April 2009 - Chapter 8 - "Come to mine, I've got stacks of tampons..."

[Guimuahahahahahaaaaaaa]

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
05 Apr: JumeirahJane: MILLICENT ROSE 5lb 15oz
06 Apr: BoffinMum: FELIX DAVID GORDON 7lb 9oz
08 Apr: girlylala0807 JAMES EUAN
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 7lb 14oz
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
17 Apr: DungunGirl: ADEN LEE 9lb 4oz
18 Apr: Staryeyed: Name TBA BOY 7lb 11oz
18 Apr: Dawntigga: SAMUAL 5lb 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
21 Apr: Mrsgboring: EDMUND 8lb 12oz
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
30 Apr: Elpis: ISLA JESSICA 8lb 11oz
01 May: Satheresitting: Name TBA BOY
03 May: Conkertree: Name ANGUS ANDREW 8lbs 8oz
06 May: Frekkles: HARRIS MERLIN 8lb 5.5oz
07 May: TarteTatin: ALBERT JOHN
10 May: Ilovesummer: Name TBA BOY

Good morning my luvvers!

Morning! Auld, Boff, how's the hangover this morning?

Bebe 3 feeds down - has she suddenly started taking much more solids?

By the point what has happened to MathsMummy?

Oooh GUYmauve like your name change - DH's birthday this week and daily fireworks from Thursday to Sunday! Wahey, as DD1 would say.

Errrr, by the way, not by the POINT...

She took tons more solids and figured out the sippy cup. I was like as she guzzled down the juice/smoothie in the cup and then had water too (she didn't like that as much). I'm going to see if it continues...I kind doubt it will, this morning she was much more interested in bf/milk then she was her porridge.

morning lovelies

Boff/Auld, are you alive this morning? Boff, I dreamed last night that you had nine children and had just found out you were pregnant with number ten. You took the news remarkably well.

oh bum, baby's awake. Back later.

Morning all,

Took the cue from everyone on MN and decided to namechange how do you think it fits??

Hmmmm, now maybe it's the hippy in me, but seeing as it's just been a full moon, have had grumpy old man living in my living room for days and a child that hasnt slept properly for a week until last night (oh joy of joys!) maybe all of them have been interlinked and i havent been the only one either.

Zombie - did you get my email on FB? If not i'll try and resend...

Hope you're all lovely and well, and Boff/Auld hope you're heads aren't hurting too much.. I find a lucozade works wonders for me!

Brilliant - love Boff n' Auld. Could become a regular. Tune in every Sunday for the Boff n' Auld show.

And - I haven't had a G&T in years. Mmm

Kingbeat - references to hippy roots / parents in Spain? Whereabouts in Spain [nosy emoticon]. When S was born on 20 April my mother was straight on the phone to her astrologer friend in Spain to check out what was what. (Astrologer hippies in the mountains of Spain are terribly modern these days - they have mobile phones so they can be contacted for queries whenever).

Oh and turns out S is Taurus which explains why he is so wildly different from his sister (born 2 April 07).

Yep I got it King... sorry didn't reply right away Rubbish Bebe. Sent a reply back this morning.

Will be going to the post later if anyone wants any of the other books I'll send them along too. Just FB me your addresses.

hiya girlies..need some advice but will post that in a sec...
Have you all had your secret santa emails? poor old me not had one

Please someone help me with this before I have a nervous breakdown....
Evie has turned into some sort of food monster. After previously sleeping through more or less every night since birth, she now wakes between 4 -5 am and DEMANDS I feed her until 7 am! Totally ridiculous I know but the alternative is that she screams the house down and wakes the DS's. She is obviously using me as a dummy but stick a dummy in there and she screams even louder! So, she feeds all that time, then she will finally have some food. She has cereal, half a banana or mango and some toast/bread with a few sips of formula from a cup without a top on - still won't have teats/spouts. Then she wants BF again for a few mins until she goes back to sleep. Then she wants BF again about 10 am.

She will have rice cakes and fruit puree for lunch with a few sips formula, then another BF and bed. For dinner she has a pile of potato/peas/carrots/whatever, followed by a rice based pudding and a drink of water. Then she wants BF for about an hour before sleep. Basically I am bloody sick of BFing and I want my body back I don't mind doing it for 20 mins or so but I can't tolerate the 2 hours + in the morning. I feel drained. Just got my first AF too and it's bloody awful. Have finished expressing for the milk bank now (got my badge and everything ), so that's one less thing, but I am really struggling. Just wish she'd have a bottle. Was advised NUK bottles by the BF advisor - she hates them.

I really am at the end of my tether. We decided to give her a bottle last night or let her cry it out. After 1 hr 20 and me crying just about as much as her (DH had her, I was in another room), I gave in and BF her for an hour!

If I BF her every time she wanted me to she would never cry, but I really want to start weaning her off. I am exhausted and I am seriously neglecting my other two with time
DS2 has started to get upset about it, he said he misses his mummy He has started developing strange habits and is so anxious.

Sorry I haven't been around here much but I am so exhausted and down

I've had my SSemail Nutty must have saved you for last. As a special treat

maybe I'll just go and check I actually sent her an email with address. I'm pretty sure i did though cos I remember feeling sad it only seemed like 2 mins since we emailed her for our text buddies!

phew, haven't gone mad, I sent it 12th October

Oh dear Surprise Very hard to deal with in addition to menstration.

Have you (Evie) got teeth coming in? Moo shows no outward signs typically (no red cheeks, etc) but then she gets very touchy, wants to feed/ chew on me more, and cries non-stop...try a little Calpol and see if it sorts things?

Other suggestions I have are try piling in the porridge more, but have it more soupy? It might be that she's thirsty too, though it seems like then she'd be drinking a little, but often rather than wanting to stay on.
Perhaps, if you think it's a comfort thing, try introducing a comfort toy while feeding, and then placing it between you and her too get her to nuzzle it and then perhaps she'll start associating that with comfort too and you'll be able to get away. (I've noticed that Moo has been doing a lot of snuggling into me lately with the nipple in her mouth hinting that this is something I must work on with her too).
When it comes to the sippy cups I'd say keep trying. Moo wouldn't have anything to do with them for the last 5 weeks but I offered at ever meal, and drank out of it myself and did all those other things we do to encourage the little mites, and then suddenly this weekend she figured it out and she's doing great drinking from them.

The only other thing I can say is what my sister always tells me to chant when things get bad, 'this too will pass, this too will pass.' It's not much of a help when I need a break, but it does help to remind me that I'll get through it, as will you.
Lots of hugs.

thanks Boo, will definitely try that comfort thing.
The other thing we have is terrible eczema on her chest which she keeps scratching and it bleeds. She has steroid cream for a 2-3 days now so hopefully that will help. GP said she is teething although I can't see any actually coming through yet.
She is standing in her walker at the moment, dancing to music on the TV and she looks so adorable I feel sad that I get so exasperated with her

Off to try porridge for lunch, with sippy cup water! Thanks xx

I know what you mean... I get so upset with Meg sometimes too...
She wiggles tons when she gets tired, and doesn't want to sit still, and all she wants to do is walk around the house, but she can't unless I help her which means I'm hunched over helping this little 'creature' walk ssssssloooooooooowlllllllyyyyyyyyyy around the place. In my head there's part of me which relishes it, and then she accidentally pinches me or scratches me or screeches in my ear and my head is killing me and I think. ARGH! And want to be rid of her. I think it's completely normal.
What matter is that I do love her and I don't throw her out the window when I have enough.
Try to take a little me time when she goes down for her nap later. Even something so little as some mascara or a cookie with your tea. And reveal in that moment breathing nice a deep and slow. And think abt the cute things she's done which has made you smile. Then when she gets up give her a big hug and explain how much she means to you to her.

I cannot comment abt eczema unfortunately...but it could be making her so uncomfortable that she just wants you (her comfort) all the time.

I was going to mention too that Moo likes soft things when she's teething...i.e. she starts chomping down on her stuffed mouses head like she has every intention of ripping it off, and she stuffs other soft toys into her motuh like she'd rather like to suffocate herself rather than hard things. This is completely different to other babies I've known so I wasn't watching for it as a sign to gum pain. Do Evie's gums look at all inflamed? this last time Moos gums were dark red with teething. Could also be a sign that's easily missed because when they open their mouths we're usually shovelling something in rather than really looking at what's going on in there.

Thanks again Moo Meg is walking? How clever is she Evie is sitting and saying eh-oh while waving but I think we're a long way from crawling/walking here! She usually has her afternoon nap while in her buggy to pick DS's up from school so no peace then. Although, have just looked in her mouth and she has dark red gum behind one bottom front tooth and I am feeding her as I type and she is really clamping down on me with her gums so I have just given her some Calpol so maybe she will sleep earlier today??

She has just had a bowl of porridge with some pear in and some water from sippy cup but she spat most out, she did have a go though. Am thinking of giving her formula on a spoon?

Surprise - don't worry too much about the feeding thing. They have growth spurts. S was always a good sleeper but went through a phase just around the 6 month mark where he was feeding all the time. I just went with it and survived in zombie mode for a couple of weeks. Just as I was thinking he was becoming an utter boob monster he switched back to his old once a night routine.

Hey Surprise - Evie sounds exactly like my neice down right down to the eczema. It sounds so awfully draining for you....

My neice has some pretty hardcore anti-histamines that manage it....has to have hand wash wshing powder and everything is cotton. As little chemicals and natural fibres as possible. If you dont want to go down the full-on medicine route, I think Chamomile is good for the skin, even putting the tea-bags in the bath water before she gets in and take them out when she does, should help a little, plus you can keep a jug of steeped chamomile water in the fridge and give her compresses of that over the affected area, maybe that migth compensate for some of the BF too and reassure her?? I know that from it being in my family too, that eczema is sometimes anxiety related, sometimes from environment....is there anything that you might be eating that she is allergic too?? (although, if you were expressing for the milk bank you might know that!!) - sorry if you know most of the things i'm talking about, just think-typing here!!!

Wriggly - No offence taken!! Parents are in the south in a place called Istan, near the beaches but not too "touristy" and yep, you're right loads of hippies with moibles and caravans/posh retreats in the mountins too

loving the fireworks related names by the way, and hope you've all got the lovely autumn sunshine that Iris and I have in London!!

Ok - these particular astrologer hippies who my mother has on speed dial for astrological emergencies are based near Gaucin - not all that far from your parents. I grew up in the Baleares though.

But mostly in SW London these days.

we have lots of allergies in our family, DS1 and I are allergic to pet fur, both have asthma, both have hayfever, we are both allergic to kiwi, peach, tomatoes and celery, so I have been careful not to introduce these to Evie yet. DS2 appears to have no allergies/hayfever/asthma at all and is nearly 6. I use Fairy powder as this is all myself and DS1 can tolerate. I had eczema while pregnant and also when I'm stressed. It is only on her chest though.
will definitely try the camomile, thank you

Have done row,row,row your boat about a million times this afternoon as she loves it and stops her scratching!

Well had better go and get the boys from school now, can't believe it's started raining just at this time! Feel a bit better than I did this morning, have managed to put all my ironing away and treated myself to some Covent Garden Leek and Potato soup! Couldn't be bothered to go to baby sign language today

Am working tonight and am dreading it. Am working 6-10 pm (at home) and I know DS's will be in and out and I'll be torn and on a guilt trip, and DH will be bringing a screaming E in for feeding and I'll start moaning about how I'm not going to work anymore - oh what joy!! I only do 2-3 nights a week but I am sure it would be easier just to go out and work!

Oh Surprise I hope it settles down. I have no suggestions as E is a bit like this a lot of the time. All I can say is I've got used to it now and I do everything I can to make feeding as comfy and relaxing for me as possible - food/drink on the go and telly when there is no DS1 around to be corrupted