Babies Born ~ July 1st-15th 2009 #2

[ss_storm]

Loved all your birth stories, it's amazing how something like birth can be so different for everyone!
Miss E- are you planning on having more kids and are you going to try for a VBAC? If that's too invasive a question I understand!

Had a shocking night last night..Hayley went to bed as normal at about 6.30, she woke up at 8 so I gave her a feed but she wouldn't go back to sleep until nearly 9. Then was awake at 1am, then 3am when DF came to bed and I gave up and put her in bed next to me, but she still wouldn't go back to sleep until 4, then was awake at 6.30..I made her lie in bed until 7 when I felt half alive!
I just don't know what is going on with her night sleeps...she was sleeping through most nights, from 6.30 to 6.30. I know that is an awesome stretch for a young bub and i didn't mind if she woke up once at 2 or 3am for a feed then went back to sleep, but she keeps waking up about an hour after I put her down for the night and won't go back to sleep... I can't stretch her out a bit longer until 7 or 7.30 either because she gets so cranky and I'm trying to get dinner ready and all those other night time jobs so I can't be there to entertain her and at that point she isn't happy lying on the floor playing by herself, and won't tolerate being in her rocker watching me for too long. I just hope it's another phase and will pass soon and I'll have my good night sleeper again!
Will be an early night for me I think. Got quite a few boxes packed today and weeded the front garden, as well as cleaned up the backyard, got rid of a few stinky old bones and torn up dog toys!

It's been a gorgeous day, took the dog for a walk this morning, and took Hayley outside with me this afternoon to do the garden. I put her down on the picnic rug under the shade of a tree and she had a great time rolling around and staring at the tree! I think we will have to make a few more trips outside as she seems to like it a lot.

[Miss E]

Miss E- are you planning on having more kids and are you going to try for a VBAC? If that's too invasive a question I understand!

No not at all! Yes I do hope to have another one in a couple of years, but at this stage not too sure about a VBAC. I think I'll probably end up making my mind up when the time comes. I would love to have a natural labour, but at the same time the labour I did experience was pretty hideous because DS was posterior and it was an induction. I know next time it is unlikely to be like that bad because I don't think they would induce me again, but it still scares me a bit. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

[jetta2022]

SS Storm- I hope the night sleeps are improving. Have you started Hayley on any food at all? Do you think that might help? I have no idea sorry as Sam is my first but just wondered if she is getting hungrier and maybe wants something a bit different? Its nice getting out for a walk though.
In regards to the crying to sleep. We had fairly similar arguements when Sam was first born. My husband was more keen to let Sam cry it out but I didn't want to, he was too young. Then he said well what age will you stop saying that? Good point! But still I agree that they are too little. After 10 or 15 minutes if Sam is still crying I just go up and pat his head and give him a kiss just he knows I am there. I don't rock him anymore (I used to) but it makes me feel better than just being there for that small time he knows that I am there and haven't forgotten him. Mind you, if he is hesterical I then help him calm down and spend more time with him and don't leave him as long. It is hard when you both have different methods of this sort of thing. My husband doesn't like Sam hesterical either so he will go up but he certainly leaves him crying longer than I do. If you go out and you are worried, don't not go out, just remember it is only 1 sleep and the rest of her sleeps will be fine. I just try to think about it that way and in Sam's whole life, he won't remember small pieces like that. As long as you are showering them with love all through the day, one small moment in time won't be what they remember. Well thats what I would think anyway. I hope that helps.
Sam has been self settling more and more, but times that he does cry before sleep, as he gets older I just go a little bit longer each time?? So a few months ago it would be only 5 minutes, then 10 minutes and then 15 or so but as I said before that is just crying or whinging, if he is hesterical I go much sooner. That way I feel that I am trying to help him learn a bit more. Does that make sense? Hope it does!

I am going to read everyones birth stories, I think mine will be rather boring as Sam was breach so we were just booked in for a caesar and away we went!! It was very straight forward so not sure if it is very intersting at all!!

AFM, want to put the Christmas tree up this week, can't wait it is such an exciting time of the year. Sam is self settling a lot now which is great but I am waiting for it all to change. He even woke up at 5am this morning and got himself back to sleep. Hurray! he is rolling more and more now which is great and loving his jumperoo.

Hope everyone else is well, will try and catch up with everyone else later!

[Liviam]

Hi everyone. I was wondering if you minded me joining in? I was in a belly group with a few from in here so it is nice to catch up with everyone. I gave birth a my gorgeous DS on 6th July 2009 so he is 5 months on Sunday. He is our second child. My DD is 2 1/2. William is a big boy (born that way, LOL!!) but not overly interested in doing much except babbling away, blowing raspberries while playing with his feet and doodle. I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone and reading what all our bubba's are up to.

[Miss E]

Welcome Liviam, looking forward to getting to know you and little ones!

Just wanted to have a bit of debrief. Ash has been having a lot of trouble going to sleep of late so I have decided to start doing the spaced soothing again. We just had so much trouble getting him down for his nap, I went in after 5 minutes and settled him, then ten, then ten again. Finally he went to sleep, but the poor little thing only slept for thirty minutes so I gave him a feed and he slept through that. I've just put him back to bed and am hoping he can sleep a bit longer. It's so hard to not pick him up, he settles very quickly when I come in but the minute I leave the grizzling/crying starts again, it just pulls at your heart strings. Like you Jetta I don't let him get really upset but I still feel so mean.

[naomi54]

Hi Liviam - welcome. Congrats on your little boy!!
Both our kids seem to be the same ages!! Cant wait to catch up!!

AFM: ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh a toddler who is difiant and baby who i cant disipher needs/wants/cries and to top off DP and his partner (at work) had a falling out, the partner has just called it quits 3wks before xmas, they are finishing this house off (are painters) and thats it, luckily DP can get work from an old boss of his....but still im sooooooooooo freaking angry right now!!
both kids are REALLY REALLY getting to me, Cam seems to settle down then decides why make life for my mum easy and plays up...having dramas, feeding and sleeping like th rest of you guys.

gotta go, he next to me whingy b/c im not paying attention to him, or something

later guys

btw my birth story is up a while ago....cant remember how to link it here....

[Calluna]

I had a whole post written up, then went to post and it lost it. So I'll do my best to remember what I wrote...

Cate - That's exactly how I feel, it's one thing after another. I tried rolling Isaac on his side this morning and he screamed. lol. I guess he didn't like it.
Hadn't thought of freezing them, I'll give that a shot next time. I've already given some of them back to him so not much point now.

Jetta - Lucky you said something I was just trying to work out how to fit Isaac in a freezer bag as I read your post. (I'm joking of course.)
No offence taken. I had thought about that myself. The boy was about 5, so alot older. Still could have caught something though. I don't think he was chewing the toys given that he was 5 but you never know, I wasn't there
I loved reading the births that went exactly as planned. It helped me to believe in myself and reasured me that I could have the birth I wanted. I did mine for me mostly anyway, and loved recounting it all and found that I actually enjoyed the experience despite being in so much pain at the time. lol. Wierd I know.

SS - :hugs: Maybe you could find some articles about how CC affects babies and give them to your DH to read? Why does he think like that anyway? Was that how he was raised? I don't understand how people can just let their babies CIO, it breaks my heart to hear Isaac cry. Not that I'm judging people that do do it, just saying I never could.
You've really had it rough lately As Cate said your doing a wonderful job, hopefully things get better soon.

Sloane - Our babies were born on the same day
I'm not sure whether the air con helped or not. I think he went to sleep a bit quicker, probably because we were walking around. He didn't sleep for as long though, I don't think, probably because of the noise.

Miss E - You could try staying in the room but not looking at her. Starting of right next to her then gradually moving further away each/ each couple of sleep time/s until your out the door. IYKWIM? It was an idea I heard or read somewhere ages ago. Dunno if it works or not.

Miss E, Sloane - Great stories. I just love reading the birth stories.

Liviam - Welcome Can't wait to hear more about you and your family.

Naomi - big 's

AFM - [vent] Isaac had just gone to sleep after 20 or so mins of crying and squirming then DF who had been doing the housework said I'm gonna do the vacuuming. I asked him to wait until Isaac woke up and he said that I can do it then because he was on a roll and didn't want to stop. I asked why he couldn't just wait and do it when Isaac's awake and he got all stroppy with me and is now walking around the house all huffy at me while he does other stuff. *sigh* 3 times today he's cracked the poo's with me for no reason. Apparently it's too much to ask that we have just one day when one of us isn't grumpy or upset about something. [/vent]

Had a fairly decent sized breakdown in the parents room at the shops yesterday. Just so over the living arrangements, having no money, feeding and sleep problems with Isaac, etc. Probably not the best time or place for it but I felt much better after getting everything out
We got home at about 4pm and I was exhausted so I layed down in bed with Isaac for a feed and a nanna nap. I only got woken up when DF came in to go to bed at about 10:30 So I gave Isaac a quick top up feed, changed his nappy and put his pj's on. He slept through all of this, so I put him to bed and went back to bed myself. He woke up at 2 and 4 am, had a feed and went back to sleep both times. Then didn't wake until 7am. Must have been nackered. I'm thinking he didn't sleep very well at the shops.

He's been sleeping fairly well today, I think he's getting overtired and that's why he's not feeding and settling properly. I'm trying to notice the very first tired signs and put him to bed as soon as I do. I'm also going to try the feed, play, sleep routine instead of waiting until he seems hungry because he's usually getting tired by this point too. It worked well for the first sleep this morning, second sleep I was in the shower when he was getting tired and DF doesn't really know what to look for until he's overtired, so didn't put him to bed. Then third sleep I was writing up (and loosing) my post on BB and didn't realise he was getting tired (oops, bad mummy). So next playtime I'm going to be much more attentive.

[ss_storm]

Jetta- nope we haven't started food yet, will do that after Christmas I think. I don't think she is waking up because she is hungry though, she doesn't seem any hungrier than normal. i think she's just going through a crappy sleep period! She was better last night although she didn't go to sleep properly until about 8. Slept until 3am when I was trying to roll her off her tummy as she was right down the end of the cot lying sideways and looked a bit stuck..plus i don't really want her sleeping on her tummy just yet.
No birth story is boring! I think it's amazing how everyone's story is so different, not one birth is the same!

Welcome Liviam! Good to see you around, have been wondering how you are going. I think all the mums with more than kid are amazing, I am so tired and flat out all the time with just one! I guess you just learn to cope though, but you do a great job.

Miss E- I hope Ash's sleeping gets better...Hayley has gone back to short day sleeps again too. She was having two to three one hour sleeps a day, sometimes she would have a 2 - 2 1/2 hr sleep which was great (for me!). but now she is back to 3-4 sleeps a day. Once she wakes up I cant get her to go back to sleep as she just lies there giggling and smiling at me. Lol. i do that with getting her to sleep too, I can't stay in the room with her as she just looks at me and doesn't even look like going to sleep.

Naomi- sounds a bit crazy at your place at the moment, I hope both your boys settle down for you soon! Do you have any family or friends close by that could mind either one of the boys, or both of them just for a couple of hours so you can take a break?
Your poor DP too, that's not much notice, especially right before Christmas. Very bad timing!

Heather- I can't believe some random kid would start playing with Isaac's toys! Some people sure are weird..I never knew about freezing toys either, although I don't think I could fit any in our freezer, we only have the fridge freezer which is not very big and usually stuffed to the brim!
That's so annoying with the vacuuming, although I would love it if my DF picked up the vacuum cleaner occasionally...he has trouble picking his clothes up off the floor... I do hate it when his phone goes off though, of course it's always just when I've put Hayley to bed and he has the most annoying ringtone- it's a police siren, which is really loud so wakes her up every time. If the ringing doesn't wake her up it's him talking on it (because you know when you are on a mobile you have to talk 5 times as loud...).
Yay for your big afternoon nap though, you must have felt refreshed after that! Poor little mite must have been tired!

AFM we went to visit Santa today!! He had a real beard too. Hayley was great, did a few huge smiles and started chatting away to Santa! She was so cute. We can pick the photos up on Saturday so I can't wait for that.
Our moving plans have been moved forward, we are now going over tomorrow to sign the lease and pick up the keys, and we'll start moving stuff on Friday and hopefully by the end of the weekend we'll be all done. Not looking forward to the cleaning, packing and unpacking I don't mind and actually enjoy most of it. I just don't know how I'm going to get the cleaning done with Hayley.
Will post some photos of the house on Facebook, i can't believe how nice it is, it's on a huge block with fenced front and back yards so tons of space, and it's only $250 a week! Which will be cheaper than where we are now as it's going up to $270/week. A house like that in Wagga we would probably be paying close to $400/week for it. I think we would be stupid not to move!

[Miss E]

Liviam your William shares a birthday with Ash. It's quite funny, he's also discovered his doodle recently. Loves to play with it, mind you he doesn't get any nappy free time so it's really only in the bath or at nappy change time (which can be messy when there's a poo!).

Naomi I hope today has been a little better for you

Heva sorry to hear you had a bit of a rough day, hope today has been better. I'm also finding if I miss Ash's initial tired signs he's quickly getting over tired these days and becoming a nightmare to settle. If I get him at the right time though he goes down really easily.

Storm, good luck for the move. I think you're right, doing it now while you can pop her down and stay in the one place will be much easier than if you had of left it a couple of months. I really want to take Ash for Santa photos, we went to the shopping centre on Saturday but the line was a mile long. I keep meaning to pop in during the week when hopefully it will be shorter.

Jasp, how exciting, sounds like she's not far off crawling now. Ash is also starting to get up on all fours, but can't put his head up at the same time iykwim. We were over at a friends place the other day and she has one of those shag rugs. It was great, he was able to get some really good traction on it and was making real moves. At home he doesn't get nearly as far.

lovelycate glad to hear you got a good nights sleep, hopefully its the start of a new pattern. Ash was the same with his rolling, he did the tummy to back a couple of times and then pretty much forgot how to. About a month later he started doing back to tummy, but it took him a week or two to work out how to get back to his back again.

AFM all is going really well. We have had a few naps of late where it has been horribly hard getting him to settle (hence my debrief yesterday). It's all about the timing though I think, if I get him down at the right time he self settles really easily. But if I miss that little window then it becomes a battle that lasts 45 minutes or so. I think it probably has a lot to do with him no longer being wrapped. Mind you his night sleeps have been going great, he's slept through every night for the last couple of weeks which has been fantastic. Like a lot of the others he's discovered his feet in the last week or so and has just managed to get them in his mouth. He's started sitting up really well too. I put my breastfeeding pillow around him incase he falls, but he can now sit up unassisted for a good five minutes or so.

Anyway, better run, hope everyone is well x

[MamaPan]

hi everyone
so sorry i have been pretty MIA - my computer has been broken so i have been lurking on my I touch but find it too hard and time consuming to write too much - laptop is fixed now so you can expect me back in full force!
I wont do all the personals now - too much to catch up on... but I will try to stay on top of things.
A lot has been happening with us... mainly that we have decided to move back to melbourne early next year - sooo exciting! so those of you in melb we will have to meet up some time. in the meantime i have a lot to do to get things arranged! we will be back in feb/mar ready for me to go bak to work in mar/april.
Jacob is doing well - though he is quite far behind lots of your bubbas in the physical things. he still isnt rolling... he goes onto his side but that's it! we have noticed his arms are quite stiff so we are referred to a physio who may help with that. the nurse said not to worry unless he isnt rlling at 6 months and he is super alert/babbles heaps etc so i am not too worried! we started solids this morning - a little bellamys and some pear - he had about 1 tsp...
the nurse thinks i should up his calorie intake during the day so i am ofering more feeds and she also wants me to move to 2 solids a day soonish - this is bc he is waking veery 90 mins to 2 hrs and feeding thru the night - this is KILLING me! i hope this helps - he is apretty good self settler so i dont get why he is so bad at night.
so that's us in a nutshell!
SS - yay for the house - how long is one trip down there? i think 1 a day is sufficient! would it work to just send DF - he woudl get more room for stuff and Hayley wouldnt get so tired. they are getting heavy now arent they - my little man is about 7.3kg! are things ok with DF now?
Miss E - the shag rug shuffle sounds gorgeous! J is also moving aroudn alot when he is on the floor... and in his cot!
Liviam - nice to see you in here.

[jetta2022]

Mamapan - good to see you back! I am amazed at how far some babies are along as well! Sam is only just rolling from back to side and onto tummy, a few weeks ago was doing tummy to back but doesn't do that now. Hope the solids mean that you start getting more sleep during the night.

Miss E - sounds like things are improving which is great. Sam is a bit the same with naps and can be really hard to settle if I miss the window but sounds like Ash is really coming along - that is amazing that he is looking at getting up on all fours. I know what you mean with the traction. I have a sheeps skin on the floor under his play gym and if he has no pants on it gives him fairly good grip but we are just starting rolling now!! I am giving Sam some practice at sitting up too but he does fall. HOpe Ash is enjoying the jumperoo! Sam is learning that there are things around him so is trying to turn around. We call it his master tower, as it looks like he could press buttons to end the world!!

SS Storm- so know what you are going through, as only did a month ago myself! It will be great once its over, just make sure you don't overdo it and look after yourself!

lovelycate - glad sleep went well, lets hope it keeps up!!

Jasp - hope you feel better, I cant' believe how far ahead Arlea is!! That is amazing! Baby proofing is going to be a lot of work!

Heva5 - hope you are okay. I agree that what happens in the parents room stays in the parent room. Glad you got it all out too. Hope things start getting better soon.

Naomi54 - hope everything works out with the job, I can't imagine how stressful that is. I often feel like I don't know what Sam wants and it always makes me feel like I am a bad mother. Who at 4 months doesn't know what their child wants. But sometimes it is hard. I have spoken to many mothers who say you never work out what they want all the time. Some of their cries do sound similar. You aren't alone!

Welcome Liviam! I look forward to hearing about you and your bub!

Okay, long post as so many people had written!! I cant' believe how far along some bubs are! Sam is just rolling more now from back to side and then onto front and weeks ago was rolling from stomach to back but hasn't done that for ages. He is laughing and loves pressing buttons and pushing things which is great watching him. My husband worked from home today so we had a great day watching him playing and listening to all his noises! Anyway, am wondering if Sam can cut back to 5 feeds. He has a 4pm and then 6pm feed which are close together as the 4pm feed is more of a top up from around 1pm. I guess I have to try and if he wakes up in the night then I guess he hasn't had enough. Amazing that around this time last year I found out I was pregnant! Can't believe that it has been a year!!

[Calluna]

SS - I'm totally grateful that he did a big clean up. He does most of the cleaning and leaves pretty much all the baby stuff to me. If someone else in the house did something to help with the h/w that'd be great but if Jesse or I don't do it nothing gets done. For example the carpets hadn't been vacuumed for a few months because neither of us had time to do it. It's just wrong. Theres 5 adults living in this house and were the only ones who do any housework Granted the others go to work but still we are busy and get tired too
it just annoyed me that he refused to wait until Isaac was awake. It's not like we were going anywhere or had anything we needed to do.
I agree it would be alot harder if she was crawling. We're going to have to move early in the year, not looking forward to that. Moving house is stressful enough without having a baby rolling around the place.
Can't wait to see the pics, the house sounds lovely.

Jasp - As long as she's happy and looks healthy then no need to worry IMO. OMG! I can't believe she's getting up on all fours already.

Cate - I definately find the arvo sleeps harder. Actually everything about the afternon is harder. I dunno if that's cause I'm more tired or if Isaac's harder to settle.

MammaPan - Isaac seems way behind the others too. He's only just managing to roll on to his side and gets stuck because his arm is in the way. He still doesn't tollerate tummy time for too long either. I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever get there. lol.

Jetta - Has it been that long?! I can't believe it either. I was just saying to someone the other day, it feels like only yesterday that I had Isaac, but it feels like he's been here forever.

AFM - I'm getting a little worried that Isaac seems to be falling further and further behind your little ones. He has stopped saying speech sounds like he was a couple of months ago, now he just makes noises, IYKWIM? It seems like a backwards step.
He still doesn't tolerate tummy time very well and gets really tired and cranky after just a few mins.
It's probably fine but it just doesn't seem like he's getting anywhere. :S I'll have a talk to the doctor about it at his 6 month check up. He'll probably just say it's normal like every other concern I raise with him but still.

I'm getting really sick of the IL's not respecting my rights as a parent. I told FIL I did't want Isaac put in the bean bag and he did it anyway when I wasn't there. It's no so much that specific thing that is angering me. More the fact that both MIL and FIL are quite happy to totally ignore anything I say and do what they want anyway. FFS I'm his mother, if I say don't do something then DONT DO IT! It's not that hard to comprehend. It's not like he needed to be in the bean bag.
They had thier turn to be parents, now P off and let me do my job. If I can't trust them to respect my wishes when I'm in the house, then how can I ever trust them alone with him? I bet when it comes to them wanting to babysit him I'll be the unreasonable one not trusting them to look after him.

I hate feeling like a prisoner in my own house. I can't wait until we have a space of our own. MIL is talking about the next house having a granny flat or seperate area for us. I really want our own kitchen (The communal one is just disgusting all the time, food gets left out no-one cleans up after themself, flies and roaches everywhere, etc. How am I supposed to prepare food for Isaac in that environment?), bathroom (even though we have our own everyone uses it anyway because it's the only downstairs bathroom), living room (because I can't just put Isaac on the floor and expect him to stay there more than a minute someone always has to come pick him up or play with him. I want him to learn to play on his own a bit too otherwise he'll always need entertaining and nothing will ever get done) and two bedrooms. At the moment I feel like If I want things to go my way I have to pretty much lock myself and Isaac in the bedroom. Although even that wouldn't stop MIL. She's quite happy just walk into our bedroom and talk to or play with Isaac when I'm trying to get him to go to sleep. Helpful.
Doubt we will get our own space, she said the same thing last time we were house hunting, but I can dream, right?
I know I should be grateful, we pay the least rent and all the amenities are provided for us, but I can help but feel trapped and DF doesn't know any different so he doesn't really care.
sigh another whingy post. sorry. until next time xoIt's not unreasonable to aske for some respect as a parent ad a person is it...?

[ss_storm]

Heather, just quickly- I read somewhere the other day that some baby's do go a bit quiet around the 5-7 month mark, maybe he is just having a quiet time and not actually regressing? He'll probably start chatting away like mad again soon! I notice Hayley has some quiet moments too, some days she won't "talk" much at all and others she'll hardly shut up (especially when she gets on her raspberry blowing or gurgling streaks!). I'm so sorry your PIL are such a pain in the bum! Maybe that's why he isn't rollling yet (not that it means there is anything wrong with him, he might be a more 'emotional' person rather than 'physical' iykwim), as he never really gets a chance to wriggle on the floor as your MIL is always picking him up? I hope you find somewhere to move to, as hard as the move might be with a baby it will definitely be worth it!

[Miss E]

Mama Pan it's good to hear from you and exciting that you will be moving to Melbourne. I'd love to catch up with all you Melbourne ladies IRL.

Jetta it's so funny to look back and think that a year ago we were in early pregnancy, at the time things seemed to take for ages, but now when I look back it all seems to have gone really quickly. I can't believe that Ash will be 5 months on Sunday!

for you Heva. It sounds like things are really difficult for you at the moment. I hope I'm not overstepping the mark, but by the sounds of things it really isn't a very good environment for Isaac or you to be in. Is there anyway you can talk to your DF and see about getting a place of your own? I wouldn't worry too much about Isaac's development, by the sounds of things he is very healthy happy little boy. Ash also has days where he isn't vocal at all and rarely makes those agoo type noises, now when he does talk it is just making noise. I think it is all about them experimenting and learning how to use their voice.

AFM I woke up at 3am this morning with a horrible tummy upset. I spent about 45 minutes in the bathroom, then went back to bed. About 15 minutes after I finally got back to sleep Ash woke up. I'm feeling a lot better today, but still a little queasy. Just hoping it's something I ate (probably the smoked salmon bagel I had yesterday) rather than a bug, I would hate for Ash to get sick.