Babies born~December 1st-15th 2009 #1

[BrusselsSprout]

Hi BS. I will definitely give that style of burping a go. I think it is gas some of the time. Because she does that squirming thing. Just want to make sure I understand what you meant. So, do you put them belly down on your forearm first and lower them down to horizontal and then turn them on to their side and do the same thing? And I'm starting to think we might have to try a dummy. I was trying to avoid any type of aids that I might have to go and replace intermittently but tonight she was obviously wanting to suck something. I thought she was hungry because she kept trying to nose dive for my boob. But she'd get upset when I tried to feed her. So I realised she was looking for something to suck. Well I'd better try and get some sleep. 4.30 in the morning and just put her back to bed.

NoTilda, you have to hold her facing you, basically leaning on your forearm, sort of a seated position...then you lay her back (unbend your arm), then bring her back to seated position, then tip her down to your right side still facing you - her position on your arm does not change...We have been doing back then side side side...or back back then side side side...It works wonders! Let me knwo if that is clear

Go for the dummy - Matilda sounds just like Eva! The only way I could get her off my boob was with a dummy - the osteo and pediatrician both told me that some babies REALLY need the sucking and if they feed too much it just makes the gas worse. Plus it is such a pleasure for them, you'll see. I think she will settle down a lot more if you get her using a dummy. Then eventually if you don't want it you can try to use it only for sleep and then wean her off of it, but you will not know how you lived without it once you get her using one. I was against using one too but now I don't care. I would have never gotten the space in between feedings or get her to self settle without one!

Good luck. If it helps they said to get one that looks like a nipple. just the simple ones you get at the chemists are the best.

[BrusselsSprout]

Wow Lani! 8 hours! What a champ!

Suz! I missed you Eva has been self settling just great actually but only on her belly, then I sneak in while she is sleeping soundly and roll her over Funny how DHs get paranoid too - I forget it isn't just us!

Alison, one of my other options for a pram was the phil and teds since we want a second pretty soon but they are so hard to come by in europe! I will prob get one once I have a second or just get a light foldable pram for toddler...I'll have to figure out how to get around with two when I get to that So cute DH going for more in his head already! That is so sweet though! I also never know what day it is!

AFM - tonight is Eva's first night in her room! I was so worried to put her in there and she has been sleeping since 8 pm and not a whisper - it is midnight now and I am still sort of waiting for her to wake, but nothing! I heard that they wake less when they are not in the same room since they don't smell the mom for food...I wonder if that's true!? I'm sure I'll have one or two feeds tonight though since she usually has three, but man, this is great!

Also I am not sure what that osteopath did but I love him. Since the day after her appt with him she has been pooing once a day (TMI, but we had a problem with that then she would get gas since it would just be too many days worth of poo built up)...she has been giving me two 3-4 hour naps a day! and not crying to go to bed except once...but nothing compared to her old episodes! He told us he adjusted her neck for digestion or something, but whatever he did, I love him. Let's see if this lasts though!.

I also cut out all lactose, acidic food and spicy food and have been drinking 3 fennel teas a day so that might be helping too - whatever it is - I hope it stays!

Big kisses to everyone! Trainer tomorrow - my butt hurts already

xoxo

[sesameseedmum]

Hi girls!!!! I've finally made it back. No point trying to catch up, so I'll just jump right in.

Tilda - I totally agree with BS, go the dummy. I vowed I wouldn't use one either, but sometimes it's all Liam wants. I try to feed him and he gets upset, and sinks into a deeply relaxed state when I give him the dummy. I'm sold.

BS - Good luck with the trainer. I'm still trying to get my butt back into pre-pregnancy gear. I started teaching yoga again last week, just the one class each week for a bit of pocket money. Tomorrow I'm off to a mums and bubs class the hospital runs, I hope I get a good workout!

Hi Alison, Suz, Lani, Willow, Carmey and everyone else!!!

AFM - Liam has his first cold. I got sick last Saturday, then he went down on Tuesday. He's snorting and snuffling and occasionally scares himself with his blocked nose, poor little guy. On the other hand, he sometimes sneezes and then smiles, like he thinks a sneeze is the funniest thing ever. Too cute.
We're off for our immunisations on Friday, I'm trying not to be nervous. Even though I know that it's riskier for him not to have them, I'm scared that he might have a reaction. I keep telling myself that millions of babies have them every day without any ill effects, but I'm still just a little anxious.

Miss you all lots! Big hugs!

[Carmey]

Hi girls,

OMG, it feels like it's been so long.

I'm like sesameseed and will just dive right back in!

How is everyone? I really miss you all!

Just one persie, sorry!

Alison - how on earth are you getting Amelia to sleep through? I am insanely jealous!!

ATM - I am beyond exhausted. Jack is back to feeding every two hours. How can that happen? We were doing so beautifully, where he would go for five hours then four hours each night but now it's just horrible. It has been five days now. Someone suggested it could be the 8 week growth spurt. My mum also said that perhaps my milk supply was going down (I've lost weight) and with his growing it was making him want to feed more often. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

xx

[*suz1*]

Hi Girls,

Carmey - OMG, that would be tough going back to 2 hourly feeds! I'd put my money on the 8 week growth spurt. I've got my for you that this will pass after a couple of days.

Sesame - You poor things I had a cold when I went into labour with Craig and gave it to him when he was born. My first week after a c-section was spent trying not to cough because it hurt my stitches. Craig is still known as 'Snorky' because of the snuffly noises he made. The snot sucker thingy (aspirator?) and saline drops is the thing for clearing their little noses. Hope you both feel better soon and good luck with the immunisations on Friday. Trust me, it's worse for the Mum than it is for the Bub.

BS - My DH used to freak out and flip Craig over everytime he was on his tummy. For ages Craig would roll over then cry to be flipped back. I asked the Community Nurse and she said to stop turning him because once they can roll, their necks are strong enough to turn their heads and they won't suffocate. Not sure if you can leave them on their tummies when they have reflux and I can't remember how old Craig was when he was doing this. Sounds like the Osteopath did the trick for Eva, they sure fixed Craig's neck (he could only turn his head to one side).

Alison - It's 3kg to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I actually need to lose more like 6-7, maybe 10 to get back to a healthy BMI. Before Craig was born I had two miscarriages and put on more than 5kg with each one. After having Craig I managed to lose all my baby weight, plus another 5kg before falling pregnant with Ryan. The older I get the harder it seems to be to lose weight, so I guess I want to get on top of it as soon as I can. There could be another baby in the near future for us so I want to be as fit and healthy as I can be before falling pregnant again. How cute that your DH was talking to Amelia about a brother or sister I'm going to talk to my GP tomorrow about contraception and any risks with another pregnancy.

AFM - Managed to do 3 days of Wii Fit. I can get 30 minutes in while the boys are both having an afternoon nap. We were away for so long I missed Ryan's immunisations and now I'm struggling to get an appointment for him. Hopefully we can get him in this week. Craig's first immunisation was horrible, he cried out in pain from the needle and I cried because I felt like it was me hurting him. I'm not looking forward to Ryan's needles Tomorrow is my 6 week checkup with my GP (3 weeks late!) and I expect a Pap Smear. I want to ask her about contraception and planning another baby before I'm 40 (can't believe I just wrote that, eeeek!).

Hope everyone is getting sleep and lots of smiles and cuddles from their little ones.

[Alison1973]

Hi Carmey - are you demand feeding? I've never done that so Amelia's been in a routine since day 1, doesn't work for some but has for us so far. Other than that don't forget she has formula feeds to fill her up which definitely helps!!!!

Hi Everyone else - sorry for selfish post, about to eat dinner.....will get back on later for persies.

I'm in shock girls, I saw the OB today, turns out the infection I had was a rare staph infection that got into my amniotic fluid and passed through to the placenta while in labour, it's so rare and so serious that they can't believe Amelia survived. He said if he hadn't done the c-section when he did the results could have been very very different. I can't believe Amelia could've died, it's a very strange feeling and every time I look at her I feel like crying now. Poor little thing. He did say that even though I would have to be extremely unlucky to have that happen again he would suggest going a c-section again next time, although if I want to try and go vaginal I can but I will be considered high risk so probably better to be safe than sorry. He also said he's happy for me to start trying again when Amelia is 8 months old, I was like, cough cough, I think we'll wait a tad longer thanks ha ha! DH wants to start trying when Amelia turns 1!!!!

All this has made me feel so much better about having the c-section and I look at Amelia now and love her even more which I didn't think was possible. I love my OB! He was so sweet, he was cuddling her and telling her how cute she was, he held her the whole time of my appointment - even when I was on the table and he was checking my tummy he was holding her with one hand and feeling my tummy with the other! He even got excited that I still have the line running down my belly, god knows why! I asked if he did lyposuction, he thought I was joking!

[BrusselsSprout]

Hey sesame! Welcome back!!!!!!!!!!! Liam is such a cutie! I was so happy to finally see some new pics up - he looks just like you!!!! I hope we hear more from you these days although we are all posting a LOT less - Dop't worry to much for the vaccines, he will cry but it will be over fast - I wanted to cry when Eva got hers so I let DH handle her while I sat in a corner and didn't look...she fell back asleep right after so I think she just cried from the quick pain...then it was over... just make sure he isn't hungry!

Carmey, sounds like a growth spurt to me. Be careful not to lose weight too fast - you can lose but if you drop too fast then the milk can go down, maybe try a pump to see what you get out of a boob? That might be a good indicator and if the supply is not down then I would assume it is a growth spurt so just wait it out - the two month growth is a whopper - I am sure it isn't a supply problem since you had so much...it must be a growth spurt...

Suz, good for you getting on the WiiFit You are lucky to have so little to lose and I am sure you'll get it off in no time!

Alison, my god, goes to show you that everything happens for a reason - Thank god you had that C section. And no matter how much we complain about the biorth, weight gain, sleepless nights...stories like that remind us how we would not change a thing and it is worth it for out babies

To everyone else - Eva slept in her room alone last night! It was a great success! She went down at 8 after her bath, woke up at 12:30 for a feed but then was giggling in her bed for a while so I got to bed at 2AM, then up at 4:50 then up at 6:50, then up at 9:30 so I did a bit of getting out of bed, but she had no problem transitioning! I am so happy!!! I know there will be a few more nights of waking up a lot but I am making sure to feed her a lot in order to start spacing out her feeds and she loves her room so all is well. I was worried about the day I would have to move her out of our room - but I think it is harder for me since I wake up constantly to peek in on her!

I read that at around four months babies have no metabolic need for night feedings, so I hope she gets through her nights by around 4-5 months, even if a night means 12- 6am I would love a block of sleep!

Also, added some photos of the nursery on facebook - I have to add a few more once I get the light fixture, but the basic ones are up!

I'm off to shower while Eva sleeps in her room, where she fell asleep all alone!

hugs and kisses to mums and bubs and glad to see some of our girls that were gone for a bit are back in action!

[Carmey]

Morning girls,

I'm so excited - Jack slept for 4 hours then 3 last night! Wooohooo! Makes such a difference. I really don't know why he was doing it. Alison, to answer your question, I've always had Jack in a routine (as much as you can for a newborn) from about three weeks. It was going beautifully until just recently. Hopefully he's over it though. And BS, I expressed last night to see how much I had, and I got 100ml out of one boob, so it seems I was down a bit. I would usually fill the bottle and have more after that. But, it was also late at night and I was tired. Apparently resting can help increase your supply. Who knows?!

Suz - Good work on the Wii. All you need is 30 minutes each day and you feel so much better. Go girl!

BS - Good girl, Eva! That's great she slept well in her room. Will jump on FB in a sec to see the new pics.

Alison - Thank god for your OB. That's pretty full on. And good you have a great relationship with him for next time round. Did you get 8 hours last night??

Sesameseed - I understand your worry over the immunisation. I was worried, too. But Jack was such a good boy and settled very easily afterwards. They tend to sleep straight away and then Jack was grizzly for about 10 hours. We gave him baby Pandadol after the nurses' instruction. It seemed to help. Good luck and hope that nasty cold goes!

ATM - Feeling great after some decent sleep last night. I'm going to try and get the little man weighed today as I'm dying to see how much he's put on. I know he is bigger just by picking him up. I think he has to be close to 7kg now.

I'm feeling better about my weight. DH and I have been on a bit of a health kick, where we've cut out the junk we were eating every day. We'd eat ice-cream and chocolate like it was going out of fashion. Plus, DH has stopped training since Jack was born (he's into triathlons and was training 23 hours a week) and he's also porked it on. It's easier when you can both do it. Plus, I'm now doing some sort of exercise for an hour every day, no matter what. I run about four times a week and can now run (slowly) for 7km. Getting there! And, I've lost 2kg over two weeks. Just 6kg to go!

Other than that things are good. Jack is a very happy boy and rarely cries these days. We reckon if you added up his crying it would be 5 mins a day, tops. So very pleased about that!

Hope you're all well! xx

[Alison1973]

Hi Carmey - yay for Jack! He's probably just going through a developmental stage, apparently that happens at 8 weeks! Amelia woke at 4.30 am so only did 6.5 hours last night after 3 in a row of 8 hours, grrr. I think my dog woke her up barking, was very annoyed. She fed and not as much as usual hence why I think she woke up because of the dog and went back to sleep after half an hour for another 2.5 hours. Well done on the health kick, DH and I need to do the same, he's put on weight too so we're both going to get stuck into the exercise and stop eating crap as well! I've got 7 kgs to kick.

Hi BS - thanks for your kind words, I'm going to go have a squiz at your FB pics of the nursery, bet it looks fab!

[sesameseedmum]

BS - Your burping technique is great! I just sway Liam from side to side and he brings up the biggest burps! It doesn't really seem to help him feed for longer though, he still only feeds for about 10 mins, then starts to fidget and pull on my nipples, not fun. He seems happy enough though, and to be honest I get bored quickly, so I'm happy to feed him every couple of hours for a few minutes. At night we get about 6 hrs straight, so all's well.
I love the photos of Eva on facebook! She's so Eurochic.

Carmey - You're my hero! Running 7kms, you're fantastic! The weight will drop off before you know it. We've been eating way too much too, I'm determined to get back into a routine, maybe even go back to Weight Watchers to get myself back on track.
That's so great about Jack's crying. The community health nurse gave me a flyer the other day that says it's normal for an 8 week old to cry for up to 1 3/4 hours a day.
Liam would come in at around 20 mins max I reckon.

AFM - We just got home from the Mother and Baby fitness class at the hospital. It was great! One of the mums from my antenatal class was there, so it was nice to see a familiar face. The class was fantastic, just the right level of workout for me. They have two classes a week, and we can go for free until Liam is 6 months! The only catch is that it's about a 20 minute drive from home, and the parking is dicey. There's street parking which is 2 hours for free, if you can find one, otherwise you have to pay for the secure parking, which is about $20 for two hours. I'm thinking about catching the bus, it's a ten minute walk from my house and the bus drops us at the door of the hospital. We'll see how we go.

[BrusselsSprout]

Carmey, funny about DH putting on weight! Mine is too and is not happy about it But since our last guests left I cleaned out the fridge completely...So no more dairy, sugar, flour, white bread etc...webasically avoid all white! My issue right now is that I can't have acidic fruits and veggies, so I jeep trying new salad recipes and that seems to be all we're eating at the moment...I miss tomatoes and Oranges But once Eva's reflux settles, I'll introduce them back in slowly...Good for you on the 7K! Youll be back to yourself in no time. Eva is starting to settle for longer naps now so I might start running (in the snow - It is my favorite way to run anyway - I hate running in the heat!).

As for supply - I find that when I sleep more I have more. When I do get in a RARE nap I wake up in the afternoon completely engorged! So I am sure there is something to that, and usually we have less milk at night - maybe to get us ready for when they sleep through!

I am glad to hear Jack is settling a bit - I am sure it was a growth spurt. PS do you know I read that a breastfeeding woman needs 2700 calories a day! That is huge! That's why I'm so hungry all the time...and I sometimes crave sweet stuff which is so not my thing...! So blame the ice cream on that, and for DH, I guess he can call it sympathy eating

Sesame, aren't the burps that come out of them huge!? I could not believe Eva had the capability of burping with so much force! lol. It is funny because she is a cute little girl then all of a sudden Brrrraaaahhhhhh! lol. As for the nipple pulling thing, Eva does that when she is out of milk on one side - do you feed him both sides? I was told to try to give her both since at this age they should be eating more with more space between meals...so try giving him the secodn boob if he has not had it. He might be ready to up his portions The nurse told me that to have little meals all day is not so good for their digestion since they are constantly working instead of having full/hungry messages clearly in their belly. I don' t know how tru ethat is, I am feeding more for the breaks in between feedings!

Alison, I saw a pic of you and Amelia with your friend and her baby! She has grown so much! She is starting to really resemble a little person, not just a baby! What a cutie!

As for everyone else, HELLO!

Eva slept in her room again last night! woohoo! Had a sort of dodgy wake up at 230 - she ate then got me out of bed two more times for her pacifier, and then up at 6:30, so getting better...She went down at 6pm then up for a bath at 9 then back to bed at 10...so I might have to try to put her down a bit later since it makes less waking at night possible.

Today I have workers in the house finishing up last minute stuff so I reckon she won't get much sleep with the noise (although she seems to be sleeping through it now - guess she remembers the noise from in utero since I spent the whole end of my pregnancy with the house under construction!).

xoxo

[Tilda]

hi BS just a quick one because I have matilda asleep on me. Wanted to let you know the burping worked magnificently! No hysterical crying today from awful pain. Thank you!!!!!

[BrusselsSprout]

YAY! I am so happy! Sounds like we have the same baby Great, keep me posted! You should consider seeing and osteopath too then - Since we went with Eva she has been a dream - seriously napping all day and sleeping well at night and no crying...I hope this keeps up for you Tilda!

[*suz1*]

Hi Girls,

Finally I have some time to myself today. Craig didn't sleep and Ryan was cluster feeding this afternoon so there was no Wii Fit time. I'm so tired I think I'll post this and go to bed. At least it's not hot tonight.

Tilda - I love how our little group can teach us something new. That's awesome that BS's burping tip worked for you

BS - Your nursery is gorgeous and very stylish. Eva's a lucky girl! The burps, farts and poo noises that come out of Ryan are unbelievable for such a small person! It must be even funnier with a girl, for some reason we expect baby girls to be delicate little flowers. Are you using a baby monitor with Eva in her room? I've had Ryan (and Craig too) in his own room from Day 1 and never used one.

Sesame - Now that BS mentioned it I realised that Ryan does the nipple pulling thing too. That's usually when I burp him and offer the other boob. Ryan's feeds have come down from over 40 minutes to 10, so I don't think your feeds are too short. I did a Mum & Bub class with Craig that was free at our hospital and it was great (but you could only go until bub started crawling). That parking situation sounds awful, I hope you can make the bus work.

Carmey - My DH has also put on the sympathy weight. He needs to lose 20 or 30kg! We're both fairly sporty people, so I have no doubt that he can lose it. That's great that Jack's back to sleeping again.

Alison - Geez girl, that's bad news, but good in a way because it justifies the c-section. Are you OK? That would have been awful to hear. I hope you don't mind me asking, did your OB say that you're at risk of having the same infection again? Did he say why it would be too risky for you to have a VBAC?

AFM - I took Ryan to our local Maternal and Child Health clinic today. He's 62cm, weighed 6.375kg and his head was 39cm. The little guy's weight has gone from the 75th percentile, to the 50th and now up to the 90th! He was losing weight before I started using the nipple shield, but seems to be fine now that I've stopped using it. I missed his 8 week immunisation because we were on holiday and didn't know when we were coming back. I couldn't get an immunisation appointment with either my GP's surgery or the Maternal and Child Health nurses, but when I told the clinic nurse today she squeezed me in on Friday at one of the other clinics. Phew! Only 2 weeks late My postnatal checkup went well and it was pretty funny that my GP raised the contraception issue first. She's given me a prescription for the mini-pill. DH isn't sure that I need it because my period didn't return for over 9 months with Craig (but we didn't care if I fell pregnant straight away). With 2 kids already I don't want to fall pregnant too soon, so I think I'll fill the prescription. Any one else on the mini-pill?

Hi to everyone else!

[Alison1973]

Hi Girls - thanks for all your lovely comments about my news from the OB, was a massive shock!

Hi Suz - thanks mate, yes, does justify the c-section! He said I would have to be very unlucky for it to happen again as it was rare to have happened in the first place, but because it DID happen it puts me in a high risk category for my next labour so would be watched like a hawk. He said if everything was going ok he would allow me to try for VBAC if I wanted but his professional opinion would be to do a c-section just in case. I mean, at the end of the day, I think I'd be worried and the fact that he said it was so serious and that she really could have died and even the pathologist couldn't believe it as he'd never seen a baby survive it before has got me thinking maybe I shouldn't risk it. But I will wait and see how I go when I'm in that situation again. Pretty full on information to take in. As for the mini pill, my OB gave it to me too but I've decided not to bother, because I half BF half FF I'm not sure it will work properly and I sometimes miss a BF if I haven't got enough so I think that lowers the coverage of the mini pill, it's only safe if you take it at exactly the same time etc - too risky for me. I'll wait and see how long I can BF for.....besides, we are really thinking of trying again when Amelia is 12 months so I think we can grin and bear the condoms until then.....of course I could change my mind before then and go back on the pill!!!! Oh and talking of periods, I got mine today...is that because I'm not breastfeeding properly as in exclusively????? How does that work?

Hi Carmey - my DH has put on weight too, how funny!!!! At least we have an excuse! My OB gave me the red light to start the ab exercises so I'm on a mission to tone up the flabby guts and thunder thighs!

Hi BS - yay for Eva sleeping in her cot again, Amelia managed 6.5 hours in hers last night and 1 hour in it this morning - was out the rest of the day!

Hi Sesame - your fitness class sounds fantastic, I should look into that given the swimming one is a bit off and on - you can't get in every week which sux!

Well everyone I went to look for another pram today, I really like the Steelcraft Strider Plus as it takes a toddler seat, I prefer thee Steelcraft Strider 4 but it doesn't take a toddler seat - I prefer it as it's a little smaller and over $200 cheaper......just don't know what I'd do if I have another bub in 18 months/2 years without a toddler seat. Any suggestions, should I get one that you can or does it not really matter? DH likes the 3 wheeler Phil & Teds that has a toddler seat at the back but it's only forward facing, you can't have it facing you as well and I want that right now.

Gosh how hard is it!

[Tilda]

Good morning girls. I'm hoping to get a post in while Matilda has her (hopefully) long morning sleep.

BS - thanks again for the great burping tip! Matilda actually even enjoys it. She thinks its a great game being swished around. And I found it also helped if I bounced gently on a fit ball when she was up on my shoulder. We avoided the really awful crying episodes and she was actually happy most of the afternoon! She still got a bit tired and grumpy towards 7pm but that was lack of sleep, not pain. The pics of the nursery are great! It's great how well Eva has transitioned to her own room.

Alison - It must have been a terrible feeling to learn how bad the infection had been. It doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened. Did your OB tell you how you could have got the infection? Did it have anything to do with the stretch and sweep. I remember you felt pretty terrible after it. About prams - maybe you should go the full hog and get the Phil and Ted one. And don't beat yourself up about wanting a different pram. A friend of mine has just gone through 9 prams!

Suz- You're doing so well to cope with a newborn and toddler. My doctor said he'd prefer it if I didn't go on the mini pill if possible. So we're just going to use those very sexy latex things. He said that while I'm stil doing night feeds breastfeeding gives you the same protection as the pill but I'm not sure if I want to test that or not.

Sesame - I'm glad BS's burping trick is working for you too. Matilda only does pretty short feeds on a 2 hourly routine during the afternoons. I'd prefer it if she'd go longer because I think she'd sleep better in the afternoons but its hard to get her feed any more than 20 minutes on one side.

Carmey - I'm so impressed you're running that much already. I'm challenged to do a walk with the pram at the moment. And it sounds like the weight is dropping off you.

Hi Kanda, Hannah.....oh no I hear Matilda. Arrgh, was really hoping for a morning off. Oh well. See you later hopefully!

[*suz1*]

Hi Girls,

After cluster feeding yesterday afternoon and evening, Ryan fed last at 7:30 and fell asleep by 8. I stayed up until midnight because I thought he'd wake around 10ish for another feed but he didn't. When I went to bed I thought he might wake around 1, but he didn't wake for a feed until 5! That's 9 hours! Craig dropped a feed early on but I thought he was 4 months old when he stretched his night sleeps out to 9 hours. Ryan seems a bit young so I don't think I'll get a repeat 9 hours tonight.

Alison - Pretty scary stuff, but as you said you can cross that bridge when you come to it. I didn't get my go ahead for a VBAC until I was 34 weeks pregnant with Ryan, there's a few things to rule out first (baby's position, placenta position etc) even with a low risk VBAC. With the mini-pill I have friends who fully FF and their GPs pushed them to go on the mini-pill straight away, so it should work for you so long as you take it at the same time each day. There is a good chance that you can't fall pregnant in the first 6 months if you exclusively BF around the clock, but even my GP warned me not to rely on that (and I have at least one mate who fell pregnant when BFing). It works because BF produces prolactin which inhibits the hormones which make you ovulate. If you BF at least 85% of your feeds, have not had your period and your bub is less than 6 months old then you are unlikely to fall pregnant (but if you have ovulated you wouldn't know until you'd had your period). With the periods, everyone in my Mother's Group was different. All the FF girls I know got their's back straight away and I think I was one of the last at 9 months. So maybe the comp feeds have brought your's back early? But I'm sure I can think of at least one exclusive BFer in my Mum's Group that also got hers back at 2 or 3 months. With the prams, I got mine not knowing how long the gap between babies would be for us, so I didn't even look into toddler options for it. All I can get is a skateboard attachment or side car buggy. I did want the Phil and Ted's, but there's nothing wrong with my Swallow Beema so I'm going to trial the skateboard thingy first. Not sure which pram you should choose, but like Tilda I know several people with 3 or more prams. Maybe get the best one for you now. You can always sell it if you end up needing a tandem pram.

Tilda - Yes, that's what my DH was thinking, that I should be right for at least the first 6 months withouth using anything. I think I was down to 2 BFs a day when my period finally came back last time, which was a bummer because we actually wanted to go again straight away. It then took me 6 months to fall pregnant, so DH thinks that we would be fine if we don't use anything but I just don't think you can guarantee the same again. Like you, I don't want to test it! I hope Matilda gives you a break today

Ryan fell asleep in my arms while I typed, so I put him in the cot and went to the loo. When I checked on him, Craig had climbed in too! I'm going to post a pic of them on FB.

[Mummy-Lani]

Hi girls,

Just a quick one to say hi.

Alison how scary for you. Don't stress about wanting to get another pram that is quiet commn not to like what u first buy. My sister went through 4 or 5 prams. Hence why I researched heaps on prams.

BS glad Eva is adjusting to her room nicely. With they way her nursery looks why wouldn't she love it.

Tilda Glad to hear Matilda is better. I hope she goes back to sleep for you.

Sesame great to see u back. Poor Liam and being sick hope he is on the mend.

Hannah n Carmey hope u are both going well.

Well I am happy with how Jett has been the past week. It is like I have a different baby. The infacol has made a huge difference. We are having 4hrly feeds thru the day and 6-8hrly through the night. Let me tell you I feel wonderful as I am getting plenty of rest. I hope it continues :crossfingersellAell I am getting my hair done today hooray I have 7wks of regrowth not a great look. We are also going to speak with the church minister this afternoon to try and arrange jett's christening.

Hope everyone is well to you all and your beautiful little ones.