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

[PreggoK8]

Hope this has worked...

Pav hooray on the sleep!!

It was really cold here last night and somehow one of the radiators in the bedroom was off so a chilly night for me and Ioan. Stupidly I was clock watching too, so kept trying to get him back to sleep instead of feeding him from about 4am and just got broken sleep for an hour for my troubles!

Have started to feed laying down again the last two nights though and it's really cosy

Anyone else got a snotty baby? He gets all blocked up at night and the poor boy really struggles in the early hours. Sounds like he's almost choking at times, which is really worrying and has me leaping out of bed.

Raggie at your pocketful of poo!

General Jimster! Amazing. I am totally stealing that Venus. I have taken to calling him James the Cat after the 80s cartoon I can't remember anything about except the tune. I'm not that keen on cats though...
Oh, two cinemas here doing the baby showings. They put them on really early, when the cinema would be empty anyway (10 or 11am), turn the volume down a bit and make sure there is space to park buggies, warm bottles etc. I think it's a brilliant idea. Can't go though as DD isn't at nursery when it's on.

I agree with Erika and Fruit, I need some time to myself. I've tended to think of it as 'time off' when I have only one of them to mind, as it is so much easier, but of course it's not proper time off. Come to think of it, I think I've had about half an hour alone since James was born. A night out is not possible as he is so fractious and feeds all evening. I need a morning off in a posh cafe with the Sunday papers ... what, don't tell me it's only Tuesday??

raggie and wook I'm with you on the no-job-to-return-to stress. I applied for one yesterday, even though I don't really want to work before August. A bit stupid really, but I've just become obsessed with finding work.

Am I the only person for whom breastfeeding gets harder and harder? It's not supposed to be like this!! This morning I pulled a centimetre-long piece of bloody skin off the end of my nipple...yuk, and ouch. It has occurred to me that maybe I am looking for a job as an excuse to stop breastfeeding.

Instead of doing the much needed housework, I'm going to sit on the sofa, mumsnet and eat my crumpets in peace! DS1 is at preschool, DS2 asleep in the carseat. Thank you ladies for your kind words. I'm feeling better in myself but my body wants to rest, I think I have a viral infection that I'm trying to beat off. DH has 2 days off next week and has said I can do what I want and he'll have the kids! I'm thankful even for a couple of hrs atm. DH does help when I ask him to, but he did say something the other day and I could have hit him over the head! I was asking for some time to myself, and he was saying "not a problem", but then went on to say, "but you had time off from the kids the other night" I said, " Yes, but that was a trip to sainsburys to buy the dinner!" my reply had a few swear words included . But other than that silly comment, he's stepping up the help. DS1 has wet the bed a few nights running now. I'm not going to stress over it and hope it won't last long.

It's impossible to catch up so I'm sorry for not having much input lately. Scarlotti we have a snuffly baby here esp in the early hours. I have a humidifier, karvol and saline drops, but nothing is helping. It's waking him rather early and I end up downstairs at about 5.30am trying to keep quiet so not to wake DS1. Our nights are going good otherwise.

No sign of teething here. He likes chewing on his thumb and giving me a cheeky grin at the same time. He melts my heart with those toothless smiles

Pav that's great with the sleep! Hope it continues Yum! home made compot sounds wonderful!

Venus hope your nights start to improve soon. The early morning wake-ups are awful to cope with.

Helips Hope Millie is feeling better today

Erika Glad to see you back, missed reading your posts.

Hope you're all having a good day

Fruit sorry to hear you're poorly but glad to see you're taking it easy to recuperate.
Ioan seems to sleep better when he's in the bed with me, but I suspect it's because after feeding he then sleeps on his side so one nostril is cleared! I fall asleep when he's eating so can't turn him over. I did worry at first but he seems fine so now just going to enjoy the snuggly nature of it all and the extra rest.
From now on I'm going to try and not clock watch and just feed as and when he wakes up. The next size nappies did the trick for the early wakings too, phew.

Laugs another one obsessing with work here too. Think that interview triggered the process and I really need to chill a bit about it all. Have an iron or two in the fire but no point in exploring it properly until nearer the time. I am looking for childminders now to give me a sense of control over the whole work balance thing.

Oh, thought I'd share too ... do you all remember the sticklebrick fiasco with my brother and sil? When I gave an unused set of DS1's for a present and they got the right hump?
Well, now she's asked for all the clothes she passed on for DS2 back as her friend has become pregnant. I wouldn't mind if they'd said that at the beginning as I could have kept hold of them and marked them, but I asked and they said just charity shop/freecycle them.
So I passed some on to Erika and freecycled the rest that I didn't want. Now I have had to ask Erika for them back and will now have to say I've given them away, which no doubt will go down like a lead balloon!
Sigh. Think I'm going to politely refuse any more 'helpful' donations from them as it's just not worth the stress.
I'd presumed I'd just pass everything on to the next baby due in our family!

scarlotti wtf? What a silly woman! If you give things away, then you give them away, if you want them back you have to make it clear! My friend was given some beautiful expensive clothes for her DD, and was told they wanted them back afterwards. She never put her DD in them, as she was weaning, and she was worried she would ruin them so sort of a pointless 'helpful' thing to do. I gave her some things of DDs, some lovely clothes and said, if I have a girl i would like xyz back if are still around back, but doesn't matter if they get mucky, and if i have a boy (as i did), then whatever is in good condition pass on to other of our friends, all the rest do whatever you wish with! Same with toys etc, as it happens she has passed some of those i gave her back for Reuben, along with some more lovely ones!

I need your opinions ladies. What type of icing do you think is best on cupcakes? Royal icing, softened a little? Royal Icing, not softened at all, or normal glace icing? Do you prefer your cupcakes with a crispy edge and soft spongey in the middle, or just soft and spongey throughout?

fruit sorry you are feeling poorly. I hope you get better soon. I consider time to myself to be very much when i just look after Reuben same as you laugs! For example i am having a girl's night out tonight, friend is cooking curry for lots of us, and we were going to watch dvd's but there are a few of us going now so probably won't get around to that! But i am taking Reuben. I tend to get time out on my own when I am either getting Bella from nursery or if i need to pop to the shops. However, i walked out in a sulk and went for a drive/sit by the sea on my own for an hour, although Reuben could just as easily be in the back asleep! Now he is better in the day, i might go for a swim on my own. I am looking forward to summer, i intend to go kayaking on my own

laugs i am sorry bf'ing is still so hard for you. Well done for persevering with it for so long, you are a gutsy woman!

Hi all

Sorry haven't been on for ages. Another snuffly baby here. Isaac's had a really bad cold and it put him off his food for a week, he wasn't sleeping longer than 45mins and to make matters me and DH both came down with some sort of vomiting winter bug so was totally worn out looking after a poorly baby. He seems much better now but is also waking up all blocked up. Got saline, karvol and a snot sucker but I guess it's just a case of waiting it out. Sleep has never been that great here tbh. I'm also trying to get him to sleep in his cot as he's way too big for the moses basket.

My my, have gone through posts, seems like everybody has their hands full! And can use a break. Have been dreaming of taking off for a week too...oh forget it.
Turns out DH has a weird disease the doctor can't figure out, but he has to be isolate. So apart from being scary he can't even read to DD. Ugh.

Everyone, my smart book says that babies have a hard time in week 12, as their little brains catch up another notch. They can suddenly connect movements. So start to not move wooden and aprublty anymore but they can make more fluid movements, Eg now they can swallow solids (even not yet supposed to)Big change in their little world, unsettles them temporarily.
Just in case anybody else has noticed the new clinginess!

I think we'll get teeth here soon, too, lots of dribbling. Can't wait until enough teeth are here so I have an official excuse to stop nursing....

Comma are you finding the feeding hard too? I have been so determined to tough it out, for lots of more selfish reasons as well as the health one (Like I am lazy. And I loved it with DD. And I hate thinking I have been beaten) but I don't even want to think about a potential 12-week growth spurt. I'm only at 9 weeks.

Have to say, DD seemed to be teething for months and months before any teeth appeared. I have a feeling it's one of those things HVs say when they can't find anything wrong with your unsettled baby.

Pavlov you are still trying to create the ultimate cupcake! I don't really know what my preference is but would be happy to try some in the name of research...

Scarlotti Pavlov is right about passed on clothes. It's not the same as borrowing, where you would definitely assume to give it back. People normally state if they want things back and otherwise they are yours to pass on to someone else. And they told you they didn't want them back!

Lemontop that sounds awful, hope you're all feeling better now. I hope your DH gets well soon too Comma.

Erika I meant to ask how your pregnant friend is getting on and if she has seen any sense/ had any support from her boyfriend yet? Glad you and DP had a nice anniversary! It doesn't seem that long ago we were all newly pregnant and he was your new DP. I'm really glad it's all going so well with him.

laugs yes, still trying! I have got the actual cake right, but not sure whether slightly crispy is better than not crispy. I prefer slightly crispy i think, but not sure it is asthetically the best, either way it is still lovely and light a fluffy inside, although perhaps a bit too sweet (is there such thing?)...I am taking some samples to my girl friends tonight. If i can find a box that will keep the cakes in one piece, i would love to send some to you, and to all the ladies to sample..i could even try to recreate the knitted boob in icing form .

Yes! Pale pink icing and a red jelly tot nipple!

You know, I'd love us all to have a big meet up some time. I know we're all over the country (world, even!) but it would be so nice to get together with our November babes and eat knitted boob cupcakes. I'm picturing them all lined up, September to December births

I was just saying that to DH, when i said i was not sure if my cakes would travel well, that we should have a meetup this year. We should though, we could maybe arrange 2 if it is too difficult to get together from all corners of the country/world...maybe one up north and one down saaaf. Or, we could do one biggun in the middle, hire a B&B or a hotel and all stay (or maybe even camp if we are brave enough - a hotel, some stay there some in the grounds, would be ace!) I bet we could get a discount if we could fill a whole hotel/b&b!

We could have a meet up in the North and one in the South, and communicate via video link!!

Hobnob's Aberdeen isn't she? Is that the furthest north we have? And Pav, are you Devon or was it someone else? We really are poles apart!!

Scarlotti I agree with what the other posters have said about your family asking for clothes back. Entirely unreasonable and trying to cause problems I think.

Well... my moans for the day are that we are having car problems and I think the mechanic is about to suggest trading it in rather than paying the money to fix it. Month one of SMP, this isn't what I wanted to hear! Also had a double nougat ice cream with raspberry sauce last night from the ice cream van... it was delicious but I'd forgotten I was cutting out milk to avoid projectile vomit. Ethan took great pleasure in reminding me at 5am, 6am, 9am and noon today. At least I really hope it was the ice cream as I'm not cutting anything else out of my diet!!

Hope all the poorly babies and poorly mummies are feeling better soon x

Oh claire that sounds horrendous .

I am in Devon yes, as far west as you can get before cornwall! I am in Plymouth. But i like driving, so happy to travel, as long as I don't have DH to help navigate get us lost

OK, am off to go watch Timetravellers Wife with DH while Reuben sleeps and dribbles on me. Have a good afternoon ladies

claire do you think that Ethan has a milk allergy/ intolerance then? That must be hard work for you.

I think there are a few in London and a few in Oxfordshire and most of the rest of us are all over, is that right? London would be good for Maman, she could jet in on the Eurostar!

I'd love for us all to meet up too. I had thought that we could arrange a London meet for anyone that feels they want to go? I am happy to get the train up from Brighton one day as it's not that far ... know it's too far for others like Pav living in Devon though

x-posts with others! Am happy to travel wherever. Love the idea of camping somewhere or a B&B for a night - warmer weather would be needed for camping though, but I can just see all the babies crawling around the tents!

scarlotti another snotty baby here - the choking thing is really scary isn't it? I try to clear her little bogies out but they fly in and out of her wee nose as she does her heavy, snotty breathing and I can't catch them. Bless! A snotsucker snounds like a cool invention lemontop

Yay for the sleep pav! It's amazing isn't it? Just wish it was to be counted upon.After the marathon 8hr snoozing, Rosa woke at 1.30 last night and would not go back to sleep or stop crying anywhere but my chest. Quite nice in a way but so TIRED this morn. Luckily got a 2 hr kip between 11 and 1 while she slept too.

Loving the baby nicknames laugs and venus. I started calling Rosa 'Roo' and it has morphed into 'Roosevelt', 'Roomeister' 'Roomeister deluxe' and once even... 'Roobin Hoodin' .

Ooh a meet up. Good call ladies. How fun that would be. And just imagine all the babies. Maybe we could get some kind of sponsorship from MN to help with all the fares - they could put a promo pic of us on their site!

Ah, but then all new members would think that they were guaranteed babies as lovely as ours Raggie!

Love the idea of a meet! I'd be in the southern cohort.

Scarlotti I told you, its really not a problem Will just have to try and remember which ones they are, as people have been so generous! I can give it all to you apart from a few items I have been asked to keep for my friend if that will make life easier for you. And yes - silly woman.

Laugs am really sorry the feeding is still so hard for you, and in total awe of you continuing through it. As for my friend, the stupid git is now her fiance sighs You just really can't get through to some people can you? Thanks for asking though. A trying to keep as far out of it as possible to be honest. Its too upsetting to process right now. And yes - its so odd thinking that it was this time last year we all fell pregnant, isn't it? Its been a crazy year

Pavlov gotta be butter icing of course Also willing to help out as a product tester. Y'know. Self sacrifice and all that

Would love to meet you all! B&B or tent sounds like a fantastic idea; would mean that those travelling from further away would at least be able to recover from their journey before the wine came out

That's cheered me up slightly. Am having a really shitty day. Bryn has decided to nap even less than normal, and he's not a big napper anyway. He's had maybe ten minutes in 1minute bursts since we got up at 8am. Tried everything. Putting him in the buggy, putting his dummy in, singing to him quietly, allowing him to fall asleep on the breast, even rocking him to sleep. Not buying it. Mum just came up and had a go at me because he hasn't slept. What the hell does she expect me to do?! I can't FORCE him to sleep. If I could have, I would have - I'm exhausted today. Nothing is wrong - he just doesn't want to sleep. But its making him very grumpy.

Am so sick of all the little digs - "I think these nappies would fit better"; cue him waking up with a gangster nappy and poo everywhere; "He's cold, so I've put some extra clothes on", he's crying because he's too hot; "You should try feeding him like this"; "You should have put him on formula by now"; "I'll take him for a bit" - five minutes later, "This is your baby not mine, you know, I can't hold on to him all day!". Makes me want to scream, cry, laugh hysterically and bang my head against a wall, all at the same time.

Sorry. Am so frustrated right now!!!

Laugs potentially, yes. I'm really not sure. I'm actually tempted to have a glass of milk and big bowl of porridge so I'd know for sure!!

its a shame that there isnt a 'Jim'll fix it' equivilant on tv, he'd have sorted out a meet up for us!

Erika sorry to hear your mum is still being difficult. Don't worry about the clothes, I've filled a box full of what I think I have and she'll just have to lump that. Am sure she's only doing it to stir things, but in such a way as to appear virtuous - i.e. doing a good deed for her friend

Claire I hope he hasn't, for both of your sakes, but it'd be good to know. I've had testing for food intolerance before and as far as I remember (I was a child) I had to stop eating all potentially problem foods for 2 weeks, and then introduce them one at a time and look for a reaction. It's a total pain; you have my sympathy.

Erika I'm sure your mum is well intentioned but it would do my head in having someone there to give me advice on tap. These months are a steep learning curve, but you really kind of need to do it for yourself. Even when my mum offers good advice it drives me mad. In fact, I particularly hate it when she advises something I was already considering. I sound like a total spoilt brat don't I?

Trikken Jim'll! I used to think that was his name: Jim'll Saville. Those were the days... when anything could happen

Well... I'll be in London the weekends 27th March and 3rd July (maybe 10th July too) if anyone wants to arrange an entire meet-up around me?
Actually, I think London might be quite good as most people probably have someone they could stay with there, to save a bit of money. (Or is it only me who's entire friendship circle moved lock, stock and barrel to London?) Or I don't suppose anyone has a big garden/ field we could all camp in? [hopeful emoticon]

Laugs Morning! I googled it last night and the kellymom website has some good info. It can be an intolerance to the proteins in cows milk rather than a total dairy intolerance and they suggest the mum avoiding cows milk for a month or two then trying to reintroduce it. I'll give it a go. His 5am feed and this morning's feed have been much better but that was a whole 24hours of major sickness. Not nice. Kellymom talked of "happy spitters" who are frequently sick but still put on weight, describing it as a social and laundry issue. That's an understatement. Feeling more hopeful today though. Fingers crossed!

Jim'll Saville has a nice ring to it.

Off to the garage with my car shortly. Slim chance it'll be a small repair then back on the road but I think it'll be either £500-£600 or getting rid of it for a new car. Grr. I think I'll buy a euromillions ticket while I'm out!