May 2009 - A new start. Mine's a large gin please.

[runningmonkey]

Here you go ladies.

Morning everyone,

We had a reasonable night here after the nightmare night of yesterday. I have decided not to feed C before 3 am after the dream feed. I can't seem to be able to cut out her dream feed, because if I don't give it to her she wakes at 11 or so. Dd1 just naturally grew out of it and by the time she was 8-9m I just didn't give it to her and she didn't wake, so I'm not sure what to do about that one. C had started waking every 2h, so when she woke last night at 1 I just cuddled her in bed with me, but didn't feed, resulting in 2 hours worth of her kicking crying out settling, wriggling, kicking, etc... She only settled for longer than 5 mins when it was 3 and I gave her her feed Last night was much much better AND I went to bed earlier too.

We might be going to Leeds Castle today, but it's not a 100% fixed plan yet.

febes I drive past the sign for HOp Farm all the time! Is it any good?

C still bfs easily 6 times in 24h, way more than dd1 come to think of it. I suppose that's why my periods aren't back yet. When I think of the last 24h, she fed at 5.30am, 1pm, 3pm, 6.30pm, midnight, 3am and then again at 5.30-6. Hmm, so that works out at 6-7 times Sometimes she even has a mid morning feed. They're mainly pm feeds I see, that might explain why I don't feel too full after an early, but I do get very full after a late shift even though lates are shorter.

Much much better was "only" waking at midnight, 3 and 5.30, now I look back at it. Still not brilliant, but at least I had 3h of uninterrupted sleep in there somewhere

Belgian Lots of feeds!! It makes it tricky when you are working. What about offering water or juice and a snack instead of feeding during the day? I have been trying to encourage DS to have a drink and snack instead. Some days it works some not. Most night I don't feed at all until 6.30amish so he is going 12 hours at night now (thank goodness) Yesterdays feeds were 6.30am, 9.30am, 6pm and then 6.30 this morning. I'll let you know what the hop farm is like. They have spring/easter family things on at the moment.

febes C's actually OK with others. I'm planning to stick it out until she's 1, in view of the milk being babies' main source of food up to 12m. TBH the daytime feeds don't bother me all that much, it's the nights that are getting to me. Especially as she was actually a brilliant sleeper for the first 6 months of her life. 11-5 was her normal. I'm going to tackle the nights this month though, because I'm in FAU, which means no shifts and all routine work, so fatigue shouldn't affect me too much at work.

Hmm, just re-read my post. I meant that when I'm not at work C is OK with less feeds, but when she sees me she wants it IYKWIM. Actually yesterday she had the 1st time ever where she was hungry and wanted food rather than boob (pushed boob away and attacked the food on her tray with gusto 5 mins later). She seems to be progressing naturallly

Aaargh, I meant that when I'm at work she's ok with less feeds.
Time to go I think. I'm making too many mistakes.

Happy Easter Monday

Thanks for all your condolences for MIL. Feelings are obviously still raw but we've been out with family over the weekend - mine on Sat, DH's yesterday - which I think has helped. I had a long chat with BIL yesterday, which was helpful for me because DH is one of those who can't/won't talk about difficult feelings. BIL says he and FIL probably feel a little relief as they knew MIL's death was fairly imminent, and as it turned out she didn't linger or endure too much pain. In fact up until H's birthday she was up and dressed and reading 50 pages of her novel every day. The funeral - next week, I think - will be awful though.

Belgina I saw your FB post about C's sleeping. Glad you had a relatively better night last night, and a good idea to tackle it while you have a relatively easier workload.

H still bfs several times in 24h, usually 1.00am, 4.30am, 9.30am, 1.00pm, 4.00pm (sometimes), 7.30pm, 10.30pm. I've decided not to tackle the night feeds yet as he still doesn't eat a huge amount of solids and often refuses some or all of his meals at nursery. He always accepts snacks though .

My priority at the moment is to get him spending all night in his cot, partly as we were all getting disrupted with co-sleeping, and partly because when I'm back at work next week I'll be getting up at 5.45am and don't want to wake him if I can help it, plus it won't be safe to leave him on the bed with DH, who might not notice H wake up and crawl off the bed - nearly happened before! So far we've gone until 5.30/6.30am but he's been up at 1.00, 4.00, 5.00 etc and because it takes up to 45min to get him back into his cot each time I'm completely exhausted by morning - luckily DH has been letting me have a lie in on condition he can nap later. I'm thinking about CC but still unwilling because H has SA quite badly and isn't settled in nursery yet. I have a feeling the back-to-work exhaustion may drive me to it though.

Spangle how is everyone doing today? My thoughts are still with you all.

Belgina I loved the duck race photos. It looked like fun! I agree that your village looks and sounds lovely.

Periods odd that you mention them being heavy. I've had 2 bleeds, 28 days apart, and they've both been so light protection was futile! I might see what the next one brings. I had PMT, cramping etc so I'm pretty sure it was a period.

Sleep not much happening here. I think DS2 is still going through his growth spurt as he is waking at midnight still, then again at 5ish for a feed. DS1 isn't doing too well on the sleep front either so DH has taken them both swimming to tire them out. [fingers crossed!]

I have a dilemma. We are going out Saturday night to a 25th wedding anniversary celebration. It is being held at a country club with a formal sit down dinner. I don't know what to wear and can't really afford to buy anything after buying stuff for work. So, I have a choice of:

Brown silk dress with teal embroidery on the neckline.

Black dress with pink flowery pattern.

Both of the above are pre-date the DCs and are perhaps a bit too long (calf-length) perhaps for now.

Blue empire line jersey dress, could be dressed up I suppose.

V short black tunic dress thing with black footless tights: not sure if this is a bit too unsuitable for a country club thing?

I dunno really. I've been hibernating for so long I don't know WHAT to wear. I feel very mumsy all a sudden and a bit invisible.

Gah. Sorry, all me me me. Any advice?

llare can't quite say without seeing them, but the brown silk dress sounds nice and you could definitely dress up the jersey dress - I did this recently with a turquoise Boden one - wore black suede platform shoes, nice jewellry and a touch of turquoise eyeshadow.

Oooooh, never thought about make-up! I really must add make-up to the lit of things I ought to update from the last century, never mind the last decade. Does anyone else feel like they are an aged version of their 20 year old self?

Funny you should say that - on Good Friday DH and I were supposed to be going to a reunion for the goth/alternative nightclub we used to go to in our late teens/early 20s. The idea was to dress up as we did then... I even found my crimpers! Today we've been amusing ourselves by looking at photos of the night on FB.

I would say I've moved on a (little) bit in my day-dress-sense but I struggle to get over the need for black, stilletto heels, red lipstick AND black eyeliner for an evening out. I literally have to chant to myself 'eyes OR lips, eyes OR lips, eyes OR lips'.

Happy Easter Monday all!
spangle, at the crimpers.

llare, I do like the sound of the brown silk dress. you can update the hemline by the right pair of shoes (perhaps?).

belgina, must get on FB to see the ducks!

LadyH, I think I agree with you that MN/FB takes up enough time as it is and I'm not sure I can fit in LJ as yet. Heck, I've been a 'member' of Linked in for nearly 2 years and have NEVER used it (I've logged in once, I think).

How is everyone else?

In laws were fine, we've left the older 2 Dd's there for another 2 days so H is an only Child for a bit. Bless her, she's still not 100% and very clingy/whingey etc. not sure if it's teeth, a bug, a bit of both. she hasn't run a temp but hasn't eaten much in the past few days and has been a bit sleepy. still smiling in between fussing so I think it will pass.

we had an easter egg toss, easter egg hunt, lots of chocolate consumed, hyper DDs. no more sweets (I vow) for a year now .

morning! hope everyone had a lovely easter not been on for last few days as I got my first period and i've not felt v good with it. it arrived sunday am unexpectedly and totally wiped me out and strangely it's made me really dizzy i've been eating my weight in chocolate and drinking lots of water is helping but it's affected my being able to read anything! my eyes go all googly and v dizzy. be back later to catch up when i can read without it causing me probs .

Gosh, Fi, hope you feel better.

It just goes to show how different everyone is with periods returning.

My 2nd one has just arrived and I was very, very moody beforehand (but then, that doesn't feel much different from my 'normal' mood, hehe).

Before it arrived the 1st time, I had a couple weeks of very heavy feeling in my lower abdomen, very crampy.

hope you feel better, Fi.

Hope everyone is well today. Tumble dryer has arrived! I just can't be bothered to unpack it and plug it in. got lots of work to do today and cleaning in anticipation of my Dsister and Dnephew from chicago who are visiting this weekend!

My first period after Greer was so bad that Bob nearly called an ambulance, I was doubled over in pain and spent pretty much the whole day in the bath necking painkillers. Horrible!

Afternoon all,
Sorry not been around, been incredibly busy with visitors and been feeling poorly (suspected gallstones ). Have been thinking of you all though

Am currently listening to A thrashing about in her cot instead of sleeping so am going to have a little bit of a read and see if I can catch up a bit...

Helloooo!

Work tomorrow. Gulp.

Sorry to hear you've been ill, runningmonkey. Blotted, that sounds scary.

So am going to attempt a bit of a catch-up

spangle so sorry to hear about your MIL, v sad and my thoughts are with you and your DH's family.

ses at your DH's accident. Scary for you all. How is he doing now?

headless Congratulations! sticky bean vibes coming your way

flipp sorry your work weren't accomodating, I don't have any useful advice to add but hope that you are happy with whatever decision you eventually come to

saus hope you are recovering well and are happier now at home

tum how was camping? I am sooooo excited about our trip at the end of May in the new tent. A will be spending her first birthday under canvas

Big local radio stylee shout-out to everyone else who has been one while I've been away blotted, hinny, reg, belg, loob, llare, fi, younger, muddled, febes and anyone else, have forgotten who and what I've read now

I don't think I'll be able to manage another online thing as well as here and FB! In fact, DH and I were talking about how we want to do other things in the evenings instead of sitting on our respective laptops in front of the telly so I'm going to pass on LJ I'm afraid. I do want to stay in touch with you all though so will still be around here, I don't think I would have survived the last year or so without you

re periods I got my first one exactly 4 weeks to the day after A had her last bf! They haven't been too bad but I have had horrendous PMT. DH and I have decided we're going ttc asap though, am thinking that it probably partly his idea to get a bit more, ahem, action and in the hope that it will happen quickly so I won't be having the monthly rage for another long while!

Right, must go wash up, this has taken about 2 hours and three resettles of A to write (she has discovered how to pull herself to standing in her cot )

fi hope you're feeling a bit better now. at how hard it hit you.

llare good luck tomorrow. Have you got your return to work outfit sorted?

running nice to see you and hope you are feeling better now. Gallstones sounds particularly painful. I'm passing on LJ too so I'll stick with you round these parts! And good luck with the TTC.

younger have you plugged in your tumble drier yet???

Am still feeling rough but today that has meant that I have needed to eat everything in sight. So far today have eaten:
Hot cross bun with jam
Bacon sandwich
2 fingers of a kit kat
Jacket potato with homemade (not by me though!) coleslaw and cheese
3 shortcake biscuits
ABout 5 Ritz crackers with cheddar cheese on

So much for the lo-carbing!!! And in with the massive carb craving.

Am not sleeping very well either. My body seems to have great difficulty in regulating my temperature so am too cold or too hot in bed and seem to be having the "vivid" dreams already.

Still only lurking on the due Nov thread. There have been 2 mcs on there in the last week and so it scares me slightly, so I'll bore you lot with my symptoms instead. Apologies.

Hope everyone else ok.

headless Keep on boring us with your symptoms. It's all quite exciting for us IMO. Lets those of us who aren't ttc, but would love to experience pregnancy once more through you Your diet sounds about right to me... Pretty much what I'd eat when I'm pregnant (minus the kitkat, oddly enough I go off chocolate in the 1st 3 months )

running about the galstones. I hope they get treated soon and that they wont give you too much bother for much longer. Exciting about the ttc plans!

younger Hurrah for the tumble dryer. Get it unwrapped asap and enjoy it! Enjoy your time with your relatives.

fi about your period arriving making you feel so bad. Should pass soon enough though

llare Good luck with work tomorrow.

sleep training Isn't working too well so far. C keeps waking at 1 and just doesn't settle properly without a feed. She then spends the next 2h thrashing around in bed, whimpering until she gets a feed at 3. I'm determined to get her to sleep to 3 and then gradually move it from then. Luckily I didn't feel too tired today. But then maybe I'm just used to feeling permanently exhausted

I found out today that my boss for the month is Dutch. It's really weird, because I spent all day communicating with her in English and then when we both found out we spoke the same language we still carried on in Dutch .

hi all.
Just sat down to work after a lovely afternoon with H shopping in town where it took me 45 min to decide whether to buy the cheaper Topshop ballet flats that are sooooo comfy but will hardly last the summer or pay a bit extra for harder wearing but less comfy pair. H was very patient with me. I chose the cheaper-yet-comfy flats. very happy .

running, gallstones aaagggh! talk to sinnin

xposts belgina, how are you? glad you're not feeling so tired and how cool that your new boss is dutch.

Tumble dryer is now plugged in (but yet to be used; guess I need to do some laundry now to do that and ).

I'm fine younger. Tired, but fine. Waiting until it's a decent time to go to bed (maybe 10). C's such a grump recently. I'm hoping tonight will go better, yawn. I think you've made the right choice with regards to your pumps. Always go for comfy, no matter what the price of quality

happy Anniversary Dandy! will FB message you then.