March 2005 Part 7 - Welly Boots and Toddler Tantrums!

[JoPG]

Here is the new thread

Hi Norash - welcome back and good luck with your new venture!

Jambot - gym 5 times a week is very impressive. I've just un-registered from my gym as I wasn't using it enough, only to take the kids swimming. I might get back to it in the new year.

Sylvia is very sweet. Her favourite words at the moment are "funny" and "silly". She's crazy about Maisy Mouse and the Teletubbies. I don't know what we'll get them for Christmas yet. Probably a couple of PS2 games for Dominic and maybe a play kitchen for Sylvia. We've been very busy tidying the house and getting rid of things these past couple of weeks, so there would just about be some space for a toy kitchen. I've taken a few sacks of baby clothes and my old clothes to charity shops, toys to Sylvia's nursery, books & videos to Dominic's school for their Xmas fair etc. DH still has to go through his clothes and together through the kitchen stuff and linen. We have far too many posessions and I feel suffocated.

Off to do some work now as Sylvia is asleep and DH & Domi are at the football. I'm taking Dominic and his friend to a roller-skating disco tonight, organised by the Woodcraft Folk.

Hi all, sorry I've been neglecting you a bit recently, doesn't mean I don't think about you all though !

Norash - its really wonderful to hear from you !!!! Please don't go away for so long again! Sorry to hear you are still having bad nights with Kieran. Niklas's favourite word is also No (actually Nein), he says it when he means yes, not, not sure, don't understand but uses different intonation so we understand what he means.

Jambot - still don't want to know the sex. I'm not even curious funnily enough, its enough to feel the babies kicking around inside me and know they are doing OK. The only problem is finding names (which we haven't really thought about much yet, think we are putting it off as we had such a problem finding an name for Niklas)..... i'll be back later Niklas has just emerged from his sleep!

Thanks Cristina and Jambot.

Leo I was not aware you were pregnant, congratulations. Good to hear you are doing well. You really are a brave woman.

So I went to the mumsnet meetup last night and let my hair down. If there were awards at the end of the night I would have received the "Best dancer" certificate

Hi Everyone.
Cristina - We also have a Maisy Mouse fan, Freya walks round trying to get somebody to read her a Maisy book all day! I often try and bribe Ethan to do it. Am def going to get her some more Maisy books for Xmas cos I for one am sick of the ones we have got!

Pidge - Am def making the pumpkin cheesecake this weekend coming. Have a 40th birthday dinner to go to and I am in charge of desserts. Am making pumpkin cheesecake and Delia's choc bread and butter pudding. I have made the latter before so I feel safe with that, and then the cheesecake will be new. Looking through cookbooks last night and saw that Nigella also has a chestnut cheesecake that looks very similar to the pumpkin one, have you tried that?

Leo - Your twins are identical aren't they? So I guess at least you know that it will be either 2 girls or 2 boys. Do you have any inkling atall?

Freya still has a stinking cold and very bad cough. She has had the cough since Thursday and I am thinking of taking her to the doctor's if it doesn't improve soon. Anyone got any ideas how long you should leave these things to play out before going to see the doctor?

Xmas presents for Freya are some Happyland stuff from ELC, a new grobag (she's a lucky girl!), and a cuddly Fifi.
BonyM - We have the Aquadraw and it is fab. Freya does try to suck the water out of the pens though, hhmmm tasty.

Hi JoPG sorry to hear Freya isn't too well.

I usually leave it 3-4 days and see if it gets worse and if it does then I gige him cough syrup for a week and if nothing happens then I would take him in.

Been lucky so far because his cold/coughs clear up pretty quick. Hope Freya is feeling better soon.

Hi all.
Late night now.I haven't read all you messages yet.Will do it tomorrow.

In short.Ksenia was sick again.apparantly wooping cough but doctor didnot said a firm yes.she was like wooping cough bronhiticus.anuway she is well now.Just little cough from time to time.Maybe in couple of weeks =Ksenia will go back to nurcery.

Me-tried to open visa to Sweden.Got refused.Spend a lot of money and energy going back an forth to Kiev.(Kiev is far away about 12 hours by train).So now Trying to get a student visa to UK.Spent the most night in search for a good school.

Hope eveyone is good and healthy.Talk to you soon and will tell you how Ksenia says duck in English

Buzzy, fantastic about your half marathon!!!! Which one are you doing? I have to get to the runners thread sometime and catchup!

Christmas presents - Niklas is getting very little from us as we don't think he really needs anything. He is getting a dolls umbrella buggy (so he doesn't fight with his friend for hers), a set of musical instruments and a picture book (because I am so bored with the ones we have, although he still loves them!), I will ask the English family to give him books and the Swiss family to give him Duplo, you can never have enough of either of those!

Jo - the twins are ID, I'm not sure, some days I am convinced they are girls other days boys. I think they are girls but can't imagine having girls so think they must be boys! We shall find out soon enough !.
I prefer to take Niklas to the doctor sooner rather than later. I was taking him almost every 2 weeks last winter but this year he is so much healthier ! He hasn't had a cold or wheezing for a while but seems to always have a cough. We still think it may be an allergy and are looking for alternative medics to take a look at him.

Umum, loads of luck with getting your student visa. I really, really hope it works out!

Hello everyone

Harrison's been really poorly all week with some kind of flu type thing. He's had a raging temperature, so much so that for two nights, I had to actually change his sheets in the night as they were so wet. He's been sleeping in just a nappy and vest to stop him over-heating but even in just that, he was like a wet, slimy thing every time I picked him up.

He seems loads better today and has stopped crying everytime I move more than a few inches away from him. Fingers crossed for an unbroken nights sleep tonight.

Leo, I knew Harri was going to be a boy and couldn't get my head around that, having had a girl for 7 years. Now I can't imagine what I ever thought would be strange about it. I suppose you just get used to what you've got. I'm so excited about you having ID twins and can't wait to see piccies.

The half marathon I'm doing is in Reading, although I haven't actually got round to signing up yet. That's my job to do tomorrow so I'll have to get my backside into gear and start training.

UMum, the very best of luck with your student visa.

Busy - I am thinking of doing the Reading half marathon too! Could be fun

Busy - Lauren has also not been well. Had a hectic temp yesterday. Her body was so hot it was quite scary. She was running around screaming inconsolably. Finally managed to force some Calpol down her throat and put her in a tepid bath. Quite scary as she's never had anything worse than a cold before. Couldn't get the bloody thermometer to work so panicked, put her in the car and went up to the hospital emergency. Just seems to be a viral infection of some sort and although she slept ok last night, she was very wet when I went into her this morning, with hair plastered to her face. Doesn't seem to bad today, although not her normal cheerful self. I hate those ear thermometers - she wouldn't sit still long enough for me to get it in. Am going today to get one of those new Braun ones where you put a sensor on their forehead to read the temperature.
Hope Harrison is feeling better.
Had a weigh-in yesterday. Have now lost 5 kgs, lost 4% in body fat, picked up 1 kg in pure muscle. Really starting to feel the difference. Need to get some smaller trousers and my body is feeling so much firmer, especially my legs and arms. Tummy is improving but still not quite a six pack yet!!

Busy and Jambot, so sorry to hear that Harrison and Lauren are so ill. Its physically and emotionallly exhausting isn't it. I keep feeling extremely grateful (to whatever) that Niklas is doing so well, although he never seems to get rid of his cough!

Jambot, fantastic about the weight loss, very impressed well done for your commitment!

Busy, when we take some more photos, if I am brave enough (and anyone is interested) I will put a photo of me with my growing belly onto the photobucket as a twin preview!

I had a consultant appointment yesterday and both twins are doing really well, they are both the same size and on the 50% on the curve for the gestational age (which is measured against single babies!). I'm also feeling good so am less worried about the pregnancy but have started to worry about the birth. Dh thinks that I have a birth trauma from Nikla's birth, I agree that I have a lot of issues and would like things to be different this time - preferably a vb, but if not possible then somehow more involved in the cs. Thing is that they seem to give so little choice or leeway on things. For example i asked, if i have to have a cs, if I can watch the babies being delivered which i think would help a lot, but (although other Mnetters have been allowed to do this) my hospital doesn't allow it because of risk of infection! I've got to keep thinking through how I can make the birth thing better. I keep trying to tell myself that it doesn't matter, only the babies being born safely matters, but of course that isn't true.

Sorry... had a restless night thinking about this and this is the first chance I have had to off load a bit!

Lauren much better today, although still niggly and wouldn't let me out of her sight without creating. Temp seems to be back to normal thank goodness.
In SA, don't think you're given the option of a natural birth with twins. Why is it so important to you to see them actually come out of your body Leo? You've obviously been thinking about it a lot, but hope it's not going to become a major thing to upset you as you've had such a good pregnancy so far.

Harri's much better today although has come out in a rash all over his torso. I think it's probably just post-viral and hope it'll be gone in the morning. Had a terrible night last night and went to bed this afternoon whilst he was sleeping to catch up on some serious sleep deprivation. He slept for 3 hours and woke up bright as a button, with much more energy. He's still very whingy and has a major strop if things don't go just the way he wants but other than that, he's pretty much back to his usual self.

Jambot, glad Lauren's better too

Leo, I don't know much about CS as I delivered both of mine naturally (and very fast). I hope you're able to come to terms with whatever happens in your own head but totally agree, the most important thing is to deliver safely. Having delivered both mine in the same way, I had very different experiences. Hannah's was quite calm and controlled although I didn't really feel I knew what was going on. When it was over, I was just overawed by the whole thing and it took me a while to come to terms with just being a mum. Harrison's delivery was fast and furious (an hour and a half start to finish), incredibly painful, but I felt totally in control and just seemed so much more tuned to what my body was doing. A a result (I believe) I bonded with him the second he popped out. Despite the different experiences, I love both of them with a passion so none of it much matters in the end really

Be brave and post piccies of yourself

Leo - I've been thinking about what you wrote and trying to write something coherent about my 1st and 2nd labours. Rather tricky after a glass of wine, but here goes ...

First time round circumstances intervened which mean I didn't end up with a totally natural birth - I had a 3 day labour, posterior baby, epidural, syntocin, but then an ok delivery. I was pretty freaked out by the violence and pain of the labour and talked about it endlessly for weeks afterwards. But I was smitten with Cleo from the second I saw her - quite literally when I set eyes on her I felt my world was complete.

Second time round I got my dream birth. It was about 9 hours, at home, the first 7 hours were at night on my own in the bedroom, totally in my own world, then Iris finally arrived in a birth pool in our lounge. It remains one of the most extraordinary, empowering and moving experiences of my life. And I don't say that trying to sound all preachy about natural birth - because in fact the interesting thing for me is that the wonderful birth was totally irrelevant to my bonding with the baby. In fact, I really didn't form a strong bond with Iris until she was 9 months old or more.

I was talking to a friend recently who had a CS due to a breech baby, and she was saying she couldn't work out if she could even face trying for a VB next time. And I really understand that, because even with the amazing Iris birth experience, I know that birth felt TOTALLY irrelevant to my experience of the baby.

Sorry, this is very waffly. What I'm trying to say is - it was an amazing experience, but completely separate from the baby bit. I'm glad I experienced it, but it has nothing to do with how I feel about the kids. Kind of like going on a life-changing holiday which you feel all excited about, and then coming home and getting a new job which you feel equally excited about. The two things just didn't connect for me!

Am off to see if another glass of wine will make me more coherent!

Lauren also has a rash all over now. Not sure if it's Chicken Pox or just a viral rash. Will take her to the doctor tom.

Sorry to hear about rash-riddled children. Hope they are on the mend soon.

Iris's only complaint is that she is losing her voice - she is all husky and sounds about an octave deeper than usual! But other than that is on top form. We have my mum and dad staying for a week and the kids just adore having them about.

Leo - I FINALLY made the tarte tatin and it was a triumph! I had to adapt it a bit, as I didn't have any puff pastry, so made my own shortcrust instead. Anyway, it was super and looked pretty too.

Ooo, another finally here too this weekend - I made pumpkin cheesecake. It was fab (even if I do say so myself!), and got good reviews from all those that tried it. Scrummy!

Wondering now whether it is chicken pox. It's more a splotchy rash rather than little spots.

Thinking maybe Roseola or German Measles after looking at pics of rashes on the internet. She hasn't really got individual spots, more splotchy spots if you know what I mean. Need to know as my friend Wendy is arriving from England with her 8 month old and if it's Chicken Pox it's a problem as Lauren is going to be highly contagious. If it's one of the others, she's probably over the contagious stage by now.
Sitting here in my one size smaller trousers!! Feels great. Going to buy another size smaller for Mauritius so that I've got something to work towards.

I would doubt it was chicken pox if the spots are splodgy, chicken pox is quite distinctive and is like little blisters that then crust over and form scabs.
Hope Lauren is feeling a bit better whatever it is

She slept for 3 and a half hours today and was in bed happily by 6:30. Rather ratty today, with a zero tolerance level for everything, but didn't seem too poorly.

Jambot, sorry to hear that Lauren isn't well. I think that chicken pox is spots rather than a rash though. Rashes worry me (just because I am clueless about them), I personally wouldn't hesitate to take her to a doctor.

Niklas is also not well, he has had a fever since friday night, bad cough and breathing is really bad again , I really thought maybe we had got rid of the bronchitis, but it looks as if it is back.

Pidge - glad to hear the tarte tatin turned out well. I also made it with shortcrust pastry but intend to have another go sometime with puff.

2 of my friends had babies today. One I think went really well, baby was born around 1pm and the poor girl sent me a message around 8pm saying her visitors had left so she has been able to take a shower and now feels much better!!! i can't believe that she didn't even have time to take a shower before visitors descended on her!!!! The next day would have been early enough for even close family to visit!
The other friend her baby is in scbu for observation , born with the cord twice around the kneck and had pooed before being birth !

I really appreciate your responses to my post the other day. I think I just have a lot to think through and want to feel better about everything than I did with Niklas, maybe it will be enough that I am just mentally prepared this time.
OK, going back to Jambot's first comments. Interesting that in SA they won't consider a vb with twins, from the research I have read - as with every birth - if everything is OK a vb is safer than a cs, but if difficult vbs are never done anymore (eg with twins) then noone has the skills to do them.
I wasn't upset about Niklas's birth until I started thinking about the birth of the twins (only relieved that he was born safely) and then i realised how unhappy i was with hte whole experience and the recovery. this time I just want to be more involved somehow even if i do have to have a cs. I feel as if my being there at Niklas's birth was completely unecessary and could have been done without me! I'm not sure if some of that feeling is because i was so stressed by the whole thing that it shadowed the reason that i was really there. I also had a bad recovery and regret so much that i wasn't able to even change his nappy until he was 4 days old. This time at least I know how to do it and would do it on my bed if I couldn't get up to do it! Like you Pidge, I think that my bonding with Niklas took a long time (still trying to work that out as I don't have anything ot compare it with, if it wasn't bad bonding I was either too exhausted the whole time to really enjoy him or slight PND), but interesting you say that with Iris the birth experience was so much better but the bonding took longer. I think bonding with twins is going to be a totally different experience and need to have every chance to bond right from the beginning.

Hi to all of you!

Jambot-read about Lauren's rush.Did she had like high temp before and sore throat?It sounds like she has a scarlet fever.It is big areas of rush or like you said splotchy rush and it is should be down "that" area(sorry to call it like that).This is first symptoms,and the second one is really red throat.only doctors can tell.It treats easily with antibiotycs.And the rush few days later will become like scaping paper.i know this coz Ksenia had it this summer.

Leo-i can only say this.Here in Ukraine all babies born naturally.Even when it is obvious csesarian doctors dont do it.And i know a couple of girls who had first twins naturally.And a few weeks ago this lady gave a birth to triplets.Women here dont know anything about anastesia and painless labour.So,i was lucky to have Ksenia in UK and use all of it,But it if I had to have Ksenia here i think i would do it.Just think of yourself as a super woman coz you are the one.You gonna have three!!!! little wonders soon and no ordinary woman could do it!

Well,and i have to say this:early potty training finally got it reward!!!in the last month i used a nappy just for a night sleep and we havenot got a single pair of wet trousers or tights!!I am proud of my baby and me.And thanks to my mum who insisted on ut!

Ksenia is a little chatterbox at the moment.She talks russian,ukrainian and some english.Just a few words but it is just the begginig, i hope.And of coursethere a lot of baby talk and monkey talk.
I am making all the documents ready for a visa.Hope i will be in time for the interview before Cristmas.

I hope everybody feel good.Those who dont -get well soon.And i wish you to find peace with your mind,heart,and body

Leo - SA has one of the highest CS rates in the world. If you have medical aid and go private, which most people who can afford it do, the chances are you will spend your entire pregnancy under the care of a specialist and it's my experience that most of them will try to influence you to have a CS rather than give birth naturally. I had a CS because of pre-eclampsia, but I would say 90% of my friends chose a CS. I suppose if you insist on a VB with twins they can't object, but I've never heard of it. Not saying this situation is good, but it's what we're used to out here.
Thanks UMUM, could be a variety of things. Going to get Lauren up now and see what has happened overnight. Didn't hear a word from her, so she can't be in too much discomfort.

Just back from Doctor - it's Roseola (Baby measles). Rash will fade in a few days, but her glands are swollen and throat sore. Least it's not C. P. Going to get vaccinated against that next week. It's doing the rounds at the moment and don't want her getting it when we go on holiday in a few weeks.