May 2010: All the babies have arrived, welcome to the other side!

[rachelfruitloop]

Here we are ladies, a new Postnatal thread! I wonder if we'll fill this one up as fast with one-handed typing?!

i have a medela, it is adjustable and always work well before, i beter dust off the avensis manual then and try that. thanks

I wouldn't call it proper moving, he shuffles backwards off his mat so have to stop leaving him on the sofa now (it's a big deep corner one), he did get round on his side today and got stuck and started crying. DD3 was very early at rolling before 3 months as she was too nosy and hated being on her back, she didn't walk until 14 months though my latest. All swings and roundabouts.

Had a lovely day out at a theme park and little farm today, DD3 was SO funny, she was having a mooing competition with a cow, refused to get in the pram unless we said DD1 or 2 were going in it, barged past everyone in the queue, loved the rides wouldn't get off when they had finished. Jacob slept for 5 hours in the car and pram. I have set it up in doubles seat at the back mode as he hated the cocoon and lying flat plus with his head moving he used to get squashed up against the top and he's growing out of it so put him in the back with the sleeping bag and reclined it and he was lovely and happy.

He seems a bit more content now, smiling more and starting to babble at you.

rachel - you will be fine with two on your own always seems daunting at first.

pigley - saw your Zoo visit pics looks like you had a good time, our babies are growing up

millingtonsmummy - aww hope the dummy works for you, I wish Jacob would take one sometimes.

mooseymoo - hello and welcome, don't lurk jump on in I know it can be daunting sometimes

pamelat - yey on the run well done, hope you have a better night tonight, have you a sling? I find if Jacob is really crying putting him in the sling calms him down. He is starting to cry less only when you can tell he is tired, hopefully we might turn the corner soon, he is 11 weeks now I remember feeling better when they reach about 3 months they start to interact more and it gets easier

Haven't been on for a couple of days and now trying to catch up - am supposed to be watching 'Wolverine - X-Men origins' with DH but think MN is more interesting!

cupcake I feel a bit bad now - had forceps and epi with DD1, and have been really bad about doing my pelvic floor exercises. Found I 'leaked' a bit towards the end of my pg with DD2 but don't know if that was the pg bit or lack of pelvic floor exercise. Will endeavour to do them from now on!!!

mollycuddles I've been trying to buy jelonet in a pharmacy but have had no success so far (they claim to have not heard of it ) - any advice as to where to get it?

Tomlin congrats on LO rolling over - DD1 has only just managed it and she's coming up to 16 mo!!

wouldlike DD2 can go anything from 2 hours to 4.5 (And at night it's more like 8 hours) between feeds - very unpredicatable though we tend to get in 6 feeds a day in total.

pamelat hope things have been better today

first1 ouch to the cost but it will be worth it in the long run

Welcome mooseymoo! I had problems bf DD1 much to my eternal regret. IT's going a lot better this time round; I'm far more relaxed about things now which I think helps. We had another discussion about DC3 today so I think that it will definitely be a possibility.

Question re mini-pill I've started taking this over the past fortnight; I don't know if it's related but I have been really ratty with DH for a few days and am having some major mood swings. I didn't link the two at first but having heard some other people talk, it sounds like it could be related to the pill? If it is, I'll have to see how it goes over the next couple of weeks and think about stopping it if necessary. It's not as though we're jumping each other every night anyway

DD2 had her jabs yesterday but seemed ok. We're also receiving our second lot of treatment for thrush - still only cream for me but we'll give it another couple of weeks and see what happens. Just so pleased that this time bf has lasted longer than last time...

Evening all

Re moving - what do you experienced mums do for safety of moving babies and toddlers. It seems to be one of those controversial issues. MIL and I at least are always arguing about playpens (she's for, I'm against). I know some people who have gotten away without any stair gates, never mind playpens. Is it just one of those things that in practise depends more on individual child rather ideals?

MIL also swears by leaving babies out in prams. Couldn't even think of doing that here. We can't even leave the doors to the garden open in unattended rooms any more because of the baby-eating-foxes in the neighbourhood

Baby keeps getting frustrated today. Twice he's been tired but instead of having one of his usual post-feed naps he's wailed instead. I'm sad to say his eyes have started to look moist when he cries too. I've tried everything to settle him. He seems to have gone off now though on my lap in a sling with his head on pillow. I daren't put him down in case he starts again. I wouldn't mind but we had baby massage class today. He's supposed to be chilled surely? Maybe the milk is off today? Maybe he's over stimulated?

I'm just so grateful he remembers to smile in between crying bouts. Really loving the gurgling that seems to be the start of laughing.

mooseymoo, hello

pelvic floor - yes thanks for the reminder. I didn't even realise it was important to start doing the exercises soon after. I definitely need to do them.

happy to say my lumps have gone. I'm very much aware of what someone said (was it here or in RL?) about mastitis being more painful than childbirth!

just back in from work and so tired so sorry for the lack of personals...

schipo..I had nasty mastitis and said it was far more painful than childbirth and felt so ill too

first1..sorry you are having to pay so much money to have your op..it will be worth it though...

I really need a rest..I feel done in..I kmnow Im overdoing it..but theres bills to pay

Millington- We too get lots of commets form both my parents and ILs's about they dont see the girls often enough. We are often coming down the them (hours drive) and think nothing of it, despite having the 2 kids too. They make no effort to come to us at all yet moan. Its much easier for them to come to us! Grrrr!
Last weekend we went down for BIl's birthday and saw my parents in the morning before. We were there for 3 hours yet my mum moans about it being a "flying visit". Visiting both sets of parents means our whole day is gone as opposed to an afternoon ect and we try to judge travel around the kids sleep as DD would be mega grumpy if she didnt get a nap at some point. Its impossible to please everyone!

Rachel- Thats what i found. DD1 running around playing was keeping Lucy from settling so now she has her naps upstais in her basket and sleeps much better.

SK- Glad you had a good day out

Schipo- My mum is too of the thought that the moment they more they go in a playpen 24/7.
Everytime she visited it would be out and trying to get her us to put DD in it. My neice gets looked after alot by my mum and she was always in it.
With DD we just made sure the house was childproofed and she did fine. No accidents,mishaps or breakages.

ML- Hope you get a good nights sleep.

Busy day here at the Zoo. DD thoughly enjoyed herself! Loved the animals and playground. She ventured onto the "big" slide on my lap first then alongside daddy. SHe got off the end and shouted "I done it!" She was so proud of herself!
We all had ride on Thomas the tank engine. Lucy even got a "I rode Thomas" sticker!

Driving home though DH fell asleep at the wheel of the car! Very very scary.
I noticed the car drifting alittle then a sec later we going over the rumble strip and inches away from the central reservation! I shouted out at DH which thankfully woke him and we didnt crash but my heart was in my mouth for a moment there! We were doing 70 on the dual carriageway so could of been nasty

Been busy this evening blowing balloons, putting up banners and baking her cake.
Its almost done so will be decorating her Peppa pig cake in the morning I cant believe she will be 2 tomorrow... I clearly remember this early stage on the July 08 thread.

Oops, sorry Hollyoaks the comment I made to you in my post earlier was meant for Millingtonsmummy

ML I hope you feel better soon!

Cari I found the mini pill effected my moods when I took it whilst bf DS1, but I am prone to depression. That's the main reason I'm going to give the coil a try this time. Not that much is happening in that dept here either, but I figure if we add fumbling with condoms into the mix, we'll never DTD as it won't be worth the effort!

pigley how scary! Glad that you were awake to shout out to your DH! That's so sweet about the big slide! Hope your DD enjoys her Peppa Pig cake!

I know I should try Eric in his cot during the day but my baby monitor isn't working well anymore and I sometimes have trouble hearing him when I'm downstairs. I've been thinking about getting a new one, anyone using one they really like and can recommend?

Self indulgent me post - stuff I need to spill.

Dd1 is 9 - I had PND after ds who is 12 but the time when dd1 was a baby was amongst the happiest imaginable. I always wanted 4 dc and never more so then. But we were living in a grotty rented cottage which had a rat infestation when I was pg with her and both dh and I had temporary jobs only. My post in particular was going nowhere with no possibility of anything permanent. I was desperate for security. I was then offered a permanent post somewhere we'd previously lived. Dh not keen but didn't say so. We could have bought a place where we were. He could have applied for a better job - something close to ideal for him came up. But we moved. The job was shit. But I didn't realise that until after we'd bought a house in need of serious work so we had to hang on until we got it sorted. We then decided to move to NI nearer my parents. I got a part time post. Dh was going to focus on his career. We bought a new place. We were planning babies but he was being bullied in his job and had a breakdown, developed bipolar and nearly died. He slowly recovered. I got pg and had a mc. I then got pg again and finally I have dd2. For years circumstances have got in the way. I thought I'd come to terms with having no more kids but suddenly it is so clear that this really is all I wanted all along. When dd1 was little I was slim and fit. Now I'm not. I have totally let myself and comfort ate for years. I was burying my feelings with food and didn't even know. I feel I have wasted 9 years. I have such a lot of work to do to get healthy and get "me" back. How did I get it so wrong????

(carikube - jelonet is a prescribed dressing. Ask gp, practice nurse or pharmacist. It's usually used for burns victims. I'm sending some to alle but if you send me your address I'll send you a sheet too. I nicked a box from work)

molly, self indulge post all you want, what you relate is quite an ordeal, but look at yourself now, you and dh are still together, you need a very strong relationship to endure that, you have more children, it sounds like you have family support, and acceptable jobs, your figure, well, some gentle exercise will do good to your mind, and shift some pounds too. you haven't wasted 9 years, you lived and survived, and you are still improving, would you need someone to talk to? if you like a can listen on the phone, if you need someone to speak to in some anonimity, or i found that writting letters, even to yourself, helps to put perspective.
sorry, that was the counsellor in me. feel free to ignore me.

Schipo - we had stairgates with DD for a little while but she used to hang off them so I got rid of them when she was about 10 months or so. She's been fine since, but she's very capable and quite careful so it wasn't a problem. I think it does depend on the individual child a bit. We've babyproofed everything really dangerous (cupboards with cleaning stuff in, medicine cupboard etc). She has had a few accidents but more because she gets it into everything so a lot of it we couldn't have prevented.

Another day at PILs for me (we see them constantly now they've moved down). DD loves it there though.

mollycuddles...lots of love to you, its really amazing what people , couples and families can get through. i wish you all the very best for whatever your future brings you.

virginia's thanksgiving at church is tomorrow. dressed her up for photos today as i just know she will be less than happy to pose tomorrow. am about to put one on my profile.

her picture is up. i made her outfit myself, not recently but for dd1. am planning on it becoming a family heirloom, it involves dress, coat, bonnet, blanket and pillow. yes i know its a bit of a brag but i am very proud of it.

Molly it sounds like you've been through so many challenges! I know how it feels to regret past choices, I tend to dwell on the past a lot. I think it helps to remember that hindsight is 20/20 as they say, you couldn't have known at the time how things would unfold. Also, you can't know that things would have been better had you not moved, etc. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and perhaps this phase in your life is leading to something great to come. Big hugs to you, I know how horrible it feels to get caught up in regrets. I'm sure these erratic post natal hormones are not helping, either!

I think it's important to try to accept that you made the best choices you could at the time, and focus on taking the little steps now to get where you'd like to be without getting overwhelmed by the big picture. Right now I'm trying to do this with tidying and organising my house. Every day just doing small steps and not thinking of the enormity of the goal otherwise i just berate myself for letting it get like this and get discouraged and not do anything. We should celebrate our little achievements together! All of us can start by patting ourselves on the back for giving birth to beautiful babies not so long ago and remember not to be too hard on ourselves (yet)!

Rachel- We have this monitor. Weused it with DD1 too with no complaints. We found the 2 way talk helpful and also that you can play Lullabys without having to go into the room and distrubing them more.

Molly- Try not to dwell on the past too much, you have a lovely future with your children ahead! Life would be much easier if we all had crystal balls that would show us how our choices would effect our lives.

Homebirth- Hope Virginia's thanksgiving goes well today. She looks lovely in her outfit.. Well done you! Brag away

Im actually feeling quite proud of the cake I made for DD. She loved it and it actually tasted really nice! Both MIL and Mum are good bakers and were both impressed and that really takes some doing!
DD had a fab day yesterday with a family party and she got spoilt rotten. We now must have about 90% of the worlds Peppa pig merchandise in our house!! Clothes, books, bags, clothes, teddys, puzzles,chairs!
I now need to find homes for it all!

Have another little party today with some of her little friends. Talk about Gultens for punishment!

Lucy slept very well last night. She went down at 8, had a dream feed at 11 and slept till 6.45 this morning!

Classic examples of the older generations comments-- My mum again was making comments about how her milk would taste better if I put flavouring in it to make it milkshake!?
And when we were eating she was suggesting I give her a bit of Pizza to suck on and was
trying to suggest I should start her on solids! Shes only 10 weeks, I sometimes wonder how I survived at all!

Glad you are all doing the pelvic floors
Tomlin was it you who mentioned Davina McCall? Well apparently it is much more effective to do the exercises standng up; against gravity, so I am trying to remember to do it every time I'm at the kitchen sink, which is a lot as there seems to be endless washing up in this house!!

The physio put up a list with numbers next to the high risk factors- forceps was a 4, episiotomy a 2, haematoma a 2, epidural/spinal a 1 giving me a score of 9, and anything above 6 is high risk for developing incontinence other factors were obesity, multiple pregnancy, 2 hours or more pushing, large baby, lots of previous children etc etc..so don't mean to scare you all but it's v important!

cari wow, you had epi & forceps and had dc2 so soon after? Can I ask at what stage you felt it was possible for another baby to come out of there?? At the moment the thought of another baby just terrifies me as everything is still so tender can't imagine ever feeling ready again

molly as others have said, vent all you want and for what it's worth I think you're doing amazingly well & I love your approach to parenting Molls; I'm sure she will be a super relaxed child.

Jude has found his thumb now and sucking it madly! He can settle himself to sleep doing it now so I'm happy to let him do it as I'd rather that than a dummy...probably because I was a thumbsucker myself for years!

Question: when will lo start being interested in toys? He stares and stares at the toys hanging from his playmat and smiles & coos at them, but not a bit interested in rattles/teddies etc that we shove in his face; he doesn't even focus on them. He's 7 weeks now...

hb hope Virginia's service went well

congrats to virginia, she looks lovely in her dress.
cupc, doing the exercises as crazy, really scare of incontinence..
re next baby coming out of there, not gonna happen, atm, not even dh getting close to there, need to work on that... bad episotomy, stiches, in plural, hurt for ages...
oscar not only sucks his thumb but the whole fist, scary... not interested in dummies
toys, jajajaja, 11 weeks and not a glympse, he does hold a rattle, if i really try, but if he hits his head with it, that's the end of it, elephant soft toy and monkey blanket really successful, also really focusing on the mobile now. think of all the money you are saving, for when he need that £50 blue garden soft toy i saw...

cupcake by your points system, I was a 7 after dd1 (though I was also pushing for 5 hours before the spinal & epi so I probably earn another point there). It took a good two weeks post-labour for me to even be able to identify my pelvic floor, let alone exercise it . I started to feel as though I could do it again about two months later though we didn't start trying til DD1 was about 4 months and I got pg straight away. I had done birth afterthoughts by this point which helped me realise that I wouldn't necessarily have the same experience again.

This time round I felt broody straight after the birth... Having ended up in theatre twice now I'd quite like to have a completely 'normal' delivery. I think we'll wait a bit before going for dc3...though I'm 37 today so we might not wait too long!

Right, off out for a birthday curry

I've fell off the thread again, just marking my place and will hopefully try and catch up tomorrow. Grace is having her kidney and spinal scan in the morning, hope everything is ok.

Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend

Homebirthmummy - hope the thanksgiving went well, Virginia looks gorgeous in her outfit - v.impressed that you made it yourself!

Pigley - love some of the babycare tips you got! I never know what to say when people offer really bad outdated advice.

Cupcakefairy - Corin's sucking his thumb (well, fingers really) now and it is very useful.

Hollyoaks - hope Grace's scan goes well

We've booked Corin's christening for Halloween, which feels a bit odd really but should be quite fun. Hmm, can't remember if I've already posted that, sorry if so.

He slept from 7pm-6am last night, with a dream feed at 10pm which I was v.happy with. Although DD was bothered about something so slept in our bed, diagonally and drooling

Just quick message before I head off to bed, luckily Jacob is sleeping tonight so had a cheeky hour on the pc. DP back at work tomorrow after 2 weeks off so shock to the system coming up. Bought Jacob some new things in the babygap sale all 6-12months and he needed new socks too as his 0-3 month ones were SO small. Went straight for 6-12 month ones as well, BabyGap socks are IME the best baby socks there are as they don't fall off, was the first thing I bought this time. Will need to buy him some new vests his 3-6m ones are small as well. Where has my wee newborn gone?

homebirthmummy - Virginia looks lovely in her outfit

Heffa - halloween should be fun

cupcake - I think my pelvic floor should be on the floor by now, 4 babies in less than 6 years! Only wet myself properly once was changing newborn DD3's nappy, needed the loo and peed the floor , was a bit dodgy whilst pregnant if I had a cough but only trampolines bother me now, have to go to the toilet before I go on it. Have you seen that little gadget you can buy on TV to exercise your pelvic floor, must admit I am tempted!

pigley - your cake looked fab, it's Waybaloo in this house, we have heaps of Peppa stuff from the other two already though. DD3 loves doing the "yogo"

Jacob likes his little blue cow comforter, he likes to suck on it or his hand so far, he likes looking at the swinging fishes on his cot too but that's about it. Am thinking of getting him a bumbo never had one before.

We only got a monitor a few weeks back as well, never had one before. I feel sorry for Jacob as I cannot take him upstairs to settle him as the other 3 are downstairs and also they always want to play upstairs. Downstairs we only have the one sitting/dining room so there is no quiet room for him to nap in, he naps better in his rocking swing than his moses basket now as well. DD3 still has an hours nap in the afternoon so once DD1 and 2 are at school I can maybe try to settle him upstairs.

Hi all - thanks for the support and for listening. Feel better for spilling and have talked to dh. We are still happy together which is such a blessing. Am trying to face up to how I've been feeling and to start looking after me again. Need to start exercising soon but never seem to get much further than the chair as Molly permanently attached.

You're such a talented bunch! Wow to the outfit homebirthmummy. Happy birthday carikube. Jelonet is going in the post tomorrow

Hi Ladies,

I think I'm getting the hang of posting from my mobile!

hbmummy that's a beautiful dress, Virginia is lovely!

Pigley that BT 150 baby monitor has gotten a lot of good reviews, I'm glad to hear from someone I feel I know who has actually used it. I am considering the BT 150 but wonder if I should get one that has a breathing monitor mat thing as well, the Angelcare monitor has quite good reviews as well so now I'm not sure. I'm so indecisive!

The photos of your DD1 and her Peppa Pig cake you made on FB are adorable! The cake looks amazing!

Happy Birthday Cari, hope you enjoyed the curry!

cupcake I reckon my score would have been pretty high for incontinence after having DS1, with the hours of pushing, the forceps and episiotomy, 3rd degree tear and his large size. TBH I didnt do much work on my pelvic floor muscles after that, but boy am I doing the exercises now!

I dont really remember when DS1 started playing with rattles and things like that, it must have been at about 4 months I think. How quickly we forget! Anyone with first babies, it's worth keeping the baby books up-to-date. I thought I wouldn't forget but much of it is a blur now!

Hollyoaks good luck with Grace's scan tomorrow!

Heffa I'm finding that when Eric sleeps well, DS1 has a disturbed night! Still waiting to have a block of 5 hours of sleep consistently. The sleeping diagonally and drooling must be the universal toddler's sleep position! Well done to Corin on the good sleep!

Today, I managed to organise and bag up the baby clothes that dont fit Eric anymore and get the next lot unpacked and in his drawers. So I feel that I've made a little progress today, though it made me feel sad that he hardly wore so many of these things, they grow so fast! I'm hoping my pregnant friend with an older DD has a boy in Nov so I can pass along a lot to her. Would make me happy to see my friends' babies in some of my favourite outfits!

I hope everyone is coping well and got some rest this weekend!

X-post SK I agree with you wholeheartedly on the Baby Gap socks! My SIL sent a few Baby Gap clothes for Eric and he's already wearing some of the 6-12 month things! To be fair though the brand tends to run a bit small. I will be stocking up when I go to the States in November. I love baby shopping! I hope your week with DH back at work goes ok!

SK - completely agree about Baby Gap socks! We have loads of them from my DSis (her kids, not her own socks) and they're fab. Although the small ones are too small for Corin now so need to get some more.

Rachel - don't know what it is about toddler's sleeping positions! Whenever we go in to check on her she's found some new weird position to be in.

Mollycuddles - it's good you and your DH are still happy together I know how you feel about food and exercise, I stopped taking caqre of myself for a while after we got married, then I had DD and now DS and I'm huge. I feel terrible but have finally resolved to try and sort it out. It's hard if you're exhausted as well though.

Carikube - happy birthday, hope your curry was nice!

Re toys: Corin likes looking at the hanging toys in his playgym and kicks/bats them around. He'll watch other things and has a doggy toy he seems to like but not much else yet. DD was into toys from roughly 3 months or so onwards judging by photos we have (really have to put some photos of Corin up around the house, currently they're all DD!)

Hi All. Fell off the thread, so quickie post.

Being skimming through all the posts to try to catch up.

Things been bit better here. Sam been a bit more settled and haven't had another nightmare night since last tues. He had been in moses basket sitting in cot, but I decided to move him into the cot as he kept thrashing off the sides of the basket. He is 98th centile for his height and is a v long baby. Seem to have better nights since I did this, but not sure if it was the answer. He tends to have terrible days on Mon & Tues so today will be the test.

He is only 9 weeks, but think I was getting hung up on the fact that we have no routine. I've decided, so what. Hopefully one will develop over next few weeks. He only sleeps from bf or dad's shoulder, but he will then be put into cot so going to try this during day and go upstairs when I start to see tired cues. My friends said I should put him down and let him cry and after a few awful days of crying, he will get the message and sleep when I want him to. Nah! Def not for me. He is just brand new and if he wants a bit of comfort before nap then that is fine with me. We'll see how I feel about it in two days though if he does his no sleeping all day stuff.

What are your days like? Do you have a pattern? What do you do with LO during awake/activity time?

rachel I have the Angelcare baby monitor. I has a pad that goes under the mattress in the cot and monitors movement and breathing as well as temperature and the normal baby sounds. An alarm sounds if there is no movement felt for 20 secs. I think it is brill. Can't use it with moses basket though unless you have thik mattress. Find this good at night as although Sam can be really snuffly and noisy at night, he can also sleep soooooo quietly and you can't see/feel chest moving. I end up touching his face to check he is still alive and this usually wakes him or stirs him out of deep sleep at any rate. Monitor gives me bit of peace of mind. Also had loads of channels. My friend lives on a new housing development with lots of babies and found that her monitor picked up other monitors, but the angelcare had enough channels to pick one not used by another house.

pigley V scary about dh falling asleep at wheel. So glad you were awake and noticed in time.

Better go as Sam is getting restless in his bouncy chair. Sorry not had more responses to posts but will try and get on a bit more this week.