Is anyone else suddenly getting bombarded by medical bills (pathology, paediatrician etc) 2 weeks after their baby was born? When do they think I have the time to look at these things and why didn't my private health insurance automatically take care of it?

Bleh, I think I've already lost half the bills in the chaos that is my living room. I didn't expect this $600 bill from the paediatrician who has charged me for every time he popped in for 5 minutes to say hello in hospital.

Itsme: My mum gave me some excellent settling techniques. We had a hell of a night the other night when Jude was awake from his 7.30pm feed until midnight! But last night was bliss!

For squirming unsettled baby: Hold your baby to your body really firmly and let them fight you (Jude declares out-right war on me). Let them squirm and whinge and complain, but keep holding them tightly until they calm down then hold on some more until they've been calm for at least a few minutes.

For wide-eyed but quiet baby: Swaddle baby and rock in arms, keep rocking even if they finally shut their eyes.

I've done both, but the first one was particularly effective. I hadn't tried persevering through a severe case of the grumps, but Jude got tired of fighting wars with me quickly and fell asleep easily after that.