July 2007 - yet starting in June!

[Jamantha]

Well, I can't see a post natal July 2007 thread, so will start this, even though Charlotte, my DD was born 4.5 weeks early in June. I'm sure the other July ladies will be along soon enough.

Have had 2 nights at home now. Yesterday afternoon was fairly distressing as Charlotte wouldn't latch on, and if she did she wouldn't suck. But have got loan of electric pump from hospital, and support from midwives and now managing with comination of breast, expressed and formula milk, sometimes all three in the same feed. Finding it quite emotional, with all the issues associated with feeding one's baby, but trying to stay calm as found out yesterday that getting self into a state doesn't help anyone.

Dh has just gone out to get some things we're still missing, and I'm putting my feet up for a bit. Phil & Ted has just arrived so we might try a stroll down to the ante natal class tonight!

Any how, hope there are lots of lovely birth stories to come from July ladies, and that we can swap advice, give each other moral support etc over the coming weeks and months.

Hi all
Hope you are all well! at all you with LOs who sleep through the night! Mind you can't really complain as my DD only tends to wake up once or twice. Mind you- every morning at 5 she decides its time to start the day properly!
Trying to get her on formula now as BF is really taking it out of me- just can't do it anymore. However, she won't take a bottle properly yet- even with EBM in it. Any tips????
She is smiling and laughing now- its so beautiful and makes up for all the screaming sessions.... well, almost!

Hallo All
Oscar started smiling at about 4 or 5 weeks but is not laughing yet. My DD (now 21 months) did not smile til she was ancient (can't remember exactly but I think about 12 weeks ) and she is now the smiliest girl ever, so I don't think it matters a jot (just a nice diversion whilst nappy changing perhaps?). I had my LO weighed yesterday and he has moved from the 50th percentile to the 75th percentile for length, weight and head circumference..... which perhaps explains the frequent feeds (he is still up 3 or 4 times at night). As he is now officially thriving, he can start having some bottles of water in between feeds to try and space them out. Boot camp! I should be a shadow of my former myself but I too have found solace in Green and Blacks, though I paid for mine . I still have a groin/hip pain which is painful when I overdo things, it is improving but really painful at times. Still have not yet been for my 6 week appt. Anyone else got strains after c-section?
Lovely to read all your news.

Hi All,
Just had our 6week check up. Everything fine, Grace is thriving, weighing 11lb14oz (she's 6 weeks 2days) She's also smiling and cooing and is generally quite chirpy!
Went into work on Tues - everyone happy to see her and thought I had lost all my pregnancy weight (I haven't so now think they must perceive me as being a stone heavier than I was!)
We're all off on holiday tomorrow - to Weymouth. Looking forward to it especially if the weather is as good as it has been! Any tips of places to go gratefully received!!
Have decided to re-build her cot bed in our room, partly cos she's still not sleeping trough the night (wakes up around 3) and also cos she's still so young - its not her fault that she's such a big one who's almost outgrown her moses basket!

Good luck all, look after yourselves1 xxx

Hi Keiralou. That's great news about lo's weight. No idea if Weymouth has a pizza express but always find them very clean and happy to accommodate little ones and breast feeding. dd 20 months now loves pizza express.

We've taken the plunge and are going to Lanzarote for a week of sun. Am I mad going away with 2 children who will be 3months and 21 months? Luckily I'm going with my sister and her fella who are brilliant with dd, so there will be 3 other adults to keep an eye on her and the pool is fenced off. It's very sad how excited I am about it. Also next weekend we are going to a wedding in Glasgow with just ds. DD is spending the weekend with her grandma and it will be the first time ever she will have spent a night away from both of us.

Hi Jennster,

I say make the most of travelling whilst LOs are under 2. Its really gutting when you have to pay for an airline seat and they count as one of the occupants in any accommodation.

Have you got passports organised for LOs, as I found taking a passport photo which met the criteria was really tricky with my DD who was then aged about 3 months. I ended up lying her on the bed on a white piece of cardboard!

Sent the application off yesterday. Got the photo done in MaxSpielman and they were really good. They had a sheet and they just placed it behind him in the pram. They can zoom in mess about with the photo and cut it to the correct size. He even had his eyes open. The application did say that if baby is under 6 months then they didn't have to be open though.

Gees that child just will not sleep during the day! I got a nap yesterday afternoon by letting him suck on my nipples while I laid next to him, but my back (and nipples) are now sore. I need to do some ironing, get some lunch and get some sleep this afternoon.

POINTLESS POLL

When a few nice people have done the washing up for me to help out they have all put the cutlery in the drainer with handles down and I always do it the other way round - coz I'd probably stab myself on a knife blade knowing me.

WHICH WAY UP DO YOU DRAIN YOUR CUTLERY?

Told you it was pointless.

P.s. DS slept beautifully today but had to be put in his pram face down! Am scared he'll suffocate himself.

Typhoonsmum, I'm a cutlery-handle down person too. Mainly because I sort of think that somehow it's cleaner to let the water run off the handle than down the blade. And being a bit of a scummy mummy myself, I have to limit the opportunities to poison the rest of my family... No idea why I think like this. I rinse everything under running water anyway. Perhaps just my shoddy washing up.

I'm a blade down person but DH is blade up person .

I'm glad you asked that question JAM about smiles... My LO has only started smiling at 8 weeks and I was starting to worry. He still doesn't smile much and no hint of a laugh yet. I was worrying he wasn't happy! Thn Dh told me to pull myslef together and that he was a tiny baby . I guess he's right!

Paranoid mum poll; how often are your LO's pooing in 24 hrs????

DD2 is now only pooing 3-4 times a day (for the last couple of days) down from every nappy change (I am sure that with DD1 it was much more at this stage)

hope everyone is well
Doris

today ds has only been twice, but he is wetting his nappies like you won't believe. I THINK that as long as the baby isn't a newborn (first couple of weeks), then it doesn't matter too much how often they poo as long as they wee.....

blades up here.

Chooster - at you worrying your baby is not happy.
I have often wondered what my two little ones would write on their "mothering complaint forms" if they were able. "She sings in the shower when it is clear I want milk and pretends that she hasn't noticed me bawling" or "she bundles us in our car seats to pick up our brothers from their rugby matches when we were quite happy in our cots sleeping thank you very much".

#Blades down because I have no faith in thr dishwasher penetrating the basket and cleaning them properly

Doris, My ds (9 wks today) is only doing one poo a day now - it was every nappy change for the first few weeks. When he goes though, he really goes... Boy do we know about it!

great to hear everyone's lo are growing and smiling. DS is soooo cute when he smiles and gurgles.

DS has moved to the 75th percentile and is 13' 4 now, at 9 weeks. He has a double chin! I am seeing my mum on Monday and I bet she implies he's too fat, as she is obsessed with weight.

All good here, was going to go to an NCT mother and babies group but haven't quite managed it. The boy has his jabs this afternoon, not looking forward to that at all.

We got a lamaze toy and he's really looking at it. It's supposed to be a peacock, it's bloody funny looking.

at dishwasher chat. I don't have one, kitchen is too small.

I put blades down Typhoonsmum, for the same reason as you do. So does DH, but his parents do the opposite, and I wondered if there was a "correct" way. As we have some stainless steel and some blue-handled cutlery, which we keep in separate drawers (anal I know) it helps sort it quickly when the handles are on show!

DS was 13lb 9.5 oz on Weds (11 weeks) and had put on exactly 2 lbs in 4 weeks, which is good going. He also has a double chin!. I wouldn't worry about weight at this age as once they are on the move in a few months time, they'll soon loose it. I also think some babies are destined to be big, and others more petite, no matter how much they are fed.

DS is getting really vocal, loads of cooing sounds, and the last 2 nights, he's had his big sister in the bath with him, and I've never seen him so excited, splashing around. He was so happy and smiley. But it took him a bit longer to get to sleep than usual, so maybe its not the best wind-down!

DS used to poo every nappy when I was Breast feeding him. Now he is on the bottle it is once a day but he is more constipated. He screams with pain some evenings and then passes a small pebble of a poo. I feel so sorry for him. I am having to watch what how he feeds. MIL says brown sugar helps but don't want him to get a sweet gum.
Am I a bad mother. My eldest child is now nearly 5 and I still don't understand the percentiles. People say she is on the whatever percentile and I look at the chart and just can't see where they get it from. The marks for her height and weight are definitley between two of the lines so which one is she on the 75th or the 91st. Everytime the health visitor shows me I smile and nod and ooh and aah in the right places but still have no idea. I'm a trained nurse for heavens sake (no offense to the religious amongst us) but I DON'T UNDERSTAND PERCENTILES. Can anyone tell me in idiots speak!

Typhoonsmum,

I'm a statistician in my job. I can try and explain the charts, but as JAM says don't worry too much about them.

Basically, if your child is on the 50 line, then half the babies/children the same age are heavier/taller etc, and half are lighter/shorter, so your child is "average". If your DD is between the 75th and 91st it means she's not in the heaviest/tallest 9% of children her age (as she's below the 91st line), but she is in the top quarter as she's above the 75 line. She's somewhere in between, but you don't need to know where, although if she's closer to one line than the other, then you can probably make an estimate of somewhere between 75 and 91. So for example, if she's close to the 75 line, you could guess at 80, so in a group of 100 children the same age, she'd probably be the 80th tallest. As her weight and height are in the same part of the chart, it sounds like she is in proportion. I think if your child moves up or down the charts dramatically, then that would be a concern. As I've been off work for a few months now, my powers of explanation might be suffering, so apologies if this is still confusing!

Thanks pulapula I finally understand it. It is a guide of how they are comparing with other children of their age. In percentage style.
Why use big words to confuse me. It doesn't take much!

With me being 5 foot 10 and DP being 6ft + I'm expecting DD and DS to be one of the tallest in the class. So that isn't news.

Same here Typhoonsmum, but dd is TINY and ds is already the length she was at more than 6 months.

I'm up for a meet up if anyone can figure out where.