October 08 - Clapping, kissing, waving, crawling, sleeping our babes can do it all!

[Marthasmama]

Ummm....Ooops I need to copy and paste that list don't I?

10th Sept (Due 1st Oct) - loulou33 - Boy - Joe Louis David - 6lbs 12oz - Induction due to rhesus sensitivity, G&A.
16th Sept (Due 8th Oct) - Ksal - Girl - Emma Rae - 6lbs - Just beat induction for PE!
21st Sept (Due 5th Oct) - myjobismum - Girl - Naomi Caitlin - 5lbs 10oz - Fast and furious hospital birth.
22nd Sept (Due 10th Oct) - Lozza70 - Boy - Sander Gene - 7lbs 5oz - Em C-Sec due to raised BP and high ALTs from liver.
2nd Oct (Due 12th Oct) - star6 - Boy - Quinlan - 5lbs 15oz - 36hr labour, ventouse and stitches.
3rd Oct (Due 6th Oct) - Bethoo - Girl - Maia - 7lbs -
4th Oct (Due 30th Sept) - Aubergenie - Boy - Stanley - 7lbs 12oz -
5th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - hedgepig - Boy - Oliver - 6lbs 3oz -
5th Oct (Due 29th Sept Oct) - CherryChoc - Boy - Ryan - 6lbs 11oz - 3 day labour with natural birth in hospital
8th Oct (Due 6th Oct) - ronshar - Boy - William Dexter - 7lbs 11oz -
9th Oct (Due 17th) - Marthasmama - Girl - Martha - 7lbs 10oz - Elective c-sec
10th Oct (Due 1st Oct) - CantSleepWontSleep - Boy - Duncan Elliot - 8lbs 4oz - 4 day induction with 1 hour established labour!
12th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - pistachio - Boy - Thomas Fraser - 10lbs 2oz - Homebirth.
13th Oct (Due 15th Oct) - jrsqueak - Boy - Joshua - 7lbs 2oz - Delivered in car by dh!
16th Oct (Due 11th Oct) - heather1980 - Boy - Alexander James - 9lbs 5oz - Homebirth
17th Oct (Due 10th Oct) - pepperrabbit - Girl - Jessica Rose - 7lbs 15.5oz -
17th Oct (Due 27th Oct) - Rhian82 - Boy - - - Episiotomy and ventouse.
20th Oct (Due 16th Oct) - bigmouthstrikesagain - Girl - Polly - 8lbs 7oz - Good hospital birth with synto drip.
21st Oct (Due 21st Oct) - hansnava - Girl - Sophia Leigh - 7lbs 6oz - Elective c-sec
24th Oct (Due 29th Oct) - Ekka - Boy - Matthew - 7lbs 15oz - Home water birth with gas and air.
26th Oct (Due 20th Oct) - jenwa - Girl - Phoebe Jasmine - 9lbs 2.5oz -
28th Oct (Due 23rd Oct) - RachieW - Boy - Jack - 7lbs 4oz - hospital birth, epidural, stitches, 24hrs start to finish
28th Oct (Due 31st Oct) - Jojay - Boy - Edward Alexander - 7lbs 7oz - hospital birth - gas and air, 2nd degree tear. 7 hrs start to finish.
31st Oct (Due 20th Oct) - KnickersOnMaHead - Boy - Samuel Paul - 9lbs 11oz - No stitches!
1st Nov (Due 22nd Oct) - SmudgeyDoodle - Girl - - 8lbs 2oz - Hospital water birth.
5th Nov (Due 29th Oct) - Honeymoonmummy - Girl - Poppy Grace - 6lbs 15oz -
5th Nov (Due 30th Oct) - MamaG - Boy - Harry James - 10lbs 9oz - Em C-Sec. Back to back and knotted cord around neck. 24 hours of labour first though, and don't you forget it!

csws/mm the tag on the suit says hanna andersson.
here
This family is expat american so it might be an american shop. A lot of clothes we get from them are from here - and gap, gymboree and oilily. I feel very fortunate to have met and friended them at such an ideal time HUGE money saver as I hardly ever buy him clothes... one or two things here or there, but we usually get 2 or 3 big bags of baby clothes every couple of months as he is their last child and their only boy.

MM feet free zip sleepsuits
They do have international shipping and as it's in US dollars, items not that expensive, either not sure how much shipping costs?

Awww Gymboree! There used to be one at Bluewater and I LOVED it for ds. I got a really lovely Christmas outfit for his first Christmas from Gymboree. I notice that Hanna Andersson is Scandinavian inspired which I probably why I like the stuff. Have you all seen this site? It's fabulous but very expensive!

Oh, I love gymboree, my SIL hands down all her kids clothes and as she is based in the US there is loads of Gymboree stuff - lovely!

MM I have bought a few things from Nordic kids too, its fantastic, but really pricy. I don't look too often, as I love buying kids clothes, but its not worth having too much as they grow so quickly!

Ekka - I am terrible for buying clothes for ds and M. I am pleased that for M's clothes we are now in a 6 month bracket but I am looking forward for the time when her clothes last a year. I might have to tell my SIL about Gymboree as she is based in the US, but has no kids so will just have to wait until Christmas. Or I could save up myself as we are going out there for New Year.......

M has started pointing to things she wants and people she wants. She also does a double combo of pointing to the thing she wants then the person she wants to get the thing. She has started getting really angry and frustrated when she is prevented from getting what she wants. Ds seems to annoy & frustrate her constantly, poor M.

Myjob- A chef, wow! Bet you get the best food, well when he's on holiday. I've got two spare 2for1 vouchers, do you want one? If you send me your address through fb I'll send it to you. If anyone else wants the other one just let me know.

MM- Clever M with all her pointing

Hypothetical question - did anyone get heartburn very early in their pregnancy? I keep getting heartburn and I never get it, not even throughout the last pregnancy.

Of course, it might be a side-effect of the drugs

Can't stop, we're having an Annabel Karmel cook-a-thon today! I'm feeling much better today, thanks all for your support x

Hmm, indegestion is listed in the side effects, along with 50 million other things I guess if I didn't get it last time it's probably not a pregnancy thing, right?
Will be back soon to check replies!

Hmm - I did indeed get heartburn very early on when pg with M. I had it even before I had an idea I could be pregnant. But it could well be a side effect of the drugs. Check the little info leaflet in the package.

My first and second pregnancies were totally different. With ds I felt really good with M is felt like death. No two pregnancies are the same hmm.

On another note, am I the only one who can't stand Annabel Karmel? Each to their own, but the woman goes on about being an expert and I cannot find any evidence, even in her own press, to indicate that she's professionally trained! I shall say no more don't want to start a new war.

DH has just read your replies with me MM and can confirm you are not the only person who hates AK

Your DH is a man of taste Hmm!

I suspect it's more to do with the fact he's prepared 5 of her dishes (to my 1) in the last 24 hours!!

Oh and of course he's a man of taste!!

I wondered that about AK too, MM. I buy her pasta, though... but dont follow any recipes. I just give Q what I think is right now...

Q went to sleep so well past few nights. He cries when first put in the cot but it only lasts a minute or so (sometimes 3....). Tonight he only cried about 45 seconds but we went in 10 min later and he's totally asleep with both hands holding the bars of the cot and his face pressed against it . You would have thought it was a tantrum-y settle.... but he really only cried 45 seconds!! He's being a martyr.

HMM are you hoping you're pg??
Is ANYONE giving up bf at 12 months that knows for sure? I feel saying it on MN but I just need to! I was thinking i'd keep night feed for as long as he wants/I can do... but now I think the feed I'll keep is the first thing in the morning one. That's the one I like the most - so cuddly and warm and happy. The night one isn't so great now that I won't let him fall off to sleep during it.... it's more me keeping him awake so we can read him some stories and put him down awake.

How how HOW are my breasts going to stop producing all of this milk??? I need to drop the daytime feeds.... but will that give him enough milk if he has one in the morning, one between 3-5 and one just before bed??

Yes star, 3 good feeds a day will be enough milk combined with a good varied diet .

Hmm - I had heartburn before I knew I was pg in my first pregnancy (the one that didn't result in a baby, not dd). But I'm sure it's more likely to be a side effect of the drugs.

I think that there's a place for people like AK, but I wouldn't be part of her fan base.

I'm cursing whoever linked Nordic Kids, because I love loads of stuff on that site, but cannot justify the expense.
Dd's old occasional childminder (who's a friend too) had her baby yesterday, so I was justifying browsing as looking for her. She has tonnes of clothes that she's bought already though, so in the end I've bought her 2 cute bipistuff bandana bibs (I know that she likes the style as one of her mindees wears them) and a pair of these in pink, which I suspect will be too big until she's about a year old!

Now I just need to work out what to get my other friend who is due next week, but doesn't know what sex she's having yet. By the time she has it the sales will have ended - grrr! We've already given her a moses basket full of neutral clothes to see her through the first few weeks/months, so am not sure whether to go for more clothes, or a toy, or something else. It's her house that I was at last week, and I don't think that there's much that she still needs.

HMM- I had indigestion mid way through, to be honest no symptoms until after the positive pg test. When can you do a test or will you just wait and see?

I've two of AK's books but as J decided to be a blw I only really use them for the recipies intended for older chn. He quite likes what I've made so far though, cheesey chicken is a particular hit. Having done it I prefer the blw approach so much more. J has been eating properly for nearly a month now and this week has dropped a milk feed so I finally feel like things are starting to come together with his eating

Star I need your help. For the last few nights J has been really difficult to get to sleep, wanting to be held, crying if we leave the room. Can you let me know the routine you followed for Q? I'm hoping it's just a teething thing but I want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a real routine

I'll join you in being tired today pistachio. Ds woke for a feed at 5:15am, got him back to bed at 5:35, and at 5:45 dd got up for the day! I was not amused, but she just wouldn't go back to bed. And then ds wouldn't go down for a nap this morning (would sleep on us but got unusually hysterical at being put down), and eventually had just 20 mins in the pushchair just before lunch, and then was the same this afternoon, so dh took him for a short drive and he then had 70 mins in the car on the drive.
He's had a bit of a pink cheek today, so am wondering if there's a back tooth on it's way and bothering him (dd's 4th tooth was a molar).

I'm worried if I say ... someone from another thread will come and stab me with mean words (after reading through the sleep topic on the apparent hatred of controlled crying...)
hold on... I will tell you in a minute

OK our routine is as follows:
Dinner (you call it tea ).
bath
bf (keeping him awake!) from both sides
brush teeth
stories with dh and I (or whomever is home)
Cuddle DH
Cuddle Mommy/Mummy
I say "good night baby Quinlan, mommy loves you. It's time for sleep"
I put him in his cot. he cries IMMEDIATELY upon being put down. I pat his back as he sits (or stands) up and say "shhh" - I do not let this go on for any longer than 1 minute. Sometimes I lean over and give him an in the cot cuddle, not lifting him, just hugging him and a kiss, then I try to lay him down again, make sure his binkie/dummy is nearby and then I leave the room, close the door.
He cries for about a minute - a few min MAX and settles to sleep now. After 10 minutes of silence I always go in and give a little kiss or put a blanket over him (not necessary, I just like to do it... he stirs a bit, but stays asleep).
Ok first night it took 90 minutes . We put him down... he cried HARD. Went in after 5 minutes, "shhh, time for sleep, we love you..."...left. then same after 10 more then same after 15 more. Then every 15 min until he settled... and it DID happen.
2nd night was long, too.
3rd night was only 25-30 minutes
I think the next night was only 4 minutes but there may have been one more night of 25 minutes.
Now it's less than a minute USUALLY. We had one night recently where it was 25ish min again... but I guess sometimes that happens. We did the same with naps.

The key is to stay consistent and don't give in and pick him up and feed him or do something else. When the process is disrupted, you just have to start over (like when stupid dh goes in and picks him up ). Give a good feed first and any medicine or whatever, THEN follow it through. It's so hard But it's 2 nights he will not remember at all and he's so much happier by day now that he's getting more sleep at night. When he wakes in the night I just say "shhh" a few times and he falls back after usually less than 5 minutes. That's getting better, too.
Naps is the same - it's so much easier to get him down for a nap now.
Did that help? I really recommend it. I was TOTALLY headstrong against letting him cry... but now I think it was all worth it. a couple of days not that bad. Now when he cries when we put him down at first and leave the room I know it's more in "protest" (myjob's words about what N does ) than because he's actually upset... although it never sounds nice to hear your baby cry I think he's just a bit bothered that we've put him down in there, but knows he's tired so he goes.
Oh! And I always do it at the same time of day, too.
Dinner during "in the night garden" followed by bath... bed usually by 7. no later than 7.30.
does that help?

lol pistachio, Q is obviously not as clever as your ds. He falls for the fill him up at dinner every single night!!

btw are weird poo nappies a teething sign? He's not super fussy now, just loads of drool and really dark, smelly poo nappies (and more than usual) today.

star at your DH, "do you know what the time is??" !!!! Is he your Dad or your husband! Grrr. It's very important to keep your friends and your individual identity, or you end up as just Mum or Wife.
HMM. I had indigestion very early with DD, but never ever with the DSs....
I'm so cross at the weather forecast. We're off to Devon, to stay - wait for it - in the In-Laws barn, sigh. Never my favourite trip of the year but at least nice weather would help. I can barely bring myself to think about it let alone pack. DH will talk sport ad infinitum to his dad, and his step mum has never quite approved of how I feed/discipline/nurture/educate my children. A week of explaining that DS1 is still a fussy eater and that's not actually my fault, while sneaking jars into DD as DS2 hoovers up her whole fruit bowl within 10 minutes is just bleagh. AND THERE's NO PUB int he whole bloody village.
pepper collapses in a heap of self pity.