March 2010- Group Therapy on the cheap

[ValiumtheConqueror]

And cupcakes

rebecca that sounds amazing. You sound like you have found your calling.

I will test tomorrow and let you know what the result is before after i call DH to tell him. I would like a 3rd but am still in the process of convincing DH and until DS is sleeping through the night, i won't be able to. I had a 2 year age gap in mind...
If i were to be preggie i would want to keep it for sure, unless there is a convincing medical reason. I know it's strange, but i would really like to have a few months of 'trying' and for a bfp to be moment of 'hooray' rather than 'oh'. If it is a bfn then i WILL get the coil. No sex until then :-)
Thank you ladies. I shall keep u posted.

I cant believe you've dropped off my threads Im on! That never happens!
Just back from an extended weekend in Norfolk with my parents which was amazing. They seem to have a different weather system there - it was at 25C every day and sunny. Id almost forgotten what my legs looked like! We had a lovely time except for yesterday in the car on the way home when a wasp stung Charlotte in the face. I was fairly calm as C didnt seem too bothered but DH called my dad (a GP) and asked whether we needed to go to hospital :) Turns out he has watched too much TV and thinks all stings turn into anaphalactic (sp?) shock.. FYI said my dad, this cant happen on the first sting - its the second sting after youve built up an 'antidote' that might get you - Im sure Pacific will explain if Im wrong! Anyway we put some ice on it (which she kept licking!) and there's nothing there today at all.
DD also mastered getting her bum in the air when on her front and is crawling backwards much to her frustration!
scooby excellent walking vid - DD is also marching around when you hold her hands :) How long before we both get backache?!
rebecca wow! Ive been wondering what being at someone elses birth would be like. More or less stressful than your own? Also did you book a smear test??????
Dizzi what news? There was a girl in my post natal ward who had had 6 c sections! The dr was stern with her when she refused a hysterectomy 'while they were there' as she had agreed to it then changed her mind on the birth -day.
Arcadie have things improved? It must be tough with 3 small ones when things go a bit awry.

Thanks for the stain removal advice sarah and sariska and for bluey letting me know that actually lowering the standard might be better!

Now I sound like the thread's slummy mummy. I'm not saying everyone should descend to my level, that's just how I cope with it!

Dizzi, what was the result?

Siamese, you are so cool calm and collected. at your DH and too much telly.

We've sort of started weaning in a rather half arsed hearted way as Alex can now sit in his high chair (only occasionally listing to starboard). So he's had some broccoli, carrot, bread, cheese and (ahem) chips, all of which he thought were quite fun particularly when he could spread them everywhere. Interestingly he wouldn't touch cucumber and there's a family history of intolerance to it. Some of the food has definitely made it through the system! Guess I'll have to actually do this properly now. Gah, it's so much less complicated when it's just milk. Although as he's now taken up biting he (and I ) are going to hit the bottle. Honestly, if I wanted my nipples pierced I'd get it done professionally, not by my darling son!

In amongst all the weaning and biting we've accepted an offer on our house and had one accepted on another. Really exciting but sooooo much to do.

Sorry, am wittering on this evening as a way of avoiding going to get all the paperwork the solicitors need.

Sariska, did you know you have a racehorse namesake? It was Radio 4's tip for the Yorkshire Oaks but it then failed to leave the starting stalls...

rebecca, sounds like a fab experience for you and for the mother.

It's very quiet round here; I'm off to Cornwall (again) on Wednesday and I expect full attendance when I return [Bluey goes bossily off to the Westcountry trailing paperwork].

Hello, ladies, sorry to have been away again. I just do not seem to have time/nervous energy/attention span enough to read and respond to your posts or formulate my own.

Here is what's going on in my life. Still. Gah.

All I am saying is, if Joe was not always going to have been our last child, after the last 5 1/2 months he most certainly would be. If that sentence makes any sense at all to you, you must all be almost as addled as I am .

Sooooo, who has the first brandnew BFP on here then, hm???

I so hope you are all doing really well.
Is the MMMM still on? I would honestly move heaven and earth in an attempt to attend.

As you were

Bluey, bet I could beat you in March '10's slummy mummy stakes How exciting about the house. Good luck with it all. And well done on the blw...I have been doing some reseach on it myself for when Jas is ready. I did the whole baby slop rice thing with DD1 and now I feel a little bit braver, I definitely want to go down the blw route.

Siamese, pleased you had a lovely break. at poor Charlotte being stung. She sounds like she was very brave about the whole thing (far braver than I would have been!).

rebecca, just big hugs for your cousins DS. What a brave boy. What he and your cousin must be going through - so scary for them.

Arcadie, your poor DH! Having the snip must be bad enough, but to still be experiencing problems (and pain) is just adding insult to injury. Hope he heals soon.

Pixie and everyone else hoping (or fearing) a bfp - hope you get the results you want

Things have been restored to comparative normality here - I think that Jas has thankfully come through her 4 month growth spurt. It was just horrendous for a week or so and I barely got any sleep several nights running. I don't know why, but it seems so much worse now than when she was a new born (and I remember exactly the same feeling with DD1). Anyway, Jas is big, bouncy and sleeping lots (probably trying to catch up herself!). She's just waking once at about 3am. She woke me this morning by gently gurgling at about 7.30am (DH said she'd been awake for much longer than that but had been quietly amusing herself until then). She then has a good 2 hour sleep from about 10am. And then she has 1.5 - 2 hours every afternoon! And she always wakes up smiling! Thank God for an easy baby

I have finally gotten around to potty/toilet training DD1 (who's 3 next week). I delayed it because I thought it would be a bad idea with a new baby coming along. Then obviously DH went into hospital. Then I had more bad news. Then we moved house. There just never seemed a good time! Anyhow, it took about 3 days in all. And apart from a spectacular, bovine-type incident in Ikea's canteen, she's been dry day and night for just under 2 weeks. Result. And a very good example of why leaving it later may be a good thing (cleaning up pooey nappies on a 3 year old is a very good example of why it is a bad thing though!).

Speaking of DD1's b'day, in a fit of foolish madness I have organised a joint b'day/housewarming party for Monday. As it's a bank holiday, I foolishly assumed loads of people wouldn't be able to make it. So foolishly I invited a lot of people. We have 48 confirmed guests so far, including 14 children (and not including small babies). Wish me luck!

Pacific, sorry, x/posted with you. So sorry to hear you're still having such a tough time. Lovely to see you on here though.

And, for what it's worth, that sentence made perfect sense to me

Dizzzzzzzyyyyyyyyyy.....

[impatient for news]

Sorry arcadie. Haven't taken test yet. They cost 16 euros each here. DH will buy a cheapo one in the uk so i will hopefully test on saturday.

No namechecking today as i am too eager to get to sleep. Night night. [snoring emoticon]

Oh, just the one then.

rinders well done dd pn the potty training.
And that must have been a spectacular fit of madness. Good luck for monday! You are a brave lady.

hello
Isnt BLW fun? We've just had mango and porridge using a three spoon system! (two for her, one for me to load) and yesterday she nibbled a baby sweetcorn. What is amazing is how quickly they learn how to hold things and how to chew etc. And she isnt shy of flavours at all :) I am a bit stuck on ideas for breakfast though as I always have toast. Maybe Ill have porridge too.

ICWAS funny funny baby bouncer vid!

urgh - she's stuck under the bed - she goes backwards very well (still no turn from front to back though!)

We'll need a new thread title soon..
hmmm

how about 'the one where the poo changes' or is that too grim?
'the one where we try to keep little fingers ut of the playstation?'

sunny here for a chnage so Im off for a walk in an attempt to put on my hotpants on holiday in september..

siamese apparently bf babies take to flavours like a duck to water as they are already used to hints of whatever we eat making its way into the bm.

Saying that, DP thought he'd put a piece of lime into James' mouth to elicit cats bum face. Cue dropped jaw and an exclamation of 'He's like you!' when James started happily sucking on it! (I love lemon/lime)

Well, something of him should be like me; he's the absolute double of his father.

rinders Grats on the potty training! I only have very vague and 'easy' memories of doing my elder two (at a fairly young age). Watch James turn out to show no interest until he's four teen and then it be a nightmare!

Waiting until Saturday, dizzi? Oh well, if we must, we must. And clearly DH is 'in on it' if he's buying so I hope everything is as well as can be between you with the uncertainty still hanging over your heads.

Gah, I'm forgetting stuff I know it. OH! Yay for doula'ing rebecca! I've always fostered thoughts of going into midwifery but don't think I could handle 'when it goes wrong' very well (and I don't mean coping with an emergency situation - I'm great at that).

Yes, I did know about the racehorse, Bluey, but only because someone else on the thread (Flip?) mentioned it a while ago. I wonder if the person who named the horse has also been to the Indian tiger reserve with the same name?

Also enjoying BLW here, although DD is keen to try everything. She got quite irate when I decided that Jaffa cakes and fondant fancies weren't suitable first foods!

And also gearing up to potty training (DS that is, not DD). We've had a few wees in the potty (he is keen for the chic button reward - does everyone else do this?) and yesterday he insisted on going to nursery wearing big boy pants over his nappy .

Dizzi, I also hope you get the result you want. 16 Euros for a pg test! Does the Belgian health care system not want people to find out until they're 3 months gone???

I've ordered some Internet cheeky pg tests as despite a periody feeling mine has not materialised. And I would like to put my mind at ease without going into Boots with my 5 1/2 mo to buy a test...

Choc not chic - and cheapy not cheeky. IPhone thinks it knows my mind better than I do. Maybe it does....

Good morning, ladies .

Lovely sunny morning here in Scotland (for a change, grrrr!). Shame school run was marred by multiple dag-related landmines, most of which found their way on to pram wheels and school shoes, grrrrr again !

Posting v quickly before His Highness awakes - yes, the amazing non-sleeping baby is asleep . In the pram, in the garden.

I won't be reading everything I missed, though. Hope you are all well.

Re potty training: note to self, I really MUST get DS3 out of nappies, he is soooo ready

Hey everyone

Sorry I'm crap at keeping up, I AM reading as much as poss, just not finding time to post.

Miles' sleep seems to be getting worse as he gets older and I can't really work out a set pattern as it sometimes changes from day to day.

Some nights he wakes 5 times, some nights once and I can't tell the difference between the two or work out why?! He had settled down to waking once or twice but then had his 3rd set if jabs (delayed a few times for
Various reasons) and he's back to waking loads again cause he seems to have reacted tot it by getting a cold, either that or he's just caught a cold the day after he had them?!

Have half hartedly tried him
With baby rice/ pureed pear on and off and let him suck a slice of pear the other day but his interest is on and off. He did seem to prefer sucking the slice to the purée but maybe that's cause he's teething (another reason he might be waking!)

Sympathies to all of you having sleep issues, especially Pacific- read your other thread, ((BIG HUGS))

I have forgotten half I read now....
Hopefully I'll get a nap this aft and be able to remember what I was going to type by the time
I start typing!

well ladies I'm back from my holidays. I was having too much fun to post, I was half heartedly lurking but internet time was severely limited (which is a good thing as I had lots of company and things to do whereas in Wales I'm bored and lonely a lot of the time which is why I'm on here so much ). Anyway holiday was fab, my brother got engaged, another close friend got engaged 4 days later so lots of celebrations. I got out for a few meals and a couple of outings to the pub and even a fancy dress party! I was swimming in the sea but only with DD1 not DD2 flip I'll be waiting to hear if you are brave mad enough to dip your boy in the Atlantic or not !!!
DD2 now has 2 teeth and is nipping me regularly stern NO doesn't work and neither does the squash towards your chest technique she only does it at the end of a feed if she has had enough or if I try and feed her when she really isn't very hungry (you know when someone else is holding her, she squawks, so she is passed back and you are told she needs milk!)
She is now sitting really well but isn't showing much interest in food. Well that's not quite true she does show lots of interest when we are eating but when faced with samples she doesn't really get much to her mouth. I've tried rice cakes, carrot, potato, banana, pineapple, cheese, green beans. I haven't had her weighed recently but I know she is heavy so I'm not worried, milk is obvioulsy sustaining her well.
She still has a really sticky eye so I may pop down to baby clinic and get her seen to tomorrow (and get a sneaky weigh in while I'm there)
Sleep is okay in that she does sleep quite a lot but there is still frequent night wakings for boobie milk. She starts in the cot but quite often ends up in bed with us as I am prone to falling asleep when feeding lying down. If I'm awake I will try and pop her back down but strangely this time DH isn't as obsessive about us not co-sleeping so I am not raising the issue
Too much has happened since I last posted for lots of shout outs but off to the top of my head
Dizzi I'll be waiting with interest re your test on Sat. pixie keeping fingers crossed for you too!
rebecca the doula training sounds like a brilliant career move for you. Fingers crossed for your nephew.
pacific I'm sorry that Joe is still such a poor sleeper I wish I had a magic wand for you.
IWCAS your video of Ramsey was hilarious. I need to buy/borrow/beg/steal a heavy duty door bouncer for DD2 to get her to use her legs more. You would think with substantial thighs like her she would be able to do a bit of weight bearing but up until today every time I have held her up she just crumples up her legs.
Hope all the happy holiday makers are having fun (sorry yours wasn't a huge success scooby)

smac- I have a spare baby bouncer if you want it ffp?

oh yes please valium I'll send you a FB message

Pheeee-ew.

We have spent the last few days up. to. our. eyes. with visitors. And now they're all gone. It's mostly due to DH's brother's wedding, with lots of aunts/uncles/cousins/parents of the bride etc etc up for the most part of a week. Plus my friend had also co-incidentally arranged to visit the past couple of days. So we've been visiting, entertaining, running around and generally socialising - and I am Pooped. I've hardly had time to stop for the past few days and definitely not enough time for MNing .

But - the wedding was lovely, bride gorgeous, DD2 as flower girl looked so pretty. She loved getting her hair done, enjoyed wearing her dress, WOULDN'T walk down the aisle (I suspected this all along ) and so I had to walk down with her , ate the lovely reception meal and had a ball dancing most of the night at the ceilidh/disco. I've taken some good photos and will probably post some up in due course. Oh, and DD2 was an absolute STAR all day. She was so well-behaved, didn't mind being abducted by various female relatives/friends of the family and even fell asleep in the middle of the ceilidh!

Aaaaannnd, the romance continues, as DH's cousin, over from Australia, proposed to his girlfriend this very weekend in the Isle of Skye! Awwww. This could mean us being invited, sometime next year, to a wedding Down Under! I'm excited for them and trying NOT to think about expensive flights/long journeys with young kids/giant hairy insects until I'm really sure I need to.

In other news, DD2 seems to be cutting her SECOND tooth! Is this quite early? I thought she was average but I'm now thinking maybe not many of the rest of you have reported dental issues? (apart from you, smac - ouch! )

We also may be the only ones NOT to have yet begun weaning?! She's now 23 weeks and nothing remotely solid has yet passed her lips! It's basically a mixture of being too busy and lazy and not having finished reading the BLW book

pacific man oh man, you must be resilient. Good on you for not going completely crazy by now, I'm continuing to hope Joe will turn a corner really soon.

rinders good news on the potty training - well done!

Dizzi thinking of you too, hope you get the right result.

arcadie I hope your DH's - erm - bits are on the mend

dalrymps sorry your sleep is suffering. DD2 also seems to have gone backwards a bit - not during the night but I'm finding it very difficult to get her into the cot in the evening and have had to cuddle her til 10 on too many occasions lately...

iwcas also loving the vid - he's so cute! R enjoys her baby bouncer too, and we've just started her in her baby entertainment centre thingy too, which she seems to just love!

I know it's a bit early but I'm scouring ebay for a good vtech baby walker. We didn't have one for DD1 but she seemed to love them when we came across them at other people's houses etc. So I'm determined DD2 will get one instead! Off to check ebay now... have a good evening all.

Evening,enroute home after nice meal out. torn between staying out or going home to bed-Ds on sleepova with auntie ten doors away! Yay!

Presently sleep winning!

hi everyone, just read what i have missed and cannot think of what i want to post, but wanted to tell Pacific- i feel for you, hope things get easier for you soon you really have had a tough time with DS4 havn't u!

all fab here, Harry back at school next thurs so we are sorting new shoes etc- Rosie is starting nursery sept 6th and we cannot wait not sure who is more excited her or me lol

i found elliotts forst tooth yesterday, felt very emotional about it as its the last time i am going to find a first tooth!!! (still gutted dh ad the snip) boohoo! oh well!

hope everyone is well x

Evening, I'm gonna be bossy - Live Chat here tomorrow night 8.15pm for anyone free xx

Okay bossy boots I'll try and be here - good chance too as DH is on nights!
Remember there was some Quinny Zapp chat a while ago. I'm feeling generous tonight so thought I'd share this link with you all as they are looking for some testers here I have obviously filled in my request
I did take DD2 down to drop in baby clinic this afternoon as her eye is really sticky - lots of green snot like stuff coming out. Anyway they have taken a swab and given me eye drops for her. I've also got some Timodine as she has really bad nappy rash TBH I was a bit embarrassed to take her nappy off for the weighing bit. I think it is probably the teething that has done it (IIRC DD1 was bad when teething) but we were using disposables on holiday and packets of wipes whereas at home we use real nappies and cloth wipes. I think she has more sensitive skin than DD1 as I gave her a bit of a half hearted massage/rub with some baby lotion one night on holiday with some scented lotion and she had a funny rash the next day. She did also react with her 3rd set of jabs with a rash. I've tried Sudocreme, Weleda Calendula cream, Kamillosan and also Metanium and nothing has made a jot of difference
And yes I did get her weighed..... wait for it..... drum roll 20lb 13oz all on booby milk! The few meagre BLW offerings don't really count as nothing has been eaten just sucked and spat out, if it has infact reached her mouth!
I know some of you are concerned or were concerned about slow weight gain but TBH I have my issues with the hugeness of DD2 as well - none of this parenting stuff is easy is it? I get loads of comments on how big she is and sometimes it does get to me. DH's gran made some really tactless comments at the weekend about me getting letters home from school as she was obese (some reference to something in the news I think but I haven't seen the news much recently). Obese is such a harsh word
Right I know I'm waffling on here, sorry.

Hi, guys, just a quick one before this fall off my active convos again:

I am off to Germany this morning, decided v quickly last night. My dad was hospitalised on Tuesday with what turned out to be several clots in both lungs and both legs . He is doing ok and is his usual stubborn obstinate self ('What am I doing here? They won't even let me out of bed! Therre is nothing wrong with me...etc etc). My poor mum had a really hard time trying to persuade him to seek medical help in the first place as he felt that pain that stopped him from sleeping and breathlessness that forced him to sit at the side of the bed all night was NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, gah!!

Anyhoo, I am going to see him, of course, but also to give my mum some support. It is at times like this that I feel very very far away from my folks .

Smac, Joe is now 13lbs 10 . Isn't it funny how we all find a stick to beat ourselves up with, whether we have dainty or big babies ?

Said dainty baby is squeaking in his bouncy chair as we speak and is of course coming with me. DH will be a single Dad for 5 days and wonderful childminder is taking up the slack. I love my CM.

Righto, have a nice weekend all.

pacific, hope your dad wil be on the mend and out of hospital soon, x take care xx