June 2013 (3) - teething & not sleeping!

[rrreow]

I broke the old thread! Step this way, step this way.

99th?! Yikes. That's made me cross my legs in sympathy.

DD had a 98th centile head! No wonder she got bloody wedged. :-/

I think if you've had a previous section you can then elect to have another. I know I'll be having one next time, without doubt. I couldn't face the stress of another EMCS again.

Thanks for that MrsBri, I hope that's the case (already worrying about it!). Oh no, that might have had something to do with your emcs. I suspect I'd have ended up with an emcs if DD hadn't been breech. One of my first thoughts when I saw DD and the size of her head was "thank goodness I had a c-section!".

Wait - are you pregnant Hedge?? Did I miss something?
Ive no idea what size Lily's head was. All I know is after a 3 day labour I had such a feeling of relief when the stubborn little girl came out.

Still chuckling at the idea of a baby lollipop!

3 days? Crumbs. I thought my 2 days was bad enough. I have to admit that until a couple of months ago, the horrors of ds's birth was enough to make me want to stick at 1. I'm still jittery at the idea of it all happening again but feel much more pragmatic about it now.

No, Sunny - just thinking ahead (I'm a worrier by nature)!

Yep 65hr labour thanks to a back to back baby.

Aside from the physical issues of having another baby I just can't get my head round the expense of it. How on earth do people afford 2 children close together? Since she started weaning our bills have definitely gone up. Formula and porridge is pricey stuff.

Literally the ONLY good thing about a lactose intolerant baby is prescription formula. Saves a fortune!

Amy has such a tiny appetite for food a box of porridge goes a very long way! I'm sure she'll eat more one day though.

I hope she has a better night tonight. The tooth that's coming is fully through, not just the corner, but it's bloody slow getting to full height. Poor thing.

Sticking at one here, I think. The thought of going through the whole pregnancy thing again (more than the actual birth) really puts me off the idea of more. Plus I'm an oldie now at 41.

What are you feeding the bubs now? I have no idea if I'm giving him enough. He generally has 2 food meals a day in addition to boob and some bottle, either breakfast or lunch (eg porridge and some fruit) and then dinner (selection of veg and occasional meat or fish, followed by fruit). Does this sound normal?? I've not got with the whole batch cooking programme yet.

We talk about next time a lot. I seem to have glossed over the horrors of pregnancy and the idea of feeling shite for nine months with a toddler is pretty horrendous. I suppose the reality is that many on this thread will be pregnant again within the year. If DH gets his way I will be one of them. Urgh.

Weaning going well here. We are baby led and she has a good appetite. So bagel for breakfast yesterday, then a muffin, veg and chick pea patties for lunch, with steamed apple for pudding. Tea was pasta, toast, yoghurt. The mess is frankly horrific and if we weren't hopefully moving soon I'd be a bit more careful with the carpet. The baby led weaning cookbook is great, even if that's not what you are doing. Some great ideas.

How's work Sunny? Are you off travelling soon? Will lily go with you?

Breastfeeding has saved us lots of money. I was going to stop at 6 months but decided to continue till DD is 12 months when I realised we'd have to buy formula up until then.

Also, we looked into porridges and decided against the expensive baby porridges. We've gone for Ready Brek (made with whole milk)! It's not how it was years ago when I was growing up - it now has no added salt and sugar and is actually healthier than the baby porridges when you compare the ingredients (it does have some added vitamins and minerals in it). We have a load of fruit purée ice cubes so were going to add those in each day but DD loves it plain. DD also eats very little so a box will last a year at this rate!

DD is on two meals - breakfast and dinner, and is still bf on demand. So it sounds normal to me, sunbeam. I think they recommend going up to three meals at 8-9 months. DD still doesn't eat much. She has porridge or toast soldiers for breakfast and for dinner has veg and then fruit or natural yoghurt with a fruit ice cube added in. We've batch cooked and frozen loads of fruit and veg - it makes cooking for DD really easy. We're slowly starting to add in things like egg, meat, fish.

I want another baby at some point. I loved pregnancy, but I had an easy time (no morning sickness etc).

I wasn't that keen on pregnancy, and my labour / EMCS was traumatic from the word go due to meconium in my waters, then the speed of it and pushing not working. It still upsets me thinking about it, which is why I'll be ELCS next time.

Amy likes playing with good and gumming fruit and veg to death, but not so keen on actually eating.

And we have to be really careful to avoid hidden lactose. A lot of bread has milk in it, and some cereals have milk powder too. Then of course she can't have cheese or yogurt unless they're lactose free, but you can only buy largeish tubs of that yogurt so it's not very economical, and lactose free milk is dearer too.

We are going on a lactose free shop later to try to broaden her horizons a bit. Plus get some soft fruit to try her with.

I really want to crack this before going back to work!

we're offering 3 meals a day, but DD is probably eating 2. It helps that because I have DS already, I'm cooking with no salt and mainly baby friendly things, last night I just took a couple of spoonfuls of the spag bol we were having, wizzed it in the mini blender and DD loved it, much more than official baby food.

I know we aren't meant to ever say things like this but my ELCS was great. Yes it hurt - I remember lying there at 1150 and they'd said no more drugs till two and thinking that was a very long way away. But the ability to plan and prepare is great and it was generally a very calm and relaxed experience. I was back on my feet within days doing laps of the park.

Is lactose intolerance something she will grow out of? I guess you could make your own bread!

Lactose free is a pain isn't it MrsBri. It gets easier as you learn which are the "safe" foods. Because I'm still bf, I'm also dairy free and have got used to the label checking. (but still long for cheese)

We're on 2 meals a day here. Weetabix with fruit puree is (weirdly) popular. Salmon went down well (posh baby) and toast is a hit too. We do a mixture of purees and finger foods atm.

I don't think there's anything wrong with appreciating an elcs Sarah. Just honest

It's not so much the actual birth I'd worry about repeating, rather the stuff that happened around it. Our local hospital was full so I was transferred (in labour) in an ambulance to another, with dh following in our car. DS needed monitoring all the way through labour and was resusitated upon delivery. I lost a lot of blood post delivery and so with the drama of that became the last person in the room to hold him But there's no reason to suggest the same would happen again.

Righto, off to buy ds a Sophie giraffe. My nipples will be very relieved!

An ELCS is very far removed from an EMCS, which is why I'm going elective next time. Knowing your baby is in danger if they're not got out ASAP is awful. And I didn't get skin to skin or any time to bond at all before she was whisked off to SCBU.

I know others have had it far worse with babies being more ill and for longer, but I wouldn't wish my experience on anyone. :-/

And yes, hopefully Amy will grow out of it. That's why we've just had to try her with lactose, as per the dietician's instruction, to see how she reacted. We are back at the hospital on Monday to report back on the green poi and constipation!

There are breads without milk, it's just making sure we choose one. It makes shopping a bit long winded at times!

We keep making food with baby stock cubes so Amy can have a taste, and she'll then choose to sleep through the meal! Contrary child!

Poo, not poi!

My ELCS was great too, an amazing experience (and I didn't have any pain with the drugs that I had) which is why I want another one. I was out of hospital quickly and out walking within days too.

I have my 2 dd's now and thats me done!! I had an horrendous time with my first being premature and an extremely difficult labour but my 2nd was an absolute doddle and born on her due date (hope that gives some of you hope) but still pleased that my pregnant days are over :-)

We're having a 2nd but it won't be until at least 2015 when a) we can share maternity leave between us (me 6 months and DH 3 months) and b) we get some of that free childcare. Currently if I had 2 kids in childcare I'd barely be bringing any money home.

I'd be happy for a natural birth again as for me the pain wasn't that bad. It was just very very tiring as I didn't sleep for 3 days because of the contractions. That would be less than joyful if I also had a toddler bombing about the place.

God working part-time has its pros and cons. Major pros is tomorrow is the weekend for me and I get to go see my friends and eat cake. The con is I'm trying to fit in far too much work for the days I have allocated.

No travel immediately but there are a few trips being bandied about at the moment. At one point the Cayman Islands was floated! That would be flipping ace! Knowing my luck it will end up being somewhere cruddy like Addis where apparently everyone gets sick if they stay more than 2 days.

Oh and re feeding we were only really bothering with breakfast and a bit of tea until nursery got hold of her. Now she's turning into a food monster and is costing a fortune! 3 meals a day plus 2 snack times. That's more than I eat!

I didn't get any skin to skin post ELCS actually. They took her into a side room to weigh etc and I was sat there making small talk with the anesthetic lady! Think it depends on your hospital. Mine let me bring my own cd but said that people rarely asked.

Totally understand sunny. If I were a bit younger I would wait a bit. Though on the sharing leave thing you can do that already, as long as your baby is twenty weeks and you've gone back to work. We are doing that here, DH is taking my final few months as it makes sense for me to work and him not to. Defo agree re child care though. In our family DH will actually make a loss if he works when we have two. If it was the other way round i would take a career break. But he wouldn't. Hey ho.

It is beyond me how people afford multiple sets of child care. Our mortgage isn't massive, only 1500 a month, and child care is 1k a month. Chuck on bills, travel etc, and you need to be earning 35k after tax just to break even. Sigh.

Oh dd was ELCS, after a god awful mess having ds, the first 48 hours are tough, but it's no where near as bad as nct make out! If I decide to have a third (as if!) it'd be another ELCS.

We are most definitely done with three! They came via ELCS, EmCS at 31 weeks, ELCS although I was in labour with both DD and DS1 technically. M was the easiest time post-birth of all of them, I was out of hospital 48 hours after he arrived, walking etc was all fine. I don't know if it's just that you have to get on with it having 2 others to look out for?

Re food, M is mostly on 3 meals a day (if he's awake), and BF on demand. So today, he's eaten:
Breakfast: BF, dry cheerios (an own brand version of them, anyway)
10.30: BF
Lunch: Rice cakes & hummus, dried fruit, fromage frais, cucumber sticks
4pm ish: BF
Tea: Sausage, mash, banana, bit of ciabatta bread.
6pm: BF
And he'll have some more milk when we go to bed 11pm ish.
He's 8 months old today :o

Were on 3 meals here too!