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

Oh Kinki, you poor thing , I didn't realise you were still having the recurrent chest infections, and that must have been a huge shock when they suggested doing the bronchoscopy today, perhaps it was just the Drs knee-jerk reaction to hearing your family history?

You saying that you think you inhaled something certainly fits with recurrent chest problems, sputum etc as your immune system tries its hardest to get rid of a foreign object, hopefully they can suck it out when they do the bronch on tuesday.

I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you with all the parallels with your mum, and it must be so hard to try and not think about it all the time. I really wish I could say something to help, but if offloading on here is a bit helpful, you know we are all here.

Sorry you have had such a crappy day and a shock, especially as you DH is away, take care of yourself and have a big drink.

Must rush off to take Millie to the docs, she still has a manky eye, but hopefully catch up with you later, you young 32 year old looking thing xx

Kinki - so sorry for you - what a shock - at least you can express some milk for next week - in a way lucky your dH is away so you didn't have to go in today! Sending you ((((hugs))))
I also wanted to post a msg saying that your advice was fab as I put a blanket on Eloise last night (on top of her 1 tog sleeping bag) and she didn't wake up until 4 which is a big improvement !! Thank you and when is your book coming out ??

Kyala - glad to hear lo all better now and good luck with finding out the results of the allergy tests.

Advice corner - its my brother's wedding at the end of Feb and ..... i have nothing to wear !!!! Ideas gratefully received for a suitable outfit that I can BF in and that is flattering as I'm feeling abit down about being bigger than my "normal" size !!

love to everyone xx

kinki - so sorry to hear about the bronchoscopy, what a worry for you . But you are very right to say that you shouldn't see parallels with your family history, it could just be the inhalation. Big hugs to you and best of luck for Tuesday, do let us know how you get on. (I look about 72 at the moment, never mind 32!!! .

mrs bumblebee - I watched load of ER while I was pregnant with my DTs, then went into hospital with severe pre-eclampsia and had an emergency cs. After I got home I started watching the ERs I hadn't seen yet and the FIRST one I watched was the pre-eclampsia one, was it ever spooky! Totally freaked DH out.

hammerhead - my DTs were definitely sleeping better at this stage, but could be down to hideously expensive maternity nurse and her very strict routines (which I wouldn't particularly recommend to anyone)

dal - I do feed Anna when she wakes and she feeds like a demon so I think she is very hungry. having said that last night she woke at 4.30am and I fell asleep without feeding her and she woke again at 5.50 so not too bad . I have about 10ozs of EBM in the freezer so I think I will use that with the babyrice and then flip to formula .

Totally agree re: cold nights. My room is cold and I put Anna in vest, sleepsuit, 2.5 tog, plus sheet to hold her firm and thin blanket. I know HV would have a fit but otherwise she is defo cold.

Am trying to hold out to 6mths for weaning but will prob be more like 5 - which is 19th Feb - seems far away..........

kyala - glad lucy is fine, hope you get something sorted re: formula

Gotta run and dish supper - a mother's work is never done

kinki - sending you lots of .i really dont think you should draw parallels with family history and totally agree with canadianmum.

Kyala - hope you got out for a nice walk, I did, it was gorgeous today!

Well Ryan isnt 100%. Bought up quite a bit of curdled milk this afternoon between 4 and 6. Am in a bit of a pickle as cannot decide whether the babyrice or the rotavirus vaccine is causing it. Am more inclined at this point to blame the vaccine and am hoping it will sort itself out in the next day or so as the virus is meant to leave his system around day 7. Or can i tsp of babyrice really cause food to come up 6 hours later? Am off to investigate.

Hugs to all!

Hi all!!

amyclaramum - wish I could help with the outfit thing, I'm terrible! I live in jeans and tee shirts at the moment, I'm so lazy about how I look!

Kyala - sorry to hear about Lucy's reaction to the aptamil, glad she's ok now though. I've given Luca one carton of Aptamil premixed stuff in an emergency and he hated it, he wrinkled up his nose and spat the bottle out.

Laksa - I've taken Luca to the local pool too, it was quite warm and he loved it just as much. I'm sure Bella will love it too!

Kinki - so sorry to hear about your bronchoscopy, I hope it went well and you get some reassuring results soon. What a horrid thing to have to face, I'm sure it'll all be fine.

On the swimming front I think I'm going to find some swimming lessons for Luca, I'd like to see if he can go underwater, got an image of him like the Nirvana cover album! I have absolutely no shame now about my body, couldn't care less what anyone thinks of me. You know how they say when you have a baby you drop your dignity at the hospital door and pick it up when you leave, I think I forgot to pick mine up! hehehehe!

Mind you I'm quite I'm quite of Liam's 12 hour stretch overnight. Luca is still waking up once in the night after an 11.30pm dreamfeed. He hasn't changed this pattern since he was about 6 weeks so the hv says I shouldn't start adding baby rice and veggies in to his diet until he starts waking more often.

He did do 12 hours once, but that was the day we arrived in St Lucia, but he hadn't slept for absolutely ages and was so overstimulated when we arrived I think he was just completely exhausted! I've started keeping him awake more during the day, and stimulating him as much as possible to get him tired, but no repeat so far!

Currently he sleeps in a long sleeve sleepsuit with a cotton cell blanket wrapped around him and the room's usually around 19 or 20 degrees. His hands are always a bit cold but his body usually feels pretty warm so I'm loathe to add anything more. He's still in his moses basket so I can't move on to the sleeping bags yet. I've got to give the moses basket to my friend who's due in four weeks, so I've only got a couple of weeks left with him next to me...sob! I'm going to miss his little breathing body there, but I think he and I might sleep better when he's in his own room.

Hammerhead - I'm thinking of waiting to 6 months and doing baby led weaning too, although I might throw in the odd bit of pureed stuff. He's showing no signs of needing anything other than ebm, he's still gaining nearly 8oz a week on just ebm.

MrsF - thanks for the nice comments about Luca. I think he's perfect but I'm soo biased it's not true! Wow, Ben's a big boy isn't he?? I was feeling very happy that Luca is 14lb7 at 19 weeks, but now I know he's a bit weeny really! Cor! Are you feeding him fertiliser?

Sorry this is all a bit over the place. I'm watching ladette to lady and laughing at the scary girlies!! I hope everyone else is well and happy. Take care xxxxx

Kinki: That's mad, hope it all goes well, sorry to hear it could get all serious but it's probably best to go straight for the jugular eh?!
What was it that you inhaled? (If you don't mind me asking that is, tell me to keep my nose out if you like lol) Don't blame you, playing it safe with weaning, I'm going to try and keep Lucy off solids until it's utterly necessary, DD1 was starting at 4 months. I spoke to the dietician this morning and she brought up the subject of wening and I was shocked as Lucy's only 4 months tomorrow, isn't it usually the parent's that have to push the "professionals" to get weaning started?! lol

amyclaramum: I could design and make you a dress if you like?! (Can you tell works a bit slow round here lol)

Dal: didn't get out for a walk but got out into the garden and shredded up a load of cardboard for the compost, the girl's came outside too, Lucy finally managed to get to sleep out there so it must've been nice for her.

MrsMar: Some baby's just know don't they!! Bless their fussy little heads!!

Well, I'm going to get a decent night's sleep and then prepare to rush around with Lucy, hopefully, to the doc's tomorrow and get DD1 to tot's aswell! Should be interesting!

Hope you all have a good one tonight, finger's crossed for tomorrow (your fingers are all going to be mangled for me by the end of the week with all this crossing/uncrossing lol
Night all
xxx

Hi Kinki, how are you doing? Thinking of you and hope you are feeling ok. Sending hugs if you are a hug type person

Dal - hope Ryan is feeling a bit better.

night, night

Kinki - Sorry you are still having such a crap time, I hope you get all sorted soon and your mind is out to rest.

Well since my last post saying how Ben was waking in the night again... the last two nights he has done 12 and 13 hours between feeds I think the problem was that as soon as I heard him stir I was going in, forcing a dummy in his mouth and stroking his head whilst shusshing him, when in fact I was waking him up more by stimulating him and he was then thinking 'I'm awake, surely that means food'

So the third night I didn't go in to him when he woke at 12.30, he grumbled for 10 mins but then went back to sleep, and when he woke at 4.20am I left him for a good 10 mins and he started to cry a bit, so ninja like I crept into his room and popped his dummy in without any further interaction and just as quietly creeped out again, he then went back to sleep and didn't wake till 7.30 Last night I didn't have to go in to him at all

I started him on baby porridge yesterday, he doesn't like it at all, you should have seen his face it was a picture I am still going to persevere with 1 tsp a day though, I'll just take it slowly.

morning all!

amyclaramum - re. your wedding outfit. what about a nice wrap dress? or a smart fitted shirt dress? i have worn both out since having ryan and both are good to bfeed in and look dead smart. would either of those work?

mrsf - well done you and ben! clever boy and clever mummy.

kyala - ryan has always been able to sleep outside, you are reminding me of when he was really little, I would park him outside the patio doors in his pram - sit at the kitchen table and he would be out for the count! (I would drink my coffee, stay toasty warm and feel mighty guilty)

Hammer - thanks for your kind words.

Ryan was fine last night, DH gave him dreamfeed, put him back in his cot and he played for an hour apparently, then went back to sleep. Then didnt wake me at all til 6am this morning. How does that work? DH is inclined to think yesterdays episode is vaccination related (especially since the vaccination is a mild strain of vomiting and diarrhea), so am not going to move babyrice to evening as planned, but stick with 1tsp at 11am and see how we get on. Fingers crossed the virus should be leaving his system by today - so things should settle.

Hello Mrs M!

Have great days all!

dal - sorry if I am a bit thick but why did ryan have this vaccine - was it a prem thing?

must be something in the air - anna slept 11-6.30am last night and I only woke once at midnight and that was for ds!!!

mrs fish - I love the "ninja like" comment, that is so true, we could all be in the special forces couldn't we?? (but damn those squeaky floorboards!!)

Morning all you lovelies!

Kinki, OMG! You poor poor thing. What a scary time for you. I truly hope they agree with you that it's something you've inhaled. How did that happen? When is your DH back?

Canadianmum, has DH started back at work? How's he coping? My DH is doing well thanks, I think he's completely bonkers because he's training for the London Marathon! He's raising money for the Samaritons, his Mum is a Director of the Samaritons in Weston-Super-Mare. It's been his dream to run the London marathon for about 6 years. He was finally offered a place for last yr's marathon and he got the offer letter on 2nd Nov 06.... the day before his motorbike accident! How cruel is that! Anyway, he's apparently an inspiration to all my friends who spot him out running with his arm all strapped up. I don't think I could even walk 2.6 miles, let alone run 26!

Dal, how's it going with the babyrice? Niamh seems to be getting more and more used to it. I also sometimes give her baby porridge, she quite likes that too. She had some rusks melted into some formula and she REALLY liked that, but having looked on the ingredients list, it appears that rusks have sugar in them. Don't want her developing a sweet 'gum'! The babycook thingy hasn't arrived yet, but when it does I'll let you know how I get on. I decided to invest in it because whenever I use my steamer it creates SO much washing up. I do hope it's worth it. I bought it on Bloomingmarvellous using the Mumsnet discount code.

Hi Hammer, you do make me giggle x x x

Kyala I'm so glad Lucy is ok, let us know when you get the results of the allergy test.

Hi to PLP, how are you doing? Hope Cerys is well. x x

I've got DS2 off school today because he's got a sore ear, DS1 is away on a school residential, he went on Sunday and is back on Friday, sounds fab all the things he'll be doing. Niamh is just a delight. People seem to go out of their way to comment on how pretty she is, even complete strangers , then the people who know what DH looks like say she looks like him! She's desperately trying to roll, but she can't quite get enough momentum to get right over. I had her weighed yesterday (first time in 15 wks!) and she's spot on the 50th centile, she weighs 14lb 8oz. There was a baby there who was a wk younger and 3lbs heavier!!!!

I've decided my diet starts on 1st Feb. gulp. I can't quite believe how heavy I am at the moment, I've got nearly 2 stone to lose- ouch! Making sure I eat lot's of naughty things between now and then, to get it all out of my system.

cmum - not thick at all. The Rotavirus jab was one my gp told me about. Its a new one out and there are some bodies recommended that it gets added to the existing routine immunisations - although how long that will take is anyones guess. RotaVirus is the main cause of gastroenteritis in babies and children. I had never heard of either, but then did some research into it and asked round and it sounds pretty nasty. So decided to have Ryan get it along with his others.

So he basically has a mild strain of the vomiting and diarrhea bug going through his system. He has just guzzled his tsp of baby rice and was very vocally unhappy when no more was following. Hopefully he'll be better this afternoon at which point I can increase him to 2.

This thread is very quiet today - I am having a lazy and indulgent day of doing nothing although may take Ryan out for some fresh air in a little while.

Hopey!! Hello! How are you??? Is fab seeing you back on here.

I am having some issue with the babyrice as Ryan was bringing up quite a lot of milk yesterday evening, so am trying to ascertain whether it is babyrice or immunisations. I am following she who must not be named and getting him onto pear puree next - it is ready to go in the freezer..apparently can help to prevent constipation...although I have porridge waiting to go also.

fairplay to your DH - he's an inspiration to me! I got on the treadmill the other day and although was chuffed with how long I could run for, wasnt a patch on what i used to be able to do. Hats off to all those starting their training in this miserable weather!

Most importantly - how are you feeling? Niamh sounds absolutely lovely!

Hi dal, feeling really really good actually. Got a review scheduled with my GP for a month's time to decide whether I should stay on tablets or come off them. I think I'll probably be fine to stop. I've developed a level of acceptance again over DH's arm, I guess it all came back rather 'violently' to me when Niamh was born. It's all cool now. DH adores Niamh, but we both know that it's just a difficult time at the moment in terms of him handling her and we know it will get easier when she's sitting confidently etc. With regards to the baby rice, I just make up a small tub and feed it to Niamh until she stops opening her mouth, she soon tells me when she's had enough! I've ordered the she who mustn't be named book. I wasn't going to, but I flicked through a copy in Mothercare and it had tips like adding some unsalted butter to carrots increases vitamin absorption or something. Have you heard from Holly recently?

hi guys,

Kinki, I'm so sorry you're having to go through this especially as it seems to be bringing back bad memories for you. Life can be a bit shit sometimes but sounds like you're getting more than your fair share of it at the moment...will keep my fingers crossed that everything goes ok for you next week xx.

amyclara, I was a bridesmaid for my sis's wedding a couple of weeks ago and all I can say is, don't whatever you do wear a strapless dress with a laceup back It was a nightmare...I had to have a separate room to breastfeed in and everytime I wanted to feed the baby someone had to unstrap me and I had to remove strapless bra and undress to the waist, not the most stress free experience!

dal, I eat quite alot of spicy food including indian but was quadrupling the dose of fenugreek I was taking and was sweating much more than normal (think my body was still getting rid of excess water at that stage) Can I ask a question? Do you know how to get children used to taking spices/chilli, when can you introduce it to them? I refused to eat anything with chilli in it till I was about 13 and don't want my children to be the same.

Re the curdled milk, I would be inclined to agree with you about the jab being the cause as alot of my friends babies seem to have had similar reactions to it ie unsettled and bringing up feeds etc after having had it, although can't be sure.

Mrsmar, am planning to take the plunge next week. I am a bit worried though as I have a skinny baby who only weighs 12 1/2 pounds (paed wasn't worried about her though) and I don't want her to get too cold in the water. I might buy one of those all over body suits for her, or maybe a baby wetsuit!?!

kyala, so glad lucy is feeling better. I have good recipe for vietnamese hot and sour soup but I did the cheats version that night ie got some hot and sour soup base from the chinese supermarket and then added limejuice, fishsauce, coriander and mint leaves. Then you add either fresh seafood/chicken/or thinly sliced beef to the soup and get some fresh rice noodles and add them plus some veg like carrots/mushrooms/chinese greens/beansprouts/tofu and hey presto you have a meal in a bowl

I have a question for all those who breastfeed with babies that sleep through Well bella sometimes sleeps through from 10.30 till 5/6 but I am always so engorged that I have to get up at 4.30 to express because she feeds so frequently in the daytime and normally does a every 3 hours at night. Last night she slept through but I was in agony...will this always be the case??

Hopey, I'm always in awe of people who run marathons, 10km is my limit and don't think its even that at the moment. Glad everything is going so much better for you.

must dash baby is awake and she has earache so need to take her to doctors to check its nothing serious.

xx

Good afternoon!
Hope you are all doing good today!
Kinki- will be thinking of you on tuesday, hope all goes well and you are back to some normallity on the chest front soon
I got Arben weighed yesterday, 18lbs 1oz at 19weeks! We are still having problems with the sleeping at night as he has now added in another feed at 1.30 for the last 3 nights! He wont settle without some milk! I have stopped breast feeding now as my supply was just pityful - i was only feeding him at night and it just wasn't enough.
Thinking i will have to encourage him to have more milk at each feed during the day and get the weaning on the way. He loves whatever i give him. I am with Hopey on the feeding front, i stop when he starts spitting it back out or not opening his mouth!
He did his first roll the other day and of course i wasn't in the room Dh was on the phone to mother and told her but forgot to mention to me when i came back to the lounge. He only mentioned when i got excited about him nearly doing it, he was like 'he did it a minute ago' but forgot to tell you Men huh!!!!!
Quick question- its ok to freeze potatoe/carrot once its pureed isn't it?? i was going to put theem in ice cube trays and defrost when needed, i remember my neighbour doing that when her kids were little!

Hellooooo ladies!!!

Sorry I've not been around for such a long time but things have really been getting on top of me! In the past 2 weeks things have been soooo hectic and I seem to have been very emotional too . I went to the doctors yesterday about my ingrown toenail (had one removed a few years ago and the other one is playing up now so I want that removed too); ended up bursting into tears - he handed me a box of tissues and began talking about depression but decided I don't need any ad's for now - have to go back in six weeks . DH isn't surprised and reckons he has been trying to tell me I'm depressed for a while !!!! I just thought I was hormonal!!

Anyway, I've read through the thread and just wanted to give big hugs out: kinki: hope you're holding up there, thinking of you - was it yesterday? How did it go?; canadianmum: hope dh is doing OK, can't imagine having to cope with all that on top of the shock of it happening! kyala: so glad that Lucy is doing ok now, that must have been scary! chattyhan: Really enjoyed seeing you last week - looking forward to the next one (I've heard Playdays is a good one!). Hope you've managed to get a bit of sleep? BIG HUGS TO EVERYBODY ELSE OF COURSE!! (((HUGS)))

Well, there seem to be particular topics of conversation i.e. weaning and sleeping so I'll give my tuppence worth on the subjects and an idea of our experiences (yep, tuppence is about all they're worth lol!).

I don?t know if you remember but I was worried about Cerys sleeping through her last bottle and she kept trying to do it for a while. The hv visited (last visit) and suggested that if she?s not putting on weight (she?s now 12lb 2ozs) and insists on refusing her milk, it might be an idea to introduce solids. My opinion is that if she?s ready then we?ll give it a go. Have just looked it up on the calendar and she started last week aged nearly 20 weeks ? just a few spoonfuls of baby rice at tea time. I have to say that I introduced it at around 15/16 weeks with DS and DD1 (only because they were ready) and the difference was very noticeable ? none of this in & out stuff ? it went straight down the hatchet and she loved it! We?ve tried some of the jars and she has gobbled on them too but I am going to get the blender out and make some myself in the next few days. She is in a much better pattern and only naps for an hour or so now in the day (albeit 5 or 6 naps) and right through from 8 or 9pm to about 7am. (I know, you all hate me now!). I had a chat with a childminder friend and she commented that most of the parents she knows who waited till 6 months to wean found that their babies were much more fussy about what they ate and the flavours/tastes etc. I agree it makes sense that they are much more aware at that age and therefore more likely to have an opinion but I?m not in any way knocking what you guys are doing. To be fair, I haven?t even read anything about why they say it should be at 6 months and won?t now in case I scare myself silly with worry! I didn?t even know that waiting could cause problems but then I didn?t have any problems with DS and DD1?

Cerys is now sleeping in the nursery downstairs all night and I have a video monitor ? the first night I was awake at 4.30 just staring at her and waiting for her to move! We have to unplug the router overnight as it interferes with the picture though. I?ve got a room temperature thingy and it says that the room is about 18-20 degrees but her hands are freezing in the morning. I?ve taken to warming the room up in the evening with an oil radiator (no central heating in there) and that seems to help for the night. I have to say on the subject of sleeping that my friends lo is 7 months old and since she was born she has never napped for more than 20 mins in the daytime if at all but my friend isn?t worried as she goes through the night ? it just means she doesn?t get a break in the daytime bless her.

So, Cerys is doing really well ? actively teething and we?ve had to use the powders a few times. She still has lots of stitches in her bottom but most have come out. The dilating has gotten harder and seems more challenging every day . She had a week of screaming in the afternoons no matter what we did but that has died down now. She still hates the car chair so I try to leave her at home with DH if I have to do the school run etc. To be honest, I hate going anywhere so it suits me to stay at home as much as possible (apart from things like meeting chattyhan of course!). We had a cardiac review last week and she has now been declared ?heart healthy? ? yay! We?ll go back in a years time for a check up and her consultant said she?ll probably be discharged then.

The big news is that we have the date for the next operation (colostomy reversal) ? 19th FEBRUARY!!!!! I think this is why I?ve been all over the place as it marks the end of a very hard few months but at the same time I don?t know what comes after that ? have heard all sorts of stories about 20 nappies per day etc and I know for a fact that the dilating will continue for a good few months too. Also, knowing what comes with a week away from home and a week of watching Cerys in pain is making me very anxious!

Cerys is truly hilarious though ? she?s getting very vocal and lays on her mat shouting at her toys and reaching out and bopping them! She loves her door bouncer too and you can guarantee she is beaming when she wakes up ? day or night time bless her! If she wasn?t this much fun, I really would be going loopy lol! On top of all that, we?ve had the drama of DS fracturing his ankle so he?s on crutches ? life is never boring here I can tell you!

Anyway, I promise I?ll keep more on top of reading and posting now ? sorry for the mammoth post ? its taken me hours to write this one lol!

PLP xxx

Oh I forgot to say about rolling - Cerys is nearly rolling onto her front, she just needs that last little push. She rolls onto her sides in such a way that if I put her on her activity mat, she's round the other way in no time (but still on her back iyswim). Also, it won't be long before she can sit up as her back is getting very strong and we practice on the bed - she can manage about 10 seconds before she goes!

I keep remembering more things - d'oh!

Cerys had her first haircut a couple of weeks ago!! I'll try to load some photos of it later... Also, we've had to do at least 2 bag changes per day - not sure if thats because she's on solids now or if its because she is more mobile but its certainly not helping my stress levels!!

Hi ladies ,

Happy new year to you all......Abit late( well alot!) but stil.

Bet no one remembers me any more,gave up trying to post on the old computer as it was constanly crashing but now I am armed with a new laptop so am well away!

First of all Kinki...sending you major hugs and kisses i`m sure everything will be ok .

I have skimmed over the posts and its nice to hear about all the young uns` and how hey are growing.Lukas is doing really,really well.He is such a happy little lad,with a fantastic smile I could just melt when He looks at me.He is still feeding twice during the night but I think its because he is such a big lad.I have started giving him a little bit of baby rice every day now but at the minute its not having any impact on he feeding but he has took to it quite well though.He loves watching DS1 run round playing and the pair of them laugh constantly at each other ,its great to see.I love having the two boys but DP did say the other day that he was worried(like me) about wanting a little girl and feeling the need to go for a third,if we do I dont think I will want to leave a 3 year gap between again I will be in my forties....we will see ...far to early to think about it yet .

anyway bubsawake to feed see you soon.xxxx

Hello all, am taking a quick break while I get the chance, will have to be extra sensitive to DH's needs this eve, he had a review today (forgot the actual word for it but basically it's a review of his work, but like a surprise visit from the area manager) and the guy had a massive go at him, he took a break when the guy left and phoned me, just to let me know that he's mightily stressed out and was going to receive a 2nd bollocking from his store manager when his break finished and also that Friday will have to be cancelled cos he'll have to work to make his warehouse all pretty! So I've rearranged my appointments for Saturday (not going to be as much fun as it's market day and town will be packed!! That and the fact that we'll probably be going to his parent's so it'll be a pretty packed day)

Dal; lol if it worked then there's no reason to feel guilty eh?!

Laska: Thanks for that, I'll try the cheat first off, get confident with it then I'll start doing it from scratch, will let you know how I get on with it
I've not really had a major problem with engorgement in the mornings but that probably down to the fact that Lucy's been sleeping through since she was 5 weeks, I think the more Bella sleeps through the more your body will learn to cope with going for that length of time without her feeding, either that or you could set the alarm and express before it gets to that stage it can't hurt to keep a bit spare/in the freezer! I'm thinking about starting this and trying to boost her weight naturally (Don't seem to be able to get an appointment with the doc, am going to create mary hell when I go in for her weighing tomorrow though and see if I can get one!)

PLP: Sorry you've been feeling so crappy, I've been getting very emotional the past couple of days due to Lucy's feeding troubles plus the reaction on top of that but I'm being very straight with DH this time round (tried to "cope" with it all when DD1 was smaller) and it's making it a lot easier as he's able to give me a straight view on the situation (i.e: it's not my fault that she's not getting enough milk from me. . .) Just try and make sure you've got someone to offload onto, even if it means you're moaning a lot, as long as you've got someone there to give you some advice, even if it's stuff you already know at least someone's listening and making sure you've got it all covered.

In ref to the room temp, I've always been a bit cautious about this and tend to use elasticised gloves (they stay on better than un-elasticised mitts) rather than boosting the room temp as babies don't need the room any warmer than between 16-20 degrees (and it can be a factor in SIDS) despite the nursery being the coldest room in our house, I just make sure Lucy's got the right amount blankets but the hands are always a problem aren't they?! lol
lol @ first haircut, I'm not having to even think about that yet as Lucy's hair is coming out in chunks due to cradle cap!
Sounds like you've got a busy time ahead, should keep your mind going!

MMooMar: Welcome back! Glad to hear Lukas is doing so well!

I've got Lucy's weighing tomorrow (and, hopefully, a doc appointment to get her some prescription milk so she doesn't have a reaction!) and then round to my friend's to get on with designing her wedding dress! Should be fun! I'm also trying to make my dress for the ball in June and going to turn my hand to making my own tiara/crown, and making my mask too, could get a bit fiddley all this making I'll be doing!!
Have a good night all!
xxx

hi MMooMar, nice to see you, glad Lukas is doing well!

PLP, so sorry you've been feeling it, it really is hardly surprising though, you are perfectly entitled to feel down at times, you've had it pretty tough. Just remember we're hear to support you, you're both doing so so well. I'm glad you've got a date for the op, sounds like things are going in the right direction. You're amazing 'Supergirl' , big hugs to you. Ps thanks for the email. x x

Thanks Hopey! I thought of you the other day when I bought this gorgeous pink 'Superbaby' babygrow - they've still got some left if you're interested!

Superbaby(hope the link works!)

plp - great to hear all of your news and so pleased that cerys is doing so well. You certainly have every right to be emotional, with all you have been through. I hope things are less hectic for you soon

mmoomar - of course we remember you! Welcome back. I took quite a long absence myself but it is nice to catch up with everyone after a long unintended break.

kyala - good luck with lucy's appt and your dressmaking too. Sounds fun, it must be so nice to be creative and skilled.......sigh....sewing on nametapes is about as much as I can handle.

kelmcd - it is definitely ok to freeze purees, it saves SO much time. I did some apple and sweet potato today: cooked it, pureed it, let it cool, spooned it into ice cube trays and gave it a few hours in the freezer before popping the cubes into a carefully labelled bag (to avoid those sweet potato/carrot and apple/pear mixups ).