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

UPDATE from PLP

"Cerys is out of surgery and doing well. Coped ok with starving, she will sleep lots now and no milk for 48 hours to allow the gut to heal. Will let you know how she gets on and when she has her first poo."

Poor thing, that's going to be a hard 48 hours, thinking of you both PLP xxx

thanks mrsf for posting. poor little cerys - she must be very confused. send them both my love.

Dal: If we split I'd be receiving Income support, on top of Housing Benefit, and I'd get more Child Tax credit, all in all I know that every month I'd be able to afford to pay the rent/bills/food etc, and nursery fees (or at the very least respite days at nursery) for DD1, as that's kind of the whole point in the benefits system, to make sure single parent's can afford to get by, but then Dh would have his earnings (minus his rent/bills/food etc if he was to live on his own as opposed to at his parent's) which would mean that, together, we'd have more than enough to, for example, take the girl's out at weekends and actually have some form of social activity going on (as opposed to struggling through every month, cutting our food budget down to the bare minimum and never going anywhere but his parent's house )

One of my best friends made the decision to split with her partner (for other reasons) and she's better off than we are as the Council/Government make sure that, with all her benefits, she can get by, and I know that at the end of every month, after rent/bills/food/running a car etc, she has enough to go out for a few nights too (Oh, and she also takes her LO to his dad's every weekend and he lives 125 miles away!)
It just works out that I'd have everything paid for me and the girl's and his money (after essential costs) would be spare for us as a family to spend together for luxuries that we don't have together at the moment, if that makes any sense?! I know what I mean

PLP: That's great news So happy that she's well and getting through it all, bless her little head!

where is everyone???

dal - re. your neighbour , is her baby ff or bf (or maybe I don't want to know.....)

Anna woke at 10pm and 12am last night and then slept until 6. I think she might have a mild cold though, one of her eyes is a bit red and she is a bit snotty so I will forgive her.

I was going for my first proper night out since DH had his accident tonight but my friend just called and cancelled due to illness so I am feeling a bit sorry for myself .

will check in later....

Canadianmum. Thats a real shame about your night out. I haven't been out without dh or ds (apart from to tesco) since ds was born. I really could do with a good girly night out, pamper, drinks, getting ready and dancing.
Arben is not a good sleeper at nights so am very of those babys that sleep thru. At the moment he is waking every 3-5hrly, mre 3 than 5 mind you. He is FF aswell now, it didn't change a thing.
He seems to be doing better now tho he is still poo'ing lots which isn't like him but thankfully the vomitting has stopped.
Am planning on starting to wean in th enxt few days, just letting him get over this bug and then get started
Kyala - Its seems silly that you are better off without DP finacially doesn't it!!? I know of a friend of a friend who has said that their DP has left so they can get more money, its crazy. I hope you manage to get something sorted where you are all happy
Kinki - hope you are feeling somewhat better, it must be fustrating for you after all you have already been thru.
MrsFish - how is Bens skin going on the soya milk?
To everyone else - hope you all having a good week

cmum - excl. bfed and the interesting thing is this - he feeds soo much during the day. isnt a routine baby at all. his mum feeds him on demand. He was also a huge baby when born (was born just after 42 weeks and virtually double Ryans weight)

i was congratulating her and she said that she reckons babies are either sleepers or not.

oh - and get this. the same lovely lady is french and planning to start weaning her LO off the breast and onto formula. she looked mighty confused when I explained the palarva i went through to make up ff (yes, have pfb syndrome - am still making it the way the can explains) - in france all babies feeds are simply made up using evian.

Seriously Dal? Are they really made using Evian? I have wondered about this before, is it safe to do etc, not really something that I'd do as the kettle is always boiling in our house (and if DH is forced to buy any more bottled water I think he'll explode! )

What's pfb syndrome?

x

yup. seriously. she told me the other day - has double checked with a french paed. virutally all french babies ff are made that way. she is just looking into the baby powder available in france to check that it isnt any more sterile than the powder here (thats where the using hot water comes from - as baby formula is not sterile and using water at 70 degrees kills any unfriendly bacteria that may be lurking in it) - but she doubts that it is any different.

PFB - preious first born syndrome. its when you do everything by the book with your first one, not so much on the second one and if you have any more than 2, they as good as live in the mud all day.

although having not had ryan officially weighed since he was 6 weeks old - I redeem myself somewhat.

how are you doing kyala?

right - HPA recommends using boiled tap water and not bottled water due to the fact that some bottled waters are high in sodium. evian is one of the safe ones and have found a fair few places where evian is mentioned as the norm to use in making up ffeeds.

Hello everyone

Update from PLP

"Cery's op went well but has had a hard day, she is doing well though. We've had farts and she's had her first poo! Yay! She just had a bit of milk so hopefully she'll be more settled xx"

Arbensmum-You asked me ages ago (PC on the blink) about the bed-yes it was a superking!!

Shop want to charge 15% for cancelled order

Going to catch up with posts tomorrow, love to all xxxxx

Ah Dal I see, yes I understand, I was using the steam steriliser until DD1 was nearly 1, but I even thought about putting the thing away the other day, I'm so sick of using it. And most of Lucy's bottle feeds are made up in advance and refrigerated, I didn't do that with DD1 at all, her's were always fresh (although she didn't have any formula until she was about 6 months).

I'm not doing too bad, had a pretty horrible day today though but not feeling too bad about it. DD1's cough is back with a vengence (just when we thought it was fading off), and I had to treck a good half hour to go and pick something up (Freecycle) so she was sooo unhappy by the time we got home she went straight to bed, no fuss (and this eve went to bed once I had finished my dinner, she didn't want to eat but wanted to keep me company whilst I ate, bless her )
I now have a bit of a cough thanks to all the uphill walking and the cold air but it was good to get a bout of excercise!

PLP: Happy to hear Cerys is doing so well

Oh Kinki aren't you the lucky one ((Mocks thumping on your arm)) My girl's aren't doing too bad (DD1's up with this cough lately) but I need to start getting to bed earlier (she says carrying on typing at 20 past 10 )
lol

ok kinki, I am going to officially thump you if we ever meet!!!! only joking, anna slept 7pm to 4.24am (yes I remember the exact time) so I am pretty happy today.

dal - my ex-nanny is french and had a baby 2 years ago, she made up all her feeds with evian but just didn't tell anyone!!

re: sterilising - I have used my steriliser about 10 times, anytime anna is unsettled I quickly sterilise some bottles and then don't bother using them, they are probably rotting in there now as we speak!!! my box of formula remains unopened but makes me feel better just by its presence.... the only baby book I bought this time recommends only sterilising until 6 months if you have a dishwasher and the author admits she never sterilised anything and she is a paediatrician!! with my boys i used the steriliser until they were 1 yr corrected (so an extra 7 wks - pfb or what???)~. a friend stopped using hers when she found her baby had rolled over and was licking the wheel of the pushchair - yuck!!

anna woke up with sticky eyes this morning so have duly squirted bm in as recommended on MN. she didnt like it too much

re pfb syndrome - it goes like this: your baby drops its dummy on the floor and this is what you do:

1st baby - wash and sterilise dummy
2nd baby - wash dummy
3rd baby - rinse dummy in your mouth
4th baby - remove dummy from dog's mouth and give back to baby

that was in a book i read and is SO accurate!!!

cmum - i skipped to stage 2 with ryan. just run it under freshly boiled water once in an odd time - but certainly not every time it drops.

re. the evian thing - it has really thrown me. a whole nation does it and their babies are fine, so why do we go through the bloody palava of boiling/ cooling water fgs? i will sterilise ryans bottles til he is a year old - my microwave sterilser only takes 4 mins and is so easy. I may just wait til Ryan is 6 months and then use Evian. It'll make me feel better that way

FioFio - i think our babies are conspiring against us i know he can do it(sleep thru) cos hes done it twice but i reckon he finds it funny to see his mother looking so bleary eyed!!
Last night - 8ozs at 10pm
4ozs at 1am
4ozs at 3.30am
6ozs at 8am
what a piggy, do you think is a sin that i should be weaning. During the day he takes approx 6ozs every 3-4hrs

arbensmum - could just be a growth spurt, try waiting a few days and if he is still doing it then maybe he needs weaning.

fiofio - poor you, hopefully just a phase for you. I felt like that last Friday, absolutely wrung out but much better this week now that she is sleeping a little better. We are still all over the place with naps though.

My ex-nanny is coming to help out this afternoon - yay!! So I am finally going to get my hair coloured while she looks after anna and then she can pick up grumpy boys from school while I chill with baby. Lovely

dal - when I do switch to formula, I think i might go for evian as well...

a sign not sin

Hello everyone !

Just popping into see how you all are - I am too very at the lo's sleeping through. My nights are still pretty bad (especially as Eloise has still got a cold)Anyway I am feeling a bit under the weather still and also guilty as it has been half term and the DD's have basically had a really boring week as I've not been feeling up to anything. We have got my borther's wedding tomorrow but I just feel exhausted and overwhelmed by getting us all there on time. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow ! DH is on his way home to take over so I can get some sleep!!

love to everyone and especially Cerys and PLP XXX

GUESS WHAT - my baby boys first tooth has cut thru his gum I am so but so at the same time, my baby....
has any one elseo LO's got any thru yet?

OMG Arbensmum!! Lolly's putting her hands in her mouth a lot but I'm sure it's down to discovering the way her tongue moves as there's no other indication of teething (although her poo is a bit hard lately, but that might be down to adding the extra bottle a day)

I am so excited. He has been off for a couple of days and his poos have been thicker and smelling very vinagery(sorry if tmi) I didn't think it would happen so soon