October 2007 - the golden piglets have landed

[Mumpbump]

I couldn't find a postnatal thread - not sure if I am just missing it with post-childbirth brain! Anyone else around??

hi all

Stefka, why don't you suggest a day he's off that he does all the babycare apart from feeding and all the housework and cooking? see how he copes?! He makes me mad at a distance!

Dal, well done with the feeding!! and boo for the piles. Poor you. I'm pretty blocked up tbh - do you need a prescription for Lactulose?

Anyasmum/Inzi, Rebecca began to suck her thumb last night!!! it was funny.

Well, have dentists apptment tomorrow morning - my parents are coming through to help with Rebecca. Woe is me as I know it's the start of root canal and also I hate the idea of not being 100% available for Rebecca. Am going to try to feed her just before we go and to express just in case but hope the apptment isnt interminable.

Rebecca had another Bad Day yesterday - woke up at 8 40 and refused to go back to sleep even for a 10 minute nap until 11 last night. She got very overtired and became stroppy in the evening. Any hints?? Today I've been for a walk with her in the Hugabub - to Next - seen some gorgeous little outfits for her, but she has enough clothes already really... anyway she was much admired all round the shop and she went to sleep and stayed asleep through the walk, so I reckon she will be better tonight! I need to get her napping in the day so she isn't a little monster in the evening.

Stefka, by the way do you have a baby gym? Rebecca lies in hers while I eat my lunch. She wont lie on her own for too long but manages it long enough for me to have lunch...

Hope everyone else is okay!

I do but he screams when he is on it - I am not sure why. He also tries to suck his thumb but can't quite manage it yet. He clenches his fist too tight and he can't get his thumb in his mouth. Unfortunately for us all my DH works seven days a week. I do understand that he is working really hard. What annoys me is for example tomorrow night he has a gig with his band so won't be home. I know he can't help the overtime etc but he has a choice there if you ask me. I know he is entitled to leisure time but I am not getting any at all. He just doesn't get it. He does love us though and I know it is a lot of pressure having to try and make enough money to pay the bills on your own.

It is so hard to resist the baby clothes isn't it! Even though you know they will only wear them once and poo and pee on them that one time!

I have another baby entertaining tip - v useful when you like me have a sleep-refusenik baby - the television!!! She will sit in the bouncy chair she usually hates if she can see the lights of the television.

Um, that probably makes me a bad parent for even admitting to that...

Nah - Dareh also looks at the TV. Never thought of sitting him there though. He loves lights - he will stare at the roof looking at the lights for ages.

Stefka, I feel like we're living in parallel universes! My DP has said exactly the same thing to me about sleeping during the day as if it's the easiest thing in the world . I think he thinks DD and I just have blissful days at home watching daytime telly and eating biccies while he's at college. Don't think he has any idea what hard work it is.

I'm a bit obsessed with buying baby clothes at the mo too although I shouldn't because I'm broke and DD's bound to get lots of lovely baby clothes from family at xmas. Also keep on buying little presents for myself when I do xmas shopping online . Online shopping is lethal!

DD's still reaaly snotty and coldy but I'm hopeful that she's over the worst of it now.

I know it's weird! You should totally buy treats for yourself - you deserve it. My DH just called to say he is not going to go to work this afternoon so yay. I wish I could say that he said it was because he wanted to be here with me but apparently he has college work to do. At least I won't be in the house alone though. Now do we think I can convince him to put together the chest of drawers I bought for Dareh's every increasing clothes collection?

Hi folks, thank you all for your posts, its so great having you all on hand to ask questions

Well got Zoe weighed today and she is 13lbs 3oz so I have nothing to worry about she is gaining weight well, think I will just try and remind myself of this next time she has a bad feed or over sleeps a feed!

inzi you could be describing Zoe exactly, she is doing the same thing and I had wondered if she could be teething as well because of the drooling but then I thought it seemed very early

stefka I am with you, whoever made up the notion that mummy sleeps when baby sleeps obviously had a maid to run the house for them and make them something to eat! However if your DH thinks you should sleep when Dareh sleeps then I would do it and he can make his own lunch

hey everyone, went to see midwife and she said i may have a hemmaroid (spelt wrong??) but to wait till wed wfen i see the consultant for my 6 week check so he can have a proper look , i have some lactulose left from when i was in hosp so took it as soon as i got home, haven't got anusol but think it's internal piles so don't know if i can use that anyway...
unicorn - defo worse that giving birth, i said that to dh this morn and he thought i was being a bit ott but now believes me after you said it too , did you find the lactulose helped? how long you have them for??
stefka - your dh may work 7 days a week bt you never stop, you're job is just about 24hrs a day 7 days a week! if he has so little time to spend with you then i think he should give up the gig time as thats not really essentila at the moment, and as you say, you don't get any leasure time, my dh is even annoyed you're not getting enough support, hope it gets better soon and he realised the lo is more of a 2 man job
Choc - sorry to hear about your toothache, i had really bad tothache in my wosdom tooth last week, it's gone now thank god, isn't it awful we get the pain of the birth over with and then are plagued by various aches and pains when all we're trying to do is recover and look after our lo's , as stefka said- just sick of being in pain all the time, hope we're all back on top form soon!MissB - poor dd, hope she fells better soon, it's such a worry when they'ew not right isn't it?
Managed to feed ds for 30mins on one side before it pinched a bit and 6 mins on the other before he just came off himself then he just had some formula, so slowly progressing...
Anyway off to express some milk, catch ya later

Choc - Anya's exactly the same if she doesn't get enough sleep in the day and becomes a little monster by evening. Have you tried taking her for a walk in her buggy, or for a ride in the car? Sometimes I just have to be patient and walk her round in a dark room whispering soothing noises until she falls asleep. That usually involves a lot of crying first though. On the subject of TV, it does seem to fascinate her too - she'll watch it while she feeds and I feel so guilty I have to move so she can't see it!

Skim read ladies as didn't have a chance to get on yesterday - had a shite day which I will amuse you with in a min! So can't remember everything but will do my best...

Dal - you might have piles or something called a fissure which is also common post childbirth and is basically a little tear on the lining of your bottom (sorry if tmi!). Usually treated OK with cream - see what your consultant says. They will probably need to have a look but its usually not as umcomfotable as that sounds. If it is thats more evidence for a fissure and they might just treat as that anyway.

Choc you can get lactulose over the counter. Makesure you drink lots of liquids too as that will help!

OK doc questions over!!!

Polar glad Zoe is putting on weight - I was going to say that Adam has between 2 and a half and 5 oz of ff a feed (cow and gate cartons say he should have 6). I don't care if he's satisfied and putting on weight - this is the best measure as all lo's are different.

Ejt sorry you had a crap day on Tues - glad Rhydian OK though.

OK so yesterday was a challenge to say the least. Had to get all 3 of us up and dressed as dh was in London on early train. OK so I know some of you will have to do this every day but bear with me! Boys woke at same time (6.15) and Sam chucked a wobbler when I brought Adam into his room as usually he has a bit of me time with his daddy rather than having to share. First bit of jealousy type behaviour though so maybe I should count myself lucky.

We got through that though and went to soft play - all good there but then Sam went to sleep in the car on way back while Adam screamed his head off. Tried to settle Sam to sleep in his room when we got home when I found he had totally pissed his nappy and needed to be changed which woke him up and he didn't go back to sleep dispite my best efforts! And I LIVE for Sam's naps at the mo! When I got him up he told me he had had a poo so I tried to change him with Adam in sling but Sam wasn't having any of it - rolling around floor and trying to shed poo everyehere while kicking adam in the head and crying. I lost it a bit then and shouted at Sam which upset me because I don't tend to do that - he's usually such a good boy and even though he was being a bit naughty it didn't justify that - needless to say that didn't help!

Anyway the straw that broke the camels back was when I then found sam trying to put what I thought was a stick he had found on the hall carpet into his mouth which turned out to be a mouse tail!!!!! No, you didn't misread that bit! The cats had brought a mouse in the day before but we thought it had gone out - probably did but left a present behind! Luckily that made me see the funny side though and gave me my sense of humour back!

Today much more calm as dh has taken the day off and we have been for a lovely lunch and done some much needed tidying. Plus FINALLY written the blasted thankyou cards!

Anyway dh will be back from collecting Sam in a min so off to make us some food. Hope that gave you a laugh though!

Oh and Choc you're def not a bad mum for putting R in front of the telly but if you have an attack of the guilts I have been told by a mate that the washing machine works too!

Hello everyone

Felt really ill yesterday afternoon, banging headache, couldn't get warm felt sicky, luckily Sam was really good and watched tv all afternoon (felt too ill to feel guilty) DH came home and said he would do the early feed so I thought fantastic, I'll go to bed after Ben's last feed which was 7.45pm, put Ben down at 8.30 got in bed. DH went out for a drink with his mate and got home about 9pm, woke me up at 11.30 puking his guts up, then at 1.30, 2.30, 3.30, 4.30 and 6.00am, so I ended up doing Ben's feed after all at 4.45, then the bastard rat started up at 6.30, so I ended up having a crap nights sleep anyway
What is it with blokes though, he has been home all day either on the sofa or in bed, I know he is poorly and didn't sleep at all, but I didn't sleep much either and if it was me puking up all night I would have still had to deal with the boys Luckily I have felt better today but I've not had much of an appetite (good to kick off the diet though)

Oh my god Stefka, we really are living the same life. My DP came home early from college too and I was hopeful that he'd put together the chest of drawers I'd bought for DD's clothes but he's just kipped on the sofa all afternoon!

The good thing was that DD kipped on him so I could at least get a few things done. The bad thing is that I wonder why it's always me running around trying to sort out the washing, buying food, organising xmas pressies for his family etc. I even asked him if he could change DD's nappy while I went out to supermarket and post office but when I came back he'd forgotten and she was soaked through .

Anyway, enough ranting about DP. The main thing is that DD seems to be on the mend. And I just bought her lots of cheap nice clothes from Sainsburys which I'm looking forward to dressing her up in

Dal, sorry you're suffering. Sounds nasty. Being a mummy isn't very glamorous is it?!

Alicet, at the mouse tail!! Well done for taking it in your stride. And well done for doing thank you cards. I weirdly did mine in week 2 (don't know how I managed that but somehow I did) but still getting gifts now so it seems like a never ending task. Got xmas cards to think about now too...

Sorry to hear that people are having such a tough time - the weather doesn't help much either with the short days and long nights as well...

Stefka - tell your dh to make his own lunch and get a takeaway if you don't get time to have lunch. I rarely slept in the middle of the day with ds1 and was really at my wits' end with the night-time waking by the end of 4 months. With Joe, I am prioritising sleep and the house can go hang itself and I feel much better. If your dh is telling you to sleep when the baby does, do it! He can't really complain if the house is a mess if that's what he's saying.

Choc - I would suggest that you try controlled comforting which I did with ds1. He couldn't settle himself and was awake all day and overtired in the evenings. It's a modified form of controlled crying and is quite stressful because they do cry a bit when you put them down, but it does work if you persevere. Other than a handful of times when he was overtired, I think it generally took less than 5 minutes for ds1 to settle - and I was timing it! If you think you might be interested, I'll find a link for you.

Inzi - I think they start teething quite early as the teeth are moving down months before they appear. Ds1 was drooling around 2 months and got his first tooth at 6 months. So it could well be teething.

Alicet - sorry you had a crappy day. We had a really bad one a few weeks ago - due to lack of sleep which I have been prioritising above all else ever since - where I ended up ranting down the phone at dh and he left work at 16h and drove the boys around in the car for 1.5 hours so I could get some child-free sleep, so I know how you feel!!

Fortunately, we had a good day today. Went to the shops with ds1 this morning - left Joe at home with dh who got home at 06:00 am after his office party and then going back to work! Then after a bit of trouble getting ds1 to sleep because dh was at home, we went to the local soft play area to meet up with a few other mums and toddlers for him to play with. It is so much easier when you can just leave the older one to play with other children...

hey everyone, alice - thanks for the advice, it' really painfull so dreading my next visit to the loo, hopefully as you say they'll be able to sort it, sorry you had a crappy day yesterday, the bit about the mouses tale was quite funny though , hopefully the cat will take the whole thing away next time!
MrsF - sorry you haven't been feeling too well, god we're a right bunch aren't we? be nice to be fit and healthy and pain free for a while, hope you can catch up on the missed sleep at some point, hopefully your dh will offer to do the early feed again and not puke this time!
MissBumpy - hope your dp pulls his finger out and gives you a bit more help, have fun with the clothes you got from sainsburys though, they have some lovely stuff there .
mumpbump - glad you had a good day, may it continue!
Stefka - hope you're doing ok and that the feeding's not hurting too much, thinking of you
Ds had a bath tonight which he loved, massaged him with olive oil after too which he wasn't so sure about but seemed to like his legs done. Just wondering, how often does everyone bath their lo? my mil says she did dh every day but that was just the norm back then and she wouldn't necessarily do that now, we bath ds every 2 days and top and tail the rest of the time, he seems to have quite sensetive skin so don't want to dry it out by bathing him too much, anyway was just curious what others do?
Anyway gonna get settled for the night, catch ya all later

MrsFish - poor you, sounds like you had a tough day. Men don't cope with being ill as well as us women - probably because we do have to just get on with looking after the kids. Glad you're feeling better.

Dal - my ideal would be to bath every evening, but that's just because I like the idea of a bath/bed routine, not because she needs it. In practice she's at her grumpiest in the evenings - last night she was really crying because she hadn't slept during the day despite our best efforts and she was overtired. We end up bathing her in the mornings every 3 days or so.

Inzi - don't worry about the amount of food as long as lo is growing healthily. Anya doesn't have the correct amount according to the formula packet - she just won't take that much feed in one go.

What's everybody getting their lo's for Christmas? I'm trying to resist buying lots of stuff that I could buy at any time of the year - she won't know what's going on anyway. I'm trying to just get special things that she will keep and know that they were from her first Christmas, like an illustrated book of fairytales.

Does anybody here use baby whisperer? Is anybody on a sort of feeding/napping routine yet?

MrsFish - poor you, sounds like you had a tough day. Men don't cope with being ill as well as us women - probably because we do have to just get on with looking after the kids. Glad you're feeling better.

Dal - my ideal would be to bath every evening, but that's just because I like the idea of a bath/bed routine, not because she needs it. In practice she's at her grumpiest in the evenings - last night she was really crying because she hadn't slept during the day despite our best efforts and she was overtired. We end up bathing her in the mornings every 3 days or so.

Inzi - don't worry about the amount of food as long as lo is growing healthily. Anya doesn't have the correct amount according to the formula packet - she just won't take that much feed in one go.

What's everybody getting their lo's for Christmas? I'm trying to resist buying lots of stuff that I could buy at any time of the year - she won't know what's going on anyway. I'm trying to just get special things that she will keep and know that they were from her first Christmas, like an illustrated book of fairytales.

Does anybody here use baby whisperer? Is anybody on a sort of feeding/napping routine yet?

Sorry for posting twice - computer blip!

Hi all. How was everyone's night? Dareh went down at about half eleven and woke up at one. He wasn't hungry though - I think his tummy was sore. He cried for a while then went back to sleep until six! He seems to get a sore tummy in the night but I don't know why.

MissB that is so so weird! I have a feeling the chest of drawers will be in its box for a while.

Dalry so sorry you are in pain - it's just horrible when you are trying to look after a LO at the same time.

We've been doing baths every night but more routine based than because he needs it. He likes the bath too. I might start doing it every other day though - or at least skipping it on the nights when DH is not here as it is quite hard to do alone.

Hope you feel better today Mrs Fish and I hope you get rid of that horrible rat soon. Inzi hope you have a better day today - it's awful when they are on a crying spell like that. So exhausting.

Hope we all have a good Friday - has everyone got the chocolate in for tonight?

My HV told me that they suggest you only have them in for a max of two hours at a time, but Ben stays in his longer than that

Sorry, just noticed that I am far too late to help

inzi - the only reasons i have heard of for not keeping lo in car seat too long is that it can increase the risks of them getting 'flat head' as the seats tend to be quite firm and also that they are quite crunched up so not as good for them breathing - think thats why they're not supposed to sleep in them too much. We do occasionally leave ds to sleep in his if we've just arrived somewhere and don't want to disturb him but we're quite paranoid about it so keep checking him to see if he's still breathing! I think they recommend no more than 2/3 hrs at a time but don't quote me on that