Babies Born March 16th - 31st 2008

[AndiE]

Hi gals,

Ren - I swear to God, the more I hear it, the more it sounds like 'muuuummmm'. My DH has actually said to me a few times 'Cam's calling for you'. Goodness only knows, but I reckon our boys have got mum sussed .

Am keeping this quick, so will catch up with personals early next week. Got a gazillion things to organise/clean/pack before our long weekend getaway to the Goldy starts tonight (hopefully 15 mins after DH gets home).

But just wanted to state here and now that as of Tuesday (AFTER the long w'end) ... I'm gonna try and shape up a bit and lose approx 8kg to get back to my pre-conception weight. I'm 80kg now and used to hover around 72kg - a healthy weight for me. Before I fell pregnant I was probably 76 or 77kg - I got a bit lazy after moving to Brissie late in 06. But since I've had Cam I've been eating waaayyyy too many scotch finger biscuits and chocolate bars during the day! Plus cups of tea with one sugar! I never ever used to be like this, and I've worked out that the only reason I'm doing it, is cos no one's here to see !! And I need to get out and walk like I used to!

So, from Tuesday I'm going to cut out the crap and start walking again. Note, I didn't use the 'D' word ... I don't believe in D's - just healthy (er) eating.

Wish me luck, cos I'll need it. My willpower sucks where sugar is concerned.

Gotta go ... feeding time at the zoo and lots to organise.
Have a fab long weekend.

Andie

[catherinemoses]

Hi Girls!
Andie: it sounds like Flynn says mmmmmmuuuuuuum when he gets really upset too. My DH actually pointed it out to me!! It's so cute and makes me feel very important!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'm super motivated to loose my baby kgs too. My gym membership started up again today so I'm psyched for a body combat class tomorrow morning and I'm going no matter what! I don't care if Flynn wakes me 5 times tonight I'm still going!! Can't wait to have those exercise hormones rushing around and making me feel great! Hope your healthier eating goes well
Bec: Congrats on Jake sleeping thru, what a champ! I hope it is not a one off! Flynn is averaging about 6-7hrs and has done 8-9 once or twice. I can't really complain about nighttime sleeps which is great. One of the mums at MG is still up till 2 and 3am with her bub I'd have given Flynn back by now if he was still like that!!
Melinda: That sucks that you have PCOS . I should find out sometime next week. I'm really hoping that it's all normal. I don't have any of the symptoms except that I'm on the heavy side, but if I eat well and exercise I can shift it pretty easily, so I think I'm going to be pretty shocked if it comes back with something no good.
DH has been hijacked by my brother for the weekend. He is doing an engine swap on bro's car. Thankfully he is doing it here so it's not too bad. Thankfully Flynn enjoys sitting outside with daddy while he's working on cars so hopefully the weather is not too bad and he doesn't need to be in with me all day. Hope you all have a wonderful (long??) weekend.
Catherine

[*becstar*]

Hi Ladies!

Hope you are all enjoying your long weekends!

You girls who go to the gym are so wonderful! Even you Andie with walking Walking here is just useless, we do walk to the shopd etc but as I have the other two it is slow going and not exactly a pace to get your blood pumping! lol My diet fell apart badly I just can't afford the supplements at the moment.

On a happy note the two older kids have gone to Mum's for the night, YAY! So it's just DH, Jake and I. It's been nice, although I'm frustrated I had a huge list of stuff I wanted to do and have done none of it. It was lovely to see DH spending time 'talking' with Jake this afternoon. He doens't get the chance without the kids all over him. He was delighted to hear all the noises Jake makes now and how he is really communicating with you. Makes me sad too that he is missing out on it too

Ren, would you pm me your email? I'd love to add you to the list for pics etc. I saw one of Espen before you removed it...I love his hat!

I'm off to do bottles. Not feeling to good tonight went out for lunch for my brothers birthday and had a lovely penne pasta dish but it was so rich and have felt ugh for the afternoon. That and the end of AF isn't a good combo. I may just get a good nights sleep and even a little nap again in the morning !

xxx

[luey]

Hi all
Bec- I hope you are feeling better
CM- how did you go after your combat class?
AndiE - yumm Scotch finger biscuits. I get really hungry and when I don't have time to eat properly I grab a bicky. Not good for my bum.
Mel- I hope the floorboards have gone down well.
Ren - Hi

E has been out fo sorts for the last week, Thursday was really bad. Yesterday he slept maybe an hour during the day and was feeding every 1.5-2.5hours. He normally goes 3 hours during the day and has a big break of about 6-8 hours of an evening. I got 4 hours last night. They weren't quick feeds either, he still feeds for 30-45mins or longer sometimes. I was awake every 2 hours overnight, midnight (feed), 2(something woke me, ? bladder), 4 (feed), 6 (for an hour! with wind and explosive poo), 8 (feed). After 6 he settled in the rocker beside our bed and after the feed at 8 he fell asleep on my chest . All hell broke loose when I tried to move him to his cot after about 30mins. I couldn't cough/breathe with him there plus I needed some space IYKWIM. Well should have left him there as he ended up screaming for ages and I fed him at 10. HE finally settled after some panadol for about 2 hours. I don't regularly do that but he is so tired and won't settle plus we weren't sure if his throat was sore.
Is anyone else having issues with their bub settling (Mel I think you are?). Ethan used to be pretty good but now just doesn't want to sleep at all. Is 10weeks a growth spurt? I don't think it is but LOs don't always go by the book. At least DH can give me a hand today.
Enjoy the rest of the day

[catherinemoses]

Hi Girls!
Luey: My combat class went really well. I'm not nearly as unfit as I thought I was! I didn't need my puffer at all which I thought I would. It was hard but great fun! So glad to go back! My legs, shoulders, arms and tummy were all sore the next day and still a bit sore today but definitely a good kind of sore The worst thing about it was my stupid huge boobs. I spent much of the class holding them to make sure they didn't whack me in the face (I want my nice moderately sized boobs back !!)!! I'm sorry that you are having so much trouble with E Hope you have a heaps better night tonight. Yay for DH being home. Mine has the day off but has been out or doing other stuff so it's just like any other day really...oh well.
Bec: Thanks for the email: I checked out your blog, very nice
GTG DH is home now and I got t make the most of it

[AndiE]

Good morning everyone,

I'm waiting for Cam to wake up ... he woke grizzling just after 6am and as DH was already up and getting ready for work, he changed his nappy and put him back in his cot till I was ready to feed him. I got up just after DH changed Cam and did the usual morning ritual (loo, clean teeth etc) and by the time I went to get him he was sound asleep again. Here we are almost an hour later, and he's still in the land of nod. At least I've had my brekky and had a chance to get on the computer.

Hope you all enjoyed your long weekend. DH and I had a lovely time on the gold coast. Sooo nice to get away, and it was fab that DH could spend lots of quality time with Cam.

Ahhh... Cam has just woken. Looks like I'll be finishing my post a bit later.
40 minutes later .... bub fed and happy .

CM - how good are you, lady! Body combat classes indeed! Wish I had half your enthusiasm about the gym . We have a decent treadmill at home, but I'm keen to get out of the house for a daily walk. Yay about the puffer. I get a bit of asthma and although it's not bad, I always need to use my puffer before any strenous exercise.

Luey - sorry to hear Ethan has been out of sorts and that you're not getting much sleep. No idea about a 10 week growth spurt. I've only 'seen' Cam have one growth spurt at about 5-6 weeks, I honestly couldn't say if he's had another one since. I know when he was having his growth spurt he fed about every 2 hours and he was unsettled for a couple of days. To this day he hasn't had a repeat performance, although he's continued to grow at a good, steady rate. Good luck.

Becstar - how did your night with DH and Jake go? I know what you mean about DH missing out on some communication with DS. Cam and I natter away all the time during the day, but by the time daddy gets home from work, Cam is starting to wind down and is never as chatty. That's why I'm so pleased they had some quality time together this weekend. Daddy got to see what a chatterbox his son is! I hope you're feeling ok again now. By the way ... YES, I'm already thinking baby #2. I'll be 36 in Dec and that clock is definitely ticking down ... Not too sure I want anything to happen for a few months but would like to think I'll have had #2 (or have one on the way) by the time I'm 37.

Melinda - how is James? Did you get your floorboards down at the weekend? Hope you were able to avoid Emily's lurgy.

Hi to everyone else. Beautiful pix of your bubs too - they're all just gorgeous.

Well, it's 8.30am. Think it's about time I pulled on my sneakers and headed off for a walk. Today is D-Day (D not standing for THE 'D word', of course!!!).

Have a terrific day all,
Andie

[melbell45]

morning girls,

im feeling pretty ordinary this morning, i fed James at 11pm (was still up then) then he woke at 2am 5am and was up for the day at 6 am ! we are off to tresilllian tomorrow so hopefully things will start to improve then !

the childcare centre rang yesterday saying they had a place for Emily starting one day a week from next thursday, im a bit nervous about her going but i think she will enjoy it, im sure she is bored being at home with me most days (especially as we can't go far in the car with mr grumpy bum !) so will see how she goes there.

floorboards aren't down yet, because DH has been sick he hasn't been organised enough to do it, im hoping it happens this weekend as im sick of looking at yuk carpet !

Luey: how is Ethan going ? i dont think James has gone through growth spurts as such, he just eats all the time, will probably weigh him tomorrow seeing as though it has been 3 weeks since he was last done and the child health nurse was worried about him then, he has started to chub up a bit now on the legs.
is Ethan having short sleeps or not really sleeping much at all ? he may be getting overtired because the more tired they get the harder it is to get them down, seems silly really, sometimes we say to James why can't you just be like the cats and just snuggle down and go straight to sleep when you are tired lol

Andie: good to hear you have a great weekend away, i know what you mean about DH getting to spend some time with him and hearing him chat, James is very chatty early in the mornings but DH has gone to work by then and then on the weekend we run out the door sat morning for Emily's swimming lesson so its only sunday really he gets to see that side of him, although he will sit on the lounge with him and have a chat.
Emily has recovered from her bug and james and i avoided it, dh is still sick though.
how did you walking go yesterday ?

Bec: thanks for all those addresses, we changed over to the full version of outlook expresses and it copied all the other email addresses across but not the group one ! good to hear you and DH had a night with just Jake and he got to spend quality time with him. when are you thinking about trying for your 4th ?

Catherine i am also impressed about doing a body combat class, i am so unfit i seriously would not make it through the warm up !

Reenie: how was your day of shannigans in the park ?

hi to Hayley, Jo, Brady, Ren and anyone else i missed !

Melinda

[melbell45]

bump (for some reason the thread didnt update when i sent my email)

i forgot to ask a question to the girls that are breastfeeding, how long do you feed for ? James does it really quickly now, max 10 mins each side but can be on and off again 5 mins, which is all very nice but it is a bit annoying to be woken for just 5 mins ! (i know that sounds strange and that 5 is better than 30 mins to be awake but i am still being woken) also he has started coming on and off on and off all the time, i know around this time they start to get distracted by other things but it is making me sore so once he starts doing that he is off for that feed

Melinda

[*becstar*]

Hi Ladies!

I have managed to offload ALL the kids to my Aunty for a couple of hours so instead of vacuuming and sewing nappies I"m here posting on BB, LOL. I had an appt for my second CC vaccine shot and my Aunty offered to have them for a couple of hours...as if I'd say no!

I had my appointment for my IUD Mirena yesterday. Seems it should all be ok. I wasn't expecting any examinations so I had scarily hairy legs but had to have some swabs done to check for any infections and got my pap smear while I was at it too!! No sex for three weeks before the IUD which is making DH unhappy, LOL. It's just a precaution so as when the DR does a pg test on the day it is inserted she can be 100% sure that a negative result really is a negative result!

all is very average here, Jake slept through 3 nights and then stopped!! He has been waking around 1-2pm for a feed which is manageable. I kinda like that night feed as it's the only quiet time we get completely alone . He hasn't been sleeping well during the days lately, will only last 20 mins at the most. So instead of letting him got to sleep in the bouncer I put him in his cot today. It worked!! He was a litle upset so I just leaned right over and put my face close, patted his big clothie bum, 'shhhh'd him and he went off to sleep for an hour! :woot: so I'm hoping this keeps up!

Mel I'll be waiting to hear how you go at Tresillian, good luck! Trying for the fourth?? LOL I have to get DH to even entertain the idea first!! Not for a while....I'll wait until Jake's a bit older and teething and crawling etc and see if he's still a good boy!! He might well turn into a little devil turning me off forever I'm sure Emily will love daycare, it might take some adjusting but if she's anything like mine, they love the break away, especially now with Jake we are super quiet and hardly go anywhere.

Catherine, you are amazing! I have no desire to be THAT good! How terrible is that on my behalf?? lol Congrats, you should be very pleased and proud of yourself. ROFL at your boobies.....mine are just so floppy and I've hardly even BF, imagine how bad mine would be!

Luey it is SO frustrating when you have an unsettled bub. Don't even feel bad about the panadol, when there is nothing else you can do it wont go astray. I know I've given it to Jake a couple of times also when I just don't know what else to do. My theory is that it might help calm him a little and let him rest....and me!! I'm not sure about the growth spurt thing either, I've been wondering the same about Jake. He has gone from being satisfied with a 120ml bottle every 4 (or so!) hours to wanting a 120ml bottle every 3 hours. I'd give him a bigger bottle but any more than 120ml and he drinks it but vomits it all back up again, if we stick with 120ml he finishes and doesn't vomit but it hungry earlier. So this is what we are sticking with. Anyhoo....what I was thinking was that it must be a growth spurt.

Andie I'm glad you had a lovely time away with DH. Much needed I'm sure. I understand you wanting #2 soonish for age reasons....I feel stupid though!! lol I've NEVER thought about another so soon after giving birth and for me my reasoning is that I don't feel 'done' (not a real solid reason I know!) and that I don't want to have #4 another 3 years down the track. If it's going to happen it need to be in the next year ( to get pg!) I may as well keep them all close. as they are now they are 4, 3 and 12 weeks.

My question to you all is...any signs of teething?? I'm thinking Jake is on his way....joy of all joys. Some days when he is unsettled he has red cheeks and lately when he doesn't have his dummy in he immediately stick in his fist to chew. He is dribbling constantly. I can see a tooth under his gum on the bottom but I can't feel it so it hasn't cut yet. It seems really early! I know Benji was about 4 mo and poor old Chloe was 18 mo!!!

Anyway I'd better eat my soup and vacuum...I only have 30 mins left!! Hi to all, Ren, Jo, Reenie, SG, Robbo

xxx

[AndiE]

Hi mums,

Poor DH had his 4 wisdom teeth out earlier this arvo. Luckily the teeth were all through, so he only needed local injections. He was in and out of the chair in under 40 minutes !! He didn't even need stitches. Anyways, I think DH is feeling a wee bit sorry for himself (naturally) at the moment and I guess he will probably feel a bit worse before he feels better. Cam fell asleep on the drive there, stayed asleep in my arms while DH was in the chair and continued to sleep until we got home. What a champ .

Bec - other than wisdom teeth, no other teething problems in our household. Cam has become a bit of a dribbler of late ... and he's pretty handy at shoving his thumb or fingers into his mouth for a good old suck ... but no indications of any teeth yet.

Mel - how did you get on at tresillian? Hopefully you/James took plenty of positives away. I'm sure Emily will have oodles of fun at daycare - good luck with it. I've been trying to walk, but I probably picked a bad time to start. An older friend (in her 50s) has come up from Tassie for 12 days mainly to see Cam (well, Cam and me). She's not staying with us, but nearby. So I'm running around (in the car!) a bit catching up with her.

As for breastfeeding, for the past 4-5 weeks Cam has been feeding for about 20 minutes ... sometimes it takes a few minutes longer and occasionally less than 20 mins. And so far, there's no distractions when he's feeding, so he stays on. When we initially got the hang of BFing, it would take 45-60 mins to BF, but once Cam's sucking improved it takes half the time. My only BF issue is that Cam tends to get squirmy towards the end of his feed and his arms and legs start squirming around - this sometimes causes him to pull off the boob. But so far it's not affecting his feeding.

Alrighty, I'd better go show hubby some TLC .

Cheers, Andie

[luey]

I wish feeds would just take 20mins. They still take 30-45mins here. I find ifhe just has a shortish one (appears satisfied) he needs a top up about 30mins later.We are slowly getting quicker. Overnight I am up for about an 45mins- an hour - by the time I faff around with nappy changes (notice the 'S', I had to change E twice this am,he pood in his nice clean nappy halfway through the second side or he needs a complete change as he has leaked through the nappy - big wee-er), have a big drink, maybe put a load of washing on (have front loader). I don't know the time just goes! Then settling him this am took another 30ish minutes. I think he was over sleeping by then though - he finally slept properly yesterday and continued to have lots of sleeps - at 5am I think he wanted to play. Not surprisingly I didn't, considering I didn't go to bed till 1130 despite E being in bed at 7! Oops.

How do you put your babies to sleep, Ethan has gone from being happy to be put down awake, wrapped and with a dummy to needing to be held to go to sleep. I am trying to figure out where I have gone wrong! I have been having sleep issues though.

Also how long are your bubs happy to play? How long are they content by themselves? E is still only happy for maybe 10-20mins, before he needs the dummy. I am trying to watch his sleep cues too, and put him down then. Sometimes after a bit of sucking on the dummy he gets happy again, hard to know. I have made the cardianl sin of comparing my baby with others with sleeping and contentedness when awake, of course he is coming up short at the moment. Admittedly he is far superior in everything else though. My DH told me not to compare and I haven't done anythign wrong, it is just hte ay he is. I can't wait to get my hands on the Pinky Mckay books. I am hoping they will have the answers, may not though. But at least I will feel better that I can't let him cry himself to sleep. I just hate to hear him cry, even when he is awake. MAybe I need to let him cry though, when he is frustrated so he will learn how to do stuff. It is hard to know

Sorry this has been all about me!

I hope you are all well

MEl - how was Tresillian, any tips would be great!

[*becstar*]

Super quick post from me......

Luey, I am the same, and still am with #3, I cannot do the crying thing. Nothing against it/wrong with it but I just can't do it. In my experience it just made my bubs all the more clingy and insecure. Don't feel bad at all about it. I've always ended up putting mine to sleep in my arms, then into bed, and into my bed if we have any problems in the middle of the night, and never had any real issues. In my mind it makes them feel secure and safe that I will be there if they need me. Having said that , we have had battles when getting them to sleep on their own when older (about 12-18mo). Now we have kids who go to bed on their own, sleep, occasionally come into ours for a cuddle but mostly sleep soundly in their own beds all night. BUT with Jake the last couple of days I've been making an effort to get him to go to sleep in his cot which has been going well. However I also know that if he begins to protest or if it starts becoming a problem I will most likely cave and go back to putting him to sleep in my arms. Such a pushover!

My point is do what you feel comfy with and what suits you. You are Mum and know best. There is no point going for a sleep routine that just doesn't sit right with you and will upset you too, kwim?? On the other hand if you are feeling you need help with a sleep routine by all means seek that help too. Just dont ever feel like you should be doing something you don't want to. A mothers guilt is such a burden! I do it to myself ALL the time. HTH

Back tomorrow!

xxx

[catherinemoses]

Hi Girls!
Melinda: Flynn has gotten quite fast at feeding, the little piglet does it in about 15 mins. Very fast now which is great! And for those nighttime feeds (which we don't seem to be having very many of ) he goes straight back to sleep and because it's so quick I am not wide awake after it and can go straight back to sleep too
Luey: sounds like you need it It sounds like you are using cloth? If you are have you tried using disposables for the night time? I hardly ever have to change Flynn overnight. He usually goes straight to sleep after I feed him and there is no way I am going to bother waking him up for a nappy change if he isn't bothered by it! In the morning the nappy is super duper heavy and occasionally we've had poo coming out the leg or up his back but it is usually pretty good. Might be worth a try? RE: playtime, Flynn sounds about the same. After his feed he usually has a bit of a cuddle. Then he usually has a bit of tummy time, maybe 2-3 min (he really hates it and grunts the whole time before he starts crying and banging his head into the floor) then I roll him over and he has maybe 10 min of on the floor time with the toy frame above him. Then I might put him in the rocker if he's getting grumpy. Then we have a bit of a cuddle then a nappy change then back to bed. He is usually only awake for about 45min to an hour before he is getting all cranky and "crying over nothing". Until about 4-5 weeks ago I had no idea that the poor little guy was tired and I would be jiggling him and rocking him and patting him and other 'comforting things' and all he wanted was to be put into bed!! I've got it now and know when he is saying mum I just want to go to bed!! For night time we have a bit of a routine going and for the last 3 weeks he has been sleeping in his own room so he has not been in our bed at all in that time. I feed him, change him, sing song to him while I'm changing him that it is time for mister Flynn to go to bed etc . Wrap him, give him his dummy- if he wants it!, say our prayers. Put him down, give him a kiss and turn on this thing from a mobile that has a plinky lullaby tune (he seems to really love that, tho I think it sounds awful!!!) He usually goes straight off to sleep. Tho if he is not interested in settling I do give him a cuddle and try again. If that fails too I cuddle him to sleep I just don't want to do it every night so it's only if he's really out of it.
Bec: Thanks I am a gym junkie tho. You're running around after 3 kids, I'm sure you're getting a fair workout
Hope I didn't miss anyone, hubby wants the puter so seeya's.

[luey]

Thanks Bec and Catherine. Last night Ethan did go to sleep a couple of times in the cot - he is currently in my arms asleep (he was pretty awake so I thought I wouldlet him play), will put him down in a tick. I don't want to force him to lie in his cot when he doesn't want to so will cuddle when I have to and put down when I can. I think cos he takes so long to feed still he becomes tired after a short period. I dunno what I can do to get quicker?

I use sposies, I only had a babylove on him the other night, after 7 hrs it was soaked (max capacity), plus his wrap and sheet underneath. I try to use Huggies for nights but we still get leakage sometimes. It could be operator error though and those willies can be tricky things, they have to be dead centre or you have issues.

Has anyone tried those light and sound light show thigies for the cot/nights? I think E would like it. He likes becomes mesmerised by the light on the baby monitor, we most often use it for him t play with. I only use the other end when I am going out of his yell range. I am just not sure the light show things would actually send him to sleep.

I am going back to bed - until DH alarm goes off anyway

[melbell45]

hi girls,

well i am really none the wiser after our day yesterday, other than James is a "mystery", not what you want to hear, i was hoping for oh yes we see this all the time and this is how you fix it !

they suggested i see a paed with him just to rule out any medical problems such as relfux (doesnt have the symptoms) or a urinary tract infection as that can make them slow to gain weight (brady i think your little man had this ?) and he is still only 4.8kg, has put on over 100gms each week for the past 3 weeks which is acceptable, i am considering giving him a top up of formula although im not convinced he needs it.. i was lucky enough to get an appointment today with the paed so will ask him. its a busy day as i have to go to the gp to get the paed referral at 940 (didnt expect to get in so soon) then race off to the paed at 11 am then this afternoon at 230pm i have to take Emily to the childcare centre for her to spend some time there.

anyway the basics from yesterday were watch for tired signs (suggested laying a baby on the mat where you can easily observe them and they will go from happy with loose relaxed hands to thrashing their head back and forth clenching their fists and crying of course, if you were to dangle a toy in front of them they can be distracted but soon start crying again because they really need to go to bed, if you miss the signs and they get overtired they are harder to get to sleep (dont i know it !)
the cycle should be sleep fed play sleep
so at this age they should have awake time about 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours and sleep time about 2 - 2 1/2 hours.
if you get them to sleep and they wake again under the hour you should try and resettle them (whether by rocking the cot or patting or putting the dummy back in etc) but once they have had over 1 1/2 hours they isnt much point in resettling

the nurse said james certainly gets very worked up, seems very sensitive, also said he sucks madly on dummy when asleep and to be doing that he cant be in the deep sleep so the sleep he gets isnt very restful iykwim.

Luey: James is the same within minutes of being put down to play, the nurse thought it was all part of being tired and that he is chronically tired and i tend to agree. yesterday at the place he slept for nearly 2 hours and got up and lasted about 30 mins before the crying started so was back in bed within 45 mins of a 2 hour sleep, which seems crazy, so when he sleeps he isnt getting refreshing sleep (sorry hope im not repeating myself here)


i'll let you know what the paed says later and tell you some more of what happened yesterday, got to run now

Melinda

[rustygirl]

HI ladies, I know it has been three mths since I spoke to you all but I would like to join your chat if you'll have me back???? I have been so busy with Cohen and trying to keep my house in order plus get my own sleep that I have just dropped off the face of the planet!!!
It sounds like we are all going through the same things. I thought that I was the only one with the problems of sleep routine, feeding, and so on.... It is a real comfort to know that I'm not the only one.

I hope your all well....your babies a gorgeous!!!!!

[AndiE]

Hi all,

Will keep this as short as I can (cough, cough ... moi, type a SHORT post?). It's after 11pm, Cam's been in bed over an hour and I should go too.

Welcome back Nina ... good to hear from you.

Melinda - bugger about James still being a 'mystery' although sounds like Tresillian might've been of some assistance. Hopefully you had a good visit to the paed. Good luck with James and . Here's hoping he starts sleeping well for you soon.

Luey - Cam's unpredictable with his playtime, although 20-30 mins kicking around on his mat sounds about right to me. Tummy time is different, he lasts 5 mins before cracking the *****s. And he only lasts about 10 minutes under the playgym before cracking it too. Re: sleeping, a friend gave cam a "plinky lullaby tune" thingamy when he was born (CM, I love your description - perfect ). It has a soft light, plays Brahams Lullaby and casts a rotating picture show on the ceiling. It goes for 10 mins before turning off. That's our sleep routine. I only play the thing whenever I put Cam down for a sleep. Luckily we have few dramas with settling Cam. Naturally there's the odd time when he seems sleepy so we put him to bed ... only to have him squawk continually till we get him back out of bed. But generally he sleeps well, whether it's in his cot, a pram, a portacot or even in our arms. Honestly, I'm starting to think I just lucked out with an adaptable bub.

CM - how're the workouts going? I had a 'win' last night re: nappy change. I put Cam to bed about 10pm and he was sound asleep within minutes. Then it occured to me ... I hadn't changed his nappy. Would've been ok but he'd been in the thing for approx 4-n-a-bit hours. Given I didn't expect him to wake for another 7-8 hours ... well, you can imagine my dilemma. Wake him and change the nap, or let him sleep and risk wet sheets and nappy rash (which we haven't had so far)? Anyway I decided to change his nappy ... in his cot. I was hoping to avoid moving him, hence waking him. Possibly not the most hygenic of ways to change a nap (no poo involved though) but I managed to do it without waking him . No idea why I forgot to change his nappy beforehand ... obviously I wasn't particularly switched on last night.

Bec - I'm with you. Each mum knows what's best for her own bub (although sometimes a little help/advice when requested doesn't go astray). We all do whatever works for us.

After 11.30pm ... gotta go to bed (yawn!). So much for my short post ... will I ever learn ?"

Have a great weekend everyone.

Andie xx

[rustygirl]

Thanks andie...

Will fill you all in on what has been happening...

Tried breastfeeding but got ****e advise from the midwifes (it was hurting to feed him and they told me to push through) and ended up with cracked and bleeding nipples. Still....I pushed through it and kept trying. Sometimes he was feeding for 2hrs!!!! I was feeding Cohen for 2 weeks on the breast and giving him top up feeds of formula... When I took him to see a lactation consultant at the hospital at 2 weeks he was 350gms UNDER his birth weight.....my milk hadn't come in properly even though I was feeding him all that time and getting the stimulation....God knows what happened!!
Luckily I went in and saw her, she told me that if I hadn't he would have been in NICU with a drip in his arm the following week because he would have been too weak to even feed form a bottle. I felt like such a terrible mum. I had been starving my child and I didn't even know it. All the time that we couldn't settle him was because he was hungry.
So now because of that time that we thought he was just unsettled....(we were rocking him and patting him to sleep) he doesn't self settle. He needs us to hold him and pat him to sleep which gets tiring. Especially at 2am when he thinks it is playtime...lill monkey. He is really starting to grow up now. He enjoys the pram now whereas before all he did was scream. He can hold his head up...a lill wobbly but getting stronger everyday. It is so amazing to watch him change everyday. I love being a mummy and wouldn't change it for the world.

Cohen has been asleep for an hour now....I should go to sleep too.
Talk soon.