July 2007 part 2- 4 months in, doesn't time fly?

[Princesspowersparkle]

Hello July ladies, we are here now!!!!

Abgirl, snap snap snap. DS still sleeping through most nights and growing out of 6-9 sleep and bodysuits. Just noticed some of dd's trousers are a little short...They are 9-12 months and she will be 2 in January! We are still bf exclusively, and ds mildly interested when we eat food, but then he has been since he was 2 months. It's a load of bullocks about that anyway. Of course babies are interested. That's what they do! 8 weeks to go and he hasn't even rolled yet, never mind sit up properly.

Graduate entry dentisty? Not for the love of dentistry, more something to do that means I don't have to stand for 10 hours a day, and get home at 7pm having to work my ar*e off, keep up with mountains and mountains of paperwork and get abuse from people having to wait more than 5 minutes for a prescription.....Mid maternity leave crisis because fingers crossed it's a little early for a mid life crisis.

hello all! Snap to some as I have bought some baby rice but not used it yet. Ds watches us when we eat and drink - agree with pulapula - he is VERY interested.

I was just bfing but have managed to introduce a formula feed! Hurrah! Giving ds a formula bottle and a boob before bed. Helps him sleep and I feel less tired. I swear he was sucking me dry. It took a couple of days but I just let him chew the bottle with a bit of formula in till he got the hang of it. Now he waggles his legs like crazy when he sees the bottle.

No teeth yet. Anyone else?

Ds coughed until he was sick this morning, was quite scary and messy. Luckily it was on dh's side of the bed

Hope everyone is OK.

No teeth here but I keep checking DSs gums when he's a bit grisly, red cheeked and dribbly.

I have made a stock of pureed apple, pear, carrot and potato in preparation for weaning. Hope he likes them!

DS is also getting very good at sleeping through - maybe its partly due to his monitor being turned down quite low so we only hear him when he really needs us- sometimes not til after 7am. We have also started a gradual withdrawal of his dummy and swaddle, and he now sometimes self-settles by making a certain (humming-type) noise, so we then know sleeps around the corner.

We have also moved bedtime slightly forwards (and DDs too) so we can now be back downstairs by 7.15pm which is really good. But DS is sometimes unsettled in the evenings- anyone else get this?

yes, ds was doing really with the sleeping but recently he's started waking up again. So I introduced some formula before bed. That helped but in the last couple of days he's been unsettled from 8-10.00ish, and after the night feed takes a while to go back down.

Am I being stupid as he does have a cough - could this stop him sleeping as normal?

Also have read a couple of places that now I could give him water instead of milk in the night to stop him waking up... is anyone else doing this? Seems strange to do it just when ds sems very hungry. Perhaps I should start with the baby rice?

Arrrggggghhhhhh babies! Where is the instruction manual?

DD was sleeping through to 5.30 from 7pm, but now has started waking nearer to 1.30. some nights she will settle back to sleep and then wake again about 3.30 for a feed but I am finding that I am often having to feed her at 1.30 (thankfully she does then normally go through to 7ish). I was wondering if it is maybe that my milk isn't enough for her on an evening (she is definitely draining me dry too) but she cant work out what to do with a bottle at the moment. I think I will keep trying though, when we come back from holiday.
I also thought it might be because she was in washable nappies and maybe she was getting a bit wet, but she was in disposables last night so I could get them all washed before we go on holiday today, so guess it's not that!

Right - better go as she has pulled the covers off her (she's meant to be having a nap) and is trying to pull them over her head!

Hope everyone and their lo's stay well over the next couple of weeks. I'll catch up with you all when I am back from snowy germany.

theprecious, if babe waking in night then could well be hunger if on a growth spurt. The extra feed will increase your milk supply, that giving a bottle won't do. Also baby rice has a negligble calorific value compared to milk(any sort) , so for extra calories, give some form of milk rather than replace it with the bland yuk of baby rice. Like hungry baby formula, it fill the gap, but takes longer to digest. I suppose it all depends on how much longer you want to bf for and what is right for you. HTH

Right now I can't imagine ds eating food at all. He's enormous, but just not developed enough.

Have a good trip MelissaM

And I thought that about the nappies too, but the disposable leaked out. God they're disgusting.

Seen the HV today and DS is now 17lb 2 at 21 weeks, so still growing well - 4oz a week.

I asked the HV about my leaky boobs (they leak up to 3 oz when feeding off the other one) and she said its unlikely to calm down if it hasn't by now. Anyone else like this? At home i just collect it in shells, but if i go out, i need to make sure i've got pads!

I think DS is having a 5 month growth spurt- do they exist? He was feeding 5 mins per side every 4 hours but now takes half an hour per feed, and had a good feed after his 8oz bottle last night. But at least he still goes 8+ hours after his dreamfeed at night.

theprecious- i tried giving DS water in the night a while back when i thought he was waking out of habit. He would only take an ounce and then i'd feed him. But guess you should feed if its unusual for LO to wake as it could well be a growth spurt.

3oz wow! I would never need to express if I could collect that every time. I haven't bothered yet, but come 6 months and ds will be going to nursery at 9months I think I'm going to have to try.

Jennster- Its not 3oz every time, but can be during the morning feed (breast shell often overflows or needs emptying) but I tend to collect around 7-8 oz in shells, and then have one pumping session in the evening, which is enough for 2 bottle feeds. It is really handy as I am using it for bottles, but am getting a bit fed up of wearing pads and having wet bras etc. I've also got about 50oz of milk in the freezer which I will use for mixing with food and for bottle feeds when DS starts nursery in Jan. I did express when I went back to work last time, but it was a lot of hassle (although it does mean you get breaks from work to express).

I started from 6 weeks last time and am so glad I haven't bothered yet this time. DD rejected the bottle at 4 months anyway and even a week without me at 6 months in hospital with meningitis, wouldn't get her back on it, that's how stubborn she was. All the faff of sterilising and all that gubbins. Was reminded the other day that if the stuff was sterilised more than 3 hours ago it was no longer sterile. Ha when they start nursery and they are kissed by the other children covered in snot, it kind of makes you wonder if it's all worth it!

Hi all,
Lee is on solids now. wasnt interested in the rice.. wanted the flavours.. (as did my other two) he has 3-4 babyspoon fulls 3 times a day.. And still draining 8-9oz bottles..

Scott has an ear infection, bless him so sleep at the moment is an optional; extra..

I have told dh when he gets back fromt he uk I want 1 day off the house and the children.. (do you think thats mean!!) He finishes work on the 19th Dec till the 14th Jan.. (if they dont put him on anymore courses.. which they are trying to do for the 7th Jan..) if they do put him on a course then I have told him I am going to speak to our welfare office... as he isnt allowed o take any leave after the 14jan.. due to his deployment in feb... He has had his datre he goes back out a year to the day he got back.....
Never mind.

I do envy those of you who are breast feeding.... I am far to lazy to use reusable nappies.. I dont have enough time in the day at the mo to keep up with normal washing..lol...

How are you all doing on the xmas front.. I am nearly ready.. just waiting for some of DD pressies to arrive from ebay then I am done.. bar some stoking fillers fopr scott.. (Cole is going to her dads this year...... ish she was staying at home..) Our tree went up on sunday night to try and cheer us up. Dh having a ggod time in the UK.. he phoned to tell me he is going to our favourite chinese tonight with the lads. gthen on Thursday he is meeting up with my mam and aunts for my aunts bday ....

Take care all

2+1 sounds tough for you. You sound pretty organised though.

Scrooges that we are, we normally don't get a tree until the week before Christmas, but we went through such a palaver trying to find one last year, we are getting ours on Saturday or Sunday. I have the table ready, and a pile of presents all wrapped to go underneath it. I only have the time to wash nappies because I don't have to do bottles and quite frankly, very few off our clothes ever see an iron. House work ahem ticks over, but we never have the house spotless and tidy, and as for pureeing baby food, it just aint going to happen.

Jennster.. must admit I use the powdered baby foods and jars... will do my own as he gets a bit bigger and i get a blender....

Scott is still off today although he has more life in him.. i think he will be back at nursery tommorrow..

Going to have a look on ebay for a baby walker,...

It seems a few of our little ones have started solids- Mairi has really started wolfing hers down since she got the hang of it on Sunday. I started her on carrot puree, then sweet potato & butternut squash, she seems to love them all. But her weight gain still isn't very good So been advised to pile in the calories and mix baby price, porridge & formula milk into all her veg purees. Also the community nurse thinks I should start switching her over to formula milk feeds... Feel strange about this (even though she does take one formula bottle each day already) but will do whatever is best for her and with CF her calorie demand is very high (especially as she is coughing quite a bit again) and she does feed from me for over an hour each time and seems to feed constantly all afternoon which is hard on DS. Plus I feel exhausted which probably doesn't help my milk....

Abgirl- good to hear all is well with your DS at his size!! Know what you mean about potty-training...Am half-heartedly trying with DS too but going to start 'properly' from Sat as DP has a week off so can help a bit, as with DD still BFing a lot it can be tricky to catch DS in time!!

Hugs to you all.

Hi all,
It feels like AGES since I've been on here. Great to hear how everyone's doing. Esp good to read about the various growth spurts/weaning/teething going on, as I think I'm going to have to look into this more.
LO is doing well. Still excl bfing but it's a bit of a pain because my flow is super quick (at peak I can express 7oz in 5/10mins) which sounds great except if you're the little girl trying to drink directly! The upshot is that she'll have a 5 min feed from one side and then be topped up with a bottle of ebm. At the moment I am struggling to keep up with the ebm because even though my flow is fast on one side, the pump never completely empties the breast. So I'm finding it all a bit wearisome to be honest. Oh and she seems to be sucking more on the end of my nipple at night. Ouch.
LO has a tooth on her lower left side. It's not fully through yet, but she's been a trooper, with just lowlevel teething symptoms. However I think the eating issue (she wasn't always so picky about breast v bottle) might be connected.
She's not sleeping through the night and has recently increased her night feeds from one to 2-4. So I'm knackered on top of everything else.
Hmmmm.. could I be feeling any sorrier for myself?!
Good luck to those getting ready for a return to work. I'm back mid-Feb and not dreading the work so much as dreading not spending so much quality time with the baby. I'm trying to decide whether to go full or part time, but it's hard just to follow your heart when money and lifestyle are so tied in.
God another moan! I'm off to have some chocolate and pull myself together.

PS Finally (no moan!) I think MelissaM has already gone on hols but I have used the Nature eco disposables (Sainsburys/Mothercare/Boots) for when I haven't kept up with my nappy washing or for when we've been away. I find them fine and they leak as much as any of the other brands used by my friends and they're only about 50p dearer per pack. I've also heard Moltex are good, but they're much more expensive.

Hi all, just trying to catch up with the thread. Bryher isn't showing any interest in solids yet (unless you count chewing the table while sat on my lap for Sunday lunch I think that was more to do with teething than hunger though) we've been giving her the odd lick of things, usually sweet things that the HV would curse me for but still no interest.

She had her last lot of jabs today, she's such a smiley little thing that she didn't know whether to bawl or grin at the nurse, so did a bit of both.

I'm probably not going to be around much for a while, my Dad's has his heart op last Tuesday and there were massive complications. He's very very poorly.
It was supposed to be relatively routine and we were hoping he'd be home by Sunday, but when they opened him up his valve was in a much worse state than they had thought. They had 2 attempts at repairing it but eventually had to replace it. He was on bypass for about 10 hours and most of his organs shut down. They've not woken him up yet, he's on a respirator, dialysis and now they're saying his liver might not be working. Last night they rushed him back into theatre as he had a bleed around his heart which was constricting it.
To top it all he now also has an aneurysm (a big bubble that fills with blood) on his heart so he's likely to need another op soon but at the moment he's far too poorly for it.
My Mum is staying at the hospital, we've been staying at my parents house, we only came home for Bryher's jabs.
We're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best, but we've been told he'll be in intensive care for weeks/months. I'm so glad I'm on maternity leave and so can be there as much as I like.

It's all been such a shock for everyone, even the surgeons, as except for a dodgy heart valve he was far fitter and healthier than most men his age, he was putting up cupboards above the cot in Bryher's room 5 days before the op.

Sorry for such a long post and vent.

Bilblio- that is such awful news about your Dad, I am sure your whole family are in shock . I really, really hope he starts to make a recovery soon and they can do any surgery necessary so he can start to get better. Thinking of you all lots- stay strong (((( ))))

Oh Bilblio - so sorry to hear about your Dad ((( )))

Bilblio - so sorry to hear about your dad. I'm sure that your Mum is relieved to have you nearby. My FIL also has an aneurysm (aortic) but cannot find a surgeon willing to operate because he's in such poor health having smoked 60 cigarettes a day for the past 55 years. You would have thought this would be an incentive to stop, but he seems to have given up hope.

On a lighter note, I'm finding that Little O is developing more of a personality now and it's such fun to see how she reacts to things. She has certain toys that just seem to annoy her (like the windchimes on her baby gym) and she ends up sort of shouting at them and hitting them really hard!

Her eczema seems to be clearing well - it coincides with me starting to use Ecover detergent...... I have noticed that anytime we go anywhere with the heating on high, it flares up, particularly on her face.

2+1 - at the xmas tree going up and at anyone who has started wrapping presents!!! Everytime I start Xmas shopping I just find things I want to buy for Little O! I have no excuse this year as
I am not at work. We are going to have to do things on the cheap though, what with me being on maternity leave.

Hope everyone doing well. I'm off to stay at my Mum's for the weekend tomorrow as DH away mountain biking in Scotland. It'll be nice to see all my friends too. Have a good one (thinking of you Bilblio).

Thinking of you and you family Biblio..Big hugs {{{{}}}}