August 2007 - milk, mash or puree - take your pick and take cover!

[shrinkingsagpuss]

James - sorry, couldn't wait any longer... hope my link works...

well done james - thats great. despite being out running three times a week, i dont seem to be losing much after the initial bit coming off quickly. ah well - sure it will pay off eventually.

had colds here too but hopefully over the worst - quite impressed with karvol.

ds is just lapping up his solids - am having to be careful to ensure they dont replace any milk feeds but think its all balancing fine. having baby rice at breakfast which despite a lot of people disliking it, he laps it up, and have made apple puree, pear puree, and he had carrot tonight - loving them all.

also trying an earlier bedtime from tonight - went to bed about 7.30 (ds not me) - still asleep so far, but going to wake him soon for a feed - will try a dream feed but think he will wake anyway. quite pessimistic about the rest of the night, but he is usually up two or three times anyway so wont be much worse surely.

well done james! that's great going - can you pass me some of your will power please

conker how did the earlier bedtime go?

i gave DD2 some Medised last night before bed to help her breathe more easily and she slept from 7.30 till 1.15 had some milk (cough and puked it up, had some more) then got up again at 5.15 - so not too bad a night, though i kept waking up to make sure she was ok.

i spent yesterday making a list of everything i've got to do this week and next before xmas and it's about 5 pages long so off to do some real life things.....for a while anyway

James, well done with 6lbs, thats fantastic

DD is driving me crazy. She had a cold about three weeks ago and now is really clingy, just hoping its a phase.

Its nice to hear of all the LO's loving their fruit and veg.

Have any of you tried introducing a little spice into the mix? I did with DS. I gave him apple a couple of times then added things like cinnamon. I got the idea from a friend who is from the Punjab. DS absolutely loved it and will now eat most things, or at least try them.

Back of to see to my clingy baby....

hi all,

i've got guests.. they've brought their 2 kids aged 2.5 and 4, the youngest has a revolting looking skin infection or maybe parasites on her chin and other parts of face and body and i've had to leave the house to stop the kids touching my baby's face constantly. They keep trying to poke her eyes/ ears/ nose and hold her hands. and have sneezed directly on her twice. I'm at my wits end, they're staying until next week.

I'm so angry. aggghhhh

and it drives me mad anyway that people here constantly pinch mila's cheeks and try to hold her hand and kiss her, i want to scream 'wash your bloody hands!' and people always start screeching 'hello baby' close to her face whenever she's sleeping! This island will drive me mad I'm sure.

should add if I seem a bit horrible, the parents confirmed the infection is probably parasites or bacterial. they explained she's a mucky little mite always poking around dirty things and always has her fingers in her mouth. they keep applying ointment and she keeps wiping/dribbling it off.

i just can't believe they thought it fine to come and stay with us while she has this condition which is probably infectious as her older sister has started to get the same rash/spots by her nose

i've insisted the kids don't touch the baby and the parents looked a bit pouty but i can't leave the baby alone around the for a moment as they don't listen at all

Banana - well done on the will power - that must be a stone now!

I've had a hell morning! DH been away for a few days (back tomorrow). So we all had to get up extra early so could take ds to nursery before taking dd to school and ds2 for jabs. Ds1 screaming that he didn't want to go to nursery, ds2 screaming for a feed (we were late!) and dd fannying around with her school bag - went to put all in the car and ds2 car seat base in DH car......ahhhhhhhh! Rang him up to have a rant, he hung up on me, so guess we're not speaking!

When I got pg didn't realise that dh would be working away so much. Feel very much like a single parent at the moment, but have the bonus of having dh drop off his washing!

ds2 has start to reach and grab things this week. don't think it will be long until he's trying to move to get the other dcs toys!

yuck - mama, that sounds grim! And poor little girl - great parents she's got there!

wow loler i get stressed when i feel like mila's been pinned to me all day and dp still makes plans to do stuff like pop out for a drink with friends, just because i'm breast feeding why should it be assumed that i'm housebound whilst dp's free to keep up his social life. (oops drifting into a rant there..!)

but with 3 young kids to organise that's really hard work andyou must never get a moment to yourself

omg mamamila - i'd be sending them on their way! that's really inconsiderate of them to come and stay. 2.5 is still quite young to understand why they have not to touch baby. are there any preventative measures you can take? apart from you staying with someone else???

loler how do you manage with 3 on your own? i've not yet had to do bedtime routine on my own with my 2 but will next week - how do you do it? any advice?

It's incredibly busy at work at the moment mainly due to so many people being off sick, training, on leave. My team is down to half so I'm having to do a lot of their work and my deputy is on holiday so I'm having to do all her work too. I'm definitely looking forward to 4 days off at xmas.

Dd is much better now thanks James. She keeps pooing in her knickers cos she had a nappy on for so long and bed times are still a bit of a nightmare but she's not in pain any more.

Well done on losing a stone in 2 weeks James. I've lost a stone in 6 weeks. My size 14 trousers are slowly getting looser. I'm really looking forward to being in a size 12 again soon!

A friend of ours has bought the Beaba Babycook for us for christmas. I can't wait to try it out and make some purees. I'm still going to leave it til February if ds lets me, although mum thinks I may have to wean him earlier. He's waking earlier these days and doesn't tend to want any more milk. We'll see. As for getting them to eat fruit and veg early on - dd was weaned on fruit and veg purees and would eat them til she was about 18 months but she is very fussy these days and the only veg she will eat is carrots. Recently she has started to eat salad. We think that is because we let her help us make it. We've started getting her to help us make the other dinners but she's not so keen on broccoli, cabbage etc.

Poor you mamamila. That sounds horrendous. Some people just don't care.

Oh no, loler that must have been a bit of a nightmare, what did you do in the end? did the carseat still work without the base? I got a taxi to and from asda yesterday, took lo in his carseat- but no matter how quick I was at strapping him in the taxi, both drivers rolled their eyes and sighed as soon as they spotted the carseat. Men!

(hah, just had to type "fangry" to get that emoticon, it does rather sound like an angry fanny though! Glad we don't have an emoticon for that! LOL)

Ahem. Eew, mamamila I hope your lo doesn't get that parasitic infection, it sounds horrible! I'm surprised the parents are letting their girls maul Mila, you'd think they'd try to stop it spreading.

Ineedsomesleep, I like the idea about adding spice to the babies foods, cinnamon is lovely, paprika is good to add to veggies as it's quite mild, we had it on roasted sweet potato chunks the other day, couldn't taste it til they were heaped with the stuff!

Yeah it's just almost a stone, I hadn't been doing any extra activity but took a country walk on sunday and then walked home through town briskly yesterday after my slimming world class, took me about half an hour. Excercise is my biggest hurdle though, I don't like it much unless I'm in a nice gym or swimming pool. I've made up my mind I'm taking James swimming in the new year though- I'll have to just be brave and get it done!

Speaking of being brave, I'm thinking about going along to a Mother and Baby group on friday but in real life I can be a bit introverted because I have no idea how to make friends, and I suspect I'll sit there on my own talking to James for an hour and feeling like a tit. Is anyone else going to those groups, and are they easy to fit in with?

Glad your dd is better, although you could probably do without the extra pooey pants though, you sound like you're run off your feet Gill, don't let work take advantage of you too much! well done on losing a stone too by the way. The bigger you are the faster it comes off initially, it'll level out to a steady 1 or 2 pounds for me eventually too.

Thanks James. As long as I lose at least a pound a week I'm happy. I've been having trouble fitting exercise in recently. I was doing an hour's aerobics every sunday but we've had a couple of busy weekends.

I was supposed to leave dd's car seat at mum's the other day so my dad could drive mum and the dcs to the hospital for mum's appointment. I forgot and, by the time mum realised, it was too late. She had to prop dd up on cushions and use a normal seat belt. I wasn't too happy about it but mum could easily have said she couldn't look after them that day and I would have had to take time off work. There was no way I was going to tell dh though, he would have gone mad. Just as I was parking at home that night dd told me she'd gone in grandad's car. I panicked and told her that if she told dh that then she would have to go on the step. I said she had to tell him she went on the bus. I felt a bit bad about threatening her like that. Luckily she listened to me and didn't mention the car to him.

I'm a bit like you James - quite shy and find it difficult to talk to people. I'm not very confident and think that no one will want to talk to me. However, it's different in mother and baby groups. You've got something in common with everyone there i.e. your babies. Some groups are a bit cliquey (sp?) but I'm sure they will make you welcome, especially if you ask the organiser to introduce you to some of the other mums. Try opening with how cute the baby is/where did they buy that outfit/how old they are etc.

James

Have you tried 'snuffle baby' for James it's like a baby vicks vapour rub. It has realy help Lexie to breath at night you just put a little under their chins.

Although i have to phone and cancel her jabs tomorrow as she has a cold and a bit of an upset tummy.

Oh yes I have some snufflebabe, I tried it on his chest but as I could barely smell it I thought it probably wasn't that good. I'll put some on him now if I can without waking him up. Hey, got him in bed for 7.30pm today, it's a record as usually it's at least 8.30pm, so more time for me, yay!! Old friend calling in a min, then I'm off for a bath before I wrap more presents.

TMI, but I was looking forward to some "fun" with dp later, and I'm horrified to find I have my period again. It's exactly two weeks since my last one, and it lasted nine sodding days. That's not fair, is it???? It explains my little outburst with my sister on saturday, and the ever so slightly irrational row I started with dp thursday night- unexpected pmt isn't fun. I'm annoyed about this though, I only got a week off!

Sudden thought.

There's no way this could be implantation bleeding is there? I had a bleed last time a month or so in when I was pregnant. brb off to google implantation bleeding. wahhhh

banana - it would be too early for an implantation bleed, you would only just be at the sperm meeting egg stage. That bleed in my experience was about 6-8 weeks. Aren't you using any contraception? I'm finding a child in the bed great contraception!

I absolutely hate mother and toddler groups - I do go as DS1 loves them. I find that I have nothing in common with anyone at them apart from happening to have a child! Some groups are more friendly than others but I think you really do have to make an effort to speak to everyone else and to give it a few weeks so that you get seen as being a regular. I'm also not particularly out going but have made a couple of really good friends from one of the groups I used to go to.

DH rang me earlier and appoligised - we're friends again - you never know may consider trying to get rid of a child from the bed this weekend, must have been about 6 months and it is christmas

James, get to the mother and baby group and see if its any good. Be yourself, you're hilarious. Some groups are rubbish and boringor too wild with toddlers careering round, some are okay, you can pick and choose if you have a few in your area. I think GillLs right, its different when you hve a baby on your lap, everyone's got another focus rather than the adults, but yes, a bit scary. They've just had a parenting play course where I live and that was good cos you had a practical task to do so could get away with saying nothing if you wanted .

Mamamila, how appalling. It must make your blood boil. Good luck whisking her away from scabby skin.

We have chicken pox chez stig, that is ds only so far thank god. He has about 40 spots now and is very pathetic, waking loads etc. Boo. Really hope Caitlin doesnt get it. She's too small . She'll prob break out in time for christmas. Am hoping the bf will give her my immunity.

I've been keeping ds away from people. Went for a walk today and had to keep going off road to avoid walkers with dogs etc, but theres no way we would all survive staying indoors together for a week or two.

Aaw thanks stig, your fiver is in the post.

Oh no, chickenpox at christmas? That's no good. If your dd does get it she might be ok though, I got it when I was little and only got one "pock" so you never know. Fingers crossed for you she doesn't though.

I will try to get my nerve up and go to the mother and baby group on friday. Maybe.

Loler you're right, just read up on implantation bleeding and doesn't sound likely, obviously they're just acting up a bit at the moment. No still not using contraception, need to stop being a pansy and go get that coil fitted, but my legs involuntarily cross everytime I think about it. It sounds painful!

On the other hand, childbirth is a tad more painful...

Not heard from tasha in a week or so, hope she's just busy with christmas and her boys, and everything's ok.

Gill, it's no good when you can't be honest with your partner, but I know what you mean, sometimes it's better to keep schtum in order to keep the peace. Anything for an easy life, eh? Hope you get some R&R this weekend. I won't- I'm putting my tree up. Bah humbug.

James i feel the same about the coil which my sister find funny as she can not understand why i am finding it difficult in getting it fitted (i'm a coward and have gone back on the pill for now)when i have had 2 babies over 9lb's with no probelms and she had no children and has had one for years now.

hi,

oh no stig sorry for the pox. your poor lad, it really wipes their energy. at least he can be confined to bed or sofa for some days. hope lo doesn't catch too. are you breast feeding? i wonder if that really does protect against ailments..

and banana, i have the exact same problem, had a monstrously heavy first period since pregnancy. then it started again a week or so later but just for a few days and i'm taking the mini pill.. sporadically

Oooh dear, sounds like the first period is definitely not something to look forward to....

Morning chicks !! How are we all ? Poor Stig child, having chicken pox I woke up on my birthday with it a few years ago so really do still have VERY vivid memories of how awful I felt.
Anyway, my little fella has started solids now and seems to be enjoying whatever I give him. So far it's been baby rice, creamy porridge, banana and orange breakfast, rice with mediterranean veg (all from Boots organic range) and then I ventured into homemade puree of steamed carrot and parsnip. It's messy, but he seems very ready for it. Bought him a high chair yesterday which I hope makes it easier than wrestling with him on my knee..

Hey you lot! Just catching up on your postings - blimey, things have moved on - work, weaning and weight loss!

If you want to shift weight fast, try a diary-free diet. I've been on one for the past week to see if it'll help with the colic and I'm permanently starving! Am also trying cranial osteopathy to see if it's a solution.

Gill, don't know how you manage to cope with being back at work already and two children. You are a wonderwoman! I'm dreading going back - really can't imagine leaving her - but must in Feb.

Banana - when's your first trip to the M&B group? Yep, just be yourself and pay compliments to the babies if the conversation goes quiet. Everyone's in the same boat. Wish I had someone with your dry wit near me. If I hear any more talk about personalised Xmas presents I think I'll go ga-ga...

Hello to everyone else - hope the babies are all thriving and that we're all staying sane! x

James - I've had 3 periods so far. The second one was 2 weeks after the first one started and the third one was 3 weeks after the second one started. I'm hoping it's going to settle back down to 4 weeks apart again soon.

Thanks Annie It's really hard work and I'm struggling to drag myself out of bed every morning at the moment. I'm going to start looking for a part time job in the new year.

Hello to TT and Annie, babies keeping you nice and busy these days? TT- glad your lo is enjoying the solids, does he seem to have any preferences yet or is it all gratefully received?

Annie (thanks, you lot are lovely!) can you have soya or rice milk? vitalite is dairy free, and I'm sure there's dairy free cheese and soya yoghurts out there you could try. I'm not keen on soya dairy replacement products but you might like them?

Right so my crazy periods sound about normal then! that's reassuring, hopefully they'll gradually space out like Gill's.

Lizzie- the reason your sister finds it funny that we're scared of having a coil fitted is she's never had a massive bony head and doctors hands/instruments bashing HER cervix! Makes you a little squeamish about having anything medical vaguely near it ever again!

My dp has been full of compliments since starting the diet, and last night he actually ran me a bath without being asked and lit me a candle in there! Wonders will never cease... wonder what he's after?

wow lots going on

i wish i could lose some weight i'm trying not to get too down about it but i feel so frumpy

Annie- your poor lo is still suffering from colic? are you noticing any improvements now you're non-dairy? how long does it take to eliminate?

TT- good for you taking the plunge with the solids. i've ordered a bumbo seat thing but also a clip on seat for the table which is cool for eating together and practical for restaurants and other peoples houses

have a look at this baby signing i know they're still young but i really want to try