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.

I think, like worse, that's your body being clever and totally fine shattered. Have you thought about joining the Facebook group feeding younger babies? There is a massive crew of breastfeeding mums ready to answer your questions wisely. Hope you didn't get too much done during their nap. You need lots of flapjack and a sit down young lady!

I want a flapjack! Ds is a teething monster. No nap yesterday and we've been up since 4.48

Plonky he's just breaking you in for what lies ahead. The toddle no longer naps, and every day starts at 4am here. I guess this is why so many people have their dcs close together. You condense the sleepless phase.

I could do with DH being home to be honest, it's v tough getting both to sleep by myself. Last night was like a comedy show. I couldn't get Babax down after his 7pm feed, so ended up taking him into the Toddle's bedroom with me, with pie in the sky idea of settling them both. Like that would work . Needless to say it didn't. At 9pm I admitted defeat and had no choice but to close the door on the Toddle and leave her to scream, while I went and took a shower with Babax in his bouncy chair in the bathroom. The method behind this madness was the shower pump sends him to sleep. Which it did. So I left him there asleep with the tap running ever so slightly to keep the pump on, and went back to a near hysterical toddle.

Eco I don't want to be overly negative, but that doesn't sound quite right to me. I've had two, and I don't feel like that. Wouldn't be a particularly unusual rate of activity here either. If you are worried I'd go back to the gynae who signed you off, rather than just put it down to one of those things you have to live with after child birth.

Oh joy, both are awake, and Babax had only just gone to sleep. It's going to be a long day. Dogs aren't out yet either. Arghhhh! Is it too early for ?

Thanks eco. I feel like I shouldn't have to ask questions second time round (!) but I will look for that page. Thanks for the nappy link too.
4am starts ladies? is that the toddle up then worse ? You are a superwoman doing all that yourself. plonk have you got blackout blinds?
I've has my best sleep since birth. Bed at 10, DH did an expressed bottle and brought DS2 in a 4 but he didn't wake properly until 6! Apart from him being a snuffly sleeper that's pretty damn good from my point of view . Sorry that's not meant to be unhelpful it's just nice to have more than 1-3 hours in a row!! Now to get the toddle ready for nursery......

No, not the Toddle Shattered, it's Babax who's up then... although if he makes enough noise, it can be both. By 3 months the Toddle was reliably sleeping through, which lulled me into a false sense of security. That said, from 6 months she regressed into a total sleep phobic nightmare, so perhaps Babax is going with the slow and steady approach. To be fair he is generally a much easier baby, and will often self settle himself to sleep if I leave him in his bouncy chair while I get dinner ready.

Apparently there is a messy play session at the children's centre this morning. We are going! Entertaining a toddle is beyond me today. I never saw the point of such things first time round, but it all becomes very obvious when you have two. You can sit back and relax while one runs riot and tires themselves out so that's 50% less work then!

Worse I've already been researching local toddler groups for baby no 2 arrives. This morning has been illuminating and I'm on my knees with tiredness. I've also decided that he needs to keep going to nursery at least two mornings a week, for everyone's sake.

Shattered he has two black out blinds On one window! The early rise was thanks to big molars which have now cut the gum, but stopped him eating anything substantial yesterday. He woke up, couldn't find his dummy, got upset then realised he was starving and wouldn't go back to sleep.

And a day of paperwork awaits me. Oh joy.

Good it's hopefully a one off plonk
Right ladies. Am off for a couple of hours sleep. Feel free to post lots of interesting or even mundane stuff to keep me awake on my epic epic night feeds....

Thanks everyone for your thoughts about my undercarriage I will keep tabs probably not have sex three times in a week ever again

Shattered the night feeds! Ah yes. My rose tinted specs say they're cosy times but am sure the reality is much different. Is he in a crib by your bed or a Co sleeper? I never had one but like the idea of pulling baby to
my boob and popping it back again. I don't suppose you've reached the point where lying down feeds are possible? I just can't remember anything! No wonder you need to ask.

You asked for mundane entertainment. Here goes. There was a tantrum of
epic proportions yesterday that even made her stop eating cake. Serious. She had moved onto pudding so I took her main plate to kitchen and cleaned her cup out and refilled it with fresh
water. Quite the wrong thing to do. She wanted the half cup of water that had a spoon of jalfrezi in it and the associated slick of grease. Bad parenting right there. So inconsiderate.

Today we had what I think was our first ever total nap fail. No sleep at all. I know many of you are at this stage and don't fret but it's unusual around here. It was because she didn't like her sleeping bag. So she took that off. I replaced it with blankets and she kept poking her feet out and crying about that. So I got the snazzy gro cot duvet thing out to try. But no! It had cars on it. She fecking loves cars usually. But not today. So I cuddled her on my lap but no. After the indignity of the cars sleep wasn't happening.

I have worked every evening til nearly eleven for four nights on trot and have had crazy multi tasking days. I feel entitled to a sit down and veg out. I may have turned into a spoiled brat. Or maybe I'm just lame these days.....no stamina.

I made choc rice crispie cakes today.

We're going on a pre school trip to a farm tomorrow. Ug.

After all this rain I have festering washing to dry.

My lovely gel pedicure that should be indestructible has damage on the two big toes. My impact toes. How rude.

I am running away this weekend to an arts festival. I will have a night out and then sleep in a quiet, dark, comfy bed on my own.

We're two days away from a long weekend. Whoop whoop!

I'm hoping you've fallen back to sleep now shattered.

Blimey eco only you could mention working till 11 pm 4 nights on the bounce and mention lack of stamina in the next breath. The only time I ever had a job that went on that late I had 3pm starts and was a drunkard feckless student.

Don't sweat the nap fail. You've had a bloody good run if this is the first time she's not wanted one. How was she as a result?

Exciting week here (!) My allotment in a box had arrived so I've a morning of planting every veg you could possibly imagine ever. Tomorrow dh is off work, so my hair is in for a shock and will have ten inches lopped off. Then my mum's treating us to lunch.

Now shattered should definitely be a-snoozin'

Now to make sure shattered continues to have a good snooze I have been doing boring paperwork whilst off work and ds at nursery. Funny thing is I haven't achieved much because information I need is missing.

plonky is this your maintenance free haircut before baby 2 arrives? I am sure you will look lovely.

eco I giggled at dd's tantrums then ds had a tantrum I had to deal with. You are working and playing hard. I don't know how your brain completely functions til 11pm. How was dd in the afternoon until bedtime with a nap fail? Was she ok with some quiet time or did she really need that nap?

Does anyone else think that their brain has shrunk to the size of a pea since having dc? I am always forgetting things and sometimes things are going on around me and I am not intune to. Do you think its the disrupted sleep? I fall asleep at 10ish, I wake up between 2-3am then I can't sleep for a couple of hours. I want to drift off to sleep around 5.30/6 but then ds wakes up.

Waving quickly cos I lost you! Just in a queue at the bank to arrange the transfer of another big wedge of £££ but this one will mean I get a shiny new to me car on Tuesday. that better mean the end of bloody car problems for a while!!!

Wotta it's an eternal mystery to me why things have to cost money. I hate it, and wholeheartedly resent having to hand over vast wadges of cash for things that are essential to my life. Oh well, as you say at least you get a new car out of it! That's better than just paying a big gas bill or for a new roof.

Yummy how's being a lady of leisure? How much time do you have to kill before going back to a full time role? I'm sure it'll fly by. I think my brain shrunk the moment I handed in my final assignment for uni. I've never really used it since!

My hair's being chopped mainly because it is just so unmanageable. It's a thick wiry bush type affair that turns itself into dreadlocks if I'm not extra vigilant with a tangle teezer (and because I'm lazy this is a permanent battle). I've been threatening it with getting the chop for some time now, and yesterday I realised it was taking me ten minutes to wash and over forty minutes to drag a comb through and dry it. That's not going to work with two small folk cluttering up my house, so I'm going for it. My heads going to feel so light!

I spent the morning planting about 100 plants. What a fool I am! Have spent the last 2 hours horizontal on the sofa grumbling about back pain. And I still have lots to do before I go and fetch the small person, oh, an hour. Bollocks. I was going to have done all the laundry, washed every filthy pot, swept the mess from the garden and hoovered throughout. Ah well the best laid plans etc.

Wow thanks ladies that's kept me entertained. Feel free to do the same again!
plonk take it easy! I had horrendous SPD throughout most of my pregnancy, altho you can't necessarily prevent it you can stop overdoing it!! Are you feeling better now it's bedtime?
We are losing the plot with tantrums here, it's reassuring others are having some too. He was fully miserable for Two Whole Hours after his nap. Admittedly he's got a cough and is still teething I think but it doesn't half test my patience . On the plus side, he did eat some dinner tonight. With veg. Bonus.
I've got a baby attached to me. He's not gained enough weight so I've had to change my latch etc. Not fun. Definitely don't remember it being this hard last time. In fact DS1 was a chubby baby so it's a totally different experience!
Good luck with the car wotta we too are feeling the financial pain so I understand where you are coming from.
eco thanks for all the random facts. I approve!

I did it! I survived . A whole week without DH, and guess what sleep deprivation aside it was actually easier than having him at home. You forget just how much extra work another person in the house can create, until they are gone, and then all of a sudden it becomes very apparent. It's the little things like walking into a room and finding it tidy, rather than a toy strewn bomb site, or going to change a nappy, and finding the changing mat devoid of mess from the last change. Oh and not having to cook for anyone other than yourself and a toddle. Or tidy up their coffee mugs from every surface in the entire house (or so it seems)! So that's me reassured. Two tinies are fine. I can cope .

Plonky you are pregnant. Slow down. There is plenty of time for running yourself ragged and half dying from exhaustion after dc2 arrives. Right now, sit down, breathe, and take a break. You'll thank me for this advice later

Shattered I have a cunning tantrum deflection technique, although admittedly it might only work here. I sit down on the floor, and wail 'Mummy Saaaadddddd. Mummy needs a hug. Sob'. Works every time. She runs over to give me a hug. Admittedly I haven't tried this anywhere other than the privacy of my own home, and probably definitely won't.

Random question - anyone have a completely mad hail storm earlier this week? I'm talking drifts of hailstones the size of marbles . The toddle thought it was brilliant as the noise on the conservatory roof was something else. I was less enamoured as I had to sprint down the field to find dog1, who does a runner at the first clap of thunder. Apparently the best policy on hearing thunder isn't to go in the kennel, or the stable, or come to the back door, it is to leg it to the nearest gap in the fence and disappear off over the fields for 24hours. Helpful. Not. Fortunately I found him before he got out. Dog2 meanwhile was watching the whole thing from the safety of the back porch, and doubtless found it hilarious.

Shattered I don't have much truck with the whole weight gain targets. Went to an NCT meet up yesterday. All the babies were obese. I mean really obese. Babax looked positively scrawny in comparison and he's a proper little formula fed fatty now. Unless he's really off the chart I wouldn't stress about it too much myself.

worse we had the hailstorms too. I think it was on Tuesday. It was cool.

I agree with you on the easy aspects of solo parenting. No clothes thrown across the floor, no one around to get dc all hyper from playing hide and seek and lions just before bedtime.

I will try to your tantrum diversion technique.

plonky hope you are relaxing today. Sip on fruit cocktails (non alcoholic) whilst laying in the sunshine.

I am loving not being at work. So far I am enjoying the freedom but I know it won't last long. I will start getting bored and freak out as I see minus in my bank account. There are a lot of vacancies so I am pretty confident I can get into work in a couple of weeks if I want to.

wotta how is the new car? Has it arrived yet?

stormy are you ok? What are you up to?
Ds met his match this morning. Ds did not want to share the slide at the park this morning. He ran to go hit a girl similar age to him, she got scared as he ran towards her and screamed. He got scared and started screaming. Me and the little girls mum laughed and had a talking too to our dc.

Ds has upped the embarrassing meter he's started saying to other children whilst waving his finger at them "nooo you are not my friend". Who is this child's parents?! They must have no manners

worse I totally agree with you on the ease of not having DP around. When it's school holidays and he's booked them off with me too, I know it'll all go tits up. That being said, I do of course love when he's off with us because it's more fun but routine goes out the bloody window. We had the hailstorms here too. I was at work and thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids get caught out in it

I really, really love your tantrum tactic. I have been known to mimic somewhat less loud DS on occasion during a particularly loud screaming session. He seemed rather taken aback, but then continued.

eco I'm ever so disappointed for you and your toes. Normal nail varnish on toes is nigh on indestructible so a gel manicure should absolutely stay put!!

Well, as some of you have seen on fb, I have a new job, and it's a full time un. And I'm actually quite proud of myself because I was whittled down from 150 applicants. So, full time workers out there, please tell me how not horrid it is. I'm really going to miss the mornings I have off with DS but I also hate my current role and am ready to do more for myself. I think for me, it's all or nothing - I don't want to work at all, or I want to work full time. Ideally not at all but hey ho. I know I'm still really lucky because I'll have all the school hols off with DS and it's more than a lot of people, but I can see myself getting teary as my start date looms.

Something I think you'll love working full time. With the holidays there'l be plenty of opportunity for play and you have fantastic childcare. Jump in feet first I say!

Yummy enjoy the workfree days before back account fear sets in! You deserve some time off, it sounds like you had very little choice but to give yourself a break.

Plonky I totally agree, chub is good, it's just the ridiculous pressure that babies must gain gain gain. Formula fed babies are easy to over feed as they drink so fast they take a lot more than they would if bf. I noticed it with Babax because I didn't see him when I was in hospital. I was a bit when I got home. He must have jumped up the centiles (previously he was tracking the centile he was born on). Personally I think there should be more discussion with mums around their dc's general health - feeding pattern, nappies, alertness, sleeping etc, rather than total focus on a graph.

Said by the person who hasn't been to one baby clinic this time round, so probably ought to be ignored.

No idea what to make for dinner. None. I hate meal planning. It's rubbish. I wasn't put on this earth to organise other people's food. I'm not entirely sure why I was put on it's earth, but it definitely wasn't for that.

Thanks for the weight reassurance ladies. They've left it pretty much a week until he's weighed again so I guess they can't be that worried? DS1 was a real chubster so this is new!
How's the hair plonk? Are you used to it yet or still wondering where it's gone?
worse is DH back now? Sure you'll be glad of the company even if your house is more untidy?!
eco how are you enjoying your weekend? Having fun?
DH is out all afternoon/eve so we have invited ourselves over to a friends house to make life easier(!)
I've got a baby sleeping on me someone remind me how to wind a newborn?! He falls asleep whilst feeding and I can only burp him about 50% of the time. Which would be fine but then he wakes himself up when I put him down as he needs to burp...! Do they just get better at it?
Happy bank holiday weekend ladies

Shattered you need to do the newborn rock . Sit him on your knee facing you and rock him onto his back, then to a sitting position. Do this a few times then rub/pat his back. Or, sit him sideways on your knee, heel of hand pressed lightly into his tummy, thumb and fingers supporting his head. Pat/rub circles on his back. DH swears by bobbing up and down rapidly to bring the wind up, but that tends to bring the milk up as well!

Check out Mama Worse!

How's the feeding going Shattered? I agree that while weight is important there are other things that also matter. hope the wee tyke is slurping like a good un and the tongue tie being resolved well mean a slow steady gain.

Worse I'm the queen of meal planning and am happy to lend my services. It transpires that food is the only part of my life in capable of organising
Heartening to hear how well you coped while dh was away for such a long stretch. I'm worried how we'll get on immediately after Christmas, but I guess we'll just find a groove.

Still weird having no hair Shattered. Poured about four times too much shampoo into my hand in the shower yesterday but then was lovely to just scrub the back of my head with a towel and nor worry about dripping. Should have done it months ago.

Now I'm over the first trimester fog thoughts have swung back to this baby and the whole homebirth thing. feels nice to be able to focus on Bungle, but also feels like we have so much to do before he/she arrives!

Ah yes Plonky, Mama by name and Mama by nature. That's me! I love the baby stage, I really do. It's a good job I'm too old to have any more really, as my brain seems to have forgotten the trials and tribulations of the last pregnancy already. I'd love more. Newborns are just so perfect. Three month olds aren't bad either!

Speaking of babies FB tells me we have another baby-Marcher on the way. Yay! Babax would like another boy, for the virtual football team he's starting

Meal planning - I'd love some help! Here's my dilemma:

I'm a proper carnivore, who has been airlifted out of the 70s, so all things bland and well boiled are good. Liver is good too. Spices are bad, garlic is worse, and things like stir fries are the work of the devil.

DH is lapsed veggie, who will eat meat, but after 25 plus years of not, struggles with anything that looks like it might be meat. So no bones, or chunks, or steaks, or chops. All forms of processed meats are ok, which would be handy if I liked them too. But I don't. Oh and he loves garlic. Ditto spices. The more the better. Bland makes him boke. So that's handy.

Fish we both eat, although not salmon (him), or flatfish (me). I love tinned fish. He hates it,

We both agree on tofu. Kind of. He will only eat smoked. I will only eat plain. Same with eggs. Me poached or boiled. Him omelettes.

I could go on, but I won't, as it's boring.... and I haven't even started on the toddle, who will try most things, and is probably less fussy than us, but still has textural issues with anything that need to be chewed!

So that's why I hate meal planning, it's just so hard, and I usually end up cooking three meals. Thank goodness Babax is still on milk, or it could be four

Gorgeous day today, and I have just been swimming in a pool which was heated to 21 degrees! 21! That's like a sauna for me. Last dip was nearer 16.

I've relented and ordered a double buggy. Thought it would be easy enough to manage with one in the pram and one in the sling, but that was without factoring in situations where both have to get out, and then go back in again. Like trips to the doctor. What a nightmare that was. Cramped waiting room, tantruming toddler, crying baby... it was such an obvious struggle one lady offered to help me put my coat on and about 3 jumped up to hold the door open!

Plonky Shattered Gerry you might want to starting thinking about this too!

I have one worse. Second hand but decent I think. Thanks for the winding and tantrumming tips!! Expert mama worse
I guess BF is getting easier plonk. Wouldn't say we've nailed it though, I'm up for Hours in the night for each feed. Not Fun! Mind you DH says it takes him an hour to give a bottle so at least I don't feel like that would automatically be easier. Must remember that next time I want to give up! I am Tired.
What everyone up to this bank holiday? It's nice to have DH around for an extra day...

Oh and worse the meal planning?! That sounds like a nightmare. Sure plonk will have some ideas...