Anyone TTC #1 and 30 or older?

[cutestuff]

Kat babies do things in their own time at their own pace. Dd never really rolled. She would stay on her back or tummy until lately when she tosses and turns a lot. It's part of why I felt comfortable co sleeping. My dd is currently 16 months and has been walking since 9.5 months but only says a few words. Other kids don't walk until one year or later but can say more things. My dd is very physically active and since there aren't many kids I know in the area her age she doesn't learn from interaction and talking all the time to a toddler is hard. Try to not worry where is is physically and don't force it. He will do things in his own time.

Afm dd has really bad excema on the back of her legs and diaper area so I'm looking forward to a nice summer so she can wear lots of dresses. I think we are gonna day time potty train as well since she might be having a reaction to diapers. Dh tells me he wants dd to be at least 3 before we have another sine around 3 they are more able to understand and want to help. I agree with the concept cause I have about 2 years between myself and my sister and the relationship sucks but our younger brother is 3 years younger than her and they are bff. I just wish I was younger cause at 34 the next one will have to be the last and I wish I had more time to be totally okay with two even though that was always out plan.

 

[KatO79]

Kat babies do things in their own time at their own pace. Dd never really rolled. She would stay on her back or tummy until lately when she tosses and turns a lot. It's part of why I felt comfortable co sleeping. My dd is currently 16 months and has been walking since 9.5 months but only says a few words. Other kids don't walk until one year or later but can say more things. My dd is very physically active and since there aren't many kids I know in the area her age she doesn't learn from interaction and talking all the time to a toddler is hard. Try to not worry where is is physically and don't force it. He will do things in his own time.

Afm dd has really bad excema on the back of her legs and diaper area so I'm looking forward to a nice summer so she can wear lots of dresses. I think we are gonna day time potty train as well since she might be having a reaction to diapers. Dh tells me he wants dd to be at least 3 before we have another sine around 3 they are more able to understand and want to help. I agree with the concept cause I have about 2 years between myself and my sister and the relationship sucks but our younger brother is 3 years younger than her and they are bff. I just wish I was younger cause at 34 the next one will have to be the last and I wish I had more time to be totally okay with two even though that was always out plan.

I know, I'm just concerned that my HV will get on my case about it and start pushing for more tummy time. At this point I'm taking what I can get and if that means 2-3 minutes every 5-10 minutes, then I'll just go with that for now. He does roll though but seems only confident about tummy to back. I know he's physically able to roll back to tummy as I've seen him do it, he just doesn't do it very much He'll be socialised though as he's set to start nursery school November 1st.

Hope your dd finds some relief for her eczema! Alexander has some as well although it's mostly on his forehead. He's reacted well to getting the Aveeno Baby Ezcema Therapy Moisturiser applied btw, maybe it'd help your dd? As for age gaps I'm not sure that there's much difference between 2 or 3 years difference I've heard that the closer they are in age, that generally the better the relationship and closer the siblings will be. But there's of course always cases of personal fit so some siblings just get along better than others because they're e.g. personalities fit better and/or they have more interests/beliefs/opinions in common.

 

[cutestuff]

I do use that cream and have for months. We go through times where she's excema free and other periods of blow ups so I'm trying using fragrance free diapers as well as switching to a fragrance free body wash for myself to see if that helps but I'm also going to ask for a prescription and advice on toilet training. As for what you are saying my dd didn't clap at 9 months and when we went for that check up we were told to practice but then another doctor said as long as she was waving and pointing the clapping wasn't important. I guess what I am saying is if he resists tummy time maybe get an exersaucer or a Johnny jump up to work his legs... I think as long as he does some it's not important. At 5 months what is more important is head control and able to sit up by themselves with minimal support if any... Both items I mentioned will help that........
I'm sure he's fine he might just be too full or tired or just would rather sit up

 

[KatO79]

I do use that cream and have for months. We go through times where she's excema free and other periods of blow ups so I'm trying using fragrance free diapers as well as switching to a fragrance free body wash for myself to see if that helps but I'm also going to ask for a prescription and advice on toilet training. As for what you are saying my dd didn't clap at 9 months and when we went for that check up we were told to practice but then another doctor said as long as she was waving and pointing the clapping wasn't important. I guess what I am saying is if he resists tummy time maybe get an exersaucer or a Johnny jump up to work his legs... I think as long as he does some it's not important. At 5 months what is more important is head control and able to sit up by themselves with minimal support if any... Both items I mentioned will help that........
I'm sure he's fine he might just be too full or tired or just would rather sit up

OK, yeah we have the same issue so we've been trying to apply it a few times a day even when he looks eczema free which I think helps a bit. But definitely ask your GP, I'm sure that (s)he can prescribe something stronger. When we use disposeable diapers we also use those perfume-free ones. They make some really good cheap ones here but it's for a Danish supermarket chain so you can't buy them anywhere else.

Ah well he's 6 months now (born October 5th) so he should be a bit further along. He's not sitting at all either, only when we support him fully in our laps But I'd read that to sit up he needs to strengthen his muscles and he can do that by doing tummy time. Which he doesn't want to do very much or for very long (2-3 minutes tops). If he was rolling around I'd feel better but he isn't doing that either. He'll only roll onto his back when he's put on his tummy and occasionally he'll roll onto his sides and then back onto his back but it's not often and rolling onto his tummy is a super rare occurrence atm but I know he can do it. All he wants to do all day, given the choice, is lay on his back and play with his activity center No way he's training any muscles that way and I fear it'll mean developmental delays in his motor skills

 

[cutestuff]

I know how you feel. It's hard when you do comparisons. Like if I compare my dd to kids around her age some don't walk but will talk more some do both but none flap their arms which is dds most favorite thing. One suggestion I have for you is rather than tummy time sit with Alex on the floor between your legs. If he has a favorite toy or tv show- dds is curious George put the toy in front of him or the tv on. Then gradually let go of Alex. He might fall over a little but this will encourage him to use those muscles. Then when you hold him put him on your knees so his back is not supported by your chest. Again that will help and I will say at 5 months we got dd an exersaucer and it really improved her legs and back cause to play in it you had to lean forward.....he will get there and if your hv hasn't said they are worried chances are it's normal as long as he gets there eventually....

 

[KatO79]

I know how you feel. It's hard when you do comparisons. Like if I compare my dd to kids around her age some don't walk but will talk more some do both but none flap their arms which is dds most favorite thing. One suggestion I have for you is rather than tummy time sit with Alex on the floor between your legs. If he has a favorite toy or tv show- dds is curious George put the toy in front of him or the tv on. Then gradually let go of Alex. He might fall over a little but this will encourage him to use those muscles. Then when you hold him put him on your knees so his back is not supported by your chest. Again that will help and I will say at 5 months we got dd an exersaucer and it really improved her legs and back cause to play in it you had to lean forward.....he will get there and if your hv hasn't said they are worried chances are it's normal as long as he gets there eventually....

I suppose I could try but I think one of his issues is that he hasn't been training his arms enough and he needs to do that to crawl. I know that some in the Mommy Group were talking about taking the babies swimming next time so wondering if that would train his arms? If he likes swimming then DH and I should make it a once a week thing.

My HV hasn't seen him in about 1 month or so and she wasn't too happy that he wasn't getting much tummy time She suggested laying him on his side if he absolutely refuses but I can't see how that'd help him much in building muscle so must be only to help avoid his skull getting too flat. She's coming on the 20th (mostly to talk about Alexander starting to eat meat and maybe to start tasting what we eat as well but I'm planning on talking about sleep training with her while she's here) so we'll see what she says to how he's doing now.

Oh and the more sickly baby in the group is also crawling now albeit a bit more unsure than the one that's 7 months old but still And I think it's only a matter of time before one of the others does as well since he can sit up unaided. Ugh, my guess is Alexander will be last, even behind the baby that does 90% of his tummy time flailing his arms and legs around in the air

 

[Dream143r]

Hello Everyone

I'm new around here. I've been silently stalking your stories at work all day today. lol

DH and I are both 31, I'll be 32 this year.

We are in cycle 1 of TTC. Not temping or charting just sort of seeing how this will go. Praying it's a quick BFP. I don't have any particular reason to believe we may have difficulty but just being a little older, I can't help but worry. We have been married a year and a half and just wanted to wait to establish ourselves a little bit before TTC.

According to my app "Glow" I should be O tomorrow or Wednesday. I know these apps aren't super accurate but we will BD daily and see what happens. It's just cycle 1 so all very experimental for now. I'm nervous and excited starting this process. Reading your stories is comforting knowing I can find support if needed.

 

[Angel5000]

Melody seems to be doing a lot better. She's still congested often but not as bad as before. I think she's inherited DH's nasal issues. Poor girl. She eats a lot better, she's eating every 2.5-3 hours and nurses for about 5-15 minutes depending on the time of day and then around 20 minutes late evening (around 9-10pm). I was thinking she wasn't nursing long enough but yesterday she slept extra long and I woke up fairly engorged and she was able to empty my breast in under 10 minutes so I think she's just become a much more efficient eater. And she's still gaining weight so I think we're good.

I go back to work in 2 weeks. I'm dreading it. Not because I'm leaving Melody, since she'll be with my mom and sister, but because I've been out of the classroom 4 months and it feels awkward to me to go back right now with just 8 weeks remaining to the classes from before. In my head I've been out long enough taht I feel like we should be starting a new school year but we aren't. It's hard to explain, but I'm really not looking forward to it. Plus my principal has made sure to tell me I cannot use any student contact time for pumping. So I can pump only before/after school and my prep/lunch periods. If I feed M before I go to work at 6am, then I get to work around 7am I can pump then. Classes start at 7:45am and I won't get a break to pump again until 10:50. That's almost 4 hours from my 7am pumping time, which is quite a long time when M is eating every 2.5-3 hours now. I'm really afraid I'll end up leaking during the end of my last class before my break.

Melody is trying really hard to roll back to front, she's pushing but just can't quite get it. So instead she ends up spinning herself around in circles on her back. She can roll back to side, but apparently only when she's asleep. When she's awake she never makes it but asleep I watch her on the monitor move back to side and to back again all the time.


Gagrl - Good luck with the glucose and so glad the cardiogram went well!

Kat - I'm so sorry to hear about your DH's grandmother!
That's great that you got to see Alexander roll over! I think if he's strong enough to roll from tummy to back easily than it isn't a big deal if he stays on his tummy or rolls over. At least that's what my doctor seems to have said, as long as I'm putting her on her tummy for tummy time that's the important part. I agree with cutestuff, babies do stuff in their time so don't stress too much.

I second what cutestuff said about putting him between your legs and putting a toy down. I am doing that with Melody, especially on the days that she gets mad about being on her tummy, and she's getting stronger pretty quickly.

cutestuff - I'm sorry about your dd's excema. That sounds rough. Is there anything that helps?



Dream - welcome! Good luck with this cycle. I hope that your app is right! I used glow for a couple cycles but found that fertility friend was so much more accurate that I switched (but glow was a lot more "pretty" to look at ). It does tend to get more accurate the more you use it.

 

[Dream143r]

Angel - thanks! I'm going to check out Fertility Friend also.

 

[KatO79]

Welcome and good luck Dream

Angel glad Melody is feeling better! I can understand your apprehension about going back to work, I hope it goes well though.

Kat - I'm so sorry to hear about your DH's grandmother!
That's great that you got to see Alexander roll over! I think if he's strong enough to roll from tummy to back easily than it isn't a big deal if he stays on his tummy or rolls over. At least that's what my doctor seems to have said, as long as I'm putting her on her tummy for tummy time that's the important part. I agree with cutestuff, babies do stuff in their time so don't stress too much.

I second what cutestuff said about putting him between your legs and putting a toy down. I am doing that with Melody, especially on the days that she gets mad about being on her tummy, and she's getting stronger pretty quickly.

Thanks, yeah it was/is sad that she's not here anymore as she was such a lovely lady I still remember telling her about us needing assisted conception and dreading her perhaps showing as little understanding for it as her daughter, my MIL, especially given her age but she just said that she hoped something soon worked for us and that she was looking forward to having a 3rd great grandchild! So sad that Alexander won't remember her. I just wish she could've stayed for another 1-2 years at least! But I'm glad that she at least got to see him and hold him a few times. The funeral is on Saturday. We'll be taking Alexander with us but bringing bottles as DH and I aren't comfortable with me breastfeeding during the service. It was ok during Alexander's christening, just think it's a bit odd to do at a funeral but maybe that's just me. I'll be trying to sit at the end of a pew though as I want to be able to make a quick getaway if Alexander gets fussy.

As for Alexander that could be true. I'm thinking that since we couldn't give him tummy time from the beginning because of his jaundice that it now has set things up for him not liking tummy time as much as he might have given we'd been able to start sooner.

True but it's so hard! DH's younger brother's girlfriend helped me feel a bit better though as she said she's heard that only babies with no older siblings tend to do things later than babies with an older sibling. Would fit as both of the babies that have started crawling have 1-2 older siblings. Alexander is also on the chunkier side so that'll probably also mean he'll do things later. Especially one of those babies is thinner so has an easier time. I just hope that not all the babies are much faster than him though because it'll be a bit sad if he's very far behind compared to them. I did find some of those mothers' friends rather annoying with their comments to seeing the crawling videos on FB as one of them said to the mother of the baby 1 month older: "He's such a smart and charming little guy!" A friend of the other mother wrote "He's quick to get ahead in the world. And very attentative. You guys have done a good job with him!" Like seriously, I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence how quick a baby is to develop certain skills, nor does how good of a mother/parent you are So yeah, these women are basically saying babies that start doing things later are stupid and the parents must be bad

 

[Gagrlinpitt]

Angel I'm so glad things are getting better!

Kat, every baby is different. Don't let random people make you feel bad if your little man is not as quick to crawl. My nephew is 8 months old and refuses to get on his belly ever... He rolls immediately on his back when you try tummy time.. he'll walk before he ever crawls.

AFM, I passed my GTT, my thyroid is staying steady with meds, and the third trimester hormones hit me with a vengeance. My hips/pelvis/back are very sore, I'm very emotional, and I am having a hard time sleeping.. but I just think how worth it everything will be. I can't complain though as I've had a great pregnancy so far. We have a funeral to go to tomorrow as a good friend of my husband's passed away over the weekend. He had something happen a few months ago where he lost all muscle function and has been in the hospital and such. He just had some sort of nerve surgery and apparently passed in his sleep from complications from that surgery. Only 32 years old and was getting married in October.. just very sad.

 

[KatO79]

Kat, every baby is different. Don't let random people make you feel bad if your little man is not as quick to crawl. My nephew is 8 months old and refuses to get on his belly ever... He rolls immediately on his back when you try tummy time.. he'll walk before he ever crawls.

Your nephew sounds a lot like my son, he will very often roll straight away Today he was really bad, don't think he even got 10 minutes combined on his tummy. I'd considered that Alexander may do that as well

AFM, I passed my GTT, my thyroid is staying steady with meds, and the third trimester hormones hit me with a vengeance. My hips/pelvis/back are very sore, I'm very emotional, and I am having a hard time sleeping.. but I just think how worth it everything will be. I can't complain though as I've had a great pregnancy so far. We have a funeral to go to tomorrow as a good friend of my husband's passed away over the weekend. He had something happen a few months ago where he lost all muscle function and has been in the hospital and such. He just had some sort of nerve surgery and apparently passed in his sleep from complications from that surgery. Only 32 years old and was getting married in October.. just very sad.

Yay for passing Oy I remember those pains! Maybe get your DH to give you a massage. I remember my DH needed to give me back massages every night, especially during those last 2 months.

So sorry about your DH's friend, sounds like he had a sad end

 

[cutestuff]

Angel I totally noticed the same with dd. she doesn't suck for as long but drains me quickly. The acerbic exzema lotion works but she goes through periods of more and less exzema. The doctor told me that she's too young for allergy testing so if it's controllable or responsive to lotion that's the first option the second is elimination which starts with all dairy and soy.... So we will see between now and her next appt. glad melody is doing well and I think it's good you only have a few weeks left of school. You will be able to ease back into it a bit more. It's rough. And as for pumping your first week back will be rough. You might have some engorgement but your body will adapt and as long as you keep consistent you will be fine.
Kat I think it doesn't matter which number the kid is. I'll go back to what I was saying before dd doesn't socialize much with kids in general but at 6-7 months started scooting and at 8-9 months was doing the worm- butt up flop arms forward version of crawling and using furniture and a walker for walking. First steps at 9.5 months and tummy off the floor crawling at 10 months. When we were at gymboree there was a little boy who was 15 months old and wasn't walking and a friends son who is more socialized is 14 months old now and not walking and while he does say some words doesn't point gesture or clap which is normal or appropriate behavior for kids his age . Don't worry too much about it. Take what he will give you and find activities he enjoys which will help do some of those things. I would still try the exersaucer cause there are toys on it that will help train his arms. We didn't do a lot of tummy time till dd was older too so it just is a matter of being consistent.
Good luck dream. It's an exciting time. Don't hesitate to ask questions.
Garl I'm sorry about your friend. You are in countdown mode now and it's going to fly.
Afm we had 3 Easter egg hunts yesterday and got to pet som bunnies and chicks. Dd had her 15 month well check yesterday and is now 31 inches and 22 pounds... Time flies

 

[cutestuff]

Angel I totally noticed the same with dd. she doesn't suck for as long but drains me quickly. The aveeno exzema lotion works but she goes through periods of more and less exzema. The doctor told me that she's too young for allergy testing so if it's controllable or responsive to lotion that's the first option the second is elimination which starts with all dairy and soy.... So we will see between now and her next appt. glad melody is doing well and I think it's good you only have a few weeks left of school. You will be able to ease back into it a bit more. It's rough. And as for pumping your first week back will be rough. You might have some engorgement but your body will adapt and as long as you keep consistent you will be fine.
Kat I think it doesn't matter which number the kid is. I'll go back to what I was saying before dd doesn't socialize much with kids in general but at 6-7 months started scooting and at 8-9 months was doing the worm- butt up flop arms forward version of crawling and using furniture and a walker for walking. First steps at 9.5 months and tummy off the floor crawling at 10 months. When we were at gymboree there was a little boy who was 15 months old and wasn't walking and a friends son who is more socialized is 14 months old now and not walking and while he does say some words doesn't point gesture or clap which is normal or appropriate behavior for kids his age . Don't worry too much about it. Take what he will give you and find activities he enjoys which will help do some of those things. I would still try the exersaucer cause there are toys on it that will help train his arms. We didn't do a lot of tummy time till dd was older too so it just is a matter of being consistent.
Good luck dream. It's an exciting time. Don't hesitate to ask questions.
Garl I'm sorry about your friend. You are in countdown mode now and it's going to fly.
Afm we had 3 Easter egg hunts yesterday and got to pet som bunnies and chicks. Dd had her 15 month well check yesterday and is now 31 inches and 22 pounds... I'm not sure I liked the doctor and dd is starting to know what happens at the doctor. She started crying the second they started measuring her.Time flies now just for more talking. I'm looking forward to her language explosion hopefully in the next couple months. She's gearing up for it

 

[Angel5000]

Melody is getting so good at being "on a schedule" (of course saying that means that now she'll be all wonky). For example, the last 3-4 nights she's woken at the exact same times to eat: 10:30/1:30/2:15/4:30. The 2:15 wake up time though I think has become a routine wake up just because it's a time she's always woken up, not because she's hungry (there's no way she's hungry less than an hour later when she eats very well at 1:30 and if I feed her she just comfort sucks). So the last 2 nights i've been "encouraging" her to go back to sleep without eating at that time. It takes twice as long because she wants to use me as a pacifier I am not in any way trying to prevent her from eating or doing any of the crazy version of the sleep training, but I can't let her keep using me as a pacifier every hour when I have to go back to work in two weeks. Teenagers are hard enough to deal with when I'm in my best shape, I can't be so sleep deprived on top of it.


Kat - I think that if you were to breastfeed during the funeral people would understand, but if you aren't comfortable then definitely bring bottles. You have to feel comfortable. Nothing wrong with bottles.

I didn't realize that the jaundice stopped his ability to have tummy time, but now that I think about it I guess the added drowsiness would have made that difficult.

I doubt the parents commenting on fb are purposely implying that babies who do things slower are stupider or have bad parents. It's just a way that people say things because they feel silly saying something like "oh she's developing her muscle coordination so well". Don't take it personally. I understand though, DH will sometimes say things like "oh she's being so good" when she doesn't fuss about something (like the carseat) that she normally does and I told him we have to stop saying that because otherwise it implies that when she's upset she's "bad" and I don't want to develop that kind of implication. People always say "oh she's so smart" when babies do stuff early, and people have said it about Melody when she started rolling over so early, and I just ignore it because I know that intelligence has nothing to do with it, they just don't know what else to say.

And Gagrl is right, don't let people make you feel bad. It's possible Alexander is going to skip the crawling stage all together. Several of my friends went straight from rolling to walking. My niece refused to walk before she was 1, wouldn't even pull herself up to a standing position (just would get on knees), and they were worried but then suddenly on her 1st birthday she stood up and started walking. By the end of the weekend she was running around! It was insane. I think there could be a correlation between the oldest child versus the not oldest doing things sooner/later, but I'm not sure how strong that argument really is. My friends who have more than 2 kids often say that their 3rd or 4th may be the slower or faster to develop skills. One of my friends found that her 3rd child was the slowest to talk or walk, they almost thought she had a developmental delay and then suddenly just as they were about to have her tested she started doing everything "at level". She just was taking her time getting there. It all depends on the child.


Gagrl - Sounds like your tests went well! That's great! I'm so sorry 3rd Tri is hard, I had a lot of hip pain in the 3rd tri too. There are some really good hip stretches you can try that might help. I used a heating pad often for my back. Also, for the sleeping, my doctor told me to take a Tylonel PM and said it was very safe during 3rd Tri if you aren't getting any sleep. I avoided it for a long time but after several days of not sleeping I did take one and it made a world of difference. But if you do it, start small (with maybe 1/2 of one!) because I took 2 the first night like the directions said thinking that it wouldn't be very strong because Tylonel doesn't help me with pain usually and it knocked me out hard core! I switched to 1/2 a pill for the rest of 3rd tri and I was able to get decent sleep.

So sorry about the loss of your friend.


Cutestuff - I hope that the lotion continues to work for her. It would really suck if you have to eliminate all dairy and soy. I hope that I don't end up leaking during class. That would be so embarrassing, I don't think I could handle it. I figure if I wear a padded bra with nursing pads I might be okay. I hope.

 

[Angel5000]

Oh and I keep meaning to include: a couple pics of Melody.

 

[KatO79]

Kat - I think that if you were to breastfeed during the funeral people would understand, but if you aren't comfortable then definitely bring bottles. You have to feel comfortable. Nothing wrong with bottles.

I didn't realize that the jaundice stopped his ability to have tummy time, but now that I think about it I guess the added drowsiness would have made that difficult.

I doubt the parents commenting on fb are purposely implying that babies who do things slower are stupider or have bad parents. It's just a way that people say things because they feel silly saying something like "oh she's developing her muscle coordination so well". Don't take it personally. I understand though, DH will sometimes say things like "oh she's being so good" when she doesn't fuss about something (like the carseat) that she normally does and I told him we have to stop saying that because otherwise it implies that when she's upset she's "bad" and I don't want to develop that kind of implication. People always say "oh she's so smart" when babies do stuff early, and people have said it about Melody when she started rolling over so early, and I just ignore it because I know that intelligence has nothing to do with it, they just don't know what else to say.

And Gagrl is right, don't let people make you feel bad. It's possible Alexander is going to skip the crawling stage all together. Several of my friends went straight from rolling to walking. My niece refused to walk before she was 1, wouldn't even pull herself up to a standing position (just would get on knees), and they were worried but then suddenly on her 1st birthday she stood up and started walking. By the end of the weekend she was running around! It was insane. I think there could be a correlation between the oldest child versus the not oldest doing things sooner/later, but I'm not sure how strong that argument really is. My friends who have more than 2 kids often say that their 3rd or 4th may be the slower or faster to develop skills. One of my friends found that her 3rd child was the slowest to talk or walk, they almost thought she had a developmental delay and then suddenly just as they were about to have her tested she started doing everything "at level". She just was taking her time getting there. It all depends on the child.

Glad Melody is feeling better! Hope you manage to get her to drop that one waking. It might be a good idea to see if your DH would be up for going in at that time since she'll know she can't get milk from him Great pics btw!

It's hard though not to feel a bit irritated about comments like that though. I just hope none of those moms now plays know-it-all and if Alexander e.g. doesn't soon start crawling they'll be putting the pressure on me.

As for the oldest being the slowest, I think other things also affect that so it's just a very general thing from what I can read

AFM the funeral was yesterday, I'd misunderstood DH on dates Had a large bottle of formula with for the service which Alexander wanted almost right at the beginning. He was very tired though as he unfortunately had to take his 2nd nap of the day on the drive there and ended up not getting more than maybe 20 minutes as we also had to stop by a floral shop and pick up the flowers my mother got DH to order on her behalf Btw my toxic mother saw fit to call DH and leave a message to call her back because "it's important!" and it ended up being something that could've waited Anyway it went fine though until towards the end where Alexander was very tired and started getting very fussy Had to leave and go into an adjoining room to try and distract him until the service was over and they'd lowered the coffin into the ground. Unfortunately I missed the last 10 minutes of the service and the coffin lowering, hope DH's grandmother would understand. I ended up driving to DH's parents afterwards though as they'd changed things so we were supposed to go to a nearby hotel for sandwiches and coffee for 1 hour before going to their house afterwards but I felt that by the time we got Alexander set up and asleep, we'd soon have to wake him and leave so didn't want to put him through that. It took me forever to get him to fall asleep as he'd taken a little nap on the drive. The rest of the day went ok except that at one point when Alexander was napping outside in his carriage my youngest BIL went out there to take a call and he talked super loud so woke Alexander up He apologised and said he didn't think about Alexander sleeping

Ugh and DH has decided that he's going to participate in Record Store Day on Saturday so he's going with his selfish friend He was otherwise at a concert last week so told him I didn't think he should and when did I last get out other than when we took his nephew to see "Rogue One" at the end of December? His maddening comment is, as always, why don't I go out with my childish friend? Yeah, like I want to go out with her as things are now. It wouldn't be a fun day anyway as she'd just use the whole day to talk about her TTC issues. Normally I wouldn't mind but I just feel like the vast majority of the time before she got her current boyfriend everything was about her and her problems and I was almost not allowed to have problems (she'd always make her issues out to be worse than mine).

 

[Jezika]

Eek it's been a while since I've caught up on this thread. We were house hunting since a place we bought two years ago prebuild fell through. They finally returned our downpayment, but literally the same week that they did, property prices skyrocketed in my city. We put in four offers and lost them all because there were 10+ other offers of each and they all ended up going more than $200k over asking price. Very nearly bought a small, dark place that no one else wanted out of desperation, but then I became hysterical at the thought of living there so we pulled out at the last minute on a technicality, thank goodness. Now we feel a bit traumatized and like it's likely we'll keep renting foreverrrrr.

Tilly's been having a period of wriggling and thrashing around every hour at night, but she's getting better now. I had put it down to leap-related fussiness and the four-month sleep regression, but I finally confirmed that she has also been teething! Her two bottom teeth are emerging (I'll post a pic). She has her second set of shots on Monday. I'm keen to see how much she's grown and also want a referral to a physio because she has quite a marked head tilt and generally bends to the left, perhaps where she was scrunched up in my womb.

Kat - I hear you about worrying about developmental stuff. Even if other mums don't make comments, it's easy to feel a bit down when kids the same age seem further ahead in certain areas. Just today at music class there was a baby just a few weeks older than Tilly who was sitting up mostly unaided and I felt a bit... envious? I've seen Tilly roll over several times now but she doesn't do it much and is not a fan of tummy time. But I go to many playdates with kids up to 15 months and am always fascinated by how much variation there is in terms of ability and even size among kids. It can make us proud when our kids are first to do something and disappointed when they're slower, but I try to remember that even a baby that never does official and rigorous tummy time is not going to grow into an adult that can't sit or hold their head up. I doubt our ancestors enforced strict tummy time either. So I try not to worry. Also, Tilly seems to prefer doing tummy time on my chest as I lie down, so you could try that? I just ordered her an exersaucer too, like cutestuff suggested.

Dream - welcome and I hope your ttc journey is short and sweet! I also started with a basic app and then later realized I ovulated later than the app was telling me, so maybe make sure to get some BD in both before and after your projected window just to be sure.

Cutestuff - the talking stage must be so exciting! I really can't wait for Tilly to talk, though I'm expecting it to be a little delayed because I try to speak only Hungarian to her during the day.

Angel - I'm glad to hear Melody has sorted out the eating issue. They must've been such a tough time. Sometimes I feel like Tilly is congested at night, plus she gets slimey boogers a lot, so I try to suction them out every evening. I LOVE our NoseFrida for that. DH and I also try not to say she's been "good" because it implies that other times she's bad. Good luck with going back to work! I hope your trepidation goes away quickly once you're back. And I'm sure nursing pads will be fine for catching the leakage, plus your boobs will adjust. I only feed with one boob at a time so each boob often goes for up to six hours without any action, and that was a quick transition.

Gag - that's so sad about your DH's friend. How incredibly tragic for his fiancée and family too
Can't believe you're so far along now! The time will fly, I promise. As I think cutestuff said, pregnancy feels like a distant memory now. Even the times I moaned about the discomfort (whole of third tri) seemed to have gone in the blink of an eye. What kind of prep have you been doing?

 

[Jezika]

Pics below.

P.s., Angel, Melody is the cutest!

 

[KatO79]

Kat - I hear you about worrying about developmental stuff. Even if other mums don't make comments, it's easy to feel a bit down when kids the same age seem further ahead in certain areas. Just today at music class there was a baby just a few weeks older than Tilly who was sitting up mostly unaided and I felt a bit... envious? I've seen Tilly roll over several times now but she doesn't do it much and is not a fan of tummy time. But I go to many playdates with kids up to 15 months and am always fascinated by how much variation there is in terms of ability and even size among kids. It can make us proud when our kids are first to do something and disappointed when they're slower, but I try to remember that even a baby that never does official and rigorous tummy time is not going to grow into an adult that can't sit or hold their head up. I doubt our ancestors enforced strict tummy time either. So I try not to worry. Also, Tilly seems to prefer doing tummy time on my chest as I lie down, so you could try that? I just ordered her an exersaucer too, like cutestuff suggested.

Jezika great to hear from you! Sorry about the house issues. I'd definitely say don't buy a house out of desperation, remember you're planning on living there for some years (I assume!) so you need to be happy with it! Buying a house is a huge decision so better to rent for a few more months or maybe even 1-2 years and then get the house right for you than to buy one that you'll regret for years Wow, teething, is Alexander the only one not doing that either I hope she soon feels less fussy now that they're almost out. As for development and tummy time that's all true! I try to do that as well but yeah, it can be hard. But I know in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter if Alexander starts crawling tomorrow (fat chance) or if he first does it when he's 10-11 months. My HV told me today that the 2 other babies are (very) early with crawling and the more "norm" is 8-10 months. I tried the tummy time on me thing but he got fussy still after a few minutes so that doesn't work My HV tried showing me a few other ways like putting his upper body on a pillow or having him over my legs but those methods didn't get him to do it for much longer She said to just get as much in as I can and we'll see. I'll have to look into one of those and see if DH is willing to cough up the money to get one. Great pics

AFM my HV came by today and Alexander weighs 8.8 kg He's been cleared to start eating meat/fish which she wants us to either blend up or if it's something soft e.g. salmon to mash it up and offer it to him that way. She also wants us to phase out his nighttime gruel and have me start giving him oatmeal for breakfast, then porridge for lunch and then the veggie mash evt. with meat for dinner. As for sleeping she says I can try not rocking him at all when I put him down and see what happens or just rock him until he stops being fussy and see what happens. She says if he doesn't fall asleep himself to wait and try again another time. I'll have to try it soon as he's growing out of his cradle and we can't rock him in his crib!