any other over 35 first time mums?

[Rowan75]

hey ladies - waiting for M to fall asleep - shes so cute rolling about swapping her dummies over been to playgroup but she was too tired to stay for singing - was good to go tho and catch up I do love that group - M just ignores me and dashes about playing with the cars lol she nearly fell into a toybox in her eagerness lmao!

aha thanks for clearing that up re co-sleeping! M slept in her moses basket in our room til she outgrew it, then in her crib in our room, til we went away for a wedding when she was 4 months old and realised how much she moved about in the bigger travel cot - so then we brought her cot in our room (v cramped) and then at 6 months she went in her cot in her room and thats where she is - she loves her room which is cool - she loves her wallpaper and loves seeing all the teddies on top of her wardrobe

Ms cousins had the crib before us and her boy cousin slept in the crib til he was 8 months - holy cow he must have been cramped - he was 10lb 6oz born - how did it work when he sat up I wonder?! I spose everyones different!

oo its quiet - shes asleep - will get a cuppa and cereal and do some more accounts!

looking forward to scan - aye will pop pics up here and in journal and fb probs lol!

 

[Storm1jet2]

Aww Rowan, I dont have you on FB, how do I find you?

 

[AngelUK]

Ok so now let's try and write a bit more while the boys are playing.

Borboleta yeah I think Dominic has finally got my cold. He was sounding very stuffy last night (and he woke every hour). Some times he settled himself after a bit of crying but by that time I was already up and by his side. Seems we are back to awful nights cause the night before he didn't have a cold and yet slept very badly too. I got a diffuser for the boys' room last night to make breathing easy and I think maybe it helped the cold a little but obviously not the sleeping. Oh well
I really hope Thiago is starting to sleep better now? And how do you sleep without your DH in the room? More room on the bed I suppose? But though I used to sleep better when Nick was not there, I don't like sleeping without him by my side. When will your DH decide which job to take? How wonderful that he can choose between options
Sounds so cute the way you write about Thiago and oranges! I can totally relate to him liking them, they are yummie. Bet it is a bit sticky afterwards though huh? Bet you have to be careful with the pips though?

Clio thank you, I am feeling much better. Sore throat is gone but I still have a stuffy nose. As for the nose frida, is it important that it should be this long cable thing cause we have this nasal pump and I wondered if this would owrk equally well? I haven't tried it yet as Dominic only developed his cold last night and seems ok this morning.
The gymboree sounds fun as did your description of J's clothes . Btw we do the same as you. We put on some soft trouser type things and a cardigan over the babygro and we are all set. I like that is warm and covers everything underneath with no possibility of a draught, unlike if they had socks on.
And while I agree that your mum is going overboard with the English tea, I am actually very partial to it. We had that for the boys's christening if you remember. I loved it! Scones and clotted cream with strawberry jam? Cannot be beaten imo. But I am a greedy piglet lol. Mind you, we invited everyone and did not expect anyone else to pay for it, so hopefully this makes us less odd? I do agree though that your sister sounds a bit unprepared. Like she enjoys her pregnancy but isn't quite aware yet what it leads to. Boy, will she be surprised lol.
Hope your OH sticks to the programme with J now. I know what you mean when you say you cannot bear to hear your boy cry. It is heartbreaking isn't it?
J looks cute even when he chokes! But actually that pic reassured me cause my boys do exactly that too when I tried again with some stage 2 food. Or rather it is mostly Sebastian who does it. He is still not fond of it but I think we need to persist. I am going to buy some cucumber and try the boys on that. Might feel good against swollen gums too perhaps (though I don't think I see anything swollen, I still think Sebastian's odd behaviour must be related to teething)

Storm yay for the improvement for L! That is awesome the way she eats now and also your night of 7 hours! Sounds like bliss. I am sorry she didn't sleep well last night but maybe this is just the cold this time and hopefully she will soon be over that? I so know what you mean with not being able to face sleepless nights any more. And you have it so much worse than me as I have OH take every other night. I don't know how you cope with being sleepless every night!
I am sorry you tummy is so painful as well. And why on earth do they make you wait so long for your meds? Btw I thought that an ulcer can now be treated with meds and that they then should not come back? Is this a myth then? I really hope it clears up soon for you.

Sabrina I can totally understand that you don't want to take Finn to the hospital. But how heartbreaking for your OH to not be able to have his mum out for xmas
I hope your thanksgiving is going to be great fun, it sounds very yummie Glad you had an ok night cause that way you have a chance to actually enjoy all you have prepared

charlie First of all, Happy Birthday Hope you have a fab day
I looove your avvie pic of Sophia and the pics you have posted. She is adorable! I want a cuddle!
I hope she will settle into a routine for you soon so that you can get a bit of a rest. The first month or two are hard! But I am glad you are doing so well on BF Is your OH off work at the moment or can he do shifts in the future too? I must say I don't know how I would cope without my OH. I think I would have gone crazy by now. (Crazier)
As for swaddling, I would recommend the Woombie as there is no way they can break out of it. I swear by them and Sebastian is still in his as he has eczema and would otherwise scratch. Dominic gets put in his when he is very fidgety and won't settle well. It really made a huge difference to us. You could try the velcro ones but the noise it makes when you tear the thing apart startles some babies and they don't like it/wake up more. If the woombies are too big for her I would say rather try this miracle blanket. Impossible to break out of if done correctly. We used this before we discovered the woombie and liked it very much.

Rowan hope your scan goes well today and that you are all getting over your colds

Claire how are you doing? Sorry you are having a cold too. Seems to be widespread again Hope you and Lucy will soon recover

Leeze you're probably busy with moving in and getting organised. Hopefully all is coming together and you feel at home in your new place already. How is Kia doing with the move? Hope she didn't sleep badly in the new place.

Skweek How are you doing? Hope you are recovering well? No infection in your scar I hope?

Kosh

As for us: well as I said Dom is sleeping badly again and Sebastian needs rocking. My mother thinks it is definitely down to teething so I bought them both amber necklaces. I read the research and I know that scientifically there is nothing there that can possibly help. But hey, so many mothers swear by it that I thought I'd give it a go. It looks cute at any rate and won't hurt them
Dom has a sniffle which might have been adding to the sleep problem last night (though not to the sleep problem in the last few days) but he is as jolly and sunny as usual today so it is obviously not that bad. I had a diffuser from Calpol plugged in which cleared even my nose while I was in their room. I would just like to know why it has to come with such a bright blue "nightlight"?!
I am really tired today and though I should go and stock up on Asda's Little Angel nappies I am not sure if I can manage to drag my carcass out of pyjamas. Btw Dominic still has poo explosions and I have tried all sorts of nappies and nothing helps. So I thought I might as well buy cheaper supermarket ones that are just as good or bad as Pampers.
I started this post at 7:30 am and it is now 12:15. But at least this time it didn't vanish or expire so yay
Hope you are all doing ok

Oh and here a pic of our new little kitty boy Alfie

 

[clio]

Morning all! I am now pulling out my phone to see what time it is for all of you but Borboleta. Ahhh, it is 3:28 pm over where you are, as of the start of this post. It'll probably be midnight by the time I've finished.

And B, I am just adding you, as I suck at time zones, even if you are just one over from me... Right. 9:30 am. It took me exactly 2 minutes to write these two short paragraphs.

You know, I was reading over the latest posts, and realized that if anyone were following us, they would never ever want to have a baby. Babies not sleeping, colds, horrible sleep deprivation, choking while weaning, embarrassing belly button exposures... And yet, we wouldn't give them up for the world.

Let's see. Another good night with J, but he woke at 5:15. My husband then put him down and 7 and he was crying in his crib because he didn't want to nap. And then, I did the unthinkable. I broke the CIO nap rule. But I refuse to blame myself. I was still sleeping and in my sleeping mind, I had conflated the crying at 5:15 and the crying at 7 as the same crying. So I sprang out of bed and rushed to my baby who had obviously been crying forever, and who needed SAVING!!! As I went in and grabbed him from the crib, holding onto to him for dear life, he actually gave out this diabolical giggle, and I knew I had eff'ed up. Eric came up the stairs and glared at me with frustration and yes, self-righteous indignation. He said he heard me jump up from the bed and ran up the stairs to stop me, but it was too late. So down J came, but he was still rubbing his eyes and was all whiney so I just took him back upstairs, popped him back in, and he cried for less than 10 minutes and fell asleep.

Oh, so I forgot to tell this little story of J and his Gymboree experience. J, for some reason, has become obsessed with huge stuffed toys and has a compulsion to lie on them and hug them. We had to leave a few exercises because there was this incredibly big stuffed clown on a shelf in the far recesses of the room, and J couldn't stop going over and waving to her. And I'd take him back to the rest of the group, where he would stay for a few minutes before returning to the clown. Well, there is this point where they take a parachute and we wave it up and down and the kids are supposed to sit under it and marvel. Turns out, all the kids were actually afraid of the parachute and wouldn't go under. But the annoying singing lady had taken the huge stuffed clown and put it in the middle, and when J saw this, he broke away from me, ran towards the clown, threw himself upon her and just lay there, hugging and hugging and hugging her while the parachute floated up and down over him. And all the parents laughed and laughed and laughed, and I wondered if this was my future--J doing bizarre things with his diaper showing and me sighing with resignation.

At another point, J saw this sled-like thing with a rope attached for pulling it. He picked up the rope and tried to pull it, but the sled was too heavy. Later, another mom had her kid on the sled and pulled it along, and J ran to it (well, toddled quickly) and climbed on (without waiting for it to stop). Oh, he was so excited. And then the mom left with her kid and I had to go and sign him up, which took forever. At one point I looked over at J and he was sitting on the sled, with the rope in hand, pulling and pulling and pulling on it, with the most confused look on his face. He had put it together--sit on sled, pull rope and away you go! And I just laughed and laughed and laughed, and then sighed with resignation. I think life with J is going to be a very interesting one.

Re: J and the cucumber--I'm glad the pic helped. We have movie after movie from the same time period where he does the same thing. But remember--choking and gagging are not the same. If LO is coughing and gagging, let them be; this is normal. They have to learn and eventually will stop. If they are turning blue and not making any sound, then I suggest you help them.

Okay, J is up from his nap. An hour and 15 minutes. Not bad. I'll do personals later today.

 

[Rowan75]

hey ladies

scan was fine Martha was a bit weepy tho as she was tired and I think a bit worried about what the lady was doing to mammy! My boy is doing well tho so thats great!

we didn't have any of the tests done as we wouldn't change anything - other than I spose if we knew about a life changing disorder then we would maybe check out support groups/treatments/adaptations for house etc in advance - but we figure we shall go with the flow - dh was saying he probs wouldn't have before meeting my extended friends and family a lot of whom are v disabled with various conditions but in the main are more active and have achieved more than we have but he sees things differently having known them

so lovely to see Michael wiggling about

will pop pics up when dh back x

 

[Borboleta]

Good morning ladies

Clio: I laughed at your story about breaking the CIO rule !! Not your fault though. Sometimes we get so confused. I think the pregnancy brain stays with us forever once you become a mom . Today I will try to give thiago different food at the thanksgiving dinner and see how it goes. I am excited about it. Sometimes he will eat but sometimes I think he is not very hungry or don't like the food I made and refuse to open his mouth like yesterday with sweet potato and beef. He is not a huge fan of sweet potato I guess!
And I agree about other people reading our posts . Life changes forever when you have these little one around us! I wonder is can be a little be harder for us first time over 35 mommies because we were on our own for so long. But like you said I wouldn't change a thing. Love my little man .

Oh and thiago now is obssessed with balls. He loves to kick them, throw them and chase them. It is so cute. And he gets this really serious look on his face when he is playing with them. I told my hubby that we might be raising the next Pele!!!

Angel: I am so sorry that Dominic got your cold. It might be the reason why he slept bad. Although I have to tell you that about his age thiago had a sleep week from hell too!!! I even research 8 month sleep dpregresiion. And it was there. So maybe that could be happening to him. Hope not but the good thing is that he is "kind of back to his normal". At least no 2am awakes !! Just his usual 4am . But that is fine since I bring him to bed and he sleeps about 3 more hours.
Love the kitty. He looks very sweet! Oh, and did you try what either leeze or Rowan said about doubling the diapers? Maybe that would help the poo explosion .

Storm: just think the sleep depravation is not back! It is just a one time thing. I pray for you. You had enough my friend. So are angel, kosh and Claire.

Rowan: glad to hear little Michael is doing well. How many months to go? Did you have a natural birth or csection?

Claire and kosh:

Happy thanksgiving to you all. Specially to Sabrina!! Going to eat some good MIL food today!!!

Sabrina: so cool that you moved to another country too. And are happy there. I came to the US on 2000 to try life and a week after I arrived I met my husband in Chicago. Them I stayed and did lots of baby sitting since I couldnt work ( I am a music therapist in brazil). After 2 1/2 years of harassing my husband to marry me he finally said yes and we moved back to Texas ( he is from here). I love this country. Miss my family in brazil but here you have more opportunities.

 

[Leeze]

Crazy times here, haven't caught up on the thread yet but wanted to say hello. I'm back at work, Kia has started full days at nursery, 2 this week then 3 from next week. We're also in the middle of moving house and that's pretty crazy too. Living out of boxes. Kia really unsettled and got a bad cold too. Feedback from nursery is positive in that she naps ok and eats some of the food. But I feel like she's different, really unhappy and withdrawn. I feel pretty awful too as I keep thinking maybe I should have tried harder to not go back to work. But we made lots of decisions when I was pregnant and we can't afford to live in our new home unless I go back to work. Hopefully it'll settle down soon but right now it's really hard. And any spare minute I've got i'm either packing or unpacking or getting things ready for work or nursery. Even when I'm breastfeeding Kia at the moment it feels wrong to be on here on my phone, I want to give her all of my attention!
Sorry for selfish post, will try to catch up properly soon. Love to all xx

 

[clio]

Hey everyone. Left my phone downstairs, so again, I only know that it is 12:45 for Borboleta right now.

Now for the personals. (I'd also like to thank everyone for enduring my long personal posts. I love to write, but have no outlet. I even loved writing academic papers, but now that I am no longer doing my PhD, I again have no reason to write. I'd start a blog or a journal, but wouldn't get past the first few entries. Too lazy to commit. So I take it out on you, you poor things...)

Angel--oh, what a sweet cat! Did you name him? I know about the door/sleep dilemma, too. Unless Morgan is locked up in the basement at night, no one gets any sleep because she just meows like crazy outside of any closed bedroom door. And I assume that your flat doesn't have a basement...

I'm so sorry the sleeping went to hell again. Hopefully, as Borboleta said, it is just because of the cold. I looked at the pic of the nose aspirator you have, and the Nose Frieda is much better. It actually works. There is a filter at the end of the hose so you never suck the snot into your mouth. J still hates it, but at least we can clear his nose for a while. We also find saline and baby vics (along with the humidifier), indispensable when J has a cold. I honestly don't know how you do it with twins and trying to keep one from waking the other up. I think I would actually set the spare bedroom up as a second nursery if I found myself in your position.

I don't remember--did you get twins through IUI or IVF, or just fertility drugs and sex au natural? Or simply through sex au natural?

And how is your cold? Better now?

Borboleta--J HATES sweet potato and yams as well. And squash. Maybe they're too sweet for them? Again, I suggest steamed broccoli. The cucumber was good too. Here's one of my favourite pics of J once he felt comfortable with it:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8209472970_c9deac2970.jpg

I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving. And I hope you get some wonderful stuffing. And what a wonderful story about moving to the states. How much English did you speak before you came?

Storm-- Can anyone come and take over for a night? My MIL is always on call if we need her, even if it's for the entire night. Because you need a nice long sleep my dear.

Rowan--yay for the scan! You are now officially half way though. Are you a member of our EMCS group?

Okay, I'm falling asleep, so I'll continue with the personals latter.

 

[Storm1jet2]

Evening all, personals will be sketchy as I'm wrecked.

Angel, love the new kitty, hope this little one works out and settles well. Hope you get some sleep soon, I don't know how you cope with 2!

Charlie, hope you had a fabulous birthday!

Rowen, yay for Michael! I never had any anomaly tests either, L was coming regardless of what any test would have told me and I didn't really want the time to worry if anything was wrong.

Clio, my in laws do NOTHING, actually we had a huge fight about that today, they don't know L very well at all. I've also created a rod for my own back as L only wants me at night, but if she's bad tonight she might just find she has to have daddy before mummy has a breakdown.

Leeze I have to go to work full time soon, I'm the higher earner and we can't afford the bills,never mind the extras in hubbys salary.

Oh back later, battery dying and I don't want to loose this..

 

[Storm1jet2]

Back briefly, just had complete meltdown with DH, L has the cold and is running a temp and I just know I'm in for a night of it, sorry ladies too stressed to finish personals

 

[Leeze]

Ok, I've finally caught up. Exhausted though and Kia has just gone to sleep so am sorry for lack of personals. My summary is hurray for gorgeous baby and kitty photos, peas are good food for pincer grip and babies normally self-settle at bedtime first before naps , I remember reading the self-settle bit somewhere! Xx

 

[Borboleta]

Here is the picture of Thiago with Santa. Have a lovely night ladies. I HOPE

 

[Leeze]

That is THE cutest photo ever! Xx

 

[clio]

Borboleta--Oh, what a great photo! And look how happy little T looks! Are you going to send it round to your family in Brazil?

Leeze--you must be quite stressed! I hope the move is going well and that being back at work isn't too onerous. Re: Kia--can you ask at the daycare how her mood is? Reserved, happy, shy, etc... Maybe that'll give a better idea about how she is feeling and reacting. Also remember, moves are tough on LOs. She's only a year old and everything around her is changing, as well as starting daycare and you going back to work. Hopefully she'll settle in soon. But, until then:

Oh, and Re: self-settling and naps--J started self-settling for the night way back when we started this thread. He didn't want to be rocked anymore and insisted on being put in his crib after his bottle. So that's been months. And he's proven that he can self-settle for naps, but he's just far more reluctant to do so (and somehow we keep screwing it up). But I think we're there. I noticed that if he hears us but still no one comes for him, he stops crying. For example, yesterday he was screaming bloody murder until my husband had to leave for work and shut the back door. And there was immediate silence. And today, I made no attempt to be quiet when going upstairs to get my laptop from my bedroom next to his. So he heard me, and then heard me go back down the stairs. And he stopped crying. I think the point is being driven home. Unless I have another protect-my-child-at-all-costs moment, if we put him down and we KNOW that he is tired, he is staying in that crib.

Storm--now that you're going back to work, what will happen to the division of labour in the house and with taking care of L? Will it become more equal? It seems to me that if something could give, that's the place. Because you can't keep going the way you're going. Especially if you now have to add work on top of sleeplessness.

Okay, it's past my bedtime... Night!

 

[Claireyb1]

Here is the picture of Thiago with Santa. Have a lovely night ladies. I HOPE

View attachment 519977

What a great picture!!!! I was looking at it wondering why Santa looked a bit different to me and then I realised it was because he has got a bit of "Texan style" going on with his cowboy hat on!!! love it!
Not sure if Lucy would be this happy as she cried at a man wearing a santa hat the other day?

 

[Claireyb1]

Storm, how was your night? Mine was horrible tbh!
Lucy is just not very happy atm and when she went to sleep at 7.30 she woke about 5-6 times up to 11pm by which point I think I nearly lost the plot! I ended up laying down and feeding her as it was the only way she would calm and settle. She continued to wake every hour or so throught the night waking and crying I'm not sure if it's teething or ths cold I've got or both? she is very grumpy today and changing her nappy resulted in a major meltdown this morning
I know she is tired but I bet she won't nap well.
Thank God it's the weekend tomorrow!!!!

 

[Rowan75]

hey ladies - havent figured out scanner yet - corr M didnt have a nap yest aftie - wowser did I need a sit down by 10pm lol!!

going for walk in mo when were dressed as its a lovely day! then were goign to look at tiles for the kitchen woop woop!

Martha has worked out her walker yey! only thing is she bashes into things and keeps on pushing lol neasrly goes backside over head! also shes taken to pulling out carpet and eating it...have bite marks all over my fingers! haha

hope everyone has a good day! so sorry youre having a hard time leeze re nursery it must totally suck! I hope it gets better x

I didnt have a csection - there wasnt time in the mad rush that was the end - the delivery suite was closed for most of my labour so i was on a normal ward and martha wasnt being monitored even tho they knew she was in distress (mw ignored drs instructions) - v stressful - then once i got to the delivery suite it all went very very quickly - consultant came in - went insane about the state she was in and had been for potentially 18hours and she was born 9 mins later - they didnt think she was going to make it and at the v least thought she would be v brain damaged - but shes fab so forceps and a 3rd degree tear for mammy but baby out safe

i was offered a section this time but dh cant take paternity leave so its not an option for us - (much as Id prefer one - 8 weeks of healing for me last time and the first 2 weeks being doubly incontinent wasn't fun - would much rather have organised stitches to heal with) not sure what we'd do if I had to have an emcs - hopefully things will be smoother this time were going to a different hospital with a much better reputation

sorry if tmi! lol

righto ill be back later...

 

[Storm1jet2]

Afternoon ladies, Clairey it wasn't a great night but better than the night before! L was running a temp so we gave her dosol, yes its meant to be for ages 6 plus but neither the pharamacist or the Dr can actually give a reason, it doesn't make her sleepy at all btw but we gave her it as it has a decongestant in it and she's snotty with a cough. She was shuffling and coughing and crawling up my back so I saw every hour, but not crying... I made a huge whoopsie the day before and gave her a milkybar when out visting as they had been bought for her and oh yes im pretty sure they contain lactose.. doh, so I'm wondering if that was partly the problem. She's at nursery today so far hubby and I have got the birthday presents we need for this weekend and stocked up on lactose free milk etc.. I have to do a hospital visit I'm dreading, my mums cousin is very bad in hospital with ms, he's down to 6 stone 2 and is too poorly for them to put the peg in his stomach at the minute, I know my mum would have gone to see him so off I go, ever thankful my brother who has taken the day off work for his 40th birthday is going with me, he's just arrived so byeee

 

[SabrinaKat]

a quick one -- love all the pictures, my cats are also black and whites!

OK-ish Thanksgiving yesterday. I missed my family, though and didn't seem the same without them, the Macy's Day parade and/or football in the background. On the plus side, there was a Simpsons thanksgiving episode on TV here....I made loads of food and LO tried corn-bread (not much in the mouth, most of it crumbled on the ground), some pumpkin pie and some turkey (and the cats 'tried' some of the corn-bread, too, so alot had to be thrown out)....my OH came into the living and told me he had washed the dishes, so I thought - fantastic, how nice of him! He had washed the two plates and put them in the dishwasher, but nothing else....the food was all in its containers, pots, glass things, etc....and the cats were pretty happy)

getting a sore throat due to lack of sleep -- last night I had an upset tummy, LO slept from 10 to 6am.....!

oh, well - hugs to all. LO is looking grumpy that mummy isn't playing with him, so must dash....love the picture of Jonah and the cucumber and Thiago and Santy!

bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Storm1jet2]

Borboleta love the photo of T, that is so cool!

Clio, I lol at your division of labour.... Funny lady.... Haha, but yes something needs to change and to be honest if I could some results from the kidney test I might be heading towards 1970s parenting...

Leeze I don't know you have managed moving house, the thought of it kills me and I might have to in a few months..

SK I'm sure you did feel terribly homesick

Rowan loved the scan pics of Michael on fb, made me feel s little broody.

Clairey and angel, fingers crossed for sleeping babies all round.

Charlie and skweek hope you are doing ok. Skweek any answers on the section yet?

And of course Kosh my lovely, hope you are keeping it together xxx

L was at nursery today and in their infinite wisdom they prepared her lactose free dinner seperately... Good job... Then fed her fruit and yoghurt... Epic fail... I asked the girls which one of them was staying at my house to tend to her the 40plus times she will no doubt be up! Fingers crossed she didnt eat much yoghurt, her cold and cough are bad enough to be dealing with...