any other over 35 first time mums?

[SabrinaKat]

we do use a soft blanket in addition to a sleeping bag -- I should mention that we have an extra long moses basket, which we put LO into from the bouncy chair (rocking to sleep), then basket, then into cot. (At creche, however, he seems to fall asleep straight in the cot with sleeping bag, so me thinks, LO is 'milking' the mummy rocking to sleep situation at home - LOL!) the soft blanket is tucked into the moses basket as we feel the sleeping bag might not be warm enough (our house gets cold (a corner house, which means we get the winds from the ocean in a weird cross attack from both sides))....

clio -- I remember you saying no monitors and we are starting to leave off when LO is in creche, but for sleeping at night, we still use -- I don't think I could sleep (very bad sleeper anyway) without it....(it's a snuza halo, which attachs to LO's nappy)

leeze - LO seems very happy at creche (I personally HATE getting up at 6.15 every morning - growl!), and even interacts with the wobblers (12 months+) as some of the babies have been out on holidays/ill....they bring him toys as he plays in the activity centre and the girls seem to try to 'kiss' him, but Finn is too busy! (Saw one of the wobblers try to bring a dummy to Finn, but he was like...'m, no thanks, am busy with this other toy' -- very funny! and when he sees me come through the door -- the biggest smile ever!.....

nothing else....must go to bed, think I now have a bit of tummy flu...growl....!

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

ps. more ideas for x-mas -- I keep telling my OH that LO is too little for the remote controlled helicopter and he keeps telling me that Finn doesn't want that necklace (silver, not too expensive) from Tiffany's!

 

[clio]

Bah! I've started around 50 replies and keep getting interupted, and then there are more posts to respond to! I'll try to do my best and remember everything...

Re: Facebook--I think I have everyone now. Apart from Kosh and Skweek, but I seem to remember that you don't have an account, right Kosh? And as for Skweek, well, she's probably stuck in that first 6 week period. Hopefully we'll hear from her soon!

Storm--things seem to get rougher and rougher, and I'm sorry. It's good that little L doesn't seem to remember, though. But that's awful about the creche--how do they even come up with insane fees formulas like that? My sister, who is having her first in January, is freaking out because she's discovered that it's close to $2,000/month for daycare in Toronto, which is insane. But I'm glad that L enjoyed her day.

Angel--what a beautiful card! If that's not your strongest work, then I'd really love to see some of your "better" stuff. Oh, and re: the FB pics, it's the same as you said; the ones on there are pre-baby by a number of years. But I'd really like to get back to an approximation of that weight!

You were talking about D and S not liking lumps. I know this is for age 12+, but Gerber makes this spaghetti stuff with little tiny "wheels." Even though it's not the right "age," I actually think that these wheels would be a very easy way to start with lumps. Do you have Gerber over there?

Kosh--oh hun. I'm sorry it's tough again. So Gael is still sick? Is it the same thing (ear), or something else now? I suppose it means that his sleep is no better, either. I don't know what to say other than:

Borboletta--J's been wearing fleece sleepers for a while (because I have no idea how a blanket would work in a crib). BUT, I'm in the North, where we've had deep snow and freezing temps since October, so that may not be appropriate for Texas... Otherwise, I'd be using cotton sleepers and Halo Sleeping Sacks.

As for T crawling, but not in the rest of the house, I've got to say, that sucks. When we opened up the living room (ie. removed the Pack 'n Play that blocked his access) to allow J to roam the rest of the downstairs, it was like a whole new world had opened up for all of us. We've baby proofed basically all of it, so I don't worry so much about him, and don't feel like he's always on top of me. Too bad T's not like my cat who would happily follow kitty treats to wherever we want her to go, like a trail of breadcrumbs... Does he like cookies?

SK--Poor Finn! Though I'm surprised that he's remained unharmed for so long! We don't even know where J gets the red marks on his head and face anymore. I've heard of this, though. That at a certain age they get strong enough to arch themselves out of the bouncer.

Re: Christmas gifts (which is so close to his birthday--Dec. 16th--that I am only now realizing how much money Christmas is going to cost us in the future!), J is getting a small guitar. Not a toy one, but a real one for children. He's obsessed with the guitar, and OH taught him a while ago how to strum and pluck at the strings, instead of just grabbing onto them. I think that'll be it for both birthday and Christmas, though. The rest of the family can shower him with gifts that he won't remember or care about.

Claire--I'm glad that you've rejoined the thread! Don't worry about catching up--we just gab and gab and gab, most often about sleep, teething and weaning (and often, cats), so it's not so hard to find a foothold in the conversation. And we LOVE members! I'm so sorry about your mother, though. It must have been very tough on you. And having a little one that doesn't sleep can't help much either.

ETA: I just read over your post and saw that your mother recovered! That will make a happy Christmas for all, I assume!

Leeze--so do you think Kia was just tired when you picked her up from the creche? And thank you for the not-really-CIO support. Last night was weird. He started crying at 3:30 (a VERY odd time for him), and my husband and I stood outside his door, repeating over and over again--"should we go in? I thought we said we wouldn't. But he's crying--what if something's wrong? We should go in. But we said we wouldn't..." And on and on and on, until we realized that he had gone back to sleep long before we had made a decision. Tonight will be a challenge, though, because he was teething earlier today. So, I'm sure we'll both be at his door again, trying to figure out what to do and be even more unsure of ourselves because there will be a chance he's in pain... Oh, this is such a confusing business!

Rowan--How is it that M has so many teeth already??? I imagine it must be hell to go through, but man, I'd like this over with. Four. We have FOUR, with other mystery teeth (which ones are they? We don't know. How far along are they? We don't know...) vaguely on their way in. In fact, I think everyone but S and D have more teeth than J. And just watch, the twins will outstrip J any day now.

So, I am so loving Amazon.ca. We never could get anything good off of the Canadian site, until suddenly, now we can! I've ordered two cookbooks, the duck book (again, major fail. So no kitty book for us... Though yesterday in the bath, he was at one end of the tub, and his rubber duckies were at the other end, and he all of a sudden flew forward, yelling "DUCK!!!") I also received my bread machine and made my first loaf today (soooo much easier than that first time!) and am awaiting my 5 qt slow cooker. My husband has a small one, and I've been making some meals in that, and it is amazing for BLW. The meat is just so tender and breaks off so easily, and the veggies and potatoes are so soft that J can eat an entire meal with no difficulties. Today we had Hungarian Goulash. Plus, it's helping him learn how to use a fork, because spoons suck. He keeps on turning them upside down to get them to his mouth, and for all his experiments with his sippy cup and gravity, Sir Isaac Jonah has yet to understand how exactly gravity affects food upside down on a spoon. He keeps getting the spoon so confidently to his mouth and then gets this very confused look on his face when it's strangely empty.

Well, I hope I haven't forgotten anyone, or anything. I have what time it is in England programmed on my phone, but it's gone dead, so I still have no idea what time it is across the pond. But it's bedtime here.

Oh, but talking about phones, I've been battling it out with J since forever over my iPhone--if it's in reach, he wants it. I then remembered an old BlackBerry we have, charged it up and gave it to him. Oh, he is SO happy! He toddles along with it in both hands, chewing on the rubber part, pressing the buttons and oh, the look of pride on his face! I had once given him one of our portable phones with the batteries out, but he wasn't buying it. If it didn't light up or make sound, then it was obviously a fake. But we were so afraid that he'd accidentally call 911 (999 for you?) that we couldn't risk it. This phone? No phone plan. It's awesome.

 

[clio]

Oh, and one more thing...

SK--you have a monitor attached to F's diaper? I don't even know where to start with the questions...

 

[AngelUK]

First of all thank you ladies for your compliments about my painting. But now that so many of you can have a look at my pictures on FB you might have a look at some of my earlier cards and see that I can do better. As for inspiration, I usually look for motives on google pictures and either use a whole photograph I find there or elements of several and put those together.

Claire welcome back! I still check the other thread and I know you are still not getting any more sleep on the whole. I am really sorry! But at least your mum is better and that must be such a relief. Is she all ok now or do you still have to look after her?

kosh I am so sorry that you are back at work and that sleep is still such a nightmare. I cannot imagine how you do it. And with Gael ill as well. A whole month seems more than just a seasonal cold though surely? I know from the other thread that the doctor said he had glue ear and adenoids. But from what I know of this this would not actually hurt or would it? I am sending lots of and hope things get better soon.

Rowan poor lil M to suffer still with teeth. It seems unfair that babies have such pain with them doesn't it and especially when they come together or one after the other with hardly any break.

Storm I can totally understand your meltdown with the nursery! That does seem unfair! And yeah nursery prices on the whole tend to be higher here, although I have found one that costs 37 per day (still, since I have two that means 74 for us and is just not possible at the mo) there is one close here that is new and has big banners in the window saying Only £60 a day. You have to laugh!

Sabrina how dreadful, poor little Finn! Glad he wasn't hurt but how scary for you! Sebastian once did this when he was about 3 months old, he threw himself backward so that the bouncy tipped back and he was lying on his head! He wasn't hurt and didn't even cry but oh gosh since then I have been obsessive with strapping them in. Now they have baby björn bouncers where the strap in part stays on and you have to slide the boys in. Seems safer and the boys like how much more it bounces compared to the old ones.
Also commiserations to you and Finn with the teeth. It really is unfair how much babies have to suffer with them.
As for xmas presents, we are a little behind in age so I don't know if what we are thinking of has any meaning for the older babies here. But we have been thinking of this babywalker. By xmas they might need this almost maybe? We don't want to give too much as we know they'll get spoilt by our families anyway and we have very little space. Like Borboleta we are planning on making a wishlist on Amazon so that family and friends can see what we would really like hehe.

Borboleta we only use blankets when the boys are in their woombies. Otherwise they have sleepingbags and those are very handy and as Leeze said we too have different thicknesses for different temperatures. I know they have a number of really cute ones on Amazon.uk so maybe they will also on the US one?

Sabrina we still use the Snuzas too! I don't think I could sleep without them being safely tucked in there! They still have them during the day too but I am less worried if I forget to put them on then. Are you going to remove yours at the stroke of Finn being one year old?
I am so glad he's doing so well with the creche and the other kids there. And I am not at ALL surprised that the girls want to kiss his sweet little face

Clio your suggestion to Borboleta with the treats made me laugh. That would totally work for me! Hehe.
As for Gerber, no I don't think we have that here. I will just persist with textured I guess cause the boy cannot live on smooth his whole life! I bought the Cheesy pie pouch again that was the first I offered and Dominic devoured. Sebastian wasn't keen on it but didn't throw up. So we shall see today at lunch.
Sebastian also really loves my phone! He is soo eager to hold it and to lick it. He took several pictures of random things with it by accident. Had they not been so blurry and so nothingness I would have kept them. But he wants anything I hold in my hand anyway. He gets very agitated and bangs his foot against the ground or his bouncy and makes these agitated greedy noises while pursing his upper lip. Too cute lol.
I am so impressed that Jonah knows how to strum a guitar! No way is that boy not super intelligent! He might not be into books now but that means nothing obviously. Just think of his clever plate travels etc. I always tell Nick what is happening with the LO's of my ladies on this thread and the plate travel stroy and pic made even him laugh
Glad Amazon.ca has improved. I love the UK one and it is always my first port of call. Nick swears by ebay but I love that Amazon deliver the next day on many things if you are a prime member. SOO worth it for me!

Right, the boys are all played out and I need to go talk to them so they can have a nap now.
xxx

 

[Storm1jet2]

Morning ladies, L treated me to another terrible night, I would sell my first born for a nights sleep, actually then I could have as many nights sleep as I wanted

It's nanas funeral today, I'm not going to the service or burial, DH is doing the tribute and he doesn't need me blubbing my eyes out or L screaming the place down.. I will take L down afterwards though. To be honest I'm glad I don't have to go to the service, I've been to 2 this year, my mums and my friends mums and those were hard enough. Honestly the number of people who have died in my family during my pregnancy and Ls arrival has been unbelievable. At 9 weeks pregnant my aunt who I was stupidly close to died, my uncle at 20 weeks, my SILs dad when I was 36 weeks my mum when L was 4 weeks and the same SILs nana when L was 6 weeks! My dad lost his only brother, only sister and wife within 9 months, unbelievable...

Anyway don't know why I felt the need to share that! In other news we now have a this is my kitten book, bought it second hand delivered for 2.81, for some reason I only have $ sigh, no pound sign on my phone! L loves the book... Oh she's crying bye

 

[clio]

Okay, I'm going to say it again. Monitors attached to diapers? Please explain...

 

[clio]

Morning ladies, L treated me to another terrible night, I would sell my first born for a nights sleep, actually then I could have as many nights sleep as I wanted

It's nanas funeral today, I'm not going to the service or burial, DH is doing the tribute and he doesn't need me blubbing my eyes out or L screaming the place down.. I will take L down afterwards though. To be honest I'm glad I don't have to go to the service, I've been to 2 this year, my mums and my friends mums and those were hard enough. Honestly the number of people who have died in my family during my pregnancy and Ls arrival has been unbelievable. At 9 weeks pregnant my aunt who I was stupidly close to died, my uncle at 20 weeks, my SILs dad when I was 36 weeks my mum when L was 4 weeks and the same SILs nana when L was 6 weeks! My dad lost his only brother, only sister and wife within 9 months, unbelievable...

Anyway don't know why I felt the need to share that! In other news we now have a this is my kitten book, bought it second hand delivered for 2.81, for some reason I only have $ sigh, no pound sign on my phone! L loves the book... Oh she's crying bye

I think that you need to share, and should never hesitate to share with us! Holy Storm! I can't speak from experience, but undergoing so much tragedy in such a short time, and then having to deal with frightening potential medical problems and tests with your baby would undo anyone. I think it's amazing that you're holding up as well as you are. I don't often like to tell people that they're strong (because it is always the pat phrase people use when they hear I'm bipolar), but I really do believe that you have incredible strength. I'm also so sorry to hear about your father; it never occurred to me that he also lost so many people in such a short time. I think it's great that you spend so much time together; it seems like a very loving relationship.

 

[AngelUK]

Storm clio is absolutely right! That really is an incredible amount of grief to have had to endure in such a short time. I am so sorry and for your dad too. I am not sure that anything I could say would make you feel better but please never feel you cannot vent or that we aren't here to lend a sympathetic ear (or eye). Hope you are holding up ok. Millions of to you and L.

clio the monitors Sabrina and I use for our boys are these little Snuza Halos that will go off if they don't detect movement from breathing. As you can see from the picture, they clip on the baby's nappy and the top bit has to be in contact with the belly. Not a problem as the undies or vests will usually keep them safely in place. I don't think I could sleep without knowing that they are clipped and switched on.

 

[Borboleta]

Clio: you are so funny!! Maybe I will consider trying the cookie treats to see if thiago crawls around the house. I think it is strange that he doesnt isn't it? Maybe because our living room couch is a L shaped couch and he thinks the room ends there . I am trying to find the this is my ... Books. I want to see what you girls are talking about. and I ave been meaning to tell you that thiago loves his bath books ( the ones that can get wet). So when he takes a bath I read them to him and he loves it. That is how he started enjoying books. Now he likes them all. We put him on his high chair and give him a book to read while we prepare his dinner.

Storm: so sorry for another sleepless night!! But I laughed when you said that she was up for sale . I bet we all could do that at the moment .

Angel: how is Dominic's poopy? Is it still an explosion? I just bought some pampers cruisers so I will let you know if it will work better than the regular pampers since we are having some more frequent leaking on thiago's clothes. No explosions for him though .

Thiago has been sleeping terrible for the past 2 days ( terrible for us not ). Been doing the 1 or 2 am waking and stays up for about 1 to 2 hours !!! That kid you never know!! Last week he slept wonderfully!! He even slept thru the night from 9pm till 7am. That had never happened before !! But I know he is very close to get his top side teeth from the middle ones. And I took a look and his gums are super swollen!! Poor thing. We have been giving him Tylenol or Advil every night but sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

Hope you ladies have a wonderful day.

 

[skweek35]

Hi Ladies, We've just got home from the hospital and I've got my gorgeous baby Annabel Carys attached to my breast (sorry if too much info.)
She was born on Sunday morning at 5:01am by emergency c-section. She weighed 7lb 12oz/ 3.5kg's and measured a little 52cm long.

Here is a pic for all of you.

https://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w346/strirrel/DSCF1976.jpg

 

[AngelUK]

OMG Skweek what a precious little princess! Congratulations a thousand times to you and DH! She is so adorable!
Why did you have to have an emergency section if you don't mind my asking? Is everything ok now? Hope you aren't in too much pain. By the sounds of it, the BF is working ok so congrats on that too! So happy for you
(Off I go to be broody at OH... )

 

[Claireyb1]

Hi Ladies, We've just got home from the hospital and I've got my gorgeous baby Annabel Carys attached to my breast (sorry if too much info.)
She was born on Sunday morning at 5:01am by emergency c-section. She weighed 7lb 12oz/ 3.5kg's and measured a little 52cm long.

Here is a pic for all of you.

https://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w346/strirrel/DSCF1976.jpg

OMG she is absolutely gorgeous!!!! many congrats!! It's making me broody,even with no sleep still at 10 months! lol
xx

 

[clio]

Hi Ladies, We've just got home from the hospital and I've got my gorgeous baby Annabel Carys attached to my breast (sorry if too much info.)
She was born on Sunday morning at 5:01am by emergency c-section. She weighed 7lb 12oz/ 3.5kg's and measured a little 52cm long.

Here is a pic for all of you.

https://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w346/strirrel/DSCF1976.jpg

Oh, I was so excited to see that you were the last one who posted!!! Now,

1. You've been with us for months. You know by now that nothing is TMI.

AND

2. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!!

She is SOOOOO beautiful! (And I mean that--I'm not just saying that. Many just-born babies are really not at all pleasant to look at.) And what a beautiful name! Welcome Annabel, the newest member of our thread!

How are you doing, Skweek? Can I ask why you needed the EMCS? And did they keep you in the hospital longer because of it?

I know how busy those first weeks are, but I really hope you can continue to post, even if only to give us an update. No need to read through all of our gibber-jabber.

Congratulations, Skweek. I am so happy for you, your OH and your beautiful Annabel.

 

[skweek35]

Thanks Bor -
Started off with a water birth and gas and air (had me totally spaced out that I don't remember very much). Got to 7cm dilated and didn't get any further as she wasn't coming out at the right angle. She was bashing my cervix causing it to swell. Consultant was called to check my dilation and he pulled out meconium, indicating that she was distressed. Hence the emergency c-section.
I'm on the road to recovery and having to take a serious back to seat and rely on everyone around me to get things done! (This is so not me!!!)

 

[Claireyb1]

I have to say I totally agree with Clio on the fact that a lot of newborns just aren't that "pretty" but you have one lovely baby girly! and I too really mean that I had to show my OH your picture as she is just soo lovely.

 

[AngelUK]

Borboleta Dominic still explodes up his back. I tried both variety of Pampers. Here they are called Baby Dry and Active Fit. I don't think we have cruisers or swaddlers. I also tried Huggies cause they have an elastic in the back which I thought would help. But no, I had to change him three times today. Well one time was in the morning when he got up and he had leaked pee; I would have changed him anyway but still! I don't know why this happens with him but not Sebastian.

I am really sorry Thiago is sleeping so badly. Waking up and staying up for an hour must be exhausting for you! Do you have to give him a bottle or does he just want to party? I hope it isn't the teething pain that keeps him awake then? That would be terrible, poor boy! Do you use teething gel? I have tried it on Sebastian but it is difficult to get the gel past him licking my finger lol
I hope tonight will be another STTN for you

Hope all other ladies here are doing well? I am cheerful cause I get to sleep tonight lol xxx

 

[AngelUK]

Oh skweek do not try and do stuff! You need to recover first, that is the most important thing for you and Annabel. Sorry the birth didn't go as you had hoped, but main thing is that she is here and healthy and gorgeous

 

[Claireyb1]

Thanks Bor -
Started off with a water birth and gas and air (had me totally spaced out that I don't remember very much). Got to 7cm dilated and didn't get any further as she wasn't coming out at the right angle. She was bashing my cervix causing it to swell. Consultant was called to check my dilation and he pulled out meconium, indicating that she was distressed. Hence the emergency c-section.
I'm on the road to recovery and having to take a serious back to seat and rely on everyone around me to get things done! (This is so not me!!!)

Thankfully both you and baby are fine, the other stuff can all wait and just let as many people help you as you can.

 

[Leeze]

Very quick hello. Tired and it's late. Skweek. CONGRATULATIONS! She's so adorable. Well done. And how lovely to have a photo with her eyes open too! Great that BF is working for you. It can be hard work in the first few weeks but it gets a lot easier. I had anemergency c-section too. 8cm and then failure to progress with fetal distress. Definitely let people do everything for you. Especially cooking, housework and bringing you things. Your job is to eat, drink lots of water, go to the toilet and feed Annabel. Everything else can wait! I'm feeling broody too seeing the photo! What a little darling. Has it sunk in yet that you're a Mummy?
Angel, have you tried Asda own brand Little Angels nappies? I think they're called Simply Dry or something like that. Cheaper than most and pretty good.
Had an emotional day today. Day 2 at nursery and Kia was hysterical when I left her. Broke my heart to walk away. Felt wrong and very unnatural. I phoned them 10 mins later and they said she was ok. She was a bit tearful when I collected her. She's been seriously cluster feeding this evening, like a newborn going through a growth spurt. And she had her MMR vaccination today too. Mummy's brave little girl. Chat properly soon xx

 

[Borboleta]

Skeewek!!! Anabell is here!!! She is gorgeous!!! I am sooo happy for you!!! I hope she will bring the joy that our LOs bring to us even during lack of sleep and teething nightmare . You will love it, it is all worth it!!
I know Clio and I had to have a emcs and for me it wasn't that bad . I was back working out after 5 weeks ( of course grading as easy as I could and no ab work until I was 8 weeks but I felt a lot better after 2 weeks of the surgery. Just take it easy and enjoy your L. Sweet little Annabell.

Claire: just became your friend on Facebook and man you are a knockout. And so as your hubby . No wonder you LO is so gorgeous herselfc good genes. Actually the over 35 mommies here are all beautiful and none of us look like in are on our 40s or close to it!!! Demi Moore better watch it !!

Night night ladies. Hope thiago and all of our LOs sleep thru the night !!