TTC graduate sweep stake... Greedy or Honey next?!!

[fettleandbabyfettle]

as suggested by honey!!!

be thinking of you at 1.20pm greeds! my money is on you beating honey by the way!!

xxx

ok....off to bed...........with my legs firmly closed.........and my big grey thermal nightie which comes down to my ankles..............

Hi guys, I hope everyone is well.

I'm moving house this week and therefore will be off the internet for at least two weeks. So just wanted to say hi and hope all is well with everyone and bumps.
Speak to you when I'm back on line. Take Care and have fun. Xx

Gulp!!!! Number 4 already Greedy!. I reckon its that hormonal rush that what we pretty much all experienced, makes you want another... and another.... But like Fettle I'll be jealous . And you are right, Theo doesn't cry - I must have been imagining it yesterday .

Fettle - I read that some babies sleep up to 20 hours in 24 so that must give the average of around 16 hours. Hopefully his love of sleep will stay with him through toddler-hood

Good luck with the move rahrah!!!

Where was I? ah yes

Fettle hello! sounds like good quality time with DD, bet she appreciated that. I have a little laugh to myself when you and Chooster talk about how easy it is to whip a boob out ? to me that is all such a mystery and a worry! France sounds like a fantastic family gathering, are yours the only kids? As you say, may I have a good MW and if not, may DH and I have the strength of mind to ask for another one!!

Cityangel ? a very warm welcome and hearty congratulations to you! I am so delighted I got goosebumps tell us your BFP story!! When do you think you are due? how was Vegas by the way? Did you have a ball?! Interestingly, I OVd on CD18 this cycle (seems weird to still be on the same one as I was in April but fab of course! ) and yet my baby is now measuring a week ahead of my EDD based on my LMP so it seems that the day of OV becomes insignificant again once the deed is done! Seaside is right, once you have seen/spoken to your GP and got into the MW system, they leave you alone until your MW appointment and it is a bit like ?what now!?! We?re here to get you through the waiting game though! For Christmas shopping, I like the following websites Cox & Cox, Pia, Silver Editions, Bookery, Symthson, Hotpawsandtrogg and.. I?ll try and think of more I really like the stuff on Vertbuadet both for Mums and Babies LOL 6 tests no more wasting money hon, there are many more fun things to spend your money on now

Seaside ? not been on that website, will have to check it out

Greedy ? I took a photo of 4 BFP tests together and chucked the tests themselves NCT teacher is determined to have the last word on the home birth thing, she sent me an email last night (copying the others in) referring me to www.homebirth.org.uk and an article by a lady called Helen Wood on home births on anticoagulants. To cut a long story short, this woman chopped and changed consultants until she found one who?d sanction her to have a home birth ? my point in all this is that I don?t have the appetite to risk postpartum haemorrhage especially as I read last night that if not treated immediately it can lead to the need for a hysterectomy but hey, it?s great that she is keen to spread knowledge and info and challenge what she perceives as us all being yes men! the perineal massage advice she gave us was about internally massaging, I just got a bit squeamish about it LOL EWCM, what?s that again? I can so see you with a 4th but wait a while!!!

Rah ? hope the move goes well Rah, don?t know why I thought you were in already

NHS AN class was about pain relief yesterday, no one asked anything and the only pain relief they knew about was epidural. DH thinks none of them really care about knowing anything, I?m just amazed. Next week?s class is cancelled (not re-scheduled ? so we are missing out BFing ). On the plus side, DH really enjoyed his first Dads 2 Be last night there were 16 Dads there and he said it was all about support in labour and delivery and how to judge when to do what etc like leave work! He was taught the acronym BRAN which (sorry if you know this, I didn?t) stands for benefits, risk, alternatives and do nothing and they were taught to assess all questions asked of them by med profs in labour on this basis. I thought it made a lot of sense

We have our 32 week scan and consultant?s appointment on Thurs. Looking forward to seeing Beanie again (and hoping I actually get to this time!) but nervous as ever. I feel like I am massive now though so hopefully it is Beanie and not me growing!

Hi everyone!

Wow - Cityangel! Great (and long overdue)news! I was just going to post exactly the same as Chooster - I remember your river barge fetish well! Looks like you'll be up for a July baby then... definitely the best month for a baby

Fettle - I think his sleep sounds absolutely fine! Just enjoy it - although Isla still needs lots of sleeps, they tend to be mainly 45 min naps now, with maybe one longer one if I'm lucky! It's a rush to get everything done and get on here to catch up in 45 mins! That would be nice to meet up one day - although I'm a bit worried that I might get competitive mum syndrome when I meet your super athletic daughter

We're going to see a Cranial Osteopath this afternoon - I know you're sceptical Greedy - me too.... but soooo many people have raved about it we thought we ought to at least try it. She just seems to have constant "issues", mainly digestive I think (really screams out, then possetts heavily) and many friends who have tried CO really rated it for sorting out their inconsolable LOs.... (although how feeling around her head will help her tummy I don't know ) I'll let you know what I think later!

Isn't it funny how it's mainly (bar Rainbowdays) first timers left to pop! Very exciting though that you're all going through it together, and you can leave us cynical old hands to mutter away to ourselves!

Greedy - LOL at 5 counting Marcy's age in Chins! Isla's just got the 2 absolutely mahoosive chins. She looks like Fred Elliott of Coronation street! Broody already? Don't go there! Imagine - you'd have 2 kids in the same school year!

Chooster - pmsl at your personalised kebab Are you thinking of going down the babyrice road anytime soon?

Seaside - at the worst ever present competition! I did actually get a knitted toilet roll cover (you know the kind - the dolly wiht the big knitted skirt) from my mum's boyfriend (at the time)'s mum. I was 17!!!!!

Pregs
MrsMcJnr ? due 15 Jan 08 - surprise
seaside - Due 22 Jan 08 - Boy
iampg - Due 29 jan 08 - Boy (Oscar)
Rainbowdays - due 7 April
CityAngel - edd tbc...

Births
Chooster -Theo -13th July, now 18 weeks old (I think )
Fettle - Toby - 19th September, 8 weeks
Greedy - Marcy - 10th October, 5 weeks (and 5 chins!)
Bodkin - Isla - 9th July, 19 weeksish?

OK better dash - hello to everyone else I've missed!

Hiya,

Sorry havent posted for a while, been a bit preoccupied!

Greedy- EWCM! That is the down side of bottle feeding! Please wait a while for number 4- maybe we can do it together again then .

Mrs- good on you for sticking up for yourself and your opinions at the NCT class.
Glad DH enjoyed his dads to be one, sounds like he will be a very useful birthing partner.

cityangel- congratulations! A summer baby- i'm jealous!

well last night i had a bit of a scare- woke up at 3am with loads of blood , had to run to the loo with my hands between my legs, huge blood clot, as big as my hand came out [yuk emoticon]...anyway saw GP today who thought it was definitely some retained matter coming away and has given me antibiotics incase of infection . Said i didnt need d and c as had probably all naturally come out, so hopefully the bleeding will now stop. What really made me cross was i had to speak to the nurse at the doctors first and she was really reluctant to make an appointment for me - said it was normal to bleed after having a baby- i told her this was NOT normal and this was my 3rd baby and i wanted to see GP! I later told GP that nurse had been very unhelpful and GP said she would speak to her!

Am typing with one finger as am bf dexter at the moment... chooster agree with you about bf- not just for food, comfort too- and i am happy to wop a boob out whenever dexter fancies a suck! lucky boy!

my finger hurts- will come back later! xx

Bodders - how did you get on?

Honeyapple - poor you how horrible - I read that anything bigger than a 50p piece must be investigated, what a stupid nurse hope you are ok x

Oh God poor you Honeyapple - Hope the bleeding has stopped?? If not then make sure you get checked out. In a previous pregnancy I bled and passed clots for about 3 weeks but ended up haemorraging as not all had come away so ended up with a D&C which I wished they had done in the first place. Fingers crossed this is it for you though... that must have been pretty scary .

So, how was the visit to the cranial person today??? Is Isla now chilling in her cot as we speak?

Helloo everyone... thinking of you all

Honey - how scary! hope it is ok. I had an incomplete ERCP after my 1st mc and it took about 8 weeks of continued bleeding and pain before they finally rescanned me and found retained products, so had to have another op. Do keep an eye on it and don't completely accept their word on it - I had 4 different courses of increasingly stronger antibiotics before they rescanned me - all completely unnecessary.
anyway, onto better things - how is little Dexter? Still a lovely, little chilled out boy!

Bodders - how was the CO?! Have a friend doing it too - he actually worked on the baby's stomach rather than head, as he said her problem was in her stomach. Said after their 2nd appointment, that they should see an improvement in a couple of days! hope you see one shortly with Isla!

Chooster - glad Theo still is a non-crying baby! Wish Toby was the same, or that if he was tired, he would just put himself to sleep wherever he is, rather than need putting in his moses basket/car seat/cuddled first! Why can't he sleep sitting up in his bouncy chair? I can! [TBH, at the moment, I can sleep standing up at times!!!]

City - I remember your barge watching!!! It was around the time I started frequenting the "due in" threads!

Can't believe I've known you lovely people for about a year now! Can't believe that it is about a year ago that DH came back from Iraq - so much has happened since then!

DH is away tonight and I've got to get something to eat now I've settled Toby (DD was an angel and went to sleep really easily!) But before I dash off, have to tell someone what poor DD said as I was putting her to bed.

I said that I loved her and how well behaved she was being at the moment. She replied that she loved me very much too, but she didn't love Daddy.
Me:Why not? (assuming it was because he is away tonight).
DD:Because he is not my friend.
Me: Why is he not your friend?
DD: Because he shouts at you.... and me (as an afterthought)... I don't like it when he shouts at you
DD: I don't like it when you shout back at him either.

Made me feel so awful. DH has been under a lot of stress and very tired (he always gives me a lie-in on both days of the weekend), but he really can't cope with her sometimes. I know we've had this discussion before about different discipline methods between our DHs/DPs and us, but he really treats her as if she is over 7 at times! Anyway, do you think I should tell DH? He'll be devastated, but I also want him to think a bit more before he shouts at her. (I only really shout at him after he's really lost it with her). He also is very snappy with me at times over small things, whish she is obviously picking up on as well. Anyway, sorry needed to tell someone and can't really tell anyone in real life.

Sorry - another mammoth me post from me! Sorry.

big waves to everyone!!! Must eat!
xxx

Oooh - crossed with you Ready!!

Big hugs!!!

xxx

Aw your DD Fettle, it's something I often think about, when DH and I argue, we do shout at each other when things get really heated - and I have said that we need to work on it if we ever have babies (please) because of exactly what you just said. ((hugs)) x

Honey ? how are you today?

Chooster ? I know I?ve heard your story before but it is so scary

Fettle ? horrible experience for you too sorry about DD and her thoughts on her Dad I have to say, my Dad was like that when I was little and though I love him very much, I do feel my childhood was filled with an unnecessary fear of being shouted at, I shall try very hard not to perpetuate that. It?s a tricky one, maybe next time he does it you could explain the effects on her whilst he can actually see it?

Hey Ready DH and I fight too and whilst we have tried to be better during my pg when we are both tired, it is just worse! Hey ho x

Oh Fettle I could have written that post myself. DS1 has said before that he doesn't like DH and that he is naughty for shouting. I try to explain to DH that we can't tell Max off for shouting if we (although of course when I'm saying this I mostly mean DH ) shout at him and at each other in front of him. And the worrying thing is that I've noticed DS1 shouting at us more and more when he's upset. Whenever DH is being snappy at either DS1 or at me I try to give him the 'not in front of Max look' but it rarely works . My DH is also the same as yours in that I think he expects too much from DS, and I think he wants him to be more mature in his behaviour but sometimes I just think "He's 3 for f* sake!!". The annoying thing is that, as long as he's not too tired, DH is great at playing with him and far better than me at thinking up new games but can't handle the general annoying toddler type behaviour well... which results in him shouting... which then results in me getting cross with DH, and erm, shouting ...

Hi all,

I am (fingers crossed) not bleeding so much today, so hopefully all of whatever was up there as now come out .

Chooster- I remember you saying before about your experience of retained placenta- how horrible, I hope that this is the end of it for me.

Fettle- didnt know you had experienced it as well! 8 weeks before it was sorted out, that's terrible. I wonder how common it is?

Re shouting- I think the important thing is to try not to argue with your DP/H in front of kids (preferably not at all!) or at least if you do, make sure that you 'make up' with DP/H in front of kids too, so that they know that mum and dad are still friends. ANd that it is ok to get cross sometimes, so long as you say sorry later and have a hug. I hate it when I shout at DC- most often when I am tired and they are p*ing me off by ignoring me or whinging about something, I dont think any parent never shouts- but I do always make sure I apologise afterwards and say I shouldnt have shouted etc etc...

Fettle- I think you should tell DH that DD was upset about the shouting and maybe he could tell DD that he was sorry for upsetting her? Tricky though.

Just had the health visitor around. SHe weighed Dex and he is now 8lb 12, so has put on a good amount and is smack bang on the 50th percentile.

right- going to do some internet shopping for DD's party...

hi ladies

feels like i havnt posted for ages, im sure its only a couple of days??

well so far this week we have had the funeral it was truely awful. I dont think my hormonal state helped too much either as i found myself thinking about people in my life who im so close to and what would i do if i lost them which set the uncontrollable tears off. poems were read and stories of his life and it was just so deeply upsetting i cried myself to sleep yesterday afternoon. I feel so stupid with my reaction as dp was much more closer to him than me and knew him a hell of a lot longer but i just couldnt hold it in, dp remained strong throughout allthough i could see the tears in his eyes. i know its a fact of life but god do i/we feel shit!

anyway on to more happier things...

greedy - you are thinking of number 4 already?!! thats kind of reassuring to know so soon after you have just given birth means it cant possibly hurt that much..right?
so when oscar is 10/11 months old you dont think he will be able to "React" to xmas? i was really hoping he would get some joy out of the flashing lights and moving ornaments...shows how naive i am!!

rah - hope the house move goes smoothly!! i dont envy you!

cityangel - think i have welcomed you already but cant remember so HELLO!! these girls are amazing and get you through almost anything!! think its already been said what your nextsteps are so i wont act like a parrot and repeat it. oh and i am desperate2bmum by the way this thread is where i sneaked off too

mrsmcjnr - sorry you had a rather narrow minded and forceful nct leader, im so glad you put your point across as most would just sit there and panic in silence. i was going to bring up perineal massage just wondered if you and seaside were contemplating it? i am willing to try most things to avoid a tear but like you im not so sure....

honey - sorry about the scary bleed i hope its sorts itself out rapidly with the antibiotics, can you imagine if you had been a first timer and fobbed off by the nurse because you didnt know any different, it really gets me the incompetance of some "medically" trained professionals i think it all boils down to what they can and cant be bothered to do. when i had my mc i had exactly the same thing after a week bleeding was worse and so was pain and clots, nurse said it was perfectly normal and a week later i could barely walk or stand due to infection! take care of you hun x

fettle - thats so sad what your dd said, they just dont know the strength sometime of what they say. i wouldnt tell dh that she said she didnt love him because i think that would hurt him loads. id probably go with what chooster said and try talking to him but missing out your actual conversation with dd. us first timers have all this to come....

i dread what oscar will think of me and dp i totally lost it with him this morning, since being pg i have tried to stay calm and not raise my voice and talk instead of shout if we do get into discussions but today he asked me to do 3 different things in the space of 2 mins and expected them done immediately i think its because we are both tired, stressed and the living conditions are getting to us big time! i am sick of the site of dust, being cooped up in 1 room with everything crammed in it and most of all im sick to death of washing up in the f*ing bath!!!!!

i feel like i have been kicked in the fanjo, that whole area feels swollen and i cannot get a decent nights sleep!!

ok rant over feel a tiny bit better now

bodders - i am not sure sceptical is thr right word for my thoughts on cranial osteopathy. i do a bit of cranial work on babies and i have even done a bit on marcy. i just think that you have to make sure you find soeone good who isnt out to con you and who knows what they are doing.........like me of course!!! i hope yours is a good one. does she have kids of her own? i always think that is important. i normally find babies who need work doing are the ones who have had a traumatic birth and who have had problem with their skull remolding.

honeyapple - hope you are better today and your bleeding has calmed down. 50th centile? whats that? my kids dont seem to know anything less than the 91st centile! they are all monsters!!

fettle - poor dd and poor you. i agree with chooster. tell dh what she said about the shoutnig but not about her not loving him! sometimes things have much more impact when they come from childrens mouths. i cant believe we have 'known' each other a year either!!! amazing!

ok......so marcy is not helping to put me off no.4 at the mo cos all she does is grin at me!!! (actually, thats not QUITE true! but she has done loads of smiling the last few days) BUT dd1 has a cold and woke up 3 times lasr night and has been a little madam this afternoon so SHE has put me off for the moment!

iampg - sorry to hear about the upsetting funeral.
i am sure oscar will LOVE the lights at xmas! i only found it amusing cos every year we seem to say " oh they will REALLY know whats going on this year! " and "this year they will REALLY understand!" and i think last year was probably the first year ds actually 'got it!' at 3 1/2!

Thanks girls for your advice - I've broached the subject with DH already and agreed to watch shouting. DD was so pleased to see him this evening and wanted him to read to her (which is a priviledge she only grants to special people!!!). I'll just keep an eye on it all. Thankfully if DH and I have discussions(!) we try not to have them in front of DD already, but i think I'll intervene quicker if I see a situation arising between the 2 of them (TBH, they're sometimes more like a married couple than me and DH are, with their arguing!!!).

Anyway thank you!

Honey, glad the bleeding is settling down. My experience was following a miscarriage, which is relatively common. Good weight gain there, Dexter! nice to have normal children! Unlike Greedy's monsters!!

Iampg - pg hormones do some really surprising things, so don't you worry about your outburst. Also I found when pg with DD and from then on, I suddenly became much more conscious of death and my own mortality, because now I had another being dependent on me to think about. Bit morbid, sorry! I hope you feel more settled soon in your house - doesn't sound much fun all this upheaval, but think how great it will look when it is finished. And Oscar will love Christmas - DD was 8.5 months at her first Christmas and her eyes sparkled at everything and she loved helping to rip of the paper from the presents. She might not have realised the significance of Christmas, but she loved all the extra attention!

Greedy - glad you've been put off number 4, do think it is a bit soon just presently! But sorry that DD1 is being a pain at the moment. How lovely that Marcy is such a smiley baby - Toby is still quite discriminate with his, but does smile specially for me and DH - so so sweet!

Hello everyone else - I hope buggymad is ok and just busy with her lot, haven't heard from her in ages have we?

Anyway, must go and clear up supper dishes, but you'll all be pleased to know that Toby has had 2 relatively awake days yesterday and today and is starting to now go from 8ish til 3-4am - hopefully he'll start settling into a routine now - at least I can hope!

xxx

honey - hope it didnt sound like i was dismissing dexters weight gain! i am so NOT one of those mums who competes about weight gain! it seems such s daft thing to compete about to me! it doesnt really take much skill on marcys part to gain weight! i just shove a bottle in and she drinks it! i guess its more of an achievement with bf anyway cos its you producing the milk and you making the baby grow but for me its daft thing to compete about! i wish marcy was on the 50th centile! but instead she started on 75th and is now nearly on 98th already. i am a bit worried that she is going to be even bigger than dd1!! not that there is anything wrong with dd1, she is gorgeous, just she has been off the top of all the charts since 6 months old and i am convinced she will be representing britain in the 2020 olympics doing the shotput!!! .............not sure i can deal with two shotputters in the family!!!...........maybe marcy will be a rugby player instead! anyway, just wanted to make that clear!

fettle - toby sounds like he is doing really well! they are good long sleeps at night too! i thought marcy was doing well cos we had two nights where she went about 7 hrs between feeds, but then last night it was back to 5 hrs! i am going to try and give her some water tonight when she wakes up and see what happens! you always seem to know the right things to say in your posts without upsetting anyone and i feel like i always put my foot in it!

iampg - of course oscar will love xmas, ignore everything i say, i'm a twat! what can i say!?

bodders - how was the cranial osteopath? i will give you a link so that you can read how working on the skull is supposed to help tummies! just got to find a good one!

hello everyone else, i am going to attempt to buy some xmas pressies online today. i am going to check out those websites that you mentioned mrs........i hope none of them are dodgy ones!

what age do babies start giggling by the way? i have no idea, cant remember at all! sure i must have it written down somewhere but its easier to ask you lot! i cant WAIT for that to happen and i want to know how long i have to wait!!

Got some time on your hands Greedy? What a post-a-thon!

CO was, well, interesting. We shlepped over there in the pouring rain with DD1 in tow as well. By the time we got there, Isla, was, as usual, overtired and grumpy. So it was a bit difficult to get her to stay still for him to do anything for very long. He kind of held her tummy for a bit, and then held her head. He said that the sides of her head seemed very "flat" (I didn't like to tell him that she is a front sleeper, so always has one side or the other flat on the mattress, hence they are flat, unlike back-sleepers who have a flat bit at the back of the head....) and he also said there was a bit of tension in the area just behind the ears. Anyway, there is absolutely no change in her at all, still a miserable old trout, but does give gorgeous smiles in between screaming sessions... We will go for another session next week though, just to give it a fair crack of the whip. He has come highly recommended to us from loads of friends in the area who swears he has worked miracles. But anyway Greedy - I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on it - and if it is possible to do a bit of DIY CO! We did chuckle though cos afterwards, DP said, well, it can only help... and I said, yes, your wallet will be so much easier to carry around without all those pesky notes in it now

Re giggling - Isla still is not doing exactly what you'd call giggling, but she does do a kind of noise a bit like a duck quacking when she is really happy, or when you tickle her tummy or back - does that count Glad to hear Marcy is doing some supersmiles. Makes the job of being a mummy so much more enjoyable!

Fettle - Toby sounds like he's settling into a good sleep routine. We're back to just the one waking in the night again... for now. No doubt it will change again soon though! TBH, i don't mind one feed a night - she looks so cute slurping away all bundled up in her sleeping bag - and it means she'll sleep through until 7 ish. When they drop the night feed - and are up for the day at 5am - that is sheer hell!

Honey - that clot sounded v. scary! Hope all is well now. How are your DCs taking to little Dex?

Been busy doing Crimbo shopping type things the last few days (hence not on here much), but getting a bit more organised now, phew!

Hello everyone else!

Meant to say as well Greedy - another reason I am sceptical that CO will be of any use to Isla is that she had about the least traumatic birth it is possible to have! and was so chilled out for the first 2 weeks that I doubt she had any skull issues from that! But I suppose as the plates move and allow the brain to grow, that may cause problems?

bodders - that is kind of why i thought she might not gain much from the CO too. couldn't find a very good link for you cos everything was too waffly and wishy washy. but basically as you said ( and hopefully the osteopath should have explained to you anyway) it is all to do with the remoulding of the skull after birth. it should happen naturally within the first few weeks of life but if it doesn't happen properly then they can be left with some problems.
there is one nerve in particular that could be affected by the skull not remoulding properly. i dont think it could ever get squashed as such, but if the plates of the skull aren't quite where they should be then the tissues underneth might be affected too and might put pressure on the nerve. its all speculatation and theory anyway really, but that the main way i can see that it can work.
its the vagus nerve (cranial nerve 10) which starts in the skull and then has loads of branches that go everywhere including the stomach. it controls the movement of the gut which helps push food along. so in theory by 'helping' the skull to remould properly then it might relieve pressure on the vagus nerve and ease their digestion!

OMG! i think that was even more waffly than one of the links i was going to give!!! might be best if you google it, i was never very good at explaining things!!!

as for DIY CO!.................nope! i wouldn't try it!! (well.......I would, but i am trained to do it!!!) dont think there is much you can do at home really....i know it looks like he was just holding her head and putting his hands on her tummy, but he was actually doing very tiny movements with his fingertips! ( i HOPE he was anyway..........otherwise you have been done!!!)

Hey ladies busy day so no time to post or catch up. Hope everyone is well. All was fine at our scan this morning, Beanie was very active and wanted to show us feet, hands, finger sucking, it?s back, it?s ribs measuring about average and weighing in about 4lb6 so all on track speak tomorrow