Babies Born~June 1st-15th 2009 #1

[*Infinity*]

Hey Ali, nice to see you back in the forums, hope you & your fam are well. I'm still unsure about the SA meetup at xmas - I would really like to come and meet you all but we still haven't worked out if we'll be away at xmas or not. So I will keep the date in mind and see how we go. Will is a petite little guy too, still in mostly 000! But he's long, so I have to find things with no feet in them.

Jen - I haven't tried suppositories with Will as yet. If I know he's blocked up, I try and get him going with sugar + water mix, the other night we used prune juice diluted in water. I really want to fix the problem at the source though, so we're just trying to get as much additional water into him as possible. I'm hesitant to try different formulas, mainly becuase it just ends up being a merry go round.

Solids.....hmmmm well the advice I've been given is that anytime before 6 months their digestive systems are just not designed to handle solids. This is from my MCHN and also my own research. We'll be going against the conventional way of introducing solids (i.e. the puree, spoon feed etc) and doing baby-led solids. There is a thread in the BB forums about it, and if any of you are interested in reading about it look up Gill Rapley - baby led weaning on the web. I got my copy of the book yesterday and its great. Really makes sense when you look at it from baby's perspective.

Essentially you wait until bubs shows visible signs that they're ready for solids, rather than us adults deciding for them. ie. being able to sit up supported enough, hand skills to pick up food etc and getting interested in food at meal times with the family. The motto is food is for fun until they're one, and recognises that their primary source of nutrition up to 12 months is still milk. The idea is to give bubs a variety of foods that they can choose to pick up, play with, taste, spit out, mush up and learn about texture and flavour in their own time. So you might start with sticks of soft carrot or other veg and fruit they can pick up and try rather than us spoon feeding them. I'm ready for the onslaught of criticism from my family & friends.....but it really makes sense to me.

Will's cold got worse, so we had the vaporiser going in his room last night and he woke up a bit less snotty so that's a good thing. He's still smiling through is all so he's trooping on.

Joey - you're right. The drool thing and putting everything in the mouth is just a developmental thing. Babies are very oral, and its just one of the ways they learn. So much drool though!

Going back to work is something I'd rather not think about either Jen. I have 12 months off and wish I didn't have to go back but $ is going to mean that its necessary I think. I might even go back full time and DP can be a stay at home dad. He's a tradie, so it makes more sense for me to go back to a cushy office job with a good salary we can easily live off and get holidays, super etc. than DP flogging his body on a building site for less $. The last couple of days when Will has smiled at me I think to myself how much his daddy is missing out on, and I'd love to be able give him the opportunity to spend more time with him during the week.

Anyhoo, big post!
Time to go....
QLD gals - enjoy your mums group this week!

[joey123]

Hi ang

Make sure that the EBM is fresh and not frozen. Lily wouldn't drink frozen EBM as it tastes different.

Lily takes a bottle every now and again but never right away. I put it in her mouth and she plays with it a bit, then i take it out, try again, plays, take it out .... and eventually she takes it, but it can be 5 mins of messing about. some times i wait a minute or 2 in between tries and i don't wait until she is starving.

hope this helps. i know how frustrating it can be

[alioops]

Ang - my pelvis is great now!!

Leah wont take a bottle of EBM unless it is EXACTLY the right temperature, doesn't matter if it is fresh or frozen.

[*Ang*]

Thanks Ladies for your advice. She is being looked after by mum on Saturday nite whilst DH and I go out for a work function so she is going to HAVE to drink otherwise she will starve!Might try fresh EBM instead of frozen and see how that goes. DH got up with her this morning at 5am to give me a sleep-in and she simply would not take a bottle of formula, I subsequently fed her when I got up at 6.30. Little monkey!

Ali - glad to hear that you are feeling much better now. I can remember how much pain you were in last pregnancy.


Lollybaby, certainly sounds like an interesting read re the solids. Hope that it all works for you. I am in no rush here either. Hope Will gets better soon.

[joey123]

LB - Some how I missed your post yesterday. I think cause I opened the reply in a new window and then took over an hour to write it!!! You must have posted in that time.

I really like the sound of the baby let solids thing. I think I will look more into that. Makes a lot of sense to me.

I'm off to the dentist today. A little bit of my tooth fell out a couple of weeks ago and cold stuff is starting to bother it, so I guess I better go have it filled

Dream fed Lily at 8.30 again last night and she woke up at 11.40pm for a feed and I thought she would be up again after that, but no! DH got her up sometime around 5 I think and I fed her at 6.10am! YAY!! Looks like that little top up before I go to bed is the way to go ... at the moment anyway



Have a great weekend everyone!

[jenushka]

Will be back for a bigger post later but just wanted to say to Ang....

the ONLY way that Lila would take a bottle of EBM or formula at all in the beginning was if I gave it to her in her bouncer. The minute I held her in my arms she turned to the bb and expected it to come from there!

Once she'd had a few feeds in her chair she was happy for DH to feed her in his arms, took a while though before she'd let me do the same. They certainly know their own mind already!

HTH

[*Infinity*]

Joey I missed a few posts too, took me ages to write my post - kept getting distracted by you know who! Hope the dentist went ok. And big clap for Lily sleeping longer.

Turns out Will actually has a strain of the influenza virus. The doc swabbed his throat on Wed as they're paranoid about Whooping Cough at the moment, and it showed up the flu virus which was a surprise. They said if he's already showing signs of improvement (which he is) and he's feeding and sleeping ok (yep, tick to both of those) then we shouldn't need a trip to hospital. I find out about the Whooping Cough swab this afternoon but I'm certain he doesn't have that. The cough is hardly there anymore. He's just full of snot!

DP brought home a Jolly Jumper for Will - you know the things you can hang from a door frame. He loves it. We just watched him and laughed our pants off he was having so much fun!

Ang - good luck with the EBM. I have a friends who has the same issue with her DS. The midwife suggested trying a sippy cup? Maybe give it a go and see what happens?

[jenushka]

Lolly - oh no! Poor will. Hope he continues to improve for you, and also that the swab comes bag neg for wc... We tried sugar/water and extra water to get Lila to "go" with no success - didn't try the prune juice combo though - does it work for Will? And yay for jolly jumper! We never had one for DS but reckon Lila would love it - she's always standing up and bouncing away on her legs when we hold her.

joey - gl with the dentist - hope you are better there than I am! I am just terrible about going for check-up. And yay for lily's sleeps, so glad that the dream feed top-up helped. And yes - I'm very much looking forward to Wed too and meeting yourself and some other BB'ers!

Ang - We're off on a night out tomorrow night too , heading to a friends wedding. Am def looking forward to it, but jeez - it just takes so much planning and organising for a few hours out doesn't it?! I am sure N will be fine and that her hungry tummy will win out over her reluctance for the bottle

Ali - Am also happy to hear that your pelvis is not causing you any more pain - great news

Clare - sounds like Lachie is going great guns! I agree, 1 tbsp farex mixed with milk = tonnes of the stuff. It is pretty cack - just wait until you see what it does to their poos

Thanks ladies for your thoughts on solids. Sounds like everyone has put a lot of thought into the right thing for them and their bubbies The "recommendation" is an interesting concept - definitely when DS was a baby (3 years ago) it was the strict introducing at 6 months guideline - I remember being told that this was due to the baby's immature immune system/risk of allergies etc etc, and also the fact that the store of iron they are born with has been depleted and needs to be restocked. At the 6 week check-up for Lila, our paed explained that recent research has indicated that there is some benefit in introducing foods earlier - again for similar immune system/allergy reasons it appears. GP said the same thing at the 4 month check-up. Makes me wonder IF I had another bub in 3 years time what the guidelines would be then!

I ended up starting DS on solids when he was 5 months because he was just starving (like Lachie Clare!) and he was absolutely ready to, and never looked back. With Lila, am happy to offer her bits to try as and when - she is definitely interested in it but if I skip a day or two then no bother. I reckon it'll be a while yet before she's wolfing down the whole lot

I have a hair appt tomorrow morning (YAY) and then the wedding in the afternoon/evening so big day tomorrow. Better go and make a start on my baby instructions for Mum looking after the kids. She likes everything written down which is great but takes aaaaaaaages!


P.S. LOVING all the posts in this thread - really do get a lot of info from what you girls write - keep em coming

[joey123]

Dentist went fine, but I did manage to count all the little dots in the ceiling to keep me distracted! And poor Lily was starving when I came out cause some how the EBM was off but she was fine. I felt horrible though!

Lily woke twice last night, and we're going out tonight to a trivia night at DD's school, so she won't be in bed till probably 10pm-ish, so I am hoping there's only one wake tonight!!

Off to try my first ever open water swim tomorrow. It's 750m. My cousin mentioned on FB last week that she was going in a triathlon. I've always wanted to try one, but never have. So tomorrow morning there's like a training session for anyone who wants to go, up at Sutton's Beach. So it will be interesting to see how I go - considering I'm a bit scared of open water!! I'm a confident swimmer in the pool, but there's walls there so you don't end up floating off to NZ!! And the run is 5km, so let's see if I even have the energy to walk up the beach after the swim!!


Jen - I agree, the info we're getting out of this thread is great. Enjoy your wedding!


Have a great weekend every one

[joey123]

She slept through

10.30pm - 5.30am (DH got her at 5.30am and didn't wake me till 6.30am)

8 hours of sleep!!!!

More later, off to get ready for my swim/run!

[*Infinity*]

Go Lily! With that amount of sleep you probably CAN swim to NZ joey! I hope it goes well for you. You sound like one fit mumma!

Jen I hope the wedding was a nice day out and a chance to glam up a bit. I can't remember the last time I did that!

Will is getting better. Still a bit snuffly and snotty but pretty happy all the same. We had a big day yesterday visiting friends, so he was tuckered out well & truly.

I'm getting nervous, I have my final assessment for my pilates qualifications this Tuesday morning. I have to deliver a one hour mat class with a couple of participants. I'm confident that I know all the exercises well enough, I just have to manage to memorise the sequence. Eeeek. Nothing like going blank when you're under pressure. DP is my guinea pig at home, he's going to do some run through's with me today to help me get my confidence up.

Take care all x

[joey123]

LB - Good luck with your exam. I'm sure you'll do great. Maybe you can write on your arm in code, or make up a word with the first letter of each exercise to help you remember them all??

Well the swim went much better than expected. So well that I did it twice I decided to do that rather than the run, seeing I can run any time I like, but it's not very often you get the chance to do an open water swim fully measured and supervised. Took me 10 mins to do the 750m the second time (was too nervous the first time and forgot to start my watch! )

It was a little scary the first time, with a few little bumps in the water, unlike the flat water of a pool. There were definately no waves or anything, but it was still very different ... and no black line to follow meant I had to keep looking up to make sure I was headed in the right direction.

Anyway, I am wrecked this arvo, but we're having a quiet day at home in front of the telly and then off to Dad's for dinner, so it's a good chance to rest up.

Bring on the triathlon!! I'm keen!!!

And LB, I'm not really that fit - just aiming to be

Hi to all the bubbas ... and mummys too of course!

[*Ang*]

We are wrecked over here too Joey...it was our first real hot day and I was manning a cake stall at our local Spring fair for DD's dancing group...we were all shattered afterwards, it is amazing how a bit of hot weather combined with the excitement of the fair can make the kids go feral!!! Think we are having toasted sandwiches for dinner, am too knackered to do anything else.

Good on you Joey for completing the swim!Much more energy then I have. And a big woohoo that Lily slept through!

Lolly I hope that your DP likes Pilates! Good luck with your exam on Tuesday.

Jenushka - how did the wedding go? We ended up not going out Sat nite, we were both way too tired.

Incidentally I gave N a bottle on Saturday in the bouncer and it worked! So thanks Jenushka for that piece of advice, and thanks to everyone else too.

We have N's christening this Sunday and my DH decided that with a week to go it would be a goodd idea to rip up our dead back lawn and replace it! We now officially have a dirt pit for a back yard, DH is going away for work this week and we have someone coming later in the week to lay the grass and retic and fix up DH's mess...can only pray that a miracle happens and it is all completed in time.

[joey123]

Ang - Great to hear that the bouncer trick worked with the bottle.

GL with your back yard, it can't look worse than ours ... we tried to do it ourselves!!!!

[*Infinity*]

Ang - sounds like the bouncer was the magic trick! Great news. Send some of that hot WA weather over here to Adelaide will ya?! Its gradually warming up but still too chilly here for my liking.

The backyard thing, good luck with that. We completely overhauled ours a couple of years ago. They took away 160 TONNES of dirt to level our yard. Then we were left with a clay pit in the middle of winter which was not pretty let me tell you that. We got lawn down as soon as we could cos we got sick of red clay getting into everything.

Been frantically practising my pilates moves before tomorrow morning. I'm freakin out now! I was ok on the weekend. Thankfully DP is a good sport and will have a good go with me tonight. He's pretty fit & flexible for a guy & he reckons it will probably help him stretch out a bit too which can't be a bad thing. I will let you know how I go tomorrow arvo when its all over & done with.

Will still has a cough and the snots, but still seems happy enough. Not much else to report really, so ciao for now!

[jenushka]

Ang - I am SO glad that the bouncer trick worked for Natalya

lolly - how did your pilates test go? Do they tell you how you went straight away or do they make you wait for the results? Sorry to hear Will's flu bug is still hanging around, but sounds like he's slowly on the mend which is good

joey - looking forward to tomorrow! Do you want me to bring anything? WTG for the double ocean swim! And yaaaaaaaaaaay for Lily's BIG sleep

The wedding was great - good to get the hair done and put on the glad rags and have a night out, but by about 9pm I was ready to head home, throw on the pj's and climb into bed! Got home just after 11 which wasn't too bad, only had a couple of glasses of bubbly so felt fine on Sunday. Last night a girlfriend and I headed to an advanced screening of Time Travellers Wife that I'd won tickets to - omg it was sooooooooooo good! The book was amazing and the movie was equally as good - not often I actually say that! So I've had a pretty social few days and feel really good for it

[joey123]

LB - How did you go with your exam?

Jen - My cousin recently did a triathlon and I thought it sounded fun (in a weird kind of way), so I thought I'd look into it and there was a training session on the weekend which was a good idea as I'd never done an open water swim before. A lot of them did it twice and then did a run. I was planning on doing it once and then the run, but figured I could run any time, so decided to do a double of the swim instead.

As for tomorrow, only if you want to. Some people will bring stuff, so there'll be enough food if you don't have time to make/call in and get anything. Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow!


AFM - Lily only woke once last night at 11.55pm (after a top up feed at 8pm) and then woke again this morning at 5am (DH got her up, so I didn't get woken till 5.45am)! YAY!

[*Infinity*]

YAY I passed!!!! Thanks for all the well wishes girls. I was so nervous this morning beforehand that I wanted to vomit! But it was all good. And I got great feedback too which was nice. Now I can teach!

Jen - give it to me straight, is the Time Travellers Wife really sad? I read the book and LOVED it, but cried a lot reading it. And I'm a sucker for sad movies. I really want to see it but just need to be prepared - one or two boxes of tissues would you say?

Poor Will - his poos have gone downhill again. A big one today that caused him a lot of distress after days of nothing. I think I'm going to have to ask the GP for a referral to a paed. Are any your bubs drinking formula? If any of you have a formula tin lying around could you do me a BIG favour and tell me how iron is in it, and what brand it is? I'm thinking about switching him over to one with less iron cos I think its part of the problem. I've started him on a baby probiotic to see if that makes a difference. If I don't see an improvement after a week I'll switch to a different milk. Its really frustrating and hard seeing him so distressed.

Hope your mums meet up goes well tomorrow ladies.