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

[Jezika]

Florida sounds nice right about now, Pretty. 25 days?!? Defo get moving with the application, esp with the holidays coming up. That’s so annoying about the fire alarm! We lived in a 28th-floor apartment once and they went off so frequently, and right above our bed. We basically never left the apartment coz of was always false, which is pretty bad. I’d be incensed if I had a sleeping baby at the time. Hope A adjusts to his new room soon. I was gonna say a while back that I’m surprised subsidies don’t cover part time daycare - they did for us, but we essentially paid the same as we would for full time.

Kitty I hope you get some peace of mind with the Harmony. I sometimes wish they didn’t provide the stats as 1 in 350 but rather as 0.28%, which is much less anxiety provoking.

Dobs, as others have said I can definitely relate to feeling like a bad mum at times, and in fact just the other day I listed off the various ways in which I and other people I know have endangered our children and I realized everyone can relate. Or maybe we are all bad parents. Countless falling off the bed, picking up knives and scissors, sunburn, safety pin stuck in throat for days, fracture caused by falling down a few steps, falling down an entire flight of hardwood stairs... K it sounds REALLY bad listed here but obviously these are from different people, and they’re all great parents!

Argh I’m spent, sorry. I’m sick and this took a long time to write, but love to you all.

p.s., CB yes our crimbo tree has been up for a while. Why not spread the cheer early eh? As per Pretty, I also remember thinking crimbo was a weird word in junior school. So very British.

 

[claireybell]

Je, i bet Tillys loved the Tree being up already hehe! Are u as organised with your Christmas gift shopping? Lol! I haven’t a great deal to get tbh but its having that extra cash there to do it so il need to limit myself with my grocery shops over next couple of wks

Pretty I completely forgot you were at your Mums place so i can understand abit more now, sooner you guys all get settled the more comfortable & it easier it will be re naps, Hayden was having 2 long snoozes for at least 2 hrs when he was very little & around 8/9 wks sleeping through, i left him to moan in the basket in the daytime & he eventually went off to sleep after about 10mins or so, im pretty sure thats why he lots better now at self soothing to sleep at naps & bedtime ..

Haydens got a mini cough atm, i been up in our lounge with him since 3:30 uhhh kill me now! Im soo tired! 1 coffee in, hes had Calpol & milk already zzzZ

 

[claireybell]

Pretty i was just having a peruse on my ‘little ones’ Sleep programme, babies 4-6 wks+ Need minimum 4 3/4 hrs snooze daytimes, so a good x2 2.5ish naps in day if he’s willing lol

 

[PrettyInInk42]

Jez - Ya, I just started the paper work and got his pic taken yesterday and I'll be submitting everything today. Under normal circumstances, it should take 10 business days to get it, so we should be just ok for time.
Hope you feel better soon.

CB - I'm pretty sure he gets about that much day time sleep. He's obviously too young to self soothe, but he'll find his hand every now and again and suck for several seconds. Hopefully that means he'll be better at soothing when it comes to sleep training.

So, SO and I are gonna be going to Medieval Times on Saturday for my preggo friend's BDay outing. I dunno if he's ever been, but I haven't, so hopefully it'll be fun. We're gonna leave Alex with my mom cuz we want to be able to enjoy the experience without having to chase him around. But I am gonna bring Matthew I don't wanna risk not giving my mom enough milk for him. And if he's anything like Alex, he'll sleep through the noise. lol

 

[claireybell]

Aww i love it when u catch them thumb sucking Hayden would pop his dummy out & suck his thumb when he was tiny

 

[DobbyForever]

Interestingly I sucked my index (I’d flip my right hand upside down and suck on it with my pinky up in the air lol). Not lol my young, immature mom nicknamed me Princess Sucking Index.... and to get me to stop would tell me bedtime stories about the Fly Prince that would come, essentially, kidnap me because I sucked my finger so much it smelled like spit. I love my mom but my brothers def get a better version of her than me

But for the first time in forever! (sorry A’s newest movie fad is Frozen) my mom admitted she sees me more as a friend than daughter. She’s always been very rawr rawr I’m your mom not your friend so that was a first

Afm it’s been a shit week. Holiday was stressful. A hurt his foot and had to get stitches. The weather keeps us inside. And someone I cared a lot about killed her self. So I haven’t caught up. Sorry

But another friend is pregnant. I knew they were trying so that’s fun.

 

[shaescott]

Kitty any news on the test?

 

[kittykat7210]

Kitty any news on the test?

no not yet, still waiting to hear unfortunately

dobs I’m sorry that it’s not going well at the moment, and to be honest I’d be a little heart broken if my mum said she didn’t see me as a daughter!

 

[DobbyForever]

Hugs.

Sorry the test is taking so long.

It’s complicated. I’ve always confided in my mom and vice verse. I grew up feeling like she was my best friend and person I trusted most in the world. The time I was engaged, I wanted to ask her to be my Matron of Honor. But any time I made mention of being friends she’d immediately and sternly remind me that we are not friends, we’re mother and daughter. Not in a cute way. A know your place way. And it always hurt my feelings like a- my actual friends kind of suck and b- why can’t we be both. It’s been something that has bothered me for decades so her acknowledging our relationship is her closet friendship is like a lifelong validation I’ve been waiting for lol

As for my other stuff ex is being a punk b* again. It’s like a fly. Annoying. Plus a fly in a web only entangles itself more when it struggles. Honestly, if he was less of a shit head id probably just go ahead and let him waive his rights and move on

 

[kittykat7210]

Well that’s that. The UK is probably ruined. Scotland are going to leave, as are Northern Ireland. The nhs will probably disappear and we won’t be able to afford insurance. I’m truly scared for my family.

 

[kittykat7210]

On a FAR more positive note, we got our results back! Second little girlie for us, and a healthy one!!!

 

[shaescott]

Kitty I saw the news. Commenting in a spoiler cuz politics.

Spoiler

I’m so sorry. This seems to be a trend in a lot of countries, Alberta is having issues with attempts to privatize healthcare there, and people are terrified. I’m scared for them, scared for the UK, and scared for the United States as well. The support for politicians who consistently show us their evil intentions is terrifying and I don’t understand it.

On the happy note, CONGRATULATIONS! I’m so so happy for you that you have a healthy little girl in there!

 

[kittykat7210]

Spoiler: Politics

I think the problem is our wages aren’t high enough to support a private healthcare, I looked earlier and the job I’m training for pays £24k/year here but $102k/ year in the US! So if our prices are similar to the US healthcare no one will be able to afford it!

 

[gigglebox]

Kit I've come to stock bump photos! I am going to go back and search in a sec. Don't fret to much about the "what could happens" -- just deal with the here and now. No point in speculating and freaking yourself out. Speaking from personal experience. anyway CONGRATS ON THE LITTLE GIRLIE! They are going to have such a special relationship! That is so exciting. Is Fluek still posting? I'm sure she can offer some insight on this note

Dobs what did A do to warrant stitches? I am really sorry for your loss on your friend. Awww what a sweet sentiment from your mom! That's definitely how I feel about my mom at this point, especially the older I get and the more often I'm trying to be there for her versus the other way around.

I am going to browse back but as a quick update...I've been busy af! We're swimming in debt but I am trying to get medical bill under control (read: get my "insurance" (shared healthcare rather) to pay what they owe), and we were in the process of refinancing the house but everything kind of went to the wayside over the past few weeks and now we have to start the process over again.

Skip this next paragraph if cancer stuff bugs you.

My dad is not doing well at all. It seems like such a short time between his diagnosis and how he is now...I'm not sure where I left off on all that stuff but he was diagnosed with stage 4 renal cancer back in October I believe it was. They said it was a slow growing cancer, but his prognosis wasn't so great -- 1-2 years, but hopefully longer with treatment. He had it on his kidney and it has spread to the lungs, but the plan was to remove the kidney then tackle further spreading with chemo. So out came the kidney, and he was supposed to start feeling better in the weeks after surgery...except he's been getting gradually worse. Multiple trips to the doctor this week reveal he was misdiagnosed; he actually has a form of cancer that is incredibly aggressive. The cancer on his lungs has grown, there is now a spot growing where the old kidney was, and it's spread to his spleen just in the past 3-4 weeks or so. He is in bad shape...very weak, very tired, no appetite. He is supposed to finally start infusions (I forget what it's called, but it's not chemo, something else...) next Wednesday and we're all of course hoping for improvement...but with how he's been, I'm not sure his body is up for the challenge of what the treatment is going to put him through. Evidently he'll basically be briefed on everything involved on Monday.

I'm trying to take my own advice here and not freak out about what could happen if things go south with my Dad...so I'll stop there and welcome any positive thoughts and prayers from anyone offering them here!

Ok now to go back and read 64567 pages!

 

[gigglebox]

Awww Kit, I am so sorry I wasn't around sooner to talk to you while you were awaiting further testing. I went through this with DS1, except I never got risk results because the doctor was so sure he was screwed he told the nurse not to send in my blood work. He just told me right in the office I should contact my doctor to discuss "the a word". Who TF does that?! I had the CVS test done, and the whole time I was freaking out thinking I was going to have to abort. And in the end...he had nothing the doctor predicted. In fact the doctor said he probably had turners syndrome which is something that exclusively affects females If you're ever interested, there's a link in my signature (the cystic hygroma thing) about my entire experience. Anywho he is definitely on the autism spectrum (but high functioning), but he's a happy healthy 7 year old who is doing amazing and doesn't have any of the substantial problems the original doctor said.

Keeps, did you get bc "installed" I'm curious to know what you ended up going with and how it's working.

 

[Flueky88]

Kit the sister relationship is beautiful! I couldn't imagine not having S added to our family.

Gigs, I just want to throw this out there and I know it's not what you want to hear. With as aggressive as your father's cancer is, it sounds like he would really benefit from hospice. The earlier hospice is involved the better it is for the patient and their family. Giving your father a quality of life and keeping him comfortable, spiritual support for both patient and family, and more. If nothing else may be worth a consult with hospice. Chemo and radiation treatment is very harsh on the body. In any case lots of love, hugs, and prayers for you and your family.

I think CB asked earlier about trees. We put ours up the last of November and decorated last week. It's kept downstairs away from the girls. I'll try to upload a pic when I can.

 

[gigglebox]

Yeah I'm not sure at what point he'll decide he's had enough but I feel like it's coming soon. He is in really bad shape. I don't think my mom is ready to give up yet, but I am afraid trying to move forward with treatment is just going to make his last days even more miserable...but the hope is infusions will cause the cancer to retreat. I'm guessing he'll at least give it a try.

Oooh trees! I need tree pics. Placate me!

 

[kittykat7210]

Yeah I'm not sure at what point he'll decide he's had enough but I feel like it's coming soon. He is in really bad shape. I don't think my mom is ready to give up yet, but I am afraid trying to move forward with treatment is just going to make his last days even more miserable...but the hope is infusions will cause the cancer to retreat. I'm guessing he'll at least give it a try.

Oooh trees! I need tree pics. Placate me!

I’m so sorry gigs I have to say that when my great nan was dying of cancer she refused treatment after a while and she looked so much better after they stopped. My mum says she felt better as well, and she peacefully died in her sleep one night. Same with hubby’s granddad who died last year, refused treatment and was still laughing and joking until the day he died. It’s a really tough decision and it absolutely depends on the likelihood of his survival/ beating of it xx

I’ll put this picture of our tree in because I think it’s hilarious! She scooted over to it whilst pooing in order to put her toy on!

 

[Flueky88]

Gigs it is such a hard thing to do. No words can express my sympathies for you and your family

Kit I like the tree

Here's mine

 

[gigglebox]

Thanks ladies

Kit i love the matching silver ornaments ! Hope to see a pic of the whole conpleted tree and ong how hikarious pooping and decorating! That's devotion. How's potty training going? I'm trying to get ds2 into it, and he sporadically wants to, but most of the time he screams and protests. He did one time ask to go potty when we were in the middle of shopping...it was the first time he asked so I went for it. It was a pain and no he did not actually use the potty but hey it's a start!

Speaking of ds2, he's slowly destroying my new Christmas tree. I finally got a flocked tree from MIL after wanting one for years! Ds2 keeps tearing off my decorations. We also have gifts from family to put under the tree but i know he's get into them, so i put them in my room. My room looks like a package distribution center between all the gifts.