Babies born~May 16th-31st 2009 #5

[wysiwyg]

Naomi - I never got CJ measured when in brace, (I wouldn't have trusted the MCHN nurse not to yank her legs as is mad as a hatter and even if had only just taken out of brace she would forget so just always said no need). However I had this mat with cm on it and sometimes would put on her change table and then just try and see length when she was moving her legs around of her own accord. Good work on the sitting Bailey, CJ is doing very well at it to and I think that is down to the brace - she loves sitting but I need to make sure she continues to strengthen her legs so try and have her on tummy or back as much as possible (still no rolling here).

Jess - Have a great Christmas if don't hear from you again before.

AFU - Just a quick post as my mum and dad arrive for two days tonight before heading up to Darwin to see my Grandma (they are back with us Christmas Eve till NYE) so I have to clean the place a bit! CJ really seems to have got the whole standing thing now and is standing up straight instead of sticking her bum out and can do for a reasonable amount of time now. I say WOW everytime she does it which she thinks is funny. On the solids front still hasn't ingested anything but seems to enjoy all the playing around with it.

[Bella29]

Hi Girls!

Well I feel like I have forgotten half of what you have all posted as I do get in to read more than I post. So persies will be minimal. I have been trying out some of the suggestions for Jemima's sleep and it does seem to be working atm. The major premis of her ideas is that sleep breeds sleep. So if you can get your bubby to sleep well thru the day they will sleep better at nights because they arn't over tired. So we have been really trying hard to get Jemima down for her morning and afternoon naps. The other day she had two 1+hr nap and then went to bed at 7, she woke a little at 8 but I settled her with a touch to her hands and her dummy. Then she fussed at 9 and I picked her up and cuddled her. When she woke at 11 I gave her a bf and then she slept till 5!!! I was awake in bed at 4 sorta totally zonked and had to check she was alright, (which just meant looking at the monitor in the dark from bed, cos you can see a little light blipping.. I didn't know myself!! So Psntley reckons just do what you have to do to get them to sleep in the day. Don't worry too much about sleep associations, just get them to sleep and that in itself will make them much better....so far it is working. I think it is hard here in summer because we r having 35+ degree days and it is humid too. Which means she wont drink so much during the day, but then wants to have long feeds o/night. I have been taking her into the aircon in our bedroom, which runs 24/7, so when she does want to feed she is comfortable and takes more.

Anyway I am gonna go put my feet up. I did my first run today for 20mins. I am following a plan from the net called couch to 5km in 2months, so I hope to loose some of the extra kgs I have put on....all that cheese...should have given some to you guys!!

Oh and Jemima cracked the 8kg mark when we got back from melb!! Big bubba

Alright that's it I'm going

Love Bella

[~*Niadalla*~]

Hi girls,
Sorry I haven't bene around... we're not getting any sleep. Grr... nearly 3 months of this now is killing me.
Allira was waking every 20-30 minutes all night last night, so I am running on empty. Poor Hubby... I don't know how he will survive at work today.
I tried everything last night, but she wouldn't have a bar of it. Makes the waking every 2 hours seem like a good night.
Bah. Why can't she go back to what she was like before 4 months?.

Anyway, better be off. Lachie is about to head to bed, and I'll feed Allira, wack her in bed and do the same for myself. Hoping I can get na hour, but it's so unlikely.

[Snacks]

Oo, Nicky, so sorry. That sounds dreadful. Hope she starts to sleep better for you soon.
Bella: good one! Must feel so strange getting a big block of sleep again. Yes, the heat is a bugger. Last week Phoebs was waking more frequently overnight and I reckon it was because she hadn't had much to drink during the day. Glad the NCSS has been giving you some good ideas.
Vic: Great about CJ's weight-bearing! Hope you are having a great time with your parents.

Phoebe really likes avocado. But that's about it, LOL! I have had a few successes getting her to drink from a bottle or cup, which is pretty awesome. The only thing I need to worry about now is getting her to settle for sleeps without boob.
DH and I have been chatting and I think in the new year I am going to just implement some of my own business ideas. I'll do some domestic cleaning initially, then advertise at SIL's school for piano students. I haven't taught since I was at uni, but hopefully it'll be just like riding a bike, LOL! Then I'll do my 'pamper parties' some weekends and evenings. (Massage). Hopefully that'll be enough to keep us going for a while. Feeling ok about it, except that I am hopeless at spending less at Christmas. I had planned to budget and be very careful, but I've already stuffed that.
Okeys, the birthday party season has started - we're off to one today for Natty's little mate (the one she was feral with in the cafe that day, LOL!) so I shall head off and get a plate of food etc organised.
Hope everyone is ok even though you have been so quiet. xx

[Snacks]

Hope everyone is going ok. Very quiet in here
I think I have almost finished my shopping. I'm quite pleased with myself because normally I am really late getting everything and I hate the shops at Christmas.
Now I am getting excited. We've got the tree up and we're going to carols next Wednesday and Sunday nights. I'm playing piano at the Sunday night one. I have only played once since before Phoebe... will certainly be interesting!
Natty and I were talking about birthdays last night because we have so many parties coming up. I asked her how old she is going to be and she said, "I'm going to be three!" and I asked how old Daddy's going to be and she said, "He's going to be eight!" LOL.

[MummyNaomi]

Amy - LOL at your toy boy 8 yo husband - hehehehe. I thought I'd finished my christmas shopping then I remembered I need to get one more (a blackboard/whiteboard paint thingo from IKEA) for my God Son, so now that I can stick the little guy in the car seat again I will head down there (its about a 2.5hr round trip). Awesome re the performance at the carols - will you get stage fright? hhehehe Ge DH to take some pics for us please!!

Bella - how's that christmas card list going? Who's the slacker holding you up? hahahaha. Mine are ready to send - maybe send the address's you already have? LOL

We are going ok, much better today, have had a rough few days/nights with the little guy, he's been really unsettled since they adjusted his brace on monday, but it might be something else also, I dont know. Anyway last night he had a normal nights sleep, and as I went to be about 745 - I got heaps of sleep too - Yaaaay, I feel normal again. He's pretty happy today so hopefully we are back to normal here. I'm about to get started on making some pants for the little guy, I've never made anything before but I have a pattern and a sewing machine (mum dropped it off yesterday) so I am hoping I can do it, if not I have some lovely material to use as rags LMAO

Gotta go, my mothers group are about to arrive, have made yummy anzac biscuits, will try to post again later

Naomi
x

[wysiwyg]

Amy & Naomi - I admire your christmas shopping efforts - I have done none! Mind you I don't really plan on doing any - DH and I have agreed not to bother with presents, CJ have picked up somethings throughout the year which will wrap and that will at least make it look like we have a load of presents under the tree. Have got something to give my mum from ages ago, and just need to have something for my dad so has something to unwrap (he is used to not having anything though) - we are just not presents people really. Living the other side of world from most family also means no expectation of presents either - although we always get a load of junk from MIL, I never will understand spending 20 dollars to send stuff that cost 2 - would rather she gave CJ the 20 dollars or gave to charity. Stuff always has a UK theme too, like an ironing board cover with a union jack on it!

I haven't been very well - some sort of virus giving me a real sore throat and a cough - think I am getting over it now though. My parents are up in Darwin now and will see them next in Grampians on the 19th. As they are over here there is less of a demand for pictures so I can be a slacker at uploading them now!

Is there a six month wonder week? CJ seems fine most of time but is only taking very short day naps and waking up screaming which has never done before.

You may have seen on facebook about the whole massive head saga - well went to doctors yesterday who basically said mmm yes is big need to keep an eye on it, yes measuring is dodgy but has skipped percentile lines, lets see how it is next measurement - if is off the chart then will have to refer to a paed - well next appointment is 8 months and 99th according to WHO is 46.5 and depending on how I measure her head now I can get that! Doctor told me things to look out for, bulging eyes, bulging fontanell, being very sick in mornings, lethargy, not moving both sides of body in same way - none of which CJ is displaying. I really think she just has a big head but reckon we will end up having to go see a paed at 8 months, not sure what they will do a scan of some sort? I wanted the doc to say all ok just nurse being cautious but I suppose they will never say that because really what can they tell?

Cathy, Naomi - Liking your use of Picasa with the black and white and hint of colour. Cathy - can't believe Cara's stats, CJ feels like she weighs alot at 8.1kg!

Amy - Good luck with your business ideas. I am always having ideas but never get round to doing anything with them (mainly to do with trying to make money from artwork I am always doing on the PC of Melbourne - e.g. Flinders Street )

[MummyNaomi]

Is there a six month wonder week? CJ seems fine most of time but is only taking very short day naps and waking up screaming which has never done before.

There sure is - week 26. I recall Bailey's being a wonder-fortnight!! We had lots of sleep regression (he would wake at the end of each sleep cycle crying - eg every 45 minutes) and was more clinging. BG posted some info for me on FB some time back but I remember that at week 26 some of the wonder week things were nightmares, sleep regression, fussiness with feeding, clingyness to Mum (and/or Dad), cant remember what else. Bailey was quite fussy with drinking also - he was only drinking half a bottle, but kept up with his solids.

You may have seen on facebook about the whole massive head saga - well went to doctors yesterday who basically said mmm yes is big need to keep an eye on it, yes measuring is dodgy but has skipped percentile lines, lets see how it is next measurement - if is off the chart then will have to refer to a paed - well next appointment is 8 months and 99th according to WHO is 46.5 and depending on how I measure her head now I can get that! Doctor told me things to look out for, bulging eyes, bulging fontanell, being very sick in mornings, lethargy, not moving both sides of body in same way - none of which CJ is displaying. I really think she just has a big head but reckon we will end up having to go see a paed at 8 months, not sure what they will do a scan of some sort? I wanted the doc to say all ok just nurse being cautious but I suppose they will never say that because really what can they tell?

Don't you wish the Dr could just give you some reassurances? Bailey has a massive head too - his noggin is in the 50th percentile, while the rest of him is in the 3-10th percentile. Our Paed measured him and then turned to us and told us why - both Sean and I have massive heads too - we are both in the highest percentile so Bailey has no hope. Hope that gives you some peace of mind. If CJ has none of the other symptoms, he is probably just being over cautious

[Snacks]

Naomi: Nah, it's not a performance - I'm just accompanying the singing. It's just like what I used to do every week at church only have been having an extended break
Is that the easel from IKEA? Mum & Dad are giving one to Natty for her birthday (though I don't think hers has a whiteboard...). They are awesome! You buy a roll of paper and thread it through the top so no fussing about with clips and things. Is a tops idea! Bummer about the drive though
Glad you had a good night's sleep. I keep telling myself to get into bed early... P has gotten into a habit of waking up around 11... It SUCKS when I go to bed at 10, LOL! I am sooooo bleary eyed after only having gotten about 45 mins of sleep.
Good luck with the pants! I'm sure they'll be fabulous.
Vic: It'd be great not to do presents. I'd love to just do a Kris Kringle thing with the family and only buy one present, but it hasn't happened yet and I doubt it will as I think I'm the only one who wants to do it that way. I don't spend much on the adults, but the problem is there are just so many damn kids in our family, LOL! I don't spend much on them either, but it all adds up. There are 10 kids to buy for, plus my two. Then 2 of them have a birthday on 30th Nov (twins), one niece's birthday is on 17th Dec, and Natty's b'day is on 27th Dec. So many bloody presents! Then the last couple of years my great aunt and aunt have bought us a gift! Aaaagh! I bake stuff for the extended relos - that's the best I can do. Plus give them a couple of photos of the girls.
I remember thinking the week before last that we must be in a WW. Phoebe's overnight sleeping went to crap a bit and yes, she's much more clingy. Her sleeping has gotten better - only two wake-ups instead of 4+. But the clinginess has continued... maybe that wasn't a WW issue...
How much bigger is CJ's head? What percentile is it growing on and what percentile is her weight and length following? I have also heard that head size can be hereditory (Dr told me today as P's head is proportionally bigger than her body too) so might be worth measuring your own heads.

Phoebe had her shots today and I had my swine flu vax. She did so well. We had to wait for a while before going in because my dr had squeezed in another appt before ours (no problems - we've been squeezed in before when Natty's been sick) - a little boy who looked so sick, poor little guy Anyway, we were hanging out in the waiting room and Phoebe discovers she can growl. Like, really loudly and repeatedly! Talk about being one for discovering loud sounds in confined spaces! (The last time was when she found out how to squeal just before we flew down to Melbs, LOL!) So in the end we were on speaking terms with everyone in the waiting room because Little Miss was drawing so much attention to herself.
We're off to the clinic nurse tomorrow for check-ups for both girls. Am dreading Natty's one because she doesn't eat and she's not toilet trained... I think I am going to get a walloping. Ah well. After that we are off to DH's work Christmas lunch which should be lovely - a picnic.
So I shall away to bed I think. Take care, all. xx

[*TripleJ*]

sorry i havent been posting much guys just going through some stuff right now
but J is teething and its horrible he just wont be put down and hes fighting day sleeps i wish these teeth will come through already grrrrrr

[Santosha]

Hhhhiiiiiiiiiii girls. Miss you all. Barely been reading. So tired and busy and brain-fried. But just had to send you all a big

[MummyNaomi]

Is that the easel from IKEA? Mum & Dad are giving one to Natty for her birthday (though I don't think hers has a whiteboard...). They are awesome! You buy a roll of paper and thread it through the top so no fussing about with clips and things. Is a tops idea! Bummer about the drive though

Amy - Thats the one, I'm probably wrong about the whiteboard bit, it was a while ago I looked at it, I agree, the bit where you can attach the roll of paper is fabbo, I am going to get Bailey one when he is old enough. I remember when I visited my Bro+SIL+neices once my SIL had put a massive big roll of the paper along their fence, for about 10 metres, the girls had an absolute blast painting it, it kept them happy for hours.

I whinge but in truth I love IKEA - I can happily spend a few hours there, one of my friends once told me our house looks like an IKEA showroom, so yes, I certainly like their stuff - I might even have a meal LMAO - I LOVE the meatballs!! So the despite the drive I will enjoy it hehehehehe

J - sorry to hear you are having a tough patch - hope everything works out

Kat - Hi!! Hope to hear more from you soon when things settle down and you have time for a cuppa and a post

BG - sounds like you guys are getting all sorted for Chrissie from your FB posts, nice work

[briggsy's girl]

yeah Christmas is on it's way here! i love it! we've put up a few of the outside lights (in the rain while E slept briefly yesterday - yes, we're nuts!) and the rest will go up tonight and tomorrow. we've accumulated heaps over the past few years at the after Christmas sales - i am determined they're going up this year!

Amy - the carols sound like fun. we tend to hear our town ones from here, but don't really go. for one, the last few years it's been horrid weather wise - and it's not feeling all that much better at the moment - WHO turned on the damn cold weather again??

Naomi - sorry to hear Bailey had more troubles when his brace was adjusted. his photos on FB seem like he's doing really well in spite of the restrictions - his smile is very contagious!

J - E seems to be doing similar with the lack of sleep at the moment. the last two nights we've had only one wake up in 8 hours - the fortnight before that we had as many as half a dozen. i was thinking a combination of wonder week, growth spurt, teething - poor little mites get hit with everything at once!

Vic - love the pic you did - i wish i had some creative outlet that i could make a dollar (or more!) from. it's lovely to hear that CJ is using her little legs more - won't be long and she'll be right where she needs to be with the rest of these bubbas

hi to everyone else (having a fuzzy brain day so can't manage more persies!)

AFU - i'm sick - stupid damn cold doing my head in! E sounds like she has mild sniffles at the moment, so i'm not loving that idea! she has been doing really well, and given i've had this for several days, i'm surprised she hasn't picked it up badly already. looks like i'll have to go back to work to earn some money to pay for specialist treatment for DH as he got offered a job but failed a medical due to an eye condition he has. IF we can get him new glasses that correct his eyes, he will be able to take the job - but there is a chance he'll be restricted from driving large trucks long term (this is the restriction put on him for now - no semis) - which restricts his employability hugely. sigh. sucks big time. i'm procrastinating on emailing work. i don't want to leave her!

[~*Niadalla*~]

Vic! Lachie had a massive head. He had a massive head from day one of conception!! haha

Throughout my ultrasounds, the sonographers were always commenting on how big his head was. At my morph scan, his brain ventricles were a bit on the larger side, and they were a little worried about Hydrocephalus. So off we went to have extra scans throughout the pregnancy. Everything looked fine... just on the high end of normal.
He had a reasonbly large sized head at birth 37.5cms, but he wsa practiucally 9 lbs, so he didn't look all that odd. We had a scan 2 weeks after his birth and things looked the same, but NORMAL.

We have had to keep an eye on his HC ever since he was born. If it shot up too much, we were to head to a pead. Always thought it would have been pretty hard for his head to shoot up alot as he was always in 97th+ percentiles.

We never had any real issues. His head alwys grew, but nothing ridiculous. It FINALLY slowed down and by nearly 2 years of age, it was only just above average!! Holy cow! haha.
We have always had trouble with the head holes of shirts and jumpers, hat sizings etc etc, but he's perfectly happy and healthy.
I know it's not quite the same as what you guys might be going through, but thought maybe our story might help in some small way? I just had a look at his blue book and his HC was 46.6cms at 7 months.
I bet she's just chock full 'o' brains! That's what I like to tell myself about Lachie anyway. haha.


Hi everyone! Sleeping is better, but not fantastic. Allira seems to have decided that she neds more milk feeds and is having 2 at night now. Weird kid. I have tried just offering water at one of those, but she won't have a bar of it and if we want sleep.....
So from today onwards, it's 3 meals plus snacks a day. She seems to sleep really well after she's had a day full of foos, so we'll try that next (along with a bit more of a sleeping routine).

Just wondering, what are your little one's diets like?
We are doing the BLS thing, with the occasional attmept at pureed type stuff ( which she HATES). Sh'ed much prefer to have a few good bits of roast beef in her mouth.
Those doing BLS, are your bubs getting much down? Are they chweing peices off food and swallowing? Allira doesn't seem to chew bits off foods, she chews, and sucks and plays, and her dirty nappies show my noce that she's getting some down, but she's not quite doing the whole proper eating thing yet.
I guess I've been careful with what foods I introduce. I've been doing plain vegies and fruits and things like that... are you girls giving more like your meals?
We are going to do spag for lunch... lord give me strength ( LOL) and I will have the bath ready to go as soon as she's finished.

ok I don't ven know what I'm on about anymore, and these kids have both woken up on the wrong side of bed with runny noses, so I better go. Might does myself up on some panadol... LOL Just kidding.

xxoo

[briggsy's girl]

vic - i meant to mention about the larger head thing - E has a big boofhead too - no one has commented on it - but if they do, i'll drag out my health book and my mum's - we were both big headed boofas too! my bro is, so is DH - we all have larger than average sized heads (for all them brains squooshed in there lol) - so E was bound to have the same thing happen. i actually looked at mum's health book just before E was born - and she was somewhere around the 7-8pound mark - and her head circ was over 40cm - so yeah, big bood heads all round here. i can understand why you're following up on it, but it's most likely just one of those things. CJ seems ok so i'm sure it's just a precaution

Nicky - E just has one or two of the vegies we're having on our plate at any given time - haven't started her on meat yet (mainly cos we've been eating meals we made for DH when he was away so they're chilli or curry rich!) - but thinking we might try it during the week. she mostly smooshes stuff unless she is really hungry - it gets bitten off, chewed and spat out more often than not - but some is getting down. a LOT ended up on the floor yesterday. think she was tryingt o tell us she'd had enough and clean up cos even the little bits got brushed off the high chair!

[wysiwyg]

Thanks for all the stories about big heads - I am not that worried but would rather not keep staring at her head all the time wondering what is going on! When they put these thoughts in your mind is hard to totally ignore.

Is it right there are no head circumference charts for adults because head doesn't grow much after about 5? Have just measured my head and is about 56

Have found some charts and my head looks to be around 85th percentile for my height, and I bet DH is around there too. We don't have any books to refer back to - so those of you who have said have big heads how do you know?

CJ was born at 35cm and is now 45cm so a growth of 10cm.

[MummyNaomi]

Vic - our Paed measured Sean and My heads - he had an adult percentile chart and thats where we got our info, I just re-measured my head - its 59.5cm, bloody hell LOL !! I think he said something like only 2 or 3 in 100 people have a bigger head than me - we were right at the top of the percentile

[briggsy's girl]

i know i have a boof head from when i had to buy an acubra a couple of years back - my head is, from memory, around 60cm

well, E is asleep after "helping" daddy hang some Christmas lights outside - she was so excited the whole time - i had her in the carrier, and she was going ballistic. she held the lights for him (soooooo gently - i was surprised), talked the whole time. took twice as long as it shoudl have, but it was cute.

AF has shown up here - which i'm finding really annoying! so long without a cycle while TTC, fully BF (well, may as well be - the food is definitely for fun not for feeding at the moment!) - and she turns up after 6 months. DH and I talked - russian roullette time here. bugger all chance of a natural pg with all my issues - but we'll see what happens. need a baby that sleeps long enough for us to have fun for it to happen first... lol