April 2010 - our little bundles are here!

[lineky]

Thought I'd start a Post-Natal thread as there are so many of us now sorry about the uninspired name.
Well I am slowly realising the sleepless nights thing is no myth - VERY tired!

Glad you had a better night harverina
I love feeding in bed - DD1 gets up first, wakes DD2 up, then we all snuggle while Boo has her milk - occasionally (very) the girls both fall asleep and we just gaze in wonder

3 courses for lunch??? Wow! What does she have? I have not given her a snack yet, but am thinking of starting when we try to drop a milk feed - just fruit, or a rice cake or toast or sommat.

What are you getting Eilidh for Christmas? Boo has all DD1s stuff, so needs very little - So far she has got a posh teddy from my parents, a couple of books and a taggy from us and not sure what cheap tat the in-laws will get. Any cash we are given will go towards a new car seat.

I have had a good day - baking with DD1, whilst making 42 meals (not different, just portioned out) for Boo, and a double batch of Cottage Pie for the rest of us. Flopped in front of X factor now

Yeah Eilidh usually gets really sleepy when we feed in bed. Thats one of the reasons why I have started to bring her through to our bed during the night...I used to stay in her room and feed her but its getting chilly at night and its nice to snuggle. Same in the mornings.

Yeah 3 course lunch, only started this recently though...small courses...soup to start usually, then a main course with carbs/protien like fish or pasta, then stewed fruit. Dinner at night is only a small as I feel her tummy gets upset if we feed her a big meal to close to bed.

Well, we had planned to get Eilidh a Smart Trike for christmas but the in-laws are now getting her that so not sure what we are getting. Have already go a couple of wee toys for her but need to think of one bigger toy - not going to go mad though as she won't know what its all about and Im sure other people will get her plenty. Any cash we get will also be going to a car seat too. They are so expensive!

We are also watching x factor. Eilidh is still up but she is having sleepy cuddles on her daddy so will be in bedsoon. We were home a bit later than usual tonight so running a bit behind.

stinky hope work is ok tomorrow. Remember, stay calm...a good trick is NOT to look down at the bottle when expressing and read a magazine or eat lunch while expressing. I usually get a pleasant surprise of I do that

stinky, meant to say, I usually make different veg soups without stock...this week I made carrot and coriander as I was making it for me anyway. Last time I made a mediteranean veg soup (peppers, onions, courgette, neep). Eilidh absolutely loves soup and devours it!

Aww..I miss lying down/snuggly feeds in
bed!! Seems so long go since I stopped..well done Stinky and Harverina..you're doing amazingly well :)
We went to watch the Christmas light switch on today..it was sooo cold! Apparently I had a couple of teenage lads ogling my bum, so I mustn't have looked as rough as I felt..or maybe that means my bum's nicer than my face lol
DD wouldn't stroke the reindeer after queueing (that spelling doesn't look right!!) so I had to hide my own excitement, and give him a quick stroke, without upsetting Makenzi..she liked the polar bear, which was pretty cool, but when she plucked up the courage to go down and stroke it, he was led away for a rest..and the bungee jump rampoline things that she spent so long begging for a go on lasted all of 30 seconds1! £3 as well..I was a misery and drew the line at more rides haha...plus a fiver for a flashing windmill that didn't work...but it was so worth it!! She had a greta time..her face when the tree lit up was priceless, and I had to stop myself from blinking cuz I had a lump in my throat (aand it wasn't raining enough to hide the tears!!!!)
I sooooooo want my decs up now!!
Sorry to invade your posts..we have also just had to fork out for a new car seat for him..plus the 9-12 month clothes we got him for Christmas are being worn now, and we have resided to get him 12-18 months clotehs to make sure he will get some wear out of them..he's not overly chubby, just a big lad.
For Christmas so far we have got him Scout the Dog (soo cute..I've programmed it already so it's ready to play with!!) A whizzaround garage..a ball pit..a pushalong train with bricks (that DP's dad is now buying for him), & animal sounds aqua doodle. Like Stinky, Jude has shed loads from DD, and I like to get stuff that they can 'grow' with..I already know what I'm getting for his birthday too..after Christmas, it's only 3 months til he's a whole year old..and if so far it has gone quick, that is gonna fly by!!!
I'm off to try and blag a hot chocolate off DP..don't think it will work, but I'll try!! ;) xx

Woah..that's a long post..I'm so sorry!!! xx

Princess, dont apologise for a long post, mine are always huge! Sounds like you had a lovely, albeit cold, day!

You sound like your really organised for xmas already. As we only have Eilidh I feel like we have lots of time to get organised, better not leave it all too late though

Jude sounds like a big boy! Eilidh is in 6-9month clothes and alot of them are still quite big on her. She is quite long but slender. Have lots of 9-12 month clothes for her already. I love clothes shopping for her but I really need to stop. I get my last maternity pay this month so need to stop spending

Heading for a nice hot bath now. My feet are sore from walking round the shops today!

Probably telling folk how to suck eggs, but please remember not to put 'em in forward facing seats until 9 months, even if they have their knees up by their ears. Better broken legs than a broken neck - blunt but true

Billie is in 6-9, but have spent the evening sorting 9-12 stuff out. I only ever buy second hand clothes (Next stuff, as a bit of a snob) except for underwear and nightwear. She is very chubby, and has just had her first haircut.

Will be glad to get back to work for a rest

Princess did I understand your post right? Was there a Polar Bear to pat?

Hi guys. Just thought I'd my two penneth on the Christmas present discussion. George has got so much from DS1 so he's only getting a few things - some "that's not my..." books (cos I love em!), an activity bar to go across the buggy & an activity station thing that converts into a ride-on thing as they get older.

We went to a garden centre today to look at the Christmas stuff & ds1 went into Santa's grotto. His little face was a picture! This is the first year we have done it as last year he was too scared of father Christmas to go anywhere near him

princess I think we are going to put our decorations up next weekend. We have the inlaws staying so thought it would be nice to do it while they are there and have an early mini-Christmas with them. We normally wait until start of dec but it's only a few days early.

haverina how does Eilidh eat the soup as it is runny? Do you dip bread in it or just spoon it in? George is loving the chicken casserole & braised beef i made him this week. We had a roast chicken for supper today & so I blended a bit of everything up for him - he was loving it! I don't ever remember doing that for ds1 as he has always been so fussy - I could never understand how other people claimed to feed their baby what they were having - now I understand!

George is wearing 9-12mth stuff too and is not yet 7mths. He had a bit of a growth spurt recently and jumped from 75th centile to 91st and seemed to go straight from 3-6mth stuff into 9-12. No sooner had I got the 6-9mth out of the loft & washed it, I seemed to be packing it away again! He needs some clothes for Christmas as DS1 was an august baby so a lot of the stuff I'm unpacking now is summery

Hello again! No broadband since Wednesday, BT being rubbish, about 8 phonecalls later it finally came back on yesterday.
Princess - same question as stinky - was there a polar bear to stroke?!
Stinky - hope the expressing goes OK. I went back to work at 8 months with DD, and I'm going back in two weeks so Alexander will be the same. I'm only doing morning and bedtime feeds now, I never expressed for DD but just geve her water to drink in the day, and lots of yoghurts/cheese sauce etc. She's a bit skinny but I think she's OK :), I fed her to 16 months.
So, we tried the controlled crying thing at night to stop the night feeds, DH got up with him so he wouldn't think I was coming to feed him. On Friday night it was just half an hour of crying, then he dropped off. Saturday he was up briefly a couple of times. Last night...nothing! Fingers crossed we have another good night tonight.
Sympathies for all with sickness and bad sleeping.
Alex has his first settling in visit at nursery today :( just an hour, he'll probably love it.

Bettymum..get the tissues ready for yourself..if it's anything like Makenzi's , she was absolutely fine, I was a mess!! Good luck xx :)
There was a polar bear, called Bjorn..don't worry, he was very friendly, and extremeley cute!! He just walked in front of us while we stood in a circle around him. He jumped up a few times, but was fine.... ;)
I'm just joking..the reindeers were real, but Bjorn was motorised, and was absolutely amazing! I should have mentioned he wasn't real lol...sorry!! The detail was incredible..the way he moved, the way he twitched his nose..if he ever goes to an event near any of you, take a look. He was well cute x
I forgot to mention yesterday that Jude can clap his hands!!
We sing clapping songs all the time, and I saw him swing his hands together and jokingly said ooh, he's trying to clap..but as the day went on he really did clap. Soooo proud!! It sometimes is a bit hit and miss..he's still working on his coordination,he sometimes stops just before his hands meet, and then realises he needs to have another go bless him.
Must go and get ready,,was meant to be a short post!!!

Bjorn sounds lovely :) we have our christmas lights switch on on Friday, no polar bears for us. Last year we did have Bear Grylls, though.

Hi all.
Never seem to get around to posting on here recently, although I read what you're all up to every couple of days

Harverina I go back to work 3 weeks on Wednesday. I got my last pitiful payslip into today. I had a meeting last week and it was awful. Really dreading it but I'm only going back 3 days due to holidays and realise in these times I'm lucky to have a job to go to. I have a lovely childminder 2 days a weekk and my mum and MIL will share the other day.

I'm still bf too with the occasional attempt at a bottle of formula which H is still nonplussed about. I was very encouraged to read that Bettymums DD1 went all day without milk at 8 months as H will be 8.5months when I go back and I'd be quite happy for her to do that. I have no plans to stop feeding atm but I'll see how things go when I go back to work.
Like others have said I'm not anti-ff, especially as DD1 was fully ff from 6 months, but bf is going really well and feels right for H. Has anyone else read The Politics of Breastfeeding? I read it recently and found it fascinating.

H also has a lot of toys and clothes from DD1 but I've bought her a few things for Christmas including the FP sing and go choo choo. We've bought the girls a dolls' house to share and they're also getting a sledge.

H just moving into 9-12 month clothes now. I've done a lot of sales shoping (up to age 2!) and I'm going to get the 12-18month stuff down from the loft soon. I'm definitely not having more so looking for somewhere worthwhile to donate H's 3-6 month stuff (smaller stuff went to the neonatal unit)

I'm super-excited about Christmas but DH won't let us put up the decorations until the 1st weekend in December. Bah humbug!

Didn't intend to wrte so much

Think I need to get back to work if the typos in my last post are anything to go by!

3rd week of Dec for our decorations here, and that is after negotiating from Christmas Eve!

Hi Stinkypinky I won't be telling my Dh about your post

Hi everyone!

Zeeky I just spoon in the soup...w are doing a combination of BLW and spoonng now. Started off soley with the BLW but after Eilidh's allergic reaction I felt really nervous about the whole weaning process and started pureeing everything. BLW had nothing to do with the allergic reaction, but I suppose I felt more in control when spoon feeding EIlidh...sounds a bit silly thinking about it now, but doing BLW with spooning has worked quite well for us. I offer finger foods with every meal but also use a spoon with every meal too...so with the soup I also ut put buttered mini rice cakes for Eilidh to eat/gum.

Neeko I havent read the politics of breatfeeding but I would really like to. I keep meaning to order a copy, will need to do it soon...maybe santa will bring me it

I am going back to work 3 days too. At the moment my MIL and mum are offering to do one day each and I am looking into nurseries/childminders for the other day. I am uncertain of my mum will cope with doing a full day every week though - she is not the most confident with Eilidh...if E even whimpers my mum thinks that something is wrong with her. Will wait and see, but in the meantime I need to suss out local childcare and start planning. Hoping to go back to work wed/thus/frid, although my employer doesnt know that yet. I will need to write and request a reduction in hours. Havent decided whether to ask for a permenant reduction or a temporary reduction.

princess, thats great that Jude can clap his hands! Well done Jude! I am slightly though! I am also singing clap hand songs to no avail! E just smiles!

E has woken up and is howling. DH is calling me through so Id better go.

Night all

Morning all, well, the controlled crying thing is going horribly wrong. Alexander has been really hard to settle in the evenings, and if he does settle, he's up in the night screaming and screaming and boy, can he scream. He started at nursery on Monday for an hour, had lunch there on Tuesday, and did all day Wednesday and Thursday. I don't know if it's all the changes and excitement that have unsettled him. I feel horrible as I'm putting him in nursery without me all day, and then I'm listening to him crying and nght with DH telling me not to go in to him. Ended up taking him into our bed at about 4am, so I've probably ruined everything. One more week till I go back to work, everything crossed that he starts to sleep better by then...

Kacie has had the d&v bug here although she didnt have a temp with it luckily. it lasted 3 days last weekend and so far none of the rest of us have had it. as soon as she was better from that though she started with an awful cold that has her nose really blocked up and makes her wake all through the night. this has been going on since monday. we put her in our bed last night but she still woke up moaning at least every hour. dont know what to do until her nose clears really, she's struggling drinking her bottles too because of not being able to breathe through her nose. mil is having them both tonight, i feel really mean on her giving her kacie whilst she is like this through the night but then again all my sleep deprived brain keeps thinking is 'yay i can actually sleep tonight'

we have got Kacie scout too, and an activity bar for the buggy. other than that it is all Ajay's old toys. there are a couple of big things that we saved though so it still looks like plenty for her. oh and Ajay has picked out the fisherprice piggy bank that he wants to get her. bless

well done jude, clapping his hands. Kacie just thinks its funny when i try to get her to do it or slaps her thighs instead ha

christmas decs this weekend for us yay. dh will moan about it not even being december but i dont care ha

Oh bettymum, you sound like you are having a rubbish week. Your probably right about the changes unsettling him - its just all so new and he probably just wants to be close to you at night time for reassurance. I'm sure it will all settle down soon. Maybe you should leave the controlled crying until he is more used to nursery and do it on a weekend so that you don't have to get up for work then next day?

nicnac, sounds like things have been hard for you this past week. Hope Kacei is feeling better soon. Have you tried saline drops up her nose? We used these when Eilidh had a cold before every feed and they did help a bit...made her sneeze which was good as alot of the gunk was sneezed out!

We have had a quiet week. Went xmas shopping during the week again and met some friends for lunch. Eilidh was so good all day...smiling at everyone and behaving all through lunch. What a star

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

harverina I think he does just want the cuddles. DH's method of reassurance is to stand at his door going "Oi, you, stop crying." It's not very effective...but then I spend ages giving him cuddles which isn't helping him learn to settle . And he's got a horrid snuffly cold which doesn't help. I ended up taking him into the spare room with me last night at about 2am, plus DD who'd woken up with all the crying. Then she woke me up at 6am covered in blood having hir first ever nosebleed. She was very calm about it, bless her. I cleaned her up, fed Alexander and then we all snuggled up again and went to sleep till about 8.
I'll miss all this when they're in their 20's and they've left home .

We put our Christmas decorations up yesterday, yay! A bit earlier than usual but we had the in-laws staying so thought it would be nice for them to participate & see ds's joy. But instead they just sat on the sofa & watched come dine with me (??!!) & made unhelpful comments like "aren't you worried you'll have a fire with all those lights on your tree?" They're always doom & gloom & "glass half-empty" kind of people. I don't know how dh made it out of childhood sane! Enough moaning about the in-laws -they left this morning so peace & tranquility is restored & we can get on with enjoying the
christmas spirit!

When ds (aged 3) came down this morning and saw the tree again he said "I'm very proud of you Mummy for making the tree look so lovely" - ahhhh, so sweet

George still keeping us up at night. Seems his body clock has adapted to waking at 5 and being wide awake for a hour. Sometimes he is happy to stay in his cot and amuse himself, other times he just screams unless you are in the room with him. Hoping it's just a phase!

My ds was so sweet today. He was playing in the living room and my other two dcs were watching him. I looked in occassionally and he was sitting playing happily with his Winnie the Pooh. The next thing I knew, my dd comes running through and says that he had fallen asleep. When I went through he was sitting leaning forward on his teddy fast asleep.

I'm kicking myself for not taking a photo - why didn't I????

Ahhhh Mistymoo that sounds adorable!! They are at such a cute age now.

misty, how cute! Eilidh fell asleep mid porridge last week! We had to check in case she had some in her mouth

Zeeky. EIlidh's sleep is all over the place. One night she will sleep 8pm-4am then go back to sleep then on other nights she is up at 11pm then sleeps till 6.30am. Not sure whats going on...although I do know that she is teething.

Ever since the D&V bug a couple of weeks ago, her intake of solids has decreased ALOT...is this normal? I keep hoping that it will get better.

Hope everyone is well...its been very quiet...?