June 2008: Nine months in, nine months out

[Essie3]

Here's to the next nine months!

can I sign edie up for the crawling masterclass? some way off it here too..

have a great time in germany and enjoy the sat nav 5 deb re stepmum thing its not too bad- they're quite old so have other end of spectrum to edie...

josey oh no! what a shame O was sick in the car! We had a lovely time, DS1 was full of stories about his friend and her sister when Daddy got home!

I had a lovely cuddle with Olivia - she's changed so much and is much more able to communicate than last time I saw her (her smile, crying, looking stressed when Fraser tried to climb up on top of her). And she's the hardest worker I've ever seen, she tries so hard and you can definitely tell that she's thinking!

I went out on my road bike for the first time in 18 months. It was lovely, the views were fabulous, and I felt like my old self again which was nice for a wee while, but I'm so out of shape. I'm both and - except that second one is me panting up the very steep hill behind my house!

p.s. Duncan has watched the video with me three times. He wants a video of josey's DD1 too. And he wants you all to come back and play with him.

I know I've missed a ton of other posts. Good job to Caitlin for feeding though! I hope it continues!

Josey that video is amazing. She is just amazing!

SA glad to hear that the breast feeding is coming back. I know it is really stressful and so upsetting when they refuse to feed. Jamie often still has days when he refuses to feed from me unless he is asleep, generally because his nose is a bit blocked or something but I still find it really upsetting (although after his 4 month refusal you'd think I'd be used to it!) I am always thrilled when he feeds awake again!

Deb We have the 8 month check tomorrow and I am dreading it re: the weight check. The thing that really annoys me about my reaction to it is I know J is fine. He is crawling and cruising and happy, and I know he won't eat more than he is doing as I try to feed the poor lamb at every given opportunity - so why do I let those stupid centiles worry me? particularly as I can't change anything. From what you have said before I get the impression Ethan eats really well anyway. Maybe you could try adding a bit more cheese to his diet to fatten him(always the first advice of any hv!) but otherwise try not to let it worry you. (Sybil slinks off to try and heed her own words...)

Got my friend staying which is great but now I have Nigel, Stefan and Ethan all poorly with bad colds, poor Ethan this morning when he woke up couldn't open his eyes for the yellow gunge. He picked up a bit in the day , but looked pretty rough at bedtime and went to bed without milk as he was too tired to suck. stefan is hoping for a day off school tomorrow and must be poorly as he didn't ski today.

Abdn - glad you enjoyed your bike ride.

Sybil - hope your 8 month check is OK and they are not concerned re weight. Thanks for the cheese advice! Ethan has good days and bad with food, today wasn't good because of his cold but I did manage to get him to take a whole mashed banana for tea , didn't bother with anything savoury as I knew it would be a waste of time.

SA - How's Caitlin been today?

Oh no Deb, man flu x 3, poor you!! Caitlin has been fine today thanks, she is feeding very often - either to make up for lost time or because my supply went down, I suppose. It is a relief every time, and she seems relaxed about it again. In fact she has been seeming ridiculously happy and is clearly extremely relieved it is all over. She was shattered yesterday though - slept 2 hours in the morning and 3 in the afternoon, never had that before!!

Sybil yes I have been thinking of you and j over these past few days and thinking you would understand, though it's miniscule compared to what you've negotiated. As you say you can't do more than what you're doing with feeding anyway and as long as he's happy and well and developing fine, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. I always think food-wise my job as a mummy is to put good stuff in front of them, it's up to them what they do with it after that. (Feed it to the cat, throw it at a sibling, ....)

just a very quick post to catch up, SA so glad to hear that C is feeding again, it must have been so stressful.

Sponge yay for the spongelet. it must have used 5's satnav to make sure it was in the right place

Deb C doesn't eat very much either. I have no idea how much she weighs - I might get her weighed on Tuesday if I have time!

Josey another taker here for Oli's crawling masterclass.

C's cold has nearly cleared up so hopefully she'll be allowed into nursery this week. She's had the horrible yellow eye gunge too deb I had a GP friend round today, and she calls it eye snot. (basically is snot and in babies they manage to leak it from their eyes as well as noses. lovely.) She was telling me that a lot of nurseries won't let babies in if they have sticky eyes like this, unless they're on antibiotic drops, even though it's because of their cold and is therefore a virus and not bacterial. She finds describing it as eye snot the most effective way of differentiating from proper conjunctivitis.

whinegums If the smell of rice pudding didn't initiate mym gag reflex, I'd be tempted to try out your recipe! did you order your yoghurt carrier yet?

I went to Lakeland today. so much stuff that I now NEED...

PS sponge I made you all-powerful in the facebook group. use it wisely!

Hi, just a quick one as Alex is running me ragged this morning!

viva, lol at spongelet using 5's sat nav! Oh and thank you for making me all-powerful on FB - you know what they say about absolute power corrupting absolutely though!!

Hi to everyone else, spring has sprung hope you're enjoying the weather!

Feeling bad about moaning on Saturday about PILs and DH's Godmother. Really it is just GM who is the handful and PILs are very nice indeed. I am v lucky in that respect.

The weekend was good although I have been feeling grotty with a sore throat and an aching neck. I think DH had the manly version of this the weekend before resulting in 3 days in bed for him! P's sleep is back to normal (crap) after a brief improvement last week. I will keep you posted on what the sleep expert HV says on Thursday. However, I think we will be giving cc a try next weekend if she doesn't suggest anything revolutionary. I have got to the point where I feel mentally tired rather than just physically tired, and it's not doing anyone in our house any good.

Having said all that P has been utterly gorgeous all weekend. He is just so happy and giggly at the moment. He has learnt how to clap his hands, and has started making funny grunting/growling noises which we thought were linked to straining for a poo, but we now think he just likes doing to amuse himself.

What funny things is your baby doing at the moment?

Josey - wanted to say that the videos were lovely. Oli is clearly such a fighter. I loved your DD1's commentary, and whilst not wanting to sound like an American tourist, I love her accent. It sounds so crisp compared to the South East accent I listen to round here.

Also, pleased that caitlin is feeding again. What a relief.

viva I have a Lakeland order coming and am ridiculously excited about it [there should be an alternative 'sad' emoticon for this sort of thing!]

Sorry to hear about P's sleep Ali, hope you get some rest today - when Caitlin was very bad I went back to newborn sleep-when-they-sleep habits during the day when I could for a while, it did help.

I am trying to nap when I can Systems, and I felt much better yesterday having had an extra hour first thing. I am finding though that when I go to bed early I am too wired to go to sleep for a bit.

So pleased about Oli! Well done her! We'll sign up for the masterclass here!

I'm having a massive work crisis and I'm all depressed (I've admitted and I'm seeing a counsellor but not for 2 weeks...) and so I won't moan because I'm miserable!

But Ali made me smile - not at the lack of sleeping - with her description of Peter! Funny things Iestyn is doing at the moment (who needs counselling when you get a question like that from Ali which makes you smile!) well he has started pointing. At everything, all the time. These little pointy fingers are permanently in the air jabbing away, and it's hilarious when he's talking away and pointing. He's like a little dictator!

Essie I had counselling after going back to work after my son was born and it was brilliant, hope it works for you too. In fact I called to book in again when I was shattered with Caitlin not sleeping well but sadly my counsellor is off on long-term sick at the moment!

Caitlin is loving 'peekaboo' at the moment, she hides behind a muslin, towel, or my top for ages while we 'look' for her and then throws up the cloth for the 'big Caitlin reveal' - she is giving herself away by giggling while she's hiding though!

and while at nursery this morning she tried to 'help' get herself dressed by putting her tights on her head

Thanks, Systems. I worry a bit though that counselling won't help much because my misery is of the in the wrong job/can't get the right job kind of thing. I love my actual area of work and my research, but I had a total disaster of a weekend which sort of underlined everything, and I'm feeling a bit of a reject to be honest. But maybe counselling might help - maybe I'm a bit unhinged due to hormones or something.
But I should be grateful that I have a job!

Systems Caitlin sounds so sweet playing peekaboo(and great news on the feeding). I love this thread because you get an idea of how different all our babies are. (Although also very similar!) Iestyn plays peekaboo but doesn't have the patience to wait! If it's not instant, he's not interested. I wonder where he gets that total lack of patience from? Caitlin is clearly a bit more sophisticated!

essie I think counselling/therapy is great - I'm still seeing my psychotherapist and all we talk about now is going back to work - its really helping me get things in perspective for when I do go back. It does help me seperate the hormonal/personal and what the real issue is.

deb how is the casualty count today?

ali sorry sleep got worse - edie just giggling , smiling and playing a lot (as we speak she is bouncing in her cot and trying to pull the music box off the bars). Edie also does the peekaboo thing with muslines but what she likes best is when I duck down behind a chair or behind a door and then pop out -that gets her laughing hyesterically every time - as does wearing a hat (apparently mama doesn't wear hats and dada shouldn't wear glasses).

Essie that's tough, I've been there too. I think the counselling should help reframe things though - it is really useful to help work things out like, can I do enough of the stuff I love in my current job to make it livable, or do I need to change things somehow, and if so what are my options? etc. Rather than feeling stuck in the 'this is all wrong' place which is a horrible feeling.

Essie sorry to hear about your work, hopefully the counselling will help.

SA Caitlin sounds very advanced with her peek-a-boo skills! J is not doing anything like that yet. He did manage to pass his 8 month check though. Turns out he is a bit of a short-arse. He was only mid-way between the 9th and 25 centiles on length but was above the 25th on weight(yippee!) and just below the 50th on headsize. We were thrilled with this and agreed with hv that we won't get him weighed again until he is 2 yrs. I feel really relieved about the whole thing, how sad is that?

and ranting poppy back .. I'm not signing back up to nct after they're involvd in the study saying use of epidurals should be reduced as it creates abnormal births. I'll be putting my money elsewhere that funding bullshit like this (sorry my epidural was not cos I didnt like the pain but cos my blood pressure was shooting thru the roof which has got to be healthy and natural for both me and my baby..) . and don't even get me started on the bf "expert' [angry[

and while I'm about it, I'd like to know what exactly I pay for in terms of care locally - given I couldnt get into a local hospital and now looks like won't be having an 8 month check due to hv shortages.. just as well mugs like me can afford alternative. i pity the people who can't...

Absolutely, poppy. It's great not to need an epidural but it's awful when women get scared off them if they could really benefit. Especially as this research has just come out too:

fears over epidurals exaggerated

epidurals low risk

thanks for the links - I remember feeling guilty when I agreed to have one having been suggested by consultant but then wondering where my medal was if I didn't have one...

Me too - I spent hours longer than I needed to when I had ds in a great deal of pain, and lots of really unpleasant vomiting, because I'd read I 'shouldn't' have one unless it was unavoidable. The relief when it went in was unbelievable. If I'd done it earlier I might not have been so exhausted when he was finally born that dp had to hold him for his first hour of life .

absolutely systemsaddict - I couldnt eat/drink anything without throwing up. plus I'd have ended up having one anyway for assisted 3rd stage so would have been very put out to have one anyway!