********** December 2006 PART 2 **************

[castlesintheair]

Will this do?

Hello!

So good to se a post from Mardy, afraid I've just skimmmed the rest though.

Wonderful week, beautiful weather, my freckles hav come out to play and are in the process of merging on my face but never mind! Managed to keep ds from burning with much factor 40. Walked every day, climbed hills, round lakes etc, even did 9.5 miles yesterday! Very pleased really he was so good and very happy to just be carried and seemd to rather enjoy having open air nappy changes. Well who wouldn't like having thir bum out half way up a mountain with lake views

He slept soooo badly though. First 2 days we got all excited by him doing 7 hours from 7-2 but then he was up about very hour after that. Then he decided that fun things go on in the evening and he stopped going to sleep after his bath. Thankfully wasn't too much of a pain and apart from the odd eding frenzy dozed on the sofa and eventually went to sleep around 10. Still up evey 2 hours after we went to bed though. Hopefully now we are home we can get back to the good nights we were sort of starting to have!

Still the teething has calmed for now so slightly less vomit around! None through yet, just lurking under the surface in their pointy way.

Sorry for the ramble! Go catch up now.

Thanks to everyone for your lovely comments, and yes Castles I am VERY interested in hearing other people's tales of postive outcomes! I went through my pregnancy taking it for granted that everything would be ok once the 23 week scan was out the way, especially having a healthy child already, it has really made me stop taking my 100% healthy 2-year-old's health for granted! (And to think I was worried when she walked late etc.)

Promise to catch up on everyone else's posts soon.

Should point out that bad mother alert Hettie only settles easily in the evening because I have started putting her on her sheepskin on her tummy, then transferring her to cot on tummy when deeply asleep, then flipping her at about 9.30pm. If i put her in her cot on her back she SCREAMS for ages. Am just waiting for her to learn to roll and maybe I can relax a bit. At the moment feel very conflicted as I know she should be on her back, but can also see that she HATES it.

Mardy - I have heard of lots of babies being put to bed on their tummies. I know the latest info is 'back to sleep' but when they learn to roll they can decide for themselves anyway.

Mardy - I used to put DD1 on her front when she slept in her moses basket. If you're around then I think that you are capable of checking on her regularly to ensure she is okay.

Mardy, So nice to see you posting again
When ds1 was a few weeks old he would only nap on his tummy so we let him sleep like that downstairs when we were around.

Thank you! I do check her loads. I'm pretty sure i was put down on my front as a baby, anyway!
Is everyone still breast feeding? I gave up at 2 months when Hettie fastened on so hard that she made my nipple bleed so much I didn't dare put my top on for 2 hours and had to get antibiotic cream from the docs! She always fed very quickly and efficiently, and I'd never managed to get a comfortable latch. I wonder if being bottle fed in hospital from the start meant that she never got the hang of that kind of sleepy, relaxing feeding that my DD1 used to do? DD1 would feed for hours, just sort of dozing.

Still breastfeeding here, Ds1 is a snacker though and still feeds every 2.5 - 3hrs day and night

Poor you, Magnolia. Anecdotally, at least, it strikes me that boys are a bit more snacky. Most of my friends with boys seem to have had more trouble getting them to sleep for long periods at night. That's not scientific evidence, I know!

Felt a bit bad about not breast feeding at first, and the nurse was v sniffy when I took hettie for her second lot of jabs last week . I thought i did pretty well to keep my supply going at all, given that i couldn't start breast feeding for two weeks after my baby was born.

still brastfeeding here, as my posts for the last week have shown. although it is all roses again as she is now feeding 3 hoursly in the morning until about mid afternoon and then 2.5 hoursly until bed. She is feeding quickly again and even slept from 9.30-6.30 this morning. yay! hope it wasnt a fluke...

Happy Easter everyone

Happy Easter one and all

Hope Church goes okay for you GS

btw I am still b/f too. Does anyone elses LO "nipple chase"? I have to latch her on so I am comfortable and she tries to jump on before I'm ready. It's quite amusing

Margo, my DS is so funny, he kinda looks at nipple sideways then leaps for it like a dog at a bone! Misses every time, can be painful

Indith, wow, 9 miles! We were happy with our 5 mile walks when we were on hols - it's hard going with 6.5kg in a front pack! How on earth am I going to build up for the seven sisters marathon walk I want to do in October time!
Breastfeeding wise, it seems to be getting harder at the mo. He is fussing so much on one side, constantly pulling off and screaming. Sometimes putting him on in rugby hold works. So rather than 50 mins of breastfeeding being fine but a long time, it is now 20-30 mins of struggling, and me worrying whether he has had enough - but I am sure he would tell me if he was hungry!
And the boy hardly slept yesterday, maybe 2 hours in the daytime, and at 1am we had a crying boy who would only settle upright, not in his cot - me thinks the two may well be related, but if they really aren't going to go to sleep in the day not much I can do! Even a half hour walk in the pram with suncover on didn't work!

Magnolia my feeding resembles yours mostly! Still on the plus side it feels so amazing when you actually get a whole 3 hours or even that rare thing that I can count on one hand the number of times we've had, 4 hours!

I sometimes put ds on his tummy even during the night When really stuffy or windy he sometimes settles better. Screaming baby vs sleeping baby? I know which one wins!

He went down with minimum fuss last night and slept from 7 til 10.30 then fed every 2 hours til 6.30 then transferred to our bed to snack and doze til almost 8

Sacha- Dp carried him! Still I seem to be fitter than I thought I would be, must be all that swimming and aqua natal I was still doing at 42 weeks! I got told at the end of the week by BIL that he was very pleased as he had been worried I would slow thm down, well yah boo etc I beat him up the hills and he later had the audacity to complain he was tired when he was getting 10 hours sleep a night to our broken 5 or so! Doesn't know he's born that boy. Seven Sisters will be fab though I'm sure you'll be ready by October.

Sacha - My LO was fussing and pulling off as well. I usually swap sides each time, So I sometimes swap 4 times in one feed

Hmmm DS so far today has had second breakfast, a quick snack for elevenses, slept for 3 hours, had a couple of mouthfulls as though thirsty not hungry and is now trying to chew through my wrist. Hum. Pass the chocolate!

I find it really funny when ds2 starts eying me up before I've even undone my bra! One of the things that keeps me bfing, as I've been so close to giving up so many times. Think I might go create a conversation about that, I was in tears today as it was so uncomfortable (cross legged in a park). I haven't worked out how often he feeds, but it's at least 7 times in 12 hours so I guess that's pretty often

AQ I think you ar doing amazingly well to still be persevering, I hope you can get some good advice on your other thread.

They are so funny when they eye you up. I have`to put ds to bed and go out of the room before doing my bra up as if he has an eye on me from his cot and sees me putting them away or hears the click of the clip he starts complaining that he wants more.

Hi All, happy easter! I feel a little down as i think i am finishing with the b'fing.
I b'fed dd1 for 10 months(no formula at all)

Dd2 is just so difficult with it and keeps refusing!Remember she was only 4lbs5 and they enforced that she take a bottle in hospital,that really p's me off!!! I am gutted to be honest with you...

hiya - apologies for the hijack - do you think some of you might be able to add your support here? many thanks

oh god - just read the post before mine. hope i haven't offended anyone!!

thanks for reading!

Happy Easter!

Calm, I understand your mixed emotions. But you know you always make the best decisions for you and your children - I think you're amazing for getting this far, especially after the enforced bottle!

AQ, I have to leave the room to do my bra back up as the snap evinces in DD2 a strong Pavlovian reaction and she will scream the house down for more! If she doesn't hear the snap, she's fine. Curious girl.

Sacha, so impressed your're even thinking about Seven Sisters! On the bright side, by Oct you'll be able to carry LO on your back, which is SOOOO much easier.

Neighbour update - into Day 2 of a massive bender. DD1 came in the house this afternoon to ask if neighbour's kids could come over cos 'their mum is drunk and passed out' I really don't want my 4.9 year old knowing things like that. And her DP has been around all weekend, looking more and more forlorn ...

Oh, god bp it just gets worse, her poor kids!

Indith, was wondering today how you managed ds for 9 miles, thought you might have used your sling (didn't you buy a didymos?)

Calm, sounds v.sad for you. Have you tried asking for help in breastfeeding here, refusal seems a v.common thing. But what are you meant to do if she won't take anything, they're such contrary creatures.

Happy Easter all!

Mardy, my dd slept on her tummy from about a week old, day and night. She just would not sleep on her back and I wanted some sleep, so she went on her tummy.

So pleased there are lots of other babies still feeding 2 - 2.5 hourly. Ds2 never goes longer than 3 hours, EVER! At the moment I'm still so amazed and happy to have got this far that it doesn't bother me. However, I get the feeling dh feels quite left out and he gets frustrated when he can't settle ds2 like he used to be able to with ds1 and dd. I'm expressing as much as I can so he can do one feed a day but it doesn't always work with ds2's feeds so he can't do it every night. He was really hands on with ds1 and dd but he's limited with how much he can do for ds2 in a way. Anyone else have that? How do you deal with it?

Calm, I'm still battling feelings of guilt over stopping bf with ds1 and dd, especially now I've managed it with ds2. I just have to keep reminding myself that I did the best I could under the circumstances, with the advice I was given. Any breastmilk is good so your dd's had a really brilliant start and you've done so well to have carried on after a tricky start.

AQ, have you seen a bfc? Not sure what advice to give as I'm a real bf novice. Maybe ask for help in the bf threads? There's some very knowledgeable people on there who have given me lots of advice.