Pregnancy after LT TTC #17

[TaRhLi.]

That's so funny grub, I knew they can get little one's but I thought it happens when you take off a nappy and they have to pee. I've been told a good idea about the pee thing though and have cut up some cloth nappies into little squares, I was told to put that of the offending object ie: doodle to stop (hopefully) getting pee'd in the face during nappy changes.

Also us girls having boys, have you have the "circumcision" conversation yet with your DH??? As soon as we knew we were having boys, I brought up the topic as it is not something you have to worry about as a girl and DH said he didn't think he wanted his boys to have to go through the procedure "just for looks" ever though DH is circumcised - like most guys his age. I really put that decision back onto DH as how would I know what difference it would make....

[grub17]

i gotta run out in a tick but kelly we didn't get DS circumised because we really saw no reason. but i know it can be a bit controversial regarding hygiene/cultural stuff. but for us it just wasn't really thought of. not all docs do it by the way so you'll need to look into it.

and lol abut the pee thing!!! ash more than once got himself inthe eye. you learn to uncover, cover quickly, and wait til it arrives lol. it's the number 2s i'd be more worried about... my dh learnt the hard way... the first time ash did a huge explosion all over him DH screamed out to me like he'd just been shot... i swear he nearly cried... It was hhheeeeelarious!

gotta run back more late.

[TaRhLi.]

Grub you are so funny... My DH also has a poo phobia, he has been lucky with Tara that only once during a change did he get poo on his finger but I swear you would think he was going to chop his finger off lol...

And I think we now know why I have been getting all these BH and low down pains, my Ob called about 1/2 hour ago to let me know that I have a bladder infection and now he understands why I was complaining of discomfort when nothing could be seen on the CTG. So I have my scan tomorrow and then off to pick up my script for some antibiotics, hopefully this will make me feel much better.

[dreamrise659]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the warning about the "hard ons". I hadn't thought about that. Though I did remember with my exes son we had to be so careful changing his nappy... never got sprayed but he did spray himself and everything around him a few times! Good idea about using the small bits of cloth nappies. We just learnt to do it really fast.

Circumsion - my ex and I had a big discussion about this and did alot of research. We were going to get him circumised as her cousin had major problems with her son getting urinary tract infections so got her son circumised when he was around 4 years old so they recommended getting it done when they are a baby. In the end though it was too complicated and expensive so we let it go. Now that I think I might be having a boy I have done more research on the topic. My Dad was circumised but he didn't want my brother to be circumised so I guess that means he didn't think it was important. I haven't discussed it with any males I know but have on a sperm donor group I'm a member of. It was interesting that alot of the guys who were circumised would have their sons done as they believe it makes it easier to stay clean etc and improves s.e.x but the guys who weren't done believe it is barbaric and wouldn't want their sons to be done.
It does apparently reduce the risk of HIV and some other sexually transmitted conditions as well as reducing urinary tract infections, but there is also the risk of the surgery being botched and the child ending up deformed.

So I'm still not sure what I will do if it turns out this bub is a boy... well only 5 days till I hopefully find out. I guess that's one thing which is easier for people who have a male partner - you can leave that sort of decision to them.

Lori
DD - 14

[LizLemon]

Hello lovely girls.

Ok I have finally posted the due list as a separate post - much easier to find and it means that if someone (for example me) drops the ball for a bit everyone can still see it and update if need be. I have kept it as up to date as possible but everyone's dates change a bit so hopefully it's right.

I have missed so much action but will be keeping better up to date from now on! A few things from what I've seen:

WillIEver - welcome and a huge congrats to you. I bet you're still bouncing off the walls I know I was.

Mindhugs - Itchy nipples YES!!! It's driving me crazy. I dont even bother being subtle in front of DH anymore. And my boobs (which were pretty big to begin with) are just getting huge. I told DH that they are now looking too big for my head.

I missed the whole boy/girl discussion but I have to admit I was a bit freaked when we found out what DS was going to be. I had noooo experience with boys and was terrified. But he is amazing and I would gladly have another boy if that's what this one is. He is my best little mate and I just love the humour and simplicity of boys.

But yes - as Grub said (you so crack me up) Doodle Down Doodle Down!!! Best advice I can give. And yes little erections are the norm but Mindhugs the whole doctor's advice for your friends to rub it so it gets hard??? What the???

Kelly - you are doing an amazing job with your little men. What a trooper you are. And we decided not to circumcise DS as (1) DH isn't circumcised and (2) It didnt really seem to be the done thing when he was born. It's a hard one though, and like vaccination everyone seems to have an opinion.

All you other girls going along nicely - Possums, Kaybee, Aimee, OneDay, Lori- Hi!! You're all doing so well!

I'm still hanging in there, still trying to keep my head in the sand about the whole thing. Bub has been pretty quiet today which is so unusual usually it's going beserk but I've felt enough to know it's ok. Still having weekly scans which is a pain in the bot-bot but at least is reassuring. OB has booked my C/S but I'm keeping mum on the date. But eek seems very close!! Have my glucose test in the next week so fingers crossed I'm ok. I am absolutely addicted to chocolate at this point so it would be nice for someone to tell me to lay off it but then I if I couldn't have it I think I'd lose my will to live

[Possums]

all i can say is thank goodness for this site and you girls!! the discussions here are so helpful.

firstly-

kelly- glad they found why you have been in pain and hope the treatment works fast for you. hang in there x
we started talking about circumcision the other night. didnt make any decisions though.

grub- thanks so much for that offer! very kind of you and I appreciate it, will PM you.
Thanks also for your insights on boys! very helpful! I feel totally clueless about boys and also little babies!! DH and I have never been around babies at all...I mean I have never changed a nappy- I am totally a novice! It's a bit scary to be honest.

mindhugs- I am also a bit confused about all the very conflicting sleep advice...some say controlled crying, some advocate attachment and always responding. It's confusing.
I hope you feel ok too, with that low blood pressure.

bugsmum- glad you are going along well...thanks for the list. good luck with the glucose test.

oneday- i had a scan at 18 weeks. I have up the duff too, and some other pregnancy ones which are really good. Just now thinking ahead to baby/parenting books too.

afm- as a general response to everyone...thanks for the book suggestions.
Madb- a friend gave me a book by pinky mckay which is very good. yet another friend has 'save our sleep' which has other advice altogether.
as I mentioned, I am very confused about all the conflicting sleep advice etc. Those who are already mums, did you have your baby in the same room as you? did you use routines and controlled crying, or more of an attachment method, where you responded as needed?
circumcision- hmmmmm I dont know about this either. I guess many of our partners would be ...and I have had a friend who had to have her 1 yr old cicumcised after lots of UTIs etc. maybe it's worthwhile? will have to read up more.

and as for little boys and erections...I had no idea...lol!
and for the wee spraying everywhere, a friend mentioned to me a product called the peepee teepee!! like a little tent to put over him during changes to try and avert any random sprays.

and re the private/public thing...dh and i have made an appt with a private ob an hour away...we are going to at least go to one appt and make up our minds. there are disadvantages having to travel an hour to every appt and give birth an hour away (as a private patient in a public hospital), but there are many advantages to having one person responsible for my care and who i can see and turn to if i have questions or something comes up etc. especially in the later stages when i am most at risk of the baby's growth being affected etc. and this Ob has no management fees.

[dreamrise659]

Hi everyone,

Thought I would weigh into the debate on sleep - controlled crying v's attachment parenting.

With my daughter (who is now 14). I had her sleep in a bassinet in my room until she was too big and had to move to a cot (I think around 3 months). Then she moved to her own room which was right next door to mine. I was breast-feeding and working part-time so I found having her in my room was convienent as I could stumble out of bed to feed her and put her back in her bassinet and go back to sleep without losing alot of sleep. I could never do (as some of my friends have) and actually co-sleep because I actually don't sleep well when sharing a bed (even when it was with my only live-in partner). But I know some people say it is easier because you can just roll over, feed bub and then roll back to sleep! I would be worried though about how you then move on from that. I know a few women who have co-slept until the child was 2years old and then had major problems trying to get the child into their own bed and room.

I did have trouble with her still not sleeping through the night at 6 months so at that stage I went to a "sleep clinic" where they advocated controlled crying and also more of a routine (until that stage we had no set routine as it suited me to just go with the flow and I could adapt her routine to suit what was going on. Also if she got tired she learnt to just sleep (daytime sleeps) wherever we were.) Anyway I did follow their advice and it did work and soon she was sleeping through the night. It's not as awful as it sounds as you only leave them to cry for a couple of minutes and gradually build it up but it gives the baby a chance to learn to settle themselves.

Anyway when my ex was pregnant we discussed issues like attachment parenting and controlled crying and seemed to both be on the same wave length in terms of thinking that the children we had seen who were raised with attachment parenting had alot of issues as young children and we didn't want that. My daughter has always been a very easy going kid but also quite independent and I really appreciate this. Anyway we had my exes son sleep in our room in a bassinet for the first few months and then in his own room in a cot. We used controlled crying fairly successfully early on but as our relationship started to break down she started using him as an emotional crutch for her own needs and started following more of an attachment parenting approach. the moment he cried she would pick him up and then use that as an excuse to never do anything around the house. We split up when he was 9 months old and when she moved into her own place she moved his cot into her bedroom - right up against her bed and soon it progressed to him co-sleeping with her. His behaviour got worse and he became more demanding as well and I wonder which was the chicken and which was the egg if you get what I mean. I found it quite difficult to look after him as I had never experienced a 10 month old throwing a terrible 2's temper tantrum before if he didn't immediately get whatever he wanted.

Maybe he would have been just as bad no matter what parenting approach had been used with him but it certainly made it hard for me with trying to concieve as I started to wonder how I would cope if I gave birth to a child like him.

I think my feeling now is that every child is unique and some will respond better or worse to different parenting styles and it's sort of up to the parent to work out what is best for their child. However I strongly believe that it is important to look at what is best for your child and not to take a certain approach because it feeds your emotional needs (like my ex with her son). Of course it has to work for you too and if you are someone who needs some degree of space then you will struggle to co-sleep for example, similarly if you are someone who craves affection it might be difficult to have baby in a different room so there might be some compromise needed but I do believe a baby shouldn't be used to fill a void in your life.

My plan at this stage is to raise this bub with the same sort of parenting style that I used with my daughter - because I'm really happy with the way she has turned out! LOL So I will have the bassinet in my bedroom but I will also use the controlled crying approach as bub gets a bit older.

By the way we just found out today my daughter has been accepted into a fairly exclusive private school. I couldn't believe how many hoops we had to jump through just to get her in (academic test, artistic test, 2 interviews, countless phone calls...) anyway she starts next term. I hope she finds it okay. Will be quite a shock to the system for both of us with her not being home schooled any more (I've done it for only 9 months but both of us had been enjoying it and she had managed to skip ahead a year level because of it) and also with her socialising with the "rich kids"! My parents are paying all the costs. If I'd been offered the money rather than them paying I would probably have used it to cut 30% off my morgage but it was never an offer of the money - just the offer of them paying to ensure she gets a good education... so hopefully it will turn out well.

Lori
DD - 14

[LizLemon]

Possums - we had DS in our room for the first few days - and then as DH was back at work within a couple of days and he wasnt getting any sleep DS and I moved out to the couch (well, me on the couch, him in a bassinet) ... then the spare room, then within a couple of weeks he was in his cot and I stayed in the spare room for awhile. He just wasn't comfortable in a bassinet for some reason, he needed to firmness of a cot mattress. And he was a really noisy sleeper so it just worked better that way.

I also found that while I didnt want to use controlled crying, I did want to use settling techniques (have a look at the huggies website there's some good stuff on that) rather than just picking him up and rocking him to sleep every time, as that would just create a rod for my own back. But I really couldn't do this in the same room that DH was trying to sleep in.

We were very strict with routines, and used settling techniques, and within a fairly short space of time DS was a good little sleeper. They say the best thing you can do for your kids is teach them to self-settle and that proved right with us. I have save our sleep and will probably have a bit of a review before this bub comes but I won't be following it religiously - as Lori said every kid is different. What the book is helpful for is understanding how your milk supply works.

I also kept track of sleep times, awake times, screaming times etc so that I could try and look for patterns. Don't be obsessive about it, but it does help pick up things that you may not notice otherwise.

But you know what - no matter how prepared you are, how many books you've read etc, that bub is going to come out with it's own little agenda and the more flexible you are the more you will be able to cope. I was fresh out of a very analytical type job and spent the first 6 months of DS trying to get his sleep and routines under control, rather than just going with it. It drove me nuts.

One good bit of advice I read was that babies coming out having no idea of night or day - and they will tend to be awake during the night and sleep more during the day. Take them outside first chance you get in the morning so that they know it's day time, and at night keep things dark and with very little stimulation. This helps them work out night and day.

Lori - congrats on your daughter's school. You sound like such a dedicated mum you should be very proud of yourself

[grub17]

yeah to that above lol.... now one novel coming up!

It's so hard cos they have their own quirks and such. With DS he slept in a bassinette next to us for about 3 weeks but we were keeping him awake... and he was keeping us awake (babies make the strangest noises and as the mumma you are finely tuned into your bub... you can be out cold and the bub goes squeak and before your eyes are open they are up in your arms... seriously! I once walked into the bedroom door cos ash cried out and i was up before i had even woken!!! dh laughed himself silly at that one pft)

So we moved him to his own room just near us and with a sensor monitor (i was very very paranoid so found it comforting to wake up and 'check' his breathing with the monitor). At about 9 weeks he went into his cot, i just put a muslin wrap on the open side (the side that didn't have a wall or bookcase etc) so he felt a little contained... he eventually started reaching for his wrap and it is now his very much loved Sooky Rag lol).

We had a difficult time feeding so co sleeping to feed wasn't our thing. Plus I just didn't sleep well and DH was worried he'd hurt ash or me. ONe of my friends tho has bought a cot that attaches to her side of the bed... so bub is in it's own space but she can just slide the baby out for night feeds. For us, I didn't mind getting up and sitting in the chair in Ash's room to feed him. You have hormones when BF that make you both sleepy so it was easy to go back to bed after (only about 20 mins usually). But if co sleeping works for you and your partner then go with it! it's certainly easier and you get more sleep!

As for sleeping etc The best advice I can give is be flexible and don't watch the clock ie it's 4 hrs, baby is asleep but hte book says he/she should be feeding OMG i'm going to stress that bub will starve!!! lol.

I preferred to use a Pattern rather than a routine when ash was small. Cos they won't go to bed at 7pm like you want, it may be a 6pm bed and then 10pm up for food. So we implemented a pattern in the arvo.... he'd have a sleep, we'd have dinner, when he woke he'd have a feed, we'd go for a walk and he'd have a play, then a bath, then a feed and then bed. Soemtimes this was at 5pm sometimes at 9pm depeneding on when he woke from his arvo sleep. Now he's older we are more set to time... but that's because he turns into a pumpkin (a very cranky one) at 7.05pm lol. And again, it was him who just decided he'd like to go to bed at 7pm.

Also the day/night thing bugs mum said is wonderful. During the day I made the house bright and noisy and we played a lot (well i play and he watched). He'd sleep out in his bassinette or on the floor or in his rocker or pram or wherever with all the noise and light etc... but at night, his room was quiet, and dark except for a night light. I'd hum to him when dressing for bed and massage him. During night feeeds I'd never talk to him but unlike some recommend I would look at him and smile (cos i love him!). Everything was calm and quiet at night. He soon figured out bed time was bedtime... ie boring time.

We got inot a nasty habit around 7 months of rocking him off the sleep all the time. in the end my already bad back just wasn't up for it. I'd use a fit ball and bounce ash off to sleep while watching nearly silent tv and then put him to bed. This was fine with me while he was teething, or sick and really needed that comfort but it became a habit and he wouldn't settle. So we got to crunch time one day and iniaitied some bedtime routines... ie food, bath, feed, bed. But we also added in some sleep cues ie the song ie Twinkle Twinkle; being put in his sleeping bag; given dummy and sooky; and being told "it's sleeping time, nite nite". Even now, we still do those same cues... on the change table, dummy, sooky, offer a drink of water, twinkle twinkle, nite nite and unless he poos, he goes to sleep every time!

We did do some controlled crying but i loathe that term and its implications. We had a video monitor and could basically see our son manipulating us to going inot his room. His cry was blue murder, his body language was quite the opposite. Once we saw what he was actually doing we could address it. So we'd go in lay him down (not pick up not talk or anything) and walk back out. let him go for a few mins then repeat, etc If it went on for more than 20 mins, we'd check nappy, offer something to drink and start again. It took us 3 days and he has self settled himself ever since... I think he was about 7 or 8 months. Before that age they are truly too young for much routine etc but they do like a pattern ie knowing what's coming and what's expected.

But after saying all that, at the time it was hard and confusing. Personally I didn't like Save our Sleep's tone and I also didn't like Pinky Makay's sleep book either (too airy fairy for my taste, which will probably get me shot on BB cos she's like a god here lol). So I just took a bit from each and figured out our own way and that is all anyone can really do.

Make sure you join a new mum's group cos everyone will be going through what you are and it's so helpful to have someone understand.

Look, I'm certainly no authority and we flew by the seat of our pants ... heck we still are! but that's some things i've learnt. I am expecting this new bub to be completely different so will have to relearn everything lol. At the end of the day you are just not going to be prepared no matter how much advice you seek or books you read, nothing can truly get you ready for the arrival of a new baby!!! It's such a huge change! The biggest thing I struggled with was my loss of independence, this child relied on me to live and as i was BF i felt extremely caged in and tied down... but that went away and now i can't bear to be away from my little mate.

Oh and one great quote to remember: "This too shall soon pass" Cos what worked one week won't the next!!!

And we didn't know how to change a nappy or hold a baby before DS either! within a week we were pros!

told you it was novel-esque~

[Possums]

lori and grub and bugsmums- thanks SO much for all the advice and tales of what worked for you and what didn't! I really appreciate it and am sure the other first time mums will too! It's so helpful to get a bit of insight and some ideas. And I think realising we might end up doing a blend of different approaches and finding what works for us, is good too. thanks again x

[Mindhugs]

Thanks ladies - there are some great tips in here. I don't want to be confined to one book as my "bible", but I want to know how to go about implementing routine. I have a lot to discuss with DH tonight. And as for the circumcision...............hmmm............I don't know what to do. I don't want to be seen as barbaric. In my day the non-circumcised one's were the minority. Also I dated a guy who was forced to get one when he was 19 years old due to infections. It didn't look too pretty, I mean not that they do anyway, but getting the op at that age left it looking like minced meat. Lots to think about.

Oh god, the house is a mess and I have a girlfriend dropping by for coffee at 11am - better go!!!

[TaRhLi.]

Hi Girls

Just wanted to add that Tara slept in our room until till she was 6 weeks old in a bassinet, but we moved her into a cot as she was such a noisy sleeper that she kept waking us up. She hated having her arms swaddled and we would hear constant grunts and groans from her until she could get her arms free, but them she kept waking herself up as she was able to thrash her arms around in her sleep. We were lucky thought that from 8 weeks she started sleeping through the night for us, but we always go to her if she cry's - even now. I think there have only been a handful of times we have let her cry herself to sleep, and that has been more recently as we know she can self settle but when she was small we would always respond to her when she needed us..

Now circumcision - Possums I think you mentioned about the UTI issues... Well you now have me rethinking our decision as we know that Twin B already has a kidney issue - this runs in my side of the family of which I have a damaged kidney and suffer from UTI's all the time, hence my current bladder infection - so I was talking to DH about it further as we already know one of our boys will be prone to infections etc due to his condition. But then the question arose of "Do we get them both done if one doesn't have the problem??". I know we will be referred to a pead urologist once the twins are born due to the issue and he is the one who does the procedure but I might ask my OB his thoughts next weeks as well.

Better get motivated as I have my monitoring at the hospital today... Oh and at our scan yesterday is measured Twin A weighing 1.911kg's (4lb 2oz) and Twin B weighing 2.188kg's (4lb 8oz) so I am carrying just over 4kg's in babies plus all the other stuff. To put this in perspective, Tara weighed 3.12kg's at birth and I still have hopefully another 3 weeks of them growing still to do.......

[Possums]

mindhugs- i went home and bombarded my DH with my thoughts and ideas too.... he is very busy at work at the moment and I think thinks these things can be discussed a bit later...but I end up with so much running around in my head! lol

kelly- good luck with the monitoring today....i hope the boys stay in there and keep growing so they are a bit bigger...but oh my- your tummy must be so stretched tight!

and DH and I are also undecided on the circumcision issue! cos as you said MH, in our day, the majority of boys were done

oh, and i think DH and I will be staying in the public system now...heard bad reports about the Ob I booked with an hour away...and was also told he doesnt do private births...? yet the other Ob down there who does, is away until nearly the end of my pregnancy...and he charges the standard $2000 fee.
I might have to put up with the clinic. I did actually call my own Ob in town here, even though she isn't legally allowed to see me after 12 weeks, she kindly called back and listened to my concerns (about the heart beating in my head etc and lack of any response from the registrar at the clinic) and she said I should go for a full range of blood work to make sure all is ok and that I am not anemic as it can result in that symptom. so i finally feel like someone is at least checking me to make sure it is just 'one of those pregnancy things', and that there isnt anything else wrong. If all is normal, well then at least I know not to worry.

[dreamrise659]

I did actually call my own Ob in town here, even though she isn't legally allowed to see me after 12 weeks, she kindly called back and listened to my concerns (about the heart beating in my head etc and lack of any response from the registrar at the clinic) and she said I should go for a full range of blood work to make sure all is ok and that I am not anemic as it can result in that symptom. so i finally feel like someone is at least checking me to make sure it is just 'one of those pregnancy things', and that there isnt anything else wrong. If all is normal, well then at least I know not to worry.

Possums, I'm glad your old OB was able to suggest some tests etc and you finally feel as if someone is checking up on you. What a pity she can't keep seeing you.

As far as the OB in the other town goes, did you have your appointment and how did you feel? What are the bad things you've heard? I ask this because I recently met a pregnant woman who is having a Doctor I knew when I was pregnant with my daughter, as her OB. She thinks he is fantastic. When I had him I only went to one appointment because he was so rude to me when he found out I was single and then he was rough when he did an internal so I refused to see him again after that. I then paid to see a private OB who was very supportive and never did an internal (he told me in this day and age there is actually no reason to have to stick your hand inside!) I told her about the issues I had and she said she hasn't had any problems with him (mind you she is married so maybe he just has issues with single women becoming mothers).
Anyway I guess it shows that sometimes what is bad for one person might be good for someone else.

Lori
DD - 14

[Kaybee]

Hey girls,

As usual I've missed all of the meaty discussions, but I'll throw my two cents worth in anyway. Sorry, if it turns into another rambling mess!

Firstly - hope you are all doing well. Kelly - you make my tummy sore every time I look at your profile pic!

Mindhugs - I know a few Leo's. My brother and SIL are both Leo's (same birthday) and my baby will more than likely be one and, yep, I'm a bit worried. They do not ever stop. EVER. But that also makes them pretty fun people to be around.

Possums - not sure if I've already said how awesome it is to have a little boy. I was thinking too, that it might be a blessing in diguise for you. Let me try to explain... you have always pictured yourself with a girl because of the relationship you have with your mum - if you had a girl, she could be VERY different to you and your relationship with her could be completely different to the one you have with your mum, and could lead you to many little disappointments later on. So, maybe the fact that your precious bub is a boy, will stop you from assuming your relationship will be the same as you and your mum and make you treasure it for what it is. I doubt that made sense! I cannot imagine having a girl and think I would have no idea what to do with one. But, after my vast child-raising experience (of 1 child) I have learnt that you don't get "a" girl or "a" boy, you get YOUR baby, and you learn together everything you need to know.

On the books - I found Robin Barker's Babylove very helpful. She's just really reassuring and makes you believe, or realise, that you are doing it right.

I'm a fairly non-extreme personality I think, so didn't feel right trying a hard-core routine approach, but also felt wrong doing an attachment parenting type thing. So, I had a cot in DS's room which he slept in during the day and before I went to bed, then put him in a basinette-type thingy in my room when I went to bed. I still got up and watched tele (and ate tim-tams) to feed him, but for the first few weeks I liked to hear every little sound he made while sleeping. That novelty soon wore off and I put him in his room - right next to mine - with doors all open so I could hear the 'real' sounds but not every breath. Babies are really noisy!

But, I didn't have any of this planned before he was born. I had no idea at all what babies were like. Like you, I had never changed a nappy, or wrapped a baby (I don't think I knew that they even needed to be wrapped) or anything, but you learn pretty quickly. I actually think it made me more relaxed and happier than some of my really 'baby-crazy' friends. They seemed to have so many more ideas about the way they were going to do things, and were all experts on the products they would use and the procedures they would follow, but then got very stressed and concerned when things didn't go according to the plan. Doodle-down and you can't go wrong. Just throw a face washer over it while you change him. DS is now nearly three and he gets a little stiffy whenever he does a poo. He calls out to me so I get to see it "Mum, my doodle is a bigger massiver one". Sooooo much to look forward to!

I didn't circumcise him either. We thought about it briefly (DH is done) but didn't see much point. Good luck deciding.

OK, I'll stop now - sorry for the ramble.
Take care xoxoxo

[grub17]

lol Kaybee I love your little boy's description! and great post, I second all of it

and with the 'wrapping' of bub... OMG dh had to teach me how to do it, i was sooo hopeless for weeks and weeks.

Oh all this talk of babies rather than pregnancy is getting me so excited!!! Is anyone else just feeling really really really impatient and excited??? I'm not sure if its cos i'm getting uncomfy, that i don't know what we're having or that i'm feeling a bit more confident in terms of what's to come and just want to get started.????

[airline]

morning girls just a quickie, i know i'm not supposed to be on here but like to keep an eye on you girls in waiting!
i've just done the 4am feed, yesterday was a good day...we even showed/introduced Lewis to the girls & boss at my work.....lots of cuddles and photos and he was loving the attention,alert and didn't muck up the schedule....discovered v.v, important!! now i'm expressing...gives a new meaning to hands free, let me tell you!!

just wanted to comment on the query re circumcision. my girlfriend had both boys done, i thought it unusual being 1. british 2. ignorant about the whys and wherefores . assumed it was cos their dad was - so i was advised, but only recently i discovered that generations of aussie boys have beendone.

as i said i've been ignorant about this, i thought it was only done for religious reasons, and occasionally health. but a conversation late in pregnancy with 2 aussie girls and they explained more. had NO idea it was sooo common here, and was surprised when i was asked about whether we'd do it. In my defence, in Britain, to my knowledge, none of my friends all who have babies, many boys, have had it done. it's not the done thing, it's the unusual. We're not, DH isn't, I'm going with him as I don't have one, but he said for what it's worth 'you're born with it, educate healthy attitude to hygiene, and there's no reason for our son to have it.' of course it's the same angle that a lot of men who've been done, feel it's the norm and so have their sons done, so i believe its' a personal opinion/choice, that everyone can give advice on, friends, and professionals...but it's up to the people raising the wee one.

sorry about the lack of punctuation and caps but every now and then the 'hands free' needs to be double checked!!

plse don't think i'm being judgemental,as i said, quite ignorant about it all...and I grew up here as a kid...two separate occasions! I was a good girl ;-) never saw one till i was back in UK ;-)

right finishing this expressing, it's for DH to do the 'dream feed' at 11pm so I canrest my poor boobs after their 7 feeds or so a day!

must go join the other forum...but haven't been on for a while....or near the computer, but new phone gives access and notifications so wanted tosee how you all going.
belly rubs, goodluck, take care xxxxx

[dreamrise659]

Hi everyone,

I have been under alot of stress the last couple of days (have a meeting on Monday regarding an apparent complaint against me from the mother of the children I used to look after). Even though I know I have done nothing wrong and many of my friends suspect she lodged the complaint to get out of paying for the previous 3 weeks that she owes me for, I am still really stressed out about it. I have never had a warning or anything bad at any previous job - in fact in many of my previous jobs over the past decade the only time I have had a meeting with the big bosses has been to congratulate me on doing an outstanding job so this has really floored me.

Anyway the reason I'm sharing is because I have been getting cramps - lower right side (basically the bottom of the baby bump). They come and go but at times are quite painful. It started Thursday night after I found out about the complaint so I'm assuming it's just my bodies reaction to the stress but I am a bit worried. How long do you think I should wait before going to the Dr or hospital? I don't want to seem over-the-top paranoid or whatever and as I said I'm assuming it's just a reaction to the stress but I'm also worried about what if it is something else? something more serious?

Also one of the things I have been accused of is "having inappropriate conversations in front of the children". I want to know as mums and mums to be what you would think would be inappropriate conversations? i would assume anything of an adult nature: sex, extreme violence etc and anything which puts someone down, anything racist, sexist etc? And I have never done any of this so I'm stumped as to what this accusation is about. One of the other parts of the complaint relates to an incident which did happen in early Feb and at the time I explained to the mother what had happened and apologised as I realised I had reacted poorly to the situation. The mother appeared to accept my explanation and apology and continued to send her kids here (even pressuring me to take them when I was sick) so if she hadn't accepted my aplogy and explanation then why keep sending them to me for a further 2 months and only complain when she was already leaving anyway to move interstate. She lodged the complaint on Thursday morning but still wanted the kids to come to me on Friday (though I told Family Day Care that I didn't think I could put on a happy face for the kids when I was so stressed about these allegations so asked them to cancel it). What I don't understand is if it was so bad why still want the kids to come here - even after lodging the complaint???

I have this meeting 2 hours before my 20 week ultrasound. What an emotional day that is going to be. I really hope there is no bad news at the ultrasound as I don't think I could cope with it. And I really hope these cramps go away. i just keep thinking so long as there is no bleeding then I'm fine??!!

Lori
DD - 14