December 2008 - Its not wind they are smiling.

[JamInMyWellies]

Here we go ladies Rosmerta suggestion.

Oli - hope you get your pasta, girl!

Veggie - the 90 minute thing very interesting! Must check out JJ's link too! I find the whole sleep cycle thing really interesting. In DD's (supposed) big nap from 11.30/12 til 2 I find she wakes almost like clockwork at 1 but often (if I turn on the white noise CD!) will settle herself again after some squawking. I think baby's of this age go into a light sleep after about 45 mins to an hour and can learn to settle back if they are clean and not hungry. Its quite odd though how it is usually the same time.

Jump great photos! For those who weren't there - we weren't actually cordoned off but just chose a nice spacious spot near to a place they were doing some kind of screen things! It was great though not being right beside other people as there was lots of nork flashing but actually very little crying! Verso hope you can make the next meet up and get some rest tonight.

daisy thinking of you all at the funeral.

trace we await an update on JohnnyGiles-gate....

ER and Brothers and Sisters and a large glass of red await...

aaahhhh I hate the misuse of apostrophes and just did a clanger in that last post!! I am turning into a greengrocer

sorry to keep you in suspense...

She didn't even look!!! after all my worrying - she asked what the problem was, I said "haemorroids" and she prescribed cream with steroid in it! That was that! All that stress over nothing! Then she was asking how things were going and I started to cry - she knows me very well from my PND last time so I feel comfortable with her and she was lovely! She gave Phoebe a cuddle and said she was beautiful [proud mummy emoticon]!

I just had a chippy tea. Naughty but nice

The 90 minute thing makes sense. I had been told it was a 45 minute cycle, but I guess they could both be true in a kind of half cycle way! I think it goes for sleep time as well as awake time, so they might stir after 45 mins and if they settle will go another 45 mins. All seems a bit more random than that to me!

am sooooo tired and have had a massive headache all day so will be off to bed shortly.

Am reluctantly going to a big family lunch tomorrow - rellies from 'down south' are coming up North to celebrate my aunt's 60th because there's a lot of family in the NOrth (Manchester, Knutsford, Scarborough...) so they decided York was quite central - very convenient for us!!! There will be my parents and sister, which will be lovely, then 4.2 million cousins and aunts and uncles and I could happily not go. I'm worried Lucy will play up, especially as she's at a party in the morning and will be arriving fully hyped up! And I'm a bit nervous about BF in front of so many paople...
oh well, will do my family duty [long- suffering obedient niece emoticon]!!!

Ooh ooh Effie your toddler comment has been used by Justine in the Guardian article

Bugger family Trace do what is right for you guys. Although you might be sad that you missed out after the event.

Harumph, DH and I had planned a nice evening in with proper dinner, bottle of cheer and the first episode of series 5 of Lost that a mate has recorded for us and he's stuck at work

the alarm system they put in, the one that went wrong and he had to go in at 6am the other week, it's buggered up again - DH was the last one in the building and they now have a fob thingy that's meant to arm the system, except it didn't... Phoned the alarm company, they said Oh dear that sounds inconvenient and said they'd get an engineer across asap. He waited until 8 for an engineer who then phoned, "can't say when I'll be with you mate", DH came home but obviously we can't make dinner as no idea when he'll be needed, just started to put it in the over and the guy called so he's now back at work. Don't know what the problem is but fingers crossed it won't take hours to sort, I want my tea!

On a cheerier note dd went to sleep at 8.45 and so far has squeaked to herself a few times but that's all

trace great news about your bottom sounds like a lovely doctor.

on the subject of greengrocers' apostrophes, the best one I ever saw was a sign advertising "asparagu's"

Oh! DH has just phoned and is on the way home! Dinner before midnight it is then

I am also envious of the meet up ? the photos are great. But I?m like trace and totally confused as no one looks that I thought they would, but now I can?t remember what I thought you?d all look like anyway! And like veggie, I noticed the red and white tape and thought who?s safety is that for, you guys or others there! Looks like you and the babies all had lots of fun.

Kayz what a shocker for your friend ? almost Irish twins!

Wow, effie, you are famous now!

I went to the BF centre yesterday, hired a pump and sat with the BFC and expressed whilst she was there telling me all about it ? I managed 3oz, so was very proud of myself. DD really enjoyed herself, there were lots of other babies and noisy toys and I?ve never seen her eyes so wide as she took it all in. Last night DH gave her the bottle of expressed milk ? she was a little fussy at first, but downed the second half almost in one (looks like I?ve bred a yard of ale champ ). I?ve expressed again today and DH is going to try a dream feed tonight, here?s hoping for a good bit of rest after midnight ?

Night night everyone xx

ZJ well done!! I am going to try next week so Dh can do the 10.30. Can you let me know how much your babe takes (as I am totally unsure how much a 9lb 7oz baby would drink at one sitting...).

Effie you are famous! Great quote!

Trace hope tomorrow is OK and that both your DD enjoy it all.

Snow coming this weekend I think! Yikes!

on the subject of expressing, how much do people manage to express at a go, and how much do you feed in one go?

I expressed about 2 oz this morning and DH fed it to DS while I had a kip this afternoon, but apparently he was still hungry afterwards. However he always seems to be still hungry! I think I read somewhere about 100-150ml for the age DS is which is more than 2oz I think (sorry for mixing imperial and metric there!) guess i may have to do more than one go to a feed.

On the subject from ages ago about babies looking like gollum/ET, me and DH have been watching austin powers, and have decided DS looks like Dr Evil!!

trace phew about the doctor!!

Summer I've been expressing around 120ml+ on both sides. LO is 5 weeks old and has been taking around 120-150ml at a sitting.

trace glad the doctors appointment wasn't as stressful as you thought it'd be.

JJ That really stinks about the alarm! Hope your DH gets home soon.

I'm really of all you guys getting to meet up. Really wish I could've been there. Hopefully next time I'll be able to come.

SL I expressed about 60ml (2oz) today but with bf bubs volumes are a bit irrelevant as first of all they can empty your boob more efficiently than a pump even an electric one and also your 2oz may have the same nutritional value and fats etc as ZJ's 1oz or Kimberlys 150mls, because it is exactly what ZJs baby needs and yours is just what your baby requires. However, as the pump isn't getting quite as much as your LO would normally suck out maybe add an extra ounce to whatever you express in one sitting. Usually because I hate the idea of wasting my milk, I get those breastmilk storage bags and store the milk in 1 oz amts so that if I start off with the EBM and he doesn't want it i haven't wasted all the milk. Later you could go with larger combined amounts as you get to know how much he will have in one sitting.

sounds like I need to experiment a bit then.
Ds just slept 5.25 hrs! This is unheard of!

SL thats a good chunck of sleep.

We had a pretty good night here too went down at 7.30 dreamfeed at 10.30 and then he woke to feed at 2 and again at 4.30 then up at 7. Best night for a long time. Need him to stretch till 3 then go till 6 and I will be happy.

link to breast milk expressing calculator from kellymom

Have a good wkend all.

Good Morning,

Well funeral went well yesterday, as well as a funeral can. Two of DH's cousins have had babies recently, so it was good to see them and we sat in a corner and BF together FIL came over to see DS, and stroked his cheek asked how he was etc etc and I said "oh he's fine just having a little snack" FIL withdrew hand in horror and jumped 10 ft backwards it was so funny bless him. I said it was okay it wasn't like he was touchhing my boob but he really didn't know what to do MIL thought it was hilarious as did DH.

Had my night out last night which was tame by my standards (well what my standards used to be). Met friends at 7.30, after bf DS. Rang DH at about 9 to see if all was ok. DS had had 4oz of EBM and was tucked up in cot DH asked me not to call again as I might disturb DS Got home 11.30ish, DS still asleep so crawled to bed after 'pumping & dumping'. DS only woke at 2.30, and DH gave more EBM, so I could sleep and then he woke at about 6. Am very impressed but now DH has big head and thinks he is King!

summer I usually get about 2-3oz of each boob at the mo. But can be more if DS has slept lots and boobs are full

Hope you all have a good weekend

Morning,

Daisy, Glad you had a good night out and that the funeral was ok.

Trace, Yay for nice doctor and for cream!!

I have decided I HAVE to lose weight. My brother put some old pictures of me on facebook and I looked great. I was even showing off my stomach!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got an e-mail from Jump!!!!

You all rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey quiet day here then.

Glad your happy about it Kayz you deserve it, and JJ organized it all.

Went out today with my friend who is up and ds2 survived without me and quite happily took the bottle. Though I need to get a slow flow teat as dh said he downed it very quickly. Only prob is the boob I expressed off yesterday now has 2 hard areas and is very sore, so must be blocked duct am going to massage in earnest, and have a warm shower.

Also my friend told me today she us pregnant. I was so excited I burst into tears she is such a wonderful dear friend I am just soooooo happy for her. Dh welled up a bit too it was really lovely.

Daisy I hate to tell you this but you didn't need to dump alcohol enters and leaves your milk similar to your blood stream about 90 mins after your last drink it will be completely free of alcohol.

Daisy v impressed you went out.

Was really lovely to meet up last week. Top place turnip and lovely to see all the babies. Thanks for the photos JJ I didn't notice you taking them either. I think it's probably a breach of my contract with Ok! for the exclusive first pictures of baby N but hey . Lets fix something else soon.

kmp am impressed that purchases had such an immediate effect! Am going to trek to mothercare on Monday.

Trace hope family thing wasn't too much of an ordeal. And hurrah for the Dr...think their default option these days is to just take your word for any..ahem..intimate problems. Thank the lord.

Veggie am sad you're not going to be in Greenwich.

Eek better go. DD calling

Ooooh can I just say that I am "off out" on a saturday night! Its my friends engagement party and I decided to hell with it - will go (with DD in tow, bien sur) for a couple of hours before the 10.30 feed then hop in a cab home! very excited though a bit that I couldn't actually get my size C old Spanz on!!! So just gone for ordinary control pants, tights and an all black ensemble that may hide a bit of girth!

Wish me luck!

(off to read the thread!)

Turnip have a brilliant time. I dream of having a night out (on the odd occassion I get a chance to dream). In lieu of getting off the sofa I am enjoying a glass of cheerfullness and DH is cooking a tagine which smells very promising.

Glad you are happy Kayz. I hope its a great day out.

Veggie and Daisy - I am so jealous of your bottle drinking babies. How come you had no problems? Any tips to share?

I had a very bad day yesterday. I was tired and had both DDs alone and in the morning I really struggled. I felt really low and really anxious. My stomach was churning with nerves and I could now make myself eat (unheard of for me). Whenever DD2 cried my chest tightened so much that it really hurt. I started to panic that I was developing PND as it was so different to the way I have been feeling up until now.

I ended up calling a couple of friends and suggesting a meet-up as I knew it would get worse if I stayed on my own. We met up in the afternoon and I immediatley felt abit better. Then this morning it happened again, despite a pretty good night's sleep and DH being here. That made me feel even more paniced as I could not blame it on being alone. Again I recovered in the afternoon. Very weird. I hope it does not happen again tomorrow.

Have a lovely time Turnip Arti That sounds a bit scary. I hope it won't happen again.

I'm treating myself to a glass of wine. I got a bottle and forgot that DH can't drink because he is on medication after having an operation.

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arti - i know something of how you are feeling - it sounds like panic/anxiety to me, and i've suffered from it before - although not with the arrival of dd. well done for calling friends - that really is one of hte ways out of it, i found - it is really important to get out of yourself and your cyclical thoughts. do what you can to shock your system out of that tight feeling. and talk to the doctor, if you need.

it is so scary, isn't it? but please remember a lot of us have felt this/are feeling this, and that with some deep breaths, good friends, and posting if you need, you will get through it. exercise and getting out of the house may well help, too.

thinking of you, m'dear.

turnip - enjoy!!!

lal - i second the joy of the meetup and that we should do it again. it turns out a couple of people i know were actually there at the festival hall while we were there - they were having meetings/working on the level above us and were commenting on the earth mothers below! my nct group are being a bit rubbish about meeting up, so i'm really glad we met and have our own community.

dd is being a bit odd tonight - really really grizzly and this reminds me of how she was those first 3 hideous weeks. crossing my fingers that this doesn't mean a regression - she's been so good recently.

Turmip- very jelous of a night out. So just gone and poured a large glass of wine, will be joining you kayz.
So sorry to hear about your husbands job- I hope you enjoy your day out and thanks for jumpjockey for organising it all. I am planning on expressing before bedtime but did read somewhere that only 5% of the alcohol volume goes into the bloodstream. Will try and wait at least another 90 minutes before expressing. Fingers crossed that Sammy does not wake for feed before then.
For those that were expressing I am trying to express twice a day at the moment as I am at a meeting on tues and wed so leaving Sammy with my Mum from 9am- 5pm. Hopefully I will have stored enough expressed milk to last. I usually manage about 3-4oz at each go.
Trace: I also found that my supply increased about 2 hours after expressing.
I think i deserve the wine. This is my third night running feeding, bathing and putting both my 2yr old DS and Sammy to bed. I think DP thinks I was joking when I texted him yesterday to say I am going out on Sunday night and he can do it all. What I want is him to realise how hard it is with both of them at night time. I think he thinks I have it easy being on mat leave. I seem to be feeding her all the time, still getting up 3 times in the night.
Please could someone explain what a dream feed is?
Well I think Sammy has just about fallen asleep on me so I will risk transferring upstairs and enjoy my wine.
catch up soon
Simmo x