically different births and are in fact physically fit for shenanigans after only a few days. I am clearly shaken having read their stories! I?m off to find some wine.

Eco, results have been mixed on the sleeping front, last night she was up 4 times but spaced well so I got a bit of kip between.

In terms of resuming relations you are indeed right, some women seem to sail through the whole thing as if nothing has happened and are back at it in no time when I was a student I walked in on a couple at it on the postnatal ward . I however felt like the world was going to fall out of my arse for quite some time and since then the screaming madam that refuses to nap during the day, is regularly attached to me and was in our room at night until a few days ago has rather dampened the mood. We've got the rest of our lives though, no great rush! I think the variation of normal is absolutely huge and as long as your happy with it, it doesn't matter a jot about other people.

We too have the Tripp Trapp and it is a bit of an arse to clean but madam seems to like it and has claimed a place at the head of the table, plus I think it'll come into its own as she gets older. We're also working on the doidy cup but much more ends up down her front that down her throat, wether its water or milk.

We've decided to take BLW quite literally here so today madam has had cucumber, strawberry, bresaola (DH), croissant, breadstick and a bit of halibut. Most of it came straight back out but she pulled some cracking faces first!

It's the ikea antilop - panicked at the money you could spend on great huge things with reviews that said you couldn't clean them... Figured we can always upgrade!

Good God, that was a long drive. So, the Lake District. It's a bit vertical, isn't it?

Glad everyone's doing well with friends and freezers and so forth. I managed to miss DD's first taste of banana mashed with formula. She swallowed ten spoonfuls! I am expecting interesting poos tomorrow. Hopefully not interesting pops, as my phone just suggested. And on that note, I must go fall over (rather later than intended, thanks to an uncle being three sodding hours late).

Back from Wales, lovely time had but I now know for definite that 300 miles is too far to drive on my own with a baby who doesn't like being awake in the car. In case anyone was unsure.
We've just ordered a £20 high chair from Mothercare (mhyr or something similar?) we were going to get the ikea one but don't live near ikea! I decided that something made of one piece of plastic would be easier to clean (although I loved the tripp trapp when we tried it in kiddicare...)

Thanks for the pelvic floor advice soyo. I'm sure mine is silly weak, that was probably part of the cause of spd, along with hypermobility.

Worse re: shredding, you're right, it is quite high impact but I've been doing yoga since 6 weeks pp, and my instructor has confirmed that I have no separation anymore. But I wasn't expecting a return to the 'everything's going to fall out' feeling so I'm giving it a few weeks before trying again on that basis.

Catching up on the how I met DH story. Very dull. His friend was dating my friend. We all met in a pub. I thought he was seriously weird as he was wearing shorts in November. Neither of us were single. 3 years of seeing each other occasionally, our mutual friend told us to get on with it as we kept asking about each other. I went travelling, I was in Sydney when he looked me up on Facebook. I got back from travelling, and basically moved in a week later. Our best friends married each other and we were best man and maid of honour, and vice versa. All a bit cute really, they now live 7 doors down!

I'm not sure I've ever been this tired. Every 1hr45 overnight with nothing but a feed settling her each time. I really hope this is some form of growth spurt rather than her new pattern! I need sleep!!!

We don't live near ikea either but you can get them via amazon

Thinking sleepy thoughts for you Soyo!

Off shopping now - ooh the excitement of weekly meal planning.

SoYo my DD has been exactly the same at night for the last 4 nights with constant feeding and last night finally spaced feeds out again a bit so I am convinced it was a growth spurt (DD didn't read manual that says next one is at 6 months!).

I was pretty much unharmed by birth as had a very gentle and easy time of it so physically totally up to relations a week after but in reality hardly had time to eat dinner let alone anything more exciting!

vj DD loathes being in the car unless it's naptime so generally always try time it - 300 miles alone must have been so hard!

soyo how does your DD handle bits of food that make it into her mouth? DD is fine sucking juice out of stuff but gags and coughs up on any pieces no matter how small. Makes me reluctant to give her anything that she can break off atm.

Rainbow according to the wonder weeks book they can start being affected by the next growth/intellectual development from 23-26wks so right on time!

Madam is doing pretty well actually and I'm giving her bigger chunks as its the smaller ones she seems to gag on. Gagging is an important part of them learning to handle food in their mouth and swallow though so although scary I just watch and stay close and she clears it herself and has never choked (although that does worry me). She's just had broccoli, carrots, breadsticks and banana for lunch with moderate success!

Sounds like miniYo is getting the hang of eating!

We've just been to my dad's for lunch, and I tried this banana and formula mashed up thing. Went down a treat. The recipe, for anyone interested, is as follows: mash up a bit of a banana with a fork; add half an ounce of formula from the last bottle the baby turned its nose up at; mix it up and offer it on a spoon. Blatantly does not count as baby led weaning, but if you don't try and shove the spoon in until they open their mouth, they're retaining some control. Have just bought an apricot to try her on tomorrow. Still no poo, and I am still dreading it.

Word of advice from my dad: do not feed the baby oranges. It makes their wee bright orange and their poo explosive and revolting. I shall be sure to remember this.

Not sure I'd have been up for shenanigans a week after giving birth. Only had a tiny tear, but it felt weird having this raised line on my perineum, so we waited until that had disappeared.

A word of warning Stormy, bananas leave little brown stringy bits in the nappy that look like worms.....we were a bit concerned until Dr Google helped us out!!!

Rainbow I am reading the blw book at the mo which explains that for safety reasons the gag reflex is further forward in babies and moves back over time to prevent choking. So gagging is to be expected. They reckon it can be at 7-9 months before a blw baby really starts to eat in any quantity as up to this point much gets pushed out rather than swallowed. However all the time they are learning how to chew and move food in their mouths which are valuable skills.

I'm absolutely loving weaning. Ds is becoming quite adventurous and has been gumming the hell out of sourdough bread all day at my mums. He's also had more banana and plum, as well as some vair posh avocado. I agree Pud, it's not really eating at this stage but all good practice. We're mixing spoon feeding with just handing him a random assortment of chip shaped bits, and he seems happy enough.

My sister has given me knitting needles for my birthday. I'm reasonably crafty but absolutely stumped. But she gave me wool too so I really ought to have a good go. Bugger.

SoYo I hope you have a better night tonight. You deserve one!

Ah thanks Plonky. She went down beautifully but then had a complete breakdown 10mins later, was lovely & settled anytime I picked her up but went ballistic when I put her down or DH took her. I've just spent 1hr picking up & putting down but she's eventually asleep again. We'll see what the night brings. Sometimes it just feels so overwhelming that only I can settle her at the moment and I've had another cry tonight but I just keep chanting to myself it's just a phase. DH is being lovely but there's no point him battling her screaming for an hour when she settles quicker and easier with me.

We've just had a discussion about what this would be like with a toddler too, I'm pretty sure DD will be an only one for a good long while!!!

What's everyone's best time of day with their babies and why? I love the morning, she's all big funny grins and giggles and likes to grab our faces and have a good feel as if to familiarise herself again. To be fair lunchtime is pretty hilarious now too, if only to see the faces she pulls at new tastes! I need to remember these things when there's a long night ahead!

Twenty silent minutes after feeding her and saying "go back to sleep" at half six in the morning, that's my favourite time, because it usually means I get a lie in until nine! Hard to pick a best awake time though, as she's a pretty easygoing baby.

Not so easygoing tonight though - woke up positively howling at half nine. Wouldn't settle, offered her milk and she downed five ounces, then we had half an hour of dummy returns and gutwrenching wails every time it fell out. She's getting a lot better at putting it back in when she's awake, but it does give her trouble when she's half asleep.

Ah yes - mornings are best for us too. She gives me a big grin and a nice cuddle first thing and sets me up for the day.

I have a question - we're four days in to the weaning and I can only get her to have about three tiny spoons of puree before she loses interest. She had a go on a couple of tiny chunks of my banana (as she was lickking her lips while I was eating it) but really doesn't seem to be that into food. Am I doing it wrong or is that all they're supposed to have to begin with? Annabel Karmel suggests an ice cube or two at a sitting but it's nowhere near How much did your LOs have in the first few days?

Still not even trying weaning here, though doing all the reading. As I said on my previous post, the blw book says that they may well swallow virtually nothing for several weeks so I really wouldn't worry. They aren't needing to take any nourishment from it yet as that's all coming from milk still so it really doesn't matter. You're just starting them on the journey of taste and texture etc. (even with purees).