Jan '07 part 30: where some of us are postnatal, some are antenatal and the rest are plain ANTInatal!

[2Happy]

Wilkie - congrats on the blue

Shimmer - glad you're enjoying it, sounds totally exhausting

Raisin/eandh - ditto on sleep deprivation. Am shattered. And have so much less patience when shattered

Who was asking about milk? I don't intend to swap mine over to semi skimmed any time soon TBH. I admit I am totally anal about what they eat and drink, but as far as milk is concerned, I feel they are 2 healthy and very active kids in no danger of obesity. I think at this age they need calories, especially since I'm so anal about what they eat otherwise !

We had a burst water main here, which was a PITA as these things are. The whole mains pipe is rusted to hell. But the complete donkey who had the house before us built an extension over the water main, so if we decided to replace the whole pipe to prevent more bursts (or if we don't replace it and wait until it does burst again) we would have to dig up the floor and remove half of the kitchen to reach it . This is the same twat as did DIY plumbing and electrics which left us with an enormous leak in an unearthed house

Ohh, Legoland sounds ace Eah. Nice that the kids and dh's are going too.

Lizz I was just like you (and Eah) with the mattress. We got a cheap cot but expensive mattress. I remember when I worked at Mothercare (going back 15+ years mind) and the basic foam cheap mattresses were crappola.
I hadn't heard about the same family using the same mattress thing though, which is great. P's cot mattress is in really good condition and I was going to get a new one, but won't now . I definitely need a new moses basket one though.

The shoes are nice EaH - makes me think / hope that spring is on it's way

Lizz- We got a foam mattress with the removable washable cover for Ruth as money was a bit tight when we were buying it to replace Lukes. He had totally squashed the mothercare sprung mattress with removable cover so had no choice but to replace it.

She was fine with the foam one and it is in better condition now than the sprung one was after Luke. She is MUCH lighter though so maybe that has something to do with it?

I bought her a sprung one from Mothercare for her toddler bed and IMO it is crap quality. The springs are really bouncy and squashy. Dont know if the pocket sprung ones are better but I am sure it will not last for Rachel to use by the time Ruth is out of it.

Urban- that all sounds lovely. Glad it went well. My DH would definately sympathise with yours about the visitors who come to 'help' and sit on their arses while cups of tea are made for them. Thank goodness for mums x

Rgee- How long are you planning to take off? Lie-ins sound nice Mind you DH gave me a lie in til 8 at the weekend on sun I had been up with all three of them most of the night though so definately deserved it!

Pink- Glad they are doing something about it and at least you know what it is now. Hope all going ok with the preg.

Wilkie- Hope all ok with you too. x

EAH- Legoland sounds good. Is that where Thomas world is? Or is that somewhere else? Shoes look lovely.

Vino- Hope all is well with S. How is she doing with th weaning now?

I am having a bit of a nightmare with Rachel. She will not let me put a spoon anywhere near her mouth. Then if I manage to get her to eat even the smallest ammount, she gags and is sick. So I have given up. I am just plonking bits of veg or toast on her highchair tray and a cup of water and letting her get on with it. Actually it is quite surprising what she can eat but it takes soooo long. Luke wolfs down his food so there is no way I can get him to stay at the table long enough for Rachel to gum her food, so we just end up getting up.

You would think third time round would be easier

rgee - my friend has a moses basket (the one I used for sylvie) that is going spare if you want to use that?

We used the same mattress for sylie, my reasoning was that in hospital loads of babies sleep on the same mattress. I haven't been a good mummy though - think have only turned mattress once for sylvie and never changed the mattress cover. I havr never had a problem with either of them being sick etc in cot so not had to change bedding. I think foam mattresses are a complete waste of money even for occasional use. For my chunky girls they woudl have been No use!

i had a great day but as usual choc a bloc. We left house at 8.15 for drs appt at 8.30, then drove to manchester where toddlers made easter nests. Walk after lunch and costa stop, then drove home at 3.30 via dh work where we picked him up. E was sat on the potty in the car park there, shivering so she asked for her coat and wanted it on her knees! Me & Dh were chuckling away.

Dh and I been busy cooking all night so we have food ready for reheating this w/e while he and ils will be busy in the garden

my pc doing funny things - going to post before I lose it!!!!

dragon - sylvie has found her appetite with a vengeance this week. i have doubled the amount of savoury she is having and she gobbles it down. i've cut all her daytime milk out now though, she has 7oz on waking and before bed, but water through the day from an open cup or one of those basic tommee tippee cups.

Hi all.
CONGRATULATIONS UD!! How's everything going? What's it like having a newborn again? Birth sounds absolutely perfect

I saw a friend for dinner yesterday night and she revealed she's pregnant again. She has a 2 year old, and has been trying for AGES to conceive again and had a couple of miscarriages last year, so really good news! (Had to hide that I was SOOOO jealous as well!)

Horrah for last day at work RGee!! Hope you can relax and enjoy it and not worry about work too much. My main aim at the moment is to try and figure out a way to have some time at home while F's at nursery! It's not looking very likely at the moment though as nursery's all full up, but I've booked him in for 3 days from September.

Ooohh I REALLY want to go to Legoland EAH. DH, I don't think there's a Thomas there. I know Drusillas has a Thomas play area, maybe it's there your thinking of? Drusillas is really near me now actually and does look great, but I keep being put off going cos you have to pay full price for a 2 year old! It's not cheap either - 12.80 each, so that would be 38.40 for the 3 of us. Which just seems like quite a lot really unless it's a special occasion or something. And it just annoys me that F is the same price as an adult! He's only little....

Lizz, planning any nights out in Lewes again soon?!? (I'm all better now!) Let me know anytime you want to meet up for a drink. I'll even come to old lady land if needs be . Good luck with the shoe shopping! I got F some new shoes today, but I had to guess his size again cos he FREAKED out at the foot measurer again. Strange child .
Someone in the shop told me about this shop -www.elizabrown.co.uk in Barcombe, praps a bit of a treck for you, but apparently VERY good for shoes.

Arsewad. Have prevaricated too long and the ticket prices have nearly doubled . So have got off my bum and booked, but just for the day, sorry! Next time I will get organised faster (well, assuming there is a next time, you may all suddenly get ever so busy ).

So will be arriving Leeds at 11.09, and leaving at 17.07 (but at least they are direct trains).

Hope that's ok, all. Reg - you'd better not pop early!!

Hi everyone - just a quick post while both the smalls are asleep! Thanks for all your congratulations and messages!

Things are going really well so far - we've only had one bad night which was Thursday, and it was because I only wore a vest in bed. Merry has a very strong root reflex, and will root if she is on my bare skin even if she's not hungry! Now I've realised that, and put a t-shirt on for bed she's much better, and only woke up twice in the night! She burps really well (much to Z's amusement!) and is generally a fairly easy baby. Can't escape the lingering feeling that she's lulling me into a false sense of security though!

Z is ok with her - he will give her kisses and cuddles but we have to keep reminding him to be gentle and he's not overly keen on sharing me. Luckily Merry is ok with being plonked in her bouncy chair while I build train tracks. Dh is being very helpful, he's cooked most of the meals this week and been really good with taking Z out to the park and things. The one problem I've noticed is that Z will go slightly nuts if we don't leave the house all day, so I'm thinking about trying to get him in nursery for an extra day, possibly Wednesday so there's only Tuesdays when we don't have a set activity, and I'm sure I can bundle us all out to the park for one day a week!

One quick question though - how the hell do you get the toddler down for a nap while the newborn's there? Z doesn't fall asleep on his own, and although it doesn't usually take him too long, it's going to be really difficult when dh goes back to work next week because I can't hold Merry and put Z in bed at the same time, even with the sling, and I'm not overly happy about leaving her downstairs on her own for that length of time. If she's not asleep, she won't be put down for long enough for me to get him to sleep IYSWIM.

Also - was there a buggy board floating around here somewhere? EAH did you have one you said you didn't want anymore? I would really like to try one but I'm not sure about buying one new - obviously will pay postage!

Ooh, that turned into a bit of an essay - must go and tackle my washing up while they're both still asleep!

Raisan can't help with nap as Ellie had given hers u p when Hattie arrived, how about taking a moses basket upstairs and leaving her in there whilst you settle Z?? I did have a buggy board that I snet to 2happy but it never reached her and when I tracked it on royal mail they had lost it so sent me a cheque for 36quid as compensation

have you tried the for sale boards on here {you have to be registered to CAT to go on there but if you havent got that let me know and I'll get a wanted ad up for you, alternatively I got mine 2nd hand in local paper. I didnt use it that much as being a shortarse it was anightmare to ush the buggy and Ellie on the board without getting backache plus Ellie didnt stay on it that much, I used a double that a friend lent me and then she just walked

Hi all.
Glad things are going well Raisin. I have built up in my mind how shite the first few weeks are going to be so it's great to hear that it may not be the case . Think I still have feeding hangups from 1st time but I'll cross that proverbial prodge when I get to it. Really pleased dh is trying hard too. Can't help with any advice re getting Z to sleep. Am that he still has a daytime nap!

2H . Sooo pleased you're coming . I gave 'popping early' a second thought earlier in the week, then quickly dismissed it as I am soooo unprepared (physically and mentally). My mum reminded me that I (second child) was 7 weeks early and my dsis's no2 was 3.5 weeks early....

Hi Eah - you busy this weekend?

Shimmer lovely to hear from you. You sound sooo broody - bet you're next .

Vino cheers for the mos basket offer. I didn't express myself very well, but I've got a one that I used for P but need to buy a new matress for it. Hope the il's behaved themselves this weekend!

Dragon I'm off for 9 months, although with so much holiday owing to me, it's actually 11 months. Go back start of Feb next year.
I was going to suggest just giving R chunks of food (maybe a spoon as well) and leaving her to get on with it. Sounds like you're doing the right thing, and it would be a bit harsh to make everyone stay at the table until she;d finished.

Just back from a weekend away. Am tired. Stopped taking my prescribed iron tablets due to their mingos side effects (anyone want to talk piles btw?) but bought some of that ..erm.. can't remember it's name... more 'natural' iron supplement as recommended by my midwife. Going to drs tomorrow to pick up about a zillion prescriptions for constipation adn piles. Joy. Am sure you all wanted to know that .

Hmmmm...prodge=bridge btw...

Raisin - I strap E into her buggy for her nap when we are in the house, no set time, just whenever she is tired.

Still no eating here. And no joy with weaning her off me either.

Vino- Sounds like she is doing much better now. Gives me some hope!

Rgee- I had problems with iron with Rachel and as iron tablet make me feel sick, I took spatone and still am as I was aneamic after section. Would def recoment it as it made me feel better after a week of taking it with no side affects at all.

Raisin- I have no answer about the nap thing but when I have to put Ruth and Luke to sleep at bedtime, I have to leave Rachel downstairs. She always cries but at the end of the day there is nothing I can do about it. They have to go to bed and I cant do that with her there so I have no choice. With the three of them, it is hard to meet all of their needs straight away. I think it has made Ruth and Rachel less demanding as they are more willing to wait. Well, some of the time! It is hard and both times when DH has gone back to work I have been really nervous but you just find ways around things. I have found that if I put Rachel in her boucy chair, turn tv on and turn her away from it, it helps. Dont know if she thinks there is someone in there with her or it just soothes her but it does help a bit. The pics you put on fb are so lovely btw.

Shimmer- I was thinking of chesington! Just googled it. Unfortunately very far from us though.

Morning!
Hope you all had a good weekend.

Shimmer - You can use Tescos vouchers to get into Drusillas. We used a years worth last summer. Also, if you pay full price once, they often give you a half price voucher for next time. However, all my friends have Drusillas passes. They are about £40 ish, but you only have to have gone 2 or 3 times in a year and you save money all ready. One mate of mine goes weekly on hers! We are planning on getting passes for next Xmas. This year we are avoiding the place as DJ only wants to go on the Thomas train constantly.

Rgee - Interesting about your sister and mum both having 2nd children early. Enjoy you 11 months off! I swear its worth getting pg again just for that!

Rasin - I am afraid I am evil when it comes to sleep/naps. During the day if I decide he needs a nap (99% of the time he doesn't have one atm) I will leave him to scream for 10 mins, then he sparks out.
The last 2 nights have been a nightmare. I've been determined to keep him in his cot and not give in and let him sleep in with me (so fed up of being beaten up each night!) He screamed for 1.5 hours on Saturday, and 1 hour last night, then slept 12-1am and woke up again screaming for another 40 mins. I feel like the evilist mother in the world, but I need my bed back. Hopefully we will be over the screaming part soon.

Dh - I worked at Chessington for 2 years, operating the rides when I was younger!

Actually - Shimmer - Although Chessington is a good hour and a half from you, it used to be free to get into the Zoo part in the off season.

Right, need to pull my finger out.
I have decided I need to loose at least 1 stone. So yesterday, as my payday/period/last ever treat, we went out to one of the ice cream parlours in town and I had a massive chocolate sundae with maltesers. DJ had been asking for chocolate ice cream the whole way there, and when he decided he didn't like it after one teeny little lick, I of course had to eat that too! So, from now on, I am little miss healthy...... x

ps - Anyone else into camping? (I am not!) BUT..DP wants to take DJ away camping for the night. Has anyone done this yet? I am a little bit worried.

Morning - busy weekend here, did a huge clean downstairs and then yesterday dh and I cleaned all teh gutters, washed the driveway, scrubbed the door and windows etc etc then headed to oiur goddaughters 5th birthday bash {which Hattie loved as she hung around with the 'big' boys {they were 6/7} shes going to give me grey hairs that one

Lizz - I have been making an effort to eat healthily and in 2 weeks lost 6lb just by having 3 set meals a day and no snacking in between, in fact am waiting for my eggs to boil for brekkie now - well done on the night thing it'll work {wished we'd done it alot earlier with Ellie, in fact today she didnt wake till 7.55, shame HAttie woke at 6am but she nodded off in teh car at 5.30m last night}

Rgee - take it easy and relax and enjoy some time to yourself

Vino - good news about S eating well now

DH- when do you find out what school Luke has got into {am I right in thinking he goes this year?} sorry to hear R still not liking food much

shimmer - hows business going? Meant to ask did you and your Mum talk after that weekend where she wqent back to London in a bit of a huff?

Wilkie/cf - are you ok havent seen you in a while?

Right better go as eggs are done

Lizz - we took ellen camping when she was 9 months old and it was fine. We did have PIls with us too though. I was a bit worried about her being noisy at night but tbh other people snore, have dogs, talk loudly, come back to the tent late at night etc so I think noise on a campsite is to be expected. You don't go camping for a quiet time! We are planning to go camping this summer with both e&s.

The last ice-cream sounds delish!

Had a busy weekend but hooray the work that dh and PILs were doing in the garden went to plan. They are back in 2 weekends time to finish the decking off. Then I will have a usable garden. Yeay!

The joys of working from home - i gedt to mn too . Kitchen all clean, second washing load in, and am waiting for internet grocery shopping to arrive. Oh - I've done quite a lot of work too .

DH that's exactly the stuff I've got!! I thought it would taste vile but actually i can't taste it in orange juice. Pleased you recommend it - I can't decide whether my recent stomach pains were digestion issues related to the iron tablets, or Braxton Hicks (that I didn't have first time).

Lizz your ice cream sounds lovely. Nom nom. I thought immediately of Vino when you asked if anyone had been camping. I am such a home comforts gal and you wouldn't get me in a tent for any money. Unless it was very hot outside and attached to my bathroom and kitchen.

Eah pmsl at H hanging out with the big boys. Am trying not to think too muchabout those times to come .

Vino am looking forward to seeing your finished garden!

Right, back to work!

Sorry you have been having a tough time Pink. Dont know if it is any help we had a problem with Luke at the end of my preg with Rachel and for a bit after she was born. I think maybe he knew that stuff was going on and although he didnt understand, it all just felt odd to him so he played up. To make matters worse MIL was very ill throughout my preg then died not long after Rachel was born so he had all of that to deal with too. The only thing that helped was a bit of time with one of us on our own or just free running somewhere like the park or a soft play area where he could just let loose. Also ment I could have a bit of a break as I didnt have much energy. Hope you get to have a bit of a break soon xxx

EAH- We dont find out til march I think. Really pleased as the school we were umming and ahhing about and decided against is now closing to be replaced by one further away. As I have to walk it would be too far really. So keeping my fingers crossed.

Rgee- On one of the packets it says that you shouldnt take it with milk so I asked my doctor and he said that it is true. So rather than taking mine with breakfast as I have cereal, I take mine with lunch. Hope it makes a difference. Iron tablets are horrid!

Lizz- I am determined to fit into my pre preg clothes as I cannot afford to replace all my trousers! Cut out snacks too and eating the kids leftovers (which I find soooo hard) and also gave up chocolate, biscuits and cake for lent. So fingers crossed by easter I will have lost a stone! Actually amazed that I dont feel hungry all the time the ammount I have cut out but i was obviously over eating by loads!

OMG EAH- I just realised it is march so will find out next few weeks. Still had it im my head that March was ages away. Scary.

So PCF, it's not lke you have anything stressful going on in your life is it .
You are doing sooo much, no wonder you are exhausted . If it's any consolation, I've been feeling hacked off and knackered - drained is the perfect word to describe it - but I barely have a reason except late-ish pregnancy. Is there any way you can escape for the weekend, even for two hours to slope up for a nap whilst dh takes the kids? Alex maybe can sense change ahead and it could be making him more restless than usual. .

DH I'm afraid it really IS March

pcf - it sounds like you are having to deal with so much, I didnt realise you are moving too, echo what Rgee said any chance you can have an hour or two to yourself? Anything any of us can do to help with anything?

~DH - yes its def March fingers crossed for you I'll be glued to my email on the 31st and praying she gets her 1st choice but 2nd wouldnt be too bad, the main problem is we have a school about 2 mins walk from us but its awful and no way am I letting her go there so just crossing everything that she isnt awarded an allocated space there. Yes agree with the iron thing, I had that and midwife recommended taking it with orange huice but def nothing with milk in ie cereal, tea, coffee etc as it just counteracts the effects

Rgee - so are you nesting you sound very domesticated in your post

Well fun day here Eddas and ds came for a bit this morning Hattie nodded off for 30mins then woke u and threw up but was then fine, then Ellie was screaming how much her head was hurting, I have never seen her in so much pain, she then threw up everywhere {and she made it upstairs so almost to the loo bless her} she looked a bit better but very washed out so had a long warm bath and has gone to bed, I think its a combination of late nights and yesterday eating a lot of crap at the party, mil/sil and niece all suffer with migranes if they eat too much chocolate so wonder if shes going to be the same

Hello !!!!!!

I promise by friday my house will all be done and I shall be back. I have been lurking though.

Pcf glad you feel better today I cant imagine moving and being pg [shudder]. Hope you feel a bit happier very soon and I am so at the playroom I want one.

Eah how is miss e ? Did she watch the end of bolt ?

Rgee maternity leave bliss. I think about getting pg every now and then so I could be off work is that bad when I only do 2 days a week .

Lizz ola ola thought of you on thursday when I got l some bargain bits in mothercare.

Dragon was it you asking about thomas land ? It is at drayton manor which is birmingham way we went last summer it was fab aidan loved it. You get entrance into drayton manor and thomas land there are some pics on my facebook.

Ud how is merry ? You seem to be coping far far better than I did whe I went from 1 to 2.

Right I have just had both the kids bedrooms redecorated and aidans was originally the next traffic jam range I am going to be selling it soon so is anyone interseted there is the curtains, duvet, hot water bottle cover - unopened and a cars hook again unopened. Lauren had the next fairies so I have curtains, 2 pretty pillows and a little hearts rug. Just thought I would ask if there is any interest.

I haven't spoken to anyone over the age of 2 all day. I think I'm going a bit nuts...