December 06: For my first birthday mummy I would like.......

[Indith]

Here you go Eli!

I almost put 'your clothespegs' on the end there. Ds loves clothespegs. Came home from Rainbows the other day and dp had made a deal with ds. He could play with the clothespegs as long as he did it in his playpen and let dp make dinner.

Bleurgh @ worms Eli and @ Pripsen. I still retch rememberig the one time I had to take it as a child. It's the most vile tasting stuff I've ever had.

AQ, I'll see how it goes for the rest of this week. I've got to go back and see the GP next week so if it's no better I'll see about a change of dose. The nausea's wearing off though, which is good.

AD's do seem to be heping though. I had quite a stressful night/day today and I haven't lost my rag once [proud].

Eli, urgggh, poor you and poor little beans!

FGS, have posted for you...

Oli, nausea as well? But good news if they're working, I wish I could maintain my temper all day!

Indith, I thought you graduated this year. So not sticking with languages, then? You'll be too busy with no.2 to do youth work anyway

I have horrid memories of being made to sit on the back porch and drink the vile worm medicine (ours was orangey flavoured) Considering that encephalitis put paid to my memory, it's truly bizarre that I can remember exactly what it tasted like!

Thanks for the support, I emerge for ten seconds from mountains of washing to smile at your posts then vanish again.....even that image makes me think of you-know-whats, eek, this way madness lies!!

BP, encephalitis - truly worse than worms. Even worse than medicine. What a huge thing to get well from..

dd love worm medicine (banana flavour) so no problems there. dd2 got the raspberry Pripsen, pulled a face, but drank it anyway (she's greedy )

Back to washing machine....

bp, can't believe you had encephalitis My neighbor from years ago had it and recovered but it is truly a scary thing!

Ds2 has raging diarrhea and hence a rash all stemming from this second round of antibiotics I hope this does cure it. His little cousin who started the whole family sickness scenario is now on her third round

I am currently letting him run around with no bottoms on to "air out" and keeping my fingers crossed that nothing happens to the rug.

Oh, and ewwwwww on your behalf eli!

Wow. Encephalitis is not nice. My neighbour had it too and was quite badly affected for a long time.

DD2 slept for 3 hours last night. The best way to decribe her was ill with teething and cold but also enraged with her mummy and daddy if they dared not cuddle her for every second. DH went to the spare bed and I had a sleepless night with her whining in my bed.

She seems so angry with me and I know it is part illness and part seperation anxiety. DD1 NEVER had such anger in her (she is sensitive, emotional and mostly very 'good'. DD2 is adorable but she is so opiniated and has a temper and is very funny. They couldnt be more different.

Yuck Eli! And here I was thinking it's about time we met up again. Might save that one for a bit I'm sure we had worms loads as kids (in the days of mud pies and roaming free): I have many happy memories of drinking that revolting strawberry stuff.

Oli & anyone else who is interested re ADs. I felt quite sick and sweaty for a couple of weeks and then - da da da daaaaa - I lost my appetite and lost 5 kilos in a few weeks. Sorely needed. In addition to that little bonus, I still have totally crap days but I seem to sail through it all and just laugh and smile. Never lose my temper (and I'm a redhead) and just see the LOs for the adorable little herberts that they are as opposed to PIAs. Like I said, nauseatingly American. No offence Jabber. Again

Wow, not meaning to trivialise depression in any shape or form (and my sister was/is a self harmer so I am not entirely ignorant) but where can I get some of those ADs? I want to sail through crap days without losing my temper and never see the small trail of destruction as a PITA

I'm starting to get to that point, Castles. Have had a horrid coupe of days with all 3 dcs ill and subsequently whingey, moany, clingy and not sleeping. I've not had more than an hour's sleep in a stretch since Sunday but I'm coping. And not shouting or losing my rag, which was the main symptom of the depression.

BP, encephalitis? How old were you? That must have been terrifying.

FGS, I also struggle with how different ds2 is to ds1 and dd. He is much harder work than they ever were and I've had to parent him completely differently so far. I just can not understand how the same combination of genes can make such polar opposites.

Hope you have a better night tonight.

Glad they are working for you though Oli

What's this about subsequent children being different huh? Are you trying to tell me that after learning all about babies through ds I'm going to have to learn all over again with the next one?

Well you can all go away I refuse to believe it

Don't worry, Indith, some of it has to be the same no matter how different their personalities are (sleep deprivation, endless tidying up, heart stopping adorable-ness...you know the stuff). FGS, my dd2 is also much quicker to get cross than dd1 was, and very funny - also determinedly independent, which makes me (shamefully) sad because she's my last and I don't get to baby her as much as I'd like to.

Of course, second dds are just amazing (did I mention I have an older sister?)

Light at the end of the worm tunnel here - no tickling/itching bottoms anymore, house is spotless, dd is being very good about not putting hands in mouth/washing hands, so fingers crossed. Castles, I would give it a few days if I were you, even on ADs worms in the toilet bowl are guaranteed to shake the psyche...

A friend came over with her ds yesterday (dd2's age) and omitted to tell me till lunchtime that she had been feeling very sick for 48 hours. She was 'sure its not infectious'. She then spent the night with a temp of 39.2, violent D&V, and now her LO has it too....he played with dd2 all morning. And friend helped put out the lunch, which dd2 ate, and kissed dd2.

Are we doomed or is it possible we could escape? I can't bear the thought of another week of endless washing, never mind worrying about dd2 dehydrating again. AAARGH [stamps foot]

Eli, I would be SO if a friend of mine did that, especially with your dd2's history.

Fingers crossed you escape it.

Indith, ds1 and dd were fairly similar as young babies so you may be safe if you stick at 2!

Finger crossed too Eli! Esp now you've got over the nightmare of worms (still double urgh).
My two are sooo different and ds2 so much easier than his brother ever was. I enjoy motherhood a great deal more this time round. But speaking to a friend today who's decided to go back to work 4 days (she's currently 3) and then 5 in a few months because she's not enjoying her dd, doesn't know what to do with her. I felt sad, but her dd is at that stage (she's 9-10 months) where they're quite hard to keep happy all day long, and not much you can do with them. Hard to explain to my friend that it gets easier and she might regret it later. You get used to the money and just being away from them I think. I'm crying every night when I come home from work now as I simply hate being there and I don't know why. I was so happy on maternity leave, I loved being with both of them, lots of time to do whatever.

Thanks, Oli....yes, I was/am . Its so hard though, because she is just hopeless at admitting to illness - total denial: annoying, potentially dangerous, but not intentional. But grrrr anyway.

AQ , both for your friend/friend's dd and for you - obviously for very different reasons. You sound like such a lovely Mum, BTW.

Oh Eli I really hope you escape it.

AQ

Oh, eli I would be SO mad! Very similar to our recent RSV scenario Here's hoping she doesn't catch it!

I for one am very relieved that ds2 is not like ds1. I don't have the strength to parent two like him, lol. That said, he is starting to get a wee bit as far as tantrums, etc. and, dare I say it? has been in regular underwear for a week

AQ, that's really too bad that she's not enjoying her dd. Some mothers have a really hard time with the baby stage (err, me for one )

As for you, can you go part-time at all? That has worked out well for us.

I almost forgot! I made some calls this morning and have picked up one doctor client with a strong maybe from another for when we move. I need two more to keep us fed and me in shoes but this takes a bit of the heat off.

Lol @ so much foot-stamping going on!

I feel a bit better now as Dh is out because of work so I got the girls to bed early, and have watched Holby City and eaten chocolate!

olihan - the gene pool is a funny thing!

eli - you might miss out. You are right to be but just get prepared with clean towels etc and see what happens.

AQ - sorry you are so sad . I know how you feel. With DD1 I never contemplated going back to work. With DD2 I have to as it is DHs business, although I am only doing 2 mornings I still feel like I am missing out.

On the other hand I've been finding it difficult to entertain DD2 when she has been so miserable. I hope she is better tomorrow.

Hi Jabber and Castles

On a +ve note I got DD1s urine results today and the white blood cells weren't present. Also today is the first day in over a month she hasnt complained of tummy ache. I am hoping the last week of rest sciving from pre-school has helped her get a bit better.

AQ

Eli on your behalf.

Indith, I'm sure that any child of yours would be a ray of sunshine. You just carry on, dear.

Oli, so glad the ADs are working for you.

Jabber, YAY about the clients

I found out tonight that DSD (nearly 28) is getting married in October! I can't believe it - I'm indescribably proud. He is such a clever boy man - a brain the size of a planet, works really hard, is very kind and thoughtful, but it did look rather as if he might live with his mum forever. And his fiancee has a daughter, which will kind of make me a step-grandmother .

And the encephalitis thing - I got it when I was 10, spent a very long time in hospital, and apart from some behavioural issues (as a teenager, I might add), a destroyed memory (can only really remember 9 years at a time) and stunted growth I came out of it just fine. Which is pretty incredible really, so I tend not to dwell. I do have some very weird childhood memories though, like the worm medicine (yuk), and the smell of our barn, and finding a nest of ladybirds in the orchard and stuff like that. Nothing useful.

at having lots of on my behalf, makes me feel better (and more ok with being ). 36 hours and counting (apparently some D&V bugs take a week to show up though).

BP, wow...so glad you came through so well, and as for behavioural teenage problems, can relate without the teensiest bit of encephalitis

Ladybird nest sounds just as useful as any of my childhood memories, for that matter!

FGS, hurrah for dd1's test results and tummy - must be a major relief.