any other over 35 first time mums?

[SabrinaKat]

skweek - we live north of the airport (about 20-20 miles north of Dublin itself)....

rowan -- I start back to work in mid-October on a trial basis, e.g. if I want to continue, etc., I have seniority, so they can't get rid of me unless the entire language programme closes (I teach English/TEFL at a further education college). Hopefully, I'LL know by mid-November how I feel, but would try to continue LO at creche part-time anyway as I think it would be good for him to be socialising with other adults and children, if that makes sense? Oh, and am only back three mornings a week anyway, but due to the commute, LO would be in creche from 7.30am-2 pm either MTW or WThF (I'm leaning towards the latter, as Fridays at my school start 15 minutes later and then, would only be rushing 2 mornings a week rather than all three)....

RE: sleep. My OH took Finn last night and it was sooooooooooo great to sleep until about 9am this am; but had to get up because LO was fussy (needed a nap) and was out within 5 minutes of mummy rocking him. bless! I'm also glad that you other ladies have commented about sleeping/naps, so I could show my OH that we're not alone in having sleep difficulties at times and in fact, my method works pretty well most of the time....

hugs

 

[Rowan75]

back from scan - measuring at 6+3 so a little small - |Martha was 11 mm at 7+2

 

[Rowan75]

Back from scan - we have a HB yey! altho we had HB with our first 2 pgs so the jurys out...measuring at 6+3 so a little small for our liking - Martha was 11 mm at 7+2 and this one is 6.2mm at 7 so we'll ahve another scan in 2 weeks and see how things are then - trying to be hopeful - the sonographer was using the machine for the first time under training so maybe she wasnt at the best angle to measure...

im nauseous all the time its overwhelming at times thinking a boy!

thats great re creche - i think its great for lo to have a bit of independance and explore and learn to share etc

 

[skweek35]

Rowan - Fab news bout seeing the HB at the scan this morning! Always such a relief seeing that little HB! Hope he dreaded MS doesnthang around too long!

Sabrina - My brother lives about 10 minutes from Blanchards Town. Is that west of Dublin - just outside the ring road.

Is it time for this mommy to take a nap now?

 

[Borboleta]

Rowan: so happy for you. That little heart beat will keep beating you will see. And hope it is a boy this time around too. Although I had a sister close in age and I loved playing with her.

Question: do you ladies know when can you start putting mosquito repellent on babies? They are talking about west Nile mosquito carriers and I would like to keep them away from thiago.

 

[clio]

Hi everyone. Okay, confidence completely shot. J woke at 11:30 last night (very odd time) and it was my night. I gave him his bottle, but he would only take it in small amounts, jerking his head back each time, which meant that he wasn't allowing it to put him back to sleep. Then I spent TWO HOURS fighting with him. This is unprecedented. I eventually had to get my husband, who managed to feed him the rest of the bottle, which he then drank normally and fell asleep while drinking. I had given him Advil (for you UKers, it's a painkiller) just incase this was a teething thing, 20 minutes earlier, so that might have accounted for my husband's success, but still, I am feeling so defeated. I can't comfort this boy in my arms. He cannot get comfortable, so he cries. So then I put him in his crib, and then he cries.

What happened to just melting into our arms like all other babies? He's only 8 months, only weighs around 19 pounds, and I am by no means a small woman. My husband is bigger, so he can still manage somewhat, but I can't. And when your baby won't sleep, and won't let you cuddle/rock him, or even drink properly and fall asleep that way, what do you do?

Waaaaaaaaah!

Okay, J is trying to destroy my computer. I'll be back when the little monster is in bed for a nap (<--hahahahahahahahaha!!!!) to respond to everyone else!

ETA: I know that 2 hours is nothing for many of you, but it's unheard of for J. I honestly feel like a failure. I've been unable to get him to sleep for over 2 weeks now.

 

[Indigo77]

Rowan!

 

[clio]

Okay, after 45 minutes of beating me up, he finally gave in and fell asleep in my arms. You'd think it'd give me a boost in confidence, but all I feel is tired...

Now, onto other news. Rowan!!! A heartbeat! That's fantastic! Fingers crossed that the size issue works itself out.

skweek--I'm glad you've decided to stick around. As Leeze said, hopefully we can provide you with some wisdom, and if not, definitely support. It's nice being able to ask a question here instead of in Baby Club. Here, people you know will answer. Plus, we have babes of all ages (a month makes a huge difference in the first year), so we can cover quite a range...

Borboleta--do you have a health line to call? When West Nile hit us in Ontario, we had a gov't number to call that gave us any information that we needed. And since babies are at a higher risk, they must have advice about how to protect them. I'm sorry that you're going through this. Are you worried?

SabrinaKat--I agree about the support from others on this thread regarding sleep. I also told my husband that ALL of us (except for a lucky few) are having problems.

Angel and kosh--did you have another good night?

Who was it that made tuna croquettes? Leeze? I thought they sounded so good that I made some myself last night for J and will try them out today. I'm actually really excited! Anyone else finding weaning a lot of fun?

 

[kosh]

hello everyone!
had a couple of difficult days but feel a bit better right now. the reason? was trying to get Gael to nap so I laid in bed next to him and started stroking his forehead and nose and...he fell asleep! I feel like a snake enchanter!! (have to say that he was very very tired but not grumpy,i guess it wouldn't have worked otherwise!)

i'll try to catch up...

skweek - welcome! enjoy the rest of your pregnancy. i miss my bump!

rowan - HB! the first weeks for me were sooo stressing! hope everything goes fine in the next scan, so you can relax!

leeze - i do the same re. shower! i leave gael in his chair with a few toys next to the shower cubicle so he can see me. i sing to him too!

sabrina - glad you and LO liked the nursery. I feel a bit bad about my situation. i'll be taking him to one that is accross the road from work, so i can go and feed him at lunchtime and it's also v handy fro transport etc, but that means i haven't actually compared it with any other nurseries i asked for references though and everybody seemed v happy about it, but i still feel a bit uneasy about it. we have to go together soon and i guess that then i'll be able to tell i there is a problem or if gael does not actually like it etc.

clio - i know, 2 hours in the middle of the night is a loooong time. it took me 1.5hr to re-settle G last night and i was def not coping well. I'd fallen asleep on my DH's lap watching telly and when G woke up I was sleeping very very deeply so it was difficult to come around and deal with a hungry and unsettled baby
but what's with your DH and naps anyway? how long does J stay awake? since G's sleep started to go all wrong, i keep records of all bedtimes and nap times and it really helps to know when to try to get him to sleep

borboleta - re. co-sleeping, we have a side cot but for some reason until now I still had to get up to feed/re-settle/put down again, which obvioulsy defeat the purpose don't ask me why i could not do it from the bed! we can't co-sleep side by side because he likes to stretch his arms out. but now i realised that I can pick him up from the bed and feed him and then lay him down perpendicular to me! so his legs are on top of my belly if that makes any sense?

angel - how were the boys last night?

indigo - is Dmum going to join us?

 

[kosh]

Borboleta--do you have a health line to call? When West Nile hit us in Ontario, we had a gov't number to call that gave us any information that we needed. And since babies are at a higher risk, they must have advice about how to protect them. I'm sorry that you're going through this. Are you worried?

sorry i missed this - what happened???
i'll go back and check

 

[AngelUK]

Hi ladies, thank you for asking. OH had the nightshift last night. We went to bed at 10:30 and I had told him to wake me when Dom woke for his 11:30 bottle but he didn't So apparently both boys got fed 11:30 and then slept till 3ish and then woke a few times, he was vague :/ But at any rate we seem to get one goodish stretch of sleep back. Well I hope anyway.
My mum is leaving tomorrow and I should then be able to come online more often again. I will then try and catch up with the thread a bit better. Hope you all get a good night!
PS: Clio your 8 month old boy weighs the same as my very big older twin! I think I may have freakishly big babies after all and those odd women thinking he was 8 months old might not have been so completely off their heads after all

 

[Conina]

Hey girls, bit of advice needed. And for a change not Conor-related!

For those of you who don't know, my brother and SIL have just adopted three year-old twin girls. I'm going to send them presents (they live in England and won't be home to NI for 6 months anyway) but not totally sure what I should go for.

To make a change from clothes (apparently one of the girls is very girly-girl, and the other isn't, so clothes may or may not go down well), I had thought of sending them bears from the Build-a-Bear workshop. But DH pointed out that the fun bit of Build-a-Bear for the kids is, well, the building-the-bear bit! You can get vouchers from the shop but is that a bit impersonal??

Any thoughts?

 

[clio]

Conina--I think it sounds like a wonderful gift. And if you can only give them a gift certificate, then that's all you can do. Kids love the experience, so no one will mind that it's a voucher. And it also shows that you put a lot of thought into it. And adopting twins! How very cool!

Angel--it really sounds like things are getting better. Yay! As for J's weight, people already think that he looks big for his age; I can imagine what they say about Dom! Though J isn't actually big for his age; he's exactly 50th percentile in everything, so people have no idea about normal baby "sizes."

kosh--I don't know what my husband is up to. On a good note, though, he doesn't know either. He said--with no prompting from me--that he had no idea what got into him, apart from this sense of imperative: J HAD to sleep because he was simply very, very tired. Though at times my husband is just a little too introspective. He then spent the evening analyzing where he had gone wrong, and where he had "pushed" J too hard. Stupid academics. They think too much. Sometimes I think it's a big gong show over here.

RE: hair. Oh, I don't know if I'm really efficient, or have hit new heights in laziness. My hair is incredibly thick and very long right now, so I can't just jump in the shower and wash it. I must then spend half an hour drying it. If I don't, I get psoriasis on my scalp because of all the moisture. The time I need to dry it isn't that much of an issue because my husband can cover with J, but I hate, hate, hate dealing with it (washing it is a pain; getting all the shampoo out is a pain; I don't even bother conditioning because I can't get the conditioner through it, and then the never-ending drying...) But, I also learned once that the less you wash it, ironically, the less greasy it gets. Something about washing stripping hair of its natural oils, so your body is always over-producing them, making hair look greasy. I can now go for almost two weeks without washing it (I made it to this point using baby powder, because you do go through a greasy period as your hair adjusts). Now, if I could only find a way to get my body to self-clean...

Question for weaners--have you managed to get your LOs to use sippy cups yet? I'm on my third type of cup, hoping that this design will help him. Turns out, it doesn't. He did drink straight from a glass when I offered him that, but now he also sticks his hand in the glass to play with the water and forgets to drink. Any help would be greatly appreciated! (Oh, and I've tried the Playtex straw type, and Advent and now Nuk with the silicone "nipple." All big failures.)

 

[Leeze]

Hi everyone. Not sure I can remember everything I wanted to say but I'll try. Rowan, the bouncer we've got is a bit like the one you did the link too, although looks a bit more sturdy. Have you got a bumbo chair or snug chair, that would be the other thing I'd try as I think they'd be harder to climb out of. Although, they'd be harder to attach toys to. Clio, it was me who made the tuna croquettes. It took 3 batches before I got them right but they were quite tasty. I made Kia a cheese omelette today and she loved it. I've also been giving her some chicken thigh meat although that's a bit scary as she bites big bits off and keeps them in her mouth for ages. Kia will take water from a sippy cup, which I'm very surprised about because we can't get her to take milk from a bottle. We just got a cheap one initially - from Boots the chemist - and have recently got to tommee tippee one for 7 months up. She struggles a bit with the second one as she takes in too much water but is fine with the other one. Not sure what to suggest, sorry. Also, the question about how to get LO's to sleep if they won't feed? My answer these days is to give in, play with Kia for a bit and then wait until she's ready to feed again. I'm really lucky in that whenever she wakes in the night she will normally go straight back to sleep after some milk. My problem tends to be getting her to settle in the first place. We could easily start trying to settle her at 7pm and she's not asleep until 11pm. The last 3 nights she's STTN though which is amazing as she'd stopped doing this regularly a couple of months ago. Hi to everyone else, sure I was going to say other stuff but as usual am doing this on my phone so can't check back through posts x

 

[Indigo77]

I will tell DMom to join us!

Today we went downtown with Niko & had lunch on the water. It was the perfect day & Niko did very well. I almost lost it with a lady & her dog. Her dog started barking LOUDLY & woke him up & scared him & she was too busy talking on her cell to correct him. So, I said loudly, "She better control her dog, or I will.." (She quickly got off the phone....) My husband then begged me to have a martini. Ok...so other than that, it was a lovely outing.

 

[Borboleta]

Kosh: everything is okay. I am a little concerned about the Mosquitos down here. It I told my hubby that we should not have thiago out during mosquito hours. West Nile on a baby would be horrible. But I did a little research and found out you can use repellent on babies age 2 months and older. It just have to have no more than 30% deet. But as soon as you get home you need to wash the repellent out of their body and don't put close to their mouth and eyes and hands.

Clio: you are hilarious. I totally relate to you about the hair thing. You know I teach aerobic classes so I get pretty sweaty! But I just wash my hair 2 times a week !! . I just blow dry the sweat on my hair and it looks good. And that is because I had the Brazilian blowout so I can wash the hair more times during the week because before I just did once a week!!! I know it sounds disgusting and I really felt bad for my husband but it was a pain to deal with my hair for 1 hour and 1/2!! But I improved and I am washing 2 times a week.

 

[clio]

Clio, it was me who made the tuna croquettes. It took 3 batches before I got them right but they were quite tasty. I made Kia a cheese omelette today and she loved it. I've also been giving her some chicken thigh meat although that's a bit scary as she bites big bits off and keeps them in her mouth for ages. Kia will take water from a sippy cup, which I'm very surprised about because we can't get her to take milk from a bottle. We just got a cheap one initially - from Boots the chemist - and have recently got to tommee tippee one for 7 months up. She struggles a bit with the second one as she takes in too much water but is fine with the other one. Not sure what to suggest, sorry. Also, the question about how to get LO's to sleep if they won't feed? My answer these days is to give in, play with Kia for a bit and then wait until she's ready to feed again. I'm really lucky in that whenever she wakes in the night she will normally go straight back to sleep after some milk. My problem tends to be getting her to settle in the first place. We could easily start trying to settle her at 7pm and she's not asleep until 11pm. The last 3 nights she's STTN though which is amazing as she'd stopped doing this regularly a couple of months ago. Hi to everyone else, sure I was going to say other stuff but as usual am doing this on my phone so can't check back through posts x

Re: croquettes. I tried to give them to him at lunch, but made the mistake of giving him broccoli as well, and giving it first. He took a huge floret and shoved it into his mouth and that was it for lunch. He spent the rest of lunch, and then the afternoon sucking on that broccoli and there was no room and no interest in the croquettes. So I tried them for dinner (JUST the croquettes), and he took one and shoved the entire thing in his mouth as well (this is how J rolls. Go big or go home.) But he ate it all! I'm so glad that you suggested it! And I know, the gagging is scary, but it is part of the process. They have to learn NOT to choke, hence the gagging and spitting out. It doesn't freak me out anymore, in part because I'm used to it, but also because he does it far less these days.

If you want to try something really easy which J took to like crazy, try firm, uncooked tofu "fingers" rolled in crushed cornflakes with a bit of cinnamon. I think that was the first time J actually ingested "real" food.

Re: sippy cups. I give up. I don't know many 10 year olds who still drink out of a bottle, so I'm going to assume that he will learn somehow.

Re: waking and sleeping. He used to go straight back to sleep, but he doesn't anymore. It's really frustrating because it was the one thing we could count on from him: night feeds were easy. Now, they're two hour ordeals. I tried the playing with him, too. Didn't work. Well, it's my husband's night tonight, so I'll worry about it tomorrow.

Today we went downtown with Niko & had lunch on the water. It was the perfect day & Niko did very well. I almost lost it with a lady & her dog. Her dog started barking LOUDLY & woke him up & scared him & she was too busy talking on her cell to correct him. So, I said loudly, "She better control her dog, or I will.." (She quickly got off the phone....) My husband then begged me to have a martini. Ok...so other than that, it was a lovely outing.

Now I'm trying to picture you "controlling" the dog... But yay for Niko and his outing prowess!

Clio: you are hilarious. I totally relate to you about the hair thing. You know I teach aerobic classes so I get pretty sweaty! But I just wash my hair 2 times a week !! . I just blow dry the sweat on my hair and it looks good. And that is because I had the Brazilian blowout so I can wash the hair more times during the week because before I just did once a week!!! I know it sounds disgusting and I really felt bad for my husband but it was a pain to deal with my hair for 1 hour and 1/2!! But I improved and I am washing 2 times a week.

Oh man, when I rode, my hair was always so sweaty, so I can totally relate. I loved to ride, but hated the fact that it forced me to wash my hair everyday. And so I often didn't. I thought of the sweat as a type of hair spray. My hair certainly stayed in place however I wore it afterward. So, I declare both of us not disgusting, just practical.

 

[clio]

Oh, and here is my first MIL rant ever. She is very supportive of all that I do with J, except she is having trouble with the BLW. She knows that it is actually the only way to wean him because she couldn't spoon purees into him either, but it's what I'm feeding him that she doesn't like. She has celiac (a gluten intolerance) and so does my husband, so she's afraid J has it too, and had problems with me feeding him wheat toast. I've since done the research, and celiac associations say to wean potential celiac babies just like a regular baby because he needs gluten in his system to react to it and reveal a problem. So, she accepted the wheat.

But then the constipation happened twice, and everyone freaks out. (It was the new formula with the extra iron!!!) Then there is this certainty that he is always suffering from an upset stomach because he farts. And today, after spending the afternoon with her, my husband told me that she thinks that (steamed) broccoli is too hard on his stomach. Why she thinks this, I don't know. Maybe he farted when he was there? Arrgh!!!

What I'm most concerned about is this constant focus on his tummy. I'm afraid it will lead to real problems because everyone is so nervous about it, which he'll pick up on. I had tummy trouble as a kid, too, but I know it was all related to nerves. My belief is, leave him alone to enjoy his meals, and he'll be just fine. I may have to intervene, and I don't like that. I'm horrible at confrontation.

 

[Rowan75]

lordy so much to catch up on and marthas fed up of playpen so i may only hsave a mo!! v wriggly!

kosh martha has too chunky legs for bumbo got to a point where she used to just stand up with it still attached lmao!!

martha didnt sleep too bad last night yey
oh shes very cross - am off!

hello to everyone hope you have good days!

 

[AngelUK]

My boys kept me up most of last night again. Got at most 3 hours sleep if I add the minutes up. Feel ew.