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

[PreggoK8]

Hope this has worked...

Pav if I was closer I would boil my kettle and fill your bath for you! Its not the same, but have you tried doing a face pack / shaving your legs / painting your nails of an evening? Preferably with a large bottle glass of wine and a huge box of (dairy free ) chocolates! Just a bit of pampering that is all about you. In fact email me your address and I will send you a pamper box, so then you have to do it, as its a present! I really hope you feel a bit happier in the morning. x

Morning all

me time? What's that? I'd love some but it never seems to work out here. DH will have to sort something out though as he bought me a massage voucher for valentines and I can't do that with a baby in tow!

re the couples, it's the support and thought that I as I know that the people involved aren't perfect by any means!

Another so so night here. Woke and fed at 2 then 5, with one dummying in between. But then was awake and chittering from 5 until about 6:30 before dozing again then until 7:30. Nappy upon waking was dirty so am hoping that explains the early start and it's not a new trend ....

We get a snotty nose during the night too but it seems to be easing. Milky coffees are my vice though so won't be giving those up in a hurry! Does the lactose go through your milk then? DD only had a problem when she drank it herself.
Heavens, would that mean giving up chocolate?!?!? Surely that's a sacrifice too far..?!

Morning.

sirboob i shall have my bath. I shall have it and bloody well enjoy it! I shall stay in til my skin turns pruney! You do not need to send me a pamper box! That is very very sweet of you, make sure you use them for yourself! How are you feeling today? You are not having the best emotional time yourself, yet you find time for others, you really are a lovely woman .

I feel, tired! Eyes feel like they have been stretched out of their sockets and back again, shoulder muscles hurt, Reuben fed four times in the night, but he really does have a snuffly nose and chest so i shan't blame him! DH is getting a packet of jelly babies from the garage when he gets petrol and we shall have coffee, i shall soak in the bath (DD is at nursery) then i shall feel ready to tackle to washing, hoovering etc. I like to get it all tidy for tomorrow when DD is home so i don't spend all morning tidying and telling her i am busy!

Hope some of you ladies got a good night x

Butterpie wow to see the original thread. Suppose there is now a 'due november 2010' thread

Pav hot baths are surely a basic human right, along with going to the loo in peace and being able to drink tea while it is still hot? But not all at the same time. Went to post natal aquafit yesterday, where the mums do exercise in the pool and a friend of the fitness instructor goes round entertaining the babies, who are all lined up at the side of the pool in assorted prams and car seats. You get to have a shower afterwards while the lady still entertains the babies. We all agreed that we would pay the £4 for just the chance to have a good shower, never mind the exercise!
Good that your GP is good if not your HV.

fairybex sorry to hear you have felt down.

Pav you and me both! Toby was awake 11.30-4am last night on and off. DH and I are zombies today. THIS PHASE WILL PASS, THIS PHASE WILL PASS. We don't know exactly what is bothering him: is it the eczema, is it his cough? DH thinks he might have allergies and hence the cough. Oh crumbs. Please let that not be true! And my chicken pox patient was so upset this morning as I was putting cream on his spots he was crying in pain, big floppy tears, which were landing on his feet. That made me cry too. Then he said 'I don't want these chicken pox anymore they are just dreadful mummy'. Oh the heart melts!

FairyBex big hug to you. Tears are good though! I've just had a big cry and I find it the best therapy ever. So good you've got a great HV. What a lovely thing to do: drop everything and come and see you, that's lovely. My HV has disappeared off the planet which is odd considering I was in a right mess when I last saw her 6 weeks ago! The HVs here are overworked though. I haven't even taken Toby to a clinic as they are awful and far away from our house. He was last weighed when he was 6 weeks old.

Wook, wow! that sound fab, i might go and see if we do something like that locally, sounds ideal! My bath is run, baby is babbling away, so might give him a quick feed before heading into it. I have a LOT of bubbles

fairy i just realised I did not comment all on your post about you, until i read BBLs post, i am so sorry, it was very insular of me. I agree with BBL, tears are good. I don't shed enough of them! And i am pleased that the process of talking helped you. How you doing on fruit and veg? I find it does nothing to fill me up so i eat a lot of bread, it cant be good for me!

www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jspWas looking last night on sainsburys to see what dairy free stuff they have - chocolate and ice cream!! I wonder if it will be as yummy- could it be? I then went on to have a dream which involved everyone eating the dairy free chocolate buttons but I couldn't have any Think I have to get some now!

sirboob Just read your post about your friend - you are such a strong woman a always put everyone above yourself! Bryn is very lucky to have you!

pav Hope you enjoy your lovely bubble bath - I had one last night but we ran out of hot water so it was only half full and got cold quite fast

scarlotti I keep telling my DP i need a massage and a pedicure and actually everything. I haven't had my hair cut for over a year its a right mess. Think we should just make an appointment and tell our other half's we are popping out and have a nice day darling!

wook I went on the november 2010 tread and felt a bit and I didn't even enjoy being pregnant ?? I am defiantly going mad! I think it's just such an exciting journey and I have found that having a baby has changed me alot - hopefully for the best!

Does anyone think they will get a treat on mother's day? We all deserve one! Not sure if I will as I buy DPs card for his mother and it wasn't until a friend mentioned it being my first mother's day that he realised he should probably get a card for me? lol

wook that sounds amazing. I too would pay £4 for a shower without a shouty baby in bouncey chair!

pav good to hear you 'sounding' so much brighter!

BBL so sorry about your wee invalid. Being a first timer I am dreading Ethan's first illness, it must be heartbreaking. Is Toby ok around the patient, is there any chance of him getting it?

Don'tWorryBaby chicken pox is extremely infectious so there is nothing I can do to stop Toby getting it really (just waiting for DS2 to come down with it too). But apparently (not sure if this is true or not) the younger they get it (so long as they aren't new born) the milder it tends to be. But Toby's sleep is awful as it is! Dread to think what he'll be like if he has the pox too.

I'm excited now beceause on Saturday I am attending a one-day glass blowing course and I've just booked myself into a lovely B&B near Bradford-on-Avon for the night before! Yeah! What a treat. I feel bad though as DH will be in sole charge of everyone for 24 hours while I am away. And I am sure when it comes down to it I won't want to leave them, esp if the chicken pox has spread.

Aaarrggh! Can't keep up, can't keep up! Was away this weekend and couldn't get to my laptop so caught up yesterday but had no time to post and now today there are more posts to catch up on!

After saying how well Millie was sleeping last week she is now waking in the night again, that will teach me for opening my mouth! She has got another cold and a terrible cough, poor little mite.

bbl hope your ds is ok with his chickenpox and on the mend. Poor you too, you must be exhausted

weston when potty training did you follow a book or just go with the flow? I haven't a clue how to start, ds says he wants to do a wee wee on the toilet but when I sit him on it he doesn't do anything.

brood was it you that posted the running schedule? If so thanks! I'm going to copy and paste and email it to myself so that I can start running when I get a bit more time to myself! Think I'll wait till it's a bit lighter in the evenings so I can go when dh comes in from work.

I am definitely up for the london meet-up!

Right, going to read the rest of the posts and report back! (millie permitting!)

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. I know I'm lucky when it comes to hv, i guess one of the advantages of living in a small and remote place is that they have time for you. Of course this is weighed against being hours away from any decent shops

pav the fruit and veg thing did help, well extra fruit anyway as i'm pretty much veggie anyway (meat only once a week). I think the real difference is sleep so even if it meant going to sleep ridiculously early and accepting I'd get woken up a few more times.

BBL glass blowing sounds great! it always looks so easy but i realise it isn't at all. I'm sure your DH will cope even if it means things will be different. I still have fond memories of having sugar on toast when my dad looked after me when my mum was in hospital

sirboob just read your other thread, can only echo what the others have said, keep strong

Hi to everyone else

Still catching up but wanted to say after seeing our original thread on butterpies post it is a year today I got my bfp! Also, a lot of old faces that don't post anymore...right, off to catch up some more!

helips I'm with you, cannot seem to keep up at these days! We are going to start potty training ds. D day is friday, when we "say bye bye to nappies". He is really into music and musical instruments and while in tescos the other day they had one of those potties that plays music when you wee on it! IT was reduced from £25 to £8.50, so I am hoping that is a good incentive. I know Gina Ford is a swear word on here but I did read her potty training book and, as with everything else, will take the elements that suit me from it. We are basically going cold turkey with no nappies from Friday morning, setting a timer for every5-10 minutes. When it goes off I'll sit him on the potty (or try at least!)and give him some sort of bribe treat as incentive. We'll see how it goes. I am open to any other tips!

Had a sisters night out on Sat and stayed over so DH had the dcs on his own all night and he came and collected me at 1 the next day so I had a nice lie in too (which I needed due to all the alcohol all the sleepless nights!) Had a really good time and danced the night away. Would highly recommend a good old boogie to shake off the stress!

Re Perfect couples- I refuse to believe it! There's no such thing surely

Fairybex I hope you are feeling better today. Thank goodness you have such a wonderful hv, they seem to be few and far between on this thread.

Very of your meet up ladies. Is there anyone in the north west? [hopeful emoticon}

Pav hope you got to have your bath in peace

I had a rather eventful day yesterday. My friend came round for lunch. We ate lunch and she was sitting chatting to Anya and all of a sudden she got a mild pain in her chest. It got progressively worse to the point where she was in screaming out in pain, crying, grabbing her chest and in pain when breathing. Needless to say, at this point I had been on phone to 999 and ambulance was on its way. My DS (only 2yo bless him) was crying and asking what was wrong with her. When I tried to reassure and comfort him he would tell me to go and sit beside my friend. It was so scary, I thought she was having a heart attack. She was taken to hospital and after about 5 hours was diagnosed with pleurasy (sp?). I am so relived she is OK but am worried about how it has affected ds. After she had gone he kept asking if she was ok and when DH came home from work he said "Amanda had a pain in her chest and was crying daddy, she wanted her mummy". Then when I put him to bed he asked where she was and started patting his chest asking "what's that? Its my chest". Poor wee thing, I hope he'll be ok.

Hi all

Am also having difficulty keeping up with the thread! Sorry for all those feeling bad. I must admit I'm pretty up and down emotionally and think it's sleep related but it's so hard to know what's 'normal' without being able to feel how others are feeling iykwim. I really want to do some exercise and have to check what I'm eating otherwise it's quite easy to get into a don't sleep, get up, eat rubbish, feel rubbish cycle. I've also been getting quite a lot of headaches which I think are stress related.

Isaac still has thecoldthatwillnevergoaway and it's waking him up so often I can't even remember last night now. He also had his 4 months jabs yesterday which led to a manic inconsolable screaming session yesterday evening. I've got him sleeping in the sling now hoping he'll get some rest and feel a bit better.

I might pop to the park as it actually looks like another nice day outside. Here's hoping for a night with lots of sleep for everyone tonight.

Tok Hope your friend's ok and your DS is not too freaked out.

Been out to the park this morning for my weekly walk and catch up with a friend. It was lovely, sun is shining and it's quite mild so had a really nice couple of hours. Amazing how that can banish the cobwebs of no sleep!
Have a weaning group in half an hour which is run by the hv's. Cynical bit of me thinks it will be a mission to get everyone to wait until 6 months!! Will report back later.

Hope everyone is having a brighter day today. Am struggling to keep up too and am conscious I'm not resoponding to everyone's posts.

Building work started on our utility room yesterday - next door are doing huge renovations so we're piggy backing on their work to get what we want at a price we can barely afford. No more trudging down to the garage for me though with the soggy washing. Plus, it's a project to keep my brain busy rest is obviously for the weak in this house!

Hope your DS gets well soon BBL. You might be right about it being milder the earlier they catch it. DD had it at 2 and wasn't bad, after a few days she was more bored of being in the house than anything. I just bumped into someone whose DS has chickenpox and he is on antibiotics - so it might be worth a trip to the GP if it's distressing him?

We're just back from the doctor ourselves with DD's persistent cough. They've given her antibiotics and steroids to take as well as inhalers. Now I feel guilty as I don't know if I was treating it seriously enough, but I know my GP avoids giving steroids if possible. Very selfishly, I had been thinking about all the sleep that I've been missing out on when James has slept in the night and she hasn't. I need to give her loads of cuddles on the sofa today.

Me time? Who's me?

Wook that class sounds AMAZING. I might set one up where you can sod the exercise and go and meet other mums for a lounge in the jacuzzi while someone entertains your baby! Would you pay £4 for that?... £40??

Fairybex glad you're feeling a bit better. I'm interested in why you eat meat once a week? I used to only cook meat twice weekly to try and save money, but then I gradually started making one of them a roast chicken, which would last for 3 days and it gradually crept up. I should go back to that, it would be much healthier.

Well, am back from the weaning group meeting and it was pretty good actually
Turns out that the advice is not to wean until 17 weeks, but preferably 20 weeks and to have started for sure by 26 weeks. Ioan is 17 weeks on Sunday so think we'll be starting pretty soon!
The things that show they're ready:
holding head up well and sitting propped up
watching you eat and showing interest
waking more at night
eating fists/hands

Although am a bit at some of the 'signs' as they could also be teething or just general watching you.

Laugs hope your DD feels better soon. Sign me up for your jacuzzi class too

scarlotti Do you think the guidelines have changed since you had DS1 then? DD is 3.4 and I'd assumed I didn't need to go to a weaning group as it would all be the same as with her. Did it sound like the ideal was 20 rather than 26?

Oh crumbs Toby is 15 weeks and starving. I can't make him wait 5 more weeks... I don't know what to do. He is practically swallowing his fists!

Have you tried those hungry baby milks? I don't know if they'd make a difference, but it might be worth a try.

The guidelines seem to be the same as with DS1. Tbh I only went to the group for a nosey! I've just seen a link to a brilliant paper showing the research done by the WHO on weaning here which states the same as my group did - not before 17 weeks and by 26 weeks. It's worth a read as it also says that the studies showed no difference in allergies in babies that left out certain foods and those that didn't.
BBL DS1 was 16 weeks and is fine. I'd wait until Sunday as we're almost there with Ioan for the 17 week mark if it wasn't for visiting my Mum next week. I'll be doing it as soon as we're back though so he'll be 17.5 weeks.
The paper shows that the gastric intestines are mature enough by 17 weeks to take extra food. Another help for us mum's with big babies, is that it says there's no reason to go softly softly if you don't want and your baby is needing the food. I think I'll take it slow the first few days to a week, but if he takes to it as I think he will, I'll then start doing 2 then 3 meals a day. He's been eating his fists for weeks!

Well he has comfort milk for colic and they don't make a hungry baby version of that. Not sure what to do. He's waking at night as well. I know the baby police will get me if I try to wean him too soon. DS1 did have hungry baby milk and we started him 16.5 weeks with the health visitor's blessing. He was bloody starving by then! (He still has a massive appetite.) DS2 was 22 weeks I think. All babies are different I suppose. I just want to get the right balance.

I'm going to go slow too. Start with just a bit of apple and baby rice. He's sixteen weeks on Saturday. I might see if he can hold off until the weekend.

If you can hold off until 16 weeks then that would be better I guess, but I can't imagine that a few days is going to make that much difference if he's ready. It's not like his tummy suddenly matures overnight!!