any other over 35 first time mums?

[Claireyb1]

Clio[/B even if you were bragging (which I don't think you do anyway) who cares? if my child did all those things I'd want to brag too! lol
Don't stress,we don't think anything other than that you are proud Mom/Mum

Storm we want pics of the bathroom when it's all done!

Right,off to bed for me now as I don't know how my night will be

Night to all you ladies.

 

[Leeze]

Trying to keep up but so much to read already! So tired too. Teething hell x

 

[SabrinaKat]

clio - NOT bragging, I love the J stories. Besides, all of our LOs are advanced in some way, e.g. Finn and the cat talk to each other all the time!

not a bad night, only general fussiness, but the head bumping does make me so anxious, but I know, it's normal....

hugs to all, especially to teething hell-mummies!

bye!!!!!!!!

 

[Rowan75]

hey ladies

feeling much better yey!!! woop woop! bladder seems to be working fine, kidney pain gone so hopefully I can just be a normal very preggers lady lol!! soooo nice to feel more like myself

will try and catch up!!!!

jules ha a silver cross- lordy theyre expensive – my mam had one for me and goes on about it but our I candy was just fine and now ofc we have 4 buggues in total – I candy, all terrain, lightweight stroller that lies in the car (a Godsend while Ive been pg) and now a double buggy lol - love the pics of your wedding day

angel we love big bang and raising hope and HIMYM

clio aye M is obsessed with learning to talk – and yet she can say much less than she could months ago – go figure!? She is getting v good at communicating through pictures tho...like this am er feet must have been cold so she found a book with a picture of a sock in and brought it to me and pointed at the pic and then her feet - so I popped some socks on and she was v pleased she also hgets that same book and points to a pic of a cup if Im not quick enough getting her cup filled with water on a morning and also when shes hungry she goes and gets her book and points at pictures of food and says num num lol

I also sing katy perrys firework to her sometimes when I change her nappy and she says boom boom boom, and I sing even brighter than the moon etc and she got a library book (my aunt too ker last week when I wasnt well) with a pic of a moon in and she points at that now and sings boom boom boom - so Im figuring shes made that connection?!

Sk well done on the weight loss – its hard going isnt it - cant believe Ill be losing baby weight again this year – lol that 4 years in a row! Altho it was much harder I found after my mmcs and I was furious about losing baby weight when I hadnt even got to have my babies

claireyb – there was 27 staff members at Marthas birth lol - including a lady on a laptop typing away - think they were preparing in case M died or was majorly poorly and we sued and wanted everything noted!

Ah its funny all this london talk - I do miss the place at times! Am aiming to have a fab weekend there with dh for my 40th - Im saving now – I figure even if I can only save a £5 a month its all going to help buy cocktails lol!! Got 2 years to save up – I want luxury!!! When I lived in fancy london I lived in Parsons Green, then Southfields, then Northfields, then Hanwell village

storm yey for a new bathroom

sk hope your cats op went well x

leeze hope the teething eases soon!

were trying to get our new bedroom ready - were now going to be in the front bedroom with the office but it needed wardrobes so dh has been building them and then we need to sell the office furniture and get new smaller office furniture with the proceeds, then a new carpet (it now has holes in lol and we found a receipt showing it was fitted inn 1973!!) insulate the bay window and move the radiator, biuld shelves, build storage for box files (no room for the 2 bookcases currently holding paperwork), then move our stuff in and M's moses basket etc in and we should be done - oh and finish rewiring...poor dh was fed up yest - its a bit overwhelming at times the amount of stuff that needs doing on no budget lol good job he's practical! so the kids wont be sharing after all - M will move into what is now our bedroom (we're going to wallpaper winnie the pooh style) and M2 will go in M's room...how is a 3 bed semi too small? lol

so sorry if Ive missed anyone! M asleep now so must go and make the meal for tonight so we can just pop it in the oven when dh gets home - and then Im going to bliimin sit down and have a cuppa!

x

 

[clio]

Hi everyone. Thanks you guys, for your reassurances. My husband didn't understand my problem either. He just said that if I wanted to write about J, just write about J!!! So I walked off wounded, wondering if I could really write about J.

So, I'll write about J. CIO has now taken on a whole new time schedule. It now starts anytime before 5 am. J has reverted back to the old "get up at any point after 4 am" practice, and we're not standing for it (we'd rather be lying down, sleeping, thank you!). So we go in with some milk, feed him, give him meds if he seems to need it, and tell him that this is ridiculous and wake up time is at least 6 am. Then we put him back in bed and leave again. Oh my lord is that boy persistent. He cried for around 45 minutes this morning until we finally had to give in, plus, it was past 5 now, so he did stay in long enough according to our "rules." But on we shall go, because 4:30 am IS ridiculous.

And J has been spending more time with his cousin L, the one who is so close in age to him. But L is almost a year older, so he does things J can't, and it's really interesting to watch how J interacts with L. I thought he'd do the whole "whatever L does, I'll do," but he doesn't. He's still really independent and just picks and chooses what he sees L doing and thinks is cool. One is L's unique singing style, which is to sing "wawawawa." J came home, and what was formerly "ooo oooo oooo ooo" became "woo woooo wooo woo." I had no idea why it had changed, until my SIL and BIL brought the family for dinner last night and told us how they had been "singing" together.

Then this morning, J upped the "clothing" campaign. I didn't realize, though, that it was a campaign until this morning. A few times he's brought me sweat pants to wear over his sleeper, but he's now been consistently bringing me shoes/boots and socks to put on him. And this morning, he grabbed his shirt and pants from last night and brought them to me to put on as well. SO, I think he's realized that his cousins wear real clothes and he wears nothing but pyjamas all day long, and this has to stop. We must start making him presentable.

So, for all of you Mummies who already dress their children regularly, I have no problem doing it (though I felt he could figure things out more easily physically if he was in a body suit which can't get caught on anything), but what do you do for naps? It would drive me nuts if I had to change him every time into and out of a sleeper during the day for his naps. He does have sleep sacks, but that still would seem uncomfortable to me, sleeping in your clothes. So what do you do?

Oh, got to go--J's waking up from his nap. In his sleeper. I guess now I have to find him some normal clothes to wear. Where did my baby go???

 

[julesjules100]

Hi all

Gorgeous day today in London and 14 degrees tomorrow, woo hoo!

Claire – ah a spa day, I am jealous. I miss having a massage. I've had two during pregnancy that did them on my side. I'm really not keen on that as I firmly believe your spine should be completely straight when having a massage. The third one I had was at an unremarkable little salon that was close to work and they of all people were the ones who have one of the treatment beds that has a "donut hole" cut out in the middle to put your bump through allowing you to lie on your front. Complete heaven! They're the only ones I have found who have it and none of the high end London spas do. Surprising! Yep, completely hear you on the development in GC. I have the Primelocation updates for the area and there are clearly lots going up there on larger plots. Let me get the LO out and I'll start chatting with architects

My wedding dress was indeed done from the boutique on Beauchamp Place, which was good that it was relatively close as I had about 15 fittings on it. I was adamant that I didn't want a dress with a corset, which made it REALLY difficult to find something suitable (even at SN too) but she made this one up for me and I really liked it (plus didn't want bare arms, which again makes wedding dresses hard to find!).

I'm pleased that you said BF was helpful with the weight loss as I had always thought this was the case until a girlfriend who has 3 LOs said in passing that it stopped her losing weight as she was always starving! When I pressed my mum on that she said it helped her in the beginning but that for the last 7lbs or so that they wouldn't shift until she STOPPED feeding. Eeek! And there was me thinking it was going to be like liposuction through my boobs. You give me hope.

Clio – ha ha! I'm certainly not looking like a princess at the moment, more like a beast! But thank you. Re the stroller, I was originally dead against buying an expensive one as I really didn't think I was going to use it that much and I really thought it was the kind of thing that would just get easily broken. It was my Mum who pushed me to get the Bugaboo in the end and I caved in. There was just way too much choice and I couldn't be bothered researching anymore.

Angel – I was the same too; really not fussed on getting married at all but I knew it meant a lot to James (and more importantly I knew he wouldn't start TTC without us being married ) so I caved in and said that I would but I wanted to do it in a registry office, have just immediate family and it to be low key. He wasn't happy with that (nor were my parents) so suddenly I went from "No way in hell am I getting married" to "Which hymns do we want?" Despite saying he would help with the wedding plans he literally didn't do a single thing to help (including booking the cars or the honeymoon) - I should have known. Anyway, it was a pain in the ass to organise but it was indeed a lovely day. Still not sure it was worth the money though... I'm the Anti-Bride! I would be thrilled to give my children my surname only but James would't go for that one…!

Been for a walk to Lordship Lane today in East Dulwich and had a mooch in the delis down there (particularly East Dulwich Deli, which has the best carrot cake I've ever had!). Brought back lunch (and cake, obv) and sat in the sun in my plane-free garden. Bliss! Going to be 14 degrees tomorrow. I'm going to try to half lay out in the hopes of increasing my Vitamin D.

All ok with me, no hip pain as I have the best mattress topper of all time which is actually from an over 50's website but I've used them for years as without it my hips and arms go dead, so think it's really helpful for pregnancy. I have started to get pain in my (and I only known the latin name or a smutty one so I opted for latin!) mons pubis which I assume is ligament-related. It's a very sharp stabbing pain if using my inner or outer thigh muscles. Most odd. Hopefully it doesn't develop into anything else as I've been really lucky to date.

Charlie – nice to hear that your LO has both of your surnames too. It has been quite frustrating with some family members (who haven't had the guts to say so to my face) who think it's pretentious. I really wish they would have as I my reasoning is sound and at the end of the day it's not their baby so none of their business so would have loved the chance to say both! Thanks for the compliment on the wedding dress – I'm quite tall (5 foot 9) but had on shoes that were a c2cm platform and were killer heels too. I was about 6 foot 2 on the day; my dad is 6 foot 1 and he was complaining that he felt tiny!

Sorry to hear about your mum but lovely that she has S in her life now as a distraction….

Rowan – o-yah! Those traditional Silver Crosses are SERIOUSLY expensive. Guess they'd be some sort of family heirloom or something. I'm already aghast at the cost of the Bugaboo especially when it's mostly made of plastic! Whereabouts in Southfields did you live? When I met James he was living there in Whitelands Crescent (towards the West Hill end).

Love the Katy Perry story; super cute!

Right, I've been boiling a chicken and off to make soup with the stock. Amen to maternity leave.

xx

 

[AngelUK]

Good evening ladies. I hope I can catch up again before food arrives. OH wanted to order in again cause he discovered that our favourite little Italian now does a crab linguini. Not my thing but their rigatoni al ragu is lovely so I go with that.
Anyway.

Leeze welcome back. Hope you had a nice time at your parents'? How did Kia sleep while there and is her sleeping improved on the whole? Are you still in her room with her at home? I bet her calling you mummy all the time must be incredibly heart melting. I know it would be so for me and my boys
You said you give Kia cheese for a snack. Which one do you get? I would like to try more finger-foods for the boys but I am not sure what would be suitable? Would love some tips if you don't mind
As for ttc, don't you think you still might be super fertile when your periods returns? Or does that sort of expire after a year? Or maybe this is a myth but I heard that for a year or so after having a baby one is much more fertile, which is why so many women fall pregnant again so soon after. It might be an age thing too but my OH's niece (who is not yet 20 and we are all horrified btw) got pregnant with her second baby 1 month after giving birth to her first. (And the second baby is by a different father .) Apparently she didn't yet have a period. So yeah...

Borboleta how was the party? I hope you and little T had fun! I am so looking forward to seeing pics!

Charlie you are of course right, I should read Dr Sears books myself rather than just extracts here and there. But I suppose what I knew already made my shy away from reading more as I was scared of feeling more of a failure still if I knew more. I know already that there are several (if not in fact all) of the key points that I am not following, such as I am not baby wearing, not co-sleeping (any more), not breastfeeding but I did do a bit of CIO. And as much as I hated every minute of it, I don't think I could have taken more of Dominic's waking and crying every 45 minutes in the evening and every hour to 2 hours through the night. I don't have a lot of self confidence and I often still wonder if perhaps my beloved boys aren't as bonded to me as they would have been, had I been able to follow the AP style. Had I never heard of AP I would not worry about that at all, I am sure. The only thing that consoles me, is that my mother didn't do this with us either and I have a very close and good relationship with her and always have had, on the whole. Ah well I am a natural worrier anyway

Storm I am so sorry you will have to leave your furbabies behind! But at least they won't be far away and not with some unloving stranger either. Still, I can imagine how hard that will be! At least you get to take your dog

Clio I love Jonah stories! They are usually so much fun and amazing! Don't ever hold back! I never thought you were bragging any more than any loving mum naturally does . Your son is amazing and I love hearing about him! I think we on this thread all have come to care enough for each other to take real and lively interest in each other and our LOs and neither feel smug nor set back by the other's achievement or lack thereof. If I didn't trust you guys, would I admit that my boys are a little behind? Of course I compare mine to the babies on here but never in an horrible envious way. I am so in love with my boys and so proud of them anyway that nothing could dim that feeling. The thought of you feeling wounded cause you felt you had to hold back, makes me so sad! Please never feel like that again! And btw if you want to write about your kitty, I am also interested in her!

Rowan I am glad you are better! I am in awe of your constant cheerfulness, I really am I do hope the rest of your pregnancy will go smoothly now. You so deserve it!
I haven't watched Raising Hope and I am not sure what HIMYM is but will check it out
As always M sounds absolutely astounding. She is such a clever little thing. You must have soo much fun with her!
As for you living in Parson's Green, that is so close to where we are! We are in Bishop's Park just down the Fulham Road
How is Martha's sleeping these days? I hope she is getting better in time for M2's arrival Soon you will have your very own sweet M & Ms

Ok got to go! OH is luring me away with cheese-cakelets and more BBT! Hope everyone is ok. xxx

 

[Claireyb1]

Rowan glad you are feeling better!!
I think you most def get the award for the most number of people present at a birth (if there was such an award) 27! makes my measly 6 look pathetic! lol I cannot remember why they thought there were going to be problems? Hopefully you will have a more intimate birth with M#2 Although I guess with a C section there are always more than a normal birth.

Jules I think I only had one massage when I was pregnant and that was when I was in Greece.It wasn't too bad,but I hear what you are saying about being on your side. I had reflexology whilst pregnant and that was very nice.
I hope the BF'ing helps you too. It does make you feel more hungry I guess, but you also burn more calories by feeding. I guess as long as you don't sit eating cake all day it's fine. I also think the key is keep active too and I did walk quite a bit (still do) with Lucy. Oh yes and drink plenty of water,it def makes you thirsty.
About the name thing - don't worry about anyone else,do what you want. It's your name and your baby. I don't think my name is pretentious, nor do I think anyone has ever said that about it either?

Funny thing Lucy is doing lately - she walks around the house with both her hands behind her back,like she's a little old man going for a stroll

 

[Leeze]

- am trying to get on more often so not so much to catch up on - but you ladies are sooo fast!!!!

just a few mins so only time to quickly pick up on things my fuzzy brain has remembered!!!

SK - Kia has constant bruises on her forehead - she falls over all the time or walks into things. I was laughing about it today with 2 mummy friends at a group. both their LOs are the same. Apparently if they're a bit under the weather then their balance can be affected too

Clio - feel free to be proud Mummy. I think we deserve it!!! It doesn't feel competitive - just feels like you're happy and enjoying little J and celebrating his loveliness and achievements!! I could easily write an essay/paper on how Kia is the best baby ever!!!! She's started getting quite into signing at the moment and does signs for fish, bird, home and water - plus lots more words - cheese, teeth, boobies (for blueberries), birdie, door, key and bear. I don't put Kia back in sleepwear for naps - she naps in whatever she's wearing. Most naps these days are in the buggy.

Angel - Kia's sleep wasn't great when at my parents. I ended up bringing her into bed with me. I've recently discovered Kia likes lancashire cheese although she doesn't always like cheese. Other finger foods - apple or pear chopped into slices, blueberries, grapes cut in half, toast or pitta strips, chicken thigh strips, peas, homemade burgers or meatballs, homemade tuna croquettes, homemade fish fingers

need to go - Kia's got a bit of a cold and am going to go try settle her. will catch up soon xx

 

[Storm1jet2]

Super quick one, I'm tired and L is teething again!

Clio I love reading J stories and we all love to talk about our kids! Keep them coming! Oh and L sleeps in her normal clothes, I just take her shoes off!

As for surnames I took my husband's name when we got married, but after 35 years of my maiden name I still forget its my name! I wasn't fussed about keeping mine. Actually in my team in work we have 4 girls, 2 of us changed our surname and the other 2 didn't

Angel, loving the fb pics of the boys

Leeze good to have you back, I too read the posts then promptly forget the questions!

Jules I only had one treatment when pregnant and it wasn't even a massage, we went to a posh hotel and I had a facial and hot stone leg massage. I was 21 weeks and my odema was bad so I think the girl felt sorry for me with my big fat feet now I just don't have time!

All the talk of prams amuses me, I have 3 a Jane travel system, great for naps but too heavy for throwing in the car and 2 petite star zias... Cheap as chips, light to throw in the car and I couldn't care less if they get wrecked! That said there is a huge amount of pram snobbery here and I've seen teenagers with top of the range prams looking down their noses at me. Ha, my pram is light, easy to push and fits in the car with the dog, so there kids.. 2 of my friends bought one as their second pram, they had a bugaboo and a quinny but now use the cheap prams

Ok its late.. I need sleep... Until tomorrow!

 

[SabrinaKat]

I did have a pedicure a few times when I was pregnant and/or made my OH touch them up as I must have neatish toes (sometimes red, sometimes black) - and I think the girl also felt sorry for me with my pre- pre- eclampsia swollen feet, like you, storm!

am exhausted. just feel out of sorts (general grumble that we switched over health insurance and they sent us a letter saying we didn't have insurance anymore, so I had to call the National Consumer Agency to complain and they said that the insurance company sends out form letters and loads of people got the wrong letter...and then, I was trying to sort out my credit card and fees that were supposed to be refunded, weren't, so am just annoyed) and worried about Daphne. They can do a blood test to check ok, but I have to sign a waiver accepting no liability if she dies (gulp) as she is over 8. Tomorrow is her 12th birthday, as well. (When I said that she was in and out of heat for the last few months (one week on, three weeks normal), they said that that was impossible and not normal. I said that she is not a normal cat!)

sorry, no real personals, but have read through the previous posts. will try to post soon, but am feeling a bit glum (also coming up to the anniversary of the due date of my LLO, so tend to be a bit introspective).....I look at Finn and am so happy with him, but a little part of me wonders.....sorry

hugs!

 

[Borboleta]

Hello ladies,

Sorry it is taking me a while to come . The party was a total sucess!! I loved every minute of it and so as thiago and everyone else! It turned out beautiful!! Here are some of the pictures of the party:

 

[Borboleta]

More pics:

 

[Borboleta]

Some more:

 

[Borboleta]

Last ones:





The cake was to die for! I felt bad cutting the cake cause it was sooo cute. And my mother in law ( she is the last lady in this picture) did his little smash cake. The food was excelent! Loads of work but super fun! Sad is over.
Thiago got lots of gifts but his favorite toy is still mommy and second his good old chugginton ball .
I have to go teach a class talk to you ladies soon!

 

[clio]

Funny thing Lucy is doing lately - she walks around the house with both her hands behind her back,like she's a little old man going for a stroll

OMG, Claire! This is exactly what J does, and the funny thing is that we assumed he picked it up from my father, an old man who does it himself! Look:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8519/8528589629_d6414f5c70_n.jpg

He has a lot of "Grandfather-isms," and seeing as he's only met the man briefly, and has so many of his mannerisms we figured it was genetic. Which I love, because although my father was a tough man to grow up with, he has this zany side to him, which my sister, and now J seem to share.

And since when can L walk?

Rowan--Martha is hilarious. And so incredibly inventive, too! What I can't believe is that they thought she might have brain damage after her birth. How worried were you, and when did you start to relax?

J's been doing some other interesting things with music, too. As I've said, I've been playing him this Sandra Boynton playlist since he was around 3 months old. At one point the other day, a song's intro came on, and it doodles along for a while, until it suddenly a piano goes "duh-duh duh-duh!". And J, not really paying any attention I don't think, said "duh-duh duh-duh" at exactly the right time, totally on the beat. It's one of those moments when you think: "Man, did that really just happen?" And the associations they make! I used to read him Good Night Moon (until he started turning the pages on his own, indicating that he was bored). But there is one page where it says "Good night stars," and he always points up to the ceiling, because that's where the sleep turtle projects his stars...

Holy cow! All the remodelling you're doing! Now is it your husband who is an architect? Did you move house, or just decide to re-design?

Storm--I'm really sorry about your kittens. Really, truly sorry. I remember when I was first living with Eric, and I had my 6 year old tabby, Spider, who had been with me since she was a tiny kitten. It turned out that Eric is terribly allergic to cats, and when we discovered that, I did everything possible to "de-dander" the house and to keep it that way. Thing is, I wasn't doing it for Eric, I was doing it for my cat. I think there would have been a very good chance that if it were between Spider and Eric, I would have chosen Spider! Luckily there are some great meds out there for E, so he's been fine. Lucky for him, that is!

Re: being shy re: J--Again, thanks guys, you have made me feel infinitely better. And Angel, what you wrote was so sweet. *Sigh--delving into childhood* Real quick: my father was and is a huge boaster, and it made me/makes me incredibly embarrassed to hear him. It then makes me worry that I do the same. So, there you go. And I never felt wounded by you guys, Angel--oh my, never--I felt wounded by my husband's dismissal of my embarrassment. Of course, he was absolutely right, but had come to the conclusion--write about J, you weirdo! What's the problem?--so quickly that I felt he really hadn't brooded over it enough, like I had.

 

[julesjules100]

Borboleta, the party looks awesome!! It's more elaborate than my 30th! Did you guys do it all yourselves? That's a lot of blue icing that T has on his face Pleased you all had fun x

 

[Claireyb1]

OMG Clio that is exactly how Lucy does it!!! I will try and get a picture of her too to show you, but she is so lightening quick these days I find it hard!! lol She has been walking since she was just 11months,so just before Christmas really. She is going great guns and we just love going out for walks now to feed the ducks and swans

Borboleta T's party does indeed look fabulous!! glad you all had fun

Storm forgot to say sorry about having to leave behind the cats! I had to do the same when I moved out of my Mum and Dad's as it wouldn't have been fair to take my fur baby away from his sister.He was fine after a little adjustment. At least they will be with your Dad and they won't have the stress of moving and it's not like you're not going to be round there visiting anyway.I think it will be you that suffers more than them

SK I think you will find the vets are just covering themselves with the disclaimer waiver thing.I think anything over 8 is probably classed as higher risk,but in reality I'm sure things will be just fine. As some of us have said before we have had cats/dogs of similar or older ages go through ops and come out of it fine.

Jules are you sunbathing yet? another stunning day in the south! Think I will have to take my little Lucy for another walk as it's so nice.
I think you should treat yourself to a nice pedicure,that always made me feel good when I was pregnant. Besides doing it myself got a bit tricky towards the end.

 

[julesjules100]

OMG Clio that is exactly how Lucy does it!!! I will try and get a picture of her too to show you, but she is so lightening quick these days I find it hard!! lol She has been walking since she was just 11months,so just before Christmas really. She is going great guns and we just love going out for walks now to feed the ducks and swans

Borboleta T's party does indeed look fabulous!! glad you all had fun

Storm forgot to say sorry about having to leave behind the cats! I had to do the same when I moved out of my Mum and Dad's as it wouldn't have been fair to take my fur baby away from his sister.He was fine after a little adjustment. At least they will be with your Dad and they won't have the stress of moving and it's not like you're not going to be round there visiting anyway.I think it will be you that suffers more than them

SK I think you will find the vets are just covering themselves with the disclaimer waiver thing.I think anything over 8 is probably classed as higher risk,but in reality I'm sure things will be just fine. As some of us have said before we have had cats/dogs of similar or older ages go through ops and come out of it fine.

Jules are you sunbathing yet? another stunning day in the south! Think I will have to take my little Lucy for another walk as it's so nice.
I think you should treat yourself to a nice pedicure,that always made me feel good when I was pregnant. Besides doing it myself got a bit tricky towards the end.

Indeed I am Only just come out though as thought it may be too chilly earlier. I have yoga pants on rolled up and a t shirt - no wind in the garden so its gorgeous! Hope you do get out with L as it's all downhill from today x

 

[Claireyb1]

I know Jules the weather is not looking great tomorrow so I think I will go to Waitrose with my Mum tomorrow instead of wasting the day by going there today!
I need to get food for a Mother's day Lunch that I'm going to cook over at my Mum's on Sunday.
It will be 3 Mums for Lunch....Me,my sister and of course my Mum. I guess we will have to include the men too
Enjoy the sunshine!