December 08 Supermums: We are all doing fine and our LOs love us!!

[kayzr]

Hello.

Trace I went with your idea!!

Morning!
I've just banished DS from the sofa as he has hit me repeatedly over the head with a balloon since 6.45 and I have now had enough!
Veggie Loving the sausage adoration!
WG what a 'beautiful' dress!!!
Major We went to sandy balls last year. It was lovely. There is a fab pub just up the road called the Fighting Cocks which does really nice food. We took a tupperware wwith us each night as the childrens portions were huge so we split them and he had his leftovers for lunch the next day. I'm not usually a 'same restaurant every night' holidayer but the food was so good and it was so close to the park.
Ros Yes, its the job when we first met. Back to Jet Fuel Operations which I am so pleased about as I really missed doing it. I've had a big chat with DH as I am worried because for the two days I am working I can't guarantee a leaving time and I might well get out of hours calls and I felt that he might be a bit miffed about me going back to the bad old days but he accepts that I really want to give it a try. It will be on atrial basis anyway as they have to be sure that it will work as a job share and that nothing falls through the cracks. I think that one whiff of a mistake and we'll be booted out!
Cat Was it you with the chocolates? You mean you didn't try my patented 'remote control shove technique'?

We're off for a picnic in Kew Gardens today..brrrrrrr. Looking forward to it though. Catch up soon x

wg lovely dress! Glad MIL behaved herself even though there's nothing for us to have a giggle over.

oli we're off to Kew today as well with a picnic!

Cat thanks for the link, I'm been a bit dim but didn't you & Veggie say about going to one in Wales? That one isn't on their website, so I think I'm getting very muddled up! I would love to come to one so will find out details & let you know

Re holidays, we're off to Centre Parks in June. First time I've been to one, my parents & my brother, his girlfriend & their son are coming as well!

Morning all,

cat Thanks for the cot mobile recommendation. I've been looking for one for DD now she is in her cot. I'll get one ordered. Did you get yours from Amazon?

Re the FF feeding. Have you tried getting a faster teat? They can take a long time to dine and get very windy if they are struggling to get a good mouthful of milk. DD has been on medium ones since she was a week old.

lal Are you getting two fully grown cats or kittens? My cats have unusual (ie silly!) names which I always regret slightly when taking them to the vets as they call out the cats name and then your surname!

kayz Hope the hair colouring goes well.

Picnicing! In the winter! Gracious, oli and rosmerta, you are both very hardy! Have fun.

WG Love the dress, ahem...your DD's face says it all!

DS slept better last night but he is refusing the bottle again, especially from DH I was exhausted last night, and so DH took DS and said would give him a bottle. He just refuses it but I think DH doesn't help as he gets so worked up with him that I think DS senses his tension. PLus he is still full of cold so I can't imagine he relishes the idea of a bottle.

I'm supposed to be out on Friday night for a friends birthday so i need to keep trying to give DS some EBM all week, in the hope he'll take it again otherwise I won't be going out!

hello

wg - very very very very very funny picture I actually did laugh out loud!

The HV has just been to do P's 16 week check she's only 11 weeks! HV was very apologetic for getting her dates mixed up! Anyway, all is well although P's head has not grown at all! She said not to worry but I have to get it checked in 4 weeks. But telling me noit to worry just makes me think there is something to worry about! Although my head is quite small (dh calls me pea-head!) so it's probably a genetic thing I'll be pleased if it is because dd1 just looks like dh!

3 hours till smear test....zoe - I will give you the details when I get back - I hadn't thought about stitches and things being damaged until I read your post!

Yesterday I put on Lucy's old Baby Beethoven dvd and Phoebe loved it! She kicked her legs excitedly and made cute noises

had better go and change my top as P has just deposited what looks like about the last 10 feeds worth of milk down me!

Morning all! Hope everyone's got sunshine, feels properly like spring at last.

I think the pixies came and stole my baby and replaced her with a baby that knows how to sleep. Went to bed at 8pm last night, and I had to wake her up at 5am as my boobs were about to explode. Now I know this will have been a one off, but everyone does say that 12 weeks is the breakthrough age on lots of things (colic, sleep etc) so I'm really really hoping it might be the truth.

trace hmmm just how advanced is your baby! good luck with the smear, I've got to have one too, was due halfway through pg and decided against so must must book the appt now.

oli how cute about the balloon though it's probably a bit like a chinese water torture after a while. Did you really go to a place called Sandy Balls? On the way to visit my dad yesterday we passed a road called Ashlong Lane. I think it's meant to be to do with Ash trees but being totally juvenile I just giggled myself silly. Fabulously enough it's near another road called Balls Chase [falls off chair and wees self]

daisy sorry to hear about bottle trouble, you're quite right that they can sense if you're stressed and fight back. Hope ds gets back on it soon.

WG that dress is, ahem, lovely. Poor DD!

On the subject of dodgy clothes, I was getting the 3-6 month sizes out as DD is outgrowing some of her 0-3s and she was given a lot of, well, horrid stuff by the IL's friends. We're talking bubblegum pink velour (which as I'm sure we all know really doesn't go well with baby sick ) and t-shirts with Maisy Mouse that say things like "A spoonful of stardust and a whole lot of love" . Now I know they were being ever so kind and it's really generous of them to think of her, but would it be hideously ungrateful of me to take them back (all still have the tags in them) and swap for something a bit more to our taste?

I've taken another plunge and decided to book for us to go on the diner train for our anniversary in July and it's also DH's birthday present. We have plenty of time to save up for it.

HI all,

JJ we too got given some dodgy lovely clothes for Lachlan and we returned them for what we wanted instead.

WG hilarious photo, glad your MIL wasnt to shcoking.

Oli that sounds like a really interseting job glad they have agreed to do a job share.

Daisy Dora weaning already

On that subject we had the outlaws round last wk and DP was using th emagic finger on L as he was having a bit of a melt down and MIL suggested he put a bit of the beef gravy on his finger and let him suck it off.

Kayz glad DS1 slept through for oyu the other night and hoping it continues good luck with the hair dyeing.

Veggie oyur DS sounds like a man after my own heart mmmmm sausages.

Turnip so sorry your DH is worrying about his job its a bloody awful time of it at the mo.

Trace glad to hear Lucy is feeling better I meantt o post at the wkend and suggest giving her smoothies great way of getting some fruit into them when they are poorly and even bett if you freeze some and make smoothie ice cream.

All well here in the Jam household Lachlan surprised me at the wkend by sleeping through totally unheard of and of course the next night woke for a feed so he must have jsut been super tired or I was in a really deep sleep and didnt hear him. He is currently fast asleep in his buggy in the garden I have found that going for a walk with the dig then wheeling him into the garden around lunchtime and he will slepp for a good coupke of hours. Nit sure how it will work soon though as he is nearly to big for his coccoon.

Cant remember who was saying about 3-6mth clothes I had to get all of Archies 3-6 mth stuff out and get it ready for Lachlan as he is growing rather fast and is fitting stuff that A didnt wear until he was a good bit older.

Oh A has woken there goes my peace and quiet.

JJ - I would definitely take them back and swap them to things more your taste. What I have done in the past is get a photo of the baby in said clothes if poss (hiding labels etc) to give to giver, then return the item. This is of course a high risk strategy as one poo / vom could spell disaster, but peopleo do like to see tgheir gift in action.

WG, thar dress is something else! How did you contain yourself?

Am just sorting through the mounds of clothes and putting all of m's 0-3 in piles for charidee, ebay, friends etc. I felt very sad yesterday that I would not have ano baby to go in them, which made poor DH nearly choke on his pizza! I know that a 4th baby would be a bad idea for so many reasons, yet I am finding the idea of letting the baby stage go very hard.

To which end, I am having a coil fitted on Wed as the Dr is doing my smear and "will be down there anyway" as she put it! Anyone else got one - does it hurt to have it put in? Bear in mind I have only dilated once so my cervix does not know it's had 3 babies.

Hope all are well and enjoying the sunshine!

zoe - and anyone else interested in my smear (!)... the nurse said you're supposed to be 12 weeks post birth really but did mine anyway as I'll be 12 weeks on Thursday. It hurt a little in a sharp kind of ouch way, but so short lived that it was fine really. She said there's no risk to stitched area or anything like that because it's all healed up by now. I'd have thought that after the whole birth thing I would not have been so about the 'feet together, let your knees flop open' scenario, but I actually was. Anyway, all done now - unless I get called back. Have had a bit of bleeding since but can't remember if that's normal. I think it is.

back later xxx

JJ or you could say you have so many clothes in that size you tried to get the next size up, but they didn't have the same outfit so 'sadly' you had to get something different, and you knew that they wouldn't mind about it.

Everyone putting away 0-3 month clothes is a bit scary for me - I'm only just putting away newborn ones and bringing out the 0-3 month (although DD is a good 3 or 4 weeks younger than some of the other babes and was a littl'un too). Today she is squeezed into a newborn babygrow that I just love and can't bear to put away.

trace how was the smear? I'm hoping very normal and uneventful

kayz how's is your hair? I really need my roots doing, must make an appointment for this month or I will be more root than colour. I saw a new Mum today who painted her toenails last night and it made her feel really glam again, which reminded me mine haven't seen any colour since I was about 5 months pregnant and couldn't reach anymore - might treat myself to a little pedicure tonight to make me feel ladylike again and less of a milk machine.

Just had a look on the weight loss thread and wanted to say well done to you all, you're doing very well (unlike me, who still hasn't weighed myself again )

Ok, off to make some mash for the top of my fish pie, ta ra for now x

cross posted trace - good to hear it wasn't that bad at all, makes me feel better, so will go and book mine. For after 12 weeks, thanks for telling me that one.

Hello ladies, back from a hectic weekend of looking at secondhand cars, party at the MiL's then lunch with my family yesterday (my treat for getting through a night at the MiL's ). So, we have put a deposit down on a car, and the latest offer has been accepted on the house, so progress. It needs a lot of work (new kitchen and bathroom and other stuff - as in, there is a room which appears to be a kitchen but there are no cupboards or units or anything much apart from a sink and ancient lino on the floor...) so we won't be moving in until at least the autumn. So now I have to project manage builders, renovations and interior design (all on a tight budget). And no doubt do a lot of DIY too (not my favourite). Hmm, it's going to be a busy summer! But not as busy as ZJ's, by the sounds of it...You are making dates for 2010? Wow, I am impressed!

Ghastly party on Saturday night. And when the puddings came out, MiL kindly guided me towards the fruit salad "as all the other ones are so fattening". Now as it happens, I don't go for puds much anyway, but what a cheek. But seeing my Mum, sister and co the next day was great.

Right: Jolly, I think you should 'fess up about the cats' names! Name names please!

Syb - I will be interested to hear how you get on with the coil. That's what my obs said to get but I am too much of a wuss. But I need to do something...I really do...I don't want another baby yet, truly I don't...On a similar note, glad the smear was bearable, Trace.

Jump - glad little S took the EBM and do so hope you can do it more.

Cat, no we haven't used the Dentinox for yonks. She seemed to grow out of the wind, but it's all such a mystery really. Sorry your DS is suffering KMP, how is he now?

All this talk of Whitby sounds lovely. I have only ever heard nice things about it and will go one day. I have got good friends in Sheffield but I know it's quite a long way from there.

Turnip, glad you had a good Saturday night - sounds fab. Arti, did you go to the auction on Lots Road? A lightbulb went on it my head when you said that - what a totally fantabulous idea, never thought of that before. Mind you, I have got a stack of furniture in storage so probably won't need to buy much for the new house. And shouldn't, either, more to the point, with kitchens and bathrooms to buy...

Anyway, a million things to do so must go. Are PoisonDwarf and Nolda lurking? Where are Mibbes, Young Visitor, Invisible Hand and many many others? Hope you are all ok. Right, many things to do as usual so off I go.

PS, all those drawn to MamaHeaven - I am afraid I won't be joining you, either in Wales or Ibiza. I like the idea of yoga very much but every time I have tried that or pilates I couldn't do the breathing. I think you need a degree of patience for such things which I have unfortunately never quite attained, or am ever likely to

Hi, LadyT. Yes, I've been lurking I'm afraid. I've nearly posted many times but domestic crises seem to arise at just the wrong moment. I must try harder. It sounds like you had a very successful weekend with a new car and house. I don't envy you the renovation work though. We moved into our place in Nov 2002 and it still looks like a building site.

JJ I'm glad things are looking up for you. Is your DH going in early to do his paperwork now? My DH often works late. It's not so bad at the moment as he doesn't have as much on these days (which is bad on another front). Anyway, I hope yours is getting home to help out at the end of the day and do some bonding with DD. By the way you did make laugh - Ashlong Lane .

I'm glad you got the rat man round Summer and I hope your neighbours get their act together.

Majormoo I hope you enjoy your holiday in the New Forest. If you get fed up with your Teepee and want to meet up, let me know.

Bisou and JJ Thanks for the expressing and bottle tips. I really must get on with it now or I never will.

Bisou my little girl loved the photo of your costume. She asked to see it over and over.

We took DS to the hip clinic last week to have his hips checked because the GP found he had uneven thigh creases at his 6 week check. Luckily he is absolutely fine but it was so sad to see all the little babies with their legs in splints .

Evening. Kew was lovely if a bit chilly. I missed your post Ros but did kind of keep a half eye out for you anyway as I know you go quite a bit. We lost DS scuba man (small figure with flippers!!!) which is a serious disaster.

I took some clothes back too but it is a difficult one to fess up to.

Lady Your place sounds fab and I am sure your project management skills will be great.

Nolda So glad DS doesn't have to have those splints. I have seen a little girl in them before and they are so uncomfy looking.

Glad the smear went ok Trace, can imagine it was quite scary. Yes, I think bleeding afterwards is very common and not just post preg.

Ooh, I love Kew, Oli (and Ros), haven't been for yonks. I like gardens full stop. And stately homes. Maybe it's my age...Sorry to hear about the loss of Scuba Man though.

Nolda, that is so cute about your DD liking the pic of Bisou's costume. I love it when little girls like things like that because I always did. There is a 'fairy' shop in Hampstead and I will burst with excitement when I am old enough to take DD. On the fairy theme (in case anyone has a small child who likes them as much as I do ) there is a little town in Dorset called Corfe and they have a place that has a fairy garden (tiny model fairies in the trees etc) and it really is so sweet...there is also a shop there called the Ginger Pop Shop and it sells traditional toys. And there is a fantastic old steam railway! I don't even care for such things but it is irresistible even to me. Dorset is laahvely. You could have such a nice old fashioned holiday there...

You'd think I was working for the Corfe Tourist Board

Message withdrawn

Evening all,

LadyT The cats names aren't dreadfully silly but do sound incongruous with our surname! Our big tom cat is called Jethro - named after the band rather than the inventor of the seed drill . He is sitting next to me on the sofa trying to convince me to get up and get him some milk.

When I lived at home we had a cat called Apple. Apple Johnston! We were ahead of the times obviously. He must have inspired Chris and Gwyneth

Golly it's smear-tastic on here. I'm off for one on Friday. Glad it wasn't too awful trace. JJ I didn't get it at first until I said it aloud! Duh!

Nolda Glad you got good news today. What a shame for those babies with splints.

Right best be off. Night night all.

Jethro Bear is a little incongruous, yes

hello!
I just spent nearly 2 hours playing Power Grid (a board game) with dh - he loves board games - so I think I've earned myself a few minutes on MN while I ignore him!

I made myself custard and jam after tea tonight - my post-smear treat!

You know I said my HV measured P's head and it hadn't grown...well I have stupidly googled little heads and worried myself silly. They seem to worry if their head id less than 3rd centile - P's is now less than the 0.4th centile as it has not grown for 6 weeks. Does anyone have any experience of little heads? I still think really it's my pea-head that she's inherited, but I can't help worrying. silly me. I hadn't thought her head was small, but have recently commented that all the babies I know seem to have massive heads, so maybe I should have looked at it the other way!
Enough about small heads. Sorry to waffle.

Oli and Ros - Good on you for having picnics in this weather...we've had miserable rain here today. Roll on proper spring time !

LadyT that's fab news about your house - I can imagine you as a very competent project manager (not that I've ever met you!) - how very exciting

and on cat names...we had a cat who we bought from the RSPCA so she already had a name - Pudwood (?!!) so when put with our surname 'Ruddle' it sounded very silly being called in the vet's waiting room!

trace - I wouldn't be too worried about the head measurement tbh, it's a really hard one to get right and there's such a small range of sizes that a measurement out by a few mm can make a big difference. EG when DD was born her head was supposedly on the 2nd centile but when she was measured again at 6 weeks it was up to the 50th. Now given that we didn't notice her hats being massively big then fitting fine, we were assured by HV that the first measurement was probably wrong...!

LadyT great progress on the car and house fronts, you are super efficient! Sounds like project managing the renovations is just your cup of tea.

Nolda - very glad to hear the tests went ok and all is well with ds's legs. yes, dh is now going in early but was still home at 8pm tonight got stuck in traffic on the way home with any luck he should get some bath times with her later in the week. She loves it, is really splashy and happy so it's great fun.

Having asked DH, we will swap the bubblegum pink clothes and give the reason that it's because dd is developing to be a bit strawberry blonde like her dad, so the colour doesn't suit her. This is absolutely true, so no guilt after all.

just found this website for nice breastfeeding t-shirts that dont look like something your mum would wear

Oli and ros hope your picnics went well. We braved one sat before last as it was quick sunny (I am Irish though and thus hardy - a mildly sunny Feb day is kind of like your average Irish "scorcher")

Trace thanks for the "lowdown" (tee hee) on the smear. I booked mine today need to make sure its on or later than 12 weeks good advice.

Sybil we are online twins today - I have booked my coil "fitting" and am bemoaning the fact that I will never have a newborn again. But 3 is enough (I think!!)

ladyT and arti so exciting about new houses. I love Lots Road (and Alfies Antiques too!).

Cat that was good advice someone gave on the teats. I had forgotten that slow teats can sometimes cause more probs when you'd think it would help. Might be worth trying.

Gotta go. Time for feeding. L had her first jabs today and is not a happy bunny. I wimped out and gave her "druks" at bedtime as she was screaming her wee head off.