Sept '07... I'm forever blowing raspberries and my cheeks ache from smiling so much....

[PurpleLostPrincess]

Here we go! (or should I say here wii go!?). I'll try doing a link too...

Incidentally, I had a dream last night that Cerys suddenly learnt how to blow proper raspberries! Don't know where it came from but it could be that she has been trying since she was about 4 weeks old and did it entirely by accident yesterday!

PLP xxx

Thanks Dal - i will try without and see how we get on, i didn't realise
PLP - i try that too, hes on the avent 2 hole teats?! will have a look for others!

Arbensmum, have a look at some of these websites, you might get some inspiration. I too am in desperate need of a hair cut .

Kayala sorry to hear about your weekend woes. Men and their germs!

PLP sorry to hear your DH is still suffering with his depression, how horrid, I REALLY do hope the medication starts to work. Oh NO, I hope that lady on ebay hasn't conned you, what was her ebay name so that she can be avoided! I really do hope it does arrive though.

dal, I'm glad to hear treadmills are hardy machines, I'll let you know when its been resurrected! So is the GF book better than the AK? What do you find are the main differences between the two? The past few days Niamh seems to be preferring baby rice and baby porridge to carrot or sweet potato, think I will have to gradually introduced the veg mixed in with the rice.

Yes, I guess the number 2's would be equivalent to the medium flow so perhaps number 3's would be fast flow? (not sure!) but definitely worth a try. Might be a bit messy to start with so use waterproof bibs at first just incase...

Hopey - I meant to say that DS and DD1 are absolutely enchanted by Cerys too! DS is 13 and I've never seen a teenage boy coo over a baby like him. He holds her at every opportunity and kisses her etc (apart from if she is crying of course!). DD1(9) loves playing with her too. However, they are an absolute nightmare towards each other and to be quite frank its doing my head in . They don't generally get on at the best of times but they do love each other deep down when it comes to the crunch. I'm an only child so I really don't understand how anybody can be so horrible to somebody on such a constant level!!??

Thinking of you kinki!! ((hugs)) xx

PLP - its funny how the LO's just fit into life isn't it! Arben was my first but he has an 8yr old cousin(boy) and a 6yr old girl cousin and it amazes how much they absolutely love him! Whenever we go and see them they drop what they are doing and come to see and play with him, they love helping with fedding him etc and were so excited the other night when they all had a bath together
I get how your other two are wth each other, sounds exactly like me and my bro!! 3 years between us. when we were young it was ok but when we got to our teens, my goodness. It wasn't until i went to uni at 19 that we started getting on much better and are now closer than ever. I have lost count the number of times i remember my mum and dad threatening to knock our heads together

Hellooooo everyone ! Thanks for your words of support re the DH on business holiday in NY. I think I will wait until I've stopped feeding Eloise and then book a weekend away for myself !! I will take a leaf out of your book Sophus for this weekend !!

Kinki - thinking of you tomorrow and hope all goes well . Glad you've got everyone organised and managed to express enough milk for Liam !

Canadianmum - how rude of your MIL - just ignore her - I normally do with mine - she spent the whole of my pregnancy telling me how enormous I was and was I sure it wasn't twins !

Dal - do you mind me asking how much you limit Ryan's food to ? I have been giving Eloise 3 icecubes worth of puree-is that too much? I really don't want to risk her weight dropping off again by decreasing her milk intake(she is only 6kg at the moment !)
Well done on the running !

Hopey - I think Niamh is going to be a very well dressed baby ! I have bought Eloise a gorgeous dress and shoes from Monsoon Sale to wear for my brother's wedding.

PLP - hope Cerys gets more settled - sounds like you should get her medicine sorted out now she is bigger. Is she teething too ? poor love !

Kyala - sorry about your DH ! It must be a very bad case of man-flu !

arbensmum - lovely pics of your gorgeous boy!

Hi to everyone else

Evening all. Thanks for all your kind thoughts again about tomorrow. Hopey, apparantly it's done under sedation rather than GA. Wish I didn't have to have it though because that's why I can't feed Liam for a day after. I'm feeling wildly outside of my comfort zone with this test. Usually things don't unnerve me too much but this does. It's giving me a severe bout of insomnia - I can hardly sleep, only a few hours a night. Bloody typical now that Liam's sleeping 12+ hours! On the bright side this time tomorrow, it'll all be done and I'll be back home.

For those of you that have expressed milk, can you answer me a question? Before a few days ago I haven't collected any since Liam was a few weeks old. This week I've been collecting it in breast shields while I'm feeding with the other side. And I was shocked to see my milk was green! Obviously not completely green, but a distinct greenish tinge/hue to it, particularly earlier in the day. It whitened up a bit as the day went on. Did anyone else get this? I'm not worried at all, slightly freaked when I first saw it but then thought I'd never know it was like that if I wasn't collecting. So am I an alien, is it to do with the drugs I'm on or does everyone get it?

hopey - what i love about the GF book is a few things.

1 - it is very similar to the bw in terms of feeding routines, so it really fits in with my existing routine.
2 - she oesnt think bubs ryans age need night feeding, whereas in the ak book i have, she does.
3 - it requires zero thinking from be and only blind obediance, her early weaning planner is really comprehensive.
4- she explains the methodology behind a lot of it which makes sense and allows you to follow it to the letter.

acmum - currently i am giving ryan 1 cube after the 11am feed (approx 1 level tbsp) and level tsp baby rice mixed with 8 tsp ebm after the 5.30 feed. tmrw i go up to an extra cube in the evening added to the baby rice. (i basically move the fruit he has taken happily the last 3 days at 11am feed to the evening feed and introduce carrots tmrw). I really dont think he'll like them much, but we'll see! Does that answer your question?

ac mum - thats 2 level tsps in the evening mixed with 8 tsp ebm. sorry expressing and typing at the same time!

xpost kink - not an alien. my early morning milk is the same. think it is more related to diet as opposed to drugs. best of luck tmrw - post as soon as you can.

Oh I see Dal I always thought that it was just the way, to start on purees simply because it's simple food IYSWIM, nothing too complexed. For a while there I thought you'd come out with something along the lines of "blf=baby literally tells you what they want" is anyone else's babies talking yet?! didn't think so lol (must be the baby bwain!!)

As for DH he's blardy useless and I'm still not used to it even after 3 years of wedded ahem bliss, I just don't quite know how to get it through to him (thinking I might just let him read today's posts and be done with it lol) I might just wake him up every time Lucy wakes and make a lot of noise (well, enough to keep him awake anywho) maybe bring Lucy in with us for a few nights and see if he gets it starting tonight (good excuse= she's coming down with this cold that everyone but me has, making me slightly as it seems everyone else is getting a break because they're suffering, it's never like that when I'm ill!! )

Apart from that I'm feeling pretty crappy generally, thoughts on "what is the point in me?" now I've had the babes what am I really here for except to clean/tidy/cook/babysit etc etc BLARGHHHH

PLP: that's a shame about the bumbo seat, I never go near people with no feedback simply because Ebay's been going for so long the majority of folk with no f'back tend to be baddies who have got a new account set up each time they get caught out, I know there are some exceptions to this but I'd rather let someone else find out if they're ok or not.

amyclaramum: Although normally I would be inclined to agree he's been making horrific noises and has actually asked me to make him an appointment with the doc's which he NEVER does!! But it still has the same general effect on daily life in that I am increasingly annoyed by him BLARGHHH

Kinki: good luck for tomorrow (((hugs)))
as for the breast milk thing mine has never been greenish unless frozen (all milk goes a funny greenish when frozen) it does have a more water-y look to it when the cream separates and sits on the top IYSWIM

Ok I'm off again, Lucy's going to need a feed before bed and I need to wind down before being rudely woken in just a few hours time, no doubt!!
Night all
xxx

Morning all!

Kyala - you need to read a book called what mothers do by naomi stadlen. After reading that, you'll realise that you are doing far from nothing, believe me! Hope Lucy wasnt too troublesome last night - its the unpredictability that is the worst isnt it? The night before last Ryan woke 4 times between midnight and 7. Last night, he woke briefly at midnight and didnt hear a peep from him til 6.15 this morning.

LOL at the thought of babies telling us what we want to eat. I think I'd be making the worlds press if that was happening at 21 weeks old!

Kink - hope today goes well.

We're off to playgroup again today - hoping to start making some local mummy friends!
Have great days all.

Good morning all.

Well Ben's body clock is pretty much set in stone at the moment. He goes to bed between 7-7.30, we hear him first at about midnight but he goes back to sleep. He then wakes at pretty much 4.30 every morning and I spend the next two hours in and out putting his dummy in, he will settle for 15-20 mins but then starts again, I don't tend to sleep as I am lying there waiting to hear him again I then end up getting up about 6-6.30 [yawn] It doesn't help that he has a cough which wakes him up most mornings. Not sure what to do other than wait for the pattern to change again.

I have started him on baby porridge which he has now become accustomed to so I'll probably up the amount of that from today, then start on purees at the weekend.

Kinki Good Luck for today {{HUGS}} xx

mrsf - BW would say in that scenario to try the wake to sleep technique. I tried it at 10 weeks when Ryan was habitually waking at 1am and it actually worked!
You basically set your alarm an hour earlier that you bubs waking time - so for you at 3.30 and go and wake them. i know. I felt vaguely insane and very cruel - but did it. The idea is to disrupt their body clock so that they stop waking at that time. You do it for 3 nights in a row.
Disclaimer - if you try this and it backfires, you cannot hunt me down.

I swear it worked for me and Ryan stopped waking at 1...

kinki, best of luck to you today, thinking of you. x

Morning all

Just a quick one - very weary as Millie's sleeping (contradiction in terms!) ridiculous at the moment and DTs need sorting too.

Kinki - big hugs for today - thinking of you and hope all goes well, take good care xxxxx

Have a good one everybody

Thinking of you today kinki xxxx

Ugcch! That pretty much sums up how I feel this morning!
Lucy didn't wake at all until 4 this morning which is pretty good (well, not pretty good considering she was sleeping through not that long ago) and then it was probably every half an hour from then until 6:40 this morning when his majesty's alarm went off (heehee he thought he'd hit the snooze button but actually turned it off so was very late for work that'll teach him) so my night was Oooooh so much fun [raspberry emoticon]

And now my brain hurts (I've just been sat here for about five minutes trying to think what to type next blargggh)

Dal: am very tempted to be getting that book and make him read it, not that he would, he doesn't read books (Oh My Gosh!! What am I doing with him?!!! I would never have thought I'd end with someone that doesn't have an interest in reading books!!!)

Every so often we joke about why we're together cos we don't appear to have anything in common but it's becoming quite a reality, for example: I love the theatre and did performing arts at college, he studied architecture, therefore deciding what to watch on the TV in the evenings is hell!! (and I always promised myself that I'd never be with anyone that loved football, which he led me to believe he did not but he watches it every given chance)
All in all things would be better for all of us if we lived separately, money wise, and the way things have been since DD1 was born it would do us good to live apart as we just don't seem to be able to put up with each other and we're arguing loads and that can't be good for the girls.

I had always imagined us to be married forever, seeing as I'm too stubborn to let things go like that, but I don't want to end up just tolerating each other and resenting each other and constantly making hideous comments and digs at each other and having the girl's grow up thinking that that's how love is meant to be!
I just don't know what to do, I know that if I talk this through with him, at the most, things will change for about a week, 2 tops, and then will slip straight back to normal and I'll just lose my rag.
If I could I'd leave but I've got nowhere to go and no way of getting out even if I did
It's all just pants really and it's getting me down loads.

Right I'm off to fight the kids for the day and then comes the evening. . . it never freaking ends does it?!
later xxx
(((hugs))) for today Kinki, hope all goes well.

Thank you everyone. Just going to get ready now, then off to the hospital. I'm not quite as panic-y today about it, but I'll be glad when it's over. Have a good day everyone!

Post when you can kinki, good luck.

Good luck Kinki
sending (((((calm and positive vibes)))))
((hugs)) too

kyala, I'm so sorry to hear how unhappy you are with your DH. How long have you been together in total? Have you considered counselling? It's not for everyone I know, but it could help. It does sound like you're stuck in a rut, if it helps to hear this, DH and I had a bad patch about 3 years ago, funnily enough, when we'd been married 7 years! We got through it and we're closer than ever. We were stuck in a bit of a negative spiral, sometimes it's really hard to break out of it, but it can be done. I really hope this helps and I've not come across patronising or anything, I'd hate that! But whatever you feel, please post here and we'll support you. Big hugs to you.

DH and I had a very heated 'discussion' last night and I was SO cross, but he's SUCH a bstard because no matter how angry I get he always manages to make me laugh!!!!

kyala, I feel the same regarding doing stuff for other people all day and nothing for myself. The other day DH told me to go and relax for half an hour while he looked after the bubs and I literally did not know what to do with myself (other than come on MN). I don't even know how to relax anymore, scary.

Last night I did a bit of pilates which felt great as my back has been a bit stiff from carrying Anna everywhere!!

hopey - very impressed with your ebay selling, I have been hoping to do some of that myself but not sure how to get started, I may investigate today. I definitely want to sell the baby hammock that Anna went in approx. twice!! She preferred the moses basket bless her so that was £150 well spent - not!

re: the GF book, I really like it too, once you have made up the purees you don't have to do any thinking, just defrost and spoon it in as per her schedule. Although I am refusing to do swede this time, I hate the smell and taste and it seems cruel to inflict it on a helpless baby . I will try butternut squash instead.

Anyone still confused about lo's eye colour? I have blue and DH brown and ds1 is brown and ds2 blue so Anna is going to tip the balance but we still can't tell what colour they are - just kind of browny/blue at the moment.

Have a great day, more good vibes to Kinki.