Jan '07 part 3: Final score - 69 days, 28 boys, 21 girls weighing over 26 stone in total (thats over THREE TIMES Kate Moss's body weight!)

[2Happy]

And huge respect to EaH, without whose efforts we never would have had a list

(And yes, I am one of those sad people who finds things like temperature sensors in cars really interesting. Nerd.)

on msn if anyone is interested [email protected]

ta UD and > hi nemo did you see the link further down I found our first antenatel thread the other day very scary its nearly a year since conception

i didnt see link..how odd.I was petrified as DD1 was only 3mths or so and had been in hospital.

for nemo

that is a bit odd..lol Just seen the post where I had told MIL here reaction now is completely different she adores all the DC.

Well DS has been sleeping ALL day after his jabs & capol, which has been great in some ways, though I did actually find myself missing him this afternoon. My brother came over to visit though which was nice. I was meant to get loads of housework done, but we ended up sitting around chatting, drinking beers & watching telly! Well... it's important to have chill-out time!

Lizz I've felt the 'I want my life back' thing several times in the last few months too. I've started going to a baby massage class with freddie, which is pretty good, just so we have some more structure to the week and i get to chat to other mums and freddie gets to see other babies. I've started looking into places that have creches (sp?) too, so I can do some stuff for me that i can take freddie along too (maybe in a couple more months, not sure i'm happy leaving him with strangers just yet). I'm going to start a yoga class soon thats specifically for mothers & babies.

Hi all. I'm better! And so is the lo. Hurrahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! She had a sickness diaorreah (can anyone actually spell that?) bug, and yesterday evening she had a huge explosion at both ends, and since everything has been fine. Oh except the ridiculous eating last night, but she had a couple of days of catch up.

Jodie - sorry to hear about the lo having flu. Sounds horrid.

Shimmer / Vino - hope the lo's have recovered from their jabs, and you had a really good night.

I haven't joined a mother / baby group. I generally get a bit overwhelmed in big groups, prefering one to one or small groups. There's plenty going on around here but I just need to find the right niche for me. Going to try swimming soon (no cossie for me - sounds too tricky to put on - the lo's getting her nipples out for the boys!), and would love to track down a baby massage class.

Hope you all have a good day. Chat later.

When I say no cossie for me, I don't actually mean me. That would definitely frighten the kids. I'm sure you realise I mean Pippa.

Nice to return to my comfortable first poster of the day during the week position

morning rgee glad you and pippa are better and I nearly posted on here at 5.50 as I was up but couldnt think of anything to post about

Rgee I have a spare reusable swim nappy thats suitable up to 6 months. Its from mothercare and its pink with flowers on if you want it you are more than welcome as I had another one given to me, email me at [email protected] with your address if you want it

morning all - well i think we may have cracked the sleeping thing. 4 nights in a row he has only been up once! it's great! i'm thinking of trying to give him a dream feed at 10pm to see if i can get him to go through, but i will start that after the weekend. don't want to do too much too soon.

RGee - good to hear you're all better, touch wood we've had no serious illnesses here, so can't imagine how nasty it must have been. good luck with the swimming - let us know how it goes as i want to start taking Zac in a couple of weeks.

Nemo - hope everything is ok with you guys. give me a shout on MSN if you have time...

well going back to work is looming over me now - i'm really starting to dread it. i don't want to leave my precious bundle even if it is with my mum!! i hate the way this government bangs on about family values and then fecks up the economy so badly that it's virtually impossible to have kids and have only one parent working. grumpgrumpgrump. i shouldn't be grumpy on such a beautiful morning.

Got my msn set up address is [email protected]

UD how many days are you going to be working? I dont go back till the end of June and will be returning to my 2 days (mon and fri) although secretly I am looking forward to it I remember when Ellie was 6 months I loved my 2 days 'off' as she was quite demanding and easily bored (still is actually ) I know what you mean about the goverment there is no way I could not work unless we literally didnt have any money left as my salary is our 'spending' money each month and also allows us to go on holiday and have treats and dh salary pays the bills,food shopping an boring things that have to be paid //

EAH - many thanks for offer of swim nappy. Would love it - will email address.

UD - when are you going back to work? I'm going back mid August, but 4 days a week. I love my job so looking forward to it, but not too sure about leaving the lo. DH and I are prob the most fortunate people in the world in having quite a bit of control over the hours we work, and DH is also contemplating going down to 4 days. Pippa is going to DH's work nursery too which is great.

Morning all. Daren't set up MSN on this laptop - DH already abit huffy about the amount of time I spend on MN. He's been a right mardy so and so the past few days - don't know what is the matter with him but I feel like I am stepping on eggshells around him.

I'm totally confused - have bought the Baby Whisperer and Solve your Child's Sleep Problems - just thought they would be useful for tips etc as J is not very good at napping during the day and gets very overtired and grouchy. He won't go in his cot for a sleep and just screams but sits in his bouncy chair and dozes off but then wakes up 10 mins later as I am generally about and the slightest noise disturbs him. The books give really good but totally conflicting advice about how to settle the LOs. I have started putting J down with a dummy for naps as he settles when sucking but then wakes up when the dummy drops out!!!! Arghhhhhhh! Any advice?

UD - don't even get me started about the government and working mums. I think we should have a choice over whether to return to work or not but there is no way on this earth that I can afford not to work. I'm going back 3 days in September.

Some good sleep stuff here and I love the rest of the site too.

I let LO scream till he falls asleep [evil mother emotion here]

I dont always do that, but sometimes you just have to walk away right. If he's crying coz he's tiered and he's in the cot, what else are you supposed to do. I have been visited by Mr Angry Grouchy Baby all morning, and its doing my head in!

Good to know that I am not the only one not doing mother and baby classes. I assumed it was far too young to go yet. Will try baby yoga out next week. Can you take them swimming before they have ad their jabs?
Hope everyones babies who have had their injections are ok now, and the after effects didnt last too long. Mine has his scheduled for the end of March.

Rgee, glad lo is feeling better. BTW ment if you could face putting on a costume lol!

UD, i get really fed up with the ammount of help from government. We are quite lucky in that we can just about afford for me to stay at home (although if I think about our credit card bill, it makes me feel sick!! and we have one car and holidays to nans in Frinton/grandads in Inverness!). My friend who is a teacher and her husband who is a highly paid salesman so their income is many times our, get exactly the same working tax credit and child benefit and then get over £100 towards their childcare. Because we are just over the amount to get the smallest ammount of money, it is tough luck to us. Also, I am my DS and DD's childcare so I dont see why we shouldnt get that childcare money just because I want to stay at home with my LOs.

Know that the whole working mum/not working mum is a minefield (as they say dont talk about politics, religion or how to bring up your kids!!) but I think that everyone should have a choice and either way you should be helped to bring your children up the way that makes you and them the happiest whether that is working or not.

Oooooh! Could rant for ages but will shut up now.

Had a crap night last night as stayed up too late to watch Goodfellows (til 12.35) then woke Ruth up when we went to bed. She just wouldnt go back to sleep which isnot like her and ended up having to feed her as she cried herself hungry. Got 2 1/2 hour sleep!

BTW Does anyone else watch Peppa Pig with their lo? It is hilarious!

In some Scandanavian countries or in Canada or something (can't remember details exactly - nappy brain) they get 3 years maternity leave. Imagine!
Could always be worse though, in America its something daft like 10 days isnt it?

Shaun the sheep is my favourite. And I'm not even using LO as an excuse!!!

Just come back from an NCT coffee morning. Not sure what to think really, they are held weekly in someones home but everybody seems to know everybody and I dont. I know if I contnue going I'll have to host one eventually but the thought of having a dozen toddlers in my home frightens me. I'll have to tell them to bring their own plastic toys unless they want to play on the playstation !

I did chat to a few mums and got invited on a night out (declined) but not sure about the whole thing. Having 10 people round in your home is a bit intrusive isnt it, or perhaps thats just me. Anyway will persevere for a few more weeks to give it chance.

I really like the idea of a baby signing class so I might look into that soon.

Had a touch of mastitis over the last few days and boy is it horrid. Luckily mananged to get over the worst of it without needing antibiotics so I'm sat here with savoy cabbage in my bra to make sure it stays away. Nice. Made cabbage soup last night with half of it and the kids loved it - wow !

UD - I think I'll go with the same choice of nappies as you as you've done all the groundwork and thoroughly researched all the options (and I'm feeling a bit lazy!). How many of each are you ordering ? and where from ?

Jodie - sorry to hear that your LO's have not been well, I know where you are coming from because I often think that my LO didnt get all the colosterum he should have in the early days ( he was prem as well and I had to express what I could from birth which wasnt a lot) he was also given formula for the odd feed when I couldnt produce enough. But we shouldnt beat ourselves up about it. I have an ongoing niggle with my mother because I wasnt BF (infact, didnt even get a sniff of it !) and yet (thankfully) I am as healthy as the next person and have never suffered from anything.

Anyone doing anything mad for red nose day ?

Jodie, that sleep link was interesting, thanks for that. We still wake up quite a few times, sigh, but I usually fall asleep before he finishes feeding as he's still in our bed, although starts off in the cot.

Kat, no mad red nose things but I did send 2 red children to school in oversized clothes. That's what their schools were doing anyway, although I didn't see any other children with red hair. Will probably be a nightmare to wash out tonight

I've had a fab morning. Both LO and I are feeling much better and we met dp in town for a champagne breakfast in loch fyne!! We are hoping to get married next month quietly on our own (well, with the children and two witnesses) and we chose some rings this morning. And, in the jewellers OUR song came on, how weird and romantic is that, huh? And the sun is shining, tra la la..

embarrasses even, my spelling is getting worse...

Rgee, I'm glad someone else can't spell diahorrea either, or was that it?

Diarrhoea! I'm going now...