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

Not often MrsF.

Twit, I'm with you on the petit filous front. It's been a staple in my fridge the last few years. Have I missed something? Tell us Fio.

Canadianmum, what a terrible ordeal you have been through. I hope dh is recovering well. As if the accident isn't bad enough, it must have made christmas difficult for you. Hopey gave us all an insight how something like this impacts on life, when she described her dh's accident. It's unimaginable. I hope you are getting the support you need, both you and your dh. And I hope all 3 dc have come through ok too. Lovely to hear from you, and best wishes to dh.

Thanks everyone, will stop worrying now about Millie's nappy habits!

Morning all.

thanks kink, mrsf and twit for your advice on weaning. kink - i saw that thread, didnt have time to post. But there are people so strong in their views on when to wean that I got really confused.

I am going to hold off a little yet, Ryan is starting to wake more in the night and whilst intrigued at what happens at mealtimes, is not reaching for my food.

MrsF - what FAB news on the diet front! Well done you - you deserve to be chuffed, have an apple in celebration! Well I ordered a 32G shock absorber sports bra, now that the mania that is Christmas is over - am getting back on the treadmill, dread to think how unfit I am!

Have fab days all.

have also posted on bfeeding thread for advice on weaning....bfeeding thread

and on weaning thread for some advice.

weaning thread

right, off to get my lucious ds for his morning feed. anyone else LOVE seeing their DC first thing in the morning?

will be back on later as am starting this years holiday hunt....not as easy as it used to be when we didnt have our lurvely bub!

God, I'm so of those of you whose LOs sleep a lot during the day. I always consoled myself that at least Paul sleeps well at night, but in the last couple of days he seems to have decided that sleep is for wimps. Yesterday, 'morning' was 5.15am; this morning it was 4am. I still don't feed him until 7am, and he doesn't really seem hungry - he mainly wants company and to play. I don't understand how he exists on so little sleep, or how to encourage him to have a bit more. He's currently playing happily on his mat, having had approximately 20 mins sleep since 4am.

Re the nappies, Paul has either one or two dirty ones a day, depending on his mood. When he only has one a day, the one the next morning is usually pretty explosive.

Re petit filous, I think the issue is that they contain a lot of sugar. I only know this because my niece adores them, and my sister tries to limit her consumption. I don't know if there are any other controversies with them .

dal - I weaned my two at 5 months, but am hoping to wait until 6 months for little Anna, mainly because I am terribly lazy and can remember what a fag it was with all the cooking and mess to clean up . Other friends who have waited until 6 months with their younger children also reckoned that they took to the food much better. But must agree with others, if you think Ryan is ready then go for it, you can always try and then stop for another week or two if he doesn't take it very well.

One book I highly recommend for weaning is the Gina Ford one. I know that her routines are pretty controversial on Mumsnet but I found her weaning book really helpful when i didn't have a clue what to give and when. You don't need to do her routines to use the book. My boys also loved her recipes for older babies, even though they actually didn't look very tempting to me .

So Anna slept beautifully from 7.15 to 10.30 pm last night, wonderful to have a peaceful evening with 3 children in bed. BUT, despite waking her to feed at 10.30pm she still woke at 3am - what the heck is that all about?? - grrrrr

Edie - glad to hear your good news!!

hello all

canadianmum - so sorry about dh's accident but glad he is recovering well xx

Thanks for all your thoughts and suggestions re Alex's bad nights thankfully things have improved a little. we had a 5 hr stint on mon night and no wanting to get up before 6am this week! Last night alex fed at 7.30, 10.30, 2, 4, and then up at 6 following a big poo during feed! I think tummy ache may have been the cause for the frequent feeds but he fell back to sleep quickly after each feed so not too bad!
I went to clinic yesterday and he's 13lb 6oz at 16wks+3.

Re pooing - Alex only goes 1/2 times a week and it's not really an explosion then! DS1 went at nearly every feed until weaned and then once a day.

Re weaning - ds1 weaned at 21 wks on health visitor advice as he was so hungry and giving hungry baby formula to try and hold him off ruined bf imo. I have no plans to wean Alex before 6 months and then not until milk isn't enough!

Hope everyone is ok xx

Hi all.

I've just skimmed very briefly, been a bit manic. I've just seen your message Canadianmum, how awful for you and DH. It really made me shudder reading your message. You say he suffered nerve damage to his shoulder, is his arm ok? I really do hope so, brachial plexus injuries are such a common injury from a motorbike accident. I'm so so so glad he's still with you all. Why do these things always happen at that time of year. I hope you are getting lots of support and your DH is receiving good aftercare. In our experience you have to be quite persistent in asking for rehabilitation and physio. Please let me know how he is getting on, I'm thinking of you all. x

hi hopey - thanks for your very kind message. Dh's arm is ok thank goodness, his main issues now are a very very stiff neck and his mashed up leg and foot. he has some nerve damage in his foot and is slowly regaining control of it. he is doing physio once a week and is also seeing an osteopath who has been really fabulous. The osteopath has told him that it will be 6 months before he is 100%; I was pleased he was told that because he was being really overly optimistic and assuming he would be running around in month or two. How is your DH doing? I remember his arm was badly damaged and he couldn't carry your little girl. My DH can't carry Anna because of his leg and it is terribly frustrating for both of them!

Now that boys are back at school, things are a bit less crazy around here.

gotta run and get dinner out of the oven, DH can't really do it anymore........

Hi canadianmum, I'm so glad your DH is 'ok', broken bones heal thank goodness, it's the nerve damage that happens so often from a fall from a motorbike that is heartbreaking. My DH still wears his arm in a sling all the time, his arm is still paralysed, although physio is going really well, he has achieved some recovery down to his elbow, we're hoping that the nerves will rejenerate further and he might be able to bend and flex his wrist in a few years. We know that his arm will never be normal, but he is amazing and just gets on with it. He manages quite well picking Niamh up etc. I'm sure as she gets older it will get easier, we just have to make sure she knows that she must be careful with Daddy and be a good girl when he's handling her!

How did your DH's accident happen? Was there a car involved? Usually the biker is the innocent party! I'm wishing him a speedy recovery x

Hello peeps, sorry I haven't been in for a few days, been a bit hectic (can only be a good thing as someone asked me to make something for them, YAYY!)

Anywho, Lucy had her 2nd lot of jabs y'day and her weighing says she's dropped on her centile, am not impressed
She's been feeding every 4 hours and sleeping all through since she was about 5 weeks old, I'm now feeding her every 3 hours to try and get her weight up for next week (have to go back for another weighing) finger's crossed!!

I really don't want to have to start formula (DD1 was 9 months before we moved on)

Speaking of which DD1's screeching the house down and Lucy's woken for her feed (sorry it was such a short visit)

Hope you're all well and the wee one's are too!!

xxx

Kyala-What makes you think you would need to start on formula?

Just that she's been feeding and it's obviously not enough for her to put on enough weight. She has been a bit fussy lately and it may be that but if I'm not producing enough any more then she'll need to go on to formula. I am, as per usual, being presumtuous(?) (although this has proven quite effective in staving off negative events in the past, expect the worst and you wont be dissappointed and all that. . .) and am just going to have to do my best to feed her up over the next week and hope for the best. Although, saying that, it has really taken it out of me today, that one less hour makes it feel that I'm just sat there feeding her all day, and I've now got a stinking headache (got DH to pick up some fizzy water for me so that will, hopefully, help to re-hydrate me!

I am no expert and feel free to tell me to shutup but im pretty sure the best thing you can do for her weight is carry on breastfeeding. It would be a shame to stop if that's not what you want. You will be making enough for her im sure. Millie is fussy too but still gaining weight so don't think that would be anything for you to worry about. Please start a thread on breastfeeding topic about this and you will get some brilliant advice xx

Hi everyone. Just reading your post kyala, I finally managed to get Liam's first jabs yesterday, he's 4.5 months already. They kept postponing them because of his whooping cough - bit ironic really. But anyway done now. There's one nurse who fills in very occasionally at the surgery who is a bloody liability. She did ds1's pre-school boosters and ballsed it up. I was pisssed off to see her there yesterday, but thought she must have improved over the last four years. Err no. She didn't connect the vial properly to the one of the needles and so he ended up having 3 injections. Grrr.

Try to not worry too much about the weight thing kyala. Has she lost weight, or is she just not following the growth curves? From what I was lead to believe as long as a baby continues to gain weight there isn't too much to worry about. (Obviously within reason). Upping the number of feeds should increase your supply within a day or two. But I know that's not always easy with a toddler. I ditto what Edie says too. Oh and btw, the growth charts are based on ff babies and it is well documented that bf babies don't follow them as typically as ff babies.

Incidentally, talking of which, am I the only one not to get their baby weighed? He was probably about 6 weeks the last time. I've no idea what he is or where he is on the growth chart. Guess that's what happens when they take away the hv, nn and baby clinic from the gp surgery. Don't see why I should have to do a car or bus journey about 3 miles across town to somewhere I don't know to see a hv I don't know when my gp surgery is within walking distance. Rant over.

This is the first weekend in absolultely ages that I haven't got anything planned or anything that I have to do (apart from ds1 and flippin football). It feels nice knowing we can just relax for once and just be. Hope all of you get to have relaxing weekends too.

Evening all

Canadianmum, so sorry to hear about your DH, what a horrible shock, glad he is slowly on the mend.

Hopey - great to hear that your DH is getting there too and that he can pick up Niamh

I have a (quite big) motorbike but haven't ridden it for a while as not the most practical transport with three DCs and DH can't drive so I am designated chauffeur. The trouble is on a bike you can be as sensible and careful as possible but you are more vulnerable if an accident happens - I had a few minor crashes (not my fault, promise) and was very lucky to only get bumps and bruises. Might sell the bike now if I can bear to as my parents and DH hate me riding it, but will miss taking off my crash helmet and hearing people go "Blimey its a bird!"

Kinki - sorry to hear the nurse was a bit clumsy with Liam's injections - hope he's feeling ok? Millie had her 3rd set the other day so all done for a bit. Hands up here too for never getting Millie weighed, though her sumo thighs and my aching arm from carrying her are testament enough to a fairly hefty gain I think.

Hope the rest of you are well, don't know what I am doing up at this hour - relishing the silence of three sleeping children I think!

Morning all

Well DH and I had our first slap up meal and lovely evening out last night since Ryan was born. Left him with mum (still in cast from broken arm ) and babysitter. And she was fab! And the night out was fab - we felt like we were on a date again, it was lovely. Am now a total lightweight though - 2 glasses of champagne were more than enough! Fairly at that!

Kyala - I ws looking for the new WHO growth charts the other day (based on breastfed babies). Found them on their website. Have yet to do anything with them - was more curious than anything else. But take a look.

who growth charts

I tend to side with Edie - please post on the bfeeding board and tons of experienced mnetters (including tiktok) will give you all the support you need if giving up bfeeding is not what you want to do.

Kink - nope, Ryan has not been weighed since his 6 week check up. I have his jabs done at a place near my mums and got on the scales with him the other week to get a ballpark (at 4 months he was 13lbs 4oz)
I have actually had zero follow up from my HV...no pnd questionnaire or anything. I think it is pretty poor.

I think we all know our bubs pretty well - Ryan is full of energy, happy, growing and producing plenty of wet nappies. Don't need any HV telling me which percentile he shoiuld be on!

Hammer - I do hope you are feeling ok after your DH's accident. How are you holding up?

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend, weather should be fab in London today after what has been a fairly poor few days. Will hopefully get out and take a nice long walk.

Thanks all, that's great advice, and by the looks of that chart Dal she's only just (very slightly) below the green (average) line so a big sigh of relief over here!

I didn't realise that the chart the HV's go by are based on FF babies, that's stupid really

Anywho, will keep up with the 3 hourly feeds and see how that goes. My milk hasn't boosted just yet (am expecting to wake up one morning soon with Porn star boobies again!! )

Righty, on with the day (will get round to a thread on bfeeding later though methinks)have got to feed the girl's then I've got my client coming round to give me some money (always a good thing eh?!)
Oh what to have for lunchy-munchies?!! xxx

A quick wave from the post-xmas rush, and HNY a bit late to all!

Canadianmum, very sorry to hear about your DH's accident. Yes, it'll take a minimum of 6 months to heal. We're not made of steel, more's the pity, and bones and nerves need time.

I'm driving, walking and somewhat back to normal - a great relief. However, the fracture line is still visible and osteo-something is emerging, so it's been hinted I should give up bf .

Enjoying a rush of birthday parties at DD1's new school - a good way to meet other mothers. However I suspect I need to go to the HV and discuss PND matters. I've been advised to keep a weather eye out for it, as I have about 4 contributing factors going on, so tackling it seems a good idea... Not sure about ADs though. In the past, I've struggled through long-term downers without them, but with counselling. Any views on that one? Yes, I'm going onto the 'feeling depressed' forum too.

On baby front, J is delightful, no raspberries but plenty of gummy grins and giggles.

Kinki - I agree with your rant, you shouldn't have to do a car journey to see a HV. Is there no way they would come to you? I know I could just ring mine if I had to and she would come to me Having read what others HV's are like, I realise I am incredibly lucky with mine, she is just fab.

I could do MrsF, but the things I want to talk about seem so trivial to warrant a home visit. Locally they have drastically cut back the number of hvs. My old hv left her job because she found it impossible to give the care needed as her time was spread so thinly. So cutting back hv hours actually exacerbates the problem as all the good ones are leaving. I tried to make my point to a gp - I took a gp appt recently when I should have seen a hv. This cost-cutting is counterproductive as it means gps are busier and hvs are having to do more home visits. It's all crazy to me. We used to have hv drop in clinics, nn clinics for baby weighing etc, and a mum & baby club thing every week. Now all that's left is a set of scales that you can help yourself to on a wed lunchtime. All the hvs I met were great, they are just not given the resources to do their job in this area. I want to help them, but not sure how, maybe a well-worded letter to the ha, for what that's worth. (Btw, just saw ds's photo on your other thread, he is soooo beautiful)

Morning all

Kink - thanks for posting on my thread in bfeeding - most appreciated.

Kyala - I posted on your thread also, DS is currently drinking me dry and there is a part of me that just wants to introduce one feed a day via ff, am currently trying to weigh up the pros and cons. Am glad the new chart helped!

MrsF - how goes the diet? I got on the treadmill yesterday and am pleased that I am much fitter than I thought (but by yesterday evening was worried that my run had impacted my milk supply). Am I a bad mummy for just wanting my body back and getting into really good shape without having to worry about leaky boobs and impacting milk supply?

Toad - great to see you back on. Are you worried within yourself about PND? I am afraid I dont know much so cannot be any help. But and do keep posting on here if you need any support.

Have fab days all - today is going to be a very lazy and indulgent day methinks.