June 08 babies - I know there's a few of us about!

[isaidno]

Thought I'd start a thread inbetween breastfeeding, laundry and bossing DH about tyo do stuff!

Let's make a list of members!

ISAIDNO - baby girl; Poppy Elizabeth; born 18 / 6/ 08; 6lb 4oz

SBBP

I spent Luke's 1st three weeks on the sofa as I didn't want DH having disturbed nights when he was here as he usually had extremely early starts. When he wasn't here, I couldn't be bothered to trapse upstairs to bed and carry the moses basket and a newborn up there so continued to sleep downstairs.

Neeeeeeeeeenz!!!!!!!!!!!! Not sure what answer you would be pleased with but I am gagging to find out - make sure you let us all know tomorrow.

What's SBBP?

Cracked it today - Luke smiled and there was no wind or poo - he did it a number of times - I'm so pleased!!

Just wanted to share.. Olivia smiled at me yesterday and My Mum today. I know its only a little thing but it means she doesnt seem to be blind...as has met a developmental milestone without being completely out of range, her head control is really good also fingers crossed all continues....I tried her on a bottle as well when she was awake she managed 10mls so hoping to get the go ahead form SALT tomorrow to do somthing properly. 10mls sounds nothing but its a big amount for her seeing she is nearly 7weeks and never fed orally.

Im completely shattered since DH has been away and my emotions have been getting the better of meIm very aware of PND dont think I could hack that on top of everything else

Thank you for those of you that have asked about making donations I feel embarrassed as I didnt mention it thinking/looking for anyone to do anything. In answer to the quesstion though. We are currently getting a webpage set up in connection to the "Friends of the Special Nursery" I will post when it is done.

Congratulations josey and amberc on your smiles. How old are your LOs?
Does nayone know when they should get their head control also? I know I'm a 2nd time Mum, but I've forgotten everything. But then again maybe I've still got pregnancy brain

SBBP = spongebrainbigpants

Amber, that's so cute!

josey, wonderful news about Olivia smiling. I'm not surprised you are struggling to cope with your emotions at the moment, you have been through so much in the past seven weeks and it's only now you'll be beginning to process alot of that trauma. Plus, your dh has now gone away which is going to make things harder too. Hope you have lots of support from other family and friends.

Look forward to seeing the website.

libra, I think complete head control is normally around 12 weeks.

Josey - wonderful news about Olivia smiling and feeding . I'm so pleased for you. Any chance of more photos? Are you getting any emotional support from the hospital or health visitors?

Sophie - I'm sorry to see you go, too, and really sorry about ignoring you. Speaking for myself, I tend either to lurk but not post (holding baby etc etc) or bash out quick egocentric posts because I haven't read the thread properly. The whole walking whilst chewing gum thing hasn't happened for me yet.

Neenz - golly!

DH and the boys are away for the week. It's been so quiet here today, although I realise how ridiculous that must sound when there is a baby and a 3 year old in the house! Oh, and the hoards of builders traipsing through

Josey I'm so pleased to hear Olivia is doing so well, I know how rewarding their first smile is anyway, but with everything you've been through it must be extra special and shows just how well she is doing!

Sophie sorry to hear your leaving our thread, I don't think you are being ignored, we just don't have time now to chat to individuals the way we did. I just like to log on and see how everyone is doing, I don't expect everyone to reply to me personally.

TGF I hope your feeling better and the mastitis is clearing up. Hope Storm is starting to sleep better, her weight gain is amazing, you must have a fantastic milk supply.

Josey I can hardly control MY emotions when reading your posts so I cannot begin to imagine how it is for you. You are doing a grand job... Olivia is very lucky to have you as a mum.

Essie strange that no one replied to your question... I'd say wait until he is weighed. If he has gained good weight then everything is fine and just carry on as you are. If you are going to do anythign different try to be consistent for the whole week until he is weighed again.

Oh and the PG test was negative (phew!!!!) No more unprotected sex for me now (until next time... no definitely no more!)

josey you must be so pleased about olivia. do let us know about donating.

neenz good (or bad) news about the pg test!!!

thanks for the comments. we went to the opening of a friends pub last night and she took isaac so dh and i could have a chat. i told him all of how i was feeling and... listened to what he had to say and we have come to an agreement/compromise about looking after lo and his social life

sophie do stop by and see us every now and then. it is hard with a lo to catch up with every post. hope you enjoyed bestival, am thinking of talking dh into it next year as well as beautiful days

sorry about typing, one handed as feeding lo - who has thrown up all the feeds he has had since 3am!!!!

neenz...gagging to see what the outcome is

essie know what you mean - sometimes it all seems too much and although I love her I do wonder whether I'll ever get anyhing of my old life back (like readinga book).

Sophiesorry to see you go.. always thought of you as key to the group.

hedgehogglad you've chatted to your dh..although I still like the idea of making him sleep in the greenhouse .

Joseyfab news re olivia.. I'm so pleased. do put the donation link up

Edie really disturbed lsat night with wind/colic.. we think its the mega strenght antibiotics in my milk .. as this is a side effect apparently.. doesnt seem as bad on formula (sleeping like an angel now).but its one more annoying thing re this never ending masitis saga... fingers crossed appt tomorrow sorts it.

HH sorry to hear you've been having a rough time, hopefully things will start to improve after your chat with DH

Last night was very easy. Then I realised I'd forgotten to give Alexander his antibiotics yesterday. I'm sure these make him unsettled.

I'm still determined to make it to the bf support group today - going well so far as A has just gone to sleep

sponge am impressed at Alex's 5 hour sleep! Did you get any sleep last night?

Josey wonderful news, it must be such a relief. Do put up the link - I never for a second thought that you were trying to get money but I think people here genuinely care about you and Olivia and we're just keen to show support in whatever way we can.

neenz ah well, never mind! A mixture of relief and sadness, perhaps?

Sophie I agree with what Rolf just said - I read, but often post selfishly. Partly because it's a need to say stuff, and partly because when you have 2 pages it's hard to remember what people have just said. (And also the system: if you go back a page you lose your typing!)

Today, feeling ok like I can manage, mainly because Iestyn went to sleep and the feeds weren't too stressful (although they are short - I'm seeing my bf counsellor next week). I'm keen to start getting him into a routine now (the lovely Gina, or Gina Lite!) Neenz, how did you do it? I mean, I'm concerned he'll be hungry in the transition period, IYKIM. And UDC, can you give more detail on Gina Lite? I'm thinking of following the timings, but not necessarily the whole 'eat your breakfast at 8am or starve!!' bits. Oh, and sleeping in the nursery every single time won't be useful for me...

And there we go, a largely selfish post. Again!

essie will be interested on replies to your post on routine..we're trying same thigns here but having to do it in blocks (tocuh wood she is reasonably ok on the 11/midnight til 7 phase now) but trying to get her to settle earlier in the evening is a work in progress.. am limiting her afternoon naps and trying to work really hard on bath/feed/quiet time before geting her to bed.. but I tell you it makes me long for my work issues as the so called problems

Neenz - I couldn't quite tell, were you happy or sad?

Personally I would be devestated to be pg again now, I can barely cope as it is!

Essie, Jamie cut his feeds right down to five minutes or so and I was really stressed he wasn't getting enough so I had the health visitor come out and he had gone up a percentile! They just get really effective at feeding. Although Jamie has now started cutting this even further which is worrying me again! As I can't ask my older two to spend 2+ hours at the drop in weighing center every week I have taken the plunge and bought my own scales so I can keep an eye on him without stressing or giving up an entire afternoon. According to my hv as long as he doesn't drop two percentiles we are now fine on our own.

allnew, no didn't get good night's sleep!

was up at 1am, 4am, 6am!

think i might try upping his feeds - will phone hv and check

excuse one handed typing - feeding again!

HV has just left and Isaac has put on another pound in the last two weeks he is now 9lb 12oz, but I have to go to the GP as he has thrush in his mouth so I need to be checked.

Phoned them and managed to get an appointment for this afternoon - I am amazed about this normally it is at least 3 days in the future.

The HV also talked to us (me and DH) about how things are going to be hard and I think he took it in as well.

Am off to express another bottle now so that DH can take him off my hands and I can go and have a sleep in the sunshine this afternoon after seeing the GP

sybil where did you get your scales from, coz might be interested in keeping an eye on Isaacs weight as well - kitchen oness don't work and my ones are v.v.v.v inconsistent!!!

I got my scales from mothercare online and they are really good. They are very like the hv ones and give you the right weight even if baby wriggling. I also weighed Jamie on them after hv weighed him on hers to check accuracy and there was only 1 oz difference so I am confident they are showing the right weight.

My hv also thought Jamie had thrush in his mouth but it turned out to just be milk that was hanging around and staining his tongue. The peadiatrician checked it when he went to hospital for his jaundice check and said it was often misdiagnosed as thrush. I'd get your dr to check Isaac too to be sure.

Hi there

Josey, wow, Olivia's smile. That's amazing. Also wonderful that you fed her orally.

Sophie. I agree with the others and would be really sad to see you go. Also have to admit that when you were talking about going to Bestival and so on, was and admiring as I can still barely leave the house!

I took Dorothy for cranial osteopathy yesterday because she has been slightly unsettled and has projectiled once a day since we went to hospital. So far today she hasn't been sick and she seems slightly more settled, but she's also eating less, so I think it may be the run-up to a growth spurt (when they grow, eat less and sleep more). So tomorrow or the next day, she should be feeding like a mad baby! So not sure if her calmness today is a result of impending growth spurt or cranial osteopathy. She did scream her head pff when the lady massaged her tummy so maybe it did something? Do any of you others who have done cranial osteopathy have any thoughts?

Essie and others, re Gina Lite, I am doing the same as Poppy, ie starting with the nights and working backwards. D's nights are OK now (touch wood). We managed it by trying from about week 2 to limit her daytime sleep to the amount of sleep Gina recommends (so she slept more at night), and also I fed her every two-three hours during the day, so that she would go longer at night.

I'm now trying to get the naps sorted. She is going down more easily today than previous days (but don't know why - see above!) I'm feeding her two boobs at 11.45 and at 5.0 on top of what Gina recommends (this worked with DS).

It's hard because on days when it works, you feel like supermum, and on days when you spend an hour trying to get her to sleep and then she throws up 2 oz (like yesterday), you can be in the depths of despair.

Re sleeping in the nursery, recommend you to encourage Iestyn to have 2.5 hours at the lucnhtime nap in the nursery (DS slept better there and DH and I finally got some Mummy and daddy time!). Other naps, I don't worry about where she has them.

Essie, really don't worry about relying on people. In the "olden" days, we would never have been expected to cope on our own, and would have had half the village round giving advice.

Sponge, just a thought, but you may possibly want to limit Alex's daytime naps, so that he takes more food in the day. Sorry to be bossy.

Hi all, I have heroically managed to troll through the posts since Thursday and that has taken some time!!! Thanks to all for the congrats on the job, I agree with Essie that we must be a lucky group...so who is next?

I have had the in-laws for fours days and managed (just about) to avoid killing MIL. Thank god she is gone now. After 30 minutes of being there she was already asking me when I intended to stop breastfeeding!

Apart from that everything is fine or so. SJ has also started to smile which is soo sweet. He also loves one of his stuffed rabbits and is "talking" to it. He is still fretting in the evenings and like Storm can be awake for 5 hours at least, sometimes more so I too resort to feeding him to sleep. Also he is nearly outgrowing his moses basket so I think we will put him in the travel bed until we move (can't be bothered to put the cot bed together for such a short period of time).

GF Don't know when I am moving just yet, but I am definitely up for meeting up when I do. Sorry to hear about mastitis, insensitive DH and Storm unsettleness, breastfeeding is hardwork at times isn't it? Need to follow your advice re expressing in mornings though.

U/cake glad Dorothy is felling better, you did the right thing getting her checked, never mind your crossed DH, better safe than sorry

Sybil lol at your singing duties...you never know you might end up on the X-factor next year with all that practice!

Josey so glad Olivia is smiling, I had tears in my eyes when I read this.

Debs how was the wedding?

SA at Caitlin's harness. Looks really uncomfortable, is it painful? Although I suppose it is best she has it know. When I was a child, the son of one of my parents who was about 10 had one contraption to keep his legs open all the time and he got so shy and found it so hard to mix socially because of it, so I guess it is better when they are babies as she won't remember it and it won't affect her too much. Re chicken pox, don't know if you are breastfeeding but if you are I think she would be protected by your antibodies.

Hoggle congrats on your new arrival, sorry it was so traumatic though. Hope you are on the road to recovery now.

Neen at your GP lack of diligence! also that you might have been pregnant so brave of you to even contemplate it at this stage!! [remember they grow up and will soon turn into toddlers...running toddlers....]

Libra your DH seems just as insensitive as mine! My MW had to give DH a talking to and I have to say things have improved slighly since then

Sorry for long post but I had four days of catching up!!

Sophie if you read this I am so sorry you are leaving. But I guess with a DS and a B&B you must have a lot on your hands. You were such a support to me when I had pbs with my SIL that I am very sorry you felt ignored and I am very sorry to see you go. All the best

Just had a very quick trawl through the last couple of pages. Also sorry to see Sophie go. I think over the last couple of weeks its been harder and harder to keep up with everyone's posts. At the risk of sounding a bit petulant, as one of the last batch of people to give birth I felt that those who gave birth earlier in June got much more attention/interest/congratulations etc. That said, I've not had much time but to quickly scan through the posts lately never mind engage in much chat with anyone, so hope I haven't ignored anyone.

Am very impressed with everyone trying routines etc. Struan just over two weeks now and starting a routine is still the furthest thing from my mind! Am still trying to make sure he's fed, we get fed, and we all try and get some sleep to think about anything else. This is quite normal I hope ?

Someone a page or two ago was talking about how hard it is to get out of the house - DH and I had great intentions of going out today but spectacularly failed to do so. We've got visitors later so by the time we were ready it was too late to leave. I think it's quite common! God only knows how I'll manage when DH gets back to work.

Needahand you're an example to us all - how to respond to everyone and not ignore people!!

Here's a few:

UDC - interesting what you've said about feeding less and sleeping more in the run up to a growth spurt. It hadn't occurred to me but Iestyn is having shorter feeds and sleeping more...and he was 5 weeks yesterday, so this could be the dreaded 6 weeks growth spurt. Uh oh!
And Sybil - thanks, that's reassuring. How's Jamie doing? He was Iestyn's unofficial twin for a while!

Sponge all that feeding - growth spurt? (Sorry, it's a bit of a joke with DH and I because the main answer from all the mw/hv to any question is either 'that's normal for breastfed babies' or 'it could be a growth spurt'...).

BDQ - I think it's totally normal! I couldn't dream of doing a routine until now really - it just wasn't possible because I was too busy getting used to other things. I think there was a discussion (?on post natal) a while back on whether it's practical to have a routine early on, and I think the conclusion was no, not from birth!

HV here now, so must go!

HI Everyone, I'm back, will tell you about the wedding then try to respond to people's posts!

Wedding was fantastic, weather was very kind to us, the rain stopped and the cloud cleared for the outdoor ceremony. My 3 boys were excellent, I was such a proud Mummy! Ethan slept through the service, and spent the rest of the wedding happy being passed around for lots of cuddles - no explosive poos, and no projectile sick - hurrah!! The original outfit didn't fit of course but the replacement was fine and as the weather was cool he spent most of the time wrapped in a shawl anyway - don't know why I worried so much! Dress also worked OK for breastfeeding, with the help of a carefully draped pashmina!!

So, over the weekend we've had 30 guests either staying with us, or nearby and congregating here so I'm glad that most have gone home now, sil and bil have gone on honeymoon, mil is still here and Dh's Aunty and cousin - in the apartment!By next Monday it will just be us!

Wedding photos on profile

Update on the youngest Fletcher boy - 5 weeks today and the smiles have started but he has yet to smile properly at me
Still not getting much sleep and generally still feeding every 2 hours - day and night, remind me someone how I break the pattern?

Sophie - so sorry to see you go, you were my b+b ally!

Poppy - how did you get on at your appointment?

Neenz - can't believe you had a pregnancy scare already.

Josey - Fantastic to hear that Olivia smiled at you and took the bottle - what a fighter she is.

Essie - how was the HV?

DQ - Routine - hah!!! Nothing happening here on that front. The only thing I try to do is get Ethan settled in bed in the evening so that dh and I have a little bit of time together - but it's a bit hit and miss.

Needahand - so pleased you refrained from killing your mil. I am coping at the moment!

UDCake - will Dorothy always take 2 boobs? Ethan struggles with the 2nd most of the time and in the night I fall asleep so there's no chance for him to have the other - maybe if I sat up to feed and swapped him over he might sleep longer - what do you think?

Hedgehog - does Isaac have thrush, I can often see white on Ethan's tongue , but it just looks like a bit of sick - just wondering

Rolf - how long will the builders be with you? Have they moved in?

Must post this before I lose it, sorry to anyone I've ignored - this has taken ages!!