Parenting after LTTTC #2

Murph: I think I spoke too soon, as Tara has been really unsettled since Saturday. She is struggling to sleep during the day and wakes with crying fits and she isn't sleeping better at night either at the moment. She seems to be getting some side effects from the injections ie: diarrohea and vomiting, not a lot mind you but I think she has been getting lots of tummy pains as she seems to feel better after getting rid of what is in her tummy. Poor baby is so tired and cranky and I feel bad having to medicate her to help ease the discomfort, fingers crossed she will start to pick up soon.

FG: I didn't know Archer had eczema, how uncomfortable for him. A friend of our's little boy also has eczema and he has been admitted to hospital twice as it got so bad. He also has to have wet dressings. I feel for your little man.

Oh well as Tara is so unsettled it is good I have no plans at all, so am hoping she picks up before Xmas or else she is going to be a major cranky pants with all the visitors and external stimulation she will get. Although even though she is suffering from a lot of discomfort she still manages to give us smiles as well, so deep down she is still a happy little girl.

Better go, she is screaming again....

Hi Gals

Sorry Ive been MIA, I have been lurking but just not keeping up at the moment! Just started reading and replying and realised I was replying to things posted in mid November :shakehead:. So I'm posting a very quick hello so I can restart from here and keep up to date with you all. Sorry for no personals but I will make a better effort this time hehe.

Take care all x

Got room for one more???
Hey ladies just jumping on this thread and will catch up with you all in the next few days.

So BIG hello's for now and BBL ;)

Hi Nicole S, I'm a bit of a newbie here but I'd like to welcome you aboard! Looking forward to hearing about you and your little man :D.

Hey there Nic and LD - Welcome to the thread. Hope you are both well and looking forward to hearing more about how you are both going.

Janie and Jasmine xxx

Hi girls.

Obviously like you all, we were LTTTC, I have a bit of question and I need some honest opinions.

I hate DD being out of my sight and everyone seems to want to keep taking her! My mum keeps pushing DH and me to go out while DD stays at her house, I continually refuse as I dont want to leave her and my mother is a big fan of letting babies cry it out or at least cry for an extended time. Last week my aunty picked up DD and said she was going to take her outside as she was upset, I asked her not go out in the 40 degree heat with her and she did anyway, I was nearly in tears! my other aunty saw what was happening and went and got her.
I dont mind anyone having a cuddle or chat to DD but I do not want people to keep taking her away from me! I am happy with what ever DH does with her, if he has her outside or Im outside but I dont even want to leave her with him while I go out (I know he is quite capable) but what if she gets upset and he can't settle her? I hate hearing her cry her heart out.

In the hospital the midwives continually tried to take her to the nursery and even snuck in the room on several occasions and thought they would take her to the nursery anyway, telling me I wasnt meant to wake up when they came in! Then they told me and DH to have a day pass while we left 'the baby' at the hospital.....um, no I dont think so thankyou very much.

I have had nightmares since we have been home where I wake up hysterical that someone has taken her and DH has to reassure me she is still there :crying:

So I guess in this long winded post, I am wondering if anyone else felt similar to me? Did you hate your very precious little one away from you or is something wrong with me??? Will I eventually ease back or am I going to cause my DD to be a maladjusted little girl??? Any thoughts would be great.

Thanks ladies xx

Lily - i hated anyone taking DD from me - ESPECIALLY when she was upset. i dont' care if they have 20 kids of their own - she is MY DD and i'll do it MY way - and don't you DARE try and keep her from me!

we recently had our first few hours away from DD since her birth - she was 6months 2days old. we had tix for a concert - one that DH had wanted to go to for as long as i've known him. so we had to leave her. i thought about how my mum behaves (she believes in CIO but is, to my face, respectful of our decision not to) - and the amount of time we'd have to be apart from her for a Melb concert (we live 2 hours out of Melb) - then i realised my cousins live much closer to Melb - so mum came with us, and stayed there with DD. i knew my cousins have similar parenting style to us - so wouldn't let mum use CIO, DD was much closer to us... anyway, i almost bailed on the concert even then. it just didnt' feel right. we didn't go to all this effort to have her to not be her parents full time!

so no, you are most definitely NOT alone on that thought

i would be making a huge issue if someone took DD outside without my consent. we keep our house a fairly consistent temp - and only take DD out on the hot days if we HAVE to - it's not fair to them - not like they can really say they're hot! you have to judge that yourself - and at 2 months, you still have to hold them very close, so that adds heat. you're well within your rights to be upset and crack the poops about that. in all honesty, i'd probably tell people that you birthed her, you will make the decisions - and they either respect that or rack off (ok, i HAVE said that - but i'm very forthright!). don't let people push you around - step up to the plate and tell them your baby your way!


oh, and there is nothing wrong with my bubba for being looked after by her mumma! she'll go to others, but makes sure we're there (either daddy or mummy - granma at a pinch...). my SIL was very much like this with all three of her kids - and they're brilliant kidlets now - very social, very happy to spend time with other people - in fact, the nine and five year olds actively ask for sleepovers here every second weekend!

Just checking in quickly from NZ...

Lily Dust - the way you feel is perfectly normal. You are her mother - listen to your heart. you know what's best for her, so put your foot down and don't feel bad about telling others how it'll be with her. :hug:
And oh my goodness at those midwives! That's really awful. I still feel weird about being away from DS, I couldn't imagine how awful I'd have felt if someone took him from me when he was just born! I remember he had to spend a night in the nursery and that was terrible. I could hardly sleep - kept waking up panicking.

Glad you got to that concert BG.

Hi Nicole

A's been pretty good with the travel and time zone differences. Bed time is a bit hard over here - it's not properly dark till after 9:30!! He insists on sleeping in the bed with me, which is ok, but last night he hardly slept at all. We worry he's coming down with something.... hope not. We're off camping for the weekend with DH's sister and her family.
Anyway, he's having a ball doing the chores with DH - feeding the dog & chickens.

Catch you later

Just a quick helllo from me...I have been slack and not keeping up with the thread the last couple of weeks.. I am aiming to go back and catch up though...I promise :)
Just wanted to ask BG a quick question though...Have been trying to search for the Amby recall thread, and my search is not working :( Wondering if you got an email back from amby australia?

Lily Dust: OMG, how inconsiderate people have been to your feelings, Tara is very similar in age to your DD and I wouldn't let anyone just pick her up and take her wherever they wanted. She is your precious baby and you are the one who is responsible for making decisions about her, not anyone else so you have every right to be mad.

I'm lucky as I only have my parents close by and when I see them they never take Tara from me I'm the one always giving her to them to hold. DH is the same, he always seems to ask me if he can pick her up or hold her (I think that is more to do with me knowing her moods and what each cry means, than him being scared of doing something wrong). My IL's will be here on Boxing Day and haven't seen her since she was 3 weeks old but I don't think they would just take her either, I think they are respectful enough to realise that we know what is best for our baby.

Hi everyone else, haven't seemed to have the energy to post in here for a little bit. Tara had a couple of rough days after her immunisations with vomiting, diarrohea and unsettled sleep plus I think she might be getting a bit of a cold as well. She has been sneezing quite a bit and I have had to do lots of booger fishing (that's the term we use to get the mucous out of her nose) and has been sleeping lots during the day, but she doesn't have a fever which is good. Although we are celebrating in our house now as she has now started sleeping for 10 hours at night, a couple of times a night she will make noises and wake us up but she goes straight back to sleep again :dance:. Everything else is going well, lots of smiles and chatter and also getting giggles as well.

nic, i got a reply hun - PM me your email addy if you want and i'll forward it to you

Hi everyone,

I've just finished replying in a thread about someone feeling a little lonely based on how they perceive their "village" around them, and it's given me the kickstart to get my butt into gear. I've been feeling the lack of a village around me, and I know that I can only fix this by reaching out more, so I am doing that now.

I haven't been in this thread for such a long time - I think I didn't end up posting/subscribing when it became #2 thread early on, and then I kept meaning to and didn't get around to it with moving house blah blah blah etc. and in the end I became really embarrassed and shy that I was stupidly not interacting with the woman that would most understand me and my situation (that I was still dealing with PND and how to be a mum after IVF and felt I couldn't just get my act together). And then I was irrationally worried about the fact that I've not been in the thread to follow and support you all too :rolleyes: you get the idea.

So anyway, this is me jumping back in, and hoping it's okay! :redface:

I will look forward to catching up with you all as I spend some time reading through and also getting to know ladies I don't know yet.

AFU - DD turned 1 yesterday and we celebrated with a lovely little party at our house with a couple of her little friends and DD's grandparents and aunt (my ILs). It was really wonderful, and I had the best time I've had in ages! We've now been breastfeeding for 12 months, so I'm really very proud, and feeling quite on top of the world at the moment - and I think strong enough to get past my regular negative headspace to come and join in here again :)

Look forward to catching up :hug:

Acacia, I've been a bit absent, too... Reading but not replying because I just didn't feel like I had anything helpful to say. So many people in the newborn stage and that just seems so far away now...

Well, sitting here today with Sam snuggled on my lap (meant to be falling asleep, but I think he's just enjoying the snuggle) and find myself wondering just how much longer I'll get to this. Today is my baby boy's first birthday... it's gone so fast! I keep thinking that even if I combine my time being pregnant and the first year of his life, it still adds up to less time than the time we spent trying to conceive him. Is it any wonder it still doesn't feel real yet?

BW

welcome back Acacia - and happy belated birthday to your princess!!

Happy birthday to Sam too BW!

not a lot of time to post - just jumping on while i get some breakfast and a cuppa into me then off to Melb for Melbel's baby shower.

happy birthday sam!!!

Happy birthday Sam!!!! AND happy mummy anniversary to you BW! I understand what you mean about the time: we were TTC 10years, pregnancy and her whole life so far is less than 1/3 of that time~!

also Happy birthday to your little girl Acacia! I've been very slack in recent times too. There are so many girls here in the newborn stage, or pregnant and that is a lifetime ago to me (Plus there are some "issues" for me) so I sometimes read but not often post. I do really miss the closeness I felt in this thread when it first started and we were all at the same stage. I hope all you new ladies are feeling that support now with so many of you!

LilyDust, I know EXACTLY what you mean about having your DD close. I was just the same. For us we had so many visitors in the first few weeks that I felt I only got to hold her because I was BF!!! She would have been almost 3months before I even left her with DH for 15mins to go to the shops. We had to use a babysitter around 6months for a few hours one evening and it was torture. I really didnt enjoy it. A friend kept insisting she babysit so we could have an evening to ourselves, except we really didnt want to: we wanted her to come with us! eventually she gave up asking.

To answer your question, I think you will eventually feel comfortable leaving her with certain people. It will come when she is bigger and physically needs less support, and you are more at ease with others understanding her needs more too. She will be able to let people know what she wants easier and not rely on your mothers intuition so much. I wasnt ready to put DD into any kind of daycare till she was 18months old and then only 2hours a fortnight at a family daycare lady we already knew socially. (she had only stayed with family for a few hours a couple of times till then but regularly with DH) I'm now back at work 2 to 3 shifts a week but even then, if she is home with DH I will usually phone to check how she is. I know some of my friends would think me clingy and neurotic but I dont care. It makes me feel better and it's certainly not hurting her. (Plus I dont tell them) Don't worry: your feelings are completely normal!

BTW, my mother always took my nephews and now my niece out of the room or outside and it drove my SIL mad. I think she just wanted to have time without SIL hovering over her like she does. For some reason she didnt do it with my DD and I was hovering just as much.

Hi Everyone

I felt a bit sad reading some of the posts and feel that some of us newbies might be pushing out the mummies who have been here a bit longer. I hope that you will all continue to post as I love reading your updates on where all your babies are at, plus I have really found this thread helpful by being able to ask our more experienced mum's questions about things that are happening with Tara. Your information has been invaluable.

Oh, wait! Sam is one already?!
Happy birthday!

:happybirthday:

And to your little girl too Acacia - where did that time go?

Wow - I can't believe that Sam is already 1! A big happy birthday to Sam and Acacia's little princess - the time has just flown. It's lovely to see you back in the thread ladies.

Janie and Jasmine xxx

Thanks everyone for replying about my question, it is nice to have others who have been in the sam eboat and understand how I am feeling about DD. As you have all said in one way or another....shes my daughter, I birthed her and DH and I call the shots, dont like it then thats tough! I feel more confident with that, now that I'm not some freakishly over clingy mummy :)

KellyD- thats not such geat news about the immunisation. I hope Tara is starting to feel better the poor little mite.

briggsy's girl- well done on being so brave and getting to the concert!

marcellus- hope the camping was a fun time by all. It must be lovely to watch DS have so much fun feeding the animals.

Acacia- BIG BIG well dne on BF for 1 year :clap:, thats just fantastic! Im sure that 1st year has just dissolve before yor eyes, DD is 3 months and I was certain I only birthed her a few weeks ago!

butterfly_warrior- Happy 1st Birthday Sam! Please dont feel like we newbies are taking over this planet on you. Its the experience and advice of you wonderful mummys that we are seeking out most of the time. Having others who have struggled to get the extra precious bundles and explain that how we feel is normal is beyond any advice many of us can get from our families. It really is invaluable.

sazzafrazz- I hope the issues you are writing about arent too overwhelming and everything is ok. :hug:

Hi Nic & Lenny and everyone else that hasnt been on for a while.

Thanks heaps for being so caring and sharing your experiences with me.

Hi girls,

Just popping in to say HI! Am waiting for my little man to wake up for his next feed. He's been asleep for nearly 4 hrs, wish I had of know that earlier as I would have gone for a nap :doh: He always does that to me, lol

My DP's mum took care of him yesterday arvo for the first time while I went and got some pampering done, had a leg wax and spa pedicure :D He was very unsettled after that. He didnt sleep long for her and then wouldnt go down for us later that night. She has been hounding me to take care of him but look what happens! Dont get me wrong, Im grateful but at the same time, he's used to me and DP and our routine.

She keeps saying she'll take care of him New Year's Eve and we can pick him up the next day and Im like, ahhh no, but thanks! Im like you Lily Dust, dont want to be away from him. I had to go to hell and back to conceive him and he is EVERYTHING to me and DP. Im not about to palm him off to everyone to look after him. I want to spend every precious moment I can now with him before I have to go back to work the middle of next year.

Sorry girls, have to run as Trent has just woken up and he's HUNGRY!!!

Take care and will be back later,

Tania :D

Hello,
just a quick pop in to add to the support for your situation LilyDust. I was reading your post and thinking out loud and must have sighed and got DH's attention. I explained that you were in a position that I feel like I'm soon going to be faced with and I'm really dreading it. His mum has invited herself (surprise!) for two weeks...i won't even go there, I'll keep moving through, anyway. I feel that she will very much disagree with my parenting, after all she left DH at 4 years old at home ALONE while she went to Fiji!!!!!!!! (don't get me started....not enough exclamation marks to explain my feelings and I won't dwell cos we're all changed people apparently:rolleyes:). I explained to DH about people hassling us to "just go out and leave her"and he just said that it won't be aproblem cos he's not at all okay with leaving DD and that's not what we do so we never will if we don't want to. It's reassuring to be on the same page.

Another awkward moment yesterday when said MIL writes in her christmas card to us, love Nanna and Grandpa. It made me feel sick..this man is her husband and only recently acquired and what i know of him I don't trust and he is not even a father to any children, let alone a grand father. I 'm sooooo not cool with that. I rallied my sis and mum's advice and both think the same as me so couldn't help me to be a nicer person and give in to him wanting to be grandpa. But no way, I will always just correct them if they call him grandpa. Bloody hell, families can be such baggage that you just wnat to pack up and move to the other side of the country from...oh wait dH did that leaving her in Adelaide the second he turned 17 and joined the Army!

Oops, that was quite a rant....oh but there is so much more and I do love to be a biatch sometimes, just that it doesn't do much for happy families:wall:

Well, all my good intentions of catching up with everyone's news, didn't work so well, lol...thought I would quickly drop back in and say a quick hi again, before we take off in the morning to my parents for christmas..Just wanted to wish everyone a great christmas. BW - HAPPY belated 1ST BIRTHDAY to Sam! I can't believe he is already celebrating his first year here with you.
Acacia - Happy birthday to your DD too.
BG - Thanks for that email :) greatly appreciated...
Hi to everyone, so sorry for my lack of personals.. Must go, I have to try to do some house tidying to make tomorrow's packing a little less stressful

Hi Girls

Murph: I can sympathise with you about the Grandpa thing, you may remember my issue with DH's mother wanting to be called Mum Mum and not Grandma or Nan. When they were here after Tara's birth she stated she was going to be called Mum Mum and of course I hit the roof with that one and told her NO, I am the only Mum.... She then told me how she hates Grandma, Nan, Nanna etc, well get over it... That is what you are, so currently she does not get called anything (lucky for us she lives 10 hours away) and unless she can choose something suitable Tara will grow up calling her by her name.

Anyway, I wanted to wish everyone one of you all a very Happy Christmas. This one will be so special for a lot of you (including us) as it is our first Christmas with our special babies.

Kelly, Mum Mum is a bit wrong for a grandmother!! What was she thinking? I don't blame you for hitting the roof over that one. Is your DD her first grandchild? My Mum still hasn't decided what she wants to be called, but she better decide soon because DS is now saying mummum, mama, dada etc. Her DP has asked to be called Pop. They've been together 15 years, but it still feels a bit strange. My Dad died 11 years ago, so it feels like he's trying to take his place or something. He's not, but it still feels weird.

MissMagpie, It's great that your MIL wants to help, but your DS is so young to stay overnight. I can imagine how it would upset your routine too. At that age, I think you just want to do everything you can not to disrupt your routine so that you're all getting plenty of rest. Not only that, but I can't imagine enjoying myself out on New Years or being able to sleep all night without DS in the house. We have left DS once in 8.5 months with good friends and that was hard. We are thinking we might go and see a movie over the holidays and have a bit of a lunch/movie date. Maybe. Still undecided. When DH takes DS to the shop I miss him after 10 minutes (as much as I love the peace and quiet).
Hope you enjoyed your pampering, sounds like bliss!

AFU, Noah is so much fun at the moment. He has a funny little personality and is so happy. This week I have been getting 3 one hour day sleeps out of him which has been great. Much better than his catnaps. He still wakes anywhere from 1-3 times per night but I don't mind. He rolls everywhere, and he does it quickly. It's amazing how fast he can get from one side of the room to the other just from rolling. He's almost up on his knees, but I think he's a way off crawling yet. He's been sitting up really well on his own for a while now and he loves it. He says mama, mummum whenever he's tired or wants a feed which is lovely. Never thought I would hear that.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas. Enjoy yourself, and stay safe if you're travelling.

Hi girls,

Just popping in to say hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas tomorrow especially those of us with new babies :D I have Trent's outfit all ready for tomorrow which says "Babies first Christmas" :D

We had a great night last night with Trent sleeping 9 hours..WOO HOO! :dance: We have been using thickened formula the last few days to help with his vomitting so that may be making him more satisfied. Was very thankful for the good sleep!

He is such a beautiful boy and he is the best Christmas present we could ever ask for.

Enjoy your day tomorrow girls and hope Santa is good to you :dance::dance:

Take care,

Tania xx

Merry Christmas everyone!
Hope you all have a lovely day.

DS calls his grandparents GiGi and DoDo. GiGi is from the sign we used for granma - G G. Don't know where dodo comes from. So my parents are now gigi and dodo fish. and DH's are gigi dodo bok (chicken). And his greatgrandma is also gigi, though I suppose she should be gigigi.

Take care and stay safe

Merry Christmas lovely ladies (and your very special little - and not so little - bubbas!)

hope you all have a fantastic day!

So happy to read the Christmad wishes from many, just lovely that so many people get to have such a beautiful Christmas with their miracles.

MissMagpie, I hope you enjoyed the pampering. 9 hours- woohoo for you and DH, hope you weren't out of bed to much checking to make sure he was okay lol. thats what happen the first time DD slept past her usual amount, I was awake anyway!

Murph01- my god, its like reading my thoughts in your posts! DH's mother has officially named her partner Poppy too. There is a lot of bad blood with the MIL up and leaving FIL and not contacting her children for 12 months, after having an affair with this man so I am not impressed at all! My step father is Pop or Poppo, but we are both ok with that as he is the only 'father' I have ever known.

KellyD- You are so right, Tara has one mummy and that is you. Mum mum I personally dont think is a name for a grandmother. DD has a Nanny, Grandma and a Bippy (just something a little different there). Bippys not blood related but they are very dear friends and that is what her grandchildren also call her.

Megan- Isnt it funny how you miss them even though you are so exhausted, you think you want a break and then you miss them like crazy! It seems odd even being away from them.

I ducked out for 30 mins after the last post and left DD with her Daddy, I left in tears and made him promise to ring if she so much as grunted differently....he rang and my heart missed a beat....'Hi hon, we are fine BUT I blew the computer up'. Yep, he sure did, 107 viruses and couldnt even re- boot the stupid thing! and I was worried about DD if I left not DH!!! :D

Marcellus- I love the names DS uses for his grandparents!

Hi everyone!!!!

Hello everyone,
hope you all had a great christmas. Mine was a laid back little family of three and it was just lovely - our first and probably last at home here in the Daintree. DH is only weeks away from finishing his PhD (that has kept us based up here) and now the reality of returning to life in the real world is upon us. Blah.

KellyD, so glad you stuck to your guns over that Mum Mum issue. Yes, I remember that well and I still say that's a bit close to Mum of course and especially when they are learning an will say Mum Mum, Dad Dad anyway. Her other grandkids called her that because they couldn't pronounce it and it was one of those cute things they were happy to go with, but you're not and plenty of others wouldn't be so she'll have to get over it.

My dad's wife (barely older than my brother) entered the picture in the worst possible affair situation which almost killed my mum. It's now been 17 years and of course we are as good as can be expected but she has had to accept that she has no right to a name like Nana or anything because she's not. My brother's first baby was born the year after she hit the scene (which is what saved my mum) and she has been known by her name ever since then, so it's Pop and ...her name and that works for us. My sister nearly had a heart attack a few weeks back when dad's wife turned up at my niece's daycare as an adopt-a-cop and introduced herself as Jess's grandmother. Woah, she had to swallow down hard on that one, but i guess it's easier to explain that way to kids and teachers without going into details. My sis did not take kindly. Like she said, maybe if things had have been different and not underhanded and smashed up our whole family, she might have been entitled, but that's not how they did things so she doesn't have the right.

As for DH's mother's husband, we have no biological or emotional attachment and I really have my hackles up if they think he "takes" a title just by marrying into it. I know it seems pedantic and there are some of you that may be in relationships as step-parent or similar and I'm not saying that's how it is for everyone. some relationships work beautifully, like my mum's and I would happily have given him the right to be a grandpa because I had that respect and trust and really I think that's what it comes down to. fortunately, my mum's dearly departed partner had kids of his own and refused any thought that he was grandpa or anything right from the word go. Unfortunatley though, he died this year and never saw his kids have their own kids. Some people make it easy and others just have no idea.

so what is with my cheeky baby not sleeping now? Is it possible that it is a side effect of her immunisation shots which she got on Christmas eve? She seems to be all out of whack and though not crazy grizzly, just unsettled and sleep is a non-event until she is burnt out from yelling at her cot mobiles (not crying, just talking to them and bossing them around). she woke at 4am and has not slept again since. DH was up doing job applications so he took her out while I slept for a few more hours and she still refuses to sleep, despite wrapping and nursing and feeding. Could it also be she is buzzing from chocolate I ate? It all seems a bit odd and disturbing.

Here is a link to my little Daintree Chrissy, hope yours was good
Angela Bengsen's Photos - Jasmine's first Christmas 2009 | Facebook

Murph, just had a look at your photos... you're leaving that?! It looks beautiful there. :) It looks like you had a lovely quiet, relaxing day.

Hi Megan, I can't believe how big Noah is now. We are lamenting the loss of our favourite little 5 zeros outfits that were too big at first and now laughably small. Jasmine is a big 3.57 kilos now and was 2.2 on leaving hospital. I can't believe babies are born still bigger. my hat goes off to you girls with regular sized babies.

I don't think i have posted the link to earlier photos, so for those that like sticky (like me), here is my brag book of our tiny tiger:)

Angela Bengsen's Photos - Jasmine photos | Facebook

So Jasmine is just bigger than Noah was when he was born! He was 3.4kg and is now around 8.8kg!
It is sad to say goodbye to those little clothes. We have just packed up 2 more boxes of everything from 0000-00 as he only wears 0 now and we have even had to buy a couple of size 1 suits because he's tall.
Jasmine is just beautiful. So little, I can't even imagine.

Hey Megan, I know what you mean about leaving this place. I can't believe that when I left Townsville to come up here, I was upset and counting the days til we moved back. But by the first year of living in the far north, we knew it would be impossible to ever imagine moving back to dry old "Brownsville". Ahh but especially now with Jazzy's deafness, we have to base ourselves somewhere closer to a regional centre for her treatment. Anyway, if we stay put too long, maybe we will miss another piece of Paradise somewhere else. We knew when I left my well-paying job, sold our house and cars and most of our possessions in order to make our tree/sea change that we would eventually have to go back to life in the real world with real jobs.

Thanks for your comments on Jasmine. She was so tiny and I suppose still is but to us she is getting huge, even though she is still mostly in 5 zeros. 3.4 kilos is just a normal weight, it's not like Neptune's little boomba:lol: they all catch up though and I wonder when Jazz will be 8.8 kilos.

Just wanted to dob in KellyD and pressure her to share her facebook photos with us here. They are beautiful kelly. I've wanted to see Princess Tara for so long and pictured her through all your descriptions. She is just absolutely gorgeous and bursting with smiles for everyone. My Dh is almost as in love with Tara as with Jazz. I think he may have a soft spot for girls hey?

As always I'm following behind you Kelly but I have been a bit worried that Jazz isn't smiling yet. It is used by everyone as the first milestone and it's like those comments when you are pregnant "oh you're so small", now it's "is she smiling yet?" and it just makes me feel stressed because I suppose with the hearing loss, it makes me wonder if there are other connections that are not working. It's probably silly, she does smile and it's a beautiful thing, but she doesn't smile at us yet and there's only so long I can blame her developmental age.

By the way, as I said earlier, she didn't go back to bed after her morning feed and then her first proper sleep all day apart from a few power naps was at 8p.m! what a day. I just seemed to feed her and try to settle her to sleep all day. I'm sure she knows I am really trying to study for my stupid psychology exam. It's already been deferred by two months and I only have to do this one exam until I put uni on hold for a while, but I have to somehow do it next month and she is not helping me.

Well all is well and Jamine is sleeping now, so I'd better try too.

P.S Kelly, I didn't buy the activity centre, I won't ever have to buy another thing for the rest of her life and she will still be too spoilt! We literally have enough clothes to wear an outfit everyday of the year and never have to wash. My sister gave me all her hand me downs which were great, and despite telling everyone we don't need clothes after that, every single gift since her birth has contained clothes (no joke). We bought her a single solitary book for christmas...tight wads hey? Well Santa will pull out the big guns when she is old enough to at least smile in appreciation:lol:

Hi Girls

At Murph's insistence here are my recent photo's of Tara from this month..Login | Facebook

Murph, Jazz will soon start smiling all the time for you, Tara was a bit slow off the mark and it was so hard to catch the brief smile she would give us and then all of a sudden she started smiling at everything, she is now sort of laughing... she has the mouth action going but is still not quite there with the associated sound.

As for Jazz being unsettled, Tara was the same after her immunisations. It zonked her out the first night and then for about a week afterwards she didn't seem her usual self and was unsettled sleeping and at times just being a cranky pants. It doesn't help that the immunisation time coincides with the 8 weeks "Wonder Week" stage either. So much our little ones have to go through.

I can't believe how much Jazz has grown although compared to my big chubster she is such a tiny angel. Tara is now in 00 clothes, the only 000 left are dresses but even they won't last much longer. We weighed her 2 days before Xmas and she is a huge 5.5kg, with her next MCHN visit sheduled for another week away it wouldn't surprise me if she is double her birth weight or close to it (3.2kg's).

Oh, now for the good and bad... Good news is that Tara is now a fantastic night sleeper, she is sleeping somewhere between 12-13 hours which is probably longer than recommended but I let her wake herself up so she is not miserable plus she generally only seems to have 1 big nap during the day every other sleep is a power nap only.

Bad news is that I am trying to find ways to help with her reflux, any ideas would be great. After every feed we always have vomit, sometimes just a little and other times so much that both Tara & I end up with a change of clothes. It can vary from just a bit of overflow (ie: undigested formula) to large chunks of partially digested formula, we have even had instances of chunks of formula in a clear fluid (like saliva). We have her propped up to sleep and hold her upright for a good 1/2 hours after feeds, but we still get something come up even 1-2 hours after feeding. She doesn't seem to suffer from any pain from the reflux (as she sometimes smiles afterwards when she still have vomit in her mouth), just the constant vomit associated when she eats. She is already on Lactose Free formula, so I don't know if I should be adding thickener to her formula what would you all recommend the best plan of attacked as I'm paranoid everytime we go to someones house that she will puke all over there furniture etc..

Hi Kelly,
woah, I couldn't do the 12-13 hour sleep even if Jazz wanted to. She still needs to feed through the night and if she doesn't she gets dehydrated. Last night she slept for 9 hours and I woke up at her feed times but she didn't so I let her sleep through. She woke at 5, had a short feed, then all three of us had lovely big sleep-in together in our bed. Unfortunately there was a tell-tale sign in her nappy in the morning (urates). have you had them at all? It's like crystalised uric acid I think and it's an orangy, blood-like colour. It may just be a problem with small babies. I learnt all about it in hospital when I got a tut-tut from a nurse when I explained it. I haven't had it since but at least I recognise it and will wake her for feeds if she sleeps through tonight.

Today has been great and all seems back on track....and....drum roll please....we got smiles!!!!!!! Oh happy day, lots of gorgeous big cheeky grins at everything, including the dog. It's hard to catch one on camera but got a bit of phone footage. What a heart melting moment. So relieving to see her making those connections and we both saw at the same time so we couldn't deny they were real. can't wait til play time tomorrow:dance:

Sorry about your problems with the reflux, you might find some other threads talking about those issues if no one gets back to you soon. I am fully breast feeding so I don't have the same problems but i hope you get help for your lovely girl.

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ing-forum.html

I haven't chencked it, but found this site Kel. there are also others that might help.

Cheers

Thanks Murph

I've had a look at the reflux forum and am going to ask the MCHN on our next visit. I don't know if the reflux has been caused by Tara having a bit of a cold and she has been trying to get all the yuck out of her system or if it is a long term problem.

As for the nappy issue after her long sleeps, no problems so far... As she is only awake for about 12 hours a day (less if you take out her daytime sleeps) she is feeding every 3 - 3 1/2 hours so she seems to be well hydrated and all we get are very heavy wet nappies in the morning and they don't have an overly strong smell either. I think she either takes after her daddy and loves her sleep, or she is still trying to get over this cold she has had and sleep is the best medicine for her.

Hi everyone!

I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and looking forward to NYE with bubs tonight. I will be having a quiet one, maybe with a glass of champagne and just about to head out to buy the prawns to marinate!

Murph and KellyD - your girls are soooo beautiful.

KellyD - I hear you on the reflux. Adam has been having the same problem ever since 8 weeks. He seems to have a pattern though, and it is only during play time when he gets excited and he seems to lose most of his milk. At night time when re-settling it doesn't seem to happen, so I think his problem has got to do with movement.

Adam is a little champion and I am so in love with him. I can't imagine life without him and don't know what on earth I was doing before. I think he is coping well with life so far and I feel very blessed and lucky.

He is 10 weeks old now and would weigh approx just under 7kg - he was last weighed at the GP 2 weeks ago and he was 6.6kg :o:o. His weight gain has slowed down now. I always wanted a bald fat baby, and I sure got one!

100% formula feeding now, lost my milk through just expressing at 6 weeks. The guilt has now passed, but I really suffered for a while. Now I just feel happy that he is healthy and happy and that I gave it my best shot, but that he wasn't getting satisfied and was wrecking my nipples (just like he has wrecked a few teats on bottles). He's a destroyer! He is sleeping very well too, with the occasional bad night.

Hello to everyone, and I hope you are all enjoying your little bundles.

For anyone who wants a stickybeak....
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wow Neptune - my little bubba only hit 7kg at 6 months! i love chubby little bubbas though - so cute! Emerald isn't overly chubby - but she's also not super slim! she has fat rolls - they are just little ones!

not a lot happening here - E is trying to crawl, teething, rolling heaps - lots of stuff going on so we've had some sleep regression. but it's not too much of an issue - she is mostly a very happy baby and is a joy to be around. she has so many words already (her latest is "kiss" - when she is supposed to be feeding and knows she is going to fall asleep but doesn't want to, she will come off the boob "kiss kiss" - giving her a kiss means she delays the inevitable bed time - but how can you NOT lol?)