Babies born~September 1st-15th 2010 #1

ITALY! haha! but i am biased...rome to Dubai is only 6 hours...but really, anywhere in Europe is close IYKWIM. once you are over there it's just a hop, skip and jump anywhere there. have you thought about living in Dubai?? i love visiting, but of course, could be a bit boring living there as i would imagine that it might just be alot of expats in gated communities...boring central lol! but then again it can be fun for a couple of years. but yeah, italy is great. BUT as i type i have to admit that it is exxy. DH and i would love to go back, but the cost of living is just ridiculous.

*edit* we have that sleep thing too, where she'll pull a few good nights and then BAM we have a shocker mrs crocker of 1-2 hourly wake-ups...what is with that man??!!

Oh and we have also been thinking of a sea change...melbourne is getting crazy expensive and ahh the dreaming of selling our small 2 bedroom house and moving to say, wollongong and buying a mansion by the beach has quite the pull factor lol.

Move to NOOSA!!!!! it's beautiful and I just LOVE it! we would return here no matter where we move to in the short term. I think that if we are ever going to work away it will be now before DS starts school and when that time comes we will be back on the Sunny coast. Yep most of the living in Dubai is expats in gated communities, I have no idea on the facilities or social aspects of it all but I imagine it'd be well catered for. We would live there as it's paid for etc but it'd be just so much better to be based somewhere in Europe KWIM. I have heard the cost of living is really high... I think the gig over there is something like 6 weeks on 6 weeks off and they fly back home and over there etc but maybe they would fly us to Europe and we could hire a camper van for the 6 week off and take mini holidays until we've see all of Europe and then.... the world! LOL :p We'd be living out of a suitcase I guess unless we can leave our stuff in the Dubai accommodation? That would be great really. hmmmm I'm convincing myself that is the way to go HA. But if what we have up our sleeve here comes through it'll be perfect and we'll be able to afford a holiday to Europe anyway.

I'm here too... DP has been using the computer for his assignments... :(

**PANIC ATTACK** x 2

I go back to work on Monday ladies!! Not looking forward it :cry: but we can't survive on love right lol!! Bubs will be with my Mum on Mondays, and with me on Tues-Thurs we have Friday off.. I actually posted a thread in the Breastfeeding section on tips to increase supply so I can give my mum EMB on Mondays, I expressed for 20mins today and got 10mls HAHAHA!! So sad, but at least I have had a stock pile since she was born!!

Going back to reality should be intersting, waking up at 6am and staying awake should also be an interesting task, was going to do that this morning, but went NAH it's the weekend LMAO... Oh well I'm sure we'll work out a routine soon enough.

Cherished: If it makes you feel any better the last few nights with Audrey have been hell, not 1 wake up, not 2 not even 3 - but like 4 wake up a night!! My eyes are falling out of my head!! and with the whole starting work on Monday OMG HELP!!!! LOL Great that you can work from home, fingers crossed it all goes through for you!!

Cass: Totally sux about the trip!! DP and I did our europe travel before we even thought about kids, good thing I guess, but would love to take bubs to Nice, LOVE it there!! Just love it!! I agree with Cherished, move to QLD, Noosa is lovely!!!

G2G bubs crying!! Try and sneak on later to post more...

haha! i would love to move back to qld. we have heaps of close family friends in noosa too lol!

HPL: eeeeekkk! back to work!!! good luck with it babe (it's a new place isnt it??). and you're right, you'll get a new routine soon enough and get into the swing of things i'm sure. 4 wake-ups?! wow, it is tough :hug:. probably just a developmental spurt. Marta has been doing similar antics as her feet are sooooooo exciting :rolleyes: lol.

yeah i am pretty bummed about the trip. we had planned to visit our friends in kansas as well :(. but the home renos have to take priority...
we are planning a trip to indonesia at the end of the year...bit cheaper than europe and the US lol.
oohh i LOVE nice as well! actually, pretty much anywhere in southern france is awesome lol. travelling with kids i reckon can be heaps of fun. it is cool to see things the way they see them ITMS. for example, we went Pisa last year with DD1 and i saw parks and climbed mountains that i had never seen before simply because we wanted to show her cool playgrounds or go mushroom hunting. the plane trip was not the best part, but totally manageable...especially as the hostesses have stashes of ice-cream to bribe kids with lol.
i look forward to getting back to italy to show off our new girl the family...but unfortunately i dont see that happening until next year... :(

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haha! i would love to move back to qld. we have heaps of close family friends in noosa too lol!

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:hooray: Do it, do it, do it!!!! Our little munchkins can play together :D

HPL going back ot work must suck but as Cas said I'm sure you'll be in a routine before you know it and you've had so long to prepare. Good thing you have that expressed milk. Did you try any of the natural remedies we mentioned a while back to boost your supply? I am thinking of expressing a bottle just incase for some reason I'm not around or DS decided he doesn't like boobie anymore. This is all very unlikely but you never know and I would just feel better knowing I have it. So what are the rules for expressed milk. As in how do you store it and heat it up etc etc. Run me through the whole process.... If you can.

Cass it's just wonderful showing off bub to people isnt' it! Everytime I duck down the street I run into someone and if DS isnt' with me I'm really dissapointed that I didn't get to show him off... This morning was a great example when I saw an old client and her 6yr old daughter who had really wanted to see the baby and had even asked me to touch my belly while I was pregnant and if I could bring 'it' in so she could 'pat' it when it was born :rofl: anyway DS was at home with dh.

One of the income things has already fallen through which is totally crap cause it would have been absolutely fabulous and pretty much like a dream come true :crying: maybe it will work out in some way but not on such a grand scale..... watch this space


HPL did you get my PM?

HPL: get on the fenugreek tea! i found it awesome for supply and my friend that pumps for her special little boy who has to have a tube to his belly has fenugreek tea everyday to help her supply.
also acupuncture works a treat but is a bit exxy. but maybe a good idea if in an emergency :dunno:

Cherished: yeah i hate it when i am out and i see other ppl with their babies when i dont have mine with me lol. i love going out and about with them :)

that is pretty tough that the dream job didnt come through. i guess the universe has other ideas for you guys ATM. maybe travel will have to be done...a sojourn in europe...

AFM: well i am working on very little energy today. marta hasnt slept more than an hour and half in the last 36 hours :o i kid you not. BBL she is crying...wish me some sleepy baby vibes lol! gawd i need 'em!

Cass Holly molly 1.5hrs :o you must be at your wits end hon :hug: I've been meaning to try massaging DS with some lavender massage oil but all the lavender essential oil I find says that it's for adults only :confused: but the baby massage book I have says lavender essential oil is fine for babies? SO I really have no idea. I've been meaning to post a thread on it but haven't gotten around to it, do you know if it's ok? If it is maybe you could pop some in her bath water or massage oil?

I'm going to start having some fenugreek tea myself. I think my supply is ok but I've not been drinking enough water over the last few days and I know that has an impact. And my boobs are rarely hard (that sounds rude lol) so I think I can make more milk without any discomfort on my end and the more the merrier right?

Yep I'm just bursting to see what the universe has in store for us! a sojourn of maybe 2-3 years would be fab then back to the sunny coast for DS to start preschool :D

Hi ladies!!

Cherished - I lurv the sound of your jewellry!
me - I prefer magnetic clasp for necklaces, and normal clasps for anklet/bracelet. Oh, and make the necklaces a couple of cm longer than the standard 36cm.

good news ladies on the night sleeps!
Although our DD sleeps at night, she still doesn't sleep during the day. At the suggestion of the community nurse, I went to the family care cottage for the day to work on her sleeping with the nurse, and we got there at 10.30 and left at 4.30 in that time she slept for 40 mins in total - one 1/2 hour and one 10 min sleep. THe nurse didn't have any other suggestions for me, and even said that she thought I was doing everything to get her to sleep, and to DD she said - as she woke from a 10 min sleep with a big grin - that she was just being cheeky lol. Today from about 8.30am to 6.00pm, she had one 40 min sleep and two 20 min sleeps. So Cass, I can sympathise with your 36 hours! I know, at least I get a good night's sleep, but I am lucky if I get breakfast or a shower or anything at all done during the day, so I have to do all my "stuff" (just finished the ironing) at night - which isn't good for my sleep, but I can't even have a nap with DD during the day, because she doesn't have one!

HPL - good luck with work on monday!!

Milly: our girls are travelling a similar path with sleeps! marta normally sleeps really quite well at night (usually just one wakeup for boob and back to bed), but her day sleeps...omg. i do a song and dance if she has slept an hour lol. there isnt much i think that i can do either as she wakes up happy as larry. if she woke up angry pants then i would be trying more, but she seems ok...

BUT then again i am now dealing with a "non napper" baby lol. yesterday afternoon she finally relaxed enough to stop rolling (i'm thinking "australian heroes" episode of chick rolling to ayers rock lol) and slept for an hour and half...after 36 hours of no sleep...but then last night she woke at midnight and every hour on the hour until we 'woke' up at 8am she was up and wanting to feed. i am earth-shatteringly tired. all i keep saying to myself is that it cant go on forever, she will sleep sometime lol. just so cruel after that week of sleeping through :(
finally she has gone to sleep just now. i am :pray: that she will do an hour, as a way to 'reset' her clock ITMS.

also, i have worked out that if i need a shower and she is awake i just bring her into the bathroom on her bouncer with a toy or two for her to suck. keeps her happy and lets me vague out under the nice hot water for a bit :)

have to say that having 2 kids is in a way easier because they really entertain eachother...yep! even at this age. Marta reckons that everything Leila does is cool and funny and Leila loves the attention of Marta. so it's good when i need to clean up a bit or do some cooking...so go on girls, get cracking, make another baby :LOL:

Cherished: ooopps. i have been putting in a couple of drops of lavender in her bath....if it's any consolation we have had no reactions! i think i'll do your idea today...warm lavendar bath around 4.30pm (if i do them any later she gets too excited for some reason...).

Also, we had Marta's 4 month check today at the MACH nurse. she weighs....6.8kgs!!!! :o holy hot pants batman lol! she is exactly 1 kg heavier than leila was at this age lol. but just perfect of course ;) the nurse we had was a temp today and not that great. sucks when you get one that is not engaging. i really look forward to those appts and hate feeling rushed or fobbed off ITMS. ah well, next time. i just wish they ran them like they do in Canberra. here you have to have appts, whereas in Canberra they are drop-ins, so you get to go when you feel you need to and can have contact with other mums in the waiting room. i made some friends that way and we ended up having a weekly catch up afterwards at the cafe next door. this way of booked appts means taht you only see another mum as you pass eachother at the front door. not conducive to meeting the community i reckon. ok, rant over lol.

*cherished*: hey babe i hope you guys are ok with the flooding crisis going on...many friends of mine have been evacuated and i just saw that the sunny coast and brissy has been on notice... :hug:

Hi Ladies!!

Cass: my goodness girl how can you even manage being on BB right now!! Hope bubba starts sleeping better for ya!!! I do the same thing with Audrey if I need a shower, she loves hearing the water so she's entertained just watching me lol

cherished: great work with the sleep!! I have bubs at work that only sleep for 40mins in an 8hr day n they are as happy as Larry!! Audrey doesn't sleep that long during the day anymore which doesn't bother me, just when she wakes 3 times a night it kills me!! Last night or should I say thisorning she screamed bloody murder for an hour, poor bubba and wind!! She's really struggling with bring it up ATM!! Also when I get a chance to use a computer n not my Iphone I'll tell u about the breastmilk storage and what not hard to type long posts on phone...

Damn it I got confused on who said what n can't scroll up to change it!!!! Damn it sorry Milly n Cherished I mushed ur 2 posts together!!!!!! :(

First day at work n missed bubs like crazy I honestly don't know how mummies can drop their kids to day care I mean wow I work there n have a whole new respect for working parents!! It's harder than I had imagined!!! Audrey's first day at kindy tomorrow hope she's good for the girls!! Getting routine in the morning is hard she wants to feed or sleep as we have to leave lol gotta stretch her out I think....

Oh cherished as cass said hope your alright up there, me in brissy have a few local roads closed so I'm guessing more to come.... I have family in both gympie n toowoomba so this weather is really effecting our family!!! Really wish it would stop!! Ha so much for my short post! Cherished I will post about breast milk next time so need to sleep now!!!!

hey girls,

cherished i hope you guys are ok up there. unfortuantely my Opa in toowoomba has had to deal with flooding yesterday. i was on the ABC website and saw the video pop up and then totally panicked as man, that is where i have been a thousand times before. i have crossed that road so so many times and i always park the car on that road...it really is distressing to see it all like that. i cannot stop thinking about those poor people and kids...sorry for the downer...just got scared about my opa (thankfully the water only reached his door...the garden is gone, but to me that's ok! an 80 year old man dealing with floods on his own freaks me out.

Thanks for all your thoughts :hug: We are OK but yes there is loads of flooding in the area. Our house is up on a rise so it won't flood and so far our neighborhood is ok and the town too. About 30 mins drive from us is seeing the worst flooding they have had in many many years so that's a bit of a worry. Cass I am sure there are people helping your Opa out hon, I am sure children and the elderly come 1st. The footage of Toowoomba really is upsetting but try not to worry, I'm sure they are showing the worst of it on the news and you're loved ones will be alright.

Hi Ladies,

Was checking in too about the floods...

Cass: Glad to know your Opa is okay, we have family in Toowoomba too its very scary and sad, as my cousin unfortuneately found 2 bodies in his paddock, its devestating, so so so heart breaking!!

Cherished: Glad that you guys are alright too, and that you are on high ground!!

We have famliy in Gympie and Toowoomba so its not that great atm, and we live Brisbane, so its not that exactly graet news for us, DP got evactuated from work as his works about 100m from the Brisbane River, sadly his work is also a residence, his boss and famliy live up stairs they predict their home to have approx 2m of water through it!
I managed to get home safe with bubs from work, but we will be stuck in now, no roads going in or out of where we live, the house should be okay but you just dont know, i mean Toowoomba was meant to be safe and look at that!!

This weather is just crazy, so if you dont hear from me in a few days, its either bad, or we lost power just hope we dont lose the house, dont know what we'd do....

Stay safe cherished, hope your Opa keeps safe Cass!!

stay safe dear friends :hug:

Glad your OK cherished!
I'm keeping everything crossed for you HPL!
as Cassius says, stay safe!
:grouphug:

Morning ladies!
I hope everyone was OK during the night.

can I have a bit of a me post please?
Poor little poppet - teething is making her MISERABLE! She is even off her food, not wanting cuddles, then wanting nothing but cuddles, I just can't seem to do anything for her :(
This morning she only fed one breast (usually has both, and then a top up later on), so after an hour and a half, I gave up, and as I was quite engorged by then I expressed it off, as I couldn't even cuddle her properly it was so full... only to have her try and suckle when I was finally able to cuddle her :( good thing the other breast had filled back up by then.

Question - when can you stop "sterilising" - I realised that I had only washed the breast pump after last use and not sterilised it - of course I realised this only after i finished expressing!

hi milly! oh you poor girls! teething can be really rotten at times. poor wee poppet xx i sterilised until DD1 was 6 months...BUT i am sure that forgetting here and there is no biggie! i wouldnt be too stressed about it TBH :hug:

i am sure you have a full arsenal of bonjela and brauers teething relief and the amber...give it all a go. pity that they arent eating yet as frozen watermelon works a treat :). otherwise wet a washer and stick it in the freezer and let her suck on that...we also have a fridge teether thingy and marta loves it!

gotta go as marta is cracking it...sorry for such a quick reply...

Hi everyone! all ok in my neck of the woods today, how bout everyone else? Updates all round would be fantastic! I'm so worried about it all and it's just heartbreaking :( I think I've gone a little mad with some sort of survival freak out :o went to the supermarket and there's loads of food there only no bread, luckily I have a bread maker so I just stocked up on loads of flour. It may be a bit of overkill but there will be more floods as we are nowhere near out of the wet season... I hate to think of what is to come. And I'm cleaning and tidying like a crazy 'nesting' woman, I feel like I need to know where everything is just in case :rolleyes:

Milly hon that's no good about the teething. There's only been one day that I've thought DS 'may' have been girzzling due to teeth but that's only because I couldn't think of what else it could have been. I even gave him the cold teething sucker thing from the fridge but he couldn't get it in his mouth properly anyway! I have no idea about expressing but am wanting to know.

HPL I hope you've got lots of supplies hon :hug:

Cass how are you holding up?

Hi Ladies,
just checking to make sure you are all OK?

Hello Ladies!!

Sorry it's been a while between posts!

We're all okay on the flood front, my DF had to be evacuated from his work, and the roads to our house basically were closed but at least we were safe!! It's so so so sad about what has happened here and now VIC is going through it too...

Hope everyone is okay!!

Mily: With ther sterilising as Cass said every now and then won't hurt... I'm going to go all 'work mode' for a sec.. There has been researched done in Australia on the concept of sterilising... They're not saying dont wash bottle, teats, pumps dummies etc, simply saying that yes while it's great to be cleaning your babies things, what happens when you then pic that item up, germs are always on your hands and around the environment what once you have sterilised something and taken in out in the open it then is no longer sterile.... At work we have been advise that the best way to clean the toys, bottles etc is in warm soapy water, rinse with HOT water and allow to air dry, in the sun if possible....

Me, I do a bit of eveything... With my pump, I put it in a bit pot of boiling water on the stove for about 5 - 10mins then let it air dry on a clean tea towel... The bottle I put in the top drawer on the dishwasher then again boiling water... The dummy thought I'm sort of bad I guess, but I try not to worry to much about that at home and I figure she is putting everything in her mouth as it is...

That's just what I do, and what some research has said... I'm sure you could find information all that from all sides of the coin... I'd do what you feel comfortable with..

Cherished: You asked a while back **sorry** about storing breastmilk?? You can buy zip locked bags from the chemist that are specially bag for BM... I have a medela pump and they actually have designed a bag that sticks to the pump directly so you don't need to use a bottle to catch the milk then transfer it to a bag... The BM can store in your freezer for 3 - 6mths depending on the type of freezer you have... I have read that it is recommended that if you store it in the fridge it should be on the bottom shelf at the back to ensure it stays at the same temperature when opening/closing the door... Also it should be used with 24hrs of expressing.. If you're expressing through out the day, research suggests that you can simply rinse the pump and store it in an airtight container until it's next use instead of sterilising/cleaning properly after every use.. Again its just a suggestion...

At work I actualy wrap the pump in cling wrap and put it in the freezer until the next time I use it - in an air tight container of course....

Cassa: I'm sorry I can't remember if you have posted recently.. I'm on my SIL comp and well it's not fantastic to say the least!! Hope Marta is doing brilliantly!!

Audrey can now offically roll over from front to back!! She thinks she is such a clever cookie!! And found her voice my goodness!! ON the drive to and from work all she does is sing and talk!! Watch out phone bill when she's a teenager!!

I can now say I'm getting married next year and we're going to TCC next year too!! YAY!!! So excited!!

Hope all you lovely ladies and bubbas are doing great!!

Oh and a HAPPY 4mth BIRTHDAY to all our darlings xxxx

Hi HPL! Glad that you are OK!
Thanks for the info on the sterilising. I must admit I have thought it odd, given that they are (or soon will be) on their hands and knees on the floor, putting stuff in their mouth, that we need to sterilise stuff that goes in thier mouth. Hot soapy water sounds fine to me! ;)
Great news on the rolling! DD is a bit slow on that front (from the harness) but she has been talking alot too! She is always having a wonderful conversation with me - I wish I knew what she was saying!

Cherished, Cass - how are you ladies?

AFM - DD had her 4 mo needles today :( poor poppet cried and cried! not fun! She's OK now though, but mum is still traumatised!
She had her first play date too (well perhaps a bit too small to call it a play date, but still).

I hope you ladies are all well,
cheerio for now!

Hi girls!

HPL: phew! lucky that there was no flood damage at your place. just seeing Fairfield (we used to live in annerley) was totally freaky. and UQ! omg! DH used to work there...ahhhh what a lake lol!

that is also cool that she can roll from front to back. Marta is still in the land of frustration on that one. she can roll back to front like there's no tomorrow but chucks a stink when she needs to go the other way lol.
Milly: *snap* Marta also had her 4 month needles. poor poppet. She was incredibly upset last night and i had to give her panadol :( i have never seen her so distressed. in the end she slept through the night (must of needed it!). but of course i stayed up to watch the tennis lol! so i still feel tired :rolleyes:

who was the playdate with??

AFM: well i have been feeling very rattled and upset about the loss of our dear friend Lucy (Lulu). she was totally awesome and knew how to have a good time. so full of life and love; still cant get my head around it so have been reading more than posting lately.

on other news, Marta's sleep is getting progressively worse. not sure what is going on. from being a normal newborn to then sleeping through with the occassional night of one wakeup to now being up almost 1.5 hourly :o. i will buy some rice cereal today as i do think there might be hunger issues as she is now feeding from both breasts at each feed (even during the night!). i gave her a suck of a banana the other day and she LOVED it and then a nectarine which she also loved...so maybe :dunno:
also, we had a big wakeup call yesterday. i was at a playcentre yesterday for DD1 and Marta was on my lap and suddenly she crapped my cup of coffee! thankfully i was quick and got it, but it really did jolt me into realising that my baby is growing up and really exploring. it's now impossibel to have her on my lap when i am eating as she is in there with her hands throwing it all around lol.

Hi girls, Cass funny you mention the rice cereal as I was about to post today asking when you are all starting on solids as a friend is already giving her little girl lots and she is only 3.5 months? I wanted to wait until 6 months (maybe 5) as per the WHO recommendation however our pead said he recommends 4 months so we figured 5 was a good compromise. I'm a little torn over it really, I love breastfeeding and even though I will still be breastfeeding for some time even when we do start soilds it kinda feels like the begining of the end kwim. I think DS is having loads of milk though but a couple of dys ago I expressed after his feed to see if my boobies wer completely drained and I think I managed to express around 20mls lol but there are plenty of feeds when he still wont take the 2nd breast so I figure he's happy with just the breast milk at this stage. He was 4 months yesterday so I think we can hold out for another 4 weeks.

HPL thanks for the express info. When I got out my hand pump one the instructions said that it keeps in the freezer for 3 weeks. I wanted some in there JIC but I don't think we'd really need it anyway so I'm not going to bother at this stage.

Hi milly YAY for play dates :) We've had a couple and they have been really good.

Well I've been feeling a bit lost this last week, can't even remember what I was going to post really. SO unsure about what we are doing, I want to look after DS but not sure if I'll go back to work or id dh will work more or if we are moving. DS is beautiful though, talking LOTS and blowing raspberries etc and rolling too. Still not sleeping the best but most nights we will get a 3-4 hours stretch so that's nice. On that note, Cass I read somewhere that from 4 months they can start waking up a lot more. Not great for us cause we were already having pretty crap nights :( Looks like there is more to come....

Hey everyone! Long time, no chat.

Glad you have all pulled through the floods ok.

Chersihed I saw your post about Darwin, all I can tell you about is Alice Springs, but from what I have heard the housing market is just ridiculous everywhere. Apparantly it's the governments fault for being desperate to house their intervention workers so all the rents have skyrocketed cause they will pay the earth. The rest of us poor suckers though can't. The best why is to have an employer that will subsidise your rent, which we don't, which is why......

We are moving to Melbourne next month......WOOHOO....so excited...well I was until I started the packing!

We had our 4 month needles here to yesterday, Katie seems to have come through fine, cried for about 30 seconds and forgot about them!

Hi Cass & Cherished! Glad you are OK!

Cass - sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. :hug:

Cherished - our play date was with someone we met at the community health centre. Her DD is just 3 weeks younger than ours, and she too (like me) is an "older" mum (well older than the others at the baby clinic and I guess we just had a bit more in common than we did with some of the other mums)

Hi Muminalice! nice to hear from you! :wave:

feeding - well DD has been watching us eat intently. I wasn't going to start just yet as I too wanted to wait till 6 months, but I am going to do baby-led weaning, so didn't want to go down the rice cereal path (well I'm sure she'll end up with some of it, but I am hoping not as her main solids). She still has tongue thrust, so it will be a little while yet before we introduce solids yet.

Hi muminalice thanks for that info, I had pretty much told dh that the extra money he'd be making would be spent on either rent or our home loan repayments if we were to live in Darwin. I also said that the employer would need to provide accomodation. It's a shame cause the job pays about $30,000 more than his current job so it would have been great. They will pay to fly him there and back on some sort of 2 weeks on 2 weeks off roster but he would miss DS to much and we would miss him!

milly tell me more about baby led weaning, is that like baby lead solids? I haven't read anything on this but presume it's just to give your baby what you are eating when they seem interested? I'm not buying the rice cereal. I think I'll cook up some brown rice and mush it up pretty runny with some of my breast milk. To that I'm also going to add a wee little bit of pear, some liquid iron supliment and multivitamin (for babies)

Have any of your bubs changed eye color? I think DS may be turning green :D he's got one little patch on one of his eyes which is changing colour

Hi girls!

Marta's eyes are kinda still really light blue/grey. no change as yet...

Muminalice: WAHOOO!! where abouts are you going to be in Melbs?? mebbe we'll be neighbours lol?!

Cherished: aw babe :hug: i can't stand not knowing what i'm doing or where i am going to be living, so i feel your pain. we have moved around so much for DHs work...i hope that you guys can find something awesome for you all soon xx

Feeding: is going great :) although i have to say that sucking on a banana isnt really feeding as such lol. but she loves it. i made up some pumpkin yesterday for her as she was sticking her hands in my dinner and helping herself to the cooked carrot pieces and it would appear that orange is her favourite colour lol. i feel really strange about it all as Leila had 100% boob for almost 6 months without batting an eyelid, but this young lady is just loving it right now. weird! ah well, she decided for me lol. (and i'm like you cherished, i have really mixed feelings about it as i LOVE that total boob moment, so am :pray: that i can get away with just a piece of carrot or pumpkin here and there for the next month or so....

Cherished: If they are willing to spend that money on airfare, maybe they would be willing to spend it instead on rent assistance. It might end up paying half your rent for you.

muminalice thanks hon, I mentioned it to dh today and we are pretty sure they wouldn't do it but if we do actually apply for the job then we will at least ask! :)

I think I might get a high chair and then start having dinner at the table with dh and ds. I can then see how much interest ds has in the food and maybe we can give him something. Mind you it could be another 4 weeks until we get a high chair lol. I feel like such a sook not wanting him on solids, even the other day when I tried to express I got teary thinking that he didn't need me if he has a bottle and I gave up on expressing cause it was taking forever to hand pump it anyway lol I know I can still breastfeed for as long as I want anyway so I guess I'm just being a bit silly. OR maybe it's cause ds has been fussing at the boob the last couple of days and I feel rejected :(

Speaking of feeding I also worried that I'm teaching ds to associate feeding with sleeping as I pretty much always feed him before sleeping, does anyone else do that?

OH and I think I've got mastitis again but in the other boob this time. Ironically my acupuncturist said that women who get mastitis are worried about lacking supply and the other day when I got the express pump out I was worried about supply as my boobs were really flat and ds seemed to want milk and was taking a few sucks and then fussing and I thought they could be empty :rolleyes: then the next day I had some fenegreek just to boost supply and it worked as my boobs were full all day and night BUT now I've got mastitis. Thankfully I have the herbs to take now to get on top of it before it gets bad.

we feed to sleep :)

but it occassionally is a PITA so some times i feed her on the couch and then carry her to the room. that way she *kinda* wakes up a bit and groggily looks aroud when i put her down. i find if i do that say once a day then she actually sleeps a bit better overall ITMS...but it could be total placebo on my behalf :ROFL: if it's any consolation i fed Leila to sleep the whole time and she is a great sleeper and didnt have any issues about falling to sleep without it when she self weaned...

*snap* we need to get a highchair too. i was going to re-use Leila's Stokke one, but she is still using it and i dont want to push her out IYKWIM. so i will have to buy another one...ahhh tough lol! gotta choose a colour now lol!

Hi Ladies!

Cherished - yes, baby-led weaning is baby-led solids. I found this great website - I don't think I can post the link, but if you google "babyled weaning" and "wholesome baby food" you'll find it. It has some great recipes and also info on when to introduce solids.

Cass, I too am feeling sad at DD growing up all ready! Just when she lost that fragile newborn look, I shed a tear! LOL!

We feed to sleep too. In fact, its the ONLY way she goes to sleep. And yep, wakes up when I put her down too, but no groggily going back to sleep for us, no, we wake up fully, often with tears, and then start again. She just wants to sleep in my arms, not even on the bed beside me (tried that - doesn't work!) and not even laying on my chest -we had to stop that becasue of the harness, and now she doesn't like it anymore :( *sigh*

Do you ever have those days where you just feel like that you are doing it ALL wrong? That you have NO IDEA what you are doing? And feel like you just keep making one mistake after another? Well, I'm having one of those days ladies. I just feel incredibly hopeless at this. I am exhausted after DD being awake several times during the night - each time for 1&1/2 - 2 hours, and then when I tried to get her to sleep today she did her usual of only having 1/2 hour (I really thought she might have more today - she should have been tired, I know I am!). But she was tired, just tired and cranky and crying and too tired to sleep I think. Sorry ladies, I am just feeling really crap at this at the moment.
Ok I'll stop now, I have had my whinge.

whinge away Milly :) i am soo with you some days lol! somedays i feel like superwoman and then the next i am left standing in the middle of a tornado!

Marta is also only able to really manage 40 mins during the day. the exceptions when she does do say, an hour are a really weird and usually mean i am in there checking her breathing, she is that much of a catnapper lol.

feeding to sleep is our only real option ATM though. i am just not able to let her cry for too much...with leila i was a bit more rigid, and well, she was a better sleeper (but again that could just be different kids IYKWIM). also, i do think that Marta being in the same room is part of the night waking. she wakes up 10 mins after we get to bed...that's a bit of a no brainer. not sure how to overcome that though :dunno:

Hi Ladies,

Audrey has a bedtime routine that we've had since birth which is bath with daddy, feed with mummy, then wrap her up and put her to bed awake, but her music seahorse on and walk out... She'll usually put herself to sleep in 30mins sometime we go in to put her dummy back in and them she's off in dreamland... Her one night a feed though she usually falls asleep instantly when she's on the boob then I put her back down...

I'm hoping on the band wagon for 'those days' I hate it when other people tell you what you SHOULD be doing instead of just encouraging you and telling you that you're doing your best!! It's really starting to "P" me off!!!

I've been doing research too about solids - was goingto start introducing farex to bubs with breastmilk but..... Someone mentioned brown rice?? Using Iphone can't see posts...: can you tell me more about that please??? I wanted t cooked eveything myself so I knew what she was having but 'those' people tell me to start her on farex then add fruits to it later.... I don't know what to do....

Bub gets her needles this Friday, my Dr doesn't do them Friday / Saturdays and well DF and I both work so jad to find new DR!!!

my word what a week!! I resigned from my job on Monday and did not get the best reception from my co-workers, bit sad about that but oh well can't be helped. New job is walking distance from our house so baby weight be gone!!! lol so many perks I'm excited!! We met bubs teachers on Friday and they are lovely so I'm not wrried about moving bubs to my new centre I just hope eveything works out for the best....

Taking bub to the beach for the first time on Australia day, sooooo excited!! What's everyone else doing??

HPL Wow hon a new job! woohoo :) It does suck that your old job didn't respond too well. I'm pretty sure I will not be going back to my old job or I will at least be extending my maternity leave until probably August but the girl who is doing my job is always such a sour face when I go in there I really don't ever want to go back! Sounds like sleep time in your house is still fantastic, that's great to hear. It was me who mentioned the brown rice, I have PM'd you a link with some home made recipes for rice and other cereals for babies :) I intend to add my own iron (ferrodrops) and some pentavite multivitamin once DS starts to actually swallow the food.

We are managing 2-4hr stints at night still, most nights there's a couple of 3 hours tints and I seam to be coping with it ok now although during the night I waking up isn't that much fun when I need tooth pick to open my eyes lol I have option to have a sleep most days but I'm not taking as often so things are looking up.

Milly I hope you are feeling better hon :hug: those days suck when you feel like you're doing it all wrong. But I think you're doing it 'all right' xo

Hi Cass,

gotta go ds is crying...

Cherished: 2-3 hourly is tough babe :hug: but it is funny how we sometimes just manage to work with it! i have to say that i am dealing alot better with the sleep deprivation this time around (even though marta is waking a lot more often than Leila). and tell me about those toothpicks lol. the last week or so, i can't even remember getting up..only realising that i must of as DD is lying beside me fast asleep and i have a boob out :o. that always freaks me out lol.

HPL: like the others have mentioned there is no need to give them farex at all! i bought a packet of the bellamy's organic rice cereal just to see if she is interested. if she wasnt then i give it to DD1 on her cereal :) but in all honesty it is totally not necessary, they can start on a much nicer range of foods...

Muminalice: how you going babe?

AFM: we are chugging along nicely. Marta is (finally!) managing to work out how to roll front to back. she was doing it the other day, but then forgot how to do it :rofl: but just today has mastered it again. :crossfingers: that this is it lol! the poor girl gets so frustrated lol.
yesterday we went out and bought a sofa bed thingy from the King furniture sale...talk about feeling like the 'doing it all wrong' kinda mum. I was one of 'those' mums that has the feral 3 year old trying to jump on all the furniture and take all the price signs of the stand :o. then just when i had managed to corral her onto DHs lap, marta does a HUGE poo and vomits ARRGHHHH! all the while the poor bloke serving us was trying hard to just get us out of there :ROFL: OMG i was just sooo frazzled, it was a hot day and it was late in the afternoon...what were we thinking??!!! ah well, we got the couch, put the signs back and hightailed it outta there lol.

Hi ladies!

HPL - yay on the new job!!

Cherished - that link for the recipes - is it "wholesome baby foods"? if not, can you pm me the link too please?

Cass - DD also rolled front to back the other day, and hasn't been able to do it since! LOL!

AFM - well, I'm not dreary-dumps like I was the other day, we have just had the most horrible week - it seemed all dd did was cry. Do they have another growth spurt about now? Today whe was much better - I actually got to use my sewing machine (I had been trying this for 3 weeks!)

...omg i am soo tired that i read 'spewing machine' instead of 'sewing machine' :rofl: made reading the rest of the sentence really weird lol.

Oh Cass! :rofl:

how did everyone's holiday go yesterday?

we decided at the 11th hour to pack the girls in the car and go to the werribee open range zoo. was the BEST! went on a safari thingo, then had lunch beside meerkats, then did some digging for 'bones' at one of the playgrounds. Marta just ate sand while Leila and i were paleantologists lol.

Marta also ate half a peach! haha! we were sitting at our friend's house for a playdate with her kids and as i was chatting away Marta reached over to the fruit plate, picked up a piece of peach and ATE IT :o sooo funny! she had her hot little fist clenched really hard around it (to stop mama from trying to steal it lol) and was sucking away like there was no tomorrow lol.

Hi ladies,
I need to de-brief. We just had our first real tantrum (well, I know it's not a tantrum because she is a baby, but I mean a big long loud scraming crying sobbing sniff-sniff-sniff-sniff episode).

It was my fault really. We were meant to be going out for dinner with friends (yes meant to, we didn't make it). I knew she needed a feed and a sleep, but I was rushing trying to get me ready, and I thought I could hang off for the feed, to just before we left, and then she could sleep in the car. But I left it too late, and then tried to quickly get her dressed, and it was all over. Half an hour of solid crying. First we rang our friends and said order for us, we'll be late. Then we rang them to say sorry, can't come. She was just too distressed, and I knew that even if she quitened in time, it was still too much for her.

I feed disappointed, because:
1. I was looking forward to dinner out - no cooking and adult conversation as well as catching up with our friends :(
2. it was completely avoidable and all my fault :( :(
3. I upset my poor little poppet :( :( :(

We were able to calm her, I stripped off and held her skin to skin while rocking her, and then gave her a bath, where after settling her and have her smile, I promptly bumped her head and made her cry again :(

I just hate seeing her cry, and to think it was my fault. :(