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

Happy heart day everyone! :loveshower:

Suz, poor DH - he must be humiliated! Well, you're nice for not giving him a hard time about it :)

Tilda, the hair loss was so sudden - I didn't lose a single hair since I got pregnant...and now boom! Funny, though I hear it usually does not drop until after we stop breastfeeding so I wonder if it is because I stopped the pill...Congrats on DTD - I had a hard time at first too, but practice helps...lol...DH and I have been getting back into the swing of things...and it feels better everytime, so it will get better :D

Beany, I need a cut too but holdin gout to go to my real stylist in NY...Can't wait! As for the hands thing, I am not sure how long she has been doing that in her bed but I seem to have just caught it. I sneak in to watch her when she sleeps to make sure all is well and happened to cath her awake, so pop in on Michael at the end of his naps to see if he is staring at his hands...Poor boy with the needles. I can't stand that - I have to go this week for round 2 and DH is required to come because I just sit in a corner and don't look :(

Hannah, Eva has not found her feet but they are always covered - it's winter here :( Don't feel guilty about leaving her with DH - I had that issue at first too but I figure, well we did the 9 months and the breastfeeding and our bodies are just more tired. They can handle it and it is just a phase. He'll be fine :)

Lani, glad to hear you were able to get a nice night out with DH - it is important to get back into our relationships even if it is not a lot :)

AFM, DH and I did not plan much for Vday - just a good dinner and champagne in the house, but DH surprised me with a huge bouquet of colorful roses which totally cheered me up. We spent the day in our loungewear hanging out around the house and we got our light fixtures so put the finishing touches on the apt...It was great - then Eva had a gas fit so a bit of a rough patch but once she was in bed we snuggled on the couch with a movie. All in all a great simple night in. I was really happy to get the time with him. I love him so much and with the baby it is somtimes hard to show that or to even have time to think about that so it was nice to focus on each other for a bit.

Eva has been having major gas the past few days...I can't figure out if it is a hindmilk issue again....since she eats and starts crying mid feed and does not finish (it has been like this for three days or so...which stresses me because I had the hindmilk issue and it is bad! I pumped just in case and will give her her night feed in a bottle so that the hindmilk is mixed in...I hope it is just a growth spurt since she has also been feeding every 2 hours :o during the day...She still spaces out her night feeds but no more of those 9 hour sleeps in a while...Well I am seeing the pediatrician this week anyway so if it does not calm down by then I'll ask him for advice...

Kisses to everyone!

Lani - Amelia won't take a dummy either. She took it a few times, but has gone back to spitting it out. Part of me is relieved as at least I won't have to wean her off of it later. On the other hand, she still wants to be rocked to sleep which is getting hard on my back.

BS - It may be a hindmilk issue if she isn't finishing her feeds. Have you tried holding her in the underarm hold while feeding her? I found this really helped Amelia when my milk first came in and would gush at the beginning of a feed. I was able to lean back to try to slow the flow a little, plus hold her more upright. It might help Eva as the mid=feed crying could be due to reflux. It sounds like you had a perfect Valentine's day. The time with DH could have been just what you needed right now.

AFM - Still doing the nightshift here. Our bedtime routine is going well though and Amelia sleeps really well from around 7-11pm for the last 4 nights (although last night she woke at 9:30). It makes such a difference having that time in the evening to myself...I can at least have a good meal and maybe I'll even start cooking again. But the night marathons are exhausting. She'll feed, then be smiling and chatting, then sleep for one cycle (40 mins) at most, then we feed again. It lasts until 7am. I shouldn't complain because she doesn't spend much of that time crying. I'm trying to talk to her during the day when she's awake and to ignore her at night, but its so hard when I'm so exhausted during the day....it's becoming a vicious cycle. I hoping its a growth spurt and she'll settle back down soon. I don't need her sleeping through the night, I just need her to sleep between feeds so that I can sleep.

I feel so bad about this morning though. About 5:30 I started feeling nauseous (have had an upset tummy today) and I needed to lie down. Amelia had just fed and was happy so I put her down in her bassinette to watch her butterflies. I remember listening to her cooing and squealing happily. Next thing I know she is screaming her little lungs out. It was almost 6:30! Of course I had fallen asleep. I have no idea how long she had been crying, but the poor thing was turning purple in her bassinette. I picked her up and tried to calm her. It took 15 minutes of cuddling, rocking and singing to calm her, she was so upset she wouldn't even take the breast. Eventually she fell asleep but I felt so awful. I took her back to bed with me, but was too scared to sleep for quite a while.

I've asked DH to see if he can get a couple of nights off of work. Then we can take shifts and I can hopefully, get some sleep between feeds. I want to feel able to go shopping with Mum tomorrow. Her doctor has given her something to increase her appetite and she has more energy now that she is eating. She wants to check out the Big W baby sale.

Hannah, I have tried putting her under the arm but it seems to be worse. She screams even louder as I think she has gas and that hurts her belly more...She has been calming down a bit today so I hope it gets better...this morning was awful though. She started crying at her 630am feed and would not settle down so I brought her into bed with me since DH was up and getting ready for work. He walked around with her as much as he could before he had to leave and then she fell asleep on my belly around 8, then was up at 9, then up at 1015...The 1230 (which is when I got up officially)...and after that sort of calmed down. She had a poo around 2pm this afternoon so I hope that the gas is starting to pass...I am curious Hannah, does Amelia have a problem pooing? I wonder if the reflux affects that? Her last poo before this was Friday and I had to give her a suppository because ithad been 8 days :o...But then after the suppository poo she had 2 more that night by herself. and today she had one by herself again...Is anyone else having not enough poo?

I was thinking about you all day after reading this post and I wanted to ask...Have you tried putting her in her room. I had the same problems with Eva either being too noisy or waking up to feed non stop (every two hours when she was in our room) and on her second day in her bedroom she spaced her feeds to four hours...I remember reading somewhere that when the baby is close to their mother they wake more often since the smell reminds them to get up and eat...I am not sure if you are ready to put her in her room, but have you tried? Maybe just for naps? I find that Eva sleeps much longer and wakes up and entertains herself in her room since it does not smell like us...and once she is in our bed she wakes up demanding feeds more often (even in the mornings I can see the difference - the mornings when she sleeps through in her own bed she wakes up later and the difficult mornings when she gets into my bed since I'm too tired to walk the halls, she sleeps an hour max between feedings)...

Kanda, I'm thinking of you and hope you're doing ok.

Eva's crying! Off to feed and bathe!

xoxo

Hi Girls,

Hannah & Brussels - I'm so glad we have each other on this forum! Your advice for each other is spot on. I hope both of you get a break soon.

Brussels - No experience here with infrequent pooing. Ryan is the master of the poo explosion and poos most feeds even if it's just a little bit. But he does get irritable right before a big poo. I really need a haircut, but haven't worked out how to do it with the 2 boys. I might have to make an appointment for an evening so DH can mind Craig and I'll take Ryan with me.

Hannah - Don't feel bad about Amelia crying, I'm sure she wasn't crying for long. It's heartbreaking when they get that upset, but there was no real damage done (it's not like you let that happen all the time). :crossfingers: Hope DH can take the time off so that you can get enough sleep to help break the pattern that Amelia has gotten in to. I'm hoping to get to the Big W sale too today.

Lani - Don't worry if Jett won't take a dummy. He must like being settled in other ways and he'll learn to self-settle without a dummy. I haven't used dummies with either of the boys. I had problems BFing Craig, so I was too nervous to try a dummy in case it caused breast refusal. He refused all bottles so instead of weaning from breast feeds to formula in a bottle, I had to replace most feeds with solids (and water in a sippy cup) and the night feed with cow's milk in a sippy cup. I've already tried Ryan once with a bottle of EBM and he went well, but am still not keen to do dummies even though we're doing well with BF. I guess it's because I've survived once without them.

Beany - Glad to hear Michael has settled down after his shots. One of the injections really stings. Ryan was the same. I don't know who it's harder on, them or us!

AFM - Ryan was pulling off crying yesterday and very windy. I'm thinking it's the chocolate that DH gave me for Valentine's Day because that's the only thing I've eaten that's different to usual. Last night was our 3rd night in a row with 9-10 hours. I'd just started dressing Ryan in a grow suit to sleep and he's been sleeping better than in the short onesies. Off to have a shower and then take the boys off to Big W to check out the baby sale.

:hello: to everyone else!

Hi Girls - Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Chinese New Year to you all, I've been down at our holiday house since Sunday so haven't been on! Well, the Year of the Ox has gone and it's now Year of the Tiger. Along with Amelia I was also born in the Year of the Ox so that was a special year for me....you know what they say girls, "strong as an ox"....I think they also say "stubborn as an ox" hmmmmmm. :o

Saturday night's babysitting from my nephew was great, she was very content and happy when we got home a couple of hours later. I did laugh though as he didn't change her nappy so she had the heaviest wee nappy on lol........I think he was a bit nervous about that but he fed her a bottle and burped her and played with her. He said she didn't cry at all so that's good. He's a lovel boy and not like most 17 year old boys that I know so I feel very comfortable leaving her with him. Moreso than my nearly 16 year old niece, she freaks the second Amelia drops her bottom lip!

I had a lovely Valentine's Day, Amelia has definitely softened DH, he surprised me with a gold locket bracelet much like the one mum gave Amelia when she was born and I even got a card!!!! Very exciting as he's terrible at buying cards. I was so chuffed. We then headed down to our holiday house for the night, DH had to work on the house so I went and hung out with my mum as she lives in the same town now. It's nice to be able to do that as she misses Amelia a lot, she hasn't been a nana for ages as my sisters are 10 and 7 years older than me so all the other grandids are in their late teens now. Amelia gets spoilt of course ha ha. Mum can't believe how much she's grown in the 2 weeks since she'd seen her, just goes to show how quickly they grow. How sad is it!!!

Anyway, hope you are all well, haven't had time to read everyone's posts yet so will do so and check back on later. I'm off to the city again today to see my boss as he wasn't there when I visited last time. I really can't be bothered but I've told him I would so I will.

Hugs and kisses to you all and your beautiful bubbies.

Hi girls!

I've had a housefull of rellies from interstate so haven't been able to get on to do a decent post, been jumping onto FB a bit but it's quicker to "like" things and do short responses on there than it is to post on here...when you type as S L O W as I do! LOL

I've only checked the posts on this page so I'll only respond to then till I get back and go through all the others that I've missed...

BS Sounds like Eva's getting better with her wind problems but still not quite there yet, I hope she settles for you soon it's soooo frustrating and heartbreaking when they're like that. But Thank you again for the swing advice!!! Harry still loves it and I think it's helping get him into a better sleep routine through the day! We're not having any poo problems here although Harry does get a bit fussy before a poo sometimes and then very relaxed after. He can be fussy for up to an hour sometimes. I have heard that it's sometimes normal for them to only poo every few days but that's if it's routine like that all the time, not just on and off.

Hannah Harry likes to be rocked to sleep specially when he's having cranky time and my back was suffering! I got a glider/rocking chair which is great for when he wants to be rocked my back is so much better! I hope Amelia works out a better sleep/wake routine soon it is so exhausting and really hard to get motivated to try make a change in her routine when you're exhausted and just want to collapse. I sometimes get nauseated from lack of sleep, maybe that's what upset your stomach? I'm sure Amelia wasn't crying for too long, but you must have really needed that sleep, short as it was!
Excellent that your mum has a bit more energy now she's eating, hope your shopping trip goes well.

I can hear Harry starting to stir, he must know I'm trying to post, hopefully he gives me a little longer....

Lani Harry has rejected a dummy so far too, he does seem to be trying to get his thumb in his mouth though but still doesn't quite have enough hand control, I'm holding off trying the dummy again, I'm pretty sure the sucking would help him settle as he uses me as a human dummy a lot specially at night, if he can get his thumb in I'm happy with a thumb sucker, you can't lose a thumb, you don't have to stress if they're out of your brand at the shop, and they can put it in themselves in the middle of the night. But if he doesn't suck his thumb in a few weeks when he has worked out his hands, then I might try the dummy again.

Suzi I've been tossing up what to sleep Harry in too the last week or so, it's definitely been cooler with the rain...and OMG the RAIN! But still doesn't seem really cool in the house?? I have had Harry in a grow suit too he won't keep his arms covered and they did feel quite cool while he was sleeping so the suit keeps them warm.
Hope you didn't have any water damage or flooding? We held up ok over here.
Hope DH is ok! I don't know what happened yet but something must be up judging by BS's post, I really need to read back through the older posts!!

Kanda Hope you're doing ok, BS sounded worried I'll go back over the older posts later to see what's been up.

Alison Sounds like you had a great :heartbeat:'s day, a card and all!:D He has done well!
It is very scary how fast they grow!!! One minute they're a newborn then it's like overnight they're a giggling infant, omg they're gonna be off to school before we know it! :(

All's been going pretty well with us, cranky time between 8pm and 11pm seems to be getting easier to deal with and not so hysterical more just fussy...now I've said that he'll probably have a shocker! Hopefully not:crossfingers:

Hope everyone else is doing ok!
Well Harry's given me all the time he's willing to give so I'll check in again later.:hello:

Hi Girls!

Alison - Sounds like you had a nice Valentine's Day :) My DH has remembered every one since Craig was born, so maybe they do 'soften' when they have kids? Not that I'm complaining :) Sounds like you had a nice weekend at the holiday house. Hope you have a nice day visiting your Boss tomorrow.

Willow - I actually hopped on FB today to see how you were going. Good to hear you survived the rellies. Wow! Wasn't that rain amazing?! No damage here and both our rain tanks are full. Craig was facinated by the thunder, I think he thought it was fireworks. I bought 2 of the new style Bonds Wondersuits for Ryan. He's in one tonight and seems comfy. Craig was a little older by Summer, but I was still wrapping him and didn't have a fan running. So Ryan must've been cold in short sleeve no-leg onesies, unwrapped and with the fan going :( DH is fine, he just embarrassed himself. He went out for drinks after work on Friday and got woken up by Police in a stranger's front yard and had to ring me at 5am to come and get him.

AFM - We survived the Big W sale, but a lot of the things I wanted I couldn't find. I'm still happy with what I managed to get. Craig fell asleep sitting in the shopping trolley, but didn't chuck any tantrums. We went so well that I stopped to have a coffee at Gloria Jeans before we went home and just as I sat down with Ryan in the Baby Bjorn, he peed on me. All down the front of my cargo pants. I hoped no one would notice and just finished my coffee. Then as I got up to leave this old man smiled at us and said I was doing a great job.

BS - Did Eva continue to settle down yesterday? It could be that she has reached her next developmental leap as this happens around 12 weeks. I used to think Amelia had a problem pooing. Almost every nappy has a little poo in it...it often comes out when she sneezes or coughs. I used to worry that she never seemed to have a complete bowel movement. Now that she is so much happier, I don't worry anymore. Every few days she'll have a 'proper' poo and be a bit cranky beforehand. I don't think breastfed babies can have too little poo. If they're not pooing often its just because their body is using up all the milk and there's no waste.

I have thought about this, but I'm not ready to have Amelia in her own room yet... DH is sleeping on the spare bed in her room anyway. It was actually when we started taking her to bed with us that she started sleeping for 5-6 hours. (But read below, because I have news).

suz - I find chocolate upsets Amelia too. Around Christmas I was eating a little bit each day, but it was a few days before I noticed any effect on Amelia. I read somewhere that it can take up to 97 hours for caffeine to exit an infant's system. So having that little bit each day had a cumulative effect.

Glad you had a good shopping trip. Amelia started getting tired while we were shopping and wouldn't sleep. I did manage to pick up a few bonds wondersuits in size 0 for winter.

Alison - Looks like you've found yourself a good babysitter...you just need to train him to change nappies lol. Glad you had a great Valentine's day.

willow - How did Harry go last night? Glad he's getting easier to deal with at night. I had my rocking chair all picked out but decided against it after going to my breastfeeding class. It didn't offer enough support like they say you need in the early BFing days. Mum's hospital room had a rocking chair in it that I used to nurse Amelia in and I wish I had got one for home now. Our 5th wedding anniversary is in a couple of weeks, so maybe I can convince DH to buy it for me.

AFM - We had a complete turn around yesterday. I was up most of Monday night with Amelia. Think I managed about 3 hours sleep and 2 of those were after waking DH and giving her to him at 6am. I gave up on trying to get her to sleep. How can I expect an 11 week old to sleep if she's not tired? So I just let her go and sat up with her. It was much easier to go with her flow. From 5:30am until 2pm, Amelia had a couple of catnaps but was happily awake for most of that time. She went to sleep in her pram while Mum and I were shopping. But the whole afternoon was characterised by short feeds and short sleeps. Yesterday evening was a bit of a nightmare since she was so overtired. When DH or I managed to get her to sleep she couldn't seem to stay that way for long. DH helped me give her a bath and we put her down at 9pm. She slept until 2am, woke for a feed and went right back to sleep. She woke again at 5, 8 and 11 with sleep in between. She slept the entire time wrapped in her bassinette. It was such a welcome relief after the last few nights.

I'm hoping we can continue this. Mum suggested a 9pm bedtime rather than 7pm. She was sleeping so well from 7-11 but would be awake when DH got home from work. Hopefully, by putting her down at 9, she'll sleep until 1 or 2 in the morning and DH and I won't keep her up with our chatter. Its worth a try. DH was home last night and has tonight and tomorrow night off of work. It makes such a difference just having him home.

In other news, Mum told me that the cancer has spread to her liver and lungs. When she first told me she had cancer she told me there were smaller tumours, but led me to believe they were all in the bowel. I'm glad she told me as I now know what we're dealing with, but she hasn't told my brother yet. But her liver function has started to improve, so that's a sign that the chemo is working.

Hannah! Are you OK? :hug: That's tough news to hear, but as you said, it's good that she told you. That's great news that the chemo is working and she sounds like she's feeling better if she's able to eat and go shopping with you. We'll keep positive for you and hope she continues to improve.

The 9pm bedtime sounds like it works better for you and Amelia. The hard part is making sure that you go to bed when she does so that you get some sleep. That's roughly when I put Ryan to bed, but only because I have trouble getting Craig to bed earlier than that. Ryan also wouldn't wake before 2. Hopefully once Amelia's got the hang of it then you can move her to her own room and she'll probably sleep through the night! You won't know yourself :)

Hi Girls! I've been a bit slow getting on BB today.

Hi Hannah - oh my goodness are you ok, I'm so sorry to hear about your mum. I pray the chemo works for her. It really saddens me to hear stories about cancer and people suffering from it etc......why can't they find a bloomin cure!!!! :hug: Re bedtime with Amelia, I put our Amelia to bed after her last feed around 9.30 pm - sometimes it's 9.00 pm sometimes it's 10.00 pm and she is generally sleeping through until 4.00 am - she was doing 10 hours nights but she's reverted back to 6 the last few. Give it a go, hope it works for you, it makes a big difference when they sleep for longer. You'll get there mate, you're doing really great. It's hard having a bub, Amelia's been quite grizzly when she's tired, gets to me a bit as I'm not used to it but I give her a cuddle and her eyes close and all is well.

AFM - I spent all morning what I thought was burning all my belly pics and pics of Amelia (and there's a lot of them) onto disc so I could get them printed at the shop, I want to start doing my pregnancy album and Amelia's baby album which I'm going to scrapbook and I got all the way to the shop and the friggin disc was empty, it didn't work! Was so p'd off! So have to do it all again and go back another day. grrrrr. Guess I should've checked it properly before I left. I went to the OT today as well, Amelia arked up while I was there - typical so the receptionist had to do bog laps up and down the hallway to keep her quiet ha ha - she was due for a sleep so bad timing I guess.

Is anyone else noticing their bubs are sucking on their hands? Amelia constantly has her hands in her mouth and drools everywhere lol. She's also lifting up her dresses when she wears them ha ha - obviously finding her hands work!

Best run, got a few things to do before preparing dinner. Sorry for no persies, will check back on later. Hope you and your lovely bubbies are all well. xx

Oh Hannah, I'm sorry to hear that. Brilliant that the chemo is working tho. My fingers are crossed for her :crossfingers: and thats great that Amelia had a better night, oh I hope it continues for you.

Suz - poo, I wanted to go to BigW sale too. Apparently Babies R Us had a good sale on too...just realised yesterday and that was the last day. Typical!! Oh dear, thats happened to me too. He was mega cranky at the shopping centre so I was carrying him everywhere...next thing I knew I had a gigantic wet patch on my top and dribbling down my pants! Hehe!

Willow - welcome back! I totally understand how its quicker to hop on facebook! I seem to take an eternity to write a post on BB!

Alison - thats cool you and Amelia were both born in the same chinese year. I have heard its good to be an Ox tho, isn't it? Glad your bday party went well, and you had a lovely time with your mum.

AFM - had a lovely lunch with my Mothers Group today. We decided to meet ourselves since this week was our last session for a while. We're going to meet every Monday at a cafe. Plus some of us (including me) are going to go to Koala Kids (like a playgroup) on a Friday morning together. So, that will be nice. Thats if they'll take us all at once! We shall have to see. I'm putting Michael's name down at our first preference for school now too...stupid that you have to do it so early.

Umm...not much else to report really. OH! Silly me... We slept Michael in his cot in his own room for the first time last night. He went quite well. 7pm-5.30am. Tho of course, I was waking up just as often as if he were in our room anyway! I couldn't sleep from 4.30 onwards cos I was expecting him to start stirring. Hopefully I'll relax tonight!

Hope you're all keeping well.. :)

Oh Hannah, I am so sorry about your mother :( I don't even know what to say. Good idea on the later bedtime...here's hoping that works! I also noticed that Eva sleeps later with a later bedtim but strangely wakes up more often, so I stick to the 7/730pm and sometimes she is up around 11 for a feed but most night goes until 2or 3 am these days...I found that when I put her into bed at 9 she is almsot always up at 12...but every baby is different..Maybe going out for a daily walk is good for her too? It should also help you clear your head and get soem fresh air. Keep us posted! I really hope this is what will help!

Suz, lol on ryan peeing! How does he leak so bad? I almost never get leaks with Eva...I have gotten two when I did nto change her at her 3am feed since she was too sleepy, so now change her every time...You poor thing, sitting there having your coffee covered in pee - I guess boys have more directional pee that the nappies can't always handle! You're right to have stayed for your coffee, you deserve it :) And what's alittle pee these days? I spend my days covered in spit up, vomit, poo (not as often as I'd like...lol), drool etc...I don't even bother with nice clothes anymore!

Alison, not sure if you saw my last fb pics, but yes! Eva has her hands in her mouth and won't even take a dummy anymore except for to sleep! She can't seem to work out how to separate her fingers though to get one in her mouth so just does a lot of fist sucking and drooling! She also has been grabbing things...I have these little cloths that I keep around the house (like soft burping cloths) and she has taken to gripping them and keeping them on her lap in her high chair or swing and putting it in her mouth or just rubbing it. It is cute, and I am ficusing a lot on playing with her hands, giving her textures to touch, letting her touch my face (just have to be careful since sometimes you get a jerky punch in the eye or the glasses get thrown of my face!) etc...I bought her a few new crackly plush toys so she can touch things that make noise and make sure she spends a lot of time on her little playmat...Today she played peek a boo - it was so cute. We have asort of little wrap we put her in in her high chair, and she managed to get her face in the hood and kept doing it and cracking up whenever she got her head out. I made a video but of course once she saw me coming she was a lot less funny :) I can see the golden days of baby hood coming - she is so much more aware and receptive. Another cute thing to do is to put amelia on her changing table and make noises...I find that eva copies us...I stick out my tongue and she does, I gurgle and she does, I go brrrr, and she does and you can actually see them trying to figure out how to make the noises :) I am falling more in love every day with her cuteness! She has full converstaions with me too, so I talk to her and ask about her day and she just goos and gaas and oohs and aahs back to me as if she is having a real conversation! I am preparing her for mother daughter tea time later ;) I have not put her in dresses lately but I should try to see if she will lift them! She has just gone up a size to 3-6 months clothing so the dresses in that size are a bit too large and for warmer weather, but I'll try to put her in one and see if she lifts it :)

Beany, congrats on the big step! I was the same the first few nights I kept waking up and laying there then sneaking over to check on her! Eventually you'll be able to sleep and you'll wake up as soon as he cries. DH is always so surprised at how quick I jump out of bed and am in her room. I don't know how - I can be exhausted and she cries and I'mm like in super mode...lol...I also had to sign eva up for her dayscare when I was still pregnant! The daycares and schools want to reserve the place since they don't want to have too many babies at once...that's what they told me. And she is going to a really good school so space is limited and I had to sign up and pay a deposit when I was still 5 or 6 months pregnant!

AFM - after a few days of eva crying all day with gas, I was dead yesterday. I pumped a bottle of milk and told DH to do her 7ish and 12ish feeds so I can sleep. She did not wake up for her midnight feed and slept through to 2am and of course I woke up but stayed in bed since DH went staright to her but then she was crying a bit (I guess she does not like the bottle as much as boob at night - goes to show that eventually it will drop off since it is probably a comfort feed) and I could not just lay there so I got up! DH is so sweet - he was like go back to bed...but I know he works early in the AM so I just took over...Anyway she needed an extra go at the breat after the bottle before falling asleep. This morning she was def easier - had her 6 am feed then slept through to 930 and I fed and changed her then brought her back to my bed and we napped through until 1130. I needed that - I am exhausted and carrying her on my shoulders for days has taken a toll on me physically!

It is incredible how adorable and well adjusted and giggly she is and then bam, she starts screamin gin pain. I cannot wait for this to end! She is three months on Friday! Time flies so fast!!!! But then I realized that since she was 3 weeks early this might not all end until around 4 months...:pray: that this ends soon and I can have a baby not in pain.

I feel really down so have decided to try to invite friends who have recently had babies over for lunches. That way I won't be bothering them if I breastfeed or if my baby cries...and I can talk to them and they will understand. DH is so supportive and keeps telling me how great I am but I don't feel so great. I just can't wait until I get slightly back to myself physically and mentally. I am really avoiding people which is a problem so I am trying to force myself to invite people I feel good with over to get myself back into reality...

Off to shower while baby naps...She is gassy again this morning, but I hear lots of gurgles so am hoping for a poo day...I never thought my well being and happiness would be so centered around baby poo!

xoxo

BS - Its driving me crazy that I haven't been able to get out for walks (I walked everyday up until I finished work). Its been too hot. We have had cooler weather the last week or so, but I've been too exhausted. Maybe with a later bedtime I'll be able to fit in a walk once it cools in the evening.

I hope Eva settles down soon. Its awful when they're in pain and we can't do much about it. You're doing a great job and this will pass. Inviting other mums over is a fantastic idea...the more support the better.

beany - Yay for Michael sleeping well his first night in his cot. I can't even get DH to take an interest in childcare let alone schools. Its about time we had a proper talk about it though.

Alison - Amelia is definitely sucking on her hands a lot more than she used to, but she much prefers looking at them. She'll spend an hour or so at times just watching her hands as she opens and closes them or twists at her wrists.

suz - I love the new avi.

AFM - Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for my mum. I'm doing okay I guess. At least I have Amelia to keep me occupied so I don't think too much. It just doesn't seem fair. My dad died at 44 and my mum is only 52. But the night Amelia was born, she had a dream that she and Amelia were shopping for my birthday present when Amelia was about 4 years old. It's giving Mum something to aim for. As well as fortnightly lunches, we're going to go back to having Friday night dinner (which we did before Amelia arrived).

Last night wasn't as good. She woke at midnight for a feed and was really spewy at around 2am. I sat up and watched TV while she slept on me as she would scream whenever I tried to put her down. I took her to bed with me and we slept well from 8:30-11am. After the big day we had Tuesday I think I let her sleep too much yesterday. Today she's been awake quite a bit so I'm hoping that tonight will be better. Once I figure out nights, then I'll worry about her day sleeps. I'm getting there. I just have to remember my mantra from last year...to be kind to myself.

I found out today that the girl who replaced me on one of my projects at work is leaving in March. Her husband got a job in Melbourne. So it looks as though I'll be able to get back on that project when I return to work. Before I left, my boss indicated that it would be unlikely for me to go back (not really fair to train someone and then kick them off to another project 6 months later). Going back to work will be much easier if it's something I'm familiar with. As exciting as doing something new would be, I think it'd be daunting while adjusting to being a working mum. Also, the people on that project have all been very supportive through my miscarriage and depression. I know I'm not going back for months yet, but its been weighing on my mind.

Hi Hannah - I'm so glad your mum is feeling positive and I strongly believe in dreams coming true so it's quite possible that she was foreseeing the future, nothing wrong with that!!!

You sound like you're really doing well with Amelia considering you're having such a tough time with the sleeping and you're definitely getting there by the sounds, you're a champ, remember that. I love your ticker pic, Amelia is such a cutie pie - must be the name cause I think my Amelia is a bit of a cutie pie too lol.

AFM - had all my belly pics and Amelia pics (so far taken) printed today, 200 of them, woops! Going to start the albums now yay. I was looking at my belly pics and got all sentimental, I so miss that lovely round hard belly......would rather that then the floppy saggy one I have now, ho hum.

Hi girls! Argh, I'm really behind again!

Hannah - I'm so sorry to hear about your Mum :(

BS - I hear you on the sudden switch in mood. Liam's exactly the same - he'll be happy and cooing one second and screaming the next. Usually with him it's because he's hungry - he gets so immersed in the world that I think he forgets that he's hungry until he's literally in pain.

Alison - Liam's sucking on his hands a lot right now (and drooling everywhere). I'm hoping that he'll start to settle himself with this now so we can ditch the dummy. He only has it for sleep (I'm really strict about that, don't want to use it to plug him up when he's awake) and doesn't always need it to settle, but I'd rather not have to deal with having to run in to put it back when it falls out when he's trying to sleep.

AFM - Liam's had a really unsettled week. He's been waking frequently to feed at night (5-6 times a night at the worst) and fighting sleep a lot during the day. Today is the first day that he napped well and he's gone off to sleep for the night without a problem. I suspect that he's been going through a wonder week (I recommend the Wonder Weeks book btw) - he's definitely developed a few new skills. He can support his head really well now, can lift up to a 45 degree angle when on his belly and spends a lot of time pushing off with his feet against things. And like the other bubs, he's discovered his hands and is sucking on them a lot. He's also started blowing raspberries, which is awfully cute.

I'm pretty tired at the moment, both from the hot weather and the broken sleep. But I think I'm adjusting to having less sleep overall. On the cooler days I've managed to go out walking, too, which helps everything.

Hey everyone,

just a quickie since I have baby napping and need to get on the eliptical!

Hannah, glad you're spending more time with your mother. That is what is more valuable than anything.

Alison, good job on the photos! Apart from the preg photo hanging in eva's room I have not gotten around to doing albums or anything...I should think about that before getting back to work because then it will never be done!

Rose, Eva was exaclt the same a week and a half ago - he is def growing and she is pushing off on her feet, wanting to be held in a seated position and making a new array of sounds that we've never heard for over a week now :) He's getting bigger! it goes so fast! I might download that book (if I can find it) - if not I'll buy it - sounds interesting.

AFM - just got back from pediatrician...I have been having a few bad days with eva screaming in pain at feeds etc...he diagnosed her with acid reflux (which the osteo already said) but gave us medication for it. He believes her esophagus is raw and hurts from the past months of reflux so we start timorrow and if it seems to be improving then she on for 2 months of meds to treat it. I hope this is it...there is nothing worse that your baby crying at feeds then crying because she is hungry then screaming and trying to feed simultaneously. Breaks my heart...

She weighed in at 5.720kg, length 59 and HC at 40.5cm - all perfectly average so she is doing well. The doctor said she is wonderful and once the reflux settles she is advancing perfectly with no problems.

So heres hoping this will do the trick!

I got in an hour and a half on my eliptical yesterday and she's sleeping now so I am going to aim to do the same!

xoxo

Hey Rose, I ordered that book! I could not find it to download for my kindle so ordered it online...which means I have to wait for shipping...i'll let you know what i think!

Just dropping in quickly again, yes one lot of guests left, then my mum was here from Melbourne she left yesterday (only here 2 days) now we have a cousin of DHs here from England...I know I may sound like a b****h, but I am really over having people in my house!!!! And when this one is gone there's only about a week until some more come from S.A. that will be the 4th lot since Harry was born grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr It's a bit much!!

On the up side we have finally found a builder:leap::confetti::confetti::leap: BRING ON THE EXTENSION!!!! No more ILs in our space and their visitors won't be disrupting us anymore!!! WOOFR*****HOOO!!!!

:angry: I've even been putting off my friends and rellies to get a day here and there on my own, all the guests so far have been from DHs side (except for my mum this week) and the MIL has not asked once do we mind if they come and stay just told us, which means DS2 gets kicked out of his room each time (he has the comfiest bed and biggest room) my older boys are only here every second week so for the past 3 weeks they were here DS didn't have his room, and again a few weeks before then, they are here from tomorrow,so again he's in the lounge room, and than again in a couple of weeks. I'm very p***** with MIL I feel she's been very inconsiderate not asking first just organising, has she not noticed I have a new baby??!! Maybe I don't need a string of visitors all staying up to and over a week at a time!!! She can't take a hint, if you tell her nicely I'm sure she thinks it's a joke, and if you be any more firm so she understands she's likely to burst into tears and take it personally I am sooo frustrated! Keeping the peace so as not to upset her, well hello, what about me the tired, hormonal, woman with a new baby!!!????

OMG I must sound like a right b****! I can't help it I've reached the end of my tether I think, thank god the extension is on it's way or think I'd be moving out!!!!!

Please tell me if I'm over reacting girls!!!!???? All these people are really nice I like them, and get along with them but I just don't want them here:(:(

Sorry for that big b***h I really needed to get it out before I really let MIL have it.