December 2008 - Its not wind they are smiling.

[JamInMyWellies]

Here we go ladies Rosmerta suggestion.

lal07 Finding the babybjorn pretty comfy esp after the premaxx sling I borrowed off a friend - it really killed my lower back, and looks more comfortable for babyOrange too. We splashed out on the active because DH got loads of vouchers from his work but narrowed down the choice by babyOrange's aversion to all things velcro! John Lewis were really helpful and let us try them all out to see what felt best.

Does anyone else have problems with interference on their monitors? Were given a basic tomy plug in, but couldn't hear the baby on it even when he was blatently screaming his head off. Then bought a TommeeTippee super-duper one with a sensor mat (for paranoid new parents ).

On the 1st one the mat didn't work and now the replacement doesn't have any sound on the parent unit due to 'interference' regardless of what channel we try. We have all the normal wireless and stereo and stuff butt even with everything off at the wall, still no sound gets through. Really want to get DS sleeping upstairs in the evenings as I think he is too restless in the lounge with us and doesn't settle properly until we all go to bed.

Oops cross posted there...

Hello beans, glad to hear you and Izzy or Bella are well!

orange We have a BT digital one which looks very complex but is very easy to use. We haven't had any problems with interference with it. Is yours digital?

Hello Beans I had been wondering how you were going too. Jolly I know what you mean about space for the ddog - we first got her in Devon - loads of space then came back to London and she's over it - very small garden here but she's mainly inside. We hope to move a bit further out of London though, if we ever sell our darn flat. Our tenant had signed another lease which is good, but at the same time we apparently can't market it so we had to chose and couldn't risk not having the mortgage covered with new baby etc and Mat pay
LadyT thanks for your offer - would love to at some time - this weekend i've got his family all coming as it's dh's b'day on the Monday. They do want us all to go up to the common for a walk so at least she'll get out then and i'll probably take her tomorrow too... Are you going to meet up during the week? Is there anything decided on that one yet?
Ahhhh coffee ready - i just pulled out this coffee machine that i had packed away as it was too annoying to clean - i also found whole coffee beans --- must get rid of this headache.... When that's gone I can have some cheerfulness! must remember to hydrate too!

disaster - coffee machine not grinding beans.... I think it's seized..... better have tea, and wait for dh to send to the shop... can't be assed going myself...

got tea.... doesn't quite cut it. Had some dark chocolate (don't even like dark choc but for medicinal purposes......)
LadyT I MAY join you on that weight posting thing - if others do?????

HAve had a bit of a read of everyone's posts and it sounds like things have been both highly satisfying, but also incredibly hard work. I would say the same is true of life with me. One day, I'm completely fine and nuts about Izz. NExt day I am on the edge of murder - but usually more DH than Izz! I do breastfeeding for almost every feed, apart from the end of my 6pm feed, which I finish with formula as my boobs are usually empty, floppy spaniel's ears by then! Then do a formula at 10.30 as well, to try and get her to sleep longer. It does seem to be working, finally.

DH is away this weekend and all of next week, which is a bit daunting.

Just finished a whole bag of peanut M&Ms. A big bag. Oops. Feeling sick now.

I've had moments of total desperation from lack of sleep but things seem to be picking up now.

Anyway, I'm adding a pic of Izz that I took today and an old one, she has grown so much - 6.5 weeks ago she was 6lb 13 and now she's well over 10lbs (10lbs last weigh in 2 weeks ago, so probably closer to 11lbs now!).

I'll do the weight posting - I'm stuck around 12 stone, which I'm hating!

xx

I'm up for a weight-loss post - 2 stones to go here

Trace, that is top advice re routines and small babies

Hellooooo Beans

right, DS2 grumping and I need to get the houswork done so better go

Piccies up - she's looking pretty trendy today, I reckon!

aw Beans! she's gorgeous!!!!

Peanut m&ms!!! Mmmm (in best Homer Simpson voice)

Hello, chutney-as-was >waves

beans she's soooooo cute!

Beans, she's gorgeous!

Ah Beans shes beautiful!

Am also up for a weekly weigh in, need to lose about 2.5 stone...well probably 3 really but lets not get carried away!

Have not ironed DH shirt, have been in one of those play places all afternoon with DD. DS getting very irritable...wonder if its th jabs

welcome back, beans! she is a sweetie!

and i have suddenly realised I HAVEN'T DONE MY TAX YET. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

PHOEBE HAS SMILED!

She did her first one today and it was captured on film by my photographer friend...and now it's on my profile!

The hungry thing has fed 1-2 hourly all day so I'm hoping she changes her tune for the night!

WG nor haveI and its getting scarily close to the deadline! It's also bloody confusing.Must do it tomorrow

That is such a lovely picture Trace

awwwww trace that's gorgeous!

(big me post coming up... sorry [blush)
a question for other first timers - how are you managing the division of work and stuff round the house? Now that dh is back at work he gets in at about 6.30 or 7 and we're trying to start putting dd to bed at 8 - ie that's when her bedtime routine starts, though often she's not asleep til 9.30 or 10. So I've had pretty much single charge of her from 7am when we wake up until 6.30 when he gets home. To give me a break he takes her when he gets in, but this means i end up making dinner and doing all the various jobs that haven't got done during the day. Then she wants feeding so he hands her back, if he starts off her bedtime routine but it's not working i take over later on - we rarely manage to sit down and have dinner together. I'm generally so knackered i go to bed about 10.30 anyway.

so on the whole he has her for about 2 hours a day and that time i end up spending on housework - though as he pointed out if he's going to make dinner or whatever then i have to look after her again which means no break.

how do the rest of you divide up jobs so that you get a break at some point? to give him his due he has recently been making me sarnies sp that i've at least got lunch for the following day, and then comes to bed about 12. it just feels that he's able to switch off in the evening whereas if i just sit down for a rest then there won't be a bottle sterilised for expressing in the morning, the bin bag of nappies won't get put out etc etc. it's a choice of keep looking after dd 24/7 or do the evening jobs. there's no time for a bit of 'me' time.

is that sounding really pathetic?

JJ - i've decided to bite the bullet and get a cleaner if only for the first few months. could you afford it? would that help? am also trying not to mind about cleanliness (v hard for me). also, our bedtime routine (!) starts at the mo at 7pm - ideally it needs to be a bit earlier because it takes an age to settle her, but i'm sure we'll find our own rhythm with it.

also, dh hasn't gone back to work full time yet - am dreading it - starts on monday, so really don't know how it is going to work.

today we had a mammoth day: took dd to healthvisitor for first time to get her weighted - she is a chunka munka i.e. getting massive quickly, so hurrah (despite still having green poos) - then got on the tube (!) to get her registered in islington (lovey registrar who allowed/insisted that i bf while registering her), then met a friend for lunch and had our first lunch out with her - the manager of the restaurant (giraffe) gave us a round of drinks on the house as it was our first lunch out - he was lovely. tempted to try telling every restaurant we go to from now on it is our first lunch out to get freebies. then had an emergency bf stop at starbucks to make sure she was topped up before the journey back home (buying coffees in lieu of rent of space). all this was done with dh, so who knows how i would have coped on my own - not well, i can tell you.

JJ - she is really gorgeous!

Hello ladies, apologies for absence but have been hanging out in the BF threads trying to sort my terrible pain. Things are now settling down and I no longer have to cry during feeds and consider giving up every day , finally there is light at the end of the BF tunnel .

Trace that pic is amazing !

I finally managed to capture a smile/laugh on camera, will post soon.

Oh and tonight is the first night with DS upstairs and settled while we sit peacefully in the lounge watching the baby monitor... so far so good, fingers crossed !

jump I am managing to keep on top of the dishwasher and clothes washing at the moment. Other than that houswork gets done in a joint mad panic if anyone is coming round. It makes me laugh that while nesting I was in tears because the bedroom carpet was not clean enough and had DP scrubbing it with a toothbrush !!! Every nook and cranny was shining but now baby is here the place is a tip !!! don't put too much pressure on yourself to do everything around the house as well as look after LO, being a mummy is a very hard job and can take up every minute of the day if baby decides not to go down to sleep for more than 10 mins at a time .

Beans lovely to see you back, photo is gorgeous . My DS is 7 weeks now and just like Izzy has gone from teeny weeny (6lb5oz) to a big chubby 11lber ! He put on a whole pound this week

Message withdrawn

Trace that photo is the best prof photo of a baby I have ever seen it made me feel all mushy. Also what you wrote earlier was brilliant, you could write parenting books yourself.

I took ds for his newborn hearing test, not quite a newborn and massive compared to the other babies but that was the appointment they gave me. Like you kayz I have my 6 week check next week at 7 weeks and ds has his with the HV apparently the GP doesn't do them for the babies, that is also next week. But not too bad considering how freaked out they were about ds being a homebirth baby. Apparently my surgery isn't used to that sort of thing.

I'm in the weight loss thing I'm used to metric but I'll even do it in imperial so you can def see what I have(n't) lost. I am currently 79.3kg (12.48 stones got that from a conversion website not sure what the .48 means). My prebaby weight was 73kg (11.48stone) but my pre babies wt and racing weight was 60 kg ( 9.48stone). It's probably a bit much to try to lose all that so for now I'm gonna target 65kg (10.2stone). I walked to ds' appointment today and I'm walking as much as I can and if all goes well with the bottle fed ebm for ds I will start swimming and yoga soon too as well as yoga at home. Oh and as it is now six weeks post I can start at post natal pilates. But that will all be in vain if I don't watch my biscuit and butter habit. Why can't someone make lowfat butter, and I don't mean margerine.

WG you poor thing no coffee, oh no that just reminded me I forgot to add my beloved Lavazza qualita rossa to the ocado order and it's too late to edit my order now. Will have to do a sainsburys extra run. Right time for bed I'm expecting ds to wake for a feed soon. He fed pretty much constantly this evening stopping only for his bath and nappy changes. I managed to do the Ocado shop while he fed. He took a dummy for a little bit to rest my boobs but something tells me he is having his 6 week growth spurt. Going to Wolverhampton for my class tomorrow hope he isn't going to continue his spurt then as it's a 1 he drive.

Oh and hi beans, sybil and orange nice to see you. Right I really should be in bed.

Morning,

I actually had a good day at MIL's yesterday. She didn't moan about anything really. She is really annoyed on my behalf about the whole bf thing.

DS2 ended up in our bed last night. He wasn't settling again and I was exhausted so I just put him in our bed. He slept for 5 hours so I got twice the sleep from the night before.

DS1 woke up and came into our bed after DH got up for work and I thought he was asleep in our bed. Then he jumped up and starting shaking the stairgate. So I had to get up.

Trace That picture is gorgeous!!

I hope you are all ok.