Parenting After LT TTC ~ January - April 2008

[Lenny]

Hi all, nice to see some action in this thread again!

I am lucky that Liam is kind of sleeping through the night (9pm -5am), although it has only just started, and i don't hold my breath that it will last forever. He doesn't sleep as much during the day though, so I find it harder to get things done. I do feel a lot less frazzled though.

Nic - does it all seem very different this time around?

We are still bfing but to be honest it is not something i really enjoy. It was super convenient when we went to Sydney though - didn't have to worry about bottles or taking formula etc for 3 days. But I ending up feeding in about 101 public places. With all the spewing and yelling that he does, we are the opposite of discreet!!

I am pretty sure we can't start thinking about #2 until i stop feeding, but i haven't decided when that will be yet. I can't believe Sage has teeth! Cute!

Jo

[onthefly]

Wow Lenny, you're so lucky! It's hard when they don't sleep during the day though - Aric hardly sleeps in daylight hours at all, but once it's bedtime, he's out like a light. Mind you, the screaming and spewing don't sound like fun. Aric's getting quite fussy with his feeds these days. He's fine at night, but only wants to snack during the day mostly and will scream and push away when I try to feed him properly - no wonder he needs lots of feeds during the night. He's also spewing more recently too - though nothing like Liam I think! Does my head in and trying to feed while working is not too much fun either. Sometimes I love bf, and sometimes it's just a chore... sigh.

Yar, I just realised last night that you have to stop bf if you do IVF, don't you? Now I feel a little torn between doing the best by my boy and wanting to get started on IVF once he's about a year or so old. Spose I should just wait and see how we go rather than worrying about it now though.

Happy birthday for your little guy Kimnastics. Hope he has a fun day!

Good question Lenny - is it different the second time round? Easier....?

[mako]

Kim Happy Birthday to Hayden for tomorrow. I hope you all have a lovely day. Are you doing anything special?

DH and I are trying to organise Sage's 1st birthday combined with a Naming Day for him too. Its just soooo hard to get a Celebrant that time of year as they all seem to be busy with weddings etc.

BBL as I'm trying to get the little man to have a sleep

[mako]

Kim How did Hayden enjoy his birthday? I bet he had a great time

[onthefly]

Hope you all had a good day Kim.

Hugs Nic - it sounds like you're doing it tough now. I remember when DS would only sleep on my chest... so much better now though. Hope the doctor visit can shed some light on any problems he may be having. Sounds like he's got an upset tummy (ha! listen to the expert here, not). Hope you guys can get some better sleep soon,

[Lenny]

Oh Nic, you poor thing. It's hard when DH works odd hours too. Liam wasn't much fun from about 3 weeks until about 9 weeks. And you feel bad for wanting him sooo badly, then just wishing he'd be quiet/sleep etc. He was so windy/colicky and never slept much more than cat-naps and then about 3/4 hours at night. He got over it though, and things just get better and better! Liam still seems to sleep until about 5/5.30am so I'm still fairly well rested. He's still little in size though, so i get the dumb comments about breast feeding and him not getting enough...these people clearly don't have to change his nappies!!! Oh and the MCHN is the worst! You'd think she'd be all for bf - but she loves formula!

I am desperately waiting for summer - i feel a bit housebound at the moment. I'd love to spend a day in the garden too - my vege patch looks a bit sad.

I have my mother's group here today, so better get the vacuum cleaner out. I still have to buy the bikkies though - not yet organised enough to bake!

Is Ltl Panda still out there?? And Arielle??

Jo

[mako]

Lenny Tell you MCHN and the others to get stuffed hun. You are doing an amazing job BF Liam. I still get alot of comments even now 9 months on and as much as they do get me down at times I just have to look at my happy and content little boy and I know I'm doing the best thing for him

Do you have anyone who could take Liam for you for a couple of hours while you have some "you" time? If not how about putting him in his pram while outside doing some gardening? I do understand how hard it is at times. I haven't had any "me" time since Sage was born. I do leave him with my MIL while I go to work but honnestly thats not "me" time as I'm working iykwim?

I've been wondering about Ltl Panda, Arielle,DJTTC(Jo),Sazz and Kimbe too. I hope they are all ok.

We are ok here. In saying that though,we are going through a tough stage. Sage is very clingy as in he only wants me all the time even when he's asleep he has to be on my lap,in my arms etc. As much as I know its just a stage he's going through it can be very frustrating too as he just screams whenever DH has him or anyone else for that fact.
I'm looking forward to him being happy to be with someone other than me sometime in the future. Any tips on getting this to happen would be appreciated.

[nic]

Yep Jo, it seems hugely different this time round. DD slept from 10pm - 4am from the day we got home from hospital. When she woke, you could change her bum before feeding her and put her back to sleep with no problems.
DS, needs a feed before a bum change, otherwise he screams and wriggles that much we can't change him. At the most he will sleep for 2 hours of a night, we have had about 4 nights since he was born that went to 3 hours and one of them went to almost 4 hours! He seems to be very windy as well.
We got a amby hammock for him, and put him in it of a day time, but he doesn't sleep any better in it than his bassinette, so I've been wary of putting him it of a night time. He seems to catnap. Yesterday he had two sleeps during the day, one for 20 minutes and one for 40 minutes. Last night he went to bed at 9pm, only to wake about 5 minutes later. Couldn't settle him, so laid on the lounge with him on my chest until 3am, fed him, put him to bed around 4am, and he actually slept until 6am. DH got home from work around 7ish this morning and looked after him for a few hours so I could have a shower and something to eat. If you're not holding him he is screaming.
I feel so bad at the moment. I mean, we went through all that IVF, for me to wish he would just be quiet and give me some sleep or at least have a cup of tea. Mind you he is kind of sleeping atm in his cot.
Anyway, enough of a whinge from me, we see the paed. for his check up in 2 weeks, so will see what he has to say.

Kim, happy birthday to your little man for the big 1 tomorrow.

Nic

[nic]

Miss C,
I'm about to head to bed, finally have DS asleep..YAY..Anyway, just wanted to drop in quickly and say if you go back to page 8 of this thread, I posted something similiar. Also if you go back to the first few pages of this thread for a read, you'll find similiar things as well...

You are most definately not alone in your feelings there... I'm sure some more coherent posts will be made in the morning

Just a quick one from me, DS has a tooth just starting to come through the gum! Think it is why he has been sleeping bad the last couple of days - and nights lol.

Nic

[onthefly]

Miss C, bad news up front - you are about the hit the worst of it. these things tend to peak at around 5-6 weeks. You may feel you can't cope. You may feel like it'll never get better. you may run around like a headless chicken trying everything under the sun but nothing seems to help.... (just speaking from my own experiences here ...) You will trudge on, weary and overwhelmed (oh, and probably feeling guilty cause didn't you want this sooo bad...?).
Then (and here's the good news) sometime around the 8-10 week mark (probably, fingers crossed) you'll get a bit of sleep and catch your breath long enough to realise.... things are better now!
Like Nic says, go back and read earlier posts - you'll see the same stuff. I'm sure there's one in here somewhere about how I wanted to take DS back to the hospital... (I mean to leave him there...)
Hope you have plenty of support at home, even just someone to watch bubby while you take a nap can really help in getting through this time. And enjoy, as much as possible, the wonderful moments in between... everyone says it, I know, but they really do grow soooo fast!

Teeth will do that Nic, hey? We're on a hiatus between teeth at the moment, but I know it won't last long. Just gotta try and get some sleep while I can!

No AF here and I'm glad about that! Hope it comes for you soon ktgirl.

Glad you're settling in BW after your rough start.

[nic]

You know Marcellus, the funny thing about the teeth thing is he is hardly drooling at all, but since he was about a month or two old, he was drooling that much that we had to sometime change his clothes.
I think the tooth has just fully broken the gum...look out mummies boobies!

6 month needles tomorrow DH is waking up early (will finish nightshift in the morning) and is going with us, being school holidays we are taking DD with us, but are going to tag team so DH will take DS in for his imms while DD and I sit in the waiting area, I think she will get too upset if we took her in and he started to cry.

[ktgirl]

Ohh Nic I hope DS is feeling ok after his needles today. Poor little munchkin I hate taking the twins for their needles. My Mum always has to come with me because DH is at work and I can't do it by myself with two babies. We have to do tag team too where I hold the first baby and they get their shots and then pass to Mum and then have to do it all over again with the second baby. It is horrible. At least now the next one isn't until 12 months!!! Yay for 6 months and no needles. That is good that your DH could go in this time

Hi everyone else. Hope you are all well.

[Acacia]

Thanks for the replies, Nic and Marcellus - I really appreciate the advice and support. I think when I posted I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and a bit desperate to here from other mums! (I don't know a lot of mums yet where we live in the UK - still settling) I have had a look at page 8 and started reading through all the posts from the start of the thread (when there's some time!) and have found it really helpful - thanks for pointing me in the direction, Nic It's nice to feel that I'm not a bad parent, or that I'm not coping - it sounds like what I've been feeling is really quite normal and it really helps!

Nic - I hope DS's needles went ok today.

Hope everyone is going well and babies are all ok

[onthefly]

DS was the same Nic - I thought he was just wierd, now I know better! he used to soak through his clothes, but no more...

It is good to have a nice break between shots.

It is good to feel normal. Do you have a mothers' group Miss C? I'm not sure whether my post really was all that helpful - I think sometimes I write these things to remind myself that however hard it is now it is definitely easier than it was then...

His other front top tooth is on the way now. The other top one took 2 weeks . I realised today that i've had about 5-6 good nights in the past 4 months. cripes. My friend asked me how I cope with work - you know, I'm not really sure