The 6th Broadly Gemini Luxury Bus - this way ladies.

[FrussoHathor]

Welcome aboard our 6th bus ladies.

Do it! Do it!

DFIL is currently telling DH about their plans to build a ridiculously large greenhouse - something like 9x5m! They don't want it for fruit trees or anything useful... Oh no, they want to build the world's biggest greenhouse so they can grow Australian flowers. I thought they were joking when they first mentioned it! More money than sense! FIL gets these mad ideas sometimes & most of the time it's only mentioned a couple of times before being forgotten but if it's a really unusual completely bonkers idea he's more likely to try & see it through!

Lol, I would Frus but I'm too scared I have too much dignity to ever behave with so little decorum. If I ever happen to see her again I shall gloat be gracious in my superior knowledge of her specialised career choice triumph correct interpretation of the obvious difficult to diagnose situation.

I'm seriously considering looking into becoming a lactation consultant. I have visions of convincing the NHS to hire me as a part time consultant. I could go along to the health visitors' weighing clinic & be available to provide additional support to anyone struggling with feeding/weight gain etc. It'd be fab! It would also only cost the NHS however much I decided to charge for 1.5hrs a week & take the pressure off the hospital feeding specialists so they'd have more time to help mothers establish feeding in the first place! I know some of the women at the breastfeeding group I went to are doing IBCLC training so hopefully there wouldn't be a need for me by the time I actually got round to training! There's going to be a whole army of IBCLCs in our area!

5 or 6 times a day? I feed DS about twice as often as that!

Don't worry lore frus jnr seems to be permanently clamped onto my nipple. I've ordered a gumdrop pacifier in the vain hope that he'll comfort suck that rather than me.

Kittens only on 4/5 now!! I keep worrying is she going to get enough , she seems chunky enough, everytime I give her the bottle now she sucks it dry and demands more so must be 5/6oz atleast and alot more in the morning, quite often in the day though I think my boobs feel totally empty do you think they will dry up because they are not being used enough??

Frus ~ what's so good about them? Oh lord...do not let me buy any more dummies

They produce what kitten needs kitty, at kittens age you won't be feeling overful like the early days. unless you miss a couple of feeds and kitten has probably mastered the nack of getting what she wants/needs effectively.

2 different mums/baby's could both take 5oz, but one could do it in 7minutes and the other in 40minutes purely illustrative and times/amounts are random and both are perfectly normal. Same with numbers of feeds in a day. Some people/babies like set meal times and don't snack, and others are grazers and eat little and often.

Frus jnr would be happy to remain attached most of the day, Although I know he's not always feeding, but if his comfort suckling results in letdown he won't say no. But then he's always been a bit of a piggy

pear apparently it's lighter and nipple shaped. Do you need another dummy? Have you tried them all?

Dds loved cherrys, ds however gags on them. I've tried other shapes but ds just wants me. To the point that I have to prise his mouth open to even go to the loo. At which point he wakes up, and we start again.

I think I'd be taping a dummy to DS2's mouth if he wanted to feed that much! He does spend a good proportion of the day with a finger in his mouth though!

Day 2/2 with my PILs & tonight's conversation began with how lovely SE Ireland is for a holiday & ended with a lecture about how house construction moved from single halls to multi-room/storey buildings with the entire history of the Quakers & the establishment of the state of Pennsylvania thrown in along the way! Home tomorrow! Via banana-pushing great-grandma's house!

Pear no more dummy's atleast until frus road tests it for you
Thanks for the reasurance frus, they are very pammy esk in the morning, I have been missing the express at 10 at night as I just can't be bothered and too tired but now the kittens are asleep and I'm sat up in bed with the breast shells in

Frus ~ not every dummy but I certainly have at least 20 unwanted brands sitting in my salad bowl

Kitty ~ don't worry I'm done with buying dummies & bottles

Ah see agnu jnr won't take a finger. And I like snuggling him. He's happy and independent in the mornings, but he struggles after lunchtime. And needs comforting as he gets scared.
I'll test drive it for you pear

Baby pear is sitting up on in his own when I hold his hands. Is anyone else's babies doing this yet? Seems like yesterday we were bringing our little bunny rabbit home

Bonjela seems to be working better this morning as he's now got the idea of what it does. The Nelson stuff looks interesting Frus!

So if baby pear is teething everyday how long does it take for the first tooth to appear? Days, weeks or months? Or is it completely unknown? I can't see anything appearing from his gum line. I hope it's not bad everyday for a whole month because I can't give Calpol every night can I

Frus jnr is too pear, he wans to be upright all the time. baby pear must have strong core muscles.

Dd2 didn't sit unaided until 13mths, where as dd1 was doing it at 4mths. So there is a huge window in which they can do it.

I wouldn't give calpol every night. Teething can take any of the times you suggested. And sometimes the just appear and you wonder when they cut that one.
Are you sure he's teething? Is he grumbly every night?

Hiya.

I'm ok, i got given some anti depressnts (Sertraline if you know it?) but i only took them for one day as they made me feel so absolutely awful i couldnt take care of N. we then had a lovely and busy weekend which made me feel loads better and I thought I was fine, but had a bad night, combined with a quiet day at home today and the panic and anxiety are back. But I keep telling myself that they don't feel as bad as I did on the Medication. I know there's a settling in period with a drug but it was too harsh. I've another Doc appointment this week so I'll ask what the alternative might be.

I know in my logical brain that its hard to be a mummy, but it feels too hard so much of the time. And it's hard to talk about it, and it's hard to ask for help. The only blessing is how lovely my baby is, I just have to keep telling myself that.

Frus, yes it's definitely teething because he dribbles and is constantly chewing on fingers. I'm going to go and buy a ring to put in the fridge in a minute. Really didn't expect it to start so soon!

Lib, sorry that you're having to deal with an extra challenge as well as look after baby. I think the phrase give yourself time to adapt is really key for us all in these first few months. Especially us first time mummies! Nobody has a good day everyday...some days are good some days are quite honestly tiring but I realise what you're saying is you feel you have more bad then good Have you joined any mummy groups or are you around any new mums? It really helps to meet up with new mums and have a good old moan occasionally :-)

Yes lib speak to the doctor about an alternative, you may well get better without then but at the same time why struggle through even a few weeks when there may be a medication out there that helps you to enjoy every day without nasty side effects, even if its not a drug but a natural remedy or someone to talk to like a support group,
Kitten likes to be upright all the time too, I sit with her on my knee etc but she's no where neer sitting unaided, I'd say rolling will be soon though and the other morning she had crawled/ pulled herself the whole length of the cot. Length wise she is allready at the end of 3-6 months where is my little bub I took home??
Is it wrong I need a beer allready, 2 kids to each one adult me and dsis at the zoo on a bank holl does a stressful day make!

Hey lib I've not been on sertraline, I've only ever been given fluoxetine. Which can take a few weeks to kick in, but always been able to function "normally" on them.

What's everyone putting their babies to sleep in? Is a vest and baby grow too hot in a 25oC room?

I'm not sure what temperature our room is pear but jnr has either, a sleepsuit, a shirtsleeve vest, or pjs. Think our room is stiflingly hot, as we have a fan on at night, and jnr doesn't have a cover.
I think I depends on the child, and whether they like to be warm or cool. I generally strip a layer of jnr if his belly feels clammy.

Ours is 25 too pear, I've been putting kitten in a short sleeved vest and 1tog sleeping bag with it not zipped all the way round so the bottom is open for abit of air, if I had her in a sleep suit I wouldn't put a vest aswell, we use the sleeping bag as a method to stop her moving so much aswell, when she was in the suit she was at the other end of the cot in a few hours, the bag hinders her attempts to escape

I know how you're feeling Lib I've been there and I just want you to know that you're not alone. I hope that you are finding the outlets to vent and to feel like your feelings are being validated. We are all always here for you! I'm afraid I don't know a lot about antidepressants, as I haven't taken them before but I hope you are able to get it sorted. Have you been able to find a referral for a therapist or counselor to speak with as well? If you're feeling like the anti-d's are too much there are natural routes too. I have some experience (personal and professional) with using Vitamin D supplements, fish oils (DHA), GABA, B-complex, Iron and 5-HTP to help boost the serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain and to support the nervous system. I don't know about you, but I found it really hard to get myself up, dressed, ds ready, and actually get out of the house to find a mother's group where I knew no one. It terrified me. I felt so unsure of who I was anymore in the first place and felt so judged and totally incapable every time ds would even make a tiny noise in public that the thought of being around all these mums who were coping well made me cry. DH kept telling me to go to them, MIL kept telling me to go, the GP I saw told me to go (she was awful when I finally got enough courage to go and see her. She just told me to "get on with it" and that she "can't just wave a magic wand and make it better" so she didn't know why I was there....which just made me cry even harder. It was one of those moments I'll never forget). If you're not up for mum's groups, the helplines might be nice to be able to talk to someone without having to speak to them in person. Pandas Foundation (0843 2898 401) and House of Light (0800 043 2031) have volunteers who have all experienced PND, so they know what it's like and can offer an empathetic shoulder to lean on. I am so passionate about PND b/c I've been there and I so wish I would have gotten help for myself sooner b/c it was months of very dark days. Thankfully even after the shitty GP experience, she got me a referral for psychotherapy and starting the speaking process helped tremendously.

Have I made a rod for my own back by bribing dd with chocolate to use the potty? It was more first because I wanted to get her over the fear of trying/doing it, she hadnt since she was 9 months old so I think was scared so we bought her a big chocolate bunny ( the poo poo bunny lol) and it worked she did it, loves the applaud etc however now expects chocolate every time

Hah hah kitty bunny poo! What would Alison say about that?!