Babies Born in June 2006 #8

yeah i gotta find something for Nixon for his christening now too. i dont even know where to look?
Bath- interesting, ive been getting chest pains also. on and off, mostly mornings and hurts when i bend forward, have no idea what could be going on but its quiet painful when it happens.
i killed two birds with one stone & had my pap smear done at my 6 week check up, glad thats over & done with till next time!
Simone- r u taking the boys with u to perth aswell? do u have family over there? what day r u leaving? i hope the break is what u and dh need to help sort things out.
Dee- i also got my mini pill script a while back but havent started using it. i too heard it can dry ur milk up & dont want that to happen. u also need to b spot onn with timing when taking it to or ur not covered. not like normal pill u have a few hrs to spare i think u only have a 2hr window from the time u take it each day. we've just used condoms on the rare occasion we have even done it!

going to mums bubs aerobic thismorning. ive missed the last two had something on and im feeling very fat atm. i have 7 weeks to loose some weight & fit into some nice clothes for a wedding im going to.

Hey, I dont have family here, they are all in Perth. Its ryans family thats all over here-he's a Melburnian!! Im looking forward to all my family meetin Anneliese, My Mum and 20yo sister were here when i went into labour, and have seen her, but she was too unstable (being so prem) that they couldnt hold her. My 15yo sister was here when Anneliese came home, and she's the only one who's had a hold. My youngest sister and both my brothers have been dying to come over here, but m&d just couldnt afford it...

dee78 - I feel like that with Alexandra too at teh moment, I don't want to leave the house as she is likely to scream if I do... I really want to go any buy DH his father's day present from Alexandra (I'm buying a small canvas and will put in Alex's hand prints). It will be a great painting for him, and i know he will love it.

GabysMum - my aunty had a breast reduction and LOVED it, I hope you can get all the information you need (and the money) and you get some releif.

IK - I have a cloth sling (slingalong) from a friend which is OK, I used it in the first two weeks as I could not figure out how to unfold the pram, I may try it again.. thanks

Hi Simone, we have not met, I'm CC, I was a June belly but Alexandra was born in July, so I'm hanging out with the June crew... I'm sorry your having troubles at home, I hope the warm weather in Perth helps. Perhaps you could meet up with some BB memebers in Perth? If you don't know anyone it maybe a chance to meet some nice people?

Must run and iron DH's shirts for next week while DD is asleep.

tummy time: ryan has heaos everyday. he just loves it!!! even goes to sleep instead of exercising he likes it so much!

Good afternoon... another gorgeous day in Melbourne, 22'C I believe, done my 2 loads of washing. Both boys asleep, about to make a spankopita for tomorrow's lunch with a friend and her little boy. Also, I forgot to mention my new neice's name is Ebony, not my cup of tea but she does have jet black hair apparently like her siblings who also have lovely fair skin too making it a nice combination... she's a sister to Paige and William... they live interstate (NSW) so I might not get a chance to see her for a while. Looking forward to speaking to my sister this weekend via 'phone to get all the birth details.

CeeCee: Make sure you take a piccy of the canvas... it can be tricky getting a little baby to open their palms so good luck! I must do Niall's feet soon with ink because i've got 3 month old prints of Verity and Wade and I'm very keen not to have Niall miss out on anything they've got! Also, why do you iron your DH's shirts? Not meaning to imply that you're doing the wrong thing, just interested, I would have thought you had enough domestic duties to do. If you're losing sleep at night and he isn't then I think it would be only fair that you use any time that you're not dealing with Alexandra's clothing needs to catch up on some rest! Women take on A LOT of extra domestic duties when a baby arrives and unless they aren't careful the workload can become just plain unfair. Don't let him use the excuse that you're "at home all day anyhow". Factor in the extra time he gets to sleep at night and subtract that from the time you spend doing housework during the day... lecture over ;) Also as babies grow and become mobile it gets harder and harder to iron due to safety issues... we have trouble with Wade and the iron so DH does his shirts early in the morning or late at night when he's asleep.

Simone: I know how hard it can be when close family is spread all over the country... I also lived in Perth for a few years and spent thousands travelling back and forth to see them. Luckily i didn't meet a man over there and settle down! Also hope things are calming down between yourself and your DH or that you are at least getting the kind of break you need :)

Nic: We're thinking of a Christening ceremony for all 3 children too. I want Niall to wear a knitted cream family heirloom that's probably at least 50 years old but it's in very good condition, unisex, and I'd say it would be comfortable... you see a lot of lovely Christening outfits but I wonder how comfy they would be... the last thing you'd want is an irritable baby because lace is itching etc. It will fit him when he's about six months old so that gives us a bit of time. Also this chest pain is a weird one hey? Alarm bells went off for me when i consulted my big medical encyclopaedia and in the symptom sorter for chest pain it said that if you have recently had a baby or an operation you might develop chest pain because you are at a higher risk of developing a pulmonary embolism! ie blood clot on the lung! This is serious... but luckily my GP is pretty sure it's not that because there would be other symptoms like shortness of breath. The pain is worse when I breathe deeply but I don't have shortness of breath. Let me know how you go with your pain.... we'll keep an eye on each other... little health issues can be pushed aside at times like this which isn't good. I also didn't have a 6 week checkup as such... too hard to do with the boys... i knew that DH would be having time off work this week so waited until yesterday.

Gabysmum: I've also know a woman who had breast reduction who wishes she'd had it done years earlier. Hope you find a good surgeon... but there's no hurry hey? You'd wait until after having all your children? We also just use condoms on the rare occasions we do the deed. I just hope ours don't break because it would definately mean the morning after pill for me! Even though i kinda feel sad that there's no more babies planned for us I think I will get over it... I want to move onto the next phase of my life. However it will be so exciting finding out about Junies falling pregnant again! I just hope we don't lose you to another group LOL... Now, why don't all the Junies who are planning to fall pregnant again synchronise your cycles and fall at the same time so we can all follow your journey in here! LOL

Uh oh... Wade awake and I haven't done everything I needed to... he wants a Thomas DVD though... let's see if that buys me a bit of time! Back later!

Hi gals, just a quick one here, it's my bday today and DH has day off, so just popping on quickly to check emails etc and thought I'd say hi!

Well, Freya gave me the best present of all...after trying her on Mylanta last night with her bottle, she drank the whole lot and slept from 7pm till 5.15am...she has never even come close to that! I am so happy, and so is she!

OK, be back tomorrow, hope everyone has a lovely day!

Happy Birthday Jo! yay Freya!!! Good girl! Giving Mummy a rest :) Hope you're having a lovely day... you must be feeling sooo much better!

Also, sorry CeeCee, I've been stewing on how I told you not to iron your DH's shirts... I really shouldn't have said that... I'm sure you both have reasons why you do things the way you do. I wouldn't say "why do you cook meal's or do the laundry or the vacuuming or the shopping" etc so why his shirts? Maybe because all those other jobs benefit everyone and the shirts are something only for him which is very time consuming. I just hope you all are aware that the number of domestic chores can easily grow and grow until suddenly you find that you are doing everything that you did before baby came along and more and that the workload for DH hasn't changed at all infact it has lessened. I also know a lot of men who use the line that "they work harder/longer at work since having a baby" but in reality they are socialising more after work and at lunchtime and just not letting on to their wives. Housework is more accountable than paid work outside the home and I just don't want any of my Junies to be taken advantage of. I'm not saying 'don't do anything for them'... I'm just saying "if it's ONLY for them" then question why you are doing it... is it because you truely don't mind doing it? or is it because they simply expect you to keep doing it? You all have enough housework to do that benefits your whole family without taking on anything on a regular basis that's only for them. Of course... ironing shirts can be a useful bartering tool :) You give me a footrub and I'll do your shirts ;)

Hi girls

Would you mind if I joined your group???

My name is Alicia & I have a daughter Ruby who is nearly nine and then I have Scarlett who was born on 9/6/06. A long time between drinks.......Scarlett is our miracle IVF bub!!

If you don't mind I'd love to start chatting with you all and comparing notes on our precious little bubs.

Regards

Alicia xxx

Hi Alicia!
i think Jo had her little girl Freya on the 9th also! she looks gorgeous in your ticker!
so was she early/late/on time? tell us your story.
My boy was due on the 1st of June but decided he wanted to be an April baby! But i grew so close to all the Junies i still chat in here.
What state are you in? Melb girls are looking to catch up soon and i think Perth girls were too. I bet Ruby helps you out heaps with her little sister does she?!

Happy Birthday Jo!!! how nice of Freya to give mummy a big sleep (she must have known it was your bday!) Im glad you have had a good day

Bath- i will have to keep a eye on this chest pain, what u mentioned sounds pretty serious. Mine seems to come and go though its not with me constantly, thats why ive been a bit slack and havent taken myself to the docs.
Simone- You will have a great time with your fam in perth. All of mine and DH fam are in Sydney so i know what its like not having them around. my parents came down for the borth but were unable to hold Nixon also so it wasn't until a month or more later when they got back down they got their first cuddles... oh they will not want to put her down!
so we are going to Portsea tomorrow and i was happy to see it is suppose to be 22 again in melb tomorrow!, we will go down in the morning, have a nice lunch and check into our hotel. Coming home friday but might get the ferry across to Geelong and come back up that way if its nice weather on Fri. Im looking forward to our short getaway.

dont u love husbands. I was up from 4.45am thismorning with nixon, at 7.20am after he went back down he was screaming, i let him go to see if he would settle but he only got worse. He was so loud and i was amazed dh did not even flutter an eye, i nudged him when i got up and said how can u not hear that! Now he is blissfully having a nap on the lounge "because he was tired"!!! If only i got that luxury, its Nixon's grumpiest time of the day and there is dh sleeping away on the lounge grrrrrr.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO!!!!!
you are so lucky to have freya sleep like that, im very jealous!!

Also hello to Alicia, you are more than welcome to join our group!

All this talk of meeting up is a bit depressing, i wish i lived in melbourne so i could meet you guys. Does anyone live near me???

Well made a big mistake today, thought i would be adventurous and go over to a friends house (bout 1/2 hr away) lachlan was ok while i was there but since i have been home he has been screaming, wont let me put him down!! Im waiting for this magic 3 month mark that a lot of people have told me about!!!

ok i need your opinion ladies.

DF's fathers partner is having a party for his birthday in a couple of weeks, i really dont want to go as lachlan is very unsettled (as we all know, look at todays episode!!)
Anyway i have said that i dont want to go. I know that if i do go he will get bundled around from person to person and i will spend the rest of the night in a bedroom trying to settle him and i wont enjoy myself.
DFs family are coming down in a few weeks for a bbq anyway so i will see them all then but do you think im being selfish, i just really dont want to go. I dont want to turn into a homebody but at the moment its impossible to go anywhere and have a good time. im sure it would be a different story if lachlan was a bit more settled (although i still wouldnt want him passed from person to person, he is NOT a toy, no one seems to understand this)
Am i being rude??

Baths - don't worry, DH begs me not to iron his shirts, but he does sooo much for me that I want to do something nice for him..

Also, every morning at 5.30am (or whenever Alexandra has finished her 5am feed) he takes her out of the house for an hour, then looks after her while he gets ready for work - till 7.45am so I can get some extra sleep.

He also wakes at every feed no matter what time of day or night and asks if I want something (water/ nappy change) he also gives me at least 2 back massages every week (more if I want), makes dinner on occassion, washes up, does the vacuming and cleans the bathroom and does the laundry.. - need an explaination... we are newly weds!!!! He hee.. but he is also a wonderful hubby and dad...But thanks for looking out for me... Regarding the hand print, if it is too hard, I will do the foot, but DH told me her hands are his favorite "bit" of her this week so it would be nice to capture them for him!

Hi Alicia! We would love you to join - I'm not on the home page as my baby was offically born in July, but I was a June belly so here I stay!Which state do you live in? I think most of the girls here are in Victoria...

Happy birthday Jo - that is so funny you mention the gift from Freya as for my birthday last month, all I wanted was sleep, and it was the first time Alexandra sleep for more than 3 hours (she was only 2 weeks old)... I loved her for that!!!! How do our little ones know???

We have booked our "Blessing" for Alexandra for Christmas Eve at the same Church were DH and I married last year.. I can't wait, she is going to look beautiful, and I'm going to get my hair done and buy a new dress and shoes. It is a motivation to loose some weight too...I sure do need it.

Baths & Nic - reading about a Christening ceremony for all children sounds great, almost makes me want to delay until we are a 'complete' family....I think it is a loverly idea..

Well, my MUM arrives tomorrow so I will not be around for a few days - she has not see Alexandra since she was born (she was at the birth but had to leave the next day), I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love my Mum..

Hope you all have a nice weekend, chat next week.
luv
CC

edit: Dee, just read your post: I'm so sorry you feel like you can't go anywhere - you should do what you need to do for your own sanity, they should all understand. that said, I really want you to enjoy your beautiful baby and think that you may benefit from some outside help. There is no shame in seeing a sleep managment consultant, I saw a lactation consultant when I couldn't breast feed properly and I know she often goes to people's home to help them settle their new baby in... She bring a hammock so they can try them and see if they work, helps you set up routines, and helps you to understand how to settle your particular baby...hope I'm not overstepping a line here..but maybe outside help would help you all?????
PS: prior to the hammock I would settle Alexandra on the washing machine - the spin cycle works a treat, I would hold her on top of it and the vibrations would make her eyes roll and she would fall alseep, maybe give this a go next time your desperate?
The girl who lent me her hammock saw a sleep consultant and she gave me all her tips, would you like me to email them to you?

Howdy girls - Flynn is having his first real "unsettled" afternoon - he doesn't want to go to sleep (hasn't slept much today - I went to a crybaby session at the Nova in Carlton to see "Jindabyne" so he only catnapped). So he's here on my lap wathcing me type.

CeeCee your DH sounds wonderful! Not that I can complain about mine, but yours is especially good!

Bath, I do agree with what you say though about housework - women do need to be careful of the whole "I go out to work all day" thing - working full time when your wife is home with an unsettled baby is far easier. That said, I do think my life is easier now than when I was working (I did really long hours and it was quite a stressful job at times) but that's because I have an "easy" baby. Seriously, today is the first time he has been really cranky, and even that said he is pretty content here on my lap sucking his dummy.

Dee, I really think you need to do what is best for you and your bubba - I can't imagine how hard it must be for you but I can tell you there is no way any sane, considerate and loving relative/friend/person would criticise you for not wanting to have your unsettled but roughed up and made even more cranky. It's just my opinion, so take it with a pinch of salt, but you gotta do what's right for yoy!

Happy birthday Jo - what a good girl you have!! Welcome Alicia !! Simone, that is so impressive about the roll - Flynn is such a boofer I think he will be ages off rolling :)

Nickers I will email you today.

gotta go - Flynn is getting bored with this lap thing - keeps arching his back and sliding around

ciao bellas

Rory, yes, DH is a gem - my first hubby was tall dark and handsome, but a real jerk, this time I'm on a winner...

What was the crying room like? I think I want to try it out. I want to see that movie called Spin Doctors (I think).

Well, Domain is having 13 cent prints until 10pm tonight, so I'm going after dinner to print out all my photos of Alexandra... yeah.

Hi again girls

Just a quick thankyou for all your warm welcomes!!!

I will try to post a bit more of the "Scarlett" story tomorrow. She's currently having her "witching" hour (or should I say hourS).

Alicia xxx

Hi Alicia, welcome to our group! :) As you can see I'm the opinionated one LOL nah, I just care for the "Junies" heaps and want to see us all as happy as can be. As you can see by my children's birthdays I have a significant age gap between my DD and my boys... kinda planned/just happened. Our family is complete now. The gap was because I found it so isolating being at home with my DD I was inspired to return to uni/work for several years... the isolation isn't quite so bad this time around due to BellyBelly... especially now that I'm starting to meet a few members IRL. Anyway, my baby Niall was due on the 26th of June but I was induced 2 weeks early due to cholestasis of pregnancy (a potentially life threatening complication of pregnancy involving lots of itchiness due to bile salts)... but he was 9 pounds at birth so it was probably a good thing that he arrived a bit early. Kelly Zantey (BellyBelly's creator) was my birth attendant and helped me get through my third natural delivery. Niall is also a very easy baby.... so much so that I usually spend more time in here talking about my toddler who has become quite challenging of late... surprise surprise (though his mood has improved lately... I think the 2yo molars are through... AND he is doing poos on the potty now regularly!!!) Niall is a sleepy baby and I don't have much to complain about there, i co sleep about half of each night with him. I also BF and plan to at least do this for 9 months like I did with my other 2 (who coincidentally self weaned at that age)... anyhow, I hope you enjoy being a part of our group Alicia... I've got to dash now and provide a forgotten hot chocolate to my waiting DD! Oh! but before I go: CeeCee! Fantastic! Sounds like a perfectly brilliant arrangement! I agree, you've done very well marrying a man like that :) eeeeexcellent!

no time.. just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO !! !

hello to all Junies , time for MY nap now :)

happy birthday jo!
welcome alicia!
quick one - just back from visit to 2nd home (fire station).
Dee - in a hug a bub no-one tries to take your baby from you AND babies settle in them more than in other devices (prams, cocoons), so you could invest in one before the party, enjoy the party and keep lachlan to yourself...works for me when i remember to bring the HAB with me and take oscar out only for feeding and changing, putting him straight back in after.
bedtime now!

HEy Alicia, our bubba's were born on the same day :)
DH irons his shirts as he needs them-we compromise on everything. If he doesnt put his washing in the basket, i dont wash it. And i then ignore him everyday when he whinges that he has no clean clothes. Bath, i agree that we take on so much with children- Declan's teething (still only 4 teeth!) and Anneliese is just clingy (s'pose spending half your life so far in hospital can do that to you...) SO they both just want cuddles all the time, and then Xander wants attention too... And then i have to clean the house, wash, cook... No wonder i refer to myself as a supermum of 3 under 3 when they ask what i do... :)

you r a supermum simone, and don't let anyone tell u differenlty!
cool 3 little girls Anneliese, Freya & Scarlett all born on the same day! considering so many boys were born around this time thats pretty cool!
just feeding Nixon then we r leaving for our short trip.
dh dressed nixon thismorning,i left some clothes for him to wear on the chair but he put an oshkosh shirt on, vans shoes(both bought in factory outlets in vegas whe he went @ start of the yr), pumkin patch pants the lot! i must say he looks pretty cool in it all, he is prob wearing more then me (top from target and jeans from kmart both on special!)
hope everyone is well. b back on prob over the weekend.

I love it when DH dresses Anneliese, its like their own little bonding session :)
I love dressing them up, me and the 3 kids are going to MIL's restaurant for lunch with SIL and her 2 kids, and i got them all prettied up in their best... They all look so cute :) I would post a photo if my camera battery wasnt dead. pfft!

Just a quick one.
Welcome Alicia
Happy birthday Jo, hope you had a nice day, sounds like it went off with a great start, all that sleep!
Jesse - thinking of you and hope all works out
Simone - when are you heading off to Perth? Will you still have internet access? Hope things all work out.
Dee - do what you have to, to maintain your sanity. Don't feel bad about it. We keep getting asked to go out at night and I am always refusing. you are the one who has to cope with him being unsettled and as you said you will be seeing everyone soon anyway.

Hi girls - bak online - for a while anyway.

We have moved and are sort of settled - in our house and half unpacked. DS#1 starts his two days at daycare next week so I might get some more unpacking done. Enjoying the lifestyle so far although DHs promise of shorter working hours for the first few months doesn't look like it will be happening but oh well its not like that's what we're used to.

Will try and catch up a little bit although there is no way I can catch up on a months worth so if anyone wants to update on any major events feel free - its good to be back!!!!!

Hi girls

Here is the Scarlett story as promised:)

After a rough road on IVF, (ICSI), we were finally pg......WOOOHOO!!! I went for my early scan (6wks) and we were thrilled to see that we were expecting twins!!!

A week or so later I had some bleeding and pain and another scan revealed that we had lost one of the bubs, we were very sad, but still felt so blessed to still have one precious bub. As I continued bleeding I was told to rest up as it was possible that we may lose the other bub.........we were TERRIFIED!

THe bleeding stopped and we made it to 12 weeks which made me feel a lot more confident.

On & off during the preg I continued to have unexplained bleeding, each time putting us into a huge panic. Scans each time revealed bub was doing brilliantly and there was no need for concern......(easy for them to say)

At 28 weeks I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and started to control that with diet and monotoring my blood glucose levels 4 times a day. This worked to some extent but by 33 weeks I was put on to Insulin injections as it was a bit all over the place.

As I had a caesar with DD1, my ob was leaning towards the same with this, but I had him convinced (up until now) to let me try natural.

Another scan revealed that bub was "a good size" and due to a couple of other issues, (previous caesar, diabetes, back surgery etc etc) my caesar was booked in for the 16th June, 26th was my due date.

A couple weeks went by and date was again moved forward to the 9/6 as the diabetes was still causing a bit of grief.

The day came and I was last on the list for theatre. I walked down with DH, was gowned up etc, ready to go and my ob got called to another emerg. caesar. About an hour or so later it was time to meet our bub. Went in to have epidural, after 7 attempts up and down my spine, they werent having any success and told me the news I'd been dreading..........a general would be the only way to go. I put on the waterworks as I knew that not even DH was allowed in the theatre if I had a general. I was so frightened that I may wake up and something had gone wrong. Well, it worked, and my DH was allowed to come in to theatre........phew!!!

I could ramble on forever but to cut a long story short, Scarlett Ingrid was born a short time later weighing 7lb14oz and very healthy. About an hour later I was back up in my room bf her!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, I'm another Victorian girl, but country Vic, not Melb.

Will bbl to try to catch up some more and get to know everyone and their bubs.

Love

Alicia xxxxxxxxxx

Hi there,

Alicia - What a stressful pregnancy, but i guess now looking at your beautiful little girl it really doesnt seem that bad does it? The epidural sounds terrible, that was my biggest fear. you are very brave!!

Cee Cee - That would be great if you could email me that stuff, my email address is donna_deville@hotmail.com thanks heaps!!
oh and im very jealous of your DH!!!!

Bathsheba - I dont know how you manage to spend so much time on here, you are superwoman im sure of it!!!

IK - Thanks for your co - sleeping tips (a couple of pages back) i have been putting lachlan next to me in the bed for a couple of nights now and although he doesnt sleep any longer he does go to sleep quicker, im just worried about him not ever wanting to go into his own bed but i have been trying to put him in his cot today and he is in there now, so far so good!
Also thanks for the HAB suggestion, i do still think that MIL will take him off me, she has been known to do this, last time i was up there lachlan was screaming and i just wanted to cuddle him and she came up and took him off me and said that he could smell my milk thats why he was crying and then proceeded to pass him around the room to everyone (including a 4 year old)!!!
I think the best bet is to not go! im going to have to be tough about this, im sick of being a pushover!

Well its official, Lachlan is too big for his bassinett!! last night i walked in to find his head squashed up against the side (he could still breath though) just looked really uncomfortable. so today i have him in the cot and im going to move the cot into our room, i have always said that once he is in the cot he can stay in his own room but i guess its more for my convenience than anything, while he is still waking 3 - 4 times a night i want him close by!

Hope you are all having a brilliant day!!!

Oh forgot to say WELCOME BACK JASPEN!!

Dee - good on you! Now, if you really wanted to get the 'no pushover' message across, you could even tell them why you aren't going, that is, you don't want to risk him being passed around. You're right, you're the one who'll be left with the crying baby. it's your family so you know best that a HAB won't even stop them so just tell them why you won't go :) how rude to tell you he needs to be away from you cos he can smell your milk...duh! its a matter of survival for a baby to smell his own mum's milk! if oscar wants to comfort suck but he's full (cos of oversupply and fast let down) and upset, i stick the dummy in so he can still smell me, he's sucking himself to quietness and eventual sleep.
also, i wouldn't worry too much about getting him into his own bed. if he won't go on his own he is telling you that he needs to be near you for the time-being. kids DO go to bed by themselves eventually! even if it's a bit later, at least they learn to attach good thoughts to bedtime, rather than enforced bed rituals. i know our babies are all different, but because oscar slept with us from birth, he has no baggage about sleeping, and once asleep, will sleep in the pram, bassinette, HAB, bed and not wake up fretting. for me and oscar co-sleeping actually seems to encourage a measure of flexibility on his part. like i say, this may not apply to other babies, but this is how i now realise he ticks.
that said, i'm off to put him in the bassinette while i hang washing...had he fallen asleep in the HAB i'd leave him there, but he hasn't, so i'll gently lay him down now!
eta: one co-sleeping theory is that it instills a security in the child so that the child feels more confident doing independent things, knowing it has a secure fallback. weaning to own bed is easier because there is less stress attached if child knows it can return to parents bed and take to its own bed at its own pace. also, less nightmares, next to no fear of the dark, less bedwetting etc. Check out askdrsears website about his explanations of co-sleeping habits. i have a feeling that your lachlan would do better being close to you often - a 'high-needs' baby is harder to deal with if you resist 'attachment parenting'. research indicates that a 'whingey' baby actually needs the attention more than a more naturally content baby, and that it can be worse for that whingey baby to experienced enforced separation (separate sleeping, 'containerisation' - use of bassinettes, bouncers, walkers, jumpers and other artificial entertainers). So, while some people argue that it's a chicken or the egg scenario, the research suggests that comfort parenting a baby does not CREATE a spoilt child, but NOT comfort parenting WILL 'spoil' (as in, create anxieties etc) a high-needs baby. Make sense? I have some links for articles of this nature, if you want them or have time to actually read them! I read them whilst I was studying, haven't had time since Oscar!

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Had a lovely day, but sorry to say Freya's mega sleep was a one-off, and she was back to normal last night. Oh well, at least I know it's possible!

Welcome to our group Alicia, thanks for sharing the story of Scarlett!

Dee, I think if you don't want to go, then you should stick by your guns. I know how stressful it is taking out an unsettled baby.

Welcome back Jaspen!

IK - you must have read my mind. That is the exact reason i wont put laclan to bed and leave him to scream (like DF tells me too) i want him to associate bedtime with happy loving thoughts, not distress.
i put him in the cot earlier and he slept for an hour on his own!

I was told that a baby should wake, feed, play for an hour and a half then sleep til next feed. I have trouble keeping lachlan up for that long and i find myself trying to keep him to sleep maybe for too long, maybe he only wants to sleep for short naps during the day. I just wish they had a manual with them, im finding it really hard trying to figure out what he wants, is he hungry? tired? should i be feeding him so soon or stretching out his feeds? i ask myself these questions every day.

Nickers - How is Nixon feeding now? i remember he was fussing a bit not long ago??

Jo - oh well, like you say, at least you know she can do it!! it must have just been a birthday pressie for you

Good afternoon :) Well we've just finished our pinic in our backyard with a GF and her 1yo little boy... such a perfect day! Our house is all open letting a lovely warm breeze through... i'd say it's at least 23'C (my favourite temperature)... I mowed an area of our huge overgrown backyard yesterday and as we sat on a rug under a huge eucalyptus tree it felt like we were in the country as the rainbow lorrikeets flew overhead... we ate fresh strawberries with ice cream and a quick strawberry syrup for dessert... gotta do it again... who wants to come 'round? Maybe we could have a Junie meetup here? Just don't look at the filth inside my house! Dee, LOL I'm no supermum, I just have a fairly tolerant DH who doesn't hassle me about maintaining a perfectly tidy house and I make sure I have enough "me time" to keep me sane. I value time over material possessions too so whilst most of my friends are more like Supermums and working fulltime whilst raising young children to pay for things they think they need like expensive gadgetry, clothes etc I prefer not to work so i can have the real luxury of enjoying my children whilst they are young because i know how fast time flies... I blinked and my 1st baby is now almost a teenager! Honestly, that's what it seems like! No ammount of money will buy back the lost time and missing their "firsts" (steps/words etc) so I make the necessary sacrifices... as for spending a lot of time on here: our 'pute is right near the kitchen in our main living area so even though that green "online" light is on it doesn't mean I'm actually sitting down here at it... we have unlimited broadband and stay logged on all day... I probably only spend anout 30 - 40 mins per day actually sitting down at the 'pute. If I hear a new message has come in I wander over and read it at the time (and stand while I type a quick reply) but then I'll go back immediately to my work/looking after the kids. Alicia: Thanks for sharing your birth story! What a rollercoaster ride! 7 attempts at an epidural!!! OMG I am sooo scared of even the idea of having one! I agree you are very brave!

Children need me.... back later!

Hey girls....
Bath, that picnic sounded wonderful. It was a lovely day, i went to the local TAFE restaurant for lunch, where MIL works. It was OK, too gourmet for me though... MIL told me i could park in a no standing zone, and 5 mins later (time on ticket) i had a $107 parking ticket!! He must have watched me park... There was no parking anywhere. I was a paying customer, you think they would have parking spots for us... wont be going back, way too expensive lunch!!

!!! Ouch Simone! You didn't need that one! Did you tell your MIL? She might offer to pay some of it! Well the parking's free here ;) I reckon I need to organise something before it gets too hot... I just gotta get over my embarrassment regarding the mess around here... most of my friends who work have pristine homes even though they have kids because the kids are in care fulltime and don't have much opportunity to actually make a mess... anyhow, back to it... clothes to put away...

ETA: I've just taken a photo of our babckyard with the rug still there under the tree... it's not a very clear pic as the date palm's shadow is across it now but gives you an idea... (it's in my PhotoBucket site, in Bathsheba's website, not my kid's)

hi all. still going slowly here.

Happy birthday Jo!

Dee - I wouldn't want to go either. we were at our nephews naming day on the weekend & every time ryan grizzled at all MIL tried to take him. grrr

me - I have a job interview on tuesday for a position with the family law court. it means ryan going into full time care (I know some look down on this) but it also means we can start saving for a house & some stability for ryan. I don't want to move when leases are up etc. I want a home he can call his own.

Sorry Candy.... I don't mean to imply that fulltime care is always wrong... it's just (I think) strange that some of my friends who's husbands are on well over $100,000 per year and could quite comfortably live on a single income yet they say they both need to work to afford "a decent holiday" and "bling" *shrug*. (ETA) Also I guess I come from the perspective of having 2 parents that both always worked... never had time for us kids, even on the weekends they would do activites that we couldn't participate in much (golf and sailing)... that's why they worked, so they could afford to play their expensive sports and keep up with the Jones... when me and my sister would have prefered them to actually spend a bit of time with us. In the end they ended up getting divorced and they had to sell the house etc. Guess I'm just choosing a different path... everyone has to do what they feel is right I guess.

Hi girls sorry I haven't been around lately, but I've been a busy little bee, scrapping and sewing. I've made some nappies for bub. I'll put some photos up on my web page, puter is going really slow as we have reached our download limit and it has slowwwwwed right down. I haven't read and caught up yet so i'll go and do that before I do personals.
Grrr it won't let me do it, I think my puter is tooooo sllllooowwwww. It will have to be later there is a little pic on my ticker.

First off Happy Belated Birthday to Jo!!

Alicia - Welcome to the Junies group.. They/we are all a fantastic bunch of ladies.. Thanks for sharing your birth/pregnancy story and wow what a time you had!

Simone - Great to see you back! I am so glad your little girl is at home.. I can't believe you got a $107 parking fine? I'd make your MIL pay for that! hehehe

Nic - Oh how cute Nixon would have looked! I wish you'd taken a pic of your beautiful boy in his outfit!

Kel - My hat goes off to you! I can't believe you are still BF your twins! I have a friend who had twins not long ago and she was so exhausted after a month she has now reverted to bottle but bottles of breastmilk instead..

Karen - How is everything going with Nathan?

Jess - It's great to see you back! I hope everything at home is improving and you are coping OK on your own for the time being.. Hopefully it won't be for too long?

Ali - How is Tori going? being a good little girl for mum i hope?

IK - I have just been reading some of the advice you have been giving lately and man your a woman of knowledge! you are so awesome at helping people with problems and your advice is always so "on the mark".. How is Oscar going? I am sure he's a beautiful and placid little man?

Jaspen - Welcome back! I bet you were just itching to get online and catch up? I am glad to move went well..

Dee - Woohoooo to Lachlan and his size! I think it is a good idea too to have him near you if he is still waking up at night, otherwise i recon it would be a pain having to trace through the house in the dark to get him.. BTW your MIL sounds like a real pushy woman! gah

Bathsheba - I am glad you had such a lovely day.. I have to say i am cherising the moments i have with Ronan because i don't want to miss a thing.. My main priority in life used to be work work work, but now i am at home each day i am loving it and he is my main priority..

Littlerigger - Honestly the choice is yours about going back to work! I wouldn't look down on anyone that wishes/needs to go back to work as we all have our own responsibilites in life.. I will be looking @ finding work around Dec but only for a few days a week to start with, then we may start to look at TTC again as by that time Ronan will in fact be 9 months old..

7th Heaven - Good on you for making nappies! You have been a busy little bee haven't you? How is the family?

Enigma - I saw that Aneta has been a great little girl since she's been on the wind drops? I am just so happy that they are working for you! Ronan is still on them and doesn't every cry from wind pain or pushing pains, it's just fantastic!

Gabysmum - How did the pap smear go? gosh why do women have to go through them? they are just not comfortable at all! How are your breasts with your milk? Are they even more uncomfortable now? You can't have any reduction until you decide to have no more kids right? or can you get it done regardless?

Cee_cee - I hope your having an awesome time with your mum! My mum flew down when Ronan was born and should be coming to see him soon now that he is at home.. So i know your excitment! \

Rory - How is Flynn today? How is he when he hasn't slept much during the day? Does he tend to get cranky or does he let you know in other ways when he's tired?

With Ronan Well things are going well here! I am just loving being at home, mind you i feel like i am never home because i am so busy going to friends places or going to preemie mums groups but it is fantastic! Ronan still sleeps 10hrs each night and never complains, only if he has wind and other than that, life is good.. I should be going to Sydney in November to a cousins wedding and i cannot wait as i haven't been back to Sydney since our move to VIC in June 05.. :D

Ronan is still progressing well.. He now weighs 5.5kgs and loves playing with his hands, laughs all the time and even rubs his eyes to say he's tired now + holds the bottle when fed.. He is only 11wks corrected so he's still a little bubba.. heheh

!!!!! Rac, you're amazing :) And what a totally gorgeous new ticker piccy of Ronan... makes me want to reach out and give those cheeks of his a squeeze! LOL And what a cute outfit! Where did you get it? brand? I have to admit that my kids often wear outfits that cost more than what i'm wearing! When I was working and we just had Verity I loved buying her the latest Fred Bare outfit... we're talking serious expenditure... those days are over (due to the cost of her education) however we now SHARE clothes! LOL Recently she needed a new coat but I wasn't going to fork out money for something that she was only going to get one season out of so we shopped around and agreed on one that looks good on us both! We can't share pants yet (that'll be years away, if ever) but certainly helps the budget bottom line (excuse the pun).

Alicia- Welcome to our little group- I hope you find these wonderful women and knowledgable ad supportive as I have over the past few months.

Jo- I hope that you had a wonderful birthday.

Bath- Your Picnic in the back garden sound just divine. DH and I love spending timein our backyard, it is nice to have a quite little sanctury that you can get into and enjoy the lovely weather.

Racs- You really and the personals queen! Tori is doing really well, shehas just learnt to self settle in the last week, so we can put her down fully awake and she can put herself to sleep (most time, I find if she isover tired she needs a little extra help). It sounds like Ronan is doing really well, wow I cant believe that he is already 5 months old.

Candy- You have to do what is right for you and your family. I know exactley how it feels wanting to be able to get some money behind you to buy a house. We are in the same situation, moving from rental property to rental property. We have decided to have another baby before we buy something (plus the housing market in Perth is just CRAZY at the moment with average house price being about $400,000). If we were going to buy a house before having another baby then I would also be going back to work close to full time. As it is I will be starting back at least 2 days a week when the school year starts next year.

Dee- I was thinking about making some nappies as well. Did you make AIO or just fitted nappies. What pattern did you use, did you buy a pattern or make your own?

Dee78- Good on you for making the decision to stand up for yourself. Tori is a settled baby, but when we got out and she gets passed around to too many strangers she becomes REALLY unsettled for the next couple of days, so for a baby that is already unsettled it is much worse. Stick to your guns, you know what is right for Lachlan.

Simmone- Hopefully we can get our acts together and have a Perth meet up while you are over here. IT would be nice to finally start putting some names to faces IRL.

We have had a fairly quiet day today, went to the shops because I broke my mobile phone last night (ooops) that is 2 phones in less than a year that I have ruined, the first one went through the washing machine, luckily this one was an old one mum gave me so not so bad. Anyway got a new flip top Nokia, lets hope I can make this one last 2 years, otherwise it is going to become an exspensive habit.
DH has a nice 4 day weekend, which I am really looking forward too. We are going out for lunch on Sunday with my mum and dad but other than that we have a free and easy weekend.

I agree with Ali, Rac is the personals queen!!:clap: I am so glad Ronan is doing well - to think it has been five mnths since the dear little one was born!

No real time for personals from me I'm sorry - DH has been hogging the PC all night and Flynn is just about due for his 10pm-ish feed, so I'll just prattle. Flynn is such a good boy - today he slept from 10am till 2.30pm - I figure he was making up for lost sleep time yesterday.

I have a few PC/net queries - how did you girls who use photobucket get your sites looking so nice? And how do you get your little pics with your BB names - I subscribed the other day and can't seem to get any info on how to create one. And I can't PM anyone - I tried to get on to Nickers about a catch up for melbourne Junies but was told I didn't have permission. I am such a PC nuffie!! DH just asked me to download skype and go through the set up procedure but it just finished downloading and "blipped" and then there was no skype to be found:doh:

Bet go - DH just woke up Flubby (Flynnie-Bubby, DH's nickname for the boy)

ciao bellas

Rory: Once you have subscribed you can email Kathryn (Astrolady) at : mailto:avatars@bellybelly.com.au telling her what you look like and she will create your avatar (the piccy beside our usernames). I modified my own but it's tricky... best to let Kath do one at first. Also I'm new to PhotoBucket too... can't remeber what I did when I set it up... everything is kinda trial and error with me and my pc... but if you really get stuck I could probably help you sort it out :)

Awwwwwww you ladies are soo nice! I just don't always get a chance to get on here and reply everyday so when i do reply i like to make sure i include everyone i see (sorry if i missed anyone)!

Bath - I just had a look & Ronan's outfit says "Disney" so i am guessing my friend got it from the Disney store.. Probably cost a bit.. I don't think it's anything you can get in Kmart or anything cause i haven't seen it before (it's a blue Winnie The Poo) outfit.. That is sooooo cool that you can wear each others clothes! I still wear a few jackets my mum gave me as my mum, sister and myself are all the same size..

Ali - Oh no about your mobile phone! At least you got a new one but lets hope you don't lose it, otherwise i suppose you could always go and buy a pre-paid? I have gone through so many phone in my lifetime but mainly because i get sick of them and want something new.. hehehe

Rory - That is so good about Flynn's sleep! I hope you get a lovely sleep tonight! I will try to get onto Nic as well about the Melbourne meet up, so if we all start chasing her hopefully we will be able to get something organised..

It's funny to think Ronan is in fact almost 6 months old now yet everything he does is classed with his "corrected age" so everything he is doing is what all your bubbas are doing.. His corrected date goes by the date he was due which was the 14th June so when you look at it, we still are Junies at the end of the day well until he turns 2 years old.. heheheh

BTW i have heaps of updated photo's of Ronan on his site if anyone wants to check them out! :D