Ttc 1st baby catch up 3rd thread!

[Fivebyfive2]

Thought as I'm bored and we're on page 40 of thread 2, I'd make a thread 3!

@MrsEG, aaahh your Halloween plans and costumes sound awesome 😀 I hope they get to go ahead as planned...

I have no idea what will happen in terms of a lockdown?? I think maybe they'll start with closing non essentials again first? My friend was saying she'd rather have a lockdown now or soon and then maybe be able to have things ease up for Christmas. To be honest I think over Christmas, people will do whatever anyway!

I'm so glad you're back on track with the weaning. You're doing amazingly well xx

Well! Saturday night we started in his room and made it until 11pm. Last night we started in his room and made it until 2am. Slow progress, but still progress! He's got 3 teeth now and I think a 4th on its way. Isolation is getting a bit grinding, but we're getting through the house jobs, having time in the garden and eating like little piggies to make it more bearable! Joe is constantly shuffling/scooching around and has been up on his hands and feet this morning 😂

Hope every one is doing OK? We'll need a new thread soon 😛

@MrsR16 @purplefig @ELW85 @LikeTheFruit @cupcakesandglitter @MrsH497 @Larrydavid @lokicat @stormtrooperjulian @thumper59 @ranchorelaxo @TrashKitten10 @delilah7

Sorry if I've forgotten anyone! Xx

Well that came out in a funny order, hopefully it makes sense

@Fivebyfive2 what make is your playpen? Do you recommend it?

This is our baby jail 🙂

www.amazon.co.uk/Playpen-Foldable-Compact-Fitted-Durable/dp/B078JWSS3N/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=playpen+for+baby+and+toddlers&sprefix=Plaype&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1603520459&sr=8-5

It's fab, I set it up in 10 mins while dh and Joe had breakfast. Easy to move around the room once assembled too because it's quite light, but feels sturdy. Plenty of room for him to craw about or for one of us to sit in with him.

Confirmed we are tier 2 as of Saturday morning. I can't do a support bubble with parents as neither household is a single adult house 🙁

Joe's sleeping has also gone back to being awful... He did 7.30 till 6.30 last night, but I was up 6 times to re settle him! Hoping he goes back to the better night's soon 🙏

On the plus side, here is is being cute 🙂

@MrsEG, I'm so glad Connor is OK but that must have been so scary for you! I totally get about the 'trying to stand/walk' and just falling, Joe is the same and it's ridiculous!

@Fivebyfive2 thanks for the recommendation! Arriving on Monday now !

@Lemonysherbet only a couple of weeks because of her CMPA dietician advised to start a bit early. We are doing purées and if I'm brave I give her a piece to play with. Weirdly aubergine didn't agree with her. Got to introduce allergens which I'm not looking forward to. How are you doing with it?

@mrsh497 oh that's exciting. How did you know she had cmpa if you don't mind me asking?

We've been going for about 2 weeks, just purées, nearly every day once a day. When he hits 6 months I'll add in some finger foods :)

@Lemonysherbet her reflux wasn't great she had a rash on her face which I thought was normal baby acne. GP suggested I tried taking dairy out of my diet for at least 2 weeks then do the yoghurt test and see how she reacted. It definitely flared her reflux up. If I've slipped up I notice her reflux comes back, bad nappies (small amount of blood a couple of times)
Honestly I think she will grow out of it but we have a family history of food allergies and other allergies 🙄

He's been up 5 times so far 🙁 Just given more calpol, he keeps waking up screaming and rubbing his ear and throwing his head around. Feels a bit warm. Dh has him now and when he's tired enough I'll probably end up just holding him until the morning 😴🙁

Hi all, happy Halloween 🎃🙂

I took Joe to the Dr yesterday with suspected ear infection, which they confirmed. Might explain his awful sleep the last few days, bless him! He's on antibiotics which he takes like a champ and should be all cleared up in a few days.

Soooo... Apparently national lock down is imminent?? We're checking the updates and I'm currently in negotiations with dh about moving in with my parents if it happens. On one hand it will help us all massively (us with childcare and them with shopping etc) but I know it's alot to ask him to do... I mean my family are lovely and he gets on really well with them, but it's still another persons house/his in laws, so we'll see! My main worry if we don't is that they're supposed to be having Joe when I go back to work after Christmas and 6 weeks (if what the news is saying is true) of no contact right before then is really gonna mess things up because they won't be used to each other 🙁 It's all such a mess, I feel awful for the businesses and people without any support, but then again cases just aren't going down so what's the answer?? Dhs family have already come out saying they won't stick to it 🙄 For literally no other reason than that they don't like being told what to do (they're words) I honestly am sick of trying to reason with them about it 🤯

Sorry to ramble on. Anyone doing anything Halloweeny today? We're having pizza and popcorn tonight and watching Candyman (I've never seen it!) once Joe is in bed!

@MrsR16, how's your work situation going??

@ELW85 @MrsEG @purplefig I hope all you ladies are OK xxx

@Fivebyfive2 We’re in Manchester so we’ve literally never been out of lockdown! We had local lockdowns for weeks, then when the tiers came in we had T2 for a few glorious weeks but then T3. I have no memory at all of other people being allowed in my house! But under every lockdown and tier, informal childcare has always been allowed, so it shouldn’t affect your parents looking after Joe. My parents have still looked after my niece and they’ve done some childcare for us too when we’ve needed to get out of the house!
Poor Joe - ear infections are so painful. Hopefully it clears up soon!
I’ll be honest - I’m not dissimilar to your family, I think lockdowns are completely and utterly pointless. Like I say, we’ve been in them with fairly strict measures for months and months here and it’s made no difference. Plus, DH gym will now close, again, PLUS we were supposed to be going to the Lakes with the boys on Monday and so that’s now cancelled. I’m sick of being told how to live my life too!!

I’m so sorry I haven’t caught up properly but hope everyone is okay! I’m just in a bad mood due to all of the above haha. I literally have all of our holiday bags packed, loads of food prepped for the boys in the freezer to come with. Feels like such a kick in the teeth. I’m so sick and tired of how poorly this has all been handled over and over again, particularly in the North we’ve just been fucking test subjects as far as I’m concerned and I’m sick and tired of it. Hope everyone else is doing okay - it’s so hard, my mental health has taken an absolute beating (what a few days of fresh Lake District air could have done for that, eh?!) and I now just struggle to see an end!

Morning ladies! Been in a bit of a whirlwind recently so apologies for not coming on! Thank you to everyone who thought of me!

@Fivebyfive2 oh I'm sorry to read Joe's not well! Ethan also has a terrible night last night. It's a full moon tonight, so I'm not expecting it to be any better 🤦‍♀️ I literally started back at work two days ago... I am working my 4 weeks' notice and then start at the hospital on 30 November 😬 petrified but so ready to get back to the NHS! Yesterday was the longest I've ever been away from Ethan and it started getting really hard about 2/3ish... he was fine - he had a whale of a time with MIL! Wednesday's his first day at the childminder's, so a whole different level of panic for me... you're so lucky you're not going back to work till after Christmas!

How is everyone doing? These babies are growing up too quickly for my liking! I'm sure I saw @crossfitgirl on a thread about starting TTC No. 2! Xx

Morning all and Happy Halloween!!

@Fivebyfive2 - Thank you for thinking of me 😊 I’m actually not doing too badly at the moment but hadn’t seen the news today about the lockdown!
We’re similar to @MrsEG and haven’t really been out of lockdown so I’m not sure if the impact apart from the obvious closures but I do feel bad for people who have been able to go back to relative normality!
I think going to your parents is a great idea.
And it pisses be off when people just refuse. I get the feeling the cases aren’t dropping because people don’t really care about the rules anymore.
It’s always been an economical balancing act but we’re worse than in March for cases unfortunately.
Having said that, I think there are exceptions to be made for the sake of mental health in certain cases where lockdown is genuinely having a detrimental impact to a person’s wellbeing.
Not just “I’m pissed off I can’t go to the pub” for example!
Anyway...Halloween for us us basically dressing Finn as a bat and DH eating the sweets we’d bought to leave at the end of the drive 😂 I hope Joe feels better soon xx

@MrsEG - I’m gutted for you about the lakes and DH’s gym. That break would have been perfect; I’m so sorry you’re taking a hit again. Please reach out if you need xx

@MrsR16 - you know this TTC#2 business...we’ve been talking about it for next year 😂

@MrsEG cross posted with you! It's so hard for you! Potential lockdown next week absolutely terrifies me. I haven't yet got the facilities to work from home, so god knows what I'll be doing. You're still doing amazingly though! Those boys of yours just look fantastic fun right now 😂

@ELW85 you crazy woman 😂 I've definitely got to wait at least a year so I'd be entitled to NHS mat leave 🤣 at the moment, Ethan's such a grot bag I'm not even sure if I'd want another one! 😂 xx

@MrsR16 - I know. I’ve no idea what we’re thinking 😂 will you remind me of this?! 😂 Ethan is amazing!! You’ll definitely have another 😊 xxx

@MrsR16 @ELW85 omg all this talk of number 2... Some on my nct group are thinking about it too and I'm like 'noooooo'!!! 😂😮

@ELW85, I'm glad you're doing better xxx

@MrsR16, sounds like you've got loads going on, I hope your notice period rolls by OK and it is great you're excited for your new challenge! Xx

@MrsEG, sorry I just read back on my post, didn't mean to sound like the covid police! I totally get why people are struggling and agree you need to weigh everything up for mental health. My frustration with the in laws specifically is because they've flouted all the rules and guidelines from the start and still act really oppressed?! Mil always had family over, fil went back and forth to Spain and didn't isolate at all in between. They're constantly pressing us to do stuff they know we're not comfortable with. They act like we're deliberately stopping them seeing Joe, when my parents weren't seeing him either etc. It just gets to me 😬

I'll stop rambling now, promise! Currently going through the Smyths Toys catalogue for gift ideas for Joe. As he's super awkward and has birthday and Christmas 2 weeks apart 😮😂

@Fivebyfive2 oh god don’t worry at all my post wasn’t aimed at anyone here! Just my general frustrations. We’ve been so good literally all year, DH has worked so hard to keep the gym open and we finally get our glimmer of light with our holiday and it just gets snatched away! I mostly hate lockdowns because I think all they really do is suppress a virus, you can’t eliminate it, and so I just think they handle it so poorly. What’s the problem, really, with us just being allowed to see family at home? Two school friends have committed suicide this year and from speaking to ones parents she said she was already depressed but this made her so incredibly lonely to the point she saw no other way. I think it all needs to be much more balanced - a better lockdown system that didn’t see people locked in their homes alone all day I think people would actually adhere to! But what can we expect from this government anymore!!
Your in-laws sounds like such hard work!!
Christmas present shopping is gonna be so weird now! DH has a Christmas birthday (Christmas day!) it is hard keeping them separate!

Ahh thank you everyone! Just feeling so totally deflated today! I was so looking forward to our break. It wasn’t even anything exciting a caravan in the Lakes! Talk about timing. If it had just been this week...
I will reply to everyone else later but a baby needs me haha!

Omg!!!! I had no idea this thread was here!! I am SOOOOOOO excited to see you all here again!! I'm going to have to tag @sullywifey and @sunshine1987 as I don't know if they know its here. This thread was my lifeline when ttc and then pregnant and I haven't read the thread yet, but when I have time I'd love to catch up on how you're all doing!
@flapjackered this is probably about 9 months late by the sounds of it but CONGRATULATIONS!!! I know you had such struggled and I'm so happy to hear you have a little one arriving imminently!

Brief update on me, Olivia is 14 months old, I'm back to work part time and she's loving nursery and I love my days off with her.
DH works away all week now, so I solo parent during the week which was unanticipated. It was extremely tough especially during the initial lockdown, but I'm in more of a routine now and have got a bit more support.

Covid sucks but I'm just trying to make the best of the quality time I have with her!

And yes @mrsR16 you are correct, we are now starting to try for baby number 2! What were you doing on a conception thread.... Are you wanting another?! 🙈🤣😂 Here is my little girl! xxx

@Fivebyfive2 - that sounds wonderful, DH is dying to go to Smyths for Finn!
I do think we’re mad for TTC again soon but I’m nearly 36 snd I can literally hear the clock ticking 😅

@Crossfitgirl - she’s absolutely gorgeous snd I can’t believe how grown up she is!

@Crossfitgirl Olivia is GORGEOUS!!! Look at that cheeky face!! Good luck with no 2! I was just being super nosey and realised we hadn't heard from you in forever! Searched your name (stalkerish, I know!) and spotted you on the conception boards 😊 I think we'll end up with no 2 at some point, but not yet! 😂 I'm not as crazy as @ELW85 hehe!

Here's my Ethan as an update 😊

@Fivebyfive2 I completely forgot to reply to you! I'm so sorry!! 🤦‍♀️ I really hope my notice flies by! Although with the new announcement, I don't know what my chances of furlough are 🤷‍♀️ do you reckon there'll maybe be a no 2 in the future? Or is it just a definite no? 😂 xx

@Crossfitgirl, omg Olivia looks so grown up... And cheeky 😀

@MrsR16, we haven't really decided, I guess there is loads of time to change our minds a few times! But at the moment we're leaning towards Joe being our only, especially with everything going on (it's affecting our jobs etc) and the fact that the child STILL doesn't sleep 😂🤯

Something to ponder on though ladies and would love your thoughts on it... My sister in laws best friend can't have kids because of medical reasons. She could conceive, but wouldn't be able to carry /give birth. I've met her a few times and she's lovely. The plan I think is for her and her partner to adopt, if possible. But she's also looked into having a surrogate... Obviously not an easy find! Would I be insane to think I could do it? My pregnancy was fairly straightforward, I know her but not to the extent I'd see her often afterwards and feel it would be a really good thing to do. Dh says I'm barking for even considering it because of having to give up the baby. But it wouldn't be my baby? Although I totally get what he means. Thoughts???

@fivebyfive2 Im in awe of surrogates as I don't know how they can hand over the baby. It's such a heroic and selfless thing to do. There's probably a Mumsnet board on it somewhere from a surrogate viewpoint, maybe that would help get the pros and cons?

@Fivebyfive2 I think it is an amazingly brave and selfless thing to do, I know a lot of MN are dead against it but I don't think it's that straightforward. That being said, I'm like @Lemonysherbet - especially after having my own now I cannot imagine the heartbreak of giving your child away after birth to never see them again. Although genetically they won't be yours (or your DH? Would it be a fertilised egg?) but you'll be carrying them in your stomach and having that bond etc etc. It's so amazing that their are women that are able to do it, and it's so so lovely of you to even consider it, ultimately it'll be whatever you're comfortable with really ❤️ just caught up on your other post too, your ILs sound a bit difficult 🤦🏻‍♀️ my mum is constantly saying over FaceTime how much she misses her but in a way to hint to me to take her round - and keeps pulling childish strops because I'm not willing to go round and act like everything is normal, she made a point about how ridiculous it was she had to wash her hands before she held Dina 🙄

@MrsR16 omg look at Ethan 😍 and that lovely hair!! He's adorable!

@ELW85 I don't think you're mad at all, we've already spoken about TTC soon 😂

@Crossfitgirl oh my god how cute is she!! And 14 months?! I can't believe there was a point where we were all TTC together honestly 😂 ahh how lovely you're TTC again! Fingers crossed you have the same luck as last time - for some reason how you conceived Olivia has really stuck with me 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

@MrsEG I hope you're feeling a bit better? Lockdown is awful and I can't imagine how hard it is for anyone self employed right now, I hope you're getting some support? How're the boys doing? X

@cupcakesandglitter Ah thank you, I’m okay - I didn’t feel too great this weekend and still feel sad we’re not off on our holiday today but I’m just trying to shake it off! DH is a bit worried about the gym and just hopes they don’t start continuously extending lockdown like they did last time. But the boys are doing great! They’re climbing 😫 they can get up the stairs and crawl up their toys. Hence I am kept on my toes every second they’re awake haha! Sometimes they go down for a nap and I just sit in silence for half an hour ha! How are you getting on?

@Fivebyfive2 I actually know someone who was a surrogate for a friend (gay couple), so it was her egg and one of their sperm. It all worked perfectly for them and she does have a relationship but as an aunty and says she just never sees the child as hers at all - there was a huge amount of counselling up front and she had a planned c-section. She had already completed her own family beforehand (3 children) which she did say helped with the decision. She absolutely didn’t want another child of her own. I’m in awe of them and how well they’ve made it work! The child is in primary school now and once they’re old enough to understand who their ‘aunt’ is they’ll tell them.

@Crossfitgirl Wow hello lovely! Look at her walking about! How is she 14 months - I still remember your BFP!! The twins are great they’ll be 9 months old on Wednesday! Both full of colds at the moment though. I’ll post some pics!

Good luck anyone TTC again! I can’t even imagine. Where do you even find the time and energy these days haha! All I’d say as an instant mother of two haha is enjoy having one before #2 comes along as much as you can! It’s so full on having two babies in the house. Weirdly, when I took Conor to A&E the other day I actually loved the few hours I got to spend just with him. It was like I was really looking at him and interacting with him for the first time! Usually I always have both of them to entertain all day. We had our own little private room and I actually loved it haha! One way to make A&E fun!!

Hi all! Just catching up while my little Hurricane (his new nickname!) has what I hope will be a decent nap!

Thanks for the advice on checking out the surrogacy threads. It's definitely something I'm considering, but got lots to think about first, obviously.

How's everyone doing this week?

I'm just gonna have a rant, if I may...

Joe is not sleeping again. He woke 5 times last night and one of those was for almost 2 hours 😬 Fireworks every night around by us are not helping! Dhs parents are still batshit. As is my nan... The woman never leaves her room (of her own insistence!) and now the staff have told her she has to stay in her room for a week (some kind of extra measure because of a positive test from another resident) and she's kicked off big time! Seriously, if they'd just not said anything, she wouldn't have known!! I know I sound awful saying that about my dear old nan, but seriously guys, she is crazy and super difficult, as much as I love her! Oh and whilst walking around this week I've heard 3 random people go on about how they want Trump to win... Gives you an idea of the kind of area I live in 🤯

On the plus side, Joe is tentatively enjoying taking a few steps with his walker and is generally a very happy chappy. And I've had 3 'festive' hot chocolates this week 😂 Thought I'd fancy up our daily walks to cheer myself up. Costa after 8 and Terry's chocolate orange ones are both fab but also I can recommend the mint hot chocolate from Greggs... A very tasty bargain 😋