March '13 - packing up our troubles and getting excited about the new babies

[ecofreckle]

It's that time again. This thread is going to explode with squishy babies. Which is nice.

gerry your afternoon of colouring and nesquick sounds good. I think you should count down to the summer holiday just to keep you sane.

I must be the only one on here not to have tried ginger ale. I wonder how many syns that would be.

plonky think of all the money you will be saving on shampoo. I am sure you look lovely.

Dh did pick up and they woke ds up after an hour of nap. They are in a difficult position too because if they don't wake him and he don't sleep at night I will be dropping off a very tired and cranky toddler in the morning and none of us want that. He's chilling with cbeebies at the moment.

shattered are you ok? Have you been able to snooze a bit whilst toddle is in nursery?

Hi yummy no snoozing but I had a fairly decent night thanks to DH and got loads of housework done so feel I achieved something..!!
Our nursery has a time that they wake the kids by (regardless of how long/whether they've slept) so I think it's a bit cheeky of your nursery not to do as you ask. You know him best. Hope tonight is good.
Thanks for those of you who have asked how we're doing. Muddling along I would say. In fact we are doing better than I thought, but everything feels like a rush and I am knackered. Thank god for DH and the bottle frankly. However I'm counting the small victories!!

gerry never occurred to me to refuse the NT even though I suspect I wouldn't have terminated unless I really has no choice. Don't think you should listen to anyone giving you grief though- totally your choice. I agree that parents used to automatically assume that the school was right- but it's the other way around now I think (vast generalisation). Good luck with it and try not to let it get to you!
eco glad you had a good holiday. Looked lovely. Not sure whether we will get away this year- seems logistically a lot harder with two!
Hope everyone else ok!

I miss that feeling of having achieved something with one's day. Last inspection was only last week so the house requires very little attention. I haven't got dressed today. Erm... I checked my bank balance and was pleased to note I'm still solvent, that counts as an achievement, right? And I get to put a big tick in the 'everyone fed, nobody dead' box.

Plonk I hope it's a Bunglette, I've got a ton of outgrown girl clothes (courtesy of ILs) that I need to find a new home for!

Stormy, a fortnight ago I took the day off work, had our cleaner in and an hour of dh at home to get tidied up for new estate agent to visit. Place was immaculate if I do say so myself. Today said new estate agent came to take photos. Dh off work, cleaner/Gardner for 4 hrs and I had a half day and we only just pulled it together in time. I don't know how you do it .

I concur! How the hell do you keep the house tidy for a week? We have a cleaner every Friday. By Saturday morning Friday night the house is an utter shit heap again, and by Thursday evening we're rushing around like crazy people shoving things in cupboards so that it's ready for her to clean! Keeping it tidy? That's an achievement!

It's not that hard when you're at home all day, I guess? Plus I have low standards. And we do tidy-ups after tea every night: all toys thrown back in their boxes, whizz round with hoover, wash up, dry up. Takes maybe half an hour tops. Laundry's easy to keep on top of when you're always home. And I don't bother with any other cleaning except when we're due an inspection!

I've been home for a few weeks now and I still can't keep up with housework. I can keep it clean and tidy if it just me at home but when ds and dh come home after work/nursery it gets trashed again. I am actually on strike today apart from doing a load of washing I am taking ds and going to dm for the day. Her place is immaculate but needs the toddle touch today.

When they get home, one of you do the bedtime routine while the other gets the place looking shipshape? If it's done every day it seems a lot less work at any one time. Also helps to mentally earmark places that don't have to be immaculate. Like Tobacco Corner in my kitchen. Can't be arsed to do it every day, doesn't take long but I'm lazy. So a bit of chaos on that particular bit of counter doesn't register as "shit that needs cleaning before I can relax". Same goes for the Primary Dumping Ground: so long as there's space at one end to eat our tea, a bit of surface clutter is no big deal. And my final bit of advice is: make time to hoover daily. There's nothing like a carpet covered in fluff and hairs and pastry and lumps of cat for making your living room look like the ultimate shitpit. And when I say hoover, I mean the visible bits. Moving sofas etc to clean underneath is a pointless waste of time.

I'll check thread properly later, just a quick one to say IT'S A GIRL!*

*We think. Awkward little thing had her back to us!

Aww. Happy Bunglette!

A Bunglette, huzzah! Although I am slightly disappointed that you're now very unlikely to choose the name Geoffrey.

Hooray! One of my very favourite people had a baby girl 12 hours ago, I'm so excited for her, I'm so excited for you! I'm just generally excited about babies. My friend was meant to be working until the end of this week, I TOLD HER she would be early, she is 5ft nothing and had the biggest bump you've ever seen!!!

Yay its a bunglette!

Plonky yay! Is my theory right... easier with a girl...?!

Will try and post later when DH is back.

Woo hoo! A Bunglette!!!

Thank you everyone

Stormy you never know, we might just name her Geoffrey yet.

Gerry I share your excitement! It feels like there are babies popping out all over the place at the moment and it's doing nothing but increasing my broodiness.

Worse so far your theory holds water. I think a sample size of two is conclusive.

I'd say so Bunglemum. In fact I reckon it's so conclusive I might write a book on it and earn a fortune. Did I tell you my other theory? It's a good one. It's girl babies are way harder going than boys . Boys are lovely mellow wee chaps who drink their milk, enjoy their naps, and spend hours, oh ok minutes, just contemplating their toes without feeling the need to ball their guts out. Girls. They're not like that at all. Sample field of one (parent}. Me. Good as fact it is.

Gerry hello stranger! Good to have you back in the fold. Sorry to hear your pregnancy has been a bit rough girl. Yes to having not been looking after myself. Absolutely to you dropping by to hug the bug, or even the Babax. Follow your instincts when it comes to nuchal testing. If it is of interest there is a non-invasive maternal blood test for chromosome abnormalities with zero risk to the baby called the Harmony test. I had it done for Babax. Simple as a needle in the arm. The painful bit is paying - it's not available on the NHS.

With respect to tidying, it helps to have low expectations! I keep on top of it by teaching Worselet to help. She loves to help. Unfortunately this isn't always helpful. In fact it is often a right PITA.... especially where a bucket and mop are involved, but for general mess she's a trooper. We do pick up toys, pick up paper, pick up crayons, empty washing machine/tumble dryer/dishwasher I'm just showing off that I actually have all these things... didn't used to, put things in the bin, wipe up etc. Housework never was such fun.

As for me, can I have a gold star please? I've just done 4 days and 3 nights solo. Not only have I done this, I have done it on a week where Babax decided to get himself constipated, but refuse point blank to drink water, so spent the majority of his time wide awake with a right strop on. This wide awake-ness wasn't just confined to daylight hours. Unfortunately. He developed a liking for seeing in the dawn from the vantage point of my shoulder. More over he like to do so with company, so made sure he shouted loud enough to wake Worselet. Who was correspondingly grumpy the next day after a broken night. Actually forget the gold star. Make it a gin . I have never been in more need of a gin.

DH is back tonight, so guess what. Babax has gone to bed without making any fuss what so ever. The traitor!

Speaking of bed, that is where I am going. In a minute... after I tell you about my stomach op. You'll love this. They cut you open from hip to hip, ferret about inside you, and stitch you up from pubes to ribs. Nice. Oh and you can't stand upright for 2 weeks afterwards. Even nicer. Lucky old me

Oh no, I hope your second theory is dead wrong! I was quite bad at mothering when ds was tiny. If I'd transitioned into the role as well as some I would've found baby ds an absolute breeze. I was hoping that given Bungle's insistence on curling up into a ball and going for a snooze during the scan, she could be a lovely snoozy baby. Ds has always lovely and happy but naps have always been slightly elusive, and he still gets more dinner on the floor than in his tummy.

How does one cope with not being properly upright after surgery when one is, how do I say this, alive? You're going to need a truck load of assistance with everything. I hope it's a miracle solution!

Betty ocado order due at 9, with a special shipment of bundaberg! So excited.

I have decided that my next step is to make fitness a priority. I'm feeling flabby, and I don't think I can blame it all on being pregnant.

Hmmm. Dd was an easy pregnancy apart from the spd, and an easy baby. In fact it was all a breeze til about 15 months! The only issue we had before then was she was tricky to bf but think that had more to so with giant boobs/tiny head

A biologist told me that apparently girl pregnancies tend to be more pukey because apparently that's the chromosome that causes the sickness. Or something. I think it's more to do with the fact that I didn't have a toddler to deal with last time, and weeks 6-12 we're in the summer holidays.

Right. Off to work. Year 13 signing out day, they're a wonderful year group so I'm taking tissues and waterproof mascara!

Gerry I was told that about girl pregnancies too. Didn't hold true in my case though, as with dd I had no clue I was pregnant. With ds I was on the verge of vomiting pretty much all the time from day 1 to 12 weeks.

You sound like particularly lovely teacher. Back in the day I'm sure the norm was to hate your pupils!

Well I've only tried being pregnant with a girl, and it was a doddle. Threw up once at sixteen weeks, that was it. I wonder, has any proper research been done, or is this just based on anecdata? Cos we do have all sorts of perception biases.

In other news, Fartypants wanted to walk to nursery today. Told her she'd have to hold my hand, and she did, the whole way. And now my back is killing me. For once in my life I wish I were shorter!

worse I have another theory with a sample of 1 though. Those adorable placid boy babies turn into wild things as soon as they can crawl. My rl friends with toddle girls are calm but very chatty. Their tantrums are pretty mellow. When we are around other children I am on full alert as ds hits and pushes other children.

Your op sounds grim. Please please please make sure you get everyone around you to help out. You will need it especially if you can't be upright for a couple of weeks.

plonky enjoy being pregnant and think about fitness after the baby. Totally make use of that excuse you eating for 2.

stormy that's another sign of our toddlers growing up isn't it. Seeing them walk with you makes them look all grown up.

gerry do they still sign shirts on the last day?

Seems like our sleep chaos last week was just a glitch. He hasn't woken up for a couple of hours overnight even though he had a long nap at nursery. I have no idea what the problem was. It's a shame he didn't come with instructions.

I have 3 days of freedom left before I go back to work. I have to write up my meal plans and do the food shopping. I really don't want to ruin my weight loss now. Planning is the key for me.

Yummy you haven't met Worselet! There is nothing calm and girl like about her. DH took her up to the hotel once, and when I went last week the first thing they all said to me was ' that Worselet is a bit of a handful isn't she...?'. That said, DH and I are both hyper active and a bit difficult, so she's just performing in line with her genetics.

Post op I won't be able to lift anything, at all, for 8 weeks, so we're going to have to get full time help as DH can't just nip up to London, or vanish up North and assume I'll be able to manage. I'm actually considering decamping up North myself, as I'll be able to do sedentary work, and if I'm not at home I won't end up busting the stitches trying to catch a runaway child.

I wonder of Ds's poor sleep was down to the constipation? Babax had a really bad week, and that was poo related. He's fine now, and slept 8pm-3am, then 3.30am-7am last night, which was awesome.

Stormy tall has downsides? I wish I was in a position to know . I'm 5ft 5.5, and the 0.5 really matters . Babax is 75th for height, so is looking forward to looking down on me. Worselet probably is too. She's no midget. She's also built like a tank. Am I doing something wrong? I can't feed her less as she's always hungry... and she's growing fast so shouldn't be deprived of food, but she is a bit overweight

Five five's taller than average though. Apparently. As most of the women I know are five foot eight at least, it makes me wonder where all the incredibly short people skewing the stats are hiding. Perhaps they're just so short I can't see them.

My sister used to claim to be 5' 5.5" tall. Then she admitted the .5 was only if she stood up super straight. Eventually she was forced to admit she's only five foot four. Oh, how I mocked her for it! I call her shortarse from the dizzy heights of five foot nine, and she calls me four-eyes with all the maturity of a woman thirty years younger. I love having siblings.

worse it could be the constipation. You are probably right. You see how these toddlers feeding habits change. I remember when you said dd didn't get on well with solids and my ds was a breeze with weaning. Now it is the total opposite. He even refused ice cream earlier. How can anyone refuse ice cream. I get him to help me with food shopping so he realises food is not poisonous but it doesn't work.

A top tip check your height in the mornings apparently by the evening we shrink a bit.