Start your runners (talk) and your new jars of Jam, 'tis the season-almost.

[Vagolajahooli]

Here we are ladies, time for all that talk of christmas table runners and chrissie deccy colour combos. And will we be getting some new Jam in this thread! Maybe not quite.

He's just not getting better Rubes. Today they crated him to check it wasn't pneumonia. Thankfully it's not.

Crated? X-rated.

Aaagggh. X-rayed. Bloody iPhone.

Oh no. Assuming he's admitted then now? Poor all of you. Are they still doing tests? How long have you been back in?

Oh Arti :(

Lady how are you and your family? Much love to you x

I'm trying to think of something to say but it all comes out trite.

What I mean is I'm so sorry that such wonderful people are going through some shitty times.

How is A today, Arti? Any improvement? I do hope so.

Thinking of you, Lady.

RT, I hope A is better soon. DD had pneumonia when she was in over Xmas.

Ahem.

So erm. MAP taken within 12 hours after an incident on day 18 of cycle will be fine right? I'm fairly certain I ovulated day 13.

I've taken the MAP before. He will be 7 in a few days. Not a great track record .

How is it that a broken condom makes you feel like a teenager? Why did it bloody well break? I know I put it on right, I've a fair amount of experience doing so , there were no acrobatics involved. Bloody things.

On the plus side think might be the kick up the arse dh needs to go get his vasectomy before I chop his bits off. The chemist very nicely handed me the box with "and are you going to go on the pill or get a coil now?" Maybe I should refuse all sex until he has an appointment only half joking.

hmmmm indith well DS1 was withdrawel method followed by MAP.

Arti how is DS1 today?

Lady you are in my thoughts lovely hope you are ok.

Boobs are still a disaster now all cracked and bleeding. Saw the midwife today who checked again for TT just a very slight one and watched me feed. His latch , positioning is all good at a bit of a loss as to why they are so bad. Just hoping it all toughens up soon.

Oh god jammy don't tell me that. But I've got one map child so surely that's me done for the statistics and this time I'll be fine no? toys a little to close to mid cycle for comfort.

gah.

Am making dh take me to nice new cafe tomorrow as a reward for doing my essay. Have told him there will be no sex until he had made a Dr appointment.

That and last night's condom was the last one and I couldn't bring myself to buy more at the same time as getting map .

Sorry about the boobs. Will they not refer you for a snip? If you are they sore and bleeding and a tt is identified then they really should. calling a tt slight is a bit of a misconception, they are not that clear cut. Did she assess the movement of his tongue at all? she should have checked how he moves it up and down, in and out and from side to side as well as checking how well he can ripple it. All of that will impact feeding. I'd strongly suggest finding out what dedicated infant feeding support there is rather than just the mw. and soon, can be very difficult to access later if it is based within midwifery services.

plenty of lansinoh in the meantime and moist would healing. shield can help, the ultra thin ones but only good really if you have a plan in place so you know the root cause is going to be sorted and you can then wean off them.

toys? There were no toys involved. meant to say it was a little too close.

Indith you minx! You should be fine (I'm no expert mind!!). DH has been snipped, in and out in 35 mins. Although the way he whimpered about you'd have thought he had his legs removed!!

Arti how's DS?

Lady, I do hope you are all bearing up as well as can be expected. Am thinking if you all still x

Well have bit the bullet and rejoined WW. This will be my 4th time. However keeping a track of what I'm scoffing does work...plus if I've joined I should stick to it! Obv will keep going with the exercise and am planning an alcohol free January. See rubes I said 'planning' don't panic, if I manage it it will probably mean I've succumbed to illness and couldn't face any!!

Good luck db. half the other students and the midwives are on slimming world. They spend so much time talking about the correct way to cook this that and the other and how much jacket potato and baked beans they ate yesterday because "it is free you know z you can eat as much as you like and still lose weight" that it makes me want to eat an entire chocolate cake.

i have never heard a ww person do anything other than say "Oh thanks, I have lost a bit, I've been doing ww" far more reasonable people .

The baby found a new game. It involves knocking on my boobs going "knock knock milk are you there? " before pulling my top down and feeding. hilarious
be is very pleased with himself.

Good grief, I hate solo bedtimes. DD2 likes someone to sit in her room til she's asleep. If DH is home, then one of us will sit with DD2 and the other will play with/read to DD1, or more often than not DD1 will entertain herself for half an hour til her bedtime. When I'm alone I set up TV/iPad/lego/current favourite toy for her. Except the madam refuses to be alone and insists on sitting in with DD2 and I, and despite agreeing to be still and silent, she wriggles and chats and distracts DD2. Would it be really harsh of me to shut DD1 out and force her to play alone til DD2 is asleep? I've now been trying to get DD2 to sleep for an hour and a flipping half and everytime she's on the verge of dropping off DD1 wriggles again or something. DD2 now exhausted and beside herself, it's way past DD1s bedtime and she's getting more tired and more whingy and more of a pain. Why the chuff can't she understand that 20 mins leaving us in peace will give her 20 mins play with me before her bedtime, whereas now it'll be straight into bed for her, which will mean she throws a strop cause she doesn't get what I promised. Gah. I flipping hate it. Can I say get out and deal with for 20 mins to a 5 year old? I so want to!

Tomorrow's my first day back at work after 5 weeks leave post op, and I wanted to check my emails tonight so I can bin all the pointless ones and give myself a fighting chance of dealing with the others tomorrow. And now I have no evening of my own left. Grrr. Got that off my chest anyway, happy new year to you all!

How is DS Arti?

My fingers are crossed the MAP works Indith. I dread the thought of a condom failure as I've been lucky enough for it not to happen yet, so surely it will at some point

DS2 asked me today if DD still gets milk from my 'big things' along with comedy grabbing at his chest motions. Funny boy.

Indith I hope the MAP works.

Oh Lady. Oh my love. I'm so very sorry. Horrific for you. You can and will cope, but it will be hard and horrid, as you know. I am thinking and thinking of you.

Sybs, how is your Dad doing? And your Mum coping?

RT, how is DS?

Jam, I had nip issues early on with DD3, and worried about TT and latching on etc. It was horrid, but was all sorted after a few weeks. My DSis has inverted nipples and used Medula nipple shields (I think they're called that). You can buy them in mothercare and are meant to be v good. Lansinoh in the meantime!! Keep going,you'll crack it, my love.

Been in Cumbria with no mobile or Internet access, hence silence. Sorry!

Just made my first loaf of bread in my Christmas bread maker. Scrummy. And so very easy.

Thinking of you all xx

Indith. Don't know but they make a valid point at the pharmacy! If you're fine with the snip why doesn't he do that? No brainer.
Lady hope you're ok hope ds us better arti?
Sybs. Beans reminded me you didn't update on your dad. Hope it was all good. Hope to see you soon
Jam crikey. Agree with indith why won't they just snip? It's like trimming your nails for crying out loud. If they've spotted a "slight issue" honestly this is a pita with me as it cocked up my feeding with dd when they did nothing until a consultant saw me practically in tears (sitting in waiting room trying to entertain ds for hours, at 18mths while Dd (4 weeks) waited to be seen.
ZJ. Opposite here as mine don't play up at bedtime if it's just me, which is most of the time. But when dh home early they tend to try it on - prob out of not seeing much of him so that does makes me sad. However. They will benefit! Even then, by 'playing up' it doesn't sound like what you describe. Just a bit of defiance to go upstairs then after teeth and in bed, ds will call out or come down a couple of times with random questions he's thought up on the spot to delay bedtime.
I think we've mostly had a no nonsense / not taking any crap approach at bedtime as dh always knackered and it's paid off. Luckily.
At least you are not solo with it mostly so just a change from normality probably makes them act out.

I wrote a massive post this morning and it said it posted but it's not here.

Will be back in a little while but after a v long night full of tears. I saw someone who is a TT specialist midwife who told me it's not subtle it was a 50% tie. Unfortunately because he has not been feeding properly from my breasts I had the beginnings of mastitis. She made me feed from both breasts for an hr then told me to pump as much as possible until they felt soft. This took 2hrs!! I also produced half a pint if milk!

Am feeling very down about bf even though I know it's now going to get better. It's making me more determined to train as a bf councillor as it has really pissed me off that I was vvvv adamant that they really checked for TT as DS1 had had it and I was terrified it would happen again.

Anyway will be back later so I can catch up properly.

Oh jam that is rubbish. Huge hugs to you.

How is A, Arti?

Thinking of you lady t.

Hello beans! Happy new year! X

Sorry Jam but this sounds like a carbon copy of my experience with dd and a health visitor who DISMISSED my suggestion that she was TT (and tutted dh as docs don't know apparently) I was livid when the consultant at hospital said I was completely right. The health visitor got written up and dealt with (so they say) midwives knew better I thought. Shame. It was the beginning of the end of dds short bf experience as I had to express and on it goes. Don't be hesitant in formally complaining.

I upgraded phones and finally backed up my old one got pics off and have sorted it.

Arti I do hope ds is much better. Hope u can update us soon.

Am working tomorrow but hopefully sneaking a quick drink out with dh tonight as I've barely seen him. He's just phoned as the headwind is bad so slightly later than planned.

DD3 slept through the night. Yeeehah! DH fed her at midnight and she woke at 6.30. Yay! My first full night's sleep in months! She did it once in Cumbria, but other children woke me all night then. Am feeling refreshed!

ZJ how was last night's bedtime?

And jam, please don't get down about BF. you clearly have tons of milk and once TT sorted, it should get easier. Did the midwife snip DS3's tongue? Chin up, lovely. Baby blues may be kicking in too. X

What is the deal with ties? I pointed out a frenulum tie in a friends daughter at 13 months and asked if she had trouble Bfing. She said she had 4 months of painful feeding but a pediatrician had told her the frenulum tie did not affect feeding and was not a problem at all. It was so severe it split her two front teeth apart. A quick check with a speech therapist friend confirmed that it could effect speech. Luckily they had worked it out with the feeding and she fed until 15 months but if the paed had taken it seriously she could have had a lot less pain. Luckily at 18 months she face planted and the tie was cut but she still has a gap between her front teeth.

Rubes isn't it funny how the HV thinks docs don't know anything, when pretty much the entire mother population thinks HVs don't.

Oh and Jam definitely complain. Her misjudgement can undermine breastfeeding which is a big no no in health services. But get dh to complain cos you're too tired.

Having our last hotel breakfast in frankfurt and then driving home. Went to Neuschwanstein Castle yesterday which was awesome.