General chatter while we wait (and commentary on the "pull out method")

[gigglebox]

Hi ladies! Still around but I'm dealing with copious amounts of anxiety recently and basically everything, even unexpected things, has been triggering it so I've been avoiding like everything basically. I think things have just been amplified because lack of sleep. I broke down the other night...realized an average night of sleep for me is from 10pm to 6am and getting up 3-4 times in between to change & feed baby. I can't be sure but he may be an even worse sleeper than Levin was and that is saying something. And now he's "growing out of" his evening snooze.it's almost 10pm and he last napped at 3 in the car. We've been trying to get him to go to sleep for over an hour now (he has literally just now passed out).

Anyway.

Pretty, at this point I'm pretty stoked about not having to deal with any girls if that means anything. When I see my rambunctious boys play, it makes me happy I don't have the annoyed daughter bitching about her brothers. It has actually been really amazing and lovely watching my older two play together, even despite the 5 year age gap. At this point I can't imagine not having my boys. Glad things are going well.

Shae the red looks good. I actually started a journal like that before i was even pregnant with Des...I think there are a few entries up into his first year or ao but i didn't keep up with it. I'd like to start one for the other two kids but...time.

PL what about bedside rails, just the short ones that stop them from rolling out? Other than that I got nothing. Like all annoying things in parenting, I'm sure it's a phase that will work itself out over time. Just be consistent I guess...?

 

[pacificlove]

Gigs, sorry to hear he's such a bad sleeper! No real advice.. I however did recently figure out that E sleeps better on his own during the day, no longer on me or the couch as L plays. Nope, on his own in our bedroom. When I notice he gets tired, I plop him down and he's out light a lightbulb in a matter of minutes. We do the same around 7pm, then between 10 and 11 we join him, wake for a last diaper and feed and he's out again.
It's just that he prefers no distractions now for falling asleep.
I would bet his overtiredness was keeping him up. To them being tired is stressful, which then keeps them up making them more tired and more stressed. A downward spiral.

As for L, his crib mattress is so low, we don't even worry about rolling out at this point.
In funny news: L keeps fussing about spiders, so today DH had the idea that we'd tell him he has to stay in his bed or the spiders come out.
We just figured out that parents probably came up with the idea of "monsters living under the bed" to keep their children in bed... Do we feel smart or played by our parents or what!
DH told L 10 minutes ago and it's silent back there!

Or maybe we just ruined everything....

 

[shaescott]

Pretty glad everything looks good so far with baby, hopefully you’ll get your girl next time. Sorry your SO is dragging his feet re: buying a house.

Dobs glad you had a little mom vacation, you deserve it!

Gigs sorry about the anxiety and poor sleep

PL lol @ spiders under the bed. Hopefully it works out in your favor!

So I re-dyed my hair. It came out brighter than I meant it to but red fades fast so I’m not upset about it, it’ll be normal looking after a few washes. Here’s a pic where it doesn’t look too bright cuz my bedroom has crappy lighting lol
I’m pretty excited to be a redhead again, it’s like I’m wearing my fiery personality lol

 

[PrettyInInk42]

CB - Well, I know he likes the restaurant we went to, but I didn't tell him where we were going, so he was all apprehensive and suspicious. He doesn't like being the centre of attention, so I feel like he might have been worried that I had something up my sleeve. Most of the meal was fine, and then Alex got a little ansty and loud and SO just got quiet and spent the rest of the meal on his phone. He seemed ok not long after we got home, so I dunno. He just gets like that sometimes.

shae - What does STTN mean? Glad to hear you're feeling better. And if you wanna go red, go red. YOLO. I'm going through a red phase right now and will probably keep it going once the new baby is here and into the new year.

Flueky - Wishing you a good night's sleep and some luck with S's formula pickiness. Good to here the girls are better and pink eye free.

PL - When it rains, it pours, eh? That all does sound pretty busy. Just try not to get too stressed and enjoy the calm once things have settled down. And can't really offer much advice in regards to the actual bedtime. That's what time Alex usually falls asleep. I sit right in front of his bed though to keep him from getting up, though he doesn't usually fight me on that. Could you or DH give that a try?

In new news, SO FINALLY just sent an email to the realtor an hour or so ago, so I guess we'll be hearing back tomorrow and then taking things from there. Wish us luck.

 

[shaescott]

Pretty- STTN means sleeping through the night. Yay for SO contacting the realtor, fx’d things go well!

 

[claireybell]

Gigs, im so sorry the sleeping is really bad still, big hugs hun.. Anxiety is definitely elevated with lack of sleep! Haydens sleep is horrendous aswell atm def feeling your pain! I agree with Pacific in the overtired-ness downward spiral aswell just adding to it

Pacific, same issue here aswell with Nuala, lighter evenings aswell i think but we put her to bed at 7/7:30 & shes awake until 9ish its crazy?! Shes in a toddler bed aswell & can get out as she pleases, crying at the stairgate across her door! She stopped doing this last summer uhhh! Sadly no advice.. just hoping they snap out of it.. omg did the Spiders/monster thing work? Lol!

Well, Hayden has just cut tooth no2! Both bottom teeth now. Hes disvovered his boice & screams/growls loudly like one of those Purple Minions from Despicable Me 2 lol! But when he wakes at night, hes doing it?!! Grrr! Hes needs his own bedroom now, im sure the movement of us in the bed stirs him too..!

Aww Pretty congrats on baby blue hun :boy: Hopefully the realtor will come back to your SO very soon! More space is always a bonus & needed when more squiggles are added to the mix hope you dont need to wait long for your other scan piccys. Do u need to go back in for more pics of babys spine?

Oooh Shae, loving your hair luvvy!

 

[claireybell]

Nuala & Hayden, she looks massive haha!

 

[pacificlove]

Pretty, yes we've tried staying in his room. The moment we leave he's up again. And quite frankly we don't feel like spending 3 hours in his room. The night I did it,he was up until 930, just playing by himself. Then I left briefly, he jumped up as soon as the door closed so I went back. I left him at 10 again and he was up again. Then I changed tactics, and just ignored the fact. He was asleep shortly after, probably totally exhausted.

Well he stayed in his bed last night.. we told him about the spiders that would come out if he didn't stay in bed.... Bad parenting!? He woke up at 430am and needed help pulling up his pants but went right back to sleep, stayed asleep until 8.

Cb,so adorable! Do they all get along quite well?

 

[claireybell]

Does he go to bed with pull ups pants? Hes doing really well..

Yeah they all get on quite well, Riley winds Nuala up & vice versa but they’re cute together in the mornings when they both all sleepy lol! Rileys great with Hayden, always trying to make him laugh bless

 

[Flueky88]

CB don't have that brand here, thank you though.

Aww he's getting his teeth in quick now. Seems once it starts they just keep sprouting lol. So sweet him and Nuala.

Pretty girly vibes for your next pregnancy if you give me boy ones for mine glad Alex is doing well in his new bed

Dobby your vaca sounds great and I hope it recharged your soul

Pacific make sure L naps earlier or maybe wake him earlier in morning? As for getting out of bed, is it really a problem? V did some at first but she usually always sleeps on her bed mattress now. I slept on the floor many times at sleepovers, I couldn't now though.

Shae loving the hair! I may dye mine again sometime.

Gigs I hope your anxiety gets better soon. Oh and I know it was directed to pretty but have to say I'm definitely dreading the teenage girl phase. Moody and witchy x2

Sorry M is such a bad sleeper. S isn't doing so well any more.

 

[PrettyInInk42]

CB - I don't NEED the pics, but if I'm being offered another chance to see my baby, I'll take it. We went this evening to see if there was any walk in space at the clinic. The req says they should've been open til 8pm, but the sign on the dorr said 7pm. And they close at 6pm on Fridays and apparently Saturdays are hella busy, so I think I'll try to go early Tuesday afternoon.
Aww, they look so cute. Can't wait to take pics like this of mine.

shae - Looks like your hair turned out pretty nice and natural.

PL - Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Thankfully these sleep issues don't last forever.

Flueky - Deal! lol

AFM, the realtor got back to us and suggested meeting very soon at SO's place so she can assess it's value properly and help get us started with this process. SO replied suggesting Sunday and now we're waiting to hear back again. Looks like we'll be doing a lot of cleaning over the next couple days. I just busted through a big pile of pots and pans, but there's still lots more to do.
In other news, SO jokingly asked if it's time for us to start fighting about names. I said I remembered Matthew, Auston, and Liam being runners up last time. He brought up Benjamin and then started listing off characters from the show Vikings. At one point though, he suggested the 2nd child should have a B name since the first child has an A name and maybe if I'm very lucky, we'll get to the point where we'll need a C name. Uh, ya, the only things that will stop me from having a 3rd child are severe fertility issues or if I'm dead. lol. This is a matter of when, not if. Anywho, really gonna push for Matthew, but we'll see.
Lastly, when SO sent the original email to the realtor, he referred to me as his GF. He still to this day has never asked me out. Hopefully I'll grow the balls to talk to him about this and see if I can get him to ask me properly, so we'll have a real anniversary.
OH! And I was able to feel kicks from the outside of my stomach today.

 

[claireybell]

Ooh great news about realtor & new place shopping Love the name Matthew, always a classic in my eyes & never goes out of fashion, plus when they get to teenage years ‘Matty’ or ‘Matt’ for short is kinda cool, esp for a boy

Dobby, forgot to add - your holiday snaps look great on Instagram!

I sooo need my hair doing at this point, its been 3 months since my full head of highlights & pink colour underneath & my roots now are so bad as my hair has grown super fast! Think il go for half a head highlights this time but chunkier ones, no colour underneath, i’d really love to have that gwen stefani white blonde hair but i know il never get it! Think all i can do is keep using the blue shampoo’s to tone my hair! I did google about the white blonde toner to go on my blonde hair but all reviews are rubbish & that most people’s hair has turned green??!! Uhhh! Ive had my time of accidental hair no no’s lol

 

[wookie130]

Hi, girls!

Not much happening here. I'm on my summer break with my kids, and so far I'm still sane. It hasn't been warm enough to use our pool passes, which annoys me, as they're freaking expensive...but it is supposed to heat up next week, so we're gonna try to go as much as possible.

Greene- I can't remember if I congratulated you on the birth of baby Memphis...I hope all is going well with your little boys.

Kitty- I see the TTC ball is fully rolling! Good luck.

Gigs- I totally think baby is experiencing a sleep debt, and he's overtired. The more tired they are, the more they fight sleep, and then it's a downward spiral from there. My pediatrician, who is basically akin to God in my eyes (), told me once that in infants, "sleep begets sleep." So, the more they nap during the day, the better off they sleep at night. I found this to be true in all 3 of my kids. Both my girls took 2 long day naps until 15 months (and Char is 19 months, and takes an hour and a half in the morning), and 2-3 hours in the afternoon, and sleeps from 8 PM until 6am. In the morning, she's often back in bed for her morning nap around 8:30 or 9. My son is nearly 5, and still takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. He also sleeps well at night. So, I'm a big believer in naps, and I will do anything to preserve their sleep habits. I'm not a big fan of CIO for babies, but I do think that some sleep training can be necessary if you ever want sleep yourself, or if some babies ever are going to develop sleep habits that promote sanity for mom and everyone else.

Guys, I think I regret getting my tubes tied. Not because I want any more babies (brrrrr...), but because my periods are now completely awful. They're coming 22-25 days apart, I spot at weird times (including ovulation), my flow is horrific, my menstrual migraines are awful, and my bitchiness is off the charts. Maybe this has nothing to do with the tubal...but more to do with me being nearly 41? Hormone changes?

I'm trying to get my eating back into the paleo realm of things, as my sugar cravings, and carb consumption has been ridiculous, which I'm sure throws my hormones into a tailspin too.

Sorry I suck at responding to everyone. I read daily in here, but am too lazy/tired, or busy to really post much.

 

[claireybell]

Wooks hey :wave: weirdly I wondered this about my tubes being removed, im super moody alot of the time but put it down to Tiredness but maybe is something to do with the egg not getting through?! Plus im 38 & getting later in the game! Im sure the main reason is hormones though :-/ Fx weather warms up for you so you can use the swimming passes

When do babies start needing less naps in daytime? Hayden gas 2 atm because he gets cranky but hes been waking at night aswell lately for the last 4-6wks, i wonder do he need 1 longer nap in the day, although im sure his teething & cutting teeth recently has crapped his sleep up but hes not moaning when he wakes just annoyingly loud & screamy but not in pain?! I may need to google this lol

 

[gigglebox]

There seems to be zero link to his day naps vs. sleep. To be honest i think it's teeth and milestones/growth spurts. He has one tooth through and the second is on the way, and he drools like crazy.

So in the midst of all this anxiety, Lev got sick i think i told you all sickness and even just talking about things going around makes me SO anxious...? It started when Des' classmate was out, then MIL caught something...I think Lev got it from her. Just praying no one else gets sick.

In the meantime I am looking into CBD for some relief from this anxiety. Does anyone have any experience with it?

Pretty what other boy B names do you like? Is that a theme you're going to agree to? I will through Bryce in for a suggestion

Pl that's awesome that he did well last night! I hope that continues and the spider thing doesn't bite you in the ass later lol

Cb Myles also loves to squeal if he's awake enough! Just for funsies. Sorry for your teeth woes :/ i feel ya.

 

[gigglebox]

Shae I forgot to ask, are you watching the handmaids tale new season? I definitely bawled my way through the entire first episode. I am slowly watching the rest of the episodes as time allows...

 

[shaescott]

CB lol @ purple minion growls. Nuala and Hayden are so cute, I love Nuala’s hair color, still an adorable ginger/strawberry blonde.

PL glad the spider trick worked!

Pretty yay for things moving along quickly with the house. I assume your SO assumed it was implied that you were his GF at this point but I understand wanting a proper anniversary and a proper asking.

Wooks those symptoms sound like no fun, have you spoken to your doctor about them? I know very little about tubal ligation so idk if it would cause that.

Gigs sorry about the anxiety. I have no experience with CBD oil but I know people who vape it for anxiety. I am watching the handmaid’s tale as it comes out, yes.

 

[pacificlove]

Gigs, I suggest you look on some Canadian parenting forums since that stuff is now legal here. No experience myself. I do have friends that swear by essential oils to relief anxiety, but I am not so sure if that's snake oil... No idea...

Someone suggested earlier nap for L. I usually put him down around 1pm, then 7 is bedtime. And he usually wakes between 7 and 8 am now. I suppose I could try a noon nap.
He these days has decided that waking up is the hardest part, as in throws a tantrum because he does and doesn't want to get out of bed. I really hope 3 is better then 2 year old L.

He definitely still needs that nap, otherwise he gets incredibly cranky by 3 pm.

Can't remember what else...

Pretty, glad to hear your bf is warming up the talking to the realtor. First steps!

 

[shaescott]

PL, CBD oil is legal in the US because it doesn’t (have to) contain THC, which is the part that gets you high. You can get it with or without THC, and of course in states where marijuana is illegal you get it without (though I think there’s a certain acceptable level?).

Gigs the people I know who use it, it helps them a lot. Forgot to mention that lol. It’s worth a shot, I’d just make sure it’s 100% THC free, you don’t want the effects of THC in there. For some people THC can actually cause anxiety.

 

[shaescott]

Oh and PL, sorry sleeping and waking up has been so rough for L lately I hope it’s just a short phase and it improves soon.

Okay so I’m on CD26, I’ve been getting EWCM for a week now, and I still haven’t ovulated. Just release the egg already!!! Ughhhh I was so hoping last month was an off cycle but now my cycles are crazy. My mom going through menopause could be affecting the hormones in the house. I’m definitely having more EWCM than I was in previous cycles, prior cycles on this IUD it was mixed with creamy CM and there but not the dominant part, this cycle it’s been dominant EWCM and medium-high cervix all week. I slept over at SO’s last night and forgot my thermometer, so hopefully it wasn’t my rise but I’m still high cervix and EWCM so I doubt it. I’m back home and I’ll be temping tonight and onwards.