November 09 babies are growing up quick, and mummy's getting used to getting covered in sick!

[PreggoK8]

Hope this has worked...

butterpie I hope you get some antifungal cream from the GP. That stuff is magic.

Weight loss - I don't do diets either. And ATM I have negative willpower. I'm never full, and have to stop eating when in company out of politeness. I used to be a fruit lover but I've no interest in it any more. I just want carbs, carbs, carbs. Which on my current diet means rice cakes, CRISPS (never used to eat them) or home made DF GF cakes. Glad I'm still on my multivits . I think I should follow TOK's intention of taking more exercise. Sometime.

TOK I've used an osteo a few times and it's magic. The noises are a bit alarming but painless, even with SPD. He loosens up my upper back and I feel so free afterwards. And if he does my pelvis I can walk in a straight line without dragging my bad leg around. Not that I notice I'm doing that normally, but I do notice when it's all fixed! The trick is to relax and absorb yourself in their banter. Think relaxation breathing for contractions! That way your muscles are relaxed and you get the most out of the manipulation.

Right. I tried last night to reclaim my evenings and failed miserably. Usually Isla is dead beat after bath and falls asleep whilst I sort out DD1. She usually needs a feed and soon wakes for it. She'll then spend the evening downstairs on my lap either feeding or sleeping, but never deeply enough to move her. So last night I fed her upstairs on the rocking chair and tried to put her down in her crib afterwards at 8:00. She immediately started crying. I did 30 mins of leaving her for a bit and then picking her up and calming her and putting her back down again, but to no avail. By this stage DH was frazzled by the crying and picked her up, brought her downstairs and had cuddles, put her on her mat with jangly bells, turned on the musical bit and generally stimulated the poor babe. It ended up with me jigging her around, trying to delay a feed until 10:00, which she fell asleep immediately during and slept till 5:50.

I'm not sure she's ready for the evening in bed thing yet since although she's tired, she's not settled enough to sleep on her own. Or have I just spoiled her with cuddles and she won't settle for less? Not sure. I'll try again tonight and tell DH to keep her upstairs in dim light if he's looking for cuddles. But I don't want to tie myself into that for weeks because the whole point of this is for me to have a bit of freedom of an evening to get off the sofa and sort the washing, go to the loo, get a drink, etc. I don't really want to swap the sofa for a chair in a dark room!

hobnob similar story here. I'm gradually trying to bring Ethan's bedtime forward by around half an hour at a time by taking him into our darkened room a half hour earlier. All went out the window last fri when I was out so we were back to square one this week. On tue, he slept from 12-6ish. Last night he was asleep by 11 but awake by half 3, half 6 & half 9.

My aim is to bring his bedtime forward to a point where I can wake him at 11 for a feed then hope he sleeps for a decent time thereafter but he feeds almost hourly between around 8&11 just now so I don't know how to possibly get enough milk in him to avoid that. Will persevere with the half hour earlier each night.

How's the weather where you are, looks quite bad on the news? We have pools of slush today in Glasgow. Just hoping my pram can cope ok as we're off out on the bus soon!

butterpie hope DD1 is feeling better today and your night wasn't too bad?

oh my word, how many posts to catch up on! And i have things t o do today so can't post on them all. I am making a winter collage with DD this afternoon, we went to collect leaves and moss and twigs yesterday and today i am printing out things from the internet to cut out and getting the table ready, and hoping to bake a round of cakes before DH and DD get back from lunch at a friends!

laugs its hard getting the balance isn't it? When DH was working, and it was just DD, DH and I, i used to do DD her tea before he came home from work, and I would have a snack (some fruit salad wither her for pudding or something) with her, and eat with DH when he got back. Sometimes we would make a 'picnic' in the front room, with a throw, some bears, and picking food (cheese, vegetables, crackers, fruit that kind of thing) to make it a fun thing and not her just eating on her own. I felt it important to do this as i did not want to suddenly have no adult time with DH. Sometimes I would eat with DD and DH would reheat when he came home. We mixed it up. At weekends we all ate together at tea time, and on the odd day in the week too. I also tried to make some 'us' time by going to 'Restuarant Isabella' which was a quick tea and no washing up (usually M&S!) a nice bottle of wine, and candles when the all the kids were in bed. We have not done it so far this time, but we spend a lot of time together now, we shall be calling it Cafe Reubenio! Even now, we don't always eat together as a family, some nights we feed her first, and eat together later, and it means we can have friends over for dinner sometimes this way too. But we make sure we eat together as a family at least 2-3 times a week. DH would always read DDs bedtime story and she only bathed a couple of times a week as a baby, and never really part of bedtime routine, and now, i feed Reuben while I read DD stories more often than not as she wants him there! So if DH was working (soon, it will be soon!) he would be able to chill out while i did this.

I shall post on more later. Reuben did not sleep well last night, got a horrid cough again. He is well with it, not poorly at all but it sounds horrendous and he did not settle well, not even on my chest. Coupled with extensive eating so think he is growing.

Right am off to do motherly things .

Oh, btw, i am listening to a great band, not sure if it is anyones thing, but i am loving it - Mumford and Sons' Bloody fantastic, makes me wish i could sing/play guitar!

Laugs just about to try and take Ioan up for a nap in my bed so I can get a bit of rest too. Not sure it will work but worth a try! Think it is a growth spurt as feeding more in the day too.

TOK I see an osteopath regularly and she's wonderful. My back is out of alignment due to an old accident many years back. I go about 4 times a year and that keeps me from having lots of pain. Would definitely recommend.

Right, off to see if this nap idea works

pav I love mumford and sons, have just got their cd but not had a chance to listen to it yet.

Am feeling grumpy today, heating has not been working all week and British gas were meant to be coming over to fix it but they have just rung to say they can't get parts till tomorrow. Grrrrhh! Also, ds seems to have dropped his nap so now have no time to myself in the day. Dh is out tonight so it's going to be a long day!

Sorry this post is me me me but no chance to read everything, will try tomorrow if ds naps then!

helips I feel for you, we mourned the passing of DS1's lunchtime nap in this house. Used to be a lovely time to sit and relax .... sigh..!

Ninjacat is on the computer whilst the Ninjakitten screams at Ninjatom
But no one is here

I'm here Ninj but off to watch American Idol in a minute

Ah Wook I missed you. Hope you enjoyed American Idol

Just a quick post before I go to bed. We've had a couple of horrid nights with our usually-pretty-good Jimster so I'm wacked out. Took me right back to the bad old days of, oh, January when he would wake every couple of hours and not settle well! Just hoping that he finds his rythym again soon.

Can't remember who else is watching One born every minute. Isn't it just brilliant telly? I tend to watch it on 4OD with LO on my lap dozing - make me go all misty eyed every time. Please tell me I'm not actually getting nostalgic for contractions???

I'm joining the Essex/London meet up possie! We can't let these West country mums have all the fun now can we! Would have to be a train/tube based meet for me, as I don't have the car during the day, but if we have the whole of London at our disposal...

Oh, and Butterpie, how is your DD doing? Did you get to the doctors?

venus no, she brightened up and her bum seemed to be better. She's in bed now with no nappy, just a couple of unfolded terries underneath her, to try and air everything out.

VenusInfers I went nostalgic too?????? Think i am going mad but feeling really broody??

Il join the london meet!!

Sorry for the rather short post , its taken me a while to catch up again!! Me and Pearl have been rather busy

Hope you all well!!

I'd be up for a London meet too.

I watched two episodes of one born every minute for the first time today (think I missed the first). Wow. I laughed...I cried. Such an emotional program. The bit that really got to me was the girl in the neonatal unit and how she described her emotions so well. Stuff like the empty Moses basket at home-that really got to me when we had to leave Isaac in hospital and being jealous about the nurses feeding and not being able to hold the baby etc. Isaac was only in there a week and was nowhere near as poorly as her baby.

I'd have punched the VBAC husband tho!

I'm taking Isaac swimming for the first time tomorrow. Am nervous and excited. I think he'll love it but he always screams when I take him out of the bath and the logistics of getting us both dried and dressed are a little worrying!

nostalgic for contractions?
(But I know what you mean, I end up crying every time I watch One Born...)

I still keep forgetting that I'm now someone's mother. As in, I don't forget that I have a baby to look after, but every now and again (like just now, reading Venus' post about "West Country Mums" I kind of go "oh yes, those mums and me are meeting up". And then... OH YES, I AM ONE!

I've had 20 weeks and 1 day to get used to it.

Speaking of which, tomorrow is my "pee on a stick and discover you're pregnant" anniversary.

This sorting out sleep business is really confusing me. I'm on night 4 of the pyjamaparty approach. I've done EVERYTHING the same, timing and feeding wise.
Night 1, Slept peacefully from 7PM with I think one stirring episode. Fed at midnightish and slept until 5AM. Woke up at 6AM.
Night 2, Slept fretfully early evening. Was sick a couple of times and wide awake 2-4AM. Woke up before 6AM. Off his food all day and naps all over the place. (I must say, this is the night when I had a truck load of Nutella.)
Night 3, Fell asleep ok but awake and feeding pretty much every hour until midnight and fed every couple of hours through the night.
Night 4, took OVER AN HOUR to fall asleep, in a really strange hyper mood, was making busywork of eating. (I suspect DH got him all wired from playing ticklemonster with him right before bedtime... but has actually slept really well apart from when I woke him up by sneezing.

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO LEARN FROM THIS? Unless he sleeps like an angel tonight, in which case it seems that I won't ever eat Nutella again as long as I'm breastfeeding. But seriously... doesn't seem to make any difference what I do, he either sleeps or doesn't as he pleases. He's also only had a couple of snoozes today, no naps to speak of.

Right, I'll go back to my e-book as you lot are obviously somewhere other than nose-to-screen.

oooh Lemon do report back! Lukas loves water, so I've been thinking about taking him babyswimming - but he screams like a banshee when it's time to get dressed and I've been worrying about doing it in public (when we're at home I usually end up walking upstairs naked, dressing him naked, calming him down naked and then hopefully getting dressed before I freeze to death... not really something I want an audience to!)

Also, re diets and weight... DH is a chef so I've got a snowball's chance in hell of dieting. Not that I'd want to either, I love food too much. I've found that (for me, at least) the easiest way to lose weight is running. It burns more calories per minute than anything else, so time spent vs results gained is a no-brainer. When I was in school I absolutely hated running, and I assumed you either are a runner-type or you're not... but a few years ago I found this fantastic programme which basically will get you from couchpotato to runner over a few weeks, and I was desperate to get in shape with no cash or time for the gym... and it worked. I absolutely loved it. I'm really, really hoping that I can get back into it, as even just doing 3 half-hour runs a week is plenty to stay in shape, and with stretching and showering afterwards I should still be done in 45 minutes... there HAS to be time for that...

Brood what's this programme for running you speak of? I'd love to get into running but have never thought of myself as the running type either.
What are you trying to achieve with Lukas? If you are wanting him to go to bed, then it looks like he's up for it but might well have worked out that you're there. Are you able to put him to bed and leave the room? You might well have a few nights of on call before he gets it, but that's no biggie I'd imagine?
Heading up to bed now but hope you have a good night

Oh, and London meet up - if it's a week day we're looking at then can it be before I go back to work around mid/end April?!

Where are all the londoner's based? Im East!

Brood can you recommend a make or style of running shoe? I have my first run with the school running club posse next week and my trainers are well over ten years old and falling to pieces. I guess if I am serious about getting fit again generally then I ought to get the right footwear.

pav your post about floor picnics reminded me of the one time I tried that with ds- dh came home from work and pulled the biggest cat's bum face he has ever pulled at us- fortunately the wind did not change! May have been something to do with the amount of squashed breadsticks on the floor!

Lemon have a lovely swim! Definitely the faff of getting both you and baby dried and dressed is the worst bit. I took Hedy today for the second time. She is a bit dubious and was highly miffed when I dunked her under the water. She didn't cry or anything, but I got a full on 'scorpio look'
Oh my goodness that VBAC husband, really 'what not to say'!

Since this is a vaguely anonymous forum I will share with you the results of my sleep deprivation: I have some spray on stuff for piles and went to use it the other day. About ten seconds later there was major, awful stinging, really horrid, so I went to check the label on the spray only to see that in my knackered state I had in fact applied athletes foot spray to my poor bot!

Scarlotti He used to sleep happily on his own from 7 - 10 or 10.30ish until I went to bed, but we went away for a long weekend and ever since, he's been waking up crying every 45 minutes (until I go to bed, and then he wants to sleep with a boob within sniffing distance).
I'm trying to get him back to actually sleeping. Have kicked DH into the spare room for the week while I try just being here with him (as I think that perhaps being away unsettled him and he needs the security?) Night 1 went so well, I thought I'd cracked it and was feeling all smug with my luxurious 5 hour stretch of sleep. Now I'm not so sure...

The running programme was in Zest magazine a few years ago. They basically condensed the "Running Made Easy" book into their own little programme, if memory serves me right it'll have you running for 20 minutes in about 8 weeks. And it starts of REALLY gently, like run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes and repeat 10 times or something like that, and gradually builds it up so that you manage 20 minutes.

To begin with it seems really silly, but you really do need to start as slowly as they tell you to let your joints get used to the pounding. Also, that way you feel like you're managing to hit your target so it's a nice feeling. Once you're at the end and running 20 minutes at a time, you're fit enough that running is actually fun and then it's a doddle to add a minute or two each time until you're running for 30 minutes. Or more. I may well have discovered I actually loved running, but half-hour runs were enough for me even before children. I'll dig up the programme tomorrow and post it here if you or anyone wants to do it.

I have a great tip for losing weight - buy a winter wetsuit. You do not have to do anything while wearing it, maybe some hoovering or something, but wear it indoors for a couple of hours...seriously, you will sweat out any fat you have, after spending 20 mins getting in on, then another 20 mins off, can't think of anything more exerting! It fits me snugly, as it should. But i best not put on any weight hides bourbon biscuits

Wook Thanks for a good giggle! sleep deprivation is dangerous!

I love Asics. My current ones are New Balance. Cheaper, and still good, but I miss Asics.
You need to get the right support though, depending on the arches of your feet. The easiest way to see which way your feet lean is to look at the heels of a pair of well-worn shoes. Actually... that's what they usually say, but if you're like me your feet will have changed with pregnancy... look at the shape your footprint makes when you get out of the shower, that's your best bet.

I must add that I'm not at all a running-pro! I'd never enter a race, just love(d) doing it for fun, but it's all thanks to that programme, made me feel like I could do it.

wooks meant to and also at putting athletes foot stuff erm, at the other end! Hope the stinging did not last too long. DH once cleaned his teeth (or started to) with some frizzy hair serum. It was in a sparkly silver tube, and it was on the side, lid off so he just picked it up, and as it comes out, it looks vaguely like toothpaste, if you don't have your glasses on...he was not impressed!

Wook hope your bum is nice and fungus free painless now!!

I jogged for a bus today. I don't know whether to be pleased I managed it (was maybe 300m, I think...) as it is the first time I have managed anything quicker than a hobble in two years, or to slap myself for stupidity as am now in agony and can't see properly. Ah well. Didn't want Bryn getting cold, and the bus was just coming down the road... Had a nice day though.

Am trying desperately to stay positive though know I've screwed up this week, and am furious with myself. Think tomorrows therapy session is going to be a difficult one.

Will really try and catch up with you all soon, am very sorry. Not entirely sure where I am mentally at the moment and finding it very difficult to focus. Thinking of you all though! x

morning! Reuben won't sleep. well he will, but only on me. He is coughing his guts up, but that has only started in last 20 mins, he is refusing to sleep in his moses basket after the first stint of 4 hours or so, he wants to feed feed feed, butt think its a comfort thing as he is not feeding all day anymore. oh i don't bloody know! I have snapped at dh, got up and stomped, he got up, and promptly tripped over the cat who had nicked a pipe cleaner from dd's toybox and was batting it around, would have been comical if he hadn't sworn so loudly he could have woken dd up. that would have been the icing on the cake . oh well i should laugh! i would if it did not feel like i had rocks in my eyelids. 1.5hours and dd will be up. unless she wets the bed, then anytime soon. i guess i am up for the duration now.

hope everypne else manages a better night.