December 2008 Coven - white light and basket cases

[EffiePerine]

Seeing as LadyT broke the thread...

What a fantastic idea, Kayz, fingers crossed you get accepted. My SIL is in her first year of a midwifery course - and she's 46 years old!
Good luck with the packing today, Effie, hope it all goes smoothly this weekend and for the move next week. We'll miss you .
JJ, sorry to hear you had such a rough night, especially after your celebratory G&T earlier in the eve. I too spoke the stupid words "he's gone down without a peep" - before the first of six wakings of the night. Why can't babies be borm with teeth? You'd think we'd have evolved up to that point surely...
Hi NJAN, nice to see you. I joined the thread when it was antenatal in Nov, so pretty late on, but I found everyone v welcoming and couldn't have done without the support. Or the chuckles, cos you do get them here too. Hope you manage a RL meetup with the Camb ladies.
ZJ, [angry} for you too, it's such a hard balance and sleep deprivation is such a relationhsip tester as it's hard to be generous when you're both fighting for sleep.
I'd better go now, will catch up later but am going to play badminton with some friends this morning (first sporting jaunt post baby, not expecting too much of myself) and need to get dressed.
Oh, and to anyone who's not been on the thread for a whole - I'm CatDean!

oh and arti, so sorry to hear about the mastitis . .

spot - the G&T was just wishful thinking alas - didn't actually have one as we were out of tonic!

So, she just about managed to snooze (on the boob from 5.30 til DH's alarm at 6.45 and in a moment of ZJ-husband-esque hilarity he was in such a panic to switch it off (mobile phone) that it went down the back of his bedside table and he had to leap up and do some furniture shifting as it got louder and louder! She's now asleep in the sling again, but I've a feeling today is going to be one of those damage limitation days rather than the ones where you get to actually enjoy being with your baby - the kind where you're walking round and round the streets trying desperately to get/keep them asleep. She seems to have regressed to newborn over the last few days - only able to go to sleep on the boob or in motion, and very sensitive to changes in that status, which wake her up very quickly. Won't let me put her down (had to shower to the sound of yells as I'm definitely not going back to the days of baby in sling over dressing gown at lunch time). Feel surprisingly human, given the absence of sleep, but I did swear a lot at dd overnight ("why won't you effing go to effing sleep" and the like ) and feel very bad about it. I'm sure she can feel the bad energy in the air

Anyone with older babes know anything about that sort of thing? It's not a cold or anything, though she did do a lot of rubbing one side of her head which made me wonder if she had a headache, but the calpol should have done for that surely? She would feed ok sitting up but lying down, which used to work really well, she kept folding herself in half and pushing her legs at me, then shoving her head on and off?? What does it all mean?

superspot once again you have my mammoth admiration, sport off the back of hardly any sleep? Good work! And fantastic news about your sister, hang in there little baby spotling!

zj will certainly send cold water at your dh, even if the falling over was very funny. Getting back to sleep after a waking up to feed is really hard as you're so sensitive to any movement or sound that might mean waking up again.

kayz - great news about your DH's job - and the course sounds great, goodness knows we need more midwives and especially people who really care about babies and birth. Not that that's suggesting other MWs don't, but there are so many stories of overworked stressed MWs and mistakes being made.

people painting their toenails mine are always awful. Met up with a mate at NCT group yesterday who's 38 weeks and she'd painted her own, was indeed wearing sandals . Actually come to think of it, when someone asked if she was going to our local hospital for the birth or planning a home one, she said they're not talking about plans as you never know what might happen. BUT later she let slip that they'd had a scan the week before, and round here you get that if you're booked for HB to check baby is the right way round etc. Interesting....!

veggie v amused at DS1 talking to shoes

sybil happy birthday DD [balloons] hope you got all the cakes sorted. Is there jelly and ice cream too?

LadyT your description of distractable feeds is just perfect - it's like there's always something more exciting going on somewhere else, but if you dare to stop the feed you'll be in big trouble...

katie hope the christening is lovely today, will say a little prayer for you all

arti hope the visit to your mum's grave is ok and not too sad. We took dd to see her granny's but it was mostly so I could show mum her granddaughter. She's in a lovely place at the edge of the churchyard overlooking a meadow, a really peaceful spot. I think when the time comes we'll tell dd that the grave is a place we go to remember someone, to think about them and talk to them. On the one hand, they're always with us in our minds, but it's often easier to talk to them out loud in this particular place and know more than ever that they're listening.

effie - re the dark, not sure tbh. She had been fine with it and could settle herself back reasonably well, but the last few days it's more that once she's awake, she's awake and very little will get her to go back to sleep. Though DH admitted that while her had her downstars she was very awake and they watched Police camera action

pix great news about ds, that's fantastic growing he's doing

the bloody police crim-copter has been hanging around for the last hour, what on earth are they looking for? [shhhhhhh]

Thanks for everyone's sympathies about the mastitis. I am hopeful that I got the AB's quick enough because although my breast is still v painful and I feel achey the fever has not taken hold (touch wood).these ABs are double the strength of the last lot thanks to lovely (& v gorgeous) doc. I am therefore hopeful that we will still make the grave and the beach today.

I have to say it's so nice to see some old faces returning in the shape of Majormoo and Pixsix. Lovely to see you both and hear your news. Also lovely to have a new face, welcome NJAN.

Sorry for those with bad nights. JJ that really sounds a shocker. Is S sleeping alot inthe day and getting her days and nights confused?

Right, DH has entered the room and is pulling a not pleased face at the iPhone, better go! I will just finish by saying that Lal I aspire to drinking in bed tonight, you made it sound so decadent. And Kayz that sounds like a brilliant plan, good luck.

One more thing. I hope Trace is ok. She normally posts more regularly. Trace, are you out there???

Oh, and JJ, that is a lovely way of explaining the grave. I too am going more to show mum the girls than anything else.

Argh! I spent another night in the spare room, which was very nice but unlike the last time we did this it has not broken dd's waking cycle at all and she is still being little miss fusspot and waking a lot. I think I may go cold turkey on the dummy. We have used it for sleep only and she used to drop off with it and not be bothered when it came out, I think now she wakes when it comes out. I'm not asking for miracles, I was still feeding ds every 2 hours or so at this point and I'd be happy with that if she actually slept between the feeds!

Veggie dh was cunning for my spa "voucher" and it is a promise of a day rather than a voucher, given that ds never took expressed milk he knew it could be a while before I could use it!

on that note dd currently takes 2 ounces from a TT then gets annoyed. Mind you she can take 2 ounces she can take more, I think I should just go out and leave her for a good 3 hours, bet if she had a bit of a break and a distraction when she started getting annoyed she'd go back to it.

Hello njan Totally identify with going slowly mad.

Arti sorry about mastitis, hope you get it sorted.

Lal am lol at your 8 hours of padington. Ds has a really horrible bilingual nursery rhyme tape that is the only thing that stops him screaming when he gets bored. Durham to Bordeaux and back. One more time now (in dodgy french accent) "london bridge is falling down"

MoM it is totally fine to feed after drinking. You might want to avoid it when totally pissed but more from a baby dropping point of view rather than milk contamination.

Jump I wish I knew the answer to middle of the night playtime issues. Dd is a big fan of those. She comes out with some seriously cute gurgles and grins but somehow they would be much cuter at 9am rather than between 3 and 5!

good to see you pix

Zoe I shall add to the water for your dh.

Mine is quite well trained, perhaps I should start hiring him out.

Kayz very exciting, good luck!

Oh jump crossed posts, from your last one, ear infection? Worth checking it out if she is rubbing at her head. Ds hates lying down etc when he has one and calpol clears the pain from it but not the feelings of vertigo/ears needing to pop etc from having things going on there.

arti - sleeping too much during the day? [hollow laugh] yesterday she had 3 half hour naps and that was all. Some days she goes down fine for an hour or so a couple of times, others hardly at all. Maybe she's just one of those babies that doesn't need sleep - but that's a pretty iffy excuse!

Saying that, she's still asleep in the sling about an hour and 1/4 on (hence my frantic MNing ), so hopefully will catch up a bit on last night.

indith big sympathy coming to you... sounds like your dd's dummy is a bit like my nip is to dd - if it's not there, all hell breaks loose. I wonder why they're developing these weird things only now? Is it because they hate us and they know it makes us go bonkers in the nut?

indith - that's a thought, she did at one point have a new cry that sounded more pained than usual , will get DH to take a look with his earoscope when he gets back.

Yup jj they are out to get us Dd used to settle so well she slept way better than this as a newborn! Of course the dummy was given because with fast letdown/oversupply etc comfort feeding was not an option as feeding resulted in screaming child. She sucks her fingers sometimes now and I've seen the thumb in once or twice so tonight I shall be strong and say bye bye dummy.

Morning ladies just popping on quickly as Ds2 having a nap and the big boys are having a swim. JJ my night wasn't as horrendous as yours but ds2 was a up a lot and usually after his 2 overnight feeds he just settles back to sleep easily but last night he was not as happy to go back to sleep and def up more often was generally very cranky. I'm thinking he may have a little virus brewing or a sore ear. One doc has said he has glue ear and he occassionally has a smelly discharge from his left ear. There is not much the can do but wait and see if it needs intervention later and even if it is an ear infection in your case they don't like to use AB ear drops anymore. I use some natural ear drops called aloe gold ear drops by higher nature that a friend recommended (of course you should always get ears looked at by a good GP first, oh you've got one of those handy) and I pop him a few doses of chamomilla & pullsitilla.

I love that your DH set his alarm for 6.45am when he needed to leave the house at 7am. When I lived at the nurses quarters of the queen Elizabeth hosp for sick children in London I used to set my alarm for 7.25 for a 7.30 start.

Arti well done you for keeping up breastfeeding the mastitis can really get you down. I've said before while it's acute feed first off the affected boob and try to feed regularly like every 1.5 hours if he'll take it. I can't remember from the last time if they had thought about thrush. I think whatever the result of this episode you need to make an appointment with your GP and also get a good breastfeeding consultant involved check if the NCT has one in your area maybe if the NHS one isno good or too busy. The BfN have some guidelines on thrush buy they are currently having to reword them because in it they recommended a teaspoons worth of some anti thrush medication, meaning the amount not how to administer and some poor mother shoved a teaspoon of the meds down her LOs throat and nearly chocked her.

I am here and reading but also PACKING (Dh out for the afternoon) and battling a slight tummy bug. So nothing interesting to add other than HOW did we amass so much stuff in such a tiny flat?

Hi - trying to type but it might take awhile so no doubt will x-post as it's ds's feeding time (6pm) oh here we go - arms flapping starting to get faster and faster, wimpering started and his face turning a little screwed up.... back later....

Hello ladies,

I have finally found you and am loving the new thread title. Haven't had a chance to catch up since my hols properly, but did get that Mr Kayz has a new job - fantastic!!!!

We had a lovely holiday, DS was a star on th eplane not bothered at all. Although his sleeping patterns were pretty erratic whilst we were away. A couple of nights he slept through and then other nights he just wanted to party all night. However, we have a new trick......when he wanted to play in the night we put DD's portable DVD player on and let him watch Pepa Pig on mute - kept him quiet even if he wasn't asleep!!!!!

Got home to some bad news though, my Nan suffered a ruptured bowel whilst we were away and nearly died. So she is very ill in hospital and my Grandad is on his own recovering from his nnew knee replacement on his own. Its just horrible, but hopefully I'll know how bad things are later when my mum gets home from the hospital.

Right will try to catch up on whats been happening, and have reverted back to my old monkier - sugarrations didn't fit right. Like a top you buy but when you get home its not really waht you wanted! I'm waffling now......

Oh Daisey that is terrible will send lots of love and White light to your Nan. Your poor grandad, he must be worried sick, can he get in to see her at all?

Glad you had a good time, wouldn't worry about the DVD thing at this age it's just all pretty lights. I think even when their older as long as TV and computers etc aren't their main past time then a little is ok.

Just settling DS2 we are off out for a little dinner to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary which is on Monday, well originally it was just a dinner out but then we both remembered our anniversary was nearby. Well we didnt so mch remember as get reminded by someone else but hey who cares. So anyway now we can eat even more because it's a celebration.

Both boys are asleep ds1 is shattered after scooting and going swimming with his dad, so he will stay asleep and I have fed ds2 as much as I can so hopefully he will stay asleep. We were going to take him with us as he sometimes wakes at 8 or 9 just randomly for a feed but generally he goes through til 11 and we will only be out a couple of hours and only just down the road so at the absolute worst I can always pop back to feed him. We have a friends teenage niece babysitting. Quite a contrast to when ds1 was 4 months when I was unable to trust his care to anyone but DH and even then not for long. I wonder what is different?

evening all, both boys wiped out after our trip into London to go to the Natural History Museum. Ds1 loved it, ds2 enjoyed it a little I think but got fed up enough to pull his muslin over his face & have a nap

daisy I'm so sorry to hear about your nan, hope she gets better soon. How's your granddad?

kayz that's fantastic about the midwifery course, I think you'd be a great midwife!

veggie ikwym about being able to leave ds2! I don't know if anything's changed as such, maybe we're just more relaxed? I'll see how I get on at the end of May, we're going to a wedding & ds2 will be having his first overnighter away from us. The first time I did that with ds1 I burst into tears as we drove away

I've just signed up for a 5k run . I don't like running but I keep being told its the best exercise for losing weight!

Evening all, well after a fairly rubbishy day in which she woudl only sleep upright and developed a new pained cry the like of which we'd never heard before phoned the out of hours doc, who said bring her in (dh feels very uneasy about doctoring his own family, fair enough). Naturally as soon as they'd said that she had a massive poo and was all smiley, but took her anyway and they said she has slightly raised lymph nodes so put her onto baby ibuprofen. She's managed to get to sleep about an hour later than usual, pumped full of milk so fingers crossed she'll go for a little while. Early night for me though!

daisy gosh your poor nan, will say a prayer for her and your granddad. I like the trick, nothing bad mother about helping your baby stay calm!

veggie hope you have a lovely dinner and happy anniversary for monday

tilly is that the run for life? If so, let us know and we'll all sponsor you (I'm far too lazy unfit to do a run like that so sponsoring will assuage the guilt a little...)

Hope everyone's having a good night and we get some quiet babies, please God...!

jj Glad dd is sleeping, hope she gets better soon. It is the race for life, I need something to aim for to give me the motivation iyswim.

I will indeed post up my sponsorship page once I've set it up

Tilly I'm doing a Race for life on May 10th here in Derby when is yours? I have done before and as my father was taken by cancer I put his name on my little bit of paper where you put the message on your back. But this time I thought I'd be cheeky and put 'Running for Kylie', though I have another friend who survived breast cancer so I might put her. We are doing a little 3 km fun run tomorrow with the boys in the chariot jogger. We have bought DS1 some little trainers and he can run at the start until he gets tired and then at the end to cross the finishing line he is so excited. It finishes in Derby stadium so it will quite cool for him to finish with the crowd cheering him on.

JJ it's interesting you said DD was settled after the poo as I said DS2 was a bit unsettled last night and he did a massive, and I mean absolutely huge poo at 1pm and since then has been so happy. I think it is quite right of your DH not to treat his own kids. One of out GPs once told me not to treat my ds1 that any decisions I made about taking him to the doctor I should make by pretending I'm not a paediatric nurse and have no health knowledge.

Oh and dinner was good ds2 de wake once wanting a feed so I popped back fed and settled him and was back at the restaurant with 20 mins, they were very sweet at slowed down our mains until I got back. We had a cocktail each I went for a Mai tai that tasted a little like bubblegum but the rum was nice and DH couldn't help himself and had to order one that was called Sex in the jungle, cheeky. He is dropping the babysitter home now. I should really go to bed as have to get up for this little run tomorrow.

Kayz that midwifery sounds good are you going to do that instead of the History course, you would be a bit shattered doing both.

Is it really half past 4? Am so tired but M won't sleep. Girls cdbe up in as little as an hour so need to try.

Hope all are well. JJ, M is just the same at the momrnt, was to be carried the whole time. Exhausting. Hope S now tons better.

Arti, gope boob better and that visit to your mum was peaceful and not too sad.

Sorry not more personals but typing one handed. off to try some more sleep. See you anon.

Hope baby jj recovers soon and that M went to sleep. DS2 refused to go to bed till after 9 last night but then only woke a couple of times so much better.

Tilly: well done on signing up for the race for life. I quite like running when I can manage it, it is v satisfying once you can go for more than 10 mins without falling over

veggie its June 28 in Richmond so plenty of time to train for it. Enjoy your 3km today, sounds like fun, am sure ds1 will love it!

sybil hope M went back to sleep & you managed some too. How did the party go?

Ds2 only woke up once last night but ds1 had an accident & ended up in our bed. Cue lots of kicking the covers off, wriggling around & generally keeping dh & I awake!

Well I didn't get back to post last night did I! Read through quite late then too tired! Trying to remember everyone's news...
notjust hi!! glad you popped in! I know what you mean about friends with babies, or lack there of... Most of mine are a long way away - either different country or county!! Couple in London but thats about it! And all baby-less friends are so much harder to catch up with as 'i always put it off assuming they will get "bored" with baby stuff and stoping to feed /change / manage meltdowns etc! Prob shouldn't feel that way but it's just easier to meet with friends who also have babies isn't it! Any more lurkers out there - in the SW London area??
*Veggie8/ I'm feeling much better the last couple of days and yesterday managed a 4 mile walk with buggy, dh and dog and managed to stop off for lunch half way. then got home - knackered- and dh went on 70 mile ride - nutter! Am gpoing to try at least 2 miles a day.
Lal at you drinking in bed - what was it?
JJ hope dd is sleeping / feeding / feeling better now? B has been nightmare to feed - constantly looking around and over shoulder or at tv - even dark room doesn't help as he see's something shiny or the only light on and wants to chat to it! He just doesn't seem as hungry these days - perhaps a good thing as dh said he has 'cankles' now! I think now his weight is picking up, he's slowing down. He's very big on muttering away though - so noisy and will chat out loud for ages - cute though! He mutters himself to sleep! Very grateful he's not crying to sleep though - touch wood.
veggie / JJ I know what you mean dh won't treat / diagnose family - took me awhile to accept his resistance to this - I went through a period of refusing to play travel agent to him lol! But of course checks us out if we nag however did do couple of blood draws for me at home sine GP okayed it and it was easier with time etc, he uses butterfly needles and seems to do it really good without any passing out involved, but otherwise if its a diagnosis needed he gets me to call GP or he does....
Arti sorry to hear about Mastitis again... can it be more likely if stressed? Since you've had all that stress over the houses etc? i have no clue about ut - just a thought. Right must post this before I cross post too many!

oh JJ also what does dd sleep in? ds will only sleep swaddled still - otherwise arms flapping and gets into a real sweat - must admit i dont swaddle at tight as I once did, but if i don't wrap him in something - forget it, and once I do - instant calm