Dec 08 mums - embuggerance to it all - sleep or no sleep we love our babes

[waitinggirl]

i hope people don't mind, i took the bull by the horns and did it. title a bit naff, but more important the thread exists rather than search for a better title. hope i haven't stolen anyone's thunder...

OMG JB where in the Midlands???? We could have a midlands meet up, sorry have only read up to JB's post will go back and read more, and sorry about the cake cravings >>veggie sneaks into the kitchen for more choccy bikkies

Morning all!

Been ages even for me. Had visitors here, then went off visiting myself, then went camping in the Lakes (which was delightful despite being with a baby and a recently toilet trained toddler with diarrhoea), so not been online much for a while. It's taken me a couple of days to catch up on everyone's posts but as usual there is far too much to reply to so here are a few random musings.

Blimey, what a lot of new posters! Welcome to staines, Spiggy, row and dysgu and welcome back to Invisible (hope I haven't missed anyone). Always good to have new people keeping the thread fresh especially when some of the oldies like me are struggling to keep posting.

Sorry to hear of all those with the lurgy. Get well soon.

And all these babies crawling all over the thread! Not expecting any crawling action from DD any time soon but she is getting more scrumptious by the day. And more ginger, bizarrely!

Boo to all those nasty employers being a PITA and yay to Verso for telling them where to stick it. Hope you're going to show them your bum on the way out love.

spot don't get me started on blummin tongue tie! There is someone at Homerton who is looking into the whole tongue tie issue with a view to potentially setting up a clinic (found about it on Mumsnet here). It might be worth giving the Maternity Helpline a call to tell them about your experience (I think the midwife's name is Alison). As for toys, boring I know but both DD and DS were/are quite into the keyring-style teethers (we have a few knocking around like this but with a bit more going on) and they will play with them for ages. DS played with them well beyond this age. We are a bit slow on the uptake with DD but DS was quite into knocking down stacking cups and retrieving his dummy from the top of a stack at this age.

katie how exciting! All this talk of third babies ... funnily enough, DP and I had our first proper (and inconclusive) talk about a third the other day on the way back from hols. I said we'd better wait till my periods started to discuss it properly as I'd probably go beserk with broodiness when that happened. When we got home we took DD out of the moses basket and into the cot (yes she is that small) and I felt really sad that we might not use it again (like you Veggie, I hate the thought that DD might be the last baby I breastfeed etc). Anyway, about an hour later my period started! Think my body is telling me something? Must admit it has crossed my mind that were I to get pg this month I'd only have to go back to work for 3 months or so (which I've got to do anyway) before going on mat leave again (workshy? moi?). So tempting and yet so insane...

trace I've got a good feeling about the SN position - sounds so right for you. Are still unsure about how to go about the presentation? If it were me I would have both types prepared (depending on how much more time it would take to prepare the second one, but presumably you have to research the facts and figures stuff in any case) then make sure you ask the panel which one they want. Would show them that you are flexible, you are comfortable communicating with a variety of audiences, willing to go the extra mile etc etc.

LadyT hope you're having a fab time in Italy if you're reading. So jealous of all that gorgeous food. My Marmite on toast seems so drab now ... speaking of which zj you can get reduced salt Marmite from Holland & Barrett. It's called Natrex I think.

wg sorry to hear about your FIL - hope they've got it early. My brother has the same thing and is just coming to the end of his second lot of chemo - fingers crossed that will be the end of it.

Veggie what a result for your DH. Can I just say what a pleasure it is to read how you write about your family. You always sound so full of admiration for your DH - I could definitely learn a thing or two from you on that score.

Anyway that's all I've got time for for the mo - have been invited round to a local mum's house this aft, the thought of which is making me come over all antisocial .

I fancy a London meet-up. Anyone up for it say in August? And what happened to the Cambridge meet-up?

Oh daisy that is so sad about your friend's baby.

Oh and it's DP's birthday tomorrow and I haven't got him anything, nor will I be able to go shopping before then. Oh dear. Any ideas?

Morning all,

I have a napping baby , so am just catching up.

Thanks for your post lal, it was really useful. I agree wholeheartedly on your comment about all the sickness being worth it when you saw DD. You had such an awful time though. I was only hospitalised once but I think my longing for another DC may be making my brain skip over just how awful it was. Particularly such details as never being able to go out without some plastic bags with kitchen roll in the bottom in case of accidents. My friend was recalling the other day how one minute we were chatting in the car and the next... well. I'm sure you can all imagine.

katie Can't wait to hear if you are the first one back on the horse so to speak!

daisy Your poor friend. She'll get very good care though as they have some of the best specialists for children's heart problems there.

zoe DD only gets a tiny smear of marmite on her toast but I might get some low salt stuff - thanks PD. Your DD will soon get the hang of how much pressure she needs to hold the food but not have it slip away. Breadsticks are good too, v easy to hold.

spot DD's favourite toy is her monkey, he is a jellycat one. I did see a fantastic toy at John Lewis which is meant to encourage crawling. It is a dog that when you touch it he moves away, stops and barks. I was tempted until I realised that we have two cats which fulfil a similar function.

veggie The job is in Telford, Shropshire so not too far from you I suppose. It is a permanent job whereas what DH is doing now is on a contract. spot I think I am concerned at all the faff and bother that goes along with moving house too! Especially as I'd end up making all the arrangements. Last time we moved DH had one room to pack up (a tiny study) and was stuffing things in plastic bags as the removal men were clearing the place.

Best use this time to do a bit of cleaning I suppose!

PD Just order something online today and say you expected it to arrive in time . I've done that before .

Good idea JB but what? Have about 20 minutes until he's back with the kids. Do you think I can still get away with DD as his birthday present (bearing in mind that she was his birthday present last year, not to mention his Christmas present)?

Sometimes I long for the days when I had a boyfriend I didn't live with and could still use the old "must have got lost in the post" line...

And in the time it took me to write that I could have been searching online for a pressie. Hopeless.

Oh shit. Have just ordered LadyT's late DH's book. Even though DP doesn't like cricket. Or reading. Then DP walked in as I had my credit card out paying for it (so bang goes your cunning plan JB) and got all excited and demanded to know what it was. Hadn't the heart to tell him that it was a book I bought just cos I wanted it, so now he'll think it's something he really wants.

Must. Do. Better.

daisy - that's so sad about your friends' baby. I will pray for them
PD - what a dilemma! You'll need to order something exciting now in the time it takes him to go to the loo! What's he in to?
spot nice to see you again (in my mind's eye!). I am a little to say that P's fave toy is this toothbrush We discovered it by accident when she grabbed Lucy's one, and loved it so much that I bought one just for her and she LOVES it! It's a rubbery handle so really easy to hold, great for teething on as it squeaks when she gums it, and she likes sucking the bristles too! Apart from that she still enjoys rattles and bells but likes to eat books too. Basically for her it's all about the teething potential of the toy! My flip flop is among her faves!
lal your pregnancy sounds awful Poor you to go through all that and dd's meningitis too. You are amazing. Thanks for asking about Lucy's asthma - she's been quite poorly last week so we upped her steroid inhaler and she got 5 days oral steroid too and she seems much better this week.
I've got a big fat headache It started Tuesday evening and hasn't gone yet. I just want to close my eyes - not that practical really . I keep seeing stars lately too - very odd - last time that happened I had pre-eclampsia! Unless I'm rather pregnant without knowing it I think there must be a different cause this time! It could be lack of chocolate as I haven't had any for days
Well since I wrote on Tuesday that P has been sleeping till 11 and only waking twice in the night for feeds...it's all changed! Last night I'd fed her twice before 10pm! I just can't settle her without the boobs. But then she slept till 1.30. And the water intake has not been so good either, from Tuesday's whopping 1 oz to yesterdays slight accidental dribble...oh well. She has 6 weeks until i go back to work to master drinking without me and sleeping at night
ZJ with finger foods P has toast, rice cake (tends to just get very sticky and stick to her clothes rather then her consuming it!), cucumber, babycorn, strawberry (usually in my hand and her face-diving it in a feeding-a-goat-out-of-your-hand kind of stylee!), banana (doesn't seem to like the taste though), apple, potato smiley face , garlic bread, a quaver , a Skip , and many a breadstick! After you mentioned the orange meal the other day I thought I'd give lentils a try. I never cooked a lentil in my life before so I very carefully followed the instructions on the packet, rinsed them first, boiled them rapidly for 10 minutes, put a lid on, let it simmer for 30 minutes...then dh came into the lounge 30 minutes after that with a smelly, smoking pan that had boiled dry with a load of frazzled lentils. Must remember when I have put things on the hob and not get too involved in playing in the lounge! I did the same last week and managed to burn a hole in the pan by letting an egg boil dry
Right. Squeaks from the bedroom - why does nap time end so soon...

oh and Tilly - SN = school nurse

well I guess my asda link doesn't work. Ho hum. It's just a kids toothbrush with a bumpy rubbery handle!

daisy - sorry to hear about your friend's baby - wishing them all the best

a couple of questions:
for those of you with more than two - if you were a stay at home mum for the first, do you get any maternity allowance for your pregnancy with the second? if you are self-employed, did you return to work, paying your NIC contributions and then get MA after that - is there an amount of time you need to do that before you get your second round of MA?

anyone else find it easier to feed their babe sitting on their lap? tried to feed madam today in her bumbo and it was so much harder to get the spoon in her mouth. but on my lap i can practically pin her arms down and it is much much easier - am i fascistic mother?

anyone else not lost any weight since their babe was 2 weeks old? i am exactly the same weight as i was when she was 2 weeks - admittedly, i did lose 2 stone in 2 weeks, and i don't look obese or unusually large, but i thought what with bfing i was going to lose lots of weight. i would ideally like to be a bit more than a stone lighter - and i know that is going to take a lot of exercise and eating better (developed a sweet tooth since having madam), but just thought i'd ask if i'm the only one.

there. those are my questions for the afternoon.

oh, and pd am also racking my brains for presents for dh. he is, though, a cricket nut so have bought him a limited edition pot of marmite which looks like a cricket ball to celebrate the ashes. you might like to think of andrew clover's book "dad rules" - based on his columns at the end of the sunday times style magazine - he actually went to prep school with my dh and they know each other very vaguely in real life, but i bumped into him the other day, and he is such a love and writes so wonderfully about children and being a dad etc. none of this will arrive by tomorrow, i know, but won't be long. am also thinking of getting madam's hand and feet imprinted in clay and framed for the inlaws.

any other good presents for grandparents/dads? i can't possibly keep giving them framed photos of madam. although am thinking of getting those personalised calendars made for christmas.

daisydora - so sorry for your friend, that's heartbreaking.

traceface - that's a great toy tip! DS loves anything he can chew, I'm pretty sure he'd be up for that. TBH, we've got all sorts of toys in the house, but neither DD nor DS are that into them at the moment. The thing DD loved most when she was around nine months onwards was this one www.amazon.co.uk/Galt-A0138L-Classic-Pop-Up-Toy/dp/B00005OB9H. At one point she loved it so much, she insisted on going to sleep with the little stick men...

WG - haven't weighed lately, but I'm pretty sure I haven't lost much. You do lose a bit after you stop breastfeeding

As far as feeding goes, DS seems to quite like his high chair. Sitting him opposite DD helps as he opens wide to giggle!

All finally much better in our household - phew...

we are all sicknotes here so have not read much but hope you are all well and happy! Will try to dive in properly later on

Love to all xxx

WG exactly the same here.... Every day I start off with feeding in the bumbo, and he is looking every way including at the ceiling and leaning right forward, I get so frustrated and end up pinning him down in the corner of the couch! Not exactly sitting up straight either - can't be good! His latest is he will only have fruit pureed or yoghurt, and if it's anything other than that he takes a big mouthful and then does a big raspberry and totally sprays me with it.... I am currently covered in chicken, parsnip and apple puree.... everything is just oo interesteing, and everything is really funny at the moment too, but i'm not laughing....

Very annoyed, Estate agent asked me twice to relelase tenants deposit and I stupidly assumed he had seen the inventory report. Turned out it wasn't even finished!! I am livid, but nothing I can do. Apparently deep scratches in our Oak floors on a brighter note, that house I want hasn't been lost yet... the landlord wants to know the terms of lease etc we want.... possible light at the end, but only a flicker....

Afternoon. JB is about an hour away so could def meet up every now and then if you moved there. I guess you both need to look at lifestyle work and money. I imagine contracting is better money but none of the be benefits of working for a large organisation. Also he works from home which means he is around more which is nice. Would he be possibly working long hours in new job. How far from family would Telford be?

We have all sorts of toys with varying promises of developmental importance. However, DS2 goes straight for paper and tissues everytime. He ate 3 pages of my 'Baby om' yoga book once.

WG I have managed to lose 6kg but most of that was in the last 2 months, with the exception of the last 2 days, I have been quite tough on myself with cakes and other calorie rich stuff (except chocolate). But also have been training a couple times a week for this triathlon.

We have been making pretzels this afternoon, there is a pretzel place in the plaza which sells a pretzel making mix. I thought it was a bit of an add water throw in the oven and hey presto pretzels, but turns out it's a little more involved. I'm shattered now, and we only made three so far. I think I'm gonna put the dough aside and make the rest when the kids go to bed.

Invisible we had that toy from the toy library & DS loved it.

wg I didn't lose any weight immediately like you but have been steadily losing 2 lb a month which means that I'm a stone lighter than when I came out of hospital. Still quite a way to go before I reach a comfortable weight though. It's very weird - I feel as if I am normal weight, because I'm so used to being pg/carrying babies etc that when I'm not I feel as light as a feather. I find it really hard to gauge what I look like in the mirror, especially since my body shape is so alien. Sometimes I even look in the mirror and convince myself I look vaguely humanoid. But photos tell a different story - not to mention the scales! I've also developed a much sweeter tooth since having the DCs - was never that bothered before. As for bf being good for weight loss well all I can say to that is HA! I think as Invisible says a lot people tend to hang on to the last bit until they stop breastfeeding (never found out myself as I was still bf and not back to my pre-pregnancy weight when I got pregnant with DD). The good news for me was that even though I didn't lose all the flab post DS I was still the same weight when I gave birth both times - so it isn't necessarily the case that you will get bigger with subsequent pgs if you don't shift all the weight in between.

On the feeding thing, I've read in the context of cleaning teeth that some children take more kindly to having it done on your lap than if you are facing them as their space feels less invaded - it's certainly the case with DS and his teeth anyway.

oh and WG I lost about 10kg within the first month then only about 2 more for the following 4 months, but the rest when i stopped BF - it was weird!

Forgot to add WG I still have 4kg lose before I'm officially not overweight. Bit miffed about that really, I have a triathlon in 2 months time and don't want to look fat in my tri suit!!!!

Haven't caught up properly I'm afraid, but:
Spot DD and DS both love/ loved this, very annoying music but quite educational, DD also loves paper, wooden spoons and keys.
WG, I got DH some of these cufflinks for his birthday and myself 2 charms for a necklace/ bracelet. A bit different than the usual hand/ footprints/ photos etc.

Hello again everyone.

Sorry - I jumped on board and then havn't been around. TBH I have been finding things tough recenty but am hoping that things have oved past the crisis stage and will continue to improve.

I am happy (?) to read that other people are still concerned wrt weight. After DD1 I had no problem getting bac into my size 10 clothes - although she was born at 32 weeks and so the stress and not being very big may have helped.

This timeround - even though DD2 was only 5 weeks early and had none of the health issues and stuff that DD1 had - it has been tougher all round and I am still size 14. Have no idea of weight - just bigger than I have ever been.

As for feeding DD2 - we generally are BLWing although she does like a loaded spoon. Breakfast - weetabix or porridge - is often eaten on our bed each morning! I just prop her up on her V cushion. Lunch is often eaten in the living room where she either sits in her BUmbo or on my lap. Dinner is at the table where she sits in her high chair and eats directly off a placemat on the table.

Will aim tobe around more often.

poison an August meetup would be get my thumbs up as I will be between jobs for about three weeks in August! (lol@bum showing...) Do you remember all the palaver just before my maternity leave? Well, I'm not going to go into details but I have recently hired a lawyer...

sybil wishing you and your family getting better asap! >passes the Vicks and paracetamol<

All this talk about weight loss! I'm a lot lighter than I was when I conceived DD2, but still MUCH heavier than when I conceived DD1. Sometimes it bothers me, but then other times I feel I should just accept middle age with good grace (and cake) .