Feb 07. It's February. Our babies are 1!!!!!!!!

[peachygirl]

It had to be done ladies. A new thread for birthday babies!!

Hi! Not poseted an post-nayal thread much. But happy birthday babies!

Hi ja9 I lurked on your toy pram thread did you find one in the end?

Hi, thanks for the new thread peachy. Just in time for the nipper as he's one on Monday!

Interesting to hear from daizydoo how they do things elsewhere - shows how parenting is different all over the world.

sallyallyally, very envious of your Paris trip. Been a couple of times, pre-kids, and I reckon it's just a lovely city to mooch around and people-watch. We enjoyed the usual sights; the only out of the ordinary thing I remember was a church/chapel which was very close to Notre Dame which had the most stunningly beautiful ancient stained glass windows and painted walls. Sadly I can't remember its name at all...

Nothing much to report from our part of the world. I'm back at work part time now and nipper is settling in OK at his nursery. That first year has just flown by!

Peachy, we can rely on you to start the new thread, nice one. We're on for the big 1 on Tuesday. DH taken day off work and planning a chilled day together. Meeting up with various friends over next couple of weeks but no big party.
DS already has loads of presents even though we weren't getting him much. I've got him a baby doll as he loves them so much and hes seems to have loads of new clothes too. What's everyone else getting their LOs?

Hi Peachy

I went for this one in the end.

Really loved this one but just didn't want to spend that money

it hasn't arrived yet though so can't tell you what i think of it! are you getting a pram for maya?

Hello everyone. Smudgemum, that tooth came in on Friday. And we have another 5 pretty close.

DD and DS both have toy prams/pushchairs - they love them. We haven't decided what to get DD for her birthday yet. She has sooo much already I'm struggling to think of things. She's enjoying walking a lot at the moment (after refusing for the last couple of weeks, strange things these babies!) so maybe something that encourages her to be active would be good.

We've just been to Toys R Us to look for something for DD2's birthday but we've already got something very similar to most of the stuff in there, so we've settled on a Hammer-The-Shapes-In thing and a Make-The-Pushchair-More-Interesting thing. I don't know what everybody else is going to get her, perhaps we should have a bit of a clear out first...

Hi all.
ja9 DD got a little trolley for christmas which she pushes things around in, so no pram as yet.
We have so far bought her some sticklebricks for her birthday and I'm buying some instruments from here I think some of these will be put away for christmas. I managed to persuade my friends to put into the order to share the postage. DD has some of the shakey eggs and all her friends love then.
We might look at getting something for the garden,like a swing but will wait til the weather is better.
I have to work on DD's birthday, not til next week But my parents will be here and she will stay at home with them. My dad is really looking forward to it.
Hooray for the tooth thats finally come through

Happy 1st Birthdays Feb 07 Babies!

I've just been taking a trip down Maternity Lane having a look at our antenatal thread from this time last year to see what we were all up to... Everyone was congratulating Titchy on the arrival of Bethany, Suis had turned insomniac and was fed up of being pregnant yet not sure if she had the energy required to actually get the LO out, fellow insomniac SmudgeMum could only sleep on the sofa, andyrobo237 was keeping us all up to date with the stats, Bouncyminky was ordering a Venture photo session (which everyone had an opinion on), Snugglebumnappies was freezing her bump off in the North West, Tommy was imagining herself still on the thread at the end of the month with no baby in sight, Sorkycake thought she had a show (remember those ladies?), Cadbury was defuzzing in preparation, Bienchen was getting ready for an exam, ja9 wanted her baby - today! and Hairy Caterpillar was sure she wouldn't be early this time...

I'm not sure where I was - maybe desperately trying to unpack the last of my things in my internetless new home before DCMMY arrived, though I was probably sat on the sofa padding out my bump with Cadbury's Twirls before settling down for 9 hours straight sleeping. Ah the good old days!

So, now that the pesky preglar has been apprehended (caught red-handed with a swagbag laden down with bath thermometers) I have another Big Question for you...

If you could go back in time to February 2007 and offer some words of wisdom to your pregnant self, what would they be?
I was thinking once we have some replies I would post a message on the Feb 2008 antenatal thread directing them here for some wise words from the pros, then who knows, maybe this time next year the Feb 2008 mums will be offering advice to the Feb 2009 mums and so on...

What a great summary DCMY. Brings it all back. Keep thinking i really must print out those threads and stick them into ds / dd 's baby book.

words of wisdom will need to have a think...

My words of wisdom... NOTHING will ever prepare you for having your first baby (or 2nd lol) so it's better that you accept you are going to feel SO weird, out of sorts, and possibly low for a few weeks.

Erm, if breastfeeding isn't going well, the ladies on the feeding forum really can fix things!

Don't be in too much of a hurry for your baby to come. You might be anxious, miserable, uncomfy etc just now, but the flip side is that you are anxious, exhausted and haven't a clue what to do with a newborn! If it's your first, enjoy your last days of freedom.

When you take your baby home, make sure and have a good, long babymoon. They grow up so quickly and soon become stroppy wee things so enjoy those "I need you mummy" cuddles while they last.

Oh, and the thing that's got me through the sleepless nights is to remember that I'm not the only one. Someone else somewhere is doing exactly the same and thinking exactly the same. And someone else has been there, done it, and got through it with some sanity intact.

DCMY what a lovely idea. We were just talking this morning about the sleeping on the sofa thing. I think my words of wisdom would be not to stress too much if it seems like you are always feeding the little monkey because it will settle down. Enjoy it like lots of others have said. Don't beat yourself up about what you're doing because you're doing your best! Put any worries, concerns, brain waves on mumsnet and someone will respond!
I've had a weird day today as this time last year, the contractions had already started. We were watching Scrap Heap challenge, the Two Ronnies and some Monty Python on the TV. I went into hospital at about 5.30pm and then DS was born tomorrow just about lunchtime. DH has the day off tomorrow so we are having a chill day but planning on going up the Penshaw Monument to take some pictures like we did last year with me pregnant!

Meant to say that we've bought DS a baby doll and a jigsaw thing but the stack of presents downstairs is pretty big with things from other people. We keep being given toys from friends that their children have grown out of - which is lovely but then they give us new stuff too!

Ok. Last message for now - did anyone get given a blue My Bedtime Bear for their LO and their LO isn't that attached? It is his favourite toy and just went to Mothercare to try and get another just in case but they have changed him slightly - now got stripey bit on hat and a different face. Just thought that if someone had been given one and it wasn't a favourite, they might be willing to swop?

Can't help your with the bear smudgemum but I do have a JOJO green stripey rabbit comforter that DD has never been interested in that can be up for grabs if anyone wants it. Have you looked on Ebay?
Hmm DCMY I'll have to think about that one.

I could have done with someone telling me about the relentlessness of it all which came as a bit of a shock (spoilt teacher that I am, sending the kids home at 3pm!!)
And to go to the breast feeding counsellor sooner as it was a simple tip that sorted us out. AND to be prepared for DH and I arguing lots and lots.. It's still going on coming up to the birthday!! In the Times at the weekend though it said that couples who argued lived longer than those who had pent up resentments.

Ah, here you all are!

DCMY, great idea. I'm slightly sad at the thought that I'm going to have a 1-year-old in 3 weeks' time, but he's so adorable and watching the progress he's making almost daily is just wonderful. I do have pangs of nostalgia for my newborn son but he's a lot more fun these days!

I think my words of wisdom would be not to be too precious about everything. I spent so much time stressing over how much he ate and how much weight he was putting on. I kept records of his daily intake until he was about 7 months (yes, really!) As soon as I stopped, I became a lot more relaxed about his feeding. If I'd breastfed, I wouldn't have known how much he was eating anyway! I also wish I'd savoured every moment more thoroughly - although that's hard when you're finding your feet and the days and nights just pass by in a blur. And the best piece of advice I think I could give would be to trust your instincts and not worry about what other mums/other babies are doing. Your baby is your baby, and you know him/her better than anyone else.

Thanks Ladies!
I shall direct the Feb 2008 mums here now... Oh and my advice would be, like Currant Bun said, to trust your instincts - you will know your baby better than the author of a book written about all babies. Don't clench your jaw during labour 'cos it tightens your cervix. When people ask if there's anything they can do tell them to make you a lasagne / fish pie / soup and keep it frozen in portions for the days your baby won't be put down for a second - don't be like me and exist on toast and biscuits for the first 3 months. Find out which channel CBeebies is on - never mind all that no-TV bobbins, this time next year it will be your most treasured parenting aid. And make sure you have a Babymoon, all the shops will still be open in a few weeks, your friends will still be around but those first precious days and weeks and the world shut out, smelling your new baby's head and marvelling at their little toes and ears will one day be just a fleeting memory, so enjoy it! Good luck to all of you...

still surviving on toast and biscuits (and pringles) here! Though DH makes a nice meal most nights. Cbeebies is 614 on sky, 71 on digital... and my DS tells EVERYONE

Sally - hope you have a great time in Paris! Make sure you take the smallest pushchair you can. I took our big one so DS could sleep properly whilst we were out. Big mistake - it wouldn't go into the tiny restaurants and took up so much space on the Eurostar! Paris isn't great for baby changing areas, but if you're in the Louvre ring the bell at the medical station as they have a baby changing area on what looks like the photocopier!!

Advice I'd give myself - be prepared for more arguments with DH and try and ignore all the 'advice' that you're given, unless you ask for it!! Also each baby is individual and has their own personality and will dicatate to you when and what you do!!!

Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me plse? How much sleep should a 1 yr old get? We're averaging about 9hrs in the night and an hour or 2 during the day, but its a nightmare to get him to sleep and the later he goes to sleep the more unsettled he is. I can't seem to get him into any routine. Also he seems to spit everything I feed him out - its driving me nuts!

Anyhow rant over - has anyone noticed Marmite's not posted for awhile?

I noticed we haven't heard from marmite for a bit daizydoo. I'll send her an email.
Wish me luck, we have a party for DD tomorrow I got a bit stressed about it ..mostly about grandparents all trying to get her attention ALL the time and decided that inviting my antenatal grop would be a good thing ... spread that baby attention round!!

I've emailed and been a bit stalkerish and did a search for her messages. I know she goes on the Zappatas threads and she was on there in Feb.

we're having a party tomorrow too Peachy. Going to be a lot of people there and no doubt my two will be wilder than usual!

My next pg/birth tip... if you were induced due to pre-eclampsia, make sure and stay in the hospital a good few days after and get monitored. My cousin's gf was home within 48 hrs and she was taken back in on Friday after becoming very ill wil eclampsia. Basically her BP problem had been masked by post birth blood loss and epidural. It's not uncommon apparently... yet the hospital were happy to let her go without warning.

Hope Birthday parties went well. Sleep wise daizydoo, I hate to say it but I think they're all individual. DS has 12 hours at night and about another 2.5 in the day (not what you want to hear I know!) but a friend's nearly 1 year old has 10 at night and about 1.5 in the day. I guess you need to decide whether it seems right for him (as in whether he seems rested or not) and then just keep at it. Hopefully with the better weather on the way, you can get out and the fresh air will help. Good luck.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for missing me, I have been lurking but don't seem to have got round to posting for ages, ususal rambling service will now recommence.

dd is now crawling so fast she fell out of the back door yesterday (while dh was looking after her ) and has also sampled the cats food and water several times .

we have still been struggling on the sleep front and revisited the cranial osteopath last week, so hoping things improve soon. Going off to sleep is no problem, its the inconsolable screaming at 4am that is difficult. she doesn't sleep much during the day either roughly 30mins after breakfast and lunch and sometimes more if we're on a car journey.

we went to a messy play session on Thursday which was interesting as dd didn't seem to like paint, pasta or playdough textures.

Hope all the birthday parties are going well. we are having a joint babies one with a friend and then a family one on the actual day. I am going to attempt to make and ice number 1 cakes. dd is getting a wooden noah's ark and some usborne books from us.

I am feeling very nostalgic atm as well (but not too broody yet).