babies born~December 1st-15th 2009 #2

[Tilda]

Hi Alison - that's really tricky about your rings. What to do?? Maybe wait another couple of months to see if you lose any more retained fluid. Hope you had a nice stroll with the pram.

Hi Willow - thanks for the tip on the grobags. So Harry gave up the thumb huh? Every now and then I catch Matilda sucking her thumb. I wish she'd do it more and give my boobs a break!

Hi Beany - what a drama with the immunisations. But what a little trooper Michael is. Can you go to your pediatrician for a second opinion? It would be worthwhile for peace of mind. I used to be convinced there was something wrong with one of Matilda's eyes (and was worried it was something to do with that time she spat her medication out and it ran into her eye). It seemed smaller and shut a bit more slowly at times. But it seems OK now.

AFM - It has been a very spewy and pooey day today. I think it might have something to do with the immunisations. But Matilda seems her usual self other than that. How bizarre - my baby monitor just started playing the theme to Underbelly. It must be picking up the tv transmission somehow. I'm still struggling to get Matilda to take anything more than 40 minute naps during the day most days. I read in the no-cry sleep solution book they should be getting about 5 hours of day time naps. Ha!! It's weird how obsessed you can get about sleep. I think I probably harp on about it. And poor DH bore the brunt of it at 1am this morning. It had taken me an hour to resettle Matilda and I'd just gone back to bed when he started calling out in his sleep (apparently he was dreaming that vampires had come for Matilda). Then he decided to throw himself out of bed grunting and making the bed squeak and the floor boards groan which woke Matilda up well and truly. So I bit the bullet and just decided to give her another feed. She's just getting sleepy when he gets back from the loo and throws himself in bed making all of the above sounds again and wakes her up again. Argh!!! At this point I let my displeasure be known. And then I lay awake for another hour feeling guilty for snapping at him. Well, I think I'm going to get myself off to bed in case we have resettling issues again. Sleep well everyone.

[*suz1*]

Hi Girls,

I keep losing posts

*Tilda* - Yes, totally obsessed with the sleep thing here too Perfectly understandable that you would go off at DH like that over waking Matilda. The Rotavirus vacc often gives the bubs the vomits and nasty poos, poor Tilly.

*Willow* - Sorry Harry's sleep was short-lived. Thanks for sending the details of your builder. We've been trying to decide what to do for years but we know we need a bigger house. Glad you're happy with your Ergo.

*Alison* - Thanks for posting the link for the Amber Teething Necklaces. Our clinic nurse also suggested them. Hope you enjoyed your walk. Sorry you still can't wear your wedding rings, I hope someone has a suggestion for you that works.

*Beany* - You're a great Mum and you only have to look at Michael for the proof. Definitely get a 2nd opinion on Michael's rashes and skin bumps if you're worried about them, better to be safe than sorry. The Sleep School here (QE2) is a residential facility where you stay overnight with your bub/toddler and they help you with feeding and/or settling.

Hi Rose, Kanda, Lani, Carmey, Brussels, Hannah and Sesame!

AFM - It's the 3rd night of our new 7pm bedtime for Craig. The day sleeps are going really well and he really is like a different kid. I feel awful for not realising how badly his lack of sleep was affecting him. Bedtime is a different matter as it's still taking quite a while for him to get to sleep. I'm really hoping that we don't need to go to the Sleep School and that we can do this on our own.

[Rose_Red]

Hi girls!

Tilda - Liam's in the 40 minute nap club most of the time, too. That's if I'm lucky at the moment - the last few days he's only has 2 or 3 naps, 20-30 minutes each. He's actually okay for most of the day, but it makes for a most unpleasant evening. And if he naps better (as he did a couple of times last week), he does seem to sleep better at night. I'm working on it, using methods from the No Cry books, but it gets exhausting. I guess some babies just don't need to nap as much. It makes me envious of my SIL, though - her little girl is a month older, and sleeps for 11 hours at night, as well as about 5 hours during the day. And I probably would have been cranky too if my DH had been noisy like that at night. My patience wears very thin in the wee hours.

I'm actually planning on trying to get Liam attached to a lovey - I've ordered a Prince Lionhart back to sleep bear that I hope he'll like.

Alison - I'd say just get your rings resized so you can wear them now. You can always size them down again later on. I'm "lucky" in that I was heavier when I got married, so my rings were too big before I got pregnant, so they still fit now. Though I did have to take them off during pregnancy because I was retaining so much fluid. And they're still a little tight.

beany - I'd say that if you're worried at all, go for the second opinion. It's much better to put your mind at ease. Sucks a bit about the market being disorganised, but bargain on the play gym! I'm planning on checking out the next one, should all go well.

willow - I ordered slumbersacs from that ebay seller, too The slumbersac website actually has a good deal on at the moment, too, which works out a little cheaper.

suz - What a day! I hope that the sleep school gets things sorted out for you. I still don't know how you manage with the two of them (and how anyone else does!).

AFM - Things have been pretty rough. Liam's pretty much stopped napping during the day, except for a couple of catnaps, and his nighttime sleep has been really bad, too. Yesterday he was really grizzly during the day, which really grated on me. DH went out last night, and thankfully Liam went to sleep fairly easily, so I got a few hours to myself. I realised that it's pretty much the first time I've had to myself properly in ages and ages.

Today has been a little better - he still didn't nap much, but he was generally happier, just getting grizzly at the end of the day. For pretty much the first time we were able to have him just lying on the couch between us for a decent chunk of time and he was happy to entertain himself (mostly because he discovered that he can grab his feet), rather than us having to always be entertaining him. He's started properly giggling over the last few days, too, which is gorgeous.

My own health is getting crappy again, though. My arthritis has flared, with the pain at a level which stopped me from sleeping last night. I'm going to give it a little time, just in case it's just the change of season, but if it sticks around, I'll have to see my rheumatologist. I guess it'll be back onto steroids, since I can't take any of my other meds while breastfeeding. Not happy about that, since the steroids make it very difficult to lose weight. I'm getting really fed up with my weight, too, but I'm constantly starving. And I'm still having hot flashes, which are getting super uncomfortable. I'm going to see my GP in a couple of weeks to try to figure out what's going on there - whether it's side effects from the Zoloft I'm on, or if it's something hormonal. I feel like I'm falling apart a bit. I really hope that Liam has a couple of good nights - it's much easier to cope with everything when I've managed some decent rest.

[BrusselsSprout]

Hey girlies,

I have a bit of time for a post...

Let's see if I get it done before having to go pop the dummy back in (Eva is sick and has been breathing badly so spits it out often while sleeping and getting up about 100 times a night!)

Kanda, hope Sienna is doing better!

Rose, I am glad Liams needles went well and I think you might really need a night to yourself...if there no way to leave DH with pumped milk and orders not ot bother you so you can sleep (or will you be like me and still get up every time Liam cries - I did that twice and it only worked the time I actually had DH leave to go to MIL's house!)

Alison, sucks abou the rings? Is it the weight? How much do you have to lose from the preg? My ring was big when I got married and I wore it through the preg (although tighter for sure) and it is still pretty tight, but I also have a ton of weight to shift so I blame it on that...also they might fit once it cools down...summer puffs up everything!

Beany, I sometimes gets stressed too - when she cries or sleeps, I am anxious because I think I'll hear her cry...or when people handle her and I know she will not like it...and sometimes with going out since I never know how it will be, but I force myself not to stress...I have def gotten better...you just have to look at Michael and how great he is. We have a tendency to want to protect them from everything and keep them in a sort of sheltered sterile environment, but we have to remember that can't happen...I have to keep reminding myself that...

He seems to be happy, well adjusted and easy to deal with except for the rare and very normal times (wonder weeks, tired etc...) - you have to keep reminding yourself that he is human and that it is not possible to keep him super happy 100% of the time. Just like your moods change, so do his. And crying is his way of talking for now, so try not to get too anxious. You are doing such a great job and it is obvious that you and your DH (who seems to be very supportive as well) adore him and are doing a wonderful job showing him that...babies need to feel loved and that is the most important thing after the basic physical needs, so you should be proud of yourself and keep telling yourself that you're doing a great job - for the eye thing, Eva has one eye slightly smaller than the other with a different undereye shape and crease, but so does DH, so I think it is ok. Faces are not perfectly symetrical. She also has a blocked tear duct on one side, so I think it will be less noticeable when that goes away. I don't think you should stress unless it seems irritated or swollen.

Suz, sorry you had such an awful day...I am glad the sleep seems to be getting better. Poor craig, he has had a lot change in his life in the past few months, and not being able to express that probably caused him to have difficulty sleeping and to lash out. I am sure it will be fine. Good luck with the sleep training. He seems like a cute great kid so I am not worried, I just hope you get some rest as well.

Tilda, glad the needles went well. I get you on the sleep thing - I would yell too...but that is why I took eva out of the room. I could not stand every time I finally got her down to sleep and one of us making noise would wake her up! Eva has a doll she loves in her bed (you can see it in the facebook pics - it is red and orange) - she used to just stare at it and talk to it when she was tiny but at around 1.5 months she started caressing it to go to sleep...now she literally rubs it to sleep and puts it on her face or sleeps on it. If she naps in her playpen, she likes to have a muslin near her head and she puts it on her face too, so I am not sure if she attached to that one doll or just anything soft - but I try to give her something (thought not always the same thing) to put on her face...hopefully she does not get too attached to just one thing as it would be easier if I could just give her any soft fabric...If I put my hand on the side of her face she falls asleep too...

Willow, how is the construction going? How much more time until it's done?

AFM, boobs are down to tiny again but not hurting so that's great...Eva got a cold and I have to fly Thrusday so I am REALLLLLY hoping it passes by then - an 8 hour flight with a grumpy congested baby won't be fun. I am actually surprised though, as she is in a very good mood, just the sleeping is awful. I woke up at least 15 times last night to put the dummy back in and at one point DH took over so I don't even know how many times she woke up! She is running a very tiny fever so nothing too alarming, but she is so congested...she has snot running out of her nose and is drooling all over since she has her mouth open to breath. I have been rinsing with saline solution (she hates it of course), massaging her sinuses, and cleaning out the boogies with qtips...I have to see the paed on tuesday anyway to see if we can stop the reflux meds (it will be complicated bringing a refrigerated syrup to ny and I will feel awful continuing to put it down her throat whenever she wakes up for her first feed...the doc said to stop at 5 months, and I am a week off of 5 so hope he'll approve my stopping now.

Also, on another great note - I restarted the pill 10 days ago and have already lost 3 kilos! My face is less puffy and my tummy is starting to slowly go down and my skin is clearing up and I feel much better. I am very happy that I made the decision to wean and take care of myself physically, because I feel so much better and am full of energy to take care of Eva and play more etc...maybe not today after that wonderful night of no sleep so I will keep up my training and am even mopre motivated to do so now since I am actually seeing results and hope to get back to sort of myself by the summer - I have about 20kg to lose (8 gained when I stopped the pill to get preg and 12 left over from the preg!) so these first three are nothing really, but at least I know that if I work hard at it all will be well.

I am starting to pack and get ready for this trip and am so excited to go back home...I just have a bit of anxiety for the flight...keep your fingers crossed that Eva loves airplanes

xoxo

[willow5]

Hi girls,

Hi Tilda I hear you on the noisy DH thing!!!! Mine is the same, noisy getting in and out of bed, noisy talking in his sleep, and coughing, he has asthma AND still smokes so is always coughing. Yesterday I told him off for coughing (which may have been a bit harsh) but Harry is still being an absolute shocker with his feeds, he's distractible and fussy about how he'll feed it can take an hour for him to finish a feed sometimes depending on his mood, and DP knows it's a problem. So anyway I got him to start feeding pretty well when DP comes into the room to use the computer and starts coughing (probably just been out for a smoke) and it was all over Harry heard him, pulled off the boob started whinging wanted to sit up, then wanted to suck again, but pulled off straight away, so I took him into the bed room to lie down to feed as that sometimes works, but no he kept grizzling, DP says "what's wrong?" I snapped "You coughed! This is all because you coughed!" It then took another 45 mins before he would finish the feed then he was over tired so wouldn't settle properly for a sleep Grrrr.

So Matilda is still using you as a human dummy too huh? Harry does that as well but mostly at nigh from about 8pm he would just suck if I let him, he finishes a feed then wants to suck but doesn't latch properly sometimes (because he's not feeding) which is very OUCHY at times. I really wish he would find his thumb again, he likes to lie down to feed a lot too which is hurting my back I think we need a new mattress.
I hope the spews and poos stop soon!!

Hi Suzi That's good news that the day sleeps are coming along I'm sure the night time will follow, and it sounds like your sweet little boy is coming back

Hi Rose I was pretty happy to find the Slumbersac seller I get excited about bargains! They're cute designs too. I might check out the Slumbersac site too.
Sounds like Harry and Liam are on the same sleep wave length, Harry will only sleep about 30 - 40 mins through the day, some mornings I might get lucky and get an hour and a half sleep but that's not regular. He also needs to be amused and is very grizzly it is very exhausting I'm really feeling it the last week or so, and even worse today as the last 2 nights have been crap! He was up every hour night before last and last night was hourly except for between 12.30 and 3am he only slept for 15mins and wanted to feed, oh what I would do for some sleep!
I'm sorry your pain is getting bad, you said you're on Zoloft, my friend has recently started on an anti depressant which is pretty much the same as Zoloft (the generic brand maybe?) one of the reasons she has started on it besides her depression, is menopause (she had a hysterectomy 2 yrs ago and her ovaries have basically shrivelled up and gone now) the doctor was saying that they quite often use Zoloft for menopausal women as it actually helps with some of the hormonal imbalances such as hot flushes, so maybe the way it works is giving you hot flushes?? If it works differently to other anti depressants and can stop hot flushes then maybe it can give you hot flushes too? Just a thought, but I hope you get it sorted soon, I'm only sleep deprived with achy muscles and I'm nearly at the end of my tether, I think you're doing a fantastic job with no sleep on top of your arthritis and depression, keep up the good work I admire you!

Hi BS Here's hoping Eva's cold clears up for you It's not effecting her ears is it? I don't think they let you fly if it's effecting their ears the pressure is no good, so clear those boogers and keep up the fluids to get it cleared up
As for your tiny boobs I'm jealous! I have D cups normally which I'm not a fan of, but now with BF I've got an F cup I hate them!! So enjoy the smaller size I'd swap you anyday But great that they're not sore any more, and that you're starting to drop the weight and feel yourself again.
Construction wise, they laid the slab on Friday and the framework and windows are supposed to be delivered tomorrow, we're a bit behind schedule maybe a week due to rain and public holidays the builder is sending us a revised finish date this week but I would say there's still at least 5 weeks until it's done, and it can't come soon enough! Will be great!

Well Harry's been asleep for 45mins now, he had a terrible night last night, as I grumbled about earlier, so maybe he's going to make up for it now, I wish he'd let me know so I could go and have a sleep. Usually he wakes up with in 5mins if I go and lay down though.
I am so tired and over it the last few days he's been very full on through the day and then not sleeping well at night just tops it off. Even his usual 2 hourly feeds were tiring enough but this waking every hour or more is wrecking me.

I feel like this has been a long and raving post so I'll put you all out of your misery now and sign off.

Hi to everyone that has been quiet I hope you're all doing well!

[Alison1973]

Hi Willow - I've just had a look at those Slumbersacs, they are so much cheaper than Grobags! Thanks for the link, I'm going to buy a couple as she's nearly out of her Grobag that I already have. Thanks heaps for that!

To answer you all re my rings, interesting on the concept of it being muscle as I do carry Amelia on the left side holding onto her with my left hand sometimes but I really do think it's fluid as I can get them on in the shower, but as soon as the water stops running my fingers puff up and go red.....it's so annoying as prior to getting the fluid retention at the end of my pregnancy they used to swing around in the cooler months and fitted perfectly in the warmer months. So annoying, I'll speak to my jeweller and see what she thinks.

Hi BS, I still have a good 5 or 6 kgs to lose although I can easily wear the ring I wear on my right hand on so I don't think it's a weight thing on my hands. I hope Eva's cold goes before you travel. Can you get Fess over there? It's a saline nasal spray that you can give bubs, I used to use it myself as I can't use the other things and it does help a lot.

Hi Tilda - sounds like DH had a pretty out there dream/nightmare! Bummer it woke Matilda up. DH makes a bit of noise when he gets up for work in the mornings which irritates me a bit but it doesn't always wake Amelia. Last week though he made such a racket when shutting to door to leave that she woke up grrrr.

AFM - well, Amelia didn't sleep much yesterday arvo at my friend's little boys birthday party and then we went to the in-laws for dinner (again!) and she didn't sleep there either - as usual MIL overstimulated her so I thought we'd be in for a bad night but it was quite the opposite! I started feeding Amelia a little more yesterday as the last few days she's been wanting to feed every 2.5 to 3 hours again so I thought maybe with the growth spurt etc she's hungrier and it worked a treat - she went 4 sometimes a little more hours between so I dropped the last feed - she should've had the last feed at 8.00 pm if she'd gone 4 hours but she went a little longer so didn't feed until almost 9.00 pm and slept until 8.00 am without a peep! I woke up this morning and had to ask DH if I got up to her as I thought I'd done it on auto pilot and not realised lol. So exciting. Probably won't happen again tonight as I imagine it's because she was so exhausted from yesterday but I'll take it thanks! Today I'll see if she goes the 4 hours again and if she does the last feed should be around 8.00 pm so will be interesting to see what time she lasts till - I imagine she'll be up more around 6.00 am then 8.00 am but I don't care, especially if she doesn't have me up for the dummy two or three times in the night! Will let you know how it goes, no two nights are even the same are they!

Well, best go have my shower while she has her nap. It's rainy here today so the room is nice and dark and cosy so hopefully it will help her have a longer nap! I have to go to the dentist for a filling today, I broke an old filling when I was in hospital with Amelia and have been putting it off since lol. I HATE the dentist! My sister's going to watch Amelia while I go, wish me luck, I'm a scaredy cat with the dentist.

Have a great day girls! xx

[willow5]

Alison Good luck at the dentist!! Must be the day for it DP has just been too and he's also terrified.
With your rings, maybe you should just bite the bullet and resize them, you are going to go for number 2 bubba soonish too yeah? So chances are if you retain fluid when pg they'll fit throughout the next pg and then after that you can worry about getting them sized down again, Sometimes after you have a baby your body does change and not quite go back to "normal" again, so maybe your thing is going to be fluid? Frustrating though!

Beany How's Michael going with his feeds now? Is he still being difficult? Harry is driving me insane!

[kawazuki]

hi laides, my little one was born 29th december, but there is no action in the dec 16-31 thread, so wondering if i would be able to come in here

[willow5]

Hi Kawazuki No problem the more the merrier I think we've got a couple in here that are either side of the 1st-15th Dec.

How are things with you? Most of us are in the throws of teething and Wonder Weeks (great book if you haven't seen it already) Sounds like you've probably got your hands full with new bub, a 2yr old and a 9yr old!

[Alison1973]

Hi Willow - you know what, you make a very good point re my rings, I hadn't even though of it like that, THANK YOU! xx

Hi Kawazuki - welcome! I'm 30th November so join on in, everyone in here is lovely, we're all great BB friends. We chat often.....I'm on here all the time, it's great for venting and sharing stories etc.

Just a quickie before the dentist (grrr) - just had Amelia weighed, she's 7.2 kgs (with clothes on) - that's a kg up from her last check 4 weeks ago and she's back in the 90th percentile for height at 65.5 cms - 4 cms in 4 weeks so definitely going through the 4 month growth spurt!!!!

Chat later lovelies. xx

[Plinky]

Hello my lovelies :wave:

Willow - Haha, I"m the same with my DH. Telling him off for being too loud, sneezing, etc. But I think we're well within our rights to tell them off, its just not worth it! Oh you poor thing waking so often. I hope its just a phase and ends really soon! Michael's feeds are still not like they used to be. Tho, they are better than they were last week for example. But now when he does stop during a feed, its virtually impossible to get him started again. But sometimes he'll start again, I just don't get it. He gets half way through, stops, kicks and screams when I try to give him more for aaaages. Then all of a sudden he'll just start drinking again. Strange little beings they are, aren't they?

Alison - ooh, thats a bit exciting with Amelia dropping a feed! Even if she does go back to how she was, just goes to show that she can do it, perhaps she's getting closer to being ready to drop it completely. Doesn't it just annoy you how ppl who have had kids don't seem to understand the concept that you can overstimulate them?? Honestly, they goo and gaa at them, wave noisy toys at them, carry them around and then wonder why they cry - yeah, like its the baby's fault. Grrr! Both times Michael has had a meltdown (only twice so far, thank goodness) its been with the IL's around. Annoys me too when they make comment about him crying to someone...I just feel like saying, well he has NEVER cried like that with me, its YOUR fault! Oooh...sorry...got a bit worked up there! Good luck with the dentist! I'm petrified of the dentist...hate hate hate it.

Tilda - Totally understandable to tell off DH. I've done it before! We dont' get much more than 40 mins at a time too during the day. I've got some books too which say they should be having HOURS of sleep during the day at this age. Hmm!!! Michael has other ideas!

Suz - Oh wow, so you sleep over night? So is that so when he wakes up during the night they can teach you how to resettle him? I would have thoguht tho that they wuold struggle to sleep properly in somewhere that isn't their bed? But then I suppose its not so much that, its more the skills they will teach you that you need, isn't it. Good idea!

Rose - I second Willow...you are doing tremendously well with your depression, sleep deprivation and now the arthritis...really really well I'm thinking we must all be coming to the end of the 19th wonder week soon...hopefully then things will start to settle down for everyone! Whaaaat?!! Your SIL baby sleeps 11 hours and 5 hours during the day??!! Crikey! What is she doing to get that!

BS - Oh I hope little Eva gets better soon! Poor little darling. Thank you so much for your kind words. I really need to work on myself to be realistic about what is worth worrying about. Ah, join the club! My boobs have withered away into nothingness now...they were ok for a couple of months after I stopped bf, but now they just seem to be getting smaller each day. They're a different shape to how they used to be, not a nice shape either Ugh...hmmm...boob job for my 40th maybe??

Kawazuki - welcome!! Yeah..this is a good group to join, I was in the Belly Buddy group with them and stuck with them here even tho Michael was born in November! They're a lovely bunch of ladies

Hello to everyone else!

AFM - not a great deal to report really. Still waiting for the rest of our photos. Poo. I thought we'd have them by now. She did say on her fb status that shes finished proofing 4 sessions, hopefully one of those was ours.

Michael is all better after his immunisations, phew! He's been sooo chatty its really funny. Tho not that funny when he has been chatting for 30 mins and is meant to be asleep!

[*suz1*]

Kawazuki - Welcome! My bub was born 27 Nov, but these girls are my Belly Buddies as he was originally due 7 Dec. The 16-30 Nov thread is busy too, but I love these girls so much I couldn't leave.

Beany - Hope you get your photos soon. A friend of mine just had some done and I'm thinking of using their photographer too. Maybe I'll call it my Mother's Day pressie

Willow - Brilliant point re: Alison's wedding rings! Poor you, it's so frustrating when they're so easily distracted. I think it's the age they are. Ryan just stops and looks up at me and smiles. It's gorgeous, but annoying when he wants to chat halfway through a feed. Thanks for the slumbersac link, I'll check it out too. I think I'll get a warm one for winter. How are your shoulders? I'm also normally a D cup but currently an F. Whenever I see photos of myself I'm hunched over like an old woman.

Alison - Willow's suggestion was great! Now you can get your rings resized and start wearing them Hope Amelia has dropped that feed for good for you.

Brussels - Hope you have an uneventful flight to NY. Did you book a bassinette on the plane?

Rose - I think you're amazing considering Liam hasn't been an easy bub and you have health issues to deal with. I hope Liam starts getting some more sleep so that you can get some. Is Brussel Sprout's suggestion possible for you? Can DH take over for a bit and let you get some sleep?

AFM - Well Craig is still going down for a day sleep but he didn't go down without a fight today. He went to bed OK tonight, but DH didn't get home until after he'd gone to bed and then woke him up when he got home. But it all seemed fine because Craig didn't cry when DH left the room. Then a little while later, Craig came out of his room, so I took him back to bed and there were tears and a big carry on when I left. So it looks like a bit of separation anxiety again, but maybe I can get DH to put Craig to bed

Ryan was a bit fussy today. He was fine, then we had a longer stretch between feeds than normal because we got stuck grocery shopping at Woollies. Then for the next few hours before bedtime he wanted to be held and keep feeding. He's been pooey and spewy after his needles on Friday, but otherwise happy. Bathtimes with his brother have been especially happy with lots of giggles (he thinks Craig is hilarious).

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! Thinking of our buddies that might be reading but no time to post

[*suz1*]

Brrrrrrr it was a cold night here, down to 0! Ryan woke at 1:45am for a feed, normally he sleeps through. Then Craig was up at 5am, but DH took him back to bed. Then back up after 6:00am, which is when it was the coldest.

Hope everyone had a good night

[Tilda]

Hello gals!

Hi Beany - It's interesting to hear about your feeding issues. Matilda is very all over the place with her feeds sometimes and I thought maybe it was a BF thing, but maybe it's just a fussy thing they all do sometimes. I would stress so much more if I didn't hear everyone else's stories here! I hope you get our photos soon. Can't wait to see them! My aunt gave us a voucher for a photographer in Sydney so I think we'll get some done when we're up there visiting family sometime (or if we move up there).

Hi Alison - I reckon Willow is spot on with her advice about the rings. What would we do without her smarts? Hope the dentist wasn't too awful. I've been putting off going for ages and ages. I was going to go in Perth to my old dentist but found lots of excuses not to.

Hi Kawazuki - Welcome!! What's a couple of weeks Some of us fell quite a bit off our due dates so there's a bit of a spread which is good. You get to see what's coming ahead of time! Look forwards to getting to know you.

Hi Willow - Sounds like I'm not the only one with a noisy DH/P and that I'm not the only human dummy! Matilda does exactly the same ouchy thing as she starts to fall asleep. And she'd take all her day sleeps attached to my boob if she could. I really hope Harry lets you get some sleep really soon!

Hi Rose - You poor soul, you're sounding so tired and sore. It really sounds like you need some sleep for the sake of your health. If you can't get DH or your mum to do a night shift for you maybe you could consider a Mother and Baby Unit. I'm not sure if they're called the same thing in Perth but one of the private hospitals here has one where you can go and stay with your bub and they'll let you sleep and just bring them in to feed. Some well earned respite might help nip the flare up in the bud.

Hi Suz - Sounds like Craig is going great guns! Maybe you won't have to go to sleep school after all. And so you had a cold one up in Canberra too? Ryan must be the only BF baby that sleeps through. A good thing considering how busy you are during the day with two little people!

Hi BS - I thought you'd already left for NY! I'm a little bit confused at times! Poor little Eva with her cold! As Alison suggested Fess might be good if you can get something similar. I used it on Matilda when she had a cold and it actually made her laugh - I think it tickled her nose so it wasn't one of those awful things to administer. You must be hanging out to get home. Don't worry about the flight. They tend to flake out with the white noise and vibrations from the plane.

AFM - Well it was a really full-on day yesterday after a difficult night. Matilda was up quite a bit after being so spewy all day and not feeding all that well. And she didn't get a lot of daytime sleep either. She hasn't had many big day time naps lately and it was really showing yesterday. She was doing this sort of yelling thing that she does when she gets chronically overtired. It's not a cry and it's not a whinge but a deep gutteral Ergh, Ergh, Ergh! But she went down for the night at 6:30 and didn't have too bad a night. I think she might be about to do one of those long morning sleeps today. Fingers crossed! I have my neighbour coming over to look after M at 10:00 while I go to the physio and hopefully she'll sleep until then. It's getting difficult to take M because she gets so bored and my physio gets distracted and I don't end up getting a very good work over. I'm not totally happy about leaving M but I guess I've got to try at some point. But my neighbour was a bit irritating and started lecturing me about trying to drop the 2am feed. And then announced they're going to start landscaping next week. That's all I need. More noise! I think it's time to try some white noise. Well I'll try an post a bit later, I had promised myself I'd actually write some nice things about my gorgeous girl instead of obsessing over her sleep habits.

[willow5]

Good morning girls,

Suzi OMG COLD! I was expecting cool but it was really cold, I hate it!! Maybe Ryan wanted some nice warm milk to warm him up a bit Brrrr!!
Harry used to stop feeding and look up and smile and have a little chat, that was nice, but this new thing thing is not so nice, pulling off screaming kicking trying to sit up, being generally cranky and then all of a sudden he'll feed again could be 10mins could be 45mins, just very strange and frustrating.
Bath time sounds very cute at your house
Keep up the good work with Craig's sleep stuff sounds like he's getting the hang of it, poor little guy if it is a bit of separation anxiety, how far along do the wonder weeks go? I've only read the book in bits from the start to where we're up to Could it be something like that? He is learning the toilet at the moment too and with a new little bro maybe he's having his own wonder week! Not so good for you!

Tilda Yep another human dummy, which is very cute but not practical if you have anything else to do
Harry was a bit better last night, back to 2hrly feeds at least and actually fed at 5am then slept until 8 so that was a bonus. Hopefully the fussy feeding settles down for us all soon, I'm finding it very draining, he had an upset tummy the other night too and did a couple of green poos, I'm thinking it was a bit of a fore milk/hind milk issue from not finishing feeds properly, so I've been giving him 2 feeds from the one breast which has started to turn the poos back to yellow again ...(everyone enjoying their breakfast? lol)
And what is with these noisy men? Did we not notice before?? You'll have to teach Matilda to screen her possible husbands for noisiness and ability to not wake the baby And I'll do my best to train my boys to cough, sneeze, sleep and breathe quietly

Harry's getting crabby now so better go.

[willow5]

Oh Tilda Good luck at the physio I hope Matilda is good for the neighbour, and try not to listen too much to her about dropping feeds you and Matilda will know when she's ready and until then I don't think it's worth the fight, some babies just need to feed more often.

[Alison1973]

Hi Girls - talk about cold it's cold in Perth today too, bit of a shock after it being in the mid to high 30's for so long! Have to say it's a nice change from the heat though.

Dentist went well although I was there for 2.5 hours! I had the biggest filling done but he was great, all the mod cons and wasn't expensive considering, going back in 4 weeks for a scale and clean at my choice.

Well day 2 of dropping down to 4 feeds went well, I don't know whether it's the amber necklace, the extra amount at feeds or coincidence but Amelia has been sleeping better the last 2 nights, she's been doing 10 hours without waking up, I went into her at 4.45 am this morning but just to check on her because the darn monitor is playing up and keeps going off signal so it's not registering her breathing. Actually on that, when do you generally stop using a monitor out of interest? But Amelia has definitely been more settled since I've put the teething necklace on her so again it's either pure coincidence or it's really doing it's trick. She was sucking madly on her bottom lip last night and drooling even more than usual so I tried SM33 instead of Bonjela and I think it worked better and she didn't hate the taste like Bonjela, bargain!

So how are we all this morning! I'm sorry I'm not personally replying this morning but the computer keeps freezing up so it takes ages to go back and forth to remember what everyone said ha ha. Typing this has been painful! I'm going to throw this laptop out the window very soon!

Best go, I have an appointment this morning so have to get Missy Moo napping so I can get ready! Have a great day everyone. xx

[Carmey]

Hi girls!!

I'm so sorry I've been MIA. We've been moving and then away up the coast so it has sucked up all of my time. How I miss you all!!

I will have to catch up tomoz and write persies then. I'm going to be incredibly selfish and write a quickie on my latest news.

ATM - Overall doing well. We've moved and most pleased with the new joint. It has a massive courtyard which will be great for Jack to rip around in later on.

Jack is doing well - apart from not sleeping at night! I saw that some of you are mentioning teething. I'm sure Master Jack is starting to get teethy pegs too. Can boys wear the amber necklaces?

Bascially, he's gone from waking once or twice a night to sometimes 8 times a night. I'm often walking around like a zombie, totally not used to the lack of sleep. Sucks big time. He doesn't cry but just wakes and seems to be grizzly and wants to feed. I just don't know what else to do apart from soothe him and feed him when he won't go back to sleep.

He's sleeping okay during the day but nothing like he was. He seems to be agitated quite a lot, dribbles like crazy and bites down on anything he can. I just wonder if it is a teething issue.

As for his solids, he loved them! He's had pumpkin and potato with zuchinni and for sweets he's tried pears and apple. We know he loves it because he cries when it's all gone! And now when I go to eat he makes that "eh, eh, eh" noise that he makes when I get the boob out. He is a hungry little munchin. But at the moment he just has a taste of food every second day. I'm sure if we let him he'd eat all day!

Oh, and he's crawling. Well, kind of. More like he's commando crawling along the floor, side to side. It's very cute and I'm sure that he'll figure out how to do it properly soon. He can get his hands flat on the ground and arch up so his bum is all the way off the ground - as my grandfather used to call "bridging". It's actually better now he can get about so he's not always crying in that frustrated whingie tone because he couldn't move about.

Anyway, that will do for now. Sorry for the essay. Hope you're all well.

Love to you all and your gorgeous bubbas. xxxxx