Oct 07 - this little piggy stayed at home...

[Dalrymps]

Hey guys sorry for the sh*t title, if there's already been a new thread set up please direct me there???

I think that DH knew he was out of order as he was really nice to me last night. He went up to get Dareh when he was crying and even offered to make the tea tonight! And better yet I am allowed to buy a sling!!! Sometimes a bit of guilt is a good thing eh!

The infacol helped a bit last night but he still didn't go to sleep until 11 then was up at three. He used to sleep at least six hours- he's gone backwards for some reason.

I better do some cooking while he is asleep!

Hey everyone, just a quick note, stefka - glad dh has pulled his finger out!
muppet -pmsl at your embarassing storys, very funny!
I've put some more up to date photos of Dylan on my profile, ignore the pics of the ziko, they're just on there cause i'm trying to sell it, will be back later (((waves to everyone)))

Dal - He's lovely!!

Mrs Fish - You've got one to watch there! Ollie only ever gave his dinner to the dog, he's never thought to do what Sam did!
Well, just made scones for lunch and 24 fairy cakes for Ollie to decorate later.

Henry having a nap. We have a green outside our house that is enclosed by a circle of yew hedging. This has mainly died very year for 3 years and they are finally replacing the whole lot with something (I don't know what -it's green?) else. Yippeee. We've all been fed up with dead and dying hedging.

G'd morning All!
I wanted to say last night;
Muppet; thanks for making me laugh so much
Stefka; was going to say your dh needs a swift kick but glad to hear this morning that he now feels guilty...
I personally found my dh got his act together when I told him I "didn't trust him" to look after Alex properly because he didn't make Alex is first priority!;...he would just leave a room Alex was asleep in with the dog in there (I dont believe for one minute that the dog would deliberately harm Alex but accidents happen and I never, ever leave them alone together for one second and its easy enough to get the dog to come with you or pick Alex up and take him instead), he's left Alex to go and get something from the garage (10 yards and 7 steps down from the front door..well out of ear shot)and he's left Alex to cry while he "just finished this programme on the computer"! Not to mention the times I caught him propping Alex in the corner of a chair while he went to the kitchen for more ebm and leaving Alex on the changing table while he went to the bathroom for warm water...!!!! Dh was actually insulted and upset that I didnt trust him and now realises where his priorities must lie and as shown a distinct improvement....Though I must admit that me going into meltdown on Saturday morning after Dh had been out with the lads till 2 am and then drunkenly slept through Alexs' waking every 2 hours for feeding throughout the night when I had an opera gala to sing at on Saturday night has done his concience a world of good too! Particularly when he tried to justify himself with "but you're going out tonight and I'll have him on my own"......I was going out to WORK, not have fun with my mates! What is more he didnt have him on his own, he went to his Mums and let her take the brunt of it! but at least he acted more responsibly.

On the subject of Saturday night..for me work wise it was great because it got me to get my voice back into serious working order and I have never suffered so little from nerves because I was far more worried about Alex for the whole time... but for Alex it was a disaster...I took him to the rehearsal so I could feed him before the concert but it was too early and he didnt really get hungry so didnt take much before Dh had to take him way...Dh then went to his parents house for dinner taking a bag I had packed with a very free flowing bottle of ebm (4oz with a bit of added babyrice), a different "breastflow" bottle of 4oz pure ebm and a carton of aptimil with a soft mouthpiece feedercup... all of this to just try to get something/anything into him while I was away for his 6-8pm cluster feeding time...Dhs Mum and sister and Aunt tried everything; he screamed for the best part of the 5 hours he was there but wouldnt take anything, he saturated 3 bibs and wouldnt settle with anyone but Dh (after his Mum handed Alex to him as a last resort)when Dh brought him to pick me up at 10pm he fed like a demon, hiccuppy weeping the whole time. I felt dreadful!.....He used to take the breastflow bottles of ebm quite happily until he was 9/10weeks old but he gradually got worse and worse about them until dh gave up trying to relieve me of the first (2am) night feed (to tell the truth after the stimulation of the 6-8pm cluster feeding I always had to get up at 2am to express away the engorgement anyway!)He cup feeds quite well for me and my Mum (using the bottles clear plastic lid)but no one else seems to have the knack of getting it in him rather than soaking his bibs through....I don't have any more concerts lined up until May (by which time he will be being weaned of course) but if something comes up unexpectedly, what on earth can I do apart from take my Mum with me as a Nanny? The way I feel at the moment I'd rather turn work down than subject Alex to a night like that again.The only good thing to come of it (apart from the money of course)is the pride Dh took in being the only one that could calm his son down...anything to help them bond has to be a good thing. Any suggestions as to how to get him to take a bottle again anyone?

Are you a singer? I am so jealous! I would love to be able to sing. That's weird about the bottles - Dareh sometimes refuses to take one too after taking them fine for weeks. It's odd.

Hi Floria - Glad Sat was a success in terms of work but at Alex not taking a bottle. I don't have any tricks to get them to take a bottle...I hope one of the others does so you don't have to turn work down.

We've just got back from registering Henry at nursery. He starts in March for 2 days. We have him going back to the same nursery as Oliver as they were fab and more like family. I've asked advice from them, cried on their shoulders when work wasn't going great reall happy he's going there as I though they might not have space. I am going to try to get a job during those 2 days but not sure what I can get between the hrs of 9.30-2.30? Anyone got any ideas? I don't want to go back into school as was a teacher and need to give that a wide berth as got very jaded with it all. I have tutored before and taught 'cello, piano and music theory but all this was after school and before children! I have no one to take the kids after school and dh doesn't get home till 7.30-8pm so can't have them for me.
We need a thinking cap emoticon!

Just a quickie for Floria - when we were in hospital I was told to massage their palate with a finger until they start to suck then stick the bottle (or nipple as was then) in once they have a good suck going. Not sure if this only works when they're tiny but I know it worked for ejt when Mairwen was small? Work a shot anyway!

Sorry have read all posts but no time to reply to everyone individually today as it's the last night with my parents so I want to spend some time with them. I'll be back on form tomorrow!

Starting baby massage then too - with Choc. Going back to the same lady I went to with Sam and she was great so looking forward to it...

FT - am really glad that Saturday went well - I was thinking of you! Sorry to hear that Alex has (like Mairwen) become a bottle-refuser - I've ordered some doidy cups, but at the moment, am persevering with feeding ebm off a medicine spoon, or out of the top of the bottle. Yes, it's messy, but at least Mairwen will get something. It's horrible when you see them so unhappy, but if it's any consolation, he won't remember it at all ...

Stefka - so glad your dh has seen sense! Have fun choosing your new sling.

Muppetgirl - why not train as a baby massage coach? One of my friends has done the course (details here, and has found it really good ... and I enjoyed being in her first group that she taught! The nice thing about it is that you can set your own hours ...

Ess - really hope that the funeral went ok for you today - you've been in my thoughts and prayers.

Well, we had a bloody awful night last night ... Mairwen slept from 7 - 10 (fantastic), and then from 11.30 - 3 (not so bad) ... but then she woke at 3, 4.30, 5.30 and 6.30 for a feed (each of which lasted about 20 minutes) ... and she's not napped terribly well today either ... we could have another difficult night on our hands ... but we did enjoy baby yoga today, and I went to Starbucks for hot chocolate with one of the other mums in the group ... bliss ...

Right, am going to go and have some quality crochet time ...

Ejt - thanks for that it looks really interesting and would fit in in school hrs. Will look into it

J2O - poor Shannon, hope she's better soon

Choc - ugh at the root canal - hope it wasn't too painful.

Muppet - at Olly with his pirates/willy comments. Don't you just love 4 yo's?!

Anya has rash on her stomach/chest today - can't think why. Did the glass test and that was ok, and she's not ill. Maybe washing powder or something.

Didn't make it to the garden centre yesterday - dh in bed most of the day with a headache . Still, good days and bad days I suppose.

Hi everyone,
Sorry haven't been on for ages. Finally had 1st round of jabs today (at 13wks!) and GP was horrible. Poor DD screamed blue murder and GP was so rough with her when checking the hip rotation that he managed to slightly tear her vagina! I was horrified when I saw there was some blood. I want to change GP asap Now DD seems quite grumpy soI'm not expecting much sleep tonight.

Stefka, did I read that you're buying a sling? I'm thinking of selling my hug-a-bub. It's black and in perfect condition. I just use the pushchair all the time now.

Right, better go and try to calm down my poor little baby.

Ess; hope things went as well as could be expected for you today. I've been thinking of you.

Alice;Thanks for the idea..we'll give it a shot tonight, though he seems quite happy to use the bottle as a teething ring, he just doesn't want to suck the milk out of it..Dh is in Sweden this week so Mum is staying to help me as Alex is fractious at the moment, chewing frantically on his or preferrably our fingers or the gel teething rings if we hold them for him...so she has put an extra hole in the breast flow bottle teat and will try to relieve me of the 2 am feed

EJT;Thanks for the sympathy, we have bought a doidy cup and will be trying that too if the bottle fails again tonight....I hope we can find some solution soon, I really,really could do with more than 2.5 hours sleep at a time.

Muppet; Have you heard of Jo Jingles? I believe its a music class just for babies and their Mums, (one of my former pupils came to me because she was setting a class up and wanted to improve her voice) I intend joining as soon as Alex is 6 months old...if your area isnt already catered for you would be ideally qualified to run one and you can choose the times and venues you want to work.

Off to bed now to get some sleep before 2am in case he doesnt oblige for Mum
Hope you all get a decent nights sleep

Muppetgirl - while I was putting Mairwen back to bed (for the second time (!)), I was thinking about other things ...

Monkey Music is very popular around here - same idea as FT suggests, I suppose ... I'm sure there are other franchises too ...

OOps before I got to bed I forgot to say;
Stefka; yes I am a singer...no one famous .. but have been tending to do a lot more teaching than performing since marrying 4 years ago...and though I will admit it was briefly gratifying to get back in front of an audience again on Saturday I wouldnt go back to the old lonely, rootless life being a full time professional used to be...marriage and motherhood is infinately more rewarding. Sorry to hear Dareh wont take a bottle either...frustrating when they will only drink draught isnt it?

Anya; I do hope the good days get more frequent for all your sakes.

And Miss Bumpy I'm shocked, disgusted and horrified!!! That is utterly appalling! He needs reporting! No wonder your poor DD is upset..I would take her to A&E with her and make sure he hasnt done any more damage. I do hope she is ok.

Right I really am going to bed now

hi all, crap day here again, i had dd1 off school today, pretending to be ill but what she meant was she didn't get no sleep at her dads on Sat night again, so was feeling tired, then at 7pm i left her holding Shannon while i went to toilet, then she started screaming that she'd dropped Shannon, i ran in and she was on the floor, she'd tripped over the bouncer chair and Shannon had landed on the other side of it, cue me ringing an ambulance again, so we've been at A+E again all night, lo seems ok, no obvious marks and d1 struggled to tell me exactly what happened or even whether she actually banged her head, so the doc said to just keep an eye on her, so thats 2 bangs to the head in less than a week, am now panicking that i'm going to get SS round, on top of that, i'd woke up this morning covered in blood, my periods are so heavy, i feel so weak, so i've just started taking the pill, hopefully it will make them lighter.

missbumpy i am horrified at your GP, that is so awful, are you going to complain?

choc-did the root canal hurt? i've got to have it done next week and am very scared.

thats about all i can manage for now, going to try and get some sleep, love to you all xx

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't done a proper post in a while, only seem to have time ot read your then I have to see to ds again, of course we're all the same! plus I have a crap memory so have to keep scrolling up and down to remember what everyone said!
One thing I do remember this time is what missbumpy said, how on earth did the GP manage to do that to your poor lo? I am completely outraged, thats awful, think you should definately make an official complaint about that, and change GP, it's not on!
Anyway my new favourite thing is my Quinny, i've been walking here there and everywhere with it, its amazing, I love it, ds is so cosy in it and the suspension makes the ride super bouncy and soft for him
Signed up to a free 4 week baby massage class so looking forward to that, had a quick go at my usual baby club on wed and ds eemed to like it apart from when he got a bit hungry towards the end... only thing was he kept farting all the way through none of the other babies were doing this , he does like a good fart .
mrsfish - well done with getting ds to go on the big toilet, seems ages away before i'll be at that stage with lo but I bet it'll be here before I know it!
stefka - glad dh has started behaving again, here's hoping he sticks at it for a while and helps you when you need it. Glad you're getting a sling, hope it helps, i'm sure it will! How's the feeding going by the way? you've not mentioned it for a while, does that mean it's going better? I'm doing ok with it, managing to feed ds every other feed but my milk supply still isn't what it was so depending on what he gets from me he usually needs a top up of an oz or 2 of formula after i've fed him, hope to get to the point where I can do every other feed without a top up, not sure at the moment whether I want to get back to bf full time or not as I quite like the flexibility of doing both but we'll see, I feel like it'd be good for ds to be bf full tim but it is a big responsibility being the sole feeder, suppose other people have to do it though? I'm just rambling now so will shut up about that...
alice, hope you're havng a nice time with your parents
floria, hope your feeding/sleeping problems sort themselves out soon, it must be really wearing you out, thinking of you
Anyasmum, hope you are feeling ok, must be difficult to cope some times with dh feeling down, I have a little experience of living with someone who has depression (although I was a lot younger and it was my mum) and it can be really hard, You sound like you are coping brilliantly and are mamaging to stay upbeat and positive, we are all here for you any time
ejt, sorry the sleeping's not been going too well, hope it gets better soon, why does it always change when you think it's sorted??
muppet, don't really have any advice for the bottle thing, we use tommy tippee closer to nature ones and ds seems to go between them and the breast fine but we've not really had a problem, sounds like you've tried quite a few things already, hope it sorts itself out soon.
clu - glad you asked that about the swimming, we've been thinking of taking ds but were a bit confused as to how it all works, let us know how it goes!
ess, hope you're doing ok, thinking of you, be nice to hear from you again
J20, hope Shannon's feeling better, poor little soul
choc, hope the sleeping has improved, we're trying ds in his cot for the first time tonight instead of his moses basket, i'm sat in bed now typing and he's just talking away to his mobile and refusing to drop off
inzi, hows the feeding going now, new formula seem to be helping?
ellens, hope you enjoyed your me time
mine, hope the ww is going ok losing weight is such hard work!
emmck, baby yoga sounds interesting, what does that involve exactly?
apricot, hope huw was ok after injection and suffered no ill effects
winnie, any luck getting lo to take the ebm yet?
strawberry, well done on takling some decorating. our bathroom looks like a bomb hit it, no side on the bath, tiles hanging off, really needs sorting out, we'll get round to it at some point i'm sure.
Well, i'd better get to sleep, hi to anyone i've missed and catch ya all soon

oops that was massive!

Morning all!

6.10am....he woke.

Marvelous!

Floria/Ejt - Jo Jingles has a franchaise in Swindon already because I did look into that a while back and they don't let another set up. Not sure about Monkey Music so I'll do a bit of research. Thanks for the ideas. It's hard to know what to do with such a small ammount of very specific time that I can work. Dh has asked that I don;t work at the weekends as that's family time as he gets home too late at night to have any during the week. I'm quite happy with that as he didn't mean it 'all cavemen like' (back to those caves again, you'll all be wondering what my house is like soon!) it was more of a request that I agree with.

Ess- I hope all went well yesterday and it was as respectful and dignified, with love and memories as you would have wanted for your Grandad x

Today is a busy day, we have the man who can fix worktops coming to fix the worktop as it has a huuuuge split in it. Not sure how this is going to lok but they did say that if we weren't happy with the results then they would replace the length but to try this first. The at 10.45 I have my 6 weeks check!! Inzi was right I did need it sooner than 13 weeks...So a bit to discuss re H's eyes (still sticky) and my 'troubles down there' -will enlighten you if anything comes from it but are v. embarrassed Oliver is at school today to school run and my friend is having a Virgin Vie party tonight and as I missed her Christmas party I really should go though I just want to curl up and go to bed!
It's a make up party (they do home parties now also)but don;t need any atm....can't drink as driving home. Right then, I'll be the one asleep in the corner then

Have a good day all
Emma

Morning

Ben was up at 6am this morning and I have just finished feeding him. His last feed was 6pm last night! He has been sleeping through again since I re-started the INfacol, coincidence? Its true what they say about sleep breeding sleep, the more I have the more I want mind you I am awake alot during the night, what with Ben waking me up just by murmuring lots not actually waking and my neck is still bothering me. I'm going to see the chiropractor again today and will also see what the doc says on thursday when I see her.

ess - I hope yesterday went ok for you and there was no unnecessary upset xx

j20 - I hope Shannon is ok, I'm sure she is, I had a few accidents with Sam during his first year and he has turned out ok

missbumpy and at your gp, I would definitely try and move, what a twat. How did she sleep in the end?

Hi everyone - hope everyone's ok. I feel shattered today and the bad weather doesn't bode well...mind you I think DS would like nothing more than a few hours of tv, so that may not be such a bad thing! We still haven't cracked the night sleep - days are good, lots of regular naps etc but night's are a bit haphazard. I know it's cause she's in with me and just likes to latch on when she wants. Is anyone else co-sleeping??? I need to get her in the cot I think. Other than that, all ok. Had the journey from hell on Fri though - took us 9 and a half hours to do a 5 hr journey! imagine the joy of sitting on the A1, motionless in traffic for over an hour and a half with a hungry toddler and no food left! what good fun!

one question - do any of you who express give the ebm yourselves or is it always someone else?? just wondering whether that would work or be too confusing for her...

ess - hope you're ok. was thinking of you and also hope shannon's ok j20.

anyway hope you all have good days and missbumpy change your gp! shocking.

Dalry - the feeding is loads better thanks! They are still a bit tender but it's nothing compared to the awful pain I was in. I am really glad I stuck at it. Full time BF is a big commitment that's for sure though.

MissB! I was wondering where you had got to. I would love a hugabub has have heard nothing but good things about them but as I can only get the one sling I have been advised that a woven wrap will last longer so I am hoping to get a Storch. I am disgusted at your GP - how awful. I do hope you consider putting a complaint in.

Choc - hope the dentist went well.

Floria if you lived closer I would make you give me lessons. I would love to do something like that for fun. (just fun mind you - no x factor wannabe here!)

Good luck with your busy day Emma!

Nellie - sorry you are so tired. I started off co sleeping but moved him because I couldn't relax with him in bed. He's in the crib next to the bed at the moment. Still can't get him go to bed at night though.

I was wondering about when I should move him to his own room actually. He will be too big for that crib soon I think. And I can hear him waking up bbl!

missbumpy - at your GP. You should definitely change if you're not happy and agree you should report it. Nice to see you back again

muppet - enjoy your party

nellie - we're not co-sleeping - dh smokes so it's too risky from a cot-death pov. I have her moses basket on a stand next to the bed though so I only have to peer in to check on her. We're going to start putting her in her cot though as soon as we get some blackout curtains for her room. Subject of ebm - when we used to do it dh used to do some feeds and Anya didn't seem bothered by that.

Anya's rash seems better today - no idea what that was then .

morning everyone, well, ds's first night in his cot couldn't have gone better! we put it at the side of our bed where his crib had been and he talked away to his mibile for a bit then just went straight to sleep, he was stirring a bit but as soon as I turned my lamp off he was out for the count, slept from 11.45pm to 7.45am! hooray, fingers crossed it carries on. We're trying to decide whether to go through to newcastle or not today, we said we'd pop in to dh's work at some point to show ds off, not sure we can be bothered today or not, we'll see!

That's great dalry!

I so wish Dareh would fall asleep on his own. Last night was a bit better - four hours to get him to bed instead of five He did at least sleep after that though. I had to give in and let him fall asleep on me in the end though which is not a habit I want to get in to.

ooh so many posts to catch up on ,

dalry was it you that mix feeds? i do too ive tried to go back to exclusive BF but I just dont seem to be able to fill her up it's just finding the right balance and it is nice to have other members of family feed her.

I've been going running the last two mornings, trying to do my old route and take lily in her pram, but I seem to have developed another bum , and gosh it feels horrible when running. We are going swimming this aft (need to get rid of the hairy bits! could take a couple of hours) Im quite looking forward to it so Ill report back on that got my two towels packed.

Im going to aim to get Lily to bed earlier she doesnt go till 12/1am wasnt till I read your days that i realised most of you have them in bed earlier.

have a good one all, off to fight the forest in the shower