April 2009 - Chapter 1: We're not pregnant, just fat!

[PuzzleRocks]

We made it!

The fab April ladies and their blessed progeny...

12 Feb: Skiingone: MARIANNA 4lb 4oz
20 Feb: Glaskham: RUBY MARIE 4lb 3oz
04 Mar: Barbarella: ESTELLA, ROSANNA, OTIS
05 Mar: Kazkiss: ISABELLE FLORENCE 4lb 6oz & OLIVER THOMAS 3lb 7oz
15 Mar: Babypringle: OSCAR WILLIAM 7lb 2oz
28 Mar: Claireykitten: VIOLET ROSE 7lb 9oz
29 Mar: WhatFreshHell: FELIX DEVLIN ALEXANDER 10lb 5.5oz
31 Mar: Mumblemum: ORSON XERXES
02 Apr: Oddeyes: ELEANOR 9lb 8oz
03 Apr: Bleuravin: MEGAN LILLIAN CONSTANCE
03 Apr: Bumpalump: JACOB 8lb
04 Apr: BabyBolat: KARAHAN 6lb 5oz
05 Apr: Mrsfossil: ISLA LILIAN 7lb 10oz
06 Apr: BoffinMum: FELIX DAVID GORDON 7lb 9oz
11 Apr: SpringySunshine: GEORGE NATHAN 8lb 15oz
11 Apr: RachelinScotland: CLEMENT JAMES 8lb 14oz
11 Apr: Lou031205: ISLA SOPHIA 7lb 9oz
11 Apr: Electra: ISABELLA CAROLINE 6lb 3oz
11 Apr: AuldAlliance: ALEXANDRE 7lb 6oz
12 Apr: Phdlife: Name TBA GIRL 9lb 3oz
12 Apr: BethDivine: Name TBA GIRL 9lb 9oz
13 Apr: MathsMummy27: AMELIA CHARLOTTE
14 Apr: Purlease: ADAM 9lb 2oz
15 Apr: Juwesm: HUGO GEORGE 9lb 2oz
15 Apr: Bronze: ISAAC JOHN
15 Apr: HeidiT: HEIDI
15 Apr: Kalikaroo: Name TBA BOY 8lb
15 Apr: Minush: ZAFIRAH ROSA 7lb 12oz
15 Apr: FatandFedup: EMILIA ROSE 7lb 6oz
16 Apr: PuzzleRocks: HOLLY ELIZABETH 8lb
16 Apr: Brettgirl: HANNAH GRACE 6lb 15oz
16 Apr: ReallyTired: Name TBA GIRL
18 Apr: Staryeyed: Name TBA BOY 7lb 11oz
20 Apr: LuLuBai: SEBASTIAN 9lb
20 Apr: Swaliswan: BETH 7lb 9oz
21 Apr: Kittycatisgettingfat: GABRIELLA AUDREY BIANCA
21 Apr: B52s: SAM MARTIN 7lb 9oz
21 Apr: Schulte: HAZEL LOIS 7lb 9 oz
23 Apr: Tristaleejac: LEWIN 8lb 4oz
23 Apr: NuttyTaff: TIAHNA SKYE 8lb 8oz
23 Apr: Purplemonkeydishwasher: ISLA ELIZABETH 8lb 14oz
24 Apr: Soon2befamilyof4: TALIA 7lb 6oz
26 Apr: Carameli: THEO LAURENCE 7lb 6oz
26 Apr: Surprisenumber3: EVIE ANNE 8lb 2oz
26 Apr: Bicnod: OSCAR MATTHEW 8lb 1oz
27 Apr: Lauren61: OLIVER STEPHEN 7lb 7oz
27 Apr: Gingersarah: VERONICA ROISIN 9lb 1oz
30 Apr: MegBusset: ARCHIE 8lb 15oz
01 May: Satheresitting: Name TBA BOY
03 May: Conkertree: Name TBA BOY 8lbs 8oz
06 May: Frekkles: HARRIS MERLIN 8lb 5.5oz
07 May: TarteTatin: ALBERT JOHN
10 May: Ilovesummer: Name TBA BOY

Wow BoffinMum - that is fabulous. (Fancy sending those boys round here to keep an eye on Sebastian and the Duracell Bunny?)

Oh for Christ's sake

DD1's temperature stayed down all day then came up again in the evening just before bedtime. She used to go to bed without any trouble at all - put sleeping bag on, close door, leave her to it - but now, because she's been fussed over for the last 4 days and had me sleeping in her room for a couple of nights, things have now gone to sh!t and she won't settle. DD2 in the meantime, is crying downstairs and DH can't seem to calm her down. And I need something to eat but must stay up here until DD1 has gone to sleep so I can take her temperature again. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. How long can this illness go on for? I am running out of steam!

Question to all of you. At what age should a baby start going to bed at a reasonable time (say, 7pm) rather than staying up until 10pm? And, how do I get her used to going to bed earlier? I know with DD1 we did it at 8 weeks old by controlled crying but it wasn't fun for anyone. So would like a different approach this time. Any ideas?

Oh Schulte - I hope she gets better soon. I am no expert on getting babies to sleep. If it is any consolation at all DD is still on the rampage, wreaking havoc and destruction as I type and I am about to try and get her into bed now. Her latest ruse to delay bedtime is claiming she needs a pee.

Sebastian on the other hand is fast asleep already but I need to wake him up to put a fresh nappy on him and feed him again before putting him down for the night.

DD was never like that.

Can't you do a swap with your husband and let him settle DD1 while you feed DD2 and or get yourself something to eat?

Best of luck. xxx

It's a good question Schulte, and one I've been asking myself this evening! I put Orbit down successfully at 7pm, about which I felt very proud. Carried on giving DS1 his bath. Orbit woke up 15 minutes later, needed a burp, but was then wide awake and wouldn't go back down, so I put him in the bouncy chair in the bathroom.

Ten minutes later he wants a feed, so I feed him. Turns out he wanted a poo more than anything, so he does that. Then I have to get DS1 out of the bath, and then get him into jammies. Then we all go downstairs to wait for Daddy, I put Orbit on his playmat and go to find nappy change stuff. Change his nappy, by now he's completely overtired and overstimulated and screams until DP comes home, at which point I put him in the buggy and walk him round the block until he conks out (Orbit, not DP).

This is NOT what I would call a successful bedtime routine.

So in answer to your question Schulte, I'd like Orbit to go down at 7pm, but it seems that he hasn't finished pooing by then as he always seems to have his last poo of the day about 7.30/8pm. So I think he's going to have to carry on going to bed around 8.30 ish, assuming we can crack this overtired screaming thing - last night he was in such a state he didn't go down till 10pm.

Trouble is, to stop him being overtired he really needs a nap around the time of DS1's tea, which is well night impossible to achieve....

Sigh.

Boffin your DCs sound fantastic! Big gold stars all round to them

Schulte, I don't bother with routines all that much until 4-5 months. I count bedtime as being when I go to bed, although Felix does have a bath around the same time as the others at 7.30-8 ish, and we put his nightie on then as well. He then often has a little pre-sleep nap from about 8.30 and wakes up between about 10-11 for a last feed. Often at 6 or 7 the next morning he wakes up. However this is baby led and very random really, more than it sounds here. I have even driven to the next county in the past, in my attempt to get Felix to sleep!! Similarly one day he slept until 10am, only having the odd mini feed at 5/6/7am.

With the older ones I work out how much sleep they need and then count backwards from when I want them to wake up. I then try to be reasonably consistent about it. If they try to escape from the bedroom too often I am strict about holding the door handle and keeping them in there. After a day or two they work out what's expected and are quite OK about it.

Is that any help?

Morning -

Nutty tempting as it may be if u didn't have periods u wouldn't know if you had an new baby growing inside u! I'm now back on the pill but have to take pregnancy tests every 2 weeks until my periods come back which is not cheap!!!

Bedtime???? Already??? I'm not very good at this parenting thing k does what he wants usually a fed at 9 1am and 4 but last night for example he slept at 11.30 and didn't wake until 3.30 - am hopeful this means he will start sleeping through!

Oooh poor babyblackbird- naughty cats!!!

Lulu I have the funniest image of de everytime u mention her!!

Schultes ((hugs)) reallyhope dd1 gets better soon! Are the antibiotics helping?

Really BB? Is that standard procedure to have to take a test every 2 weeks?

I've opted to stick with condoms for the time being as don't want to add any more hormones to the mix right now. Think I've had plenty to last me a while and just want to let my body get back to normal. Of course the GP lectured me a bit about 'correct use' of condoms and reduced reliability blah blah.

Nutty - cats are horrors aren't they. Poor baby blackbird and poor, poor mummy blackbird.

My cat is still pissing everywhere. Makes me very glad that we opted to have no carpet anywhere, but he pisses on anything left on the floor. With a hectic toddler in the house stuff gets chucked on the floor all the time, so I become a nervous wreck chasing around the place clearing things up.

Last night was the night from hell - A fed every 1.5 to 2 hours from midnight until 6.30, whereby I gave up trying to get any sleep at all and got up to make coffee. He was also doing that annoying wiggling and groaning thing ALL BLOOMIN' NIGHT too ....Aaarrggghh!

Sorry for the whinge!!

Fancy a game of sleep poker?

Kali - I see your 2 hourly baby feeds and I raise you this: 1 bastard cat who yowled until I fed him at 2am and 1 cordless phone which started bleating that it's battery was low at 4am.

Off to chase the Duracell Bunny round the park now. Yawn.....

shattered here too. E fed all day yesterday - seriously! Thought I'd be in for a good night and she did sleep all night but she was sniffling and coughing all night, so I couldn't rest. Am so tired I could cry

Been to HV this morning - mine only came to my house once, is that the usual? Anyway, she is nearly 11 lb now! So that's almost 3lb in 5 weeks - and I have the saggy boobs to prove!!

Still not healed properly down there - am wondering if I ever will. It's the perineum area. It split almost all the way, second degree, but as I didn't have stitches I'm worried it won't heal. It is now healed apart from about the last 2 cm. I am far too scared to have sex incase it splits further Got my PN check next week so maybe I'll mention it then?

Kali and Lulu, I see your interrupted nights and raise you this: I first got into bed for the night at ten to SIX this morning. Oh no, tell a lie, I did have ten minutes at 3am, after I scared myself falling totally asleep holding E on the sofa. He stayed asleep when I practically dropped him from my chest to the sofa but woke up when gently eased into the moses basket, wouldn't latch on to feed in bed and then pooed so I had to get up and change him.

Oddly enough, I don't feel like sleeping now to catch up - just want to eat, but have decided I'm far too fat to be allowed any food ever again.

DS1 is at nursery this morning, praise be. Edmund has had a decent weight gain, finally - he's now 4.24kg (about 9lb 5 I think). Double praise be. DH coming home at lunchtime to "work from home" minding DS1 while I have my postnatal check. Triple praise be.

Nutty that is so sad about the blackbirds. Keep us posted if you have any bird-related news.

For anyone stressing about bedtimes, I am the world's worst ever slackest ever parent of a small baby. He has no set bedtime, no bath routine, no routine of any kind really. We did the same with DS1, finally introducing bath, massage and bed around four months I think. He was a total nightmare sleeper but is now much better so perhaps you shouldn't take my advice though!!

Hello hello

Sorry to hear about all the bad nights - for a change we didn't do too badly, although I did sleep on the camp bed again and woke every now and then to check on DD1. Must say, being in a different room from Hazel makes all the difference as I don't hear every snuffle. I am almost considering moving her to DD1's bedroom now rather than waiting until she's a few months old... has anyone else moved baby out of their bedroom yet?

Re bedtime 'routine', when I can be bothered I give Hazel a quick bath with a couple of drops of lavender oil in it, put her in her sleeping bag, feed her on my bed then put her in her cot. Her current bedtime is anything between 9pm and 11pm - she decides really. BUT I want my evenings back and I am fed up with having to eat my dinner with a crying baby hanging over my or DH's shoulder!

My gym has a creche that takes babies from 8 wks old - I did put DD1 in there on the very day she turned 8 wks... do we think this is too early I really really fancy a swim!

Hello all.
A lovely day here, almost 30° but a nice breeze. Went to the library this morning for DS1 to hear the monthly story-reading session, then to buy melon and bread, and home again.
Lunch of melon, ham, goat's cheese, peaches and apricots.
Things definitely seem less grim when it's summer.
Alex is lying on my knees dribbling on my trousers (today's triumph; I fit quite a few of my pre-PG breeks), which he has already spewed milk all over. He is very smiley, and is also starting to test a range of coos & squeaks.
MN, however, he liketh not... more later!

Schulte, I am tempted to come down and put Felix in that creche. He is 8 weeks + 2 days. I need peace!

Hello I'm back... remember me? I have fond memories of you all...

Sister and her 2.5yr old were visiting and we were very busy with site seeing and enjoying the lovely weather, but now she's gone and DH has started a new job too today so it's just me Meg and lots of time on my hands... (I've currently got my eyes closed to the messy house and the big pile of laundry and the stack of mail)
Walked to the store earlier and facebooked on the way Now I just don't know what to do so here I am...
oh, Neg's fussing, guess it's time for a feed.

Meg that is.. not Neg

Meg slept through the night last night... 8.00pm-6.00am nice from the sleep stand point, but the breasts were rock hard and I was swimming in milk when I woke. She had her jabs yesterday though so that's the only real reason. Though usually we manage a midnight to 5am or 6am because I stuff her (feeding every 2 hours from 6pm-midnight) at night. But she also tends to scream continuously throughout the evening unless she's on the breast... so there's a trade off there too...

Boffin your DSs were ever so kind letting you sleep ....I guess that's a reason to have more kids....

Hey bleu!!!!
Schultes yay for good sleep - I'd have k in that crèche before you could blink - even once a week will give u a break!!! My mum has kara for a day a week I'm always around if they need me but gives me a break and he adores being spoilt by them!
Nutty yay for bbb and friend!
Lulu enjoy the park x
Im officially crap at dieting has cadbury clusters for breakfast and chocolate bar for lunch grr - tom is a new day!!!!'

Bleu, you are still bf!! Halleluia, woman!! And DH has a new job!! Spill the beans!!