March 2013 - time to wrap them all up in tinsel

[StormyBrid]

Old thread here.

worse we're like Plonky on the timings - we keep mealtimes and milktimes separate. I spotted something in Evil Baby Whisperer that suggested around this age milk should be at the time you'd give a snack. Thinking about it, that's pretty much what we do - milk at the crack of dawn, 11am, 3pm and bedtime, food at 9am, 1pm and 5pm. It seems to work, and Fartypants is definitely in the process of reducing milk herself. Those middle two feeds, she's having about four ounces now.

How is the worselet on mush? Does she show any preferences? If we were sticking with baby led weaning we'd be getting absolutely nowhere. Savoury mushes, she'll try a mouthful then get distracted by the cat. Fruit mushes, she practically inhales. For a reduced stress option, can I suggest getting yourself to Asda? They've a hell of a range of cheap fruity mushes, and then at least you're not having to throw away purees you've spent hours lovingly creating.

Incidentally, six month old Molly may love her porridge, but all that means is that Molly's a total weirdo - porridge is vile. It's weetabix all the way round here, with mashed banana in.

eco hang in there, it does get better. How long until 37 weeks for you?

I am thanking my heathen gods we don't have crawling yet. Nappy changes with rolling are bad enough. Especially when it's a particularly horrific one.

Gerry, sounds like you've had a hard day. Big un-Mumsnetty hugs (I'd offer a slice of too but that's obviously off the menu - cheese?)

Pud, sinusitis is miserable. I hope the antibiotics kick in quickly, there's something particularly awful about that heavy head cold feeling.

Worse, I think I might match your nursery-based guilt. I'm working from home twice a week and he's still going to nursery! Honestly though, I'd never be able to get anything done otherwise, and it sounds like you could really benefit from a day to yourself each week. What will you do with this magical spare time? I think you could make millions setting yourself up as the next Trisha, your relationship advice is fantastic.

Sorry for radio silence from here, but to be honest I don't seem to have done anything worth relaying. To be frank I have been very boring. Although I did go to music group today and see Gerrybaby, and Gerrybaby's granny so that was fun.

Gerry, how awful for you. Hugs.

Plonky a tempting prospect. How hard can it be?! It'd certainly beat accounting for funny stories. As it is my current plans go no further than catching up on everything I haven't done, and possibly going for a run.

Pud I hope the antibiotics kick in soon. Sinusitis sounds rough.

Eco you guessed right, I'm not one for TV myself. I used to be, then I got married. 13 years of Top Gear has put me right off

Wish me luck, it's scan time tomorrow so I get to see exactly how big that cyst is, and exactly what the consultant plans to do about it. Joy.

Too sleep deprived to say anything interesting here. We too had a cold baby mistaken for a tired baby earlier. Why does 3am have to exist? Milk and calpol administered, shitty nappy changed, baby still crying, cats now think it's playtime, argh.

Hi all
gerry hope you're ok. Doesn't sound
Good.

pud we never answered your bottle
query. We are also still on 4 bottles,
sadly one of those is at 2 am, but he
has about 800ml over those ones. I
think if mini pud is only having 450ml
you could keep going with your 10pm
one . Plus if you get a sleep thru from
then- what's not to like?! You can cut
it out from 12 months if it doesn't go
naturally before then maybe?

I'm fed up with bugs. And bugs mean
no eating and less sleeping. Just as I
was thinking things were going well.
Feeling fed up and sorry for myself
(I know- self indulgent). If I wasn't
so blinking tired all the time I'd
be happier! Fed up fed up

Pity party over. Any more news on
the move eco? How are new jobs/
Old jobs/job hunts going?

Oh, and good luck worse

pud sorry I never answered too. We are on 3/4 bottles a day. 3pmish, 7.30ish and 2amish. He seems to have cut out the 11am bottle since last week. If he eats a pouch he has a full one but only half a jar. He snacks in between and won't say no to food. I may have said on a previous post way back that I thought babies regulate how much they eat but I am not sure with my ds. He eats so much that his belly pops out so I stop giving him food and he is fine. He doesn't cry if I don't give him any more.

gerry hope today was better.

worsehow did the scan go?

shattered hang on in there. You will get through it.

stormy hope you are catching up on your sleep now.

I had baby free time this morning and I feel great. I went to first aid course run by the children's centre. Dm looked after ds and poor her. Ds would not sleep until we came back home. So he went from 7 until 3.30 without a nap. I had to bath him because he was overtired. What do I do when I start back to work in a months time? He will not sleep anywhere but his cot. People say he will get used to it but he hasn't so far. im the one who has to deal with an overtired baby and this affects his sleep at night.

Yummy who's going to be looking after DS?
Will it be your mum? If so can she base
herself at yours? I must admit this is one
of my main concerns about going back too.
What if she tucked him into the buggy and
went for a long walk- would he sleep then?

Reading through I think it'd be fair to say we've reached group hug time, as we've more downs than ups going on of late. It's funny how the further on I get the more I look back to the newborn weeks with a fairly large dose of rose tinted glasses. As let's face it, all we had to deal with there was a bit of sleep deprivation and slight panic. Now we have sleep deprivation, menu planning, post meal clean up, escapology and head banging, nap refusniking, and a whole host of new and wonderful ways of mummy breaking as thought up by our delightful small ones. The larks huh

Yummy I have no clever ideas as to how to fix the nap problem, as I have the opposite. DD will only sleep somewhere other than her cot. Car seat, sling, or pram are all options. None of which allow me to either catch up on shut myself or get anything productive done. We've had words about this, but have as yet not established an acceptable compromise. I hope you have more luck.

As for scan, well it was better than expected although still pretty sh*te. I still have cysts, only fewer, so am merely cystic as opposed to polycystic. This is better than bad, but obviously worse than good. As for the biggie, well it's no bigger than it was, and benign, so what I do about it is pretty much up to me. If it gets any more painful it's coming out, as although I do stoic pretty well I'm not a martyr. A fair summary would be, I'm ok but probably won't be popping out a worselet2. I had a little sad moment about that, but whatever way I look at it I can only end up feeling lucky. I have a wonderful cheeky happy healthy little girl. She's perfect

Wishing you all a long restful night. The small one crashed out at 8pm, which is almost unheard of, but not unexpected given naps of less than 1 hour today. If she does a 10 hour stretch I could be almost human by tomorrow. Here's hoping!!

Don't rule it out completely if you don't want to Wors, you never know. My Mum has PCOS (diagnosed in hindsight) and it took her 4yrs to conceive, my brother died when he was a baby, she then had an ovary removed, she was told multiple times she would never have another but they decided to just see what happened and out I popped when she was 42 which made her ancient then as you we're considered an elderly mum is you were over 30

Shattered you're not alone. We'd got down to 1-2 wakes on a good night but this cold has us back to at least once an hour. I spend a lot of time feeling its such a shame because I'd have enjoyed this year so much more and been a much better mummy if I wasn't so bloody knackered.

Must dash, she's up again and only Mummy will do which is a good job because Daddy's stuck at work . Hi to everyone else.

yummy - have faith that everything new takes time to adjust to. There may be tantrums the first few times but, he'll get the hang of it and will accept it, although your Mum is going to have to be super gran and put up with an unhappy mini-Yummy with the patience of a saint.

worse - That's great that it's better than it could have been and i'm with Betty that you should never rule out another. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

betty I have a feeling that you're going to sail through the terrible twos whilst those of us that currently can't complain (about the dcs) will have hell

I handed my notice in yesterday after thoroughly checking if I had any kind of legitimate discrimination claim. I can't see that i'm 'entitled' to anything so i'd rather be free to do as I please now. They did say they'd call me for some freelance work though so it may not be all bad. Aside from that, i'm still working out my next move.

Ah you guys are probably right. Oh to have a crystal ball .

Any Good luck! Freelance is actually quite a nice way to work as a stop gap. I did it for a while. The best bit, you can walk out of the door completely oblivious to the office politics. V cool.

Betty I am unsure how you could possibly have been a better mummy. You've never once let dd down no matter how many times she has woken, and no matter how many tricks she has thought up to try you.

These babies are very good at tricks. The worselet's latest is to slowly pick up and drop every single item of food off her tray onto the floor. She even goes as far as to scrape up left over mush and sling that down as well. I swear she knows this is naughty, as she looks me straight in the eye and laughs. The brat little sweetheart.

Good evening everyone.

Plonky so glad that your new job feels good! Have you had a work from home day now? How did that go?

Yummy I know a couple of people who work in a nursery where their children also attend. They exclaim at what good naps their dc have there. Out like lights at nursery, but play up at home. There is hope! Nursery will work its magic for you I hope. Or, your mum will.

Worse lovely to hear that things went better than they might have. We all have tales of people being told 'unlikely' and then getting pregnant. My endo sister included. Am hopeful for you.
I had a vile first trimester migraine wise and then six months of bliss, followed by vile postpartum period too. Crazy what pregnancy does to you. I had no eczema at all, minimal allergic reactions skin wise and could eat whatever I wanted without digestive discomfort. If it wasn't for the baby bit I would up duff myself regularly
I grew up in a wide variety of stone houses and cottages. My father being a serial do-er upper-er. I realise therefore that taking the plunge with that cottage would mean a return to chilblains and electric blankets! I do feel the cold so it's not ideal. Meeting our IFA tomorrow so he will seal the deal on what is possible. We are considering renting for a while to get the lay of the Bedfordshire land. Right move is addictive. You think 'oh I'll just search 10k higher' and you get sucked in.

Gerry been thinking of you today. You will have had to be the strong one for your pupils, offering them support, and I suspect there's not much for you. Hoping you can talk it through with colleagues

Pud you are due some rude health coming your way. My mum described sinusitis pain as worse than child birth. Yuck. Any better today?

Any good for you for exploring your options properly. Sounds like we in very similar boat. Do you feel liberated a bit now, despite the uncertainty? I forget what your job is?

Shattered for you, sounds tough with you and stormy. Hoping that things start improving soon and that status quo returns ready for weekend.

Betty we did some baby back packing that was a shade irresponsible too We live and learn! The rain cover isn't very effective in sheets of rain when she is wearing a padded rather than waterproof all in one underneath. Whoops. Can I ask, do you feel your boobs are still producing a decent amount of milk? Mine look like shells or their former selves and after her mid afternoon feed through til dinner ecobaby has a total bag on. As they run around, well crawl, I seem to get more and more busy and less time for cake and general snacking. Not like the immobile good old days. I wonder if that's what it is affecting my supply. I also wonder if the lack of settled sleep overnight is lack of milk related. Has miniBetty ever had any supplementary formula?

Yikes, look at the time. I forget what else I wanted to respond to. Ah well, night all and dreams of well, sleepy babies to you all. With a dash of Ryan G and Mr Rochester thrown in

Right. Changed, calpolled, milked, temperature fine, dummy in position. If she's not got to sleep after this fag, I'm going to try sticking my fingers in my ears and shouting go the fuck to sleep in my head. That's a legit method of sleep training, right?

worse never say never. One of my good friends has pcos and now has a gorgeous 1yr old ds.

betty you are an amazing mum.

any good luck with the freelancing if that is what you are deciding to do.

I've been awake since 2 then ds joined me from 3. We have been partying since. Just like the newborn days. I don't know whats wrong with him. Calpol and teething granules given, nappy changed, milk given but refused and water given. I have a friend coming over tomorrow so I have to have the energy to socialise and wake early to clean the place. I want to cry.

stormy I missed your post. sounds like we are/were in it together tonight. Is this a ww thing I wonder? I think ds is asleep now. Im hoping your dd is too by now.

Probably ww related, a lot of 'em seem to be doing it. Shot is definitely causing issues here too though.

Snot, not shot. It I'd a word, stupid phone!

And is not I'd. I give up. Obviously left my brain in bed.

And so ends one of the worst weeks I can remember. Thank you all for your kind words. We lost an ex colleague at the weekend, then a student on Monday night. Unexpected, unexplained death of a 16 year old boy, so we spent Wednesday having to tell the students. It's been a very sad week, and I'm very glad it's over.

Dd had her first day at the childminders yesterday. It didn't go brilliantly, mainly because she refused to sleep, so when I got her home last night my sleepaholic baby was about 3 hrs down on usual. Sounds like she was pretty upset for most of the day. Heartbreaking, but I know it will get better. I almost wish we could afford to send her more than once a week so she could settle in more quickly. I'm expecting her to be pretty tired today, which is a good thing if she actually sleeps!

Worse everyone is right, we all know people with stories of beating the PCOS odds, myself one of them.

Eco if it's financially viable renting would be a good idea. Don't forget though, house prices are going up again, so prob worth renting somewhere silly cheap (1 bed flat?!?!?) and putting money away to make up for the prices rises.

Pud- milk wise we have 2x7floz and 1x4floz. Last bottle at 7pm. It took me a while to be brave enough, but eventually I just stopped the 11pm dream feed and hoped. She went straight through from that night. But perhaps either slowly decrease the size of that bottle, or move it earlier and earlier so it kind of merges with the bedtime one?

Betty have you and dd recovered from your scare yet? Yikes, glad we haven't had that yet

Plonk- how are you finding bootcamp? I'm loving it, much better than the lowish carb I was doing before, loving all the cheese and butter, although fighting against everything I've learned in the past is tough. The weight is falling off again after a bad Christmas!

Happy Fridays all, mine is going to be spent cuddling my tired baby and counting my blessings

Yummy you never know with the sleep once you go back to work. I was terrified that DS wouldn't go down at nursery and on top of adjusting back to work I'd also have to contend with an overtired baby. This is entirely my fault as I've never trained him to nap in his cot - he goes in our bed instead. He won't nap in the carseat anymore, and only occasionally in his pushchair. But he's absolutely fine at nursery! Hope you managed to get back to sleep this morning.

Worse if dd is destined to be an only child then yes, you are incredibly lucky already because she's spiffing the photos of her on fb depict a very happy little girl. And if you are able to have another then great! As others have said, you never know what might happen. My dad was a 'menopause baby' and he even has a younger brother. But I do hope you're not living for what ifs and maybes instead of the joy that is in front of you.

Eco I worked from home yesterday. It's going to take a lot of discipline! At the moment there's not a great deal for me to do so I kept finding myself on facebook and mumsnet... I think renting might be a good idea. It'd only be six months really, right? If it helps you get a feel for the place before you commit to buying I can't see why not. Except the hassle, of course.

Gerry oh dear. I don't know about your dd but ds' memory for people is really improving - hopefully next time she'll remember the childminder? At least you know it will get easier. Sucks that work has also been hard this week, sounds really awful.

Bootcamp's great! Now I'm through the carb flu I'm really amazed at how this diet works. I'm rarely hungry, I sleep better (out like a light from 10pm) and coffee with cream is a revelation. However, I think I might be somewhat sensitive to dairy, so only tiny amounts of cheese from now on. Not that that's a hardship! Are you going to carry on with bootcamp for another two weeks from Monday, or commence bootcamp light?

Eco my boobs have reverted to much smaller sadder versions but I'm told that once you're into extended BFing territory I'm also wondering how the hell I ended up here they do revert to a normal size but keep producing. DD isn't always as interested and sometimes drops her afternoon feed or just has a very tiny feed but wants snacks and water. I'm still trying with formula and a cup but I may as well open a carton every other day and pour it down the drain! She's feeding more this week with being poorly but I'm sure she'll be back to normal next week.

Morning all. I'm in a superbly good mood as if it wasn't for a nasty case of trapped wind I'm fairly sure the tiddler would have slept 8pm-6am without a wake. As it was she was up twice for a bit of a belch, but I'm thinking we're through the worst of the sleep deprivation. For now. The early start suits me better too, as I can get her up, dressed, milked, and then into the pram so the dogs get a a proper run round the field at a reasonable time. That makes my life so much easier.

Plonky don't stress about me, as if there is one thing I don't do it is live my life by what ifs. I'm bl**dy lucky to have the worselet. The chances of getting pregnant straight away at 39 weren't the best but I did. Then I had the whole DH thing to get through, and massive bleeds up until 17 weeks. I'm still slightly in shock that she exists at all. Another would be nice, but I'm not desperate of you see what I mean. I won't be mucking about with charts, or interventions or IVF, I'll just not bother with contraception

Eco I agree with the others. If you don't know an area it really pays to rent for a while first, as then if there are any nasty surprises you aren't stuck with them. Have you thought about staying in a holiday let for a couple of months? A surprising number of people rented ours (when we were doing the holiday let thing) for that reason. Off peak most owners will give you a massive discount for a longer let.

Plonky enjoy the pre-crawl phase as if he's doing the leg getting stuck thing he's nearly there. Once mobile he'll exhaust you! The worselet can be tracked around the house by the slap slap slap noise of her hands on the wood floors, and the trail of chaos in her wake. Cupboard catches are no longer a challenge apparently, and once open a cupboard is for emptying.

Gerry enjoy your cuddly day at home. It sounds like you need it after a very gruelling week. Given Gerrybaby's powers of recognition at music group I reckon she'll be happy as anything at the CM's very soon.

Milk wise we're down to 650mls now. Never thought I'd see the day. Food wise varies, but she's a hefty little lady so obviously not starved. We just need to work on the healthy eating thing now. Buttered crackers and cheese on toast do not a balanced diet make

Speaking of diets I have no idea what bootcamp means, other than those fun away day things where you try to kill yourself on army assault courses, and kick box your colleagues. I like those. Especially the kick boxing bit. Gerry if personal trainer brother doesn't already run one of those he should. I'd go.

Stormy and anyone else having a rough ride - hope things improve soon.

I'd better wake the tiddler now. She has slept for ages, which doesn't bode well for later.

Ds went to sleep 5ish in the end. As I went back to bed I saw a spider. Dh went to get it and missed. Don't know where so I retreated to the living room for the rest of the morning. I am not tired for now im sure it will hit me later. Good news I lost 2 kilos in my first week of dieting despite that carrot cake. Yay!

This is a selfish post because ds needs my attention.. I will catch up with you all later.

eco just caught your comments on bf and my breasts have also retreated to back to pre-pregnancy size (or close to it anyway). I no longer have a strong let down or get the same powerful led down sensations and I have stopped to wonder how much is being produced on a few occasions. However they still appear to be producing plentiful milk judging by DD milky grins after every breastfeed and I have never done any top ups or anything like that. As Betty says I think all this is pretty normal for full term breastfeeding.

Sorry to all who are having difficult weeks in this new year and hope things start improving soon.