Sept 08: The End of an Amazing year

[Pacita]

Here we are: the thread that will see our LO's first birhtday...

Oh ninja I'm not angry about that!

I'm angry with the social worker who keeps coming around to do assessments, and everytime she submits a report I tell her that it is bollocks, so she comes around and does another assessment.

Latest is, she wants to meet with DH to tell him he is not doing enough to support me. She also wants to chair a meeting with us both so she can help us put in strategies for 'sorting out' problems that she perceives that we have that we don't even consider problems. This is all in aid of trying to avoid having to pay for us to have respite.

AND

The Autism service who are giving us 1 hour per week specialist support when the national guidelines recommend 15-20 hours.

AND

The Ed Psyh who has told me that she has spoken to 'someone' who has told her not to give me any information on homebased programmes but that she can't tell me who that someone is, nor can she give me written confirmation of the conversation, nor can she give me her email address so I can write to her because external incoming emails can bring viruses.

AND

The offering of a Special Needs support group 3 buses away and inaccessible for someone with no transport and 2 preschoolers, but that it is just tough because as it isn't an essential service.

AND

My LA don't offer parenting courses for those with autistic children because they can get all the support they need from above Special Needs support group which we can't access.

AND

The Monetary Advice Unit who screwed up our application for Disability Living allowance so that IF we ever get it it will be backdated from 3rd July instead of end of March.

AND

The Speech and Language department that put in an official report stating that we have received monthly 1:1 clinics since January, and when I challenged their lies told me that we got 1:1 clinics as soon as we reached the top of the list in July, but that it was only valid for that academic year, so there are no more.

AND I could go on and on and on.......

I could get paranoid and feel that it is only me, but sadly many on the SN boards are having a much worse time.

Well done Robyn on the crawling.

waspy you are quite justified, and not paranoid. But isn't it weird that they seem to want to go out of their way to make it difficult, as though that is actually their job description, rather than the opposite.

ILTMIMI I have just ordered the book. Thank you so much for giving me a prod on this one. I realise now that I know nothing! And me, a scientist.. And I have discussed it with DH. We agreed on the following: while we will feel sad to be serious about sex and have to do it certain ways at certain times, we will make up for this by having at least an equal amount of "play" time at other times of the month!!

waspy I knew about the legs in the air thing but have generally ignored it because it is not romantic and cuddly. But the above arrangement should get around that. Also maybe this is relevant for me (?) as I have been told I have a wonky tilted cervix. But don't worry ladies, no photos!! My god, I looked at that website. How did she even take the photos? I am definitely not showing that to DH - it will put him off entirely as it's hardly romantic, is it?

And what's this with everyone on the thread suddenly going on about ewmc or whatever it's called, as though you all knew about this all along and I am the only thicko here...

pony I am a scientist too (although a Physicist really so maybe that isn't relavent
here) and I have no idea about all that. I just had sex and hoped for the best!
The only thing I knew was that roughly in the middle of the time between 2 periods is the best time to get pg and as that's in the GCSE biology syllabus which I teach I really should know that!

angrywasp on your list of points the one which shocks me the most is the 1st one. I think it's shocking that they are daring to suggest that your dh is not supporting you enough when quite clearly they are not supporting you very much at all. And presumably they've got that from it being you doing most of the communication and meetings which is presumably because he is at work earning a living for you so that you can look after your children? (sorry if I'm presuming too many things there)

A word to the wise: don't attempt to make jam while the baby is napping. It is unlikely to end well.

pony I have a tilted womb too - I put a pillow under my bum when we were trying to get pregnant and hey presto!!!

Re; ovulation; If you have a 28 day cycle you will ovulate 14 days after your period stops or however long your cyle is...eg: for me I ovulate about 17 days after my period ends as I have a longer than average cycle. By using these mehtods the last 3 times I have got pregnant straight away HTH x

Hmmm, what is ewcm?

Fascinating talk, ladies. Star, I'm gobsmacked at the sheer lack of support you are getting. It is shameful.

Diego has been a bit subdued all day and I have just taken his temperature. He's 39 degrees, so have given him two small spoonfuls of Calpol. Do you think I should call the GP? Is there anything else I should bear in mind? It's the first time he's been ill and I feel anxious!

Pacita, a temperature is the bodys way of fighting infection. It raises its temperature to kill off the bugs.

Make sure he is well hydrated, and if he wants to eat that is all well and good, but if he doesn't don't worry as long as he is drinking. If you are still bf'ing let him have lots of feeds. It's great for him and it will be a comfort to him.

If he is limp and you're just not happy with his condition for WHATEVER reason, phone your GP. Chances are he'll be fine but don't worry about seeing the GP if you are unsure. It is what they are there for.

I hope Diego feels better soon

ewcm - egg white cervical mucus.

I have given up doing anything slightly domestic with M in the house as it's a bloody nightmare.

Thanks ILTMIMI, advice much appreciated.

After being a wilting flower, Diego has revived with the paracetamol and had his tea, and is now happily playing and terrorising the sitting room. Phew! He is still a bit clingy and very much asking for boobie juice, which is fair enough, but I the temperature is definitely down.

What could have caused this? He's got no runny nose, stomach upset or caugh...

sorry, I meant cough

Teething?

It can be really horrible for some babies, while others breeze through it.

I'd second teething pacita keep an eye on his temp cos sometimes it goes back up after the calpol wears off.

Arggh, you've all been talking so much! It's been busy here - facebook takes priority as it's quicker .

ninja very jealous that M loves the cat. Tonight (DP in Scotland) I'm trying to cook tea after a full day in work when the cat really went for C. She had been wacking him but he's normally just stalked away. This time he hit her with his paw, twice.
After consoling her, i checked and she has a scratch on her arm but worse, he caught her right under the eye - few more mm and it would have been her eyeball. So she has a huge bruise and cut about 2mm under her eye. She was such a brave girl and soon calmed down. I bathed it will sterile salt water but nursery will think she's been punched in he eye tomorrow!!

Poor baby. Baaaad cat. Gonna keep em separate now - no excuse for the cat even if he only has one eye.

I'm loving all this ttc talk! But oh boy I remember the two week wait. Each month was week 1 - drown sorrows at having got AF; week 2 - go at it like rabbits; weeks 3 and 4 the tww...you've done everything you can, you just have to wait and see if this time it worked. And not drink or eat brie, just in case. They were the longest weeks of my life. But here I am with two beautiful dcs and I'm trying to pursuade dh that we should not go for #3 just yet!

I spent the morning with my friend's husband and eldest son today, it was really great to see them and we chatted quite naturally about my friend and about the plans for the funeral, but didn't dwell on it. Having the kids around really helped.

Dh's parents arrive tomorrow to have the kids for the weekend, I can't believe it! We're actually going to have a break! We're booked into a posh hotel with swimming pool for two nights. I'm beyond excited!!!! Although a little worried coz dh's parents are quite nervous about it all so I'm now going to write up a full instruction manual for the weekend. This could take some time.

our cat was like that with DD1 (she soon learned) but he seems a lot calmer now and will usually just remove himself from the situation.

I'd second teething - well I hope it's that that's turned my cheery baby to a whingy wreck

Ahhhhh. Tonight I get to sit back while dh resumes bedtime duties! Although am seriously missing those extra cuddles I got over the last two nights when I got to read the story and put ds to bed. But at least I know I can do it for when dh goes away (or gets sick again). Was worried he wouldn't fall asleep in the cot for me as last time I put him to bed was when I was feeding him to sleep.

Right starlight glad hv visit didn't add to your ridiculous list of grievances. I'm also outraged, but sadly not surprised. It's brilliant that you are fighting against the beurocracy (sp?) where they expect so many to just accept the limited 'support' and keep their heads down.

hopefully duly noted. How about: do not put ANYTHING on the stove when your baby is standing on his bike seat and doing a poo at the same time, as the clean up operation will be going on far longer than whatever it is you are cooking. (I was laughing and yet crying at the same time).

No tv crew in my house tomorrow now. As they've decided to film them somewhere else. Probably for the best, imagining all sorts of issues in trying to get ds to bed with a mouthy producer barking downstairs.

Oh DG I'm so excited for you! When they trailed saturday's show they showed simon saying 'easiest yes i've ever given'. Was that to your sister? Sadly I don't think dh will let me watch x factor on our romantic weekend away - not without expecting me to let him watch match of the day anyway!

Kiddy handbook on page 4 already...

Thanks ladies, I'd like to think it's teething too. He's got two teeth, one in the lower front and one in the upper front. The second upper one is bulging out of the gum but has not cut through yet. Could it be this? Also, he did not do a poo today which is strange.

I just took his temperature while he slept and it is 37.5. This is not strictly a temperature, is it? And what happens if the calpol wears out during the night and he develops a temp? How will I know?

Can you tell that I'm stupidly fretting and flapping like a silly first time mother?

Glad to hear you're back to normal - it is madness the hoops you have to go through, but your DS is very lucky to have you.

Sigh, Star I think your an asset not just for your lovely DS. I'll try to stop myself waking DS up by stuffing thermometers into his ear all night.

Sorry to be so pathetic, ladies.

Starlight and for you.

Here are some more crucial baking lessons for anyone who is interesting (link to my blog post following this evening's bake-fest).

Lots of strength being sent your way Starlight {{{}}}

I love your blog Hopefully. It's very inspiring. MIL gave me a load of victoria plums earlier this week. I had no inspiration, so I've halved them and put them in the freezer for now

We're going blackberrying at the weekend as dh has found a secret stash while going for a run. However it's not going to be secret from the birds, so fingers crossed they're still there.

We've got some elderberries in our garden at the moment and I really feel I should do something with them but I actually don't like them.