M'lovelies! I haven't been on for a while as I've been working and also planning my assault with making a stash of fitted cloth nappies for J. I'm actually having more fun shopping for him than I do shopping for myself - and have picked out lots of co-ordinating fabrics and velcro etc for the nappies so he'll be uber trendy. He's soooo huge now and has completely outgrown the prefolds we got for him initially. We weighed him the other day and he was 7.34kg (that's 16lb 3oz for you non metric mummies) - and he's only 11 weeks today! Crikey. What a fatty.
Anyway just thought I'd write this update before I catch up on the thread as otherwise there'll be more to say & I'll just never get it done! Apologies for the massive epic that's to follow
Turnip thanks for the link for the bespoke ikea couch covers, very nice they are indeed. I actually quite like Ikea stuff stylistically but then sometimes the covers etc are a bit naff and cheap looking. Knowing me though I'd probably try and make it myself just to save £5 though, as I am such a cheap frugal mummy Supercat I do the £ on my mac by the way, by pressing alt with the number 3. Am loving that so many of you use macs/iphone/itouch, I just heart apple stuff! Actually I just looked it up and there is a list of mac shortcuts here - and wouldn't you know it, there is even a shortcut for ellipses?
waitinggirl so glad you've got all your email account back again. Any idea how they might have gotten in in the first place? The only time I've ever been asked for my password to my email was actually on Facebook (to do the friend finder thing), and admittedly I gave it but then changed it straight away. I know there are probably viruses too aren't there, that can send this kind of info from your computer to outside parties (are you on a PC or a mac?) Actually speaking of Facebook - if any of you have the inclination, then please do come and find me (my RL name is on the email list) as I put lots of pics etc up on there and it would be lovely to have some of you as friends on there too!
Kayz your DS1 story about helping to burp DS2 was so so lovely. It made me want to start trying for #2 now (well? almost!)
Turnip it is interesting that you express to save time with yr DD, as that's partly why I solely express now. Initially it was just to try and clear up the thrush (more on that in a min) but now it just means that I can pump and let DH do lots of feeds. Or maybe I am just a control freak and like to know how much he is taking. Anyway I'm impressed you manage to express from one side whilst BF - I've always wondered how it was done with a baby in the way? My hat off to you!
Verso it was good to hear from you, I was very worried. How are things at the moment? Is DH still doing the evening feed for you with a stone cold warm bottle? I hope you are getting a bit more rest than you were previously. Do let us know how you're getting on.
Sleep issues. Hmm. DS is currently feeding every 3 hours in the night. This means: bed at 7pm, then wake for feeds at 10pm, 1am, 4am and 7pm awake. It's the 4am one that's the killer. So, I am phasing out the 10pm and the 4am feeds by giving him 10ml less each night (he is down to 30ml tonight for each of those feeds) and then for the 1am one he can have as much as he likes. Then hopefully he'll just have the one night feed halfway through the night which I can cope with as I'm always up at 1am anyway. Ideally we'll try to phase that out at some stage too. This is the plan at the moment, watch this space to see if it actually works! I can't stand to see him cry, so controlled crying isn't an option for us. So hopefully the 'gentle phase out' approach will not be too painful for any of us to cope with. Rosmerta are you going cold turkey with dropping one of the night feeds? Or phasing out too? Are you using a dummy? We're using the dummy although he only needs it after the 4am feed at the moment to push him through till 7am, that's the hardest part at the moment. I feel so mean sticking the dummy in and and watching him sucking away so furiously on it, when all he really wants is a bottle. Tough love is hard.
One other sleep related question - has anyone stopped swaddling their DC? Sometimes I think he'd like to be able to stretch out a bit more, but then whenever I try to leave him unswaddled, he never settles well. Does anyone who has managed to do this have any advice on it?
kmp we did our flat up too! I am a weirdo and enjoy tiling and laying floors and all that sort of blokey stuff. I even installed our kitchen cupboards (although I did have to enlist DH to help me with the wall cabs as they were too heavy to put up solo). Your story was very similar to mine in that we didn't get to enjoy ours much either - we had it for 2 years and I only renovated just before we came back to Australia so that we'd get a better rent for it. Pity it took us so long to do it - 2 years is a long time to not be able to have a shower (why do so many places in the UK still only have baths in the bathroom?) Anyway I only had about 2 weeks of new shower/new bathroom/new kitchen bliss too until we came back here.
arti you poor thing having to cope with mastitis. I'm so glad you're feeling a bit better, it must have been rough looking after two DCs feeling so unwell! Hope your surveys all turn out ok, keep us posted
Well it's 1.30am and he still hasn't woken up for his 1am feed yet, even though I only gave him 30mls at the previous feed. You know I think he might actually be sleeping better without so much milk in the night? It did seem to be that he was waking with a lot of wind, which would come from the milk digesting I suppose. I'm no expert of course though, only guessing here! Anyway I'll keep typing till he wakes.
Trace I also agree with giving the nappies to your friend - after all, you're only recycling! I inherited heaps of baby stuff from friends and family, and have been very grateful for it, and I'm sure she will too. It is very thoughtful of you.
Kayz your naughty DH for letting the cake burn. I hope you managed to cut off the yucky bits. I'm so glad you had a lovely time at Crufts too, did manage to take any pics in the end with one of those disposable cameras? So annoying your camera is still getting fixed. We're hoping to buy a new one as the one we have now is kicking on 6 years and is starting to get a bit dodgy. I love that it does video though, I definitely want that feature again in our next camera. Any suggestions of a good camera/what to look for in a camera from any photography buffs on here?
Just back from feeding DS. He woke at 1.36am for a feed, I jinxed it by saying he hadn't woken yet!
Turnip how lovely the pic of nanny Anne is. You can tell just by looking at it; what a kind spirited and wonderful woman she was. I'm so glad she's our thread guardian!
Supercat with the night feeds, I usually keep DS swaddled so he doesn't wake himself up too much and think it's day. The methods of making up formula quickly that everyone has suggested are really great. I usually get out some expressed BM in the night as it can be left out for a few hours till it comes to room temp, which means it's kind of ready to go by the time he wakes. This is possibly not an option for you though if you've switched to solely FF? A few times we've supplimented with formula in the evening before his bed (as he drinks over 1000ml a day!) and our 'quick' way of making it, has always been to make it up a couple of hours before less 40ml of water, and refrigerate (this is for a bottle that will equal 140ml). Then when it's feeding time I just top it up with 40ml of boiling water from the kettle, as this makes it pretty much room temp. I tested it out using cold water from the fridge + boiled water till I got the balance right. Anyway you've probably got a method by now that's working but I thought I'd add what we do too. BTW I heard bottled water wasn't good either because of the minerals etc in it, contrary to what you were told Rosmerta! Isn't it incredible how much conflicting advice there is out there?
Trace the bouncy pic is SO cute! I want one of those for DS as he is just loving pushing himself up with his legs at the moment. He'll be walking any day now I'm sure
Welcome Babymakes4, lovely to have another Dec mum on here. Do pop on and say hello from time to time if you have the chance - although having said that, I honestly don't know how those of you with more than one DC manage to find the time to even scratch yourselves let alone peruse MN! Supermummies for sure. Speaking of busy mums, I wonder how GBB is getting on with her twins?
Daisy how are you feeling? Did you end up going to the GP for the sinus prob?
LadyT LMAO at changing DD on the loo lid story, and Veggie yours was fab too. Ah I love all you girls and your baby shenannigans!
Jump that's a right PITA about your SILs wedding. My work is kind of inflexible about leave in a way too, as we have to take it whenever there is a break of performances, rather than actually getting to choose when to have it. Anyway I hope you can sort something out so that you can go to the wedding.
zoejeanne you poor bugger! Thrush is a nightmare. After battling it for weeks we finally cleared it up, but I ended up switching to full time expressing as the LO and I kept reinfecting each other. Are you using an oral gel for your DD? The best one is Daktarin (miconozole) - it's not recommended it for children under 6 months on the instructions because there were probs with people giving it the wrong way to their babies (on a spoon!) but I was told that if you just use a small pea sized amount, and rub it all around their mouth, including in the cheek cavities and around the gums then it is fine. We did it after feeds, I cleaned his mouth up with a tiny bit bit of sterile water on a sterile spoon, then used a clean cloth to dry his mouth out a bit before applying the gel. I did it after every feed (which back then was every 2-3hrs) rather than just the 4 times a day. I did use less each application than suggested though (I think it says 1/4tsp?). I used a miconozole cream for myself, rather than the oral gel as the gel was a bit too sticky. Nystatin didn't do anything for us, and in fact I think it got a hold and got worse while I was trying to treat it with Nystatin.The two best sites for info on thrush I've found are: here and here. But I definitely second LadyT's suggestion of a probiotc, as it really seemed to help mine. It is also fine to keep expressing and don't dump your precious milk (there is conflicting advice about this as some books recommend otherwise) but Jack Newman is a lactation specialist and an expert on candida treatment, and he says the antifungal qualities of BM combat the thrush so it's fine to give. I think this is part of the reason it's so hard to test for ductal thrush it in women - you can't test the milk as it is antifungal, and a swab is unreliable as it can be naturally occuring on our skin anyway. This is another great site with good info on it for you. I hope that helps, and that you manage to get rid of that b@rstard of a condition asap! Oh and one last tip is that you can microwave yr bras (wet) for 5 mins too to sterilise them.
Katie I too would go with the cheap cabinets for the kitchen. My Ikea ones were cheap(ish) but looked lovely once the kitchen was done. In fact Ikea have won awards for the design and quality of their kitchens. All those flat pack cabinets are pretty much of a muchness as they're all mdf. It's only when you get to the doors that there is a difference, and most of those places do a full range anyway with solid wood/glass choices too. I've actually got some pics of my kitchen renovation on an album in my Facebook profile too, if you're interested. But I think if you're having to pay for it yourselves, then the cheaper version will still look fab for re-sale purposes. And of course then you'll have money left over for your next kitchen!
Sybil your poor DD1, and poor you for having to cope without yr DH all the time! I don't know how you manage it, I am very in awe of all you ladies with working partners and multiple children.
Jump I luuuuurved that USB wine gadget link! Just hilarious.
And Summer your message made me laugh so hard. I am going to copy it again here because it's so funny;
"In other news, he has had one tiny poo in 4 days. I am scared."
I always put too many exclamation marks in my posts. And ellipses. And brackets. And dashes too - lets not forget those...