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

Gee Barb..you seem to get the rough end of the stick alot! I hope things improve for you and the interview for the job in Singapore is just a formality and the job is yours!
Have you heard how your Dad is? I had a lady at work who had a hernia operation and they discovered later as she was sick also that she was having an allergic reaction to the netting or binding they use??? I hope they found out what was wrong.
I bet Poppy is now loving all the extra attention she is getting :)

Nae: Hope you managed to get some sleep in the end. Have you had alot on your mind lately that is keeping you awake?

Jody: 7kg..that is a bonny babe. I bet he is still the cutest. You are so organised expressing. When do you start your PI course?

Hope everyone else is doing well.

AFM and Tess: All good. She is a catnapper during the day. I think there is so much going on around her with both boys being home she just wants to be amongst it. She sleeps best when we are out and on the move during the day. She has gone back to waking just once in the night. I ended up buying a Gro Bag for her as I no longer swaddle and she shuffles up so doesn't stay under the blankets. It's a summer one so I put her in her PJ's and pop her in it or on a hot night just a long sleeve oncesie and the Gro Bag. I think it makes a difference. She likes to suck her hands so that helps her settle nicely. She is still going to bed between 6-7 at night so that routine is working well.
I had to take Ben to paediatric dentist as when he was a baby he had lots of ear infections and on antibiotics and the antibiotics has caused problems with his baby teeth. He needs to have his 4 back molars capped with stainless steel crowns. It will be done under a general..poor thing :shakehead: This will be his third general in his short little life, the first two were for his ears and having adenoids removed.
They say things happen in 3's so my three is the dishwasher has just been repaired, the car is getting fixed on Thursday (central locking again!) and now Ben. So I hope that's my lot for a while.

Take care everyone

x Heather

Oh, Tecopa, I didn't read your post properly 7KG!!!! He's enormous! I don't think Poppy is 5kg yet. But, remember Elizabeth Hurley had an enormous baby, so it's obviously quality genes that are making Elliot such a bouncing boy.

And Heather, yes, things aren't going so well for us at the moment. I really like things to be organized and I find it very frustrating when things are so out of my control. I thought everything was organized for our return but every single thing seems to have gone wrong. (And I'm not a drama queen). The police turned up the other night at 11pm to ask why the foreigner had not been registered by DP's brother. I think all the signs are telling me that things are not going to get any easier if we stay in Vietnam.

Thankfullly Poppy is an easy baby now. She sleeps through the night and is usually quite happy during the day. She gets grumpy in the evenings but I then so do I! She rolled over today, so she is growing, even though she's not drinking as much as the midwives told me she should be.

Hi Nae, I hope you are getting your sleep. I am still very tired all the time.

Sorry for lack of persies... still without internet, trying to catch up on things over a coffee at an internet cafe. Thankfully Vietnam is very generous with free wifi!

Hey Barb

Hope it all works out for you! Does sound a bit like maybe your future doesn't lie in Vietnam! How is the job application going for the Singapore position?

It's now 5.50am and I have been watching Elliott sleep for an hour - cause he is on his belly! I am trying to for the first time cause he tends to wake anywhere from 3-4am and be really unsettled and unhappy until 7 or 8 am when his morning poo arrives. And it's breaking my heart to see him wake up, cry, wake up, cry, wake up, cry for hours on end. Such a bad start to the day! Plus me not getting sleep - having to keep putting dummy in his mouth, or breastfeed him - which is leading to bad nipple pain again cause it's hours and hours of on and off the boob to help the digestion happen..SO my sister suggested seeing what happens if I flip him over when the crying starts. 4.30 he woke and I did the dummy tricks and re-settling and then thought I'd see what happened if I rolled him over. INSTANT calm, happy baby, sleeping soundly! Now I'm just not sure bout if I can cope with him on his belly cause of the SIDS scare tactics!! I'm a scientific gal and want to know exactly what extra risk this puts him at in numbers but that info isn't on the web really I don't think! Just lots of NO DON'T DO IT.

Apart from the morning poo drama Elliott is wonderful and a pretty easy baby - very talky and happy and joyful and chilled out. We went to a Mum's and Bub's movie with about 50 other babies yesterday and he slept through half, fed for a bit and then seemed to enjoy watching the movie for part too! And he was half a kilo heavier than the 5 month old next to him. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.

For a social life we've joined in some ABA activities which was fun, although I am a little scared of the BF "nazis" lol, and signed up for Gymbaroo. Also our playgroup run by the Early Childood Centre starts today. Then add to that the movie sessions and I'm going to be out of the house quite bit - but only a few hours a day at most! I'm loving being a Mama.

Hey Jody: Glady to see you are in the swing of things and getting out there! I hope everything is coming together with 'baby daddy' finally co-operating! Gymbaroo sounds great...we have one too and I may start something like that with Tess when School goes back. Ahhh yes...the tummy sleep (no sand in my undies :lol:). You do really just get to a point with whatever works, can he roll onto his tummy and back again yet? Otherwise maybe invest in one of the breathing monitors if he is going to be a tummy sleeper to put your mind at ease. I think the risk factor is how much air flow he has around his nose and mouth while on his tummy or side and can get back onto his back himself. Read about this with all the tummy sleep threads that are on here.

Nae: Has your pram arrived yet? How is Shae going with the silent reflux? How is the sleep going?

Barb: How did the telephone interview go? Did they give you any indication of you went? :pray: you get it. Poppy sounds like she is doing well..rolling too that's great!

Emma and anyone I missed :hello:

AFM: Tess is still doing great. Sleeping well at night, I am only getting up once for a quick feed then not again till 7:30-8, she loves to sleep in :dance: Finally I got one who likes to sleep in!! Sometimes she does an all nighter which is great. She is very chatty and interactive and great when we go out, pretty much just sleeps while we are out. I am trying to get her into a feed, play, sleep routine during the day, not easy when I have to get out to do things, we are just winging it at the moment while Oscar is on school hol's and that seems to be working for her. She has a bath every night and sometimes there are all three in the bath..she loves it! Usually one of the boys want to get in with her. She is in bed by 7pm everynight then the boys between 7-8pm, so plenty of adult time for us.
The Mirena has settled well. Bernie hasn't noticed it :) I am still spotting, hopefully that will disappear altogether soon enough.

bye for now :D

Hi all, sorry I've been MIA for a while. I've been keeping up, just not posting. Haven't had a day at home in so long I'm almost craving it..... Does that sound bad???? I'm loving being a mummy though. Starting to think I don't want to go back to work for even the 3 day minimum that work told me I had to work (not going back till October anyway) and I'm starting to think I might have to tell them sooner rather than later that I won't be. I'm an accountant so it's not really fair to make them go through the July period down a senior when I'm not sure I want to come back. Especially seeing as we're thinking we only want 2 years between the kids so id only be back 3 months and have to tell them i'm pregnant again. don't think it would go down very well seeing as it didn't this time and i've been working there for 5 years (and was there for 4 years before that - my old boss left and i had to leave so i worked with him for a year and came back) :wall:. Thinking I'd rather do some bookkepping from home or find a job that will let me work from home instead but we'll see how that goes.......

I've put some new photo's on facebook. Hopefully the link works....... Emma Haigh's Photos - Alyssa Maree | Facebook

Miss A is getting so good at her tummy time. she loves holding her head up now. Growing up so quickly.

She's having her day sleeps in the cot now. Think i might only have a few weeks left of nights in the bassinett so that's a bit scary. Apart from that we're going really well. I only get up once a night still and usually only for a quick 5 minute feed then we're back down. some nights not at all (depending how late she went to bad the night before. She's such a good baby!!! but i think i deserve it after being sick for 9 months and having a horror labour!!!

Hi turtlejane - welcome!! i haven't written my birth story yet either. probably should cause it would give me a bit of closure but i still tear up a bit when i think about it so i don't know that i'm quite ready. I like being able to forget about it and pretend she just appeared......

GTBBIA - OMG what a couple of weeks for you!!! How'd the interview go for Singapore?? Sounds like the universe is definately telling you it's time to move on. I don't know how you managed with the family. Mine drove me slightly nuts over chrissy and they were only here for a week and stayed at Mums so we still had the house to ourselves and went up when we wanted to. Just told them she was sleeping when we wanted to stay home ;). Hope your dad's okay and everything has settled down for you!!!

Nae - hope everything is going better. it all seems so overwhelming sometimes doesn't it!!!

Heather - hope everyhting is fine with Ben's teeth. Just what you need to deal with!!! ANd cars - don't get me started. Ours just cost us $1,300 for the 100k service. and has another $700 worth of work to do on it on top of rego this month!!! And the battery is almost flat again and it's only 18 months old. Thinking it might be time to get rid of it and get something smaller. DH only drives it to work so it doesn't need to be too big. Just got to decide.....

Tecopa - I grew up sleeping on my tummy and i'm sure most of us on this forum did too. They used to tell mothers to put us on our bellies to stop us choking. But i know i'd be the same as you if Alyssa was on her tummy. She's stuck in a sleep positioner to make sure she can't roll. Mummies just a little paranoid :rolleyes:. Sounds like you're being a very social butterfly!! I want to go to a mums and bubs movie but i'm a little scared i'll be the one with the baby who cries..... Miss A doesn't like to be held while we are sitting. lots of standing goes on in this house!!!

Go to go. Meant to be doing the ironing while DH is at cricket (crazy in this heat!!) but it's too hot even with the AC on. 40 degrees today and yesterday. just waiting for the change that's meant to come!!!

Hi Tecopa, my sister put one of her boys to sleep on his stomach all the time. She said she considered the risk of her murdering him higher than the risks of SIDS. He would only stop screaming on his tummy. I still worry about Poppy not breathing, though, so I understand why you keep checking on him.
Hi Emma, the work dilemma is tricky, isn't it? My dad used to be an employment officer with a big company in the 80s. They actually had a policy of discriminating against young women, who might take maternity leave and cost the company money. I'm glad things have changed. In Australia at least. It's still very 1984 here in Vietnam. Oh, and the pics of Alyssa are just adorable!
Heather, glad things are going so well for you. You're an old hand now. You may as well have a few more, now you've worked out how to do it so easily!
Hi everyone else.
AFM - I'm still stuck in the flat, still waiting on news on the work front. We may get the key to our new place tonight. I hope DP isn't too tired to lug all our stuff over there. My back is killing me from the rock hard bed and flat pillows we've been sleeping on.
And the bad news keeps coming. My dad had a fairly minor operation scheduled for January 11, timed for after we left so it wasn't too much for mum. He was supposed to be in overnight but he got an infection. On Saturday mum rang me to say he was having a heart attack and was in an ambulance on route to Brisbane for heart surgery. Later she called back and said it wasn't a heart attack, just his heart not coping with the poison in his system. He's got to have another op on Wednesday to clear out the pus and gunk. Mum is so stressed. On day she's got a house full of people, a son-in-law to tease and cook for her, a baby to play with and a fit and healthy husband. A few days later she's got an empty house and her sweetheart is at death's door. I really want to go home and give her a hug but we just can't afford it. And I'd like to give my dad a hug too, cos he's having such a rough time.

Gotta rush. I've left Poppy with the new nanny ($150/month for four hours a day five days a week). I feel so guilty leaving Poppy alone, especially cos she slept all morning so she's hardly had any Mummy time today. But I just have to use the internet. I'm going crazy stuck in the house talking baby talk Vietnamese with the brother-in-law's maid and real baby talk to Poppy. It's a very interesting cultural experience this past fortnight. I'm wondering if I should write a story about it.

Hi All,

Emma: Love the pic's of Alyssa, sooo cute! Car...mmm, we need something with more seats but not really any bigger.

Barb: Love the sound of $150 per month Nanny..wish we could get something like that here! I am paying over $100 for two days a week for Ben and that is with Childcare benefit. I hope things go your way very soon, you and your DP really deserve it. I will try a prayer for you, worked for Oscar in Snakes and Ladders :lol: (he goes to a catholic school, he was praying again today only this time I was not allowed to know!!)
I really hope your Dad recovers soon...it must be terrible being in Vietnam with him being unwell :hug:

Jody: How is Elliott's tummy sleeping going? The boys slept so much better when they were able to sleep on their tummy's with their bums in the air.

Well, Tess has had two nights in a row of 12hrs or more without waking. I bath, feed and put her to bed anytime betweek 6-7pm and she hasn't been waking until 7ish sometimes later the next morning. Let's hope it continues for a little longer.
We went to visit Bernie's parents in Torquay on Australia Day and she was held onto all day by someone and slept and was so happy about it that she didn't really like being put down today to play....we got there in the end and she eventually realised how much fun it is to play with her elephant and giraffe under the play gym :lol:
She is very chatty and talkative..Oscar just loves it. Thankfully next week we will back into our usual routine of school and creche drop off on Tues & Wed. So if I can keep myself away from BB, FB and Ebay the house should be a bit cleaner and Tess a little more attended to.

As one of my friends would say "ahh the fun of it all" :D

x Heather

Hi all,

my names Lexi, our lil girl Sierra Grace was born at 3:29pm on Sunday the 15th of November. Short labour (11 and a half hours) drug free, which im proud of!

We are enjoying our lil bundle of joy. Although this week has been a bad sooky week.

How long should I be letting Sierra sleep during the day?

I look forward to talking to you all!

Welcome Lexi :hug:

It's really up to you with sleep. My DD is up usually around 7ish for a feed and then back down before 9am and then feed, play, sleep if I can. Her long sleep is in the afternoons after my lunch and she then has a power nap at 5ish until 5:30 or so and then bath, BF and bed by 6:30-7pm.

During the day I try to be strict with feed, play, sleep. Although this is difficult to keep up with if I am out and about..so she sleeps when she needs it when I am out.

It will also depend on how much Sierra is sleeping at night too on how much she wants during the day.

Hi everyone else :dance:

Well...Tess has just started doing all nighters:dance: It has been 3 nights in a row and she wakes up in the morning singing. Really hoping it continues, I know I will be in for the odd bad night, let's see how it goes.

So much change is such little time. She talks away and pays attention under her play gym to the toys. She is starting to grab at things too..I had forgotten how wonderful and sometimes trying this age can be!

bye for now...big hugs to all the babies

x Heather

MOrning all,

I have to admit I have been super slack getting in here :redface: I get onto FB all the time but most of the time I find typing single handed a pain so if I do get into BB my posts are super short or I just lurk lol but I always read what everyone is upto

Welcome Lexi :clap:

Lets see what can I report - I am STILL trying to organise payment for that blasted stroller through the US website its just about doing my head in BUT it will be well worth it as it works out soo much cheaper then buying it here, even with the $350 shipping (converted from US tyo AU $$) I sent payment this time via direct debit or ITT whatever you want to call it and I was on their live chat this morning to be told I would have to try again to find out if it has cleared on tuesday morning :wall: such a drama but for $995 (yes with the current exchange rate it has gone up a bit) I get the pram, toddler seat, toddler hood (like the pram hood but for the toddler seat, air pump, soft pram harness and the wheel bag AND shipping. To buy the Pram and the toddler seat only here it is $1000.

Shae has had 5 nights in a row of sleeping from 8-9.30 to 6-7.30 now comes the tricky part of trying to get her to settle earlier we start her night routine at 5.30 but then she does her 3 hours solid sucking and stock piling milk for her night sleep :rolleyes: We both check her a few times through the night still - gee we are hopeless

Renovations have had to be temporarily put on hold as we have a friend down from Syd this weekend and I needed to keep the bed up and let the dust settle in the room.

I need all your opinions on this as DH and I have different views over the rooms.
My question is, would you change rooms for your baby?
here are the details:
1- Nursery has gorgeous garden views and a south/east facing window. Its both the warmest and the coolest room in the house and the bedroom door is practically opposite ours.
2 - MIddle bedroom has a Northish facing window, is much bigger but has older style carpet ( we will eventually one day have new carpet in the current carpeted areas so it all matches right now there is 4 different lots of carpet) the view is not so great out this window, the room is a bit further away from ours down the hall but is right next to DH office.

Now I have to admit at the moment the Nursery is a much nicer room but when the other is finished, I want to move Shae into the bigger room because she came first IYKWIM plus because she is a girl the old carpet is a bit girlier. It will be furnished almost exactly the same as the Nursery - single bed, cot, toy box and drawers maybe an extra set of drawers just because we have the room.

DH wants Shae to stay in the Nursery because its a better room (in his opinion) and when we have #2 then that baby can be int he Middle room.

My arguement is also that the nursery is closest to our room not by much though and because its cooler or warmer it will be better to serve as a Nursery while the baby is new and cannot regulate its temperature.

MY concern is simply that I don't want Shae to get use to one room then just shifted into another like she has been kicked out of the space she knew. The cots in both rooms will be exactly the same and I want her to have the bigger room.

What do you think? I will also do a forum post about this and get other opinions as well.

Nae x x x

Hey Nae

Personally I'd keep her where she is until #2 is well and truly on the way and see how you feel then. A little kid is really not going to care about one room being a little bigger or with different carpet - that's only going to matter to you! I also don't think kids would be jealous of the different rooms until they are much older, perhaps never if they are used to it one way or another. I'll go all Dr Phil on you here and it sounds like you and DH are arguing about different things. You want Shae to feel special, and have a bit more advantage as "first child" and DH is thinking of practicalities or more from Shae's point of view --closer to you for now, nicer room.

Hey Lexi - Welcome! Elliott has just started to change his routine again and if he sticks with this one I will be much happier. He goes into his cot at 6.30-7pm depending on how tired he is. Usually straight to sleep. 10pm another 5-10 min quick feed, 12pm another quick 5-0 min feed and then peace until 4.30 am today. Another feed and then up at 6am.

Although this is a lot of feeding it's better than having his long sleep from 7-12 and then every two hours like before! Now I'm experimenting with me having adult time alone from 7pm until 10pm. Then after that feed I go to bed. The 12 feed is pretty quick and then 4.30 is a little longer but I feel good cause I've had a good stretch of night sleep and not been in bed at 7pm like before!

During the day sometimes he is only a catnapper - 4 naps yesterday of 30 mins each and that was it! Sometimes a longer afternoon nap of a few hours. Mornings are best for me to get out and about with him and that will make him sleep more while I'm out with him in pram or car. If I go to a movie or something during the morning he'll sleep through it!

Hey thanks for the warm welcome ;)

Thanks for the replies on sleep as well. Sierra has started going down at around 7pm and wakes up at different times everynight. For example last night she fed at 5:40, 6:40and then at 7:40 (only drank 60mls at this feed, she is now formula fed) she was then fed bout 12:30am, then fed again about 5:30ish then woke up at 8:30. But everynight is different.

I try to play with her during the day but she starts becoming really sooky after about 10 - 15 mins most of the time. I am looking forward to her being able to grab things! That will be fun.

Well im off now hugs to all! :p

Hi all,
Welcome Lexie. I love the name Sierra.
Every baby seems to sleep differently. I'm having trouble getting Poppy to sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time during the day (although I've just noticed she's fallen asleep in her play gym). At night I start trying to put her to bed at around 8 but last night she didn't actually go to sleep until 10.30pm, three hours after her last feed. I was not a happy camper. But once she's asleep she sleeps until 6am, has a feed with her eyes shut then goes back to sleep til 9am. So she kinda does 12 hours straight, but it's not very convenient for me because I'm not getting any adult time or eight hours sleep.
Nae - I second Tecopa. I think it's a bit too early to be worrying about rooms. You never really know how long its going to take for the next one to arrive. And then maybe you'll have triplets and so you'll need to build a new wing. Plus kids have different priorities when it comes to rooms. Maybe one bedroom would be better for building tents or playing jungle games and so that one is the one that is considered the best room. When I was a kid I liked having the biggest room (because I was the oldest) but I didn't like the setup. I couldn't run down the corridor and leap onto the bed (thus avoiding the scary monster under the bed) like my sisters could.
Miss Heather - Tess is singing!!! I wish I could hear that. Poppy likes having a chat. She makes all kind of funny noises. But when I get my camera out to try to record it she always stops.

AFM - We're settling into our new house. I thought it would be so great to finally be alone but it's been a tough few days. The house was FILTHY when we moved in. It's also about three times the size of our old house and the overall first impression I got was not good. I only saw it after we'd paid the bond and the first three months rent. There's a big mosquito problem, which I'm still not sure what to do about, so Poppy and I were stranded in the bedroom on the second floor for several days.
But DP has been running around town collecting all our stuff and organizing things. So now we have our dog, a supply of drinking water, a mosquito-zapper racquet, an iron, a clothes line and 12 spare airconditioning units downstairs. And a new motorbike (but no helmet so I can't take it annywhere yet). DP also fixed the washing machine but the fridge doesn't work. Luckily there's heaps of eating places nearby. And our street is so much quieter than our old neighbourhood. There's even birds!
Our lovely nanny/maid, Ms Quyen, has cleaned the house from top to bottom and I'm feeling a lot happier about things. I've also found a mother's group that meets on Wednesday mornings. I am looking forward to that, although I hope I'm not looked down upon because my husband isn't on a fat expat package with a fancy house, driver, maid and free tickets home. Since I've had the baby just about every Westerner has asked me what my husband does.
Gotta run. One of DP's brothers has just arrived to hang out with Poppy. He says Poppy is very beautiful because she has a high nose, long eyebrows and fingers like bamboo shoots. Apparently these are prized features in Vietnam!

Hey Barb: Sounds like things are finally looking up for you in Vietnam. Hope it went will with your MG. Ahhh, not quite singing La La La :redface:, just lot's of happy noises like singing.

Nae: Read on FB, finally your pram is on the way :dance: I love getting packages in the mail! Make any decisions on Shae's bedroom? I have started both boys in one room and moved them. Oscar moved when Ben came and then both together in one room and Tess is now in there old room. They didn't seem to mind, just excited they could have dinosaur stickers and doona covers.

Jody: Tess is a catnapper too. Sometimes get a longinsh stint of an hour or 2 but that's pretty much it during the day.

Lexi: How are you going?

AFM: All good :dance: Tess has discovered she has hands and likes to look at them! I have moved the toys on the play gym lower and she now grabs them. I think her vision has improved heaps as she seems to notice so many things that interest her now.
When I feed her she holds onto my top with one of her free hands and when she has a dress on she finds a part of and starts to pull it up and look at her hands doing it.
Still not great at tummy time..not worried about that. She is happy enough playing on her back.
She is regualarly sleeping all night now, which is good. I expect the odd wake up, especially with this weather as I assume she will be thirsty..you never know though.
I am about to invest in one of those Bumbo seats with play tray. I got the idea from Jody acutally as I saw a photo of Elliott in one and thought what a great thing to have for when she starts solids!

Better run..dinner is ready and :doh: missed the biggest loser

x Heather

Hey all.
Just a quick post. Tecopa - how do you manage Elliot and the dogs?
I haven't been putting Poppy on the floor in case the dog licks her face or hands. But it's getting to be a pain staying in the same room with the baby, or strapping and unstrapping the Ergo. She's started shuffling back in her baby gym so I don't think it's safe to leave her on the bed anymore.
Any advice?

The Bumbo is great! So helpful for getting things done around the house. I've taken to cooking or baking and talking to E like he is the studio audience for a cooking show while he sits in the Bumbo on the kitchen table. And even eating breakfast at the table with him next to me!

As for dogs - at first I was always making sure dog and baby were never alone together and it was such a pain. Now I will go up to five - ten mins where I have a shower and the dogs and baby are all together. I probably shouldn't but it was just impossible otherwise. I guess there is the small chance that the dogs could bite or attack Elliott although so far I've seen no aggression from them toward him. If anything they steer clear - although every now and then they like to lick his head, or his arms. But I don't think I would recommend leaving them alone cause I don't know your dog! Maybe I should even be bringing the dog with me into the bathroom and closing the door so that I know they aren't near Elliott. Cause it's too much effort to take E into the bathroom in his rocker while I shower - at least the dogs answer to their names and can run to me!

I don't actually mind the licking stuff - good for the immune system. Elliott goes to the dog park with me and we sit on a chair above the dogs watching them all but sometimes I'm not quick enough and he'll get covered in dog slobber when an over enthusiastic big dog bounds up to us. I figure I'll just have to worm him and myself!! And give us a bath more than once a week if we go to the dog park!!! I usually only bathe Elliott when he smells or gets really dirty since he has sensitive skin.

Well, I think the basic problem is that we just don't have enough stuff.
I googled the Bumbo and it looks great but I don't think it will be possible to get one here. We don't have a table yet, either. :shakehead:
As for leaving the dog and baby together. The dog is such a sweetie I can't imagine her doing anything to the baby, apart from licking. However, today she is banned from the house so that defers the problem for another day.
Our new house is a typical Vietnamese house, quite narrow and deep with many storeys. I was downstairs in the kitchen washing the bottles and DP was playing with Poppy in the bedroom on the first floor. When I came back to the bedroom he was doing his Chicken Little reaction to a poo. Now, we've just changed formula to an Asian brand (not Chinese) and her poos have been very watery the past few days. DP had the nappy half open, her onsie pulled up, the bath in the ensuite half-filled and the shower running. "Can you help me," he said with a completely pathetic look on his face. He then got into such a position that I couldn't reach the tap, the towels ... a complete debarcle. And I'm thinking if I get frustrated and yell at him he'll never try to change a nappy again, so I just work with the situation. Poo is running down his leg, he's half in the bath, half out, the shower is splashing water everywhere and all I can reach is a teeny tiny baby washer, which I'm using to wipe the poo away. The poo is splashed from her belly button to her ankles. And in the middle of all this Mitzie bounds in with an angelic smile on her doggie face, squats on the bathmat and does a very big pee. Now I'm thinking if I yell at her she'll run away, still peeing and I'll have several rooms and maybe even the staircase to clean. So I only indulge in a loud "nooooooo" as the warm dog pee pools around my feet. I'd taken her outside to the street only five minutes beforehand and she hadn't peed so I didn't think she needed to go. And the front door was open so she could have peed in the courtyard.
So the dog is banned from the house today. I don't think the pee is a reaction to the baby. We had a confrontation with some dogs in the street a few days ago and I think she's a bit scared to go into the street. Sigh. But I didn't want to parade around in my nightie, so I stood behind the door, rather than stand guard while she peed in the gutter.
Ah, the joys of family life!

oh Barb :rofl: sorry mate but i did have a giggle over your man and the dirty nappy plus the peeing dog, its awful but so darn funny coz i can imagine how that all looked.

Heather - yep pram is on its way FINALLY, nah no further thoughts on the room situation yet but only coz i have shut the door on it and done no more work. I like to feel the room as i work on it and try to visualise the little person in it ant at the moment it doesn't feel like Shaes room itms. not sure if i ever said how much i loved your avvy heather its really gogeous.

Jody - I am so glad you trust your dogs enough to leave E with them. I couldn't do it with our dogs, i have seen the way they turn on ech other my heeler Sheba is a bit weary of the pram and gets a semi threatened look about her. I took Shae into the bathroom while i showered the other day she chatted to me from her pram i just left the shower door open.
hey i just noticed you've got platinum membership now - awesome - when are you getting an avatar??

afm - well we have hit the 12 week wonder week bang on cue. Shae slept only 3 hours last night so we are all bushed. she has just started holding her own head up a bit more and has discovered a pitch higher than mariah carey.
most importantly
my sil gave birth after 17hr posterior labour to a 7lb 2oz baby girl that she named Briley Grace and boy is she cute. she is a spitting image of her dad which is such a shame coz he does't want anything to do with sil and doesn't even know she has had Briley.
anyways this is tricky typing one handed so i will go

love to all
nae x x

Oh Barb :rofl: I think you need to write a book. I hope you are keeping a diary. Any news on Singapore?? How did your MG group go?

Nae: Great news about your SIL and sad about the Dad :shakehead: Thanks about the Avvy, funny things to think of when you want to make one up. That's amazing that Shae is so on cue with the wonder weeks book. I am thinking of getting it as a gift for a friend who is pregnant..would you reccomend it?

Hey Jody..you got RAKD! Look forward to seeing your Avvy. I have a niece who has really sensitive skin and my SIL uses on of the products from the chemist to bath her in.
Can't remember the name, it is soap free and chemical free and all that.

AFM: I am trying to feed away a blocked milk duct so as it doesn't turn into mastitis. I felt a lump on my left nipple and it was sore to touch so I looked around BB and have figured it out to be a blocked milk duct. Have a Dr appt tomorrow just in case, might cancel it as Tess has been helping me out and I think we are on top of it :dance: I am pretty sure it came about with Tess sleeping all night and my breast's so full in the morning she hasn't been able to empty them.
I have a sort of feeding routine during the day..pretty much what suits me really.
I try and feed her alot in the morning to empty the breasts and then whenever in the pm. I had morning tea with a GF the other day and when I explained to her our routine (she has a little girl same age as Tess) she asked if I was doing a "Tizzy Hall", hadn't heard of her, so did a look around and discovered she wrote save our sleep. Something about 7,11 and 3 feeding times??

That's about all for now

x Heather

Hey all,

Sorry I've been MIA. Been keeping up on the news just haven't had time to post!!!! Been crazy here the last couple of weeks.

We're still putting along. Sleeping well over night and pretty good through the day. Alyssa rolled a couple of times back to front last week but i think they were more fluke than anything. Rolld from front to back on saturday though and it was definately not a fluke!!!! She's started having 'conversations' too which is just too cute!!! Is anyone else starting to have problems with teeth???? Everyone keeps teeling me it's to early, but there was a definate white lump on her bottom gum and we had two horro afternoons where she just screamed until i gave in and gave her a dose of panadol (which i didn't really want to do)........ It's gone down again now and the screaming and irritability seems to be gone too!

Had a very full on morning this morning. Little miss got up at 6 (which was fine seeing as she'd only had 2 dream feeds since 5:30 last night and slept through :dance). But the dogs been sick for the last couple of days and we took him to the vet yesterday and had to fast him till this morning. Poor little thing was crying this morning so we figured he was hungry and decided to feed him (the vet told us only pasta or chicken for a few days). Had pasta left over from last night but the little princess turned his nose up at thatso I thought I'd cook him some chicken. Of course there's none in the freezer so i decide to duck to the shops. Put Miss A in the glider so i can have a shower, then dress take her downstairs to change her clothes and she poops. So I take the nappy off and it's the most digusting runny poo I've ever seen her do and just as I get it off she goes again and it's dripping down the changetable, pooled at the end of it and spurted on the floor. So I clean up the dripping bits and put some wipes on the floor while I'm still trying to hold her, By the time I stand back up she's been kicking her feet in the pool and has it up to her knees!!!! By 8 o'clock I'd dealt with that and been to the shops and had chicke n in the frypan. But the worst part is he won't even eat it (and chicken is his favourite so I hope he's okay) :wall:. What a morning. I've told DH i want a raise!!

Jody - I bath Alyssa in alpha keri oil which is supposed to be good for dry sensitive skin..... might be worth a try????I'm the same with our dog. He doesn't tend to go near Alyssa so if I duck out of the room quickly I don't worry to much. Will be a different story when she's toddling around and chasing him though I think!!!! He's only little and has the gentlest nature.

Hi Lexi - Welcome!! Hope the day sleeps are going well.

Nae - Good luck with the sleeping!! We sailed through 12 weeks without a change. Just a few nights with extra feeds. Hopefully I haven't just jinxed myself!!!! Congratulations on becoming an aunt. A little one you can cuddle and hand back :)

Heather - Good luck with the lump. Save our sleep is a pretty strict 4 hourly feed and sleep routine., had a look at it when Miss A was born but decided pretty quickly it wasn't for me!!!!

I won't be gone so long this time. Promise!!!

Howdy everyone,

Heather - yep I highly recommend the book for first time parents - its not one of those books thats so matter of fact and talks AT you nor is it humorous like Kaz Cooks books but I just love it, especially when out of nowhere shae is inconsolable and has a few super fussy/irritable days then I go and check against the book its awesome and it has some tips on how to make the baby's transitions into things easier, what new things bub "might" be able to do but everything is very gentle if that makes sense?/ I found WHat to expect the first year very clinical and I don't persoanlly find it helpful but this books is more reassuring ......

Emma - Thanks, this is the youngest now of the cousins there are 11 grandchildren now so Shae has 10 cousins ranging in ages from newborn to 22ish. its weird marrying into a family where I have adult nieces and nephews lol.

Not much to report I had a vent in the boo hoo room about mum (again)as she has started playing a few games between me and SIL ie giving SIL a tonne of second hand stuff from a friend of our family but not getting anything for Shae and it peeves me no end. Not SIL's fault at all but she is a single mother and everyone feels sorry for her because the bubs dad is being and a/hole BUT SIL will do nothing to help her situation she kinda just sits back and everyone just automatically start picking up the pieces for her ... but she doesn't realise she does this I dunno its weird, she gets herself into such deep dung and while she does work hard at some things, everyone else around her automatically shift into "help you as much as you can" mode and helps to bail her out ....I don't think she takes advantage either ....that or she is a master at conning people :lol::lol::lol: Still mum feels sorry for her and just wants to give her everything but she forgets that offically SIL really isn't anything to her nor is the baby ........ yes a tad of the green eyed monster but not for myself, for Shae ... good thing she is too young to understand, if mum keeps it up I will have to say something to her about it as its unfair.

anyhooooo

I am cooking a roast today for MIL as she and FIL are out running errands for SIL while she is still in hossy as bub has jaundice and she asked me to do it to help them out so thats what I am doing - slow cooked home grown lamb roast .. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm those noisy little lambs taste soo goooooodd :lol:

Hi all
Nae - so sorry to hear you're still having problems with your mum. I haven't been over to read the latest. I was really hoping the new baby would make her grow up a little. The SIL stuff sounds like an added pain. Best to just ignore it, let her live her life however she wants, as long as it doesn't impact too much on you.
Emma - welcome back. I hope your dog is ok. Poppy's also started rolling, which is causing her endless frustration cos she doesn't know what to do once she gets onto her front.
Heather - how's your bfing going? What a terrible trade off - a full night's sleep gets you a blocked duct. Where do you lodge a complaint about that?
Tecopa - thanks for your advice on the dog. I love thinking of you doing your cooking shows for Elliot. I don't do much cooking here. (No point when DP loves cooking, I don't really know how to get things done with only two gas rings and bundles of weeds and eating out costs less than $1).


As for me -- yesterday, the whole returning to Vietnam thing got on top of me. DP told me as he was walking out the door that he'd bought a dining table (without consultation) that was being delivered in an hour. Now, Poppy's morning routine and my general exhaustion means we don't really get going til 9.30. So I had to jump up and get dressed and wait for the table. But it didn't arrive at 9. Instead, halfway through Poppy's 9am feed, a guy comes to install the curtains the landlord promised. This creates all kinds of new dramas as he tries to work out how to get up to the curtain rod, which is 3 meters in the air. He finally works out that the only way he can hang the curtains is to drag the small computer table to the window, put the cheap and nasty folding stood on top of it and climb up. So he's wobbling up there in the air, the baby is crying because her feed is being interrupted and I'm nearly in tears because it's the ugliest curtain I've ever seen - a cheap nylon diarrhoea-yellow number that clashes with everything in the room.
Then the table arrives. It has a glass top, attached to a cheap imitation wrought iron bottom with very obvious suction cups. The chairs, also made out the cheap black pipe stuff, have a nasty velveteen cover on the bottom with brown-on-brown squares, which doesn't actually match the velveteen cover on the backs of the chairs, which are yellow-on-beige ovals. The yellow matches the diarrhoea curtains upstairs but clashes with the pink, black and white tiles on the kitchen floor.
All this on top of the five mosquito bites on Poppy's face, the result of DP putting the baby to bed while I went to the farewell dinner for one of my closest friends. And on top of months of living with my parents, three-and-a-half weeks of being crammed into his brother's flat, moving into a filthy mosquito-infested house and feeling stranded, isolated and completely useless. And I was supposed to go across town to pick up some shelves and meet someone for lunch and the deliveries made me so late I couldn't go at all - goodbye lunch with interesting new friend and free shelves.
So I had a big old complain to DP, who came home and cooked lunch and apologized for the whole world being against me. He also agreed that the dining set was too big and so it would have to go.
Today I feel better, Poppy's mosquito bites are less angry-looking and the mosquito problem is just about resolved so I could sit in the kitchen (ignoring the horror of the clashing colours and patterns) and have breakfast.
I didn't get the job in Singapore. They told me they made an internal appointment but that there was another vacancy arising soon that they'd like me to consider. But DP now says he wants to stay in Vietnam for another six months because he's getting a promotion and the new job title will look better on his CV.
Gee, maybe I should take up residence in the boo hoo room!
In the midst of all this Poppy has started rolling over. The half-roll from a few weeks ago was a false alarm. Lying in the baby gym and kicking the ball is sooooo yesterday. Now all she wants to do is do a faceplant and make puddles of drool all over the place. She can't get all the way over, trapped by one arm that gets stuck underneath her. I put her on a cushion on the floor yesterday and while my back was turned for five minutes she wriggled around so her legs were on the floor and the rest of her was about to overbalance and fall off too. It was only a drop of a few centimeters but I'm so glad I caught her in time.

I'm off to mothers group again tomorrow. The first one was quite interesting. There were women from all over the world - Australia, Scotland, England and Denmark. The apartment was quite fancy and a lot of the ladies were talking about going to Phuket or Bali for Tet (Lunar New Year) but it wasn't the snootfest I was dreading. I don't know if I can ever host a group, though, with the current hideous colour scheme in our house. (We also have television sets, rice cookers and air conditioning units stacked up to the ceiling in the living room because BIL is cleaning out his warehouse for Tet.) I am thinking of writing a book about this craziness. But I don't know who'd read it!

Hi All :)

Hey Barb: I'd read your book! Hopefully with Singapore 'soon' would mean in the next few months and by then your DP would have been in his promoted position to add it to his CV. Do you plan to meet on a regular basis for you MG?

Emma: How is your dog? Oooh, poo! Haven't been too bad in that department here so far, other than one incident when Tess was a couple of weeks old at Myer. I couldn't do the save our sleep thing. Tess is so good at night, I don't really mind what she does during the day. Some days she just happens to be in the 'save our sleep' routine without any prompting from me :lol:

Nae: not good to here about your Mum playing up again.
How did the Lamb go? I love Lamb! Especially when it would be sooo fresh :) I go to the Farmer's markets when I can so I can get good quality organic meat.

Jody: I went an got a Bumbo as well as the play table that you can attach to it. Tess is not quite strong enough in the neck yet..almost there!

Lexi: How are you going??

Well...you all seem to have rolling babies! Tess is not really interested. When I put her on her tummy she will just turn her head to the side so you doesn't have her face imbedded into the ground. She sort of does a half roll. The boys were really 'lazy' with rolling and walking so I assume she will be same :lol:
I have tried lying in front of her and putting the mirror in front she is just not interested..suppose she will do it in her own sweet time.
The strange lump thing got a bit sore, went to the Dr who gave me a script for AB's. He wasn't sure what it was and I tried to explain the ABA thought it was 'white spot'. He went onto the ABA site and put that in the search, and nothing came up. He was beginning to suggest to stop feeding from that side, I cut him off and point blank said I won't be doing that! On further research from me when I got home I think it may have be a milk blister. Not sure so I have started the AB's incase of infection and it seems to be getting better.
The mornings are busy here. I leave home at 8:30am to take Oscar to school so I try and make sure Tess has fed enough before I leave as I quite often go somewhere straight from School Drop off. Now that she is sleeping all night, she sometimes doesn't wake until 7:30am so it doesn't leave alot time to have her fed and make sure the boys are ready. Tess will only sometimes take one side and snack on the second so I am trying to feed her again before I leave to see if she will finish. I hate being late, so far I haven't been. I don't want to be one of those Mum's that makes excuses for being late due to having kids. Hope that doesn't sound harsh :redface:

That's all from me for now :)

x Heather

my oh my has it gone quiet in here or what :lol:

hows everyone doing??

I am just loving spending time with Shae, its almost like there is something new happening on a daily basis - like this morning for example she was poking her tongue out which is a new thing, and she loves being rolled onto her side then left to roll back onto her back (though tummy time is still an issue). She is giggling a bit more now, the other night at bath time she was in hysterics as was I until she wriggled out of my grasp and took a huge mouthful of water and screamed :doh:

We have also progressed from the snuggle bed in the cot to just the cot, though we are still wrapping her ......... I wonder when should we stop the wrapping?? Her starle reflex isn't as strong but she grabs her face all the time :doh:

Renos are coming along very slowly, yesterday I spent the entire day scraping plaster out from the grooves in the lining boards, today I will clean up that mess and hopefully weekend after next I'll start the sanding ......... I hate all th prep work. Still undecided if we will move Shae into that room DH and I still disagree too much :lol:

I am loving mothers group, I wished we all met more than once a week, some of them go walking in the mornings but its a bit of an effort driving 1hr return just to go walking :rolleyes:

anyways, much love to all

Nae x

Hey,

It has gone quite!! We've been so busy. Have to stay home this week. Mummy needs to catch up and get some housework done!! Plus I usuakky have Mum to help me on friday's and Saturday afternoon while DH is at cricket but they're away this week so no time off for me :)

We've gone ahead in leaps and bounds here. We're giggling, rolling front to back and back to front (but we seem to have forgotten we can do that which I'm not to upset about), reaching out and grabbing things and holding our head up constantly (we hardly even have to support it anymore). DH was just pulling her up to sitting when she was on her back. After a few goes all he had to do was touch one hand and she'd grab on with the other one. She was with my Dad yesterday and he was bouncing her on his leg then lifting her over his head, when he'd had enough he sat her on his legs and she startied lifting herself up a bit and bouncing herself. Much too knowing for 3 and a half months if you ask me!!!

Finally got myself a monitor this week. Last night was meant to be the first night in the cot, but when I pulled it out of the box the parent unit had to charge for 15 hours so back to the bassinet. Tonight's the noght. Wondering how long I last before I camp out on the nursery floor. Probably should just blow up the mattress now!!! There is a spare bed in the room next to it, maybe that will be close enough :doh:. Had a bad night last night. Up at 2, 4:30 and 5:40. Hoping it was just cause the bassinet is a bit small.......

Shae - I've stopped wrapping for daytime sleeps. Hasn't been a problem seeing as Alyssa has been sleeping with her arms out since she was tiny (no matter how tight I wrap her she won't sleep till she has them out!!). She's been getting out of her wraps anyway. Found her at the other end of the cot (was a daytime sleep) sideways the other day. The wrap was still wrapped (she'd wriggled out instead of forcing herself out) in the sleep positioner where I'd left her!! I'm going to start using a sleeping bag soon. Just don't want to have to buy a summer one and turn around soon and buy a winter one. I've got a pumpkin patch sleep suit (the legs undo and do up as a bag) with long arms so she'll probably be in that next month.

Heather - Dog's fine. bit of TLC and he got over it. He had a night at 'Nanny and Poppy's' last night to get spoilt seeing as he went down the chain a bit when Alyssa got here. Talking to mum this morning he slept on the bed all night (he only gets on ours of a morning for cuddles after DH is up but knows mum is a softy) and at one stage was between them with his head on the pillow. Should be feeling well loved when he comes home this afternoon!! Alyssa has turned into a snacker too. she can have 3 little 'snacks' each time she's up through the day. Only decent feed she seems to have is at bedtime and her 'dream' feeds of a night (only dream cause she doesn't fully wake up).

GTBBIA - Hope things are settling down. Sounds really crazy at your place. I'd probably read the book too. Probably be a best seller!!!

That's all for me!! I can hear little squeaks coming from the nursery. Who knows where my little escape artist will be this time. Hope evryone is going well!

Hi all... I have logged on a few times to comment about the quietness too. But then something has happened. Like now - Poppy's just woken up. Sigh.

I'm really not enjoying Vietnam at the moment. Whatever could go wrong is going wrong and it's just not fun anymore. Even DP is grumpy today and he's never grumpy. The nanny called this morning and said she's not coming back to Ho Chi Minh City for several weeks because she has to look after her father-in-law. I'm supposed to be having a few meetings this week about starting work the week after. I don't know how to handle this latest development.

Poppy is getting so much stronger. She rolls over in a flash and holds her head up. She's also arching her back and making the Amby hammock jump around all over the place. I can't wrap her for sleeps because it's just too hot. So I'm now having to rock her to sleep in my arms, which is really testing my patience. She just doesn't want to go to sleep and she gets so worked up.

DP has been home this week. We spent a few days at his parents house for Tet, which is kind of like our Christmas. It was nice to see everyone fuss over Poppy but at the same time I felt so lonely and isolated because I can't speak enough Vietnamese. And I'm SO SICK of people grabbing and poking and squeezing Poppy. When we go out I usually carry her on my chest in the Ergo. She goes to sleep in there, even though we both get quite hot. And people, mostly grandmas, bustle up, yelling out (in Vietnamese) "baby, baby" then "OH. THE BABY'S ASLEEP" and then they pinch her leg or her cheek. This is when I'm already feeling slightly grumpy cos I'm hot and my back is hurting.

Well, that's enough whinging for now. I'm going to rest my back while Poppy is asleep. She keeps waking up and grizzling though.

I hope everyone else is feeling perkier than I am.

:hug: Barb, I don't think I have heard you sound like this for.....I can't remember when! It souds like it is time to sit DP down and really go through what is going to best for you all, I hope you have a win soon, you sure deserve it. The Vietnamese love babies don't they! Today I was in the City and around Chinatown..they love Ben because he has red hair and blue eyes. We have occassions where they want to take photo's of him!! I am pretty sure they were tourists as we can wander through unnoticed most of the time.

Nae: It really is up to you when to stop wrapping. I don't wrap Tess at all anymore, mainly due to the heat. She sleeps in a gro-bag at night and happy to sleep anywhere during the day. Someone was telling me about and I can't remember the name of a sleeping bag that you can put their arms in, so not wrapping or swaddling and their arms are free within the sleeping bag. Will get back to you!

Emma: How did Alyssa go in the cot on her first night, and more to the point, how did you go :lol: You remind me of a friend who was a cricket widow too!

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Soooo, Tess is still not really rolling. She will roll from side to side but that's it. She get's around though...today I put her on her play gym and went back a little while to check on her and she managed to shimmy onto the floor boards :doh: I think she is using her feet and pushing herself around on her back. She likes to kick the toys under her play gym now and grabs at them.
She is still sleeping well at night, she sucks her fingers so that is keeping her sleeping well. Ben sucked his thumb and that kept him sleeping well too. We have no problems at night with going to bed, it's bath at 6pm, cuddle, feed then in bed by 6:30-7pm fuss and cry free. She seems to get that when I put her in her gro-bag it's time for nigh nighs :D In fact the only ones who wake me in this house is DS2 wanting a cuddle in the night and DH with his snoring and breathing:lol: I don't see Tess until 7:30ish the next morning, I have probably just jinxed myself!
She is poking her tongue out heaps, and has discovered she has saliva. Lots of noises and giggles and cat like noises when she pretends to tell me what she is up to :) She loves to watch the boys play around her. Sometimes under strict supervision all three of the kids are in the bath together, she loves it!
Here is a question for everyone.....so, when Oscar was a NB it was solids at 3mths, when Ben was a NB it was 4-6mths, now with Tess it's 6mths and Baby Led Solids, so no pureed food at all. What's everyone else planning or thinking of doing? I have done alot of research on BB and googled Gill Rapley: Baby-Led Weaning book. It seems to make sense?? Early days yet, it certainly got me thinking and DH a little confused!!!

She went really well in her cot. Only up once at 4:30 for a quick feed. Would have been lovely if Mummy had slept too :rolleyes:. Maybe tonight I'll be better......

Heather - the whole solids thing is confusing!!! I was going to try to hold off till 5 months or maybe a bit longer. One of the CHN's told a girl in my MG to start now if she thought her daughter wasn't getting enough milk. She's nearly 4 months old. DH thinks we shloud start letting her touch food (mashed potato) at about 4 months and see what she does with it. If we go with this, once she puts it in her mouth we'll probably start on solids. If not I'll probably start her on rice cereal at about 5 months, but only little bits. Then move on to puree till we get some teeth........ One of which is there and already causing grief.

Anyway, gotta go. Little miss is talking to herself and ready to get up. Probably at the top of the cot by now!!!

Heather - I am planning on EBF until at least 6 months, maybe longer depending on my supply. Mum was surprised when I told her that but I reinforced that that was what the WHO recommends and as long as Shae is growing and healthy I see no reason why we should do things differently.

Barb - Sounds like things are pretty tough hun, massive hugs :hug: FWIW I have to nurse Shae for every day sleep otherwise she wouldn't sleep at all, I also have to nurse her to sleep when she wakes through the night sometimes its up to an hour before I can put her down and she will stay down. I understand how frustrating it is but I remind myself "it won't last forever and one day she won't want mummy to hold her " so i make the most of it now.

Emma - Alyssa is incredible I cannot believe how much she is doing. :clap:


on a tmi note - can you get your period on the mini pill? there are no sugar tablets and this morning i had some spotting. Also is it just me or is dtd incredibly difficult and painful?? After my tearing healed I didn't want to dtd in case it hurt, but the other night we tried to but I was a bit tight and it hurt too much so we didn't ,even with *****e loads of lube...... now I am back to being to scared.

Its horrible i feel even less than wonderful about myself
Nae x

Wow Emma...teeth!! We traditionally have slow teethers and I am assuming Tess will be the same.


Thanks Nae, going on the new guidelines I will be EBF Tess to till 6mths as long as she is satisfied enough. It was the no puree food that initially got me thinking about how to start off on solids. I plan on buying the Gill Rapley anyway, as all my books start off on puree food only, and I am curious with things like breakfast foods and so on.

A little warning..I am about to go into TMI :lol:

Yes you can get your period while on the mini pill and EBF. It's the downside to using the mini pill while BF. As if you just EBF and relied on charts and so on you probably wouldn't get your period until you introduced solids.
I got my period with Ben pretty much a week or two into starting the mini pill. It also made him a little bit fussy and grumpy too for the first couple of days, not sure if it co-incided with the mini pill and my first period or not that made him that way, that's the only reason I could think of at the time.
The first time DTD after having Oscar was a little painful for the first couple of times, it got better. You may need to experiment with how far you go for a while and be a little bit mechanical and slow about it. Again a little pain after Ben and all fine after Tess, we waited till about 9wks after for Tess, that may have helped. When you had your 6wk check, did whoever you saw ask about or let you know about DTD?? My OB suggested at my 7wk check to hold off for a week or two as my cervix was a little bit dry, it seemed to work.
This may seem a little bit :redface: , but have you considered purchasing something that may help stretch the muscles a little if it doesn't improve on it's own?
It's a bit like being a virgin all over again, so take your time and make sure you talk to DH about how you are feeling.

Teeth! OMG. How's that going, Emma?

I was planning on introducing solids at six months. That's the main recommendation I've seen. I have no idea what I'm doing, though, just planning to play it by ear. Seems crazy to buy imported rice cereal here in Asia where rice is the main food.

Anyway, sorry I sounded so negative the other day. Things just got on top of me. Poppy's going through a stage where she needs 100% attention when she's awake. And there's just so much to do to get the house straight and I can't even make a start on things. I went out on my own on Saturday night and threw back a few wines and things seemed so much better after getting a break. Poppy is wriggling a lot and grabbing at things. I have very sensitive skin and all the kicking and rubbing and pinching was getting to me. As was the sore back from carrying her all the time and sleeping on a rock hard bed at the inlaws for three weeks. Three visits to the chiro have mostly sorted out the back. But DP now has a sore back and he won't go to the expensive Western chiro or to the doctor. (So dtd is off the agenda.)

Anway, I have a phone interview for another job in Singapore on Wednesday. DP doesn't want to leave right now but it's just crazy to stay here if I can earn 10 times his salary in Singapore. Things are more expensive there but I think we'd be able to save some money and he might be able to study.

Nae - would a little bit of champers and a bubble bath help dtd? We've had a terrible drought from not having any privacy (staying with relatives for five months). But it wasn't so comfortable the first time. Now DP is too scared to do it. :rolleyes: Now he's worried about hurting me and worried about getting pregnant again. Meanwhile, I'm really keen on making up for lost time.

Popping in to see how everyone is going :D

Well..Tess has disovered she has feet :clap: She likes to lift them up and look at them just like she does with her hands. She also tries to grab at her feet too. She gets very excited under her play gym. Grabbing at the toys. She also gets very excited just as she is about to go on the breast..quite funny :lol:
My Mirena seems to be starting to finally settle in :crossfingers:
The spotting I have had the last 6wks is starting to come to an end. I see my OB on Monday for my check.
I had Ben in for a day procedure on Friday for his teeth. He had to go under a general to have his four back molars stainless steel crowned. He came out of the anaesthetic quite distressed, thankfully Bernie was with me and held onto him, it was heartbreaking to watch. He is much better today thankfully!

Barb: Hope all goes well with your Singapore interview. How have you gone getting the prevanar for Poppy??? A few wines always makes things a little clearer for me on a bad day :)

Hope you are all enjoying the special cuddles we get at the moment with our little ones.
I love the snuggles Tess gives me.

Hey All

Good to read what everyone is up to! Things are super busy here, mostly pretty darn good. I'm at TAFE two nights, I make sure I do my mum's and bub's movie once a week and mother's group so mostly feel pretty well supported and have some me time. I've got three friends who are trained up enough to babysit for extended periods and I'm very grateful. I have a bit of a stockpile now of milk too.

Did have a shocker of a day attempting to do my first stand up comedy gig in a year. Everything that could go wrong did - including Gunkle turning up at the venue to car swap with me to drive E home, but me waiting at home fuming wondering where he was...end up me racing through traffic, double parking his car with bub in his pjs asleep in mine, swapping car keys and he raced back home while I raced onto stage. Gah. Made me realise how now everything is a logistics challenge, and that with my friends I really can't get mad when things go wrong - cause they aren't related to me or Elliott, they aren't married to me and so I have to just be grateful for what they can do and not get too ****y or they'll disappear. That was a bit of a scary thought!

Elliott is only sleeping 45 min naps during the day, but I've decided to live with it rather than stress. His nights are variable. Typically maybe a 12-1am feed and a 4.30 top up feed. Although sometimes I get 6.30-2 or even 3 and then a bunch of cluster feeding through until about eight! Mostly he sleeps without any protests for naps and at night - but it's all due to swaddling which we just started, as everyone else is finishing. I do everything backwards!

I'm keen on baby led weaning big time and can't wait. Lots of people starting to tell me now that I should have him on solids cause he's a big kid and they don't agree with the EBM until 6 months. I just try not to engage. And my sister is really against baby led weaning but it's because she's a paramedic who has seen kids die from choking and in her head she has linked the two things - nothing I will say will change her mind. She was also a bit like that over the idea of me BF in bed cause she'd seen a kid killed by a boob suffocating the baby, but she's calmed down on that now. I don't know how she does her job!

As for DTD...well I'm still single, but I was so paranoid about my 6 week check up I decided to DTD with my own special friend to see how much the check up might hurt LOL (TMI). I think I feel a bit different and there is def some changes (maybe scar tissue?) close to the entrance but with patience and relaxing it was all pain free as I've tried a few times to see now. My issue is really not wanting my boobs seen as a sexual thing at all, cause I feel it's hard enough BF in public as it is, without then having them "sometimes sex objects". I've not been bothered with catching up with any casual male lovers mostly cause of the boob thing, although do think have a date (or could just be friends thing) with a girl next week which will be interesting! I really am just on the fence now about gender. Ha. Ha.

BF is now going great, except I get AF every three-four weeks and it hurts again for a while. But the other day I was getting a massage and E woke up. I put him on the boob and the massage girl adjusted everything and kept going. And today I fed on the bus in peak hour. Yay me! Elliott has a few ways of telling me he is hungry - a sound/word he only uses meaning BOOB. And if that's not enough he turns to me and does the perfect latch mouth position at me as if to say, "There is only one thing missing now and it's your nipple" and if I still don't get it and happen to be laying down he will almost fling himself across the room at me with the mouth already open, roll in towards my chest and have both hands out ready to grab the boob. Subtle :clap:

Hey Tecopa. Elliot is a boy so he's unlikely to be subtle at anything really. But his polite request for a drink actually sounds very funny.

Hey Heather! Yes I'm enjoying special cuddles. Poppy has put her arms out a few times, so the go around my neck, which is such a lovely feeling.

Hope everyone else is well.

As for me -- overall things are still harder going here than I think they should be.

The lovely nanny didn't come back from her Tet holiday, so plans to go back to work next week are on hold. The dirt is also piling up in the house. A combination of the general pollution and the dog tracking dirt all through the place. I just can't seem to get on top of it all. Poppy is the number one priority, getting a job is number two. And that is very time consuming.

I think I've lined up a bit of editing work here and some lecturing at the university. I was also asked to apply for another job in Singapore - in television. Man, I've never been a tv chick and after having the baby I'm really not in any shape to be appearing on the box. But apart from the embarrassment factor it does sound interesting. The boss has indicated I could work online from Vietnam for a while, then move to Singapore, which would suit DP a lot better. And getting a Singapore wage in Vietnam for a few months would be fantastic!

Tomorrow I have to do a four-hour exam as part of the interview process for the other Singapore job. DP is taking DD to his brothers for the afternoon so I can concentrate.

As for the vaccine. Nope, apparently that particular vaccine is banned in Vietnam. I am waiting for two more emails, one from my GP in Queensland, the other from an international medical network with branches all through Asia to see friends coming from Melbourne and Singapore over the next few weeks can bring the vaccine to me. But I think I'll be heading to Bangkok soon, which is usually something I would be thrilled about. But I haven't been paid since September and I don't know when my next pay will be, so I'm just annoyed that I have to take a trip because one of the staff at the medical centre here lied to me last year when she said all the vaccines were available at their clinic. Typical Vietnamese customer service - say whatever you think the customer wants to hear.

Hope everyone else is getting special cuddles too. Poppy can sit now, if she's put in a sitting position. She can't really balance properly, but sitting on my lap, hanging onto my fingers, she does a reasonable job of sitting (and keeping up her end of whatever conversation is going on around her).

Hey GTBIA

How are things now for you in Vietnam! Hoping things are getting better. How is the Singapore job shaping up? Hope everyone else is going well!

Hi all,
Wow, how things can turn around in a week.
I think I'm on the verge of being offered not one but TWO jobs in Singapore. Two very positive phone interviews (and good result from a four-and-a-half hour exam) and promises of more formal talks involving HR people on Monday. Both jobs are offering similar salaries but one of the jobs (the one with a travel budget) is only three days a week. I nearly dropped the telephone when the guy told me that.
I interviewed four nannies this week and the last one was a winner. Although she did call at 10pm last night and say she couldn't make it to her first day of work because she had an interview at her son's school.
I had a lovely time at mother's group yesterday, eating cake and chatting and even helping calm a crying three month old (because I am SUCH an expert on three month olds now Poppy is four months old!)
Then I went into my old newspaper office, opened the door on just about the whole staff having lunch at the conference room table. They were all so happy to see me -- and then they saw the baby. My god, there was a stampede. Poppy was asleep and some of the girls were nearly bursting waiting for her to wake up. Too funny. So I told them I could work four hours a day five days a week, starting the week after next. I didn't tell them they were my back up plan if the Singapore jobs don't work out.
After phone calls and emails to Singapore and Australia and all over Vietnam I finally got a call yesterday saying two doses of the mysteriously banned pneumococcol vaccine were waiting for me at one of the expat medical centres in town. Poppy's got an appointment at 4pm to get that shot and a TB shot, the poor little thing.
Poppy is rolling over like a champion and being very vocal. I took a very funny little video of her the other day making a speech. I'm sure she's got what it takes to make it to the top in politics. First there's the mesmerizing hair. Then there's the ability to continue with an emotional speech when she's too tired to keep her head up. The noises keep pouring out of here even though she's doing a face-plant on the bed with a mouthful of doona. She still manages to keep her audience by strategically lifting her head and making eye contact, while continuing with the rhetoric "yah yah yah YAH'. She makes just as much sense as other politicians but is much more entertaining!
Hope everyone else is well. Looking forward to reading some updates soon.

Hey all,

Barb I am so glad things are turning around for you hun, you have had such a rough time I admire your strength in not breaking down.

Shae is doing well - still not doing anything like the other bubs in here or my MG but she is happy going at her own pace and I am happy to not push her.

Me on th other hand - I reached melting point the other day, completely and utterly lost the plot. Had had a rough morning with little Miss who's latest trick is screaming the house down when she is tired but efuses to sleep. After the second bout of fits and me yelling at her to shut the f up I had a visit from my MIL telling me she worried that I would hurt the baby and was going to be coming up more when she could here Shae screaming to "check everything is ok" ........ well that pushed me well and truly over the edge ..... the pressure here is so great anyway when all my "gentle parenting choices" are wrong, when my space is being invaded by SIL and my extreme lack of a relationship with hubby (who has been sleeping on the couch for 2 weeks now due to his snoring), when Shae started for her 3rd round of tired hissy fits I plonked her down in her hammock walked away and the wall accidently got in the way of my fist :redface:

Then I spent all of yesterday in tears in my MCHN office she doesn't think its pnd but said I really need to talk to someone outside of my situation. Its so isolating here and when your constantly being put down and compared too its really tough.

Miss has woken so I had better go .

Nae x

Oh Nae!!!! Big, big hugs to you.
I'm so sorry to hear it's built up to this. I know how distressed I feel when Poppy cries. She's settled right down over the last few weeks, luckily. Hopefully Shae will too.

Here's the best advice I have. Feel free to ignore it, though.
You need to look come up with a strategy for dealing with this problem. When you are feeling calm, think about what really ticks you off, whether its one particular thing or just a bunch of small things adding up. What annoying things can be changed and what are you prepared to live with to get through the next few weeks? (Because babies change all the time. It's not a permanent situation you're in, just a shocker of a time that you have to get through.)

Can you talk to your MIL/SIL? Can you tell her that the crying and lack of sleep makes her comments really upsetting, even though they're meant with the best of intentions and usually wouldn't bother you at all? Can you ask your DH to act as intermediary, asking everyone to back off while you deal with Shae's sleep issues? Or --- could you ask your MIL to help? Tell her you really need a break, so get her to come in and look after Shae for a few hours while you bugger off to the pub or coffee or just drive to the library for some quiet time? MIL might have a different baby caring technique to you but Shae should survive a few hours of it. Of course, before you leave you have to say that you expect Shae to behave beautifully while you're gone, just because there's a different person looking after her. Tell her she's not allowed to make any smug "oh, the baby went to sleep easily for me" comments when you get back.

I know how awful it is to be isolated. Just think "strategy". This is how men think (I think, when they think). You don't even have to explain to anyone that you're fed up to the back teeth with absolutely-bloody-everything. Just ask for a few favours here, a bit of help there, tell a few people to zip it for a bit -- and things should start to feel a bit better.

Oh, and google the snoring operation. One of my friends had it when he started dating his girlfriend, now wife, who is expecting their first. Snoring is a VERY serious relationship problem, in my opinion, even without a baby.

And -- more big hugs because you're probably very very tired and need lots and lots.

:hug: Nae, what Barb has said is peferct advice! Mmmmm a career change perhaps Barb??

I am only a drive away, you probably have other BB'ers close, I am more than happy to invite myself over to get myself out of the house and visit a friend :D

Never compare babies, it is just too stressing. Tess is plodding along as well. MHN wants to see her again as she wasn't happy with the weight gain. Tummy time...mmmm no thankyou says Miss Tess!

Back soon, Tess is letting me know in her own subtle way she wants up :rolleyes:

Take care Nae

x Heather

Hi Nae, any improvement?
How's everyone else?

Things continue to be quiet strange here. Poppy may be teething. :rolleyes: Just what I need. Do you think it's possible to get addicted to baby panadol after just one dose? The mother, I mean, not the baby. I'm so weak. I tried teething gel at 3pm. It seemed to do the trick, although it could have just been the taste. At 6pm she was grizzly again. At 6.15 I cracked open the bought-in-Australia panadol. At 6.20 DP came home and after half an hour or so he said "Oh, Poppy is in such a good mood tonight." At 8 she fell asleep. I LOVE the stuff. Wonder if it's bad for the baby. I've just been reading about Baltic amber beads. Anyone tried that? (Oh, she's crying again. That didn't last long.)

Poppy's cheeks are a bit red, she's drooling and pulling the funniest hillbilly grandpa faces. Her gums feel hard but I've never felt them before so I don't know if they've changed. Not hot though.

On the job front -- still waiting. Still being told things are looking good. My - ahem - screen test went well, although all I could see what an ENORMOUS fattie with a sweaty red face. Didn't help that I nearly got hit by a bus during my piece to camera.

The new nanny I posted about last week didn't turn up. I stepped up the hunt, caused a bit of a commotion on an online expat forum when I named and shamed the woman who emailed me to say "my advice is raise your child yourself" when I'd asked a question about nanny salary rates. Ms Kim Chi (I'm not joking) seems ok. I think she'll hold us over til we leave, which hopefully will be in six to eight weeks. I hope I'm not getting ahead of myself but I'm the only candidate for a job that starts next week, so it's a bit hard for them to pull someone else out of their ... er.. hat.

But I've been waking up at 3am with a pounding heart, thinking about going back to work. I've been a bit miserable stuck at home with Poppy but I'm going to miss her so much when I'm away all day. She's so tiny but so happy. I hope she won't be ruined by her Mum returning to work, poor little thing. She's almost ready to sit up. She's also tucking her knees in a bit when she's on her front. I think she's going to be crawling soon. I'm purposely ignoring the milestone advice but I think she's doing ok. She has a cheeky smile, bright curious eyes and a fantastic happy dance, where she does double can-can kicks and punches herself in her tiny tummy.

Hope everyone else is well. I'm looking forward to reading some updates. Kinda feel like I'm all alone in an echo chamber. Hello-ello--lo-lo-o