December 2008 Coven - white light and basket cases

[EffiePerine]

Seeing as LadyT broke the thread...

Gaooooaaaaahhhhhhh......coffee.

Happy Birthday Kayz!

DS2 up at 8.30, 10.30, 12. 1.45, 2.20, 430 and up for the day at 6.00. He is not even hungry half the time I feel there might be a bit of (look away if you are sensitive to the subject) but controlled crying about to begin in the Jam house.

So its to be another sunny Essex day here have got my legs out in some long shorts they are milk bottle white though shall I put them away until the fake tan has been out or be loud and proud of my beautiful pale Scottish skin?

Ok just had a second look not so much white but corned beef.

Morning all. kayz I have a hat refusnik too - but this year Gap have a cowboy-style sun hat with a tie under the chin that DS is very fond of (in fact tried to wear to bed on the day we got it). Has stayed on so far.

Am joining veggie for pint of coffee.

V good idea re: picnic - and V. I can't log onto my email at the moment but will try and send something later today.

Morning all, happy birthday Kayz. Oh and happy St Georges day, or is it merry? Lots of flags out here in the Costa del Derbyshire!

Kayz I find it hilarious that your DS is clearly thriving on his milk but your MIL thinks he needs food which has less bulk and calories. Oh and Daisy next time he bites down get you pinky inbetween his gums and kind of wiggly it to open his jaw and take him off the boob then put him back on and repeat if he does it again he'll soon get the idea, and same goes for your DH re weaning there is nothing your DS can have that has more calories than BM and he has no idea that one day chewing will be for eating food for now it just makes his teeth feel better.

Syb you always make me giggle, DH is same age as you (and I'm not that far behind).

PMK 'which bank?' hey and where did you get your large muslins from? I always get them from home can you get them over here. I have loads of colourful ones and they are great as light weight picnic blankets as you can keep them in the pushchair basket for impromptu picnics.

Aaahhhh so tired today my double shot coffee is helping, I dropped DS1 to nursery then took 2 tries to reverse park the car out side our house but still ended up with one wheel on the footpath. The neighbours cars aren't that close together and I used to successfully reverse park about 20 times a day into tiny spots in North London. Also as o pulled out to try a 2nd time I didn't check see a car coming and luckily he stopped just in time also luckily this is the Midlands and the nice driver just gave me a smile and a wave rather than abusing me.

happy birthday Kayz! Enjoy . Hope DH gets on well on his first day too.
lal - loved the men at work!!! Think I'm going to have that tune in my head all day today
We've had a bit of a hectic morning. I had a headache last night which is still here this morning so I feel like I've not been to sleep - although P was fab and woke at 11 and 3 again - so Lu and I were winding each other up this morning. SHe was getting all cross and emotional and I was so distracted when getting out of the car for school that I left her book bag in the car, so then she had a melt down in the playground about that. The fact that I could be back to the car and could drop her bookbag off within about 3 minutes didn't seem to reassure her. The other mums were looking at us saying "what's wrong with Lucy today? She's normally so happy" then looking at me saying "you look tired today". ggrrrrr. I actually cried in the car coming back home but am feeling much better after a spot of Men at Work and a chocolate PopTart
I've come up with an idea... I've been wondering if I could give P those Biccipegs to chomp on but didn't want to because bits come off that they eat and obviously she's not old enough for that. Lucy was weaned before she teethed so it wasn't an issue. ANyway I'm going to try to make some kind of breast milk ice-pop thing, so she can chomp on it but it's just milk! Asda sell a kind of dummy handle with net attached so I could put a chunk of frozen EBM in it and she could suck/chomp to her hearts content! Might not work but I'm going to try. Am I bonkers?

Off to take P swimming this aft which sadly involves me putting a swimming costume on myself. Not good.

Have made my GP appointment for hip/sex. Yikes. Have gp till next friday to pluck up the courage to ask her.

oh and Veggie - CPN is Community Psychiatric Nurse.

Oh and Kayz like Lal ds1 hated hats I think it doesn't help if they have lots of hair but now he can choose them he loves them. That cowboy one sounds great!

Morning my dears!

Just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you Kayz, you lucky lucky girl, a mere 23! You and Indith are our other babies Hope you have a really great day and that the sun continues to shine. Good luck to your DH for his first day at work.

I want to do a catch up but I have to take DD to the HV to be weighed (at DP's insistence, he is fretting about it. I think she is small but ok). All the strange unfriendly rural mothers will be there, giving me the once over in the waiting room as usual. Must remember to put extra lipgloss on

Oh bugger, DD has just filled her nappy so I definitely have to go...more later

Morning my dears!

Just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you Kayz, you lucky lucky girl, a mere 23! You and Indith are our other babies Hope you have a really great day and that the sun continues to shine. Good luck to your DH for his first day at work.

I want to do a catch up but I have to take DD to the HV to be weighed (at DP's insistence, he is fretting about it. I think she is small but ok). All the strange unfriendly rural mothers will be there, giving me the once over in the waiting room as usual. Must remember to put extra lipgloss on

Oh bugger, DD has just filled her nappy so I definitely have to go...more later

Don't know why that posted twice. I think I should be grateful for a mere TWICE, though...

happy birthday, kayz, you spring chicken!

good luck at the hv, ladyt - you show em!

can i ask... is anyone else's baby doing some crazy movements which look like she is trying to break her neck? the other night our smoke alarm went off (boiled dry some cauliflower) and we dashed upstairs to see if madam was woken by it. apparently not, but the position she had got herself in the moses basket made us really worry. she is still swaddled, and had arched her back massively and turned her head all the way to her right and upwards, as if to try and eat the sheet behind her head. it actually looked like she had broken her neck. she was fine - tried to put her back in a normal position and she then woke up. she has done this position a few times - both during sleep and while awake. sometimes i think it might be the beginning of trying to turn over - and obviously if she is doing it to herself it can't hurt her... can it? should we be worried? is this a sign to stop swaddling her? any ideas?

Morning all,
a very happy birthday to the young and fabulous Kayz

E fast asleep and has been for an hour. Amazing. Am a little bored! Just got my non-maternity clothes down from the loft and put my big maternity clothes up there. Hurray for losing weight.

However, I have realised that my wardrobe is shite! I think I deserve to go shopping. Also only a few things that sat on my hips before fit my bottom half, but there are a few tops and bits of biking gear that I can wear now.

Had a good giggle at LadyT's hair swishing at the HV's. Haha, you never know you may meet someone nice this time.

wg sorry can't help on the positioning of madam, but boiled dry cauliflower....mmmm! . Actually the position you talk about I think ihave seen E do but never fallen asleep like it!

Oh the washing machine...we fixed it....breast pad clogged it up again....I'm in trouble. Dunno how they get to where they do but will have to wash them in those little bags from now on.

I need to get E a hat too. Oh in case anyone is interested - 30% off at Gap here
Not a massive fan of their adult clothes but may go get E some summer attire.

Veggie very impressed by your DS2's commando rolls. DS has rolled from front to back but this was definitely by accident as he was craning his neck round to see what DH was doing - he's such a nosey little monkey . I have to confess I'm much more relaxed about sterilising things this time round. I was a bit of an anti-germ freak with DD.

Daisy sorry your smear was unsuccessful. Poor you having to go through it again. Good luck at the doctors.

Glad to hear you're feeling a little better PMK.

Kimberley/MOM What's this about playtex bottles. I'm afraid I missed when they were first mentioned. DS is still refusing a bottle so I'm very interested in anything that might help. I've tried the breastflow and Tommee Tippee closer to nature so far.

Trace Glad to hear about P feeding 4 hourly. I hope your headache shifts soon.

Thanks for the birthday good wishes. ZJ It's not officially until 2 May but we celebrated early as both my sisters were down for Easter.

Lal hooray for DH's new job.

Summer you definitely deserve to go shopping . Thanks for the 30% off Gap thingy. I love their children's clothes.

LadyT Good luck at the weigh in.

I took DS to be weighed yesterday. Since he was born he has fallen from 98th to 75th centile. The HV made the predictable mutterings about weaning soon but I'm not keen to rush into solids as we have a lot of eczema in the family. I checked his weight on the breastfed baby growth charts but that didn't seem to make much difference. He seems healthy and happy but he has been waking for a feed more often at night. I know I shouldn't let HVs upset me but seeing his weight gain slacken off is worrying me. I have to confess that I'm concerned that it's connected to me trying to lose weight. I haven't been going crazy and have eaten properly at mealtimes; I have just cut out the cakes and chocolate. Somebody either slap me or tell me I'm starving my boy.

Off now to pick up DD and have a pub lunch in the sunshine.

Nolda I have read that it shouldn't matter re dieting unless you are starving yourself. I haven't noticed any difference and I have been dieting, but I think arti? said she thought she did. Personally, if he seems happy I wouldn't worry.

Blimey, a whole week to catch up on.

Jam so sorry to hear about your sister. The odds are still in her favour at this stage though - fingers crossed the news is as good as can be hoped for.

kayz happy birthday! Hope you have a great day. On relactation, if you were to go for it it would realistically take quite a while to get DS off formula, if that is what you were aiming for. For example, it took me 6 weeks to get from 400-500ml/day to exclusively bf, and that was with a lot of time and effort (which I wouldn't be able to devote to it now with 2 DCs). So in all probability, assuming that you will be offering solids from 6 months, there will always be something for your DH to do feeding-wise. Have you considered aiming for just one or two bfs a day? It might be both more achievable and more palatable for your DH.

Welcome to Chopsie and njan. njan I agree that the stuff about kids making you unhappy is a load of old cobblers. I frequently find myself marvelling at how happy I am these days - not something I've always been given to doing.

arti your mastitis is becoming a real nuisance to say the least, isn't it? Have you seen a professional about it? Btw I went to see an infant feeding specialist when DD was a few days old and there was a woman there who had the same problem, but with abscesses as well. She had given up feeding on the troublesome side and her LO (who was about 4 or 5 months old IIRC) was fully bf from one side only. Might be worth thinking about.

Sybil thanks for the update on V. Hope she is doing okay at the moment.

lal great news about DH's job. DP has been on extended paternity leave as well, which has been brilliant, but he will have to brave the job market too sooner or later (although we will be putting it off until after the summer at least) - I am a bit worried about how we'll all cope too. Good to hear it doesn't have to be damaging to job prospects though.

trace great to hear you're feeling chipper. Long may it continue. Love the idea of the ice pops.

jj my linea negra has gone (I'm sure it hung around for longer with DS though) but the inside of my belly button is still black. Only noticed the other day & did a double take.

Effie hope the move has gone well and you are busy reccying - see you there soon.

zj we have the Humax box - freeview so no subscriptions or anything. It's brilliant. One of the more expensive makes on the market but I think it's one of those things worth paying a bit more for (if you watch as much telly as we do anyway).

Speaking of telly, hope this is not too much of a spoiler (best stop reading if you haven't seen it yet anyway) but is anyone else getting a bit fed up with the predictability of the Apprentice at the moment? I mean in terms of it always being the one who is least likely to provide conflict/good telly who goes, no matter what went on in the task or the boardroom? I know it's always been like this to some extent but is it getting worse? And should I really be getting a life??

Must remember to take DD for her jabs this afternoon. Was busy on Mumsnet last Thursday pm and totally forgot.

Sorry I've missed loads of people - will try & post later but got to get a shift on.

Bum I over boiled my soft boiled egg. Have not read all the post yet just came on to share my pain.

Smear attempt no.2 unsuccessful. Now referred to Gynae...I knew this would happen.

nolda I've not really noticed any difference in DS weight while I've been at WW, although I haven't actually had him weighed in months I think I too read that it shouldn't affect milk supply if your not doing anything radical.

trace I love your EBM ice/teether plan Brilliant!

summer get yourself to the shops love and treat yourself.

Have only read up to Nolda's post and have to get on as going to park but wanted to say Nolda my DS1 did exactly the same around this time and I had the HVs muttering so I downloaded the BF off the Internet and guess what? He was tracking beautifully on their charts. Finally the UK is going to start using them they are being launched next month Hooray!!!! Your bub is doing fine you are providing all he needs beautifully. Speaking of weaning ds2 did managed to get some of the grass down his cake hole yesterday I just found it in almost the same condition as it was when it went in so that has to be proof that now is too early to wean if they can't digest what 'solids' go in.

Oh and Katie was it you that lived in Australia til you were 3? Have you ever been back? Where else did you live growing up?

Oh and sorry about smear Daisy.

And Lady I would believe your instincts re: DDs weight, you know her better than that fuddy duddy HV so if you think she is fine all round (you said development etc is all good) just go to humour DP, then lie to him if the HV says otherwise.

Right, back from the HV. The Judi Dench officious one was unexpectedly off for the day so I had a locum one who was just bland, and yes, there was a notable absence of glowering, oo-ah mums and their feral, bigfaced children, just three or four very pleasant ones, a couple of whom chatted to me! So all good. DD is 6.4kg, which is more than I thought last week, so still on 25th centile, as she has broadly been since she was born. HV says she is fine, as I thought, so that's good. Nolda, don't let the HV spook you. As long as you are not silly dieting, can't see why there would be a prob...

PD - I agree about the Apprentice although the one that went last night was clearly a nohoper. One of my mates used to do an excellent Apprentice bit on his blog but he has canned it this year for the very reason that he thinks it is all too predictable/manufactured...

PMK - I am only walking about 3 miles but I am hoping to up it. Too busy at the moment though! Oh, and tell your DH he can learn to ride in Hyde Park - there is a stables near there and they do lessons, for adults too. There's nowhere else in central London. I learned to ride as a child on a pony named Prince - whoever named him had a very highly developed sense of irony as he was the most ill tempered, fartiest, squattest, mad-from-the-motorway-fumes steed you could every imagine. I do ride all the time in Cuba and I am still mulling over buying a horse out there (long story) but I have really lost my nerve with riding generally. Anyway, I can see you as a showjumper!

Lal -shallow to worry about your lovehandles? Never! Mind you, I am as shallow as a bowl of soup about these things, so not the best person to judge. Hey, great about your DH's job! I did laugh at Men at Work but the tune is now stuck, bubblegumlike, to the roof of my empty mind. I have read the budget summary and like you sense an undertone of doom.

Jolly - Wasn't the housekeeper in Peter's Friends Phyllida Law, ie Emma Thompson's mum? SF certainly believes in jobs for the boys. And I believe Tony Slattery has had a LOT of problems with alcohol, hence his, er, changed appearance.

SL - buy clothes! Buy clothes! What are you going to get?

DaisyD - so glad your nan is on the mend. And what a bummer about the smears!

Jump - re: squawking - DD's latest has been to shriek with happiness, repeatedly, then look around with a smile, expecting applause and fawning approval. I know she is testing her voice but it wasn't only her voice she was testing at half six this morn.

Gosh, ZJ, I didn't know you could get abnormal smear results from being tense. I really must book one. I am not sure how often you are supposed to have them but I think it's probably been 2-3 years, which is too long I reckon.

Trace, how's your head?

WG - I think they have rubber necks at this stage

Veggie, you are a great girl and I am sorry about your egg, but I would rather eat my own eyes than eat a soft boiled one and they compuhLETELY freak me out....

afternoon all, another utter shocker here in the jj household, she woke up when we came to bed at 11.30, had a feed, wouldn't go back to sleep, dh brought her downstairs so I could get some sleep but by 1.30 she was yelling, so back on the boob, but kicking and pinching and failing to sleep for more than a few moments at a time (if I tried to take the nipple out of her mouth, no matter how asleep she seemed, she woke up and got cross). Come 5.30 I took her out in the pushchair for a walk as that often works in the daytime but it was starting to get light Managed to get her off in the sling for a couple of hours, then the fecking builders started up sledgehammering bits of wall down next door and when I stropped round there asking how long the job was going to take and how much longer there'd be drilling and hammering etc etc, they had no idea?!

Very very fortunately dh has the day off work (I was meant to be getting a haircut not any more) and he had her in the sling again for an hour or so so I could get a dash of kip, she wasn't having any of it though. Have just managed to get her to sleep for an hour and 20 by feeding her and not taking her off the nipple at all. But she's still competely confused about what time of day it is and I have no idea about how to get her back on track - the feeding her to sleep which used to work can't be relied on any more, and while yes she is often sweet and lovely in the day, we really need her to sleep at night. Off to the sleep/BF threads for some advice...

meanwhile, happy birthday Kayz, and will catch up with everyone else later.

Briefly - happy Birthday Kayz !
Nolda - please dont worry about weight, both my boys (BF) started on 98th and then ended up on the 50th. I must have the (only) decent HV there is, as she told me this was normal and not to wean early as a result

JJ - sorry you are having a crap time of it. Hope you manage to get some sleep this evening...

Thanks everyone for the reassurance, I really appreciate it.

Sorry you're having such a difficult time JJ. I wish I knew what to suggest. I hope you have some luck with the sleep/BF threads and I'm wishing you a better night tonight. Maybe the builders tools will mysteriously disappear .

Sorry, I don't get chance to come on here often, Indith, I live not a million miles from Middlesbrough...where are you? Will come back once I've bathed and fed ds before bed. A mother's work is never done

Durham Chopsie

notjusta I have a decent HV too who is unfazed by babies drifting down the centiles until they find their natural line. Birth weight often has nothing to do with where they end up on the charts and in most cases there is nothing wrong with drifting down before settling so long as they don't lose weight. Nobody complains if they shoot up the charts to find a line do they?

Shall also attempt a proper catch up once screaming infants children are in bed.