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

Raisin - Did you know there was a cornflakegirl on here?
Hope you manage to speak to an older person today. If it helps, I was babysitting yesterday afternoon and went mental with tierdness and found myself actively playing hide&seek with 2 x 2 year olds and a 3 year old - in quite a large house.
When they found me hiding in the bath I did finally think, omg, thats it, I've turned into one of them!
BTW - 3 year olds are very good at hiding and it is quite scarey when you can't find them!

Hello - lots of posts to catch up on so will give it my best shot and apologies if I miss anyone, not intentional

PCF - hope you are feeling better. I agree re moving TV out of A's room. I won't put a TV in J's room. Never had one when I was growing up until I bought my own at 17. I hope the Upsy Daisy thing continues to work too. It must be tough for you and then I feel bad when I whinge cos you do have it hard with A's autism, AND a toddler, AND being pg. Big hugs >

Rgee - I feel your poo pain. I cannot po for the life of me and when I do it is tiny rabbit droppings. Am necking lactulose like it is going out of fashion but so far nothing. My bits feel really swollen too so when I try to go I feel like they are going to explode. Not nice. I don't know what else to try. Am drinking apple juice, eating fruit, eating cereal but what else??

Raisin - how are Z and M getting along? Is Z interested in her at all? Has DH gone back to work now? If so, how are you coping?

EAH - how are the girls? There are loads of chundery stomach bugs going round here. J spent last weekend with his 'girlfriend' who has now come out in chickenpox so I am waiting to see if he gets them. Part of me wants him to, part of me doesn't

Lizz - I love playing hide and seek! Although am too fat for it at the moment . How is D's behaviour ATM? Any better?

Dragon - has R got her appetite for solids yet? How old is she now?

Little update on Wilkie-ville: lounge is practically finishes, just waiting for carpet and fireplace to be fitted next week. J's bed arrives tomorrow (which I am DREADING) as he still doesn't go to sleep for at least an hour when I put him down. Bump is HUGE. Feel like a beached whale and still have 14 weeks to go which is a touch concerning - am worried it's going to be a big baby!!!!!!!!!!!

Where have you all gone?! I can't believe I'm the only one with time to post on here!

Wilkie - Z is fine with Merry, it's me he's been aggressive to. In the last week, we've had hitting, biting, pinching and spitting, totally out of character for him. And none of it directed at dh or coming out at nursery (which I should be grateful for, I know!) - apparently he is Golden Child of Joy while at nursery, he just turns into the small demon monster as soon as he crosses the threshold of the house!

Dh went back to work on Monday, which wasn't too bad as Z was in nursery but Tuesday was hard. Wednesday my mum came up and today the IL's have been up - so that was fun, them holding the baby while I ran around making lunch and tea and coffees for them! Grr...

The other change in Z's behaviour (less extreme than the aggression) is that he is now demanding to be spoon fed, which is amusing - although time consuming and irritating - given that he was BLW'd and refused to be spoon fed! I know it's very common for toddlers to regress when a new sibling comes along, and I'm thankful that we didn't start potty training!

Hi Raisin! I'm still here!
Glad Z is getting on with Merry.
We have lots of aggression here too (& no second baby).
He bit me on the fathip the other day, I am constantly hit when he doesn't want something and he's just started pinching/digging in his nails. I am a battered mother!
Its normally when I am trying to get him to do something he doesn't want, although, its also when he gets over excited in rough and tumble play.
He's ok at nursery though so thats good.
And he's majorly chatty at the moment which is very funny and is almost making up for my war wounds!

Hi all. I'm completed knackered this evening and just about to give up and go to bed... but thought i'd pop on while i finish my glass of wine and G&B choccie (it's organic, it's good for you)!

Bless Z wanting to be fed with a spoon, Raisin! I hope he gets over the aggressiveness towards you soon. As with everything they do, I'm sure it's just a phase and will soon pass. I have to say though generally you're making have a toddler and a newborn sound easy...

Lizz, Freddie is also really chatty at the moment! He's speech seems have suddenly improved loads in the last couple of weeks. It really does make up for the crappy annoying bits doesn't it!? He's SOOOO funny with some of the things he comes out with! He has quite an imagination! The other day he woke up from a nap convienced Father Christmas was on the roof. And this morning he'd got up into his highchair and put the straps on somehow with my help and when I asked him, a bit surprised, how he got up there on his own, he said Peter Rabbit helped him!

Hope you're feeling not too beached whale-y at the moment Wilkie. Have you braved J in his bed yet??

PMSL just been reading the Post Natal Thread Part 1. How PFB-y was I?? I quote:

"On the plus side, Jacob is doing very well. HV was surprised how alert he is and said that she thinks it will only be a couple of weeks until he smiles..." ha ha ha ha. Bless me

Shimmer - we are on night 2 of big boys bed and going surprisingly well! Took half hour to settle but hasn't got out. Was up twice to give him his dummy as it falls down side of bed - if this continues we will be doing away with night time dummies - but other than that he loves it. Very pleased

PMSL at 'Peter Rabbit' helping F into his chair. Hee hee

Lizz - poor you with D. He does sound challenging, not sure what to suggest other than time out. I smacked J's thigh the the other day when he whalloped my stomach in a rage - felt guilty immediately but it did the trick

Lizz

Not quite sure why I signed off that last post 'Lizz'??

Hi Shimmer - LOL at Father Christmas & Peter Rabbit! DJ also climbed into his high chair this week. I have NO idea how he did it. He is also convinced that a folded up clothes airer (clothes horse thingy) makes a perfect 'ladder'. In fact as soon as I hear him shouting "Ladder" I know he has climbed up it. He is so going to get his little fingers badly squashed one day! When are your days off btw? We really should arrange a Southern meet up now Raisin has had her baby.

Wilkie -Fab that the big boy bed is working well. Can you not clip the dummy to him on a dummy clip?

We took the train to Brighton yesterday to get new shoes. DJ was in train heaven and was a little gem the whole time. Was really good doing all the shops too, we had no tantrums until we had to get off the train back at Eastbourne! I do hate boys shoes though. They are all so boring. The girls ones were adorable.
Shimmer - that kids shoe shop in Balcombe is supposed to be really good. Especially if your child has wider/narrower than average sized feet.

Right. Need to get sorted for work. Bleurgh. x

Morning - at last the sickness bug in his house has ended I didn't know that my children had that much stuff in them ended up at the out of hours Drs monday night as Ellie was so bad {in fact Imay have already posted that}

Went to work seminar on Wednesday and was in Sevenoaks on relief yesterday so the whole week has been a muddle.

On the good side Hattie has almost given her dummy up she has it to go to bed then when shes asleep it falls out and she doesnt want it again, far less traumatic than when we had to make Ellie give hers up, her speech is coming along too but is mainly just copying whatever her big sister says so we get some very funny expressions and also she is a far worse 2 year old for tantrums than Ellie ever was {and that is saying something} Although my big problem with Hattie at the mo is now that she wears knickers she has nothing to hold her trousers up, shes still in 12/18 and a few 18/24 month trousers and I can't put a belt/dunagrees/skirt on as she cant undo them or get tights down for when she does it herself I need some hot weather so she can wear skirts and no tights

DH off work this week and is already annoying me by getting in the way I'll be ready to murder him by next weekend although we have planned a trip to Hastings on Wednesday to visit my great uncle {Ellie has hospital at 10.10 about her hearing then we'll head off so lots of sunny vibes please}

Wilkie I am going to go and have a look at that thread I bet its hilarious

Lizz - glad he was a good boy

Shimmer- Lol at Freddie it must be all those books around him giving him that much imagination

Raisan - hows everything going and typical that they behave when not inyour company
E

Quiet week here then - I've been lurking as very little to say. Except usual moans about how much I ache / can't sleep / can't poo / tired / insert any other complaint . Hope everyone is well.

Eah sounds like you've had a fun week . Glad everyone has recovered.

PCF agree it is a good thing to take tv out of room. There has been sooo much CBeebies on in our household this last few weeks and I suspect that will continue .
I hope you managed to get some rest and time to yourself depsite lots of house preparation.

Hi Lal. You in the land of the living now then? What exactly have you had done to your house? I know you had a few projexts on but can't remember the specifics. Hope you are pleased with the finished look. I've pretty much got P's room finished now - just need a bookcase / storage thing and a rug. At the moment I'm busy choosing paint for the nursery. My last two tester pots were too light. I'm only repainting that - not doing anything else with it.

Wilkie can't wait to see the house . We can compare huge bumps too - I'm about the size I was with P when I went into labour. And I am positively feeling my skin stretch. I am doing a good waddle!

Hi Raisin. Glad to hear things continue to go well. Execept the inlaws of course! I have heard it is really common for older children to regress when siblings come along, so am trying not to encourage P's curiousity with the potty and toilet. I think this is part of her reluctance to have her nappy changed but am not quite sure.

Lizz I got some new shoes yesterday (for P rather than me....). Funnily enough I found myself thinking how nice the boys shoes were. I got offered a lovely pair of shoes, but they were white! How totally impractical is that?

Good to hear from you Shimmer. Wine AND G&B . Have you totally settled in to your new way of living now?

Hi to everyone else, and if you're lurking, come and say hi!

Iv been lurking !! I have had all new doors, the loft boarded and decorating in every room it has been a nightmare but its nearly finished. Had carpets in every room except they measured my stairs wrong by 8 cm so have had to order another and they also bought the wrong vinyal for the bathroom . Oh and my washing machine blew up today it wasnt a cheap one either.

Hope you are all well I need to go as my dh is off to cheltenham races this week and has decided to tell me now he thinks his cufflinks are in the loft what a twat.

I too have been Lurking. Nothing much happening here except today when Rachel took nearly 4oz from a MAM bottle!! It was after about an hour of screaming and she did promptly fall asleep (so hoping that means she would have taken more if she had not as she was gulping it down). I didnt really want to give her a bottle as the other two went straight onto cups for milk. But as she was not showing any interest, I though I would try the MAM one as I had read afew good reviews on here and dsis had used it when her dd was not keen on swapping. So fingers crossed for tomorrow!!

Thing is though, as much as I feel relieved at the thought of not having to be there to feed her all the time, I do feel a bit guilty. As if I should be doing it for longer. It is odd because I remember with Luke, it took me ages to feel relaxed about breast feeding and as I was taking each day at a time, I was chuffed to get to 7.5 months. But now I feel like it will be only 7months. Sure that a day out shopping with my dsis or mum will cure that though!

Wilkie- She is 6.5months now also doing much better with food now. As she still point blank refuses to let me feed her, we are kind of doing blw in that I just plonk food on her high chair tray. I am amazed as how quickly she has got on with it and is really getting into it now. Loves mushing it up. All good fun! I was thinking that I would look back at all the entries to make a kind if diary for when Ruth was born and before. I always wished I had written one from when I got preg with Luke and suppose I sort of did after I found out we were having Ruth.

EAH- Glad they are all better now. I hatae the dreaded sickness bugs! Luckily we have only had a couple but all horrible!

Rgee- I am trying to subtley stear Ruth away from the potty. She keeps telling me when she is doing a wee or poo, but I dont want to face it yet! I just want to leave it for a bit longer so that she is really ready. Esp as I was watching a friend of mine who's dd has been pt for months now and is still having loads of accidents. I went through that with Luke so this time want it to be over and done with as quickly as pos! Also, I remember finding shreaded wheat and loads of dried fruit for breakfast helped with my constipation when preg with Rachel. Sending comfortable vibes. xxx

Raisin- You have my sypathies with the only talking to kids all day thing! Last week and this week DH has had to cover a night shift (he usually works 7am-7pm but has been doing the opposite) so on tue when we dont do anything in the afternoon, I didnt speak to anyone all day or night until I took luke to playgroup! Hope Z settles soon.

LAL- Glad things are starting to settle now. That is where I was thinking of! Much closer to us too. Might have to look at that for summer as we have friends near there!

Pink- Glad nightlight/alarm clock is helping. Was thinking of getting one for Ruth as she has started waking early in the last week. WOuld you recomend them?

Shimmer- very cute. I love the things they come out with.

2happy/vino/anyone else lurking hop you are ok xxx

Dragon - What a lovely idea of making up a diary for them to read later. I am sure mine would just be constant complaints though. I was given a freebie one in my bounty pack when I was pregnant, and could only ever think of miserable comments so never bothered!
Rgee - I brought white clarks shoes for DJ. His 5G boots from winter which I LOVE (little brogue type boots which I put red laces in) still have plenty of room in them, and it was his trainers which I was squashing his feet into, so I thought I'd get a decent pair of trainerish shoes. He measures up as a 5 & half G now, but the lady said that Clarks shoes were quite big compared to other brands. Which I am unsure about. As we have a pair of Next boots which I brought when he was tiny (they are a 4) and he can still wear them. Anyway...waffle waffle waffle.
My sister and her DT's (3.5) came over yesterday and it was lovely and sunny so we went to the beach with the kite and it it was glorious. Till DJ fell face first into the shallows, so, being organised, I had a spare set of clothes changed him, all was good. 10 minutes later he did it again so we had to strip him down and wrap him up in DPs sweatshirt. Then on the walk back it started chucking it down!
The best thing was considering he'd been up since 3am on Sunday morning (he slept from 9-12 later on though!) he was passed out by 6pm and I was in bed asleep by 8pm! We had a minor breakthru on the CC though. He woke up 3 times (11pm, 4.27am & 5.10am!) but was lying down crying rather than standing up screaming, and after 5 mins (usually 25) he was asleep again. Phew!
Right, off to get ready for godawful toddler group.
Have a nice day! x

morning - Lizz I love the better weather as an afternoon outside always makes my 2 sleep well, in fact dh has them today as he is on annual leave this week and after he has been to the gyn (persuaded his Mum to have them whilst he does that) he is taking them to the park for a picnic (assuming his version of a picnic is a bag of crisps, some form of sweets and a drink ) he attached the child seat on the back of his bike so is putting Hattie in that and Ellie will ride her bike there so in theory the girls will be shattered by tonight

Bit of lurking, bit of not having time to read posts.

Anywway here I am.

Had a nice afternoon at a local farm on sat with ellen and a friend and her dd. Yesterday took ellen to a party which was good, had a nice chat to some mums from nursery.

Busy at work at the moment.

Aaagh I need to eat.

Bit of lurking, illness and not posting too.

Rgee - have to confess J has white trainers but they are Umbro ones from Sports Soccer and are £6.50 so I don't care if they get trashed (which they do!!). Had massive poo yesterday so feeling better....TMI

Dragon - MAM always makes me giggle, I just imagine someone shouting 'Maaaaaam' at their mother. Simple things make me laugh eh?!

2H/Reg/Vin - looking forward to meet up on 21/03. Dragon - can you not get across? Would be lovely to meet you. What about Loosh??

BFing question for those of you in the 'know'. Will it work if I BF but syphon off extra milk (I produced tonnes last time) so that DH can help with night feeds? Somone mentioned about having to BF solidly for 6 weeks so my milk 'regulates' before I can do this but I know I won't last this long doing all the night feeds myself. I sound a right selfish bint but need to ask. Don't want to fall at first hurdle.

Well, pants weekend. I felt really dodgy on Friday, kept going hot and cold and feeling faint, went to Dr who checked BP and blood sugar but all fine. J then came down with soaring temp on Sat (typically whilst friend was here from Lincoln) and rash which lasted until Sunday evening with a bout of puking Sun morning. So missed my friend's LO's birthday party and spent much of Sunday with a limpit clinging to me. Great.

Wilkie- Gutted, no I cant get a across as we are going to an 18th birthday that sat. Next time def though.

I am no bf expert but kellymom has some great info. I think I am right in saying that the night time feeds are the important ones for increasing milk supply though. My DH used to do the nappy changes for me so that I was not too awake when feeding and or knackered. Also was nicer than him snoring next to me! Some people co-sleep too but that would not have worked for me as I need my 'space' iyswim. There are some great ladies on the breast feeding threads.

Pink- How annoying. Poor A. They have the same rule at our Playgroup and if someone is sent home sick or you ring in, they tell you about it. Glad you got a good clear out. Always make s me feel better. We are in dire need of one in this house! I think you are right, I dont think Ruth would get the clock. She didnt get up this morning til 630 which is ok. So fingers crossed!

Vino- Sounds like a nice weekend. I have just found a farm near us that does parties that sound ace. I was thinkin gof doing it for Luke in the summer.

Lizz- Ruth does that when we go to FIL's as there is a beach a few minutes walk from his house. I bought her one of those waterproof suits to save on the clothes! She still gets sand in her mouth though!

EAH- Did you have a nice shop...?

DH is sat playing guitar hero. So sad! Mind you he is actually quite good. It is hilarious to watch!

grrr at that pcf - it must be so frustrating for you and Alex

Wilkie - that sounds like the bug the girls had as most of the kids at school had a rash as well {neither of mine got the rash} bummer about missing birthday do

Rgee - enjoying maternity leave?

DH- hoe Ruth sle pt in for you this monring

Vino - am always of all your lovely lunches

Well went home yesterday and we got loads done, my Dad has put electricity in our shed so move dthe tumble drier out there to try and stop me using it so much and make some more room in kitchen and we emptied the shed out and cleared loads of old paint and garden toys etc so its all tidy now, then I cleaned all teh kitchen including the cubioards etc am going to look for new cannisters/bread bin later. DH went to play squash with his best mate last night and then they were going for afew beers so I suggested that he slept over there as easier than getting cab etc and his mate dropping him back around 9am on his way to work so it was nice to have an evening to myself. AM off to Eddas on saturday night for a girls nite in and cant wait.

Eatser hat photo on my profile and added loads on facebook

PCF - Thats rubbish of Alex's school. Hope he was ok in the end when he got back home. Where are you moving to? I love living by the beach. As Dragon suggested, we used an all in one waterproof when we were splashing around on the beach yesterday afternoon. Much easier!
Eah - a shed that works! I have shed envy. I really want one! Hope you have a nice peaceful night in with DH away. My DP is out on the town on Thursday with his best mate who is about to have baby 2 in a couple of weeks. He does alot of work with hotels, and has managed to score them a room each at the Metropole on Brighton seafront. I am INSANELY jealous!
Wilkie - My HV told me it was a good idea to get your milk supply regulated prior to expressing, just so it doesn't confuse your boobs into producing more milk than they need. BUT I get alot of customers about to give birth coming in to buy breast pumps as their HV's told them to express straight away. So I think there are 2 schools of thought on this. The main piece of advice I can give is TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. If you can borrow an expresser prior to buy one you can work out wether a manual or electric one would be better. I hated my manual one and only used it when i absolutely had to. But my electric one ( as basic Medela one rrp £54) was fantastic. It was 2nd hand from my sister, and now a lady down the road has it from me, so they are worth spending the £ on.
Shit, am late for work. Feel pants, want to go back to bed, but I am convinced we don't seem to get sick pay anymore. weird. catch you later! x

Wilkie - with Z i expressed from about 2 or 3 weeks, and never had supply problems. But tbh with M I've not had time to express - and she's a brilliant feeder at night anyway (wakes twice then goes straight back down! - I don't feel bad for gloating as Z was SOOOO bad for so long!). Personally I'd leave pumping for a little while, to let your supply regulate itself, and if you can feed at night then it's better to - as Dragon says it's important to keep your supply up. If you can rope your dh in to do the nighttime nappy changes to help then all you need to do is latch on (lots of pillows, and a V-shaped pillow are essential IMO), feed, then hand him over to dh for winding and changing. When you get more used to it you can doze while you feed as well, which is great!

Also - I never got on with an electric pump, i found it really painful and that it never really worked for me. I had an Avent hand pump which worked well - BUT you can hire electric pumps from the NCT (see here) which might work out cheaper than buying one - or you could do as Lizzz suggests and try before you buy!

Sorry, bit of a ramble there.

Moving swiftly on..

So much for maternity leave . Have been working from home this last week and a half but seem to have done more than ever in a mad panic to get loads done. Was in the office yesterday and working late, then back tomorrow. However, today is a real day off with dh (lo at nursery), as it's dh's birthday, and to celebrate he's gone out for a 13 mile run . Still, am checking out the delights of daytime tv.

Just done the on line shop and I seem to have been drawn to excessive chocolate...

Rgee - have a nice day with DH when he gets home. Choch sounds good - I suspect that means an abundance of green and blacks???

Wilkie - sorry to hear you were poorly. I'd see how you get on with night feeds to start with, you might have a baby who sleeps well. Although I demand fed, I used to bf just before I was going to bed so the first stretch of sleep was as long as possible. I never bothered nappy changing in the night unless it was dirty. I bought a second hand electric pump from MN (the one Lizz mentioned) and found it much easier to use than the tommee tippee manual one.

E&H - you sound busy as usual. My tumble dryer is in the garage and it does restrict my use! Today for lunch I have had jamie olivers vegetable and cous cous salad - yummy! Soon to be followed by a grapefruit...

Lizz - hope you got to work ok

LAL - you enjoying time on your own? Hope your DH wins you some money on the horses

Raisin - glad M is feeding ok. How are you?

PCF - when are you moving house?

Well my DH managed to smash the shower door this morning cos he hadn't opened his eyes properly before he tried to get in the shower. He needed to be off to work early which is why I had forced him to get up as soon as the alarm went off, so I ended up clearing it up. I couldn;t believe there was so much glass. The shower tray was full, tons on the floor and it was in the toilet too!

My parents stayed for the last 2 nights which has been nice. Mum got up with Sylvie for the past 2 mornings and DAd gave me a lift to work today which has been handy.