June 2008 - The Olympics are here and Mums deserve gold medals

[ThePenguinProject]

Thought I'd start a new thread before we ran out of space! Couldn't remember the exact name suggestion so have paraphrased, the sentiment is still the same though...

UDC, sorry to hear about Dorothy's vomiting problems. You poor thing .

poppy, yes I know what you mean about the sleeping through. Alex now does 11 to 12hrs every night which is alot more than this woman's child does!

Essie, KWYM about Deal or No Deal - there was a man on there a few months ago when I was pg who was trying to raise money for IVF. They had already had 3 failed cycles . At one point he was offered £25k which would have been enough to pay for 5 cycles, but he still had £250k on the board so played on and ended up going away with only £3k. Absolutely awful - not even enough to pay for one lousy cycle . I felt so sad for him.

BDQ at that woman's comment. She had no right.

Agaboo, welcome to the thread.

Thank you to everyone else for their kind supportive comments on bf/ff - I do need to stop beating myself up about it .

I've just been out for lunch and came home in a really good mood only to pick up my emails and find out one of my friends is pg again. I know this should normally be good news and I am really really happy for her, but I'm also sat here crying . She's a really good friend of mine and I'm so pleased that she finds it so easy to get pg, but I also find myself overwhelmed sometimes with feelings of jealousy that she has found it all so easy. She already has a 2yr old and a one year old and is expecting again in March. Exactly the kind of family I wanted. She gets pg at the drop of a hat, has text book pgs, labour that lasts a couple of hours (2nd baby delivered at home by her dh cos it was so short that the MW didn't have time to get there) and, of course, she bfs and makes it look like the easiest thing in the world!

I know jealousy is a hideous emotion and I'm not proud of myself for feeling like this, but why couldn't I have a teensy bit of her luck? Then I look at my beautiful little boy and feel like a total bitch for feeling like this, but why did having him have to be so hard and why do we have to go through such hell to have a sibling for him?

Sorry, self-indulgent post over. Just feeling sorry for myself .

Oh Sponge you poor thing, don't feel guilty about being envious we are all the same. When one of my friends told me she was pregnant with a third child soon after I miscarried my third I was devestated even though I knew she really wanted that child and had problems conceiving. To make things worse though, then I got pregnant with Jamie and she found out at the twelve week scan that her baby had died - I got to feel guilty all over again.

DD cried at school but I was strong, until I got home! She has already told me she may cry tomorrow so I am trying to prepare myself for it!

Welcome Agaboo - what's your little one called?

Toddler stiffies - it does make me smile when my DS (2.6) has one. Before he was potty trained, had to stand there and wait for it to go down before putting the nappy on, as willy is supposed to point downwards!... Incidentally, when they are in to 'big boy pants', should their willy still point down, or up?

PP -really sorry about your job. Stress that you don't need. Am sure you will end up with something better as a result though. I hope it's not annoying to say I'm a big believer in the 'Celestine Prophecy' / everything happens for a reason thing.

Essie - re. Gabrielle aspirations. Don't forget that in Series 5 she is apparently fat, frumpy and with 2 kids... Can't wait for it to start again tomorrow night, though annoyingly didn't catch all of last week's recap of Series 4 so far.

Sponge - agree with katyjo. My DS was mainly ff, and never has colds / illnesses etc. His cousin was bf exclusively for about seven months and is always ill...

Greenfairy - I am always interested to read about Storm as she was born day before Caspar so they are exactly same age. V jealous about the sleeping through. I really cannot wait to get more than 5 or 6 hours' uninterrupted sleep.

Caspar, who is usually really easy going, has been a bit of a nightmare today - didn't sleep at all except when I took him out for a walk, and whining much more than usual. I think definitely teething - can see white spots, and dribbling and eating fist. Gave him Calpol for first time earlier.

Whoever it was that said about garden waste- really p**s me off that where you used to be able to buy green sacks from library at £1 a throw, you now have to pay some astronomical annual subscription. My council (Kingston) just about to move to fortnightly rubbish collection. Not looking forward to it - especially with all those disposable nappies. [guilty face icon]

Sorry you're feeling a bit down. Its understandable that you'd feel a bit jealous.

Welcome agaoboo - we're a very chatty bunch so get stuck in!

whinegums of course I didn't think you were being arsey! Did my post sound like I thought you were? Hope not. Was just sharing the info on size/weight - using it till B gets bored/seems to heavy seems like the best solution.

Oops, gotta go!

Goingfor3 - sorry to track you down here, but just wanted to say that I have been thinking about you and wondering how you are getting on? My lad Jak is doing really well, 5 months old now and already trying to crawl!!!! Hope you are well and that your two girls love their baby brother.

Sorry for the intrusion here!

Evening all,
Good news: Iestyn is sleeping. Bad news: he did a poo in the bath. (We bathe together, him and I...) I have never moved so fast in my life, and I scrubbed myself quite hard in the shower afterwards!

Final note on ff:
I'm one of 3 children. The only one of the 3 breastfed. Now, they say bfing means fewer ear infections. (Oh, and dummies cause more - I was the only one of the three not to have a dummy.) I was the only one of the three of us to have chronic ear infections!

Sponge totally normal attitude I think, particularly given what you've been through (and are going to go through again). My friend who was ttc and is now pg (IVF) only coped (and admits that she had regular private bouts of raging jealousy and life-is-unfair session) by seeing it as a different path, and her destined path is different.

Er, it sounded much better when she said it to me. It sounds like total crap now!

Mamawizz me with the binmen. I blame DH. The binmen rang the doorbell at Christmas and said 'we're your binmen'. Instead of coughing up DH said 'have a great Christmas, hope you have a nice break'. I'm amazed really they're not dumping extra binbags in our drive!

Hi Agaboo!

BDQ - what are the basics of the no cry sleep system?

Why is it that Luke feeds really well all day and then goes purple in the face and spits out his 7pm feed before bed? It's all I can do to get some of it in him before he goes to sleep. It's only that feed. Do babies go mad after 6pm?

Luke LOVES the bumbo. I took a pic and put it on the profile - what a little cutie! He's also started laughing more regularly now especially if I blow raspberries at him - makes me melt with joy!!

Great to hear from you Rainbowdays I replied to you on the TTCgraduates thread.

Evening all, Fleur has perfect hearing though i could have told them that!!! She also flirted with dr who was incidently very tasty. She kept throwing him smiles and batting eyelids!!!

ernest ah oh well bout parents eve hopefully there will be other occasions to met up.Nobody here either for me to see during week all rl friends with babies back at work, i went out for a walk looking for other mums the other day!!! they must have all been hiding!!!

Bumbo seat is from 4mths when can hold head up steadliy Bebepod slightly higher but also need to hold head, FLeur mantains hers rather well now so when it arrives lets see if she likes it

laura hope jabs went well

amber glad you think babytv needs an extra tough to watch it!!Baby einstein vids do too!!

PP/whinegums hope jobs work out for you both

neenz nice to have you back, glad you enjoyed camping and twins are doing well

bouncy chairs think more sturdier ones last for quite a while i plan to leave Fleur in hers til she literally doesnt fit

sponge grrrr at friends, Ive found opinions on bith sides of the feeding spectrum, i just think ill do what i want and is bes t for LO

UDC hope vomiting was one off and she is ok now

katyo love what your dad said

TGF good luck tonight im still trying to get fleur to sleep through, we can do 8pm to 2am with no feed or 8pm to 3.30am with dream feed

allnew hope he gets better soon, Fleur used to poo daily but now goes every 3 days and its very pastey not runny (TMI!) any one elses like this? Re swimming Fleur loves it we have got her a paddling pool and even if its a bit colder we fill it with hot water inside!!

Agaboo Welcome, Fleur also a fidgety baby i give her things form round house to play with ie pasta, hang strips of sparkly paper from ceiling, put toys that make noise or paper at her feet to kick.

sponge virtual hugs to you, its normal to feel jealous and hope all will work out for you

Now after that mammoth post have q for you regarding your DHs Do any of them still feel slightly anxious/ nervous etc when dealing with baby? (this is q from my DH as i left him to put Fleur to bed tonight while i went to aerobics and i came back to find him saying gosh its sooo stressful do any other dads feel like this?

I've got a bumbo for DS but he really donesn't look very comfortable in it. Maybe he will be more so when he's a little older. I used the rocker with the girls everyday but hardley use that with ds, he's usually in his pram, gym or someones lap. DD2 kept him happy earlier by lying him on the floor to wright near the tv to watch Nickjr, as she said he wasn't crying so must like it!

DS quite frequenlt has erections, I suppose it's good to kow it's all in working order!

Sponge I really feel for you. Though I've never had any problems getting pregnant I've had two mid trimester miscarriages and when other people have easy pregnancies I do get upset that I've had such an awful time and they haven't but I wouldn't want the same to happen to them just wish it had never happened to me.

Paro Ds only poos once a week, at the weekends but never when dp is available to change the nappy!) and his ppos are also pastey.

Paro I absolutely feel anxious all the time. Sometimes I feel sick in the morning when I wake up at the thought of it all. I also feel vey anxious at the thought that LO won't go to sleep in the evening and it's horrid.

DQ, no, your post sounded fine, I just re-read mine and thought I sounded arsey! Paranoid android emoticon...

Essie, sorry, but I laughed when I read your crap in the bath post. Hope you are feeling nice and clean now! I wouldn't mind taking a bath with B, how do you manage it? I mean, are you able to do it alone, or do you need an extra pair of hands getting Iestyn in and out of the bath?

Sponge, jealousy is normal I think, it's just hard to admit to.

Paro, awww bless at flirty Fleur! DP is quite laid back with B, but he has done this before, as he has two older kids. I can understand how your DP feels though, until B came along, I was totally freaked out by babies!

Amber, I know you were responding to Paro, but sorry to hear you are feeling like that. No advice, but sending you a virtual hug.

B had his 8 week check today - I have been advised to try colocynth granules for colic, which is a new one. I think the probiotics/prebiotics have helped, but it still hasn't gone. Also, B is being referred to ENT as he makes some funny noises, and the doc thinks he may have floppy larynx. Anyone heard of this? Apparently not much to worry about, but he might be prescribed antacids so stomach acid doesn't irritate it more.

He has slept loads again today, wonder if it's still after effects of the jabs. Fingers crossed he's not going to keep me up all night.

Hope you're all having a good night with the LOs and sending sleep vibes to all (especially myself!).

Evening everyone

Poor Thea had her jabs today. I can still hear the sound of her scream of shock and outrage.

Sponge - sorry you're feeling sad, although like everyone else I'm sure how you're feeling is normal. After I had a late m/c, apart from the obvious grief, I hated how it "tainted" any other pregnancy and found it difficult to cope with people who just didn't have a clue how lucky they were.

Morning all, quick post before today's day trip, yesterday we did a palace, playground, cable car then open air museum...today it's cable car, gold panning, birds of prey then swimming.I'm worn out just planning it!!

Hope everyone's OK with jabs, sleeping, bumbos, poos, colic, flirting, rolling, laughing etc...etc...

Hi there

Egocentric post alert.

Dorothy has been sick again this morning. We had nearly ten days off the puking when I gave up dairy and tomatoes. She doesn't seem to be writhing in pain in quite the same way, but she is puking. But she has also slept through for about a week. And now I'm paranoid she won't be getting enough food to sleep through again. Two steps forward, one step back, eh?

Hope everyone else is well.

Morning all,

UDC sorry about Dorothy. Hope you figure it out.

Advice request - S has previously been quite colicky and is still on dentinox to help with trapped wind. His burps seeming ok now, but he seems to have real problems with his 'bottom burps' as they're called in this house! He gets really agitated and upset and is obviously in quite a bit of discomfort. He poos regularly (once a day usually which is quite normal for FF baby) so he's not constipated. Sometimes it starts when he's feeding and he gets so upset he wont feed. Once he's done his very manly sounding (and feeling!) bottom burps he's usually fine. HV just kind of nodded sympathetically but didn't give any suggestions. Wondering if I should take him off dentinox and try gripe water (and if it is suitable for this kind of thing)? Wondered if anyone had experienced this or had any other ideas.

Amber I read the book briefly when I was still pregnant so cant remember all the details - but the author is very against leaving to cry. It basically helps you put together a 'sleep plan'. One of the techniques is the 'pick up, put down' method which is essentially picking baby up when upset, settling, then putting down again while still awake (complete opposite to GF).

Re: cuddling babies to sleep - I do this with S at least once a day! However, he does go to sleep himself sometimes (although, quite possibly always with a dummy) so I'm not too concerned (yet!). My only concern is that sometimes he wakes up and needs his dummy put back in. However, I have caught him holding his dummy in his mouth sometimes

Amber - great pic of Luke! Is there any chance he's not too hungry at 7pm hence spitting out the feed?

Essie LOL at the poo in the bath.

Deb have a fun day out. I dont know how you manage it!

|Essie and whinegums LOL at both of your poo stories, I am also interested in how you have a bath wih your LO Essie?

UDC we're still vomiting here too, is it just once or twice a day that Dorothy vomits? Charlotte throws up a huge amount usually after her first feed of the day, and sometimes later in the day again. I've decided not to stress about it, as she's growing and having plenty of wet/dirty nappies and therefore must be taking enough in. she is also sleeping through from 10/11 to 7 ish.

Deb wow, busy days! hope you strike gold.

agadoo welcome!

jabs were fine, we had a bit of a scream, then she had a feed and forgot all about it. Slept a bit more than usual, had one dose of calpol, and was a bit more clingy than usual in the evening, but all in all, not too bad!

neenz welcome back, glad you had such a good holiday, we're off for a weekend break (waves at 5gomad)/ wedding this weekend, first flight for C - any advice?

sponge hugs for you... do sympathise as had 2 m/c and lost my son at 21 weeks due to abnormalities and even now I have to suppress desire to smack people who think best part of pregnancy is eating chocolate, reading the mothercare catalogue and finding out the sex at the scan (it takes great effort of wills not to flame the posters on here who put something like "I am so disappointed I am having a boy/girl"...with well I was disappointed to find out my baby had no kidneys...).. all I can say to make it easier is that you are not alone in this reaction - I suppose it makes me enjoy edie more but tha acceptance is hard to come by (I have had loads of sessions with a therapist which I Do think helped)

bdq have you tried the lieing on back pulling his legs into his tummy technique? friend whose baby also had similar colic issues swore by it.

amber that pick up/put down thing that bdq mentioned sounds very like the baby whisperer idea... basically its revolving round a few tedious evenings settling them. Am going to give it a try as we're still keen on mum bed here if can get away with it (I notice interestingly she doesnt do it so much when dh home so clearly its me being soft !)

oh that reads as though I was asking only Neenz about advice for the flight, it was a general question!

laura I flew to Ox when dd1 was 3 years and dd2 3 months. It was suprisingly easy to deal with the children. They behaved really well.

dunno about flights but taken edie on eurostar a few time..only advice is to try to feed/change em before you get on board as better chance of them being settled then.

friend from antenatal has taken her lo to ireland a couple of times and said it was fine.

Thanks for the welcomes

Paro, hanging sparkly paper sounds like fun. DS (Arco) hasn't got his head around toys yet. He holds onto something if it is given to him, tries to get it into his mouth, misses, then forgets about the whole thing. He has a couple of grabby rattle things and just absent-mindedly strokes them.

I sing to him a lot but he has an attention span of about 90 seconds - one minute he is amused, the next he is all looking disdainful and "are you still doing that?"
He seems happiest when he's constantly moving or looking at an object that is constantly moving.

I have heard good things about those doorway-hanging bouncers and reckon he would be into that, but they seem to need back strength, so not for another couple months. His head control is good, he is getting used to the Bumbo but is still a bit small for it - needs a blanket behind him so that he doesn't have to lean back (have you tried holding your head up while leaning back - it is a lot of effort!)

He has never been a good sleeper but OMG is just starting to do 5-hour stretches!. (And that "No-cry sleep solution" book says that a 5-hour stretch qualifies as "sleeping through the night" We bought the book out of desperation - it serves mostly for reassurance and tells you a few sensible things (an LO that gets solid daytime naps sleeps better in the night; a consistent "bedtime routine" is key; slowly work on getting LO to lie down while not quite, but almost, asleep). There isn't really a system to follow - just a few tips (most of which I had read on the internet anyway), with a scheme for making notes to become more aware of how the sleep patterns are going, and a lot of anecdotal padding to fill it out to book length. The book seems most useful for mothers who are BFing and being woken up a lot for comfort feeds, and for those with older babies who are "fighting sleep". We still rock Arco to sleep on a lap, not worrying about that until he outgrows the lap.

Going to see the HV today as he's started spitting out all his feeds (except at night). What could be wrong?

agaboo-in what planet is 5 hours through the night!! also heard good things re those doorway swings but also reluctant to try yet

amber - how long has this been going on? is this all his feed/every feed or just at certain times? Edie starting to get dead fussy when tired which never was before and more easily distracted when feeding..its meant to be as they get more alert /interested in other things (she is 10 weeks now). Could it be that?