July 2013 - Part 1. Remember your pelvic floor exercises!

[TotallyEggFlipped]

Time to start the post-natal thread.

And start those PELVIC FLOOR EXERCISES!

Clenching - you can make it work. Dh works long hours, I work long hours (normally in office till 6 home to put kids to bed and then from home but can be in office till past midnight and have to work weekends too) - for this reason, and because our jobs arent the kind you can take days off at short notice to care for an ill child (nurseries and cms won't take ill kids) we went for a nanny who is flexible about doing additional hours. An au pair can't be in sole charge of a baby but a live in nanny (if you have space) is alot cheaper than a live out nanny. My musician/magazine writer friends have live out nannies on min hour contracts - they pay above average hourly rate for a certain no of hours a week on basis they can add on (at same above hourly rate) if needed for evenings/overnights etc. We have had our nanny for 7 years this year - at the start we were the only people we knew with a nanny but gradually more and more of our friends have started using nannies as is much more flexible and cost effective with more than one child.

Beginning - total pain about working patterns being changed. I guess you'd need to line up childcare for the whole week and pay for days you don't use in that scenario.

London Nov meet up planned for 28 Nov somewhere on the south bank - all more than welcome! Message me if you want more details.

Thinking - glad M is sleeping well - long may it continue and spread round too! Good luck with the bank manager - building work always seems to cost so much!

Cheek - lots of sleep may be a growth spurt. Hope he sleeps well for you tonight.

Abzs - poor you,yesterday sounds a shocker! Hope today has been much better.

Hmm sorry mn mobile site went crazy on me giving rise to the multiple posts (either that or I really wanted to reassure Clenching!)

Are you trying to fill up the thread, dinky?

Another thought clenching - you say your families aren't local but is there anyone who is retired who could cone & stay with you when DH is touring? That would solve some of the issues.

Nights - (this was with 1 DC, haven't tried it yet with 2) I do tea, bath, bed while DH teaches as usual then jump on my bike to work. In the morning post nights DH does solo breakfast & nursery drop off. I never do nights before my "day off" so it's always either a nursery day or DH day. He does almost all nursery drop offs anyway when I'm not on mat leave as we both start at 8 but he works a lot closer to our home. Saturdays and Friday nights are an issue (well the Sat am bit of them) and that is another time we rely on family.

Thanks for your (repeated ) advice too, Dinky. The sick child scenario is difficult for me too. God, it's such a nightmare.

No space for live-in nanny here, but a house move is on the cards in the next few years so ultimately that might be the best option, particularly if Junior Panda mark 2 arrives in a timely fashion!

Hopefully might make it to the London gathering.Will catch up with the details on FB.

Also meant to say with teaching comes the plus side of holidays. The Saturday music school only runs for 30 weeks a year and obviously school is off for half term/holidays, so I also do a heck of a lot of swapping so eg I do a run of nights in half term. It helps being LTFT too as my slot share partner & I do a lot of extra mini swaps between us.

Cross-posted. DH's parents both sadly died in the past few years, but mine are retired and I'm hoping they will consider helping out. Nights will be 4x weekday and 3x weekend nights in about 9 weeks so not too much of an ask, I hope.

Oooh clenching thinking of no 2 already? Impressive!

DH is!

But he announced this on the day I had my Mirena fitted... however if conceiving #2 takes as long as the first time, I should probably get it taken out next week

Clenching, I used a childminder for DD, I had a slightly irregular work rota that wouldn't have worked with a nursery. I paid for two core days a week and then we could use her more often as required. That was only during week days though, although she did occasionally do overnights for other families. I always thought nannies were for rich people but that might work out the most cost effective option if you need night /weekend cover.
Quite jealous you're thinking of number two already! Even though my marriage is at an all time low I'm riddiculously broody! Perhaps it's because I know L is my last one.

Dinky I would like to meet up with you all in London too. I've just signed up to the dreaded Facebook, but haven't a clue how to use it, and I'm stupidly paranoid about putting too much personal information on there, shall I pm SNFED to get on the FB group, or can you just PM me the meeting details?

Yes dinky could you PM me the details of the London meet, too? Can't guarantee I will make it but will give it a go.

Hi all. I've not really been around on this thread - lurker - but thought it about time I jumped in. I've stuck around on the FB group.

Sunday - so sorry to hear things are still not so great with DH - I hope things improve for you. Yes message Snfed on here and she'll add you as a member to the closed fb group. Apparently I can too but I have no idea how to do it !

Will message you details Vinegar when we've buttoned down time and meeting place. If anyone else is interested let me know.

Met up with Princessllama and her lovely little H today who is looking well - and a v chilled little chappie to boot!

Hi I was on the antenatal groups but haven't been on MN since DD was born. Looks like I have lots to catch up on. Flicking through I see that there is talk of a meet up in Bristol? We are moving there in a couple of weeks so it might be nice to get involved in that if that's ok?

Hi SNFED,
Just to let you know I've PMed you about Joining Facebook, hope you can find me! Let me know if you need anything else

Hi Scoutfinch and Pinkballet nice to see you on mn x

Ug..horrid child...think sleep regression has started early or ive given birth to a future two tonne toby... j is awake every 2 hrs again since 8. I've tried to call his bluff and put my hand in his moses basket to settle him but he grabs it and starts chewing on it like a piranha until I pick him up. Oh sleep...sleep what did I ever do to you...sleep

Cheek, know exactly how you feel, L has been up every two hours too, and has started clamping down on my boob, ouch!

If he's gnawing on your hand Cheek it could be teething keeping him awake - calprofen or nurofen infants good for teething babies to stop the pain so they can sleep - you can also try rubbing teething powder on their gums to see if that helps. From j I now know that every 1.5 hour wake ups means he is uncomfortable.

Nice to see you on Scoutfinch - hope the move goes well.

Another one here with a non sleeping baby last couple of nights - M was up 3 times between 1 and 6 but magically then slept till 8.30 as did I! No idea why ds3 slept so long, the big ones were playing downstairs (like elephants) but even that didn't wake me. So feel moderately alive today and even took all 4 to cafe on my own- first time I've tried it so i'm pleased that's another wee hurdle crossed. I don't half get some funny looks mind you!!
So wish I could have a snooze now...

scout - the Bristol meet-up is on Monday 11th. I hope you can make it. Good luck with the move.

Yet another cold Luckily MIL has taken DS for the day, B just wants to feed and snooze on me.

Can't blame her, Vinegar - I bet you'd love to snuggle up and snooze on someone you love all day

I am going to a party tonight. An actual real-life adult party with alcohol and everything. I am going to dry my hair and put on a bit of make up.

To help me prepare for this Junior Panda has decided he doesn't need to sleep thus ensuring that I look like a right old mess and will probably go home at half eight. Better make that a lot of make up...

Hope the rest of you sickies or those with sleep refusers have a good evening!

Sympathies on B's cold Vinegar - though agree with SNFED - you sound like the dream bed for her! Hope cold passes soon. J has a cold at the mo and it seems to make the reflux much worse. Ds2 has a horrible virus at the mo - aches, pains, shivers, fever and racking cough - am really hoping J manages to avoid getting it but as ds2 has been coughing in all our faces suspect we will all get it!

Glad you're surviving half term so far Thinking! Hope you have a better night tonight with M.

Enjoy the party Clenching. Hope junior panda sleeps in late for you tomorrow.

Quick reflux question...what meds and how much are babies on? (And how much do they weigh?)
T is on 3.5mls domperidone QDS and 0.5mls ranitidine TDS weighs (approx) 18lbs. I just increased the domperidone as his was very clearly suffering last night and been sick a lot today, they seem to need increasing fairly regularly.
My friend's 4 week old has just been prescribed 0.75mls ranitidine so I wondered if T's dose is particularly low. We are seeing the consultant on weds so want to be prepared to request bigger doses.

Snfed- Thank you. I'll message you about joining the fb group if that is ok. Are there many of us in the south west? I can't wait to get moved and settled in. Haven't had the chance to meet any other mums where we are living at the moment so hoping to get that sorted once we move.

I hope you enjoyed your party Clenching

Vinger I saw your earlier post about pushchairs. I have an Urbo and I do love it. It's really light, I manage to bump it up two flights of stairs easily and I have been on trains and buses with it and it has been really easy. It is really good for maneuvering in urban areas and is great in shopping centers etc. The only down side to it is the shopping basket is pretty small. If you are going to get second hand be careful with how old the pushchair is as I believe there was an issue with some of the older ones but it has now been resolved. I think this was a couple of years ago but if you are thinking of one it is worth checking.