Babies born~May 16th-31st 2010 #1

[Peta]

Hi Ladies!

Wow you're a lucky cookie Doodlebug. A P&T will be great! I love the way you have Logan eating. Does he get any tummy pains or anything going straight onto "real" food or is he all good? I would love to give Alyssa more as she eyes off our dinner every night.

Today we had our first swimming lesson. It went quite well I think. Alyssa didn't have her usual morning sleep though so was tired from the start, so got a bit teary halfway through, but I think she really liked it. We will persist as this is the one thing I am adamant she will be doing no matter what.

Have day care sorted too. She is booked in at a private day care centre (ie, not a franchise type one) Wed, Thur & Fri each week starting January so that is a relief to have done. This is the centre I sort of preferred all along but it is closer to work than home. Would have been nice to have it the other way round (closer to home than work) but not to worry, its about the quality of care / centre at the end of the day.

Well not much else happening here today. I hope you are all well, Peanutter,Yules, HB, GiggleMonkey, Miskilla, Ellie & anyone else I have missed. Take care, speak soon xo

[YoYo]

Hi Girls

Just a quick hello from Thailand. THings going well.....'sort of' relaxing! Enjoying this spunky villa and Thai food!

Sharon - I"ll have to take some tips off you when I"m home RE; the Baby led solids. I might give it a try.
Peta - I loved swimming lessons with Max. I started with him at 5 months and loved it. I might do it with Darcie when I'm home depending on how long I get to stay there. IT's all dependant on how long it takes for DH to get his visa into Jersey....so FUnny...he has to be a dependant on my British Passport! He hates it!

Back to SIngapoo tomorrow and getting organised to leave. MIght not be on much but will try and keep up with the reading!

xx

[Doodlebug]

Peta - I actually feel lucky!!! I got the cheapest 4 wheeler when ds1 was born and have had second hand prams ever since, he's now 5yrs old! I felt soooo special taking 'phil' for a walk Monday and Tuesday! Bummed the weather is overcast here today, I'm just not ready for him to be wet yet! hahaha!
Logan seems to be taking the solids just fine, no obvious tummy cramps or anything and he would have after the pork rib if he was going to get any! Dad had marinaded it in some honey/soy/chilli mix!

I haven't booked Logan into swimming yet, might look at next term (Feb) or even Stateswim. They don't do by terms so I don't need to wait so long before starting him!

Glad daycare is all sorted for you! Totally agree, for me with ds1 it came down to the carer in his room rather than the centre itself.

Yules - glad you're enjoy Thailand! Not long now till you're home and it's coffee/markets/walking time!!!!!

Big hello to everyone else, hope you're all travelling well!!!!

xx

[crumpet]

As for the pram saga..... I FINALLY figured out what I want and bought it! After going to one shop, choosing the one I thought I wanted, got home, walked around the block, steering pulled to the right and the brake was super hard to put on, came home, whinged to husband, cried coz I thought I'd wasted a bunch of money. He packed it up in the box and took it back the next day! Got a refund and then went to the other shop and bought............ a Phil and Ted Explorer!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! If I could kick husband out of bed and take Phil I'd be a happy girl!!! Only downside is Phil has a sore foot! One of his wheels is buckled so I'll call the shop and see if I can take it in this morning, don't really want to have to take Phil with me, as you can tell we've become quite close in the last couple of days!
ETA - Crumpet - just saw on fb you're 30 weeks!!! Yay Photos of wormettes room please!!!

oohh congrats on the arrival of ur "Phil"!! i looove my "Phil" sports, but the explorer looks awsome in the shop!

yep 30 weeks!!

bit of a saga going on really.

wont waste a mass of space in here, but basically we are preparing for her to arrive anytime now. shouldnt be that much of a suprise really!

cervix has shortened again in the 2 weeks since my last appt, its now 1cm to where the stitch is and if im lucky there might be 7-9mm above the stitch.
the stitch has also surfaced which cause some bleeding and thats how we knew things wernt quite right.
her head is right on my cervix and engaged, not sure how far though, and putting a lot of pressure on there, which looks to be the cause of everything happening.

so im on total bed rest at home AGAIN for 2 weeks, and then a scan and we will evaluate what the next step is, if we get that far.
OB said he doesnt think ill go in the next 2 weeks but at the same time he wont be suprised.

so we are aiming to get to 32 weeks, and maybe even 34 but the chances of hitting 37 are now so slim they are nearly non exisitent.

oohh and ive got pics of wormettes room up on FB now!!

big to everyone !!!

[Peta]

How exciting for you crumpet!!

Just a quick one, off to the Dr to try to get a referral to see someone further about Alyssa's head. It has a major flatspot on one side & just doesn't seem to be popping out (we have a special pillow & I have been doing my best to keep her off it, upright or on her tummy). I know sometimes these things just take time, but it is really worrying me that we will miss the window for an easy fix if I leave it too long.

BBL xo

[Doodlebug]

Peta - good luck at the dr! Let us know how it goes!

Crumpet - hang in there hun!!! NO MORE MACCAS RUNS!!!!!! Legs up and enjoy the crappiness of daytime telly!!!!

[Peta]

Hi Ladies

So we left the dr with a request for XRay & referral to paediatrician with the view that we might need to get Alyssa a helmet to wear for a period of time. I just wish the importance of not letting them lie in one particular way was emphasised more at the hospital (instead of 15 million ways to BF). Not to worry, the dr doesn't believe her skull has fused yet so still time to fix easily. So, Monday we are off to see what the paediatrician thinks. Alyssa was very good for her Xray, lying nice & still so the guy only had to have one go.

I'm with You Doodlebug on the crap day time TV. Even with all these extra free to air channels, there's still nothing on worthwhile. It is good if you just want to zone out for a moment though.

Well I managed to find time to bake some White Chocolate & Macadaemia cookies this morning. They are delicious & nearly all gone!! Alyssa has been focusing all her attention on food and not so much on milk the last few days. She's pretty much doubled her food intake (from 180 grams per day up to about 300 grams). She must be growing. Did try chicken & sweet corn puree at lunch & most of that came back up. Obviously not liking that yet. She loves all the fruit & vege purees though so that is good. I guess when she is ready she'll take to the other ones, we'll just keep offering them till then.

Ok, best go spend some time with DH. I don't really feel like we connect any more somedays. I guess that's something people say but you don't expect when you have a child. Till tomorrow, xo

[YoYo]

Peta I know it's no consolation but I was reading a book that informed me that the Chinese think that a baby with a flat head is a good thing Good luck at the doc's. Wow...Aly is hoeing into the food! I'm looking forward to feeding Darcie now....it's a fun stage! Oh and it's pretty normal not to feel so connected to your DH after baby....coz your focus is just so much more on the baby, than them....but maybe you can put some spark back in by going on a date every now and then.

Crumpet OMG thinking of you...Hang in there baby.....If only you had McDelivery

[peanutter]

Hi there, all

yules - tell me more about Thailand please, so I can have a vicarious holiday ... mmmmm ....

peta - sorry to hear! I hope the helmet helps, and that little head is all nice and curvy with no damage or lasting negatives in no time

crumpet - legs up, baby in and plenty of rest! for you, that wormette is growing delightfully and will be in your arms soon ... but not too soon! let's impress those Drs with the fantastic results of their stitches ...

everyone else - helloooooooooo! Hope you're all doing fabulously, and are less cold and wet than us!

afm - i missed out on telling you gals the last stage of the saga ... I had an appt with the ob, who said that it was all healed ... I said it was not, and that the surgeon had said (only the week prior) that it would continue healing over the next 3 months or so. He said no, the mucosa had grown over, and so it was done, and it I wasn't happy with the "gaping" then I would need to have more surgery ... maybe 1, maybe more ... I said that this is not "gaping" this is a cavern of a size which would enable me to put Joshua back up there, and have room for his blue book too (not in those words, though...)

He also basically suggested that I was silly for thinkng that my whoo har was going to be all the same as it was before having a baby. I'm not an idiot, I knew it was going to be different, stretched, looser, different shape, maybe cut and stitched back up, etc. That is not what we were talking about. This is completely different, this is all of the above and then some, with the stitching not being stitched up anymore. Doofus.

I then burst into tears with no pants on and my legs still up in the air. the thought of more surgery is abhorrent, but I don't see how DH and I would be able to succesfully have sex with my fifi in its present condition, so how is that "fixed" or "healed"?? And how the frig would I be able to get pregnant, if I can't have sex? Not being able to have sex is not ok with me. Nor is not being able to have further children.

I was awfully distracted the following day at work, kept on crying, and was all in all a mess (which was even more awful because people at work don't know what's going on - just that there were complications with the birth, and I've been having Drs appointments, etc).

Long story short, it dawned on me that the Ob that I saw was the Ob who burned me quite badly because it hadn't occured to him that putting a dressing over the spot where he'd just cauterised granular tissue might be a good idea ... so believing him blindly instead of the specialist surgeon who did my operation might not be too logical ... and even being upset about his opinion might be a waste of emotional energy.

So today, I paged the surgeon, and just asked him outright - you told me this, the Ob told me that, what's going on please? The surgeon was not happy jan with the Ob, and all but called him an idiot, and confirmed that I would continue healing over the next 3 or so months, and that while further surgery was always a possibility, that is not something we'd be looking at anytime soon - because it hasn't finished healing. And he said that *any* doctor should know that.

So I am feeling somewhat better, and somewhat relieved.

I am still however very unhappy with the hospital, my care in general, the obs who "took care" of me, some of the midwives (like the one who told me not to bother coming into the hospital until my contractions were regular to the second and had been that way for 1-2 hours) and the junior surgeon who accidentally cut me and didn't tell me or apologise for it. And the ward clerk who took away my lunch when I *told* her I was going to eat it, and said she'd being me something fresh and never did, despite the fact that I was breastfeeding and couldn't go and get myself something to eat or drink.

Might sound petty, but I'm at the end of my rope and I've had enough.

Ah, this was a bit long. Sorry.

[crumpet]

Crumpet - hang in there hun!!! NO MORE MACCAS RUNS!!!!!! Legs up and enjoy the crappiness of daytime telly!!!!

im trying to avoid maccas im getting there!!
pretty much over the crap day time telly now!!

Crumpet OMG thinking of you...Hang in there baby.....If only you had McDelivery

thanks hun, doing well!
oh god if only we did have mcdelivery!
id be in heaven!!

crumpet - legs up, baby in and plenty of rest! for you, that wormette is growing delightfully and will be in your arms soon ... but not too soon! let's impress those Drs with the fantastic results of their stitches ...
Might sound petty, but I'm at the end of my rope and I've had enough.

Ah, this was a bit long. Sorry.

thanks hun, im resting up, am to tired to do anything else now!

oh hun one could blame you for being at the end of your rope, you have been through one hell of a time, i for one cant send enough squishy 's your way, i know it doesnt fix things i hope it makes u feel a bit better though...

just had another appt with the OB and he is really happy, especially seeing things have settled a lot since last week, he thinks ill hit 34 but not much more than that.
that suits me just fine, 3-4 more weeks i can manage i think!

[Ellie]

Hi everyone...reading when I can but life witha 20 month old and 5 month old is crazy as usual! Feeling heaps better and like I've 'surfaced'

Big hugs to everyone...and tummy rubs to crumpet...hang in there hun!

Exxx

[GiggleMonkey]

Peanutter: Super big cyber to you hun. You are truely inspirational how you are dealing with all of your medical problems, working and being a wonderful mother to Joshua all at the same time. You deserve a huge pat on the back for holding up as well are you are. I hope that everything is on the up and up for you and you are able to look towards a positive future that includes being able to dtd and have more children.

Crumpet: Hang in there little wormette.

Peta: I hope the helmet works for little Alyssa's head. I noticed quite early on that Deacon favoured holding his head to the left side and luckily it was picked up early enough that it was easily fixed. It also helped that as part of the mothers group held by the CHN's they had a physio do a session on baby exercises and things to look out for. She gave me some good advice and simple little exercises to do as Deacon had a slight torticolis (sp?). He's good now and doesn't favour any side in particular and his little flat spot has rounded back into shape nicely. Glad to hear you have your day care all sorted out.

I feel exactly the same way that you do on both the info about looking after a LO once your home and the change in relationship with DH. Our biggest downfall is that we don't have any family close by to call on. All of my family live 7 hours away and DH's are 5 hours. We also only have a handful of people we would trust to look after Deacon and we don't want to put anyone out by having to ask them to come to our place to look after him. What to do, what to do......

Doodlebug: I missed the NN garage sale. Coz it was on WA time, I was in bed before it started.... Glad to hear 'Phil' is great. I'm starting Deacon on BLS too and he loves it.

Yules: Hope you had a lovely time in Thailand and your move back to Oz is smooth-sailing.

Ellie: Glad to hear you are feeling better.

Holly, MT, Miskilla, Sunshine and anyone I've missed.

AFM: Thank you for all your healing vibes for Deacon. He managed to get better in just a couple of days. Pity the same can't be said for me... I still have a bit of a cough that I just can't seem to shake.

As I mentioned, I've started Deacon on BLS. So far he's had some steamed carrot (I've since discovered it comes out the bottom end the way it goes in at the top....), watermelon and thick rice cereal that he had an absolute ball playing with. I've ordered a copy of Baby-Led Weaning and can't wait to read it. I want to have a read of that before I proceed too much further. I'm really just stumbling my way through at the moment..... Looking at giving steamed sweet potato a try tonight. I went to a solids info session held by one of the CHN's and it was all on mash/puree etc. The first night I tried rice cereal with Deacon, not really knowing too much about BLS and Mr Independent wouldn't have a bar of me feeding him with a spoon, he wanted to do it himself!!! With that I thought he would be best off going the BLS way and he loves it. He thinks it's great feeling/playing/gumming his food. Just as much gets spat back out as what goes down, but that's the fun of it

We just had the biggest storm come through. Thunder, lightning, heavy rain and Deacon slept straight through it all. He definately sleeps more like DH than me, which I'm glad about

Deacon is getting much better at his sitting. He sat all on his own yesterday afternoon for about a minute. It was so funny coz he was balancing himself by holding one foot while he held his rattle in his other hand. He also corrected himself from tipping over twice, which was good. I had him on his tummy with a towel under him (tip from physio to help with arm strength) and he lifted his bum up and bought his knees up under him Won't be too much longer and our LO's will be scooting around on the floor, how exciting!!!!

Take care xo

[YoYo]

Hey Girls

Just a message to say I'll be MIA from now....packing, paperwork, organising.....stressed! I'm back in Perth on Sunday so will be back Monday with any luck Oh and got Darcie weighed today 6560g, 62cm long! YAY she's so little!

Love to all xx

[Peta]

Hi Ladies

Peanutter I wish I could come give you a big hug, obviously I can't, but all of my positive thoughts are with you. I would have snapped long before now. Really, doctors must think we're dumb sometimes.

Yules - happy packing!

Giggles - sounds like Deacon is having fun with his food which is good. Alyssa certainly has a bit of an appetite, but brekkie is still a bit of a circus. She'll have a 180ml bottle easy (but not if its filled to 230ml), and then sometimes she will have about 60g food (puree) but other times she mucks around so much that I just give up & figure she can wait till her next bottle. Lunch & Dinner are no problems at all and she eats 110grams a go at each of them! Little rat!!

So, update on paediatrician, he looked at Alyssa's head and advised that he would not go for the helmet. He doesn't feel it is that bad and apparently kids heads grow till they're 15!! He gave us the name of where to get a helmet should we choose to but he said he wouldn't do it for his own child. To me that was good enough not to. He said there is so much contradictory evidence out there about whether they even do any good. I told him all the things we have been actively doing to try to fix it ourselves and he said that it was perfect and if we kept at it, her head would fill in over time. Plus once she gets hair it won't be as noticeable. So, feeling calmer about that situation.

Swimming went great today. Big smiles the whole time & there was another little girl & her mummy in our class today so that was nice.

Not much else happening. Hope you all have a win on the Cup tommorrow, we're off to my work for a lunch/all day party & might drop into DH work too. Till then xo

[peanutter]

Deacon is getting much better at his sitting. He sat all on his own yesterday afternoon for about a minute. It was so funny coz he was balancing himself by holding one foot while he held his rattle in his other hand.

naaaaaaaaa, sounds like the cutest thing ever!!!

and ellie - hello!!! so nice to hear from you

[BrightSparkles]

Hi Girls,
I know it has been a VERY long time since i've been in here. I'm been MIA for a while with only one computer here but also since we'lve been having issues with Miss S. She has been VERY full on and VERY demanding and not sleeping to the point she has had me stressed and in tears more often than not.
We have given her some solids at night time and she seems to be enjoying them. Her eyes move around looking for it.
Back at wk 4 days now, have been for a week - all going well so far, fingers crossed it continues that way.
I will sit down and try and catch up on everyones post - i'm very sorry for no personals.
Hope everyone is well. xx

[peanutter]

great to hear from you sunshine!

FX that Miss S settles down nicely, and learns how wonderful sleep is, soon

[Peta]

Hi Ladies

Wow Sunshine, it sounds like you have your hands full & working too. I am dreading January when I go back to work. I know I have everything in place & childcare is good for kids (especially only children), but I just want to stay at home with my little girl. I have been doing some casual work the last week & taking Alyssa with me. It is not the best set up & I get quite worried about the rest of the staff being annoyed by her crying. Luckily I can now do some stuff from home, so that should be a little easier.

Well I got a very cool pressie today for my birthday. DH gave me a drive in a rally car (I think its 8 laps on a circuit)! Should be a blast. Would have been nice just to have the day off being a mum & spend some time re-finding me, but I guess that's the life of a mum. Have had a huge weekend, lunch out yesterday, friends for dinner last night, then lunch out today with the family. Poor little Alyssa is very worn out though refuses to acknowledge it, but she is in bed now for the night. It is really muggy here tonight, summer must be coming finally.

Any hints on stroller shopping, I think what I'm looking for doesn't exist - an umbrella fold, well built, has a food tray thing at the front & somewhere for my drink bottle at the back, able to travel on a plane....... I think what I want is bigger than a stroller........ Any suggestions on brands or models?

Have a good one & speak soon. xo