***Lion Cub Mommies-Back In Action!***

[jelr]

Hey girls

Spidey: I'm glad some of your MS tricks are working, how long did you have ms with Kira. I hope you won't have it for too much longer. Well done on getting DH to do all the chores - I hope he keeps it up now for the full 9 months and after :thumup:

Yes Kira definitely has you well training - Aww no Natasha has her moments of lazyness too, I told you sometimes she screams at night and when I go in, she just wants her teddy to be put under the blankets or he is the wrong way around - She does tend to bring me with her to the toy room every now and again, but she will pick out her own toys. She does prefer to walk though than be carried, which is good as my back is not so good the last few weeks and I actually only said to DH, I actually have a habit of carrying her and there really is no need now. I just find it quicker sometimes

Pippin - to you too. xx

Vici: to you - I'm sorry you are feeling so fed up with it all. What is the Cambridge Diet?? - Also is there no way the docs would start treatment without the weight loss, the fact that you had the treatment already. it might be worth a shot to just look for a referral and see what they say, at least you might feel like things are moving somewhere. How much do you have to lose to get to what they would want you at?

I can't believe Imi manages to get out over the cot in her sleeping bag and all :shocked: - I would say she frightens the life out of you, when you wake and she is right in front of your face

I hope Imi's cold is better and she is in better form, there is nothing as bad as being home alone all day with a grumpy toddler

Well not much news from me, as you all know from fb, I think I know what is going on now and that they symptoms are all just really bad pmt. I hope it is just the smoking like you said spidey, because I really do feel drained with it all and could do without this for two weeks every month or 6 weeks, my boobs are killing me so badly and it is so painful to cuddle Natasha - Friday is D day now for AF - I do expect she will be here though as I don't trust my gut feeling anymore with all these LP symptoms - Well I couldn't really seeing as my gut feeling was that I was pregnant before I probably even ovulated now. I was fed up when I copped it all first, but I'm okay now as at least I know what was going on now, all these symptoms and bfn and no AF was doing my head in, and at least I'm nearly sure I'm am ovulating now, which although I didn't really have many worries about after 3 pregnancies, but I think with PCOS you do always worry that it might be an issue or that things have changed since the last pregnancy.

Well we didn't do much the weekend and just tidied what was the nursery and then the toy room and also the back kitchen, because they had both become a dumping ground. My friend called on Saturday with her nephew who is 10 months, and herself and DH went outside to go for a smoke so I had 2 children in my care for 10 mins and survived - I did think it was going to be a disaster as he normally doesn't let my friend out of his sight, so I was trying to distract him with a soft book and Natasha of course decided she didn't want to share - I managed to convince her to show him the lovely pictures and tell him who they were so they were both happy in the end :thumup:

My mam also gave us a surprise - she has also given up smoking since last Monday, she didn't tell anyone. She decided she would take my lead. I'm so proud of her as she is doing really well and a bit ashamed really as she is smoking twice as long as me and I have sruggled so much

Well I had best get to bed, work tomorrow

 

[spidey]

Hi Pippin

jelr, thats wonderful that you've inspired your mom to quit smoking too. I bet she's struggling with it too, and for all you know she decided to quit because you made it seem easy. Natasha is cute with wanting her teddy positioned just right.

Kira started a bad habit today of throwing her food and saying "BLAH" when she's tired of eating something. I think she's been acting up recently because she senses something is off with me. Plus I don't sleep with her at night or see her in the mornings anymore. Her whole little world has been turned upside down. We even eat meals on the couch now so I can lay down. I use to spend my afternoons and evenings cooking in the kitchen but now DH heats up unhealthy microwave meals, and we use to take trips to the store as a family but now I'm left at home while DH and Kira go off by themselves. It's really quite sad when I think about it Gosh I'm an emotional wreck!! I'm expecting my m/s to go away around 12/13 weeks like it did last time, and perhaps ease up a bit at 10 weeks. Time is going by too painfully slow!

 

[Vici]

jelr - thank you. I dunno, I might make an app at the docs as at least it'll get things moving. Not sure how long the waiting list is at the moment either. Well done on inspiring your mum to give up smoking too, thats fabulous. Cambridge diet is a food replacement diet (just shakes!!) but I don't think Shaun will let me do it. Imi is still poorly sadly, been 4 days now - nothing to worry about, just fever and snotty but still not nice for her (or me, lol).

spidey, don't feel bad about how things are at home atm. You know Kira is well looked after and she knows you'[re there, she's prob just worried about her mummy. Take it easy and hopefully things will start to ease off in the next few weeks xx

 

[jelr]

Aww Spidey - I'm sorry your feeling so bad, but honestly don't worry about Kira, she is definitely being well looked after by DH and it is only a couple of weeks and she won't even remember anything was different once things go back to normal. I know the time is probably taking forever when you feel so sick, but it is only another few weeks. I really hope that you are feeling better sooner rather than later.

Vici: Yeah that sounds like a good idea to go to the doc anyway and see what they say, as it might be a long waiting list, so that would give you time to hopefully get some weight down, but at least you might feel like things are moving on and hopefully they won't expect you to lose too much or might just give you treatment, the fact that you needed it before.

I know exactly what the Cambridge diet is now, here we call it Lipotrim and it is how I lost all my weight initially and after Natasha. I can understand Shauns concerns and it can't be good for your body - I know when I was on it the first time, my rheumatologist accussed me of drinking too much as my liver function tests were showing this and I actually hadn't had even a sup because I was on this for 6 weeks, so it did do something on that end, but on the other hand, it does really work and it does work quickly and I have to say I always felt really healthy on it after the 1st first week, my hair and skin were better and my nails grew really quickly and were a lot stronger and I did have loads more energy and it was actually my gynacologist that recommended it to me. So that is my version of the pros and cons that I know of. Have you ever done it before? Bloody PCOS is so frustrating when it comes to losing weight

I hope Imi is better soon too, could it be her 2nd molars?

Not much news from me - went to buy the fertility monitor and boots dont have anymore and the price is way too much everywhere else - have asked you all a question on OPK's on fb - I'm too lazy to write it again - Think AF is definitely on the way Friday as my temp is on its way down.

 

[spidey]

jelr, I saw your question on FB Hope I helped

Is the cambridge diet low carb? I sort of eat low carb due to my limits on not eating gluten. I know quiet a few people who went low carb to lose weight and felt loads better, but realized in the end that it was actually gluten causing their health problems. You don't have to be super skinny with the runs to have celiac. There are plenty of people who have trouble losing weight, fertility issues, gut problems... basically everything can be affected. I think it's something like 1 in 100 people have it and most don't know. Something to keep in mind especially if you feel better going low carb (I'm assuming that's what the Cambridge diet is). haha, enough gluten preaching from me!

We had a MAJOR potty disaster today! I figured you girls could get the humor in it Kira has a major poop aversion so when she has to poop she refuses to sit on the potty to pee since the poop might come out. So she had to pee but didn't want to sit and pee. She kept holding it and holding it and finally started to pee while standing on the couch. She stopped and I got her on the potty and she finished with a nice big bowl of concentrated pee. She wanted to walk the pee into the bathroom herself (we keep the potty in the livingroom) but I said I needed to change her pants first. She got mad and THREW the potty bowl across the livingroom I screamed "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!" and then she had a total meltdown because of me screaming since I never scream. There was pee everywhere. Splashed on the wall, toys, table, rug, floor... it was awful. So I started running around to clean up the puddles and Kira decided to go off and scream as she hoarded more items to the couch. Then I look over and see a bulge in her pants she poo'd and I don't think she even realized. So then I had to tackle the smeary poo disaster too. She was kicking and fighting as I was trying to get off her pants without making a mess and it got everywhere. It took an hour from start to finish to get it all cleaned up and to calm her down. She felt bad for throwing the pee- I asked if she was sorry and she nodded yes. This all happened right before nap time so by the time it was done we both needed a nap bad

Hope everyone is doing good! Cleckner, are you to your final destination yet with your dial up?

I've been feeling good the past 2 days so I'm hoping there's still a baby in there!

 

[Shiv]

Spidey - eek at your potty disaster! This is my worst fear, if I am breastfeeding Cora when Sophia uses the potty, which I often am, she tries to pick it up and I am like NOOOOOOOOOOo wait for mummy because I know it will go everywhere.

I hope that maybe you are starting to feel a teensy bit better now Spidey, if not then you should hit the peak soon and come down the other side

Vici - I see from fb that FF thinks you ovulated, that's good right?

jelr- I hope your mum sticks at the not smoking and that you can suport each other through it. My mum hit her 1 year smoke free this week and I sent her flowers from Sophia and Cora saying how they proud they were of her.

I can't remember what else has been said, but I hope you are all doing ok.

As for us, well i am on day 9 of dairy free and it is still hell and I had a little cry earlier (pathetic I know) when David prepared a floor picnic for us and all I could eat was bread and ham, when Sophia and him got stilton and falafel and pate...........who knew so much stuff had dairy On the down side, Cora has had a couple of bad nights where she hasn't settled until the early hours, so no imrovement there. On the plus-side i weighed myself today and I have lost 3lbs since my last official weigh in (a week and a half ago, I missed this weeks because I was at my parents). That puts me at just half a lb over re-preg weight!

Potty training news, Sophia is pretty much nappy free at home apart from nap and night time. She happily takes herself off for a wee, but we haven't had a poo in her potty yet as she waits til she wakes up from her nap and does it in her nappy! i have been telling her how exciting it will be when she does a poo in her potty! Am very nervous about leaving the house without a nappy, will leave it a week or so i think.

So I went to my parents for a couple of days this week as david was away Monday-Friday and had a bit of a nightmare time to be honest. Cora and Sophia both slept badly the first night, which meant both me and Sophia were tired the following day. Sophia was in a grup and screaming frequently. We were out most of the day visiting friends and when we got back, for some reason Sophia didn;t want to go back inside the house. It was cold and dark so I picked her up and put her inside - cue screaming fit. The phone rings and my mum answers it so I take Sophia into the next room. Try to get her boots and coat off and calm her down. 5 mins later she is still fully dressed but is calm. She says she wants to go into the room mum is in so I exlplain that nanny was on the phone so if we go in there we have to be really quiet and practice our whispering. We go in and Sophia is quiet as a mouse when my mum shouts, "get her out of here", shocked I pick SOphia up and go in the other room and understandably SOphia starts screaming again. another 5 minutes and I get her calmed down and manage to persuade her to take her boots off but she wouldn't budge on her coat, so I thought, fine keep your coat on, no big deal. Mum comes into the room, and says to Sophia "aren't you gonna take your coat off" to which Sophia screams No and I want my boots back on! more screaming and I say "nice one mum, its taken me 10 mins to get the boots off her", Dad shouts at mum to shut up. I calm Sophia down and mum goes up to her and says "are you going to say sorry to me for making that horrible noise" - Sophia apologises and I am left fuming, thinking that mum should probably apologise to her for shouting! Mum has a go at me for letting her back in the kitchen and I say but she was being quiet, to which she replies "it was an important call I didn't know that she wasn't gonna throw another wobbly". So i was really pissed off, youc an;t shout at a kid because they might throw a wobbly, and her shouting did make her throw a wobbly. SO we had a very tense dinner and I went to be bed early. If I could have just put the kids in the car and driven home I would have done. Going there is supposed to be a break for me, it is not nice when a toddler tantrums but I feel being there just makes it worse because it stresses me out even more. At home it is such that there isn't much she can damage and if she throws a tantrum and I can't calm her and it is not over something life damaging I just let her get on with it. I can't do that there and it stresses me out. SO now I don't want to go back, or at least not for more than one night so that if Sophia is tired the next day we can just come home. ho hum!

Not sure i have any other news really, very very tired but other than that ok!

 

[spidey]

Shiv, I wouldn't be happy with that visit either. Are your parents usually more helpful and understanding? You'd think that as grandparents they would remember how hard it can be getting a toddler to cooperate. I do think your mother should have apologized to Sophia for yelling and not the other way around. Most of the time my MIL is helpful when she visits, but sometimes she's the opposite and I get really mad about it. Then I feel guilty for feeling that it's my right to have a break while she visits- which I do think I'm entitled to!

We've been having some issues with Kira's diet recently. I haven't been cooking for the past 3 weeks so she hasn't been getting proper nutrition at home, and my parents are horribly failing at giving her nutritious foods too. On Friday Kira ate nothing but cookies and icecream. She conned my mom out of icecream cups and then icecream cookie sandwiches for breakfast and lunch. As soon as my Dad came home from work Kira hung off the freezer door handle and my Dad said "do you want icecream?" Dinner was being put on the table as he asked this. So Kira had another icecream cookie sandwich for dinner instead of a proper meal. So this weekend I've only offered her healthy foods. She refused to eat much on Saturday but finally around 3pm hunger took over and she started to eat my healthy offerings.

Shiv, it sounds like Sophia is really catching on to using the potty! I didn't leave the house with Kira for a week, and then for another 2 weeks I only left the house right after she peed and only stayed out 1 hour max. If we went to the park, I would lug around the potty chair... DH was really set against using any diapers at all since he thought it would confuse her. He was the one brave enough to keep the diaper off at night. So far she's had no night or nap accidents, so I guess she was ready and he was right. She does occasionally pee in her pants during the day, but only on days where a poop is imminent and she refuses to get near the potty.

In other news... Kira started saying her name! She says "tee-ra"! She also just started saying mommy and daddy instead of mama and dada. So now she says "Mommy Daddy Teera!" over and over again. She also says "pizza pie" and if we ask "what do you want to eat?" she always says "pizza pie" clear as day DH has been eating alot of pizza recently, so pizza is her new favorite food. She's trying to say words now too, which I'm very pleased about. I think things are just beginning to click so fingers crossed she starts to build her vocabulary now and make 2 word sentences.

I'm feeling the same. Very bloated and the shittiest in the evening. It takes me until 1am to fall asleep since heartburn keeps me awake. Thankfully I feel pretty decent in the mornings and DH brings me breakfast in bed. So I eat slowly and then usually feel good for the rest of the morning. This week is Thanksgiving week and me and DH have the entire week off So lots of resting and sleeping in my future

 

[overcomer79]

Spidey...I'm so dreading PT. We finally just got James to sit on the potty for five minutes last night. He has a cars potty and likes to press down the gear shifter to have it make noise. Shame he didn't pee or boo boo lol.

 

[jelr]

Oh Spidey, I'm sorry but I did laugh, but in an OMG sort of way - I would die, that is the last thing you needed when you have been so sick to have to clean up pee from everywhere and every thing eeeeekkkkkk.

I hear you on the grandparents, that is why I send over Natashas lunch when I'm working because my mam never has any fruit and veg in the house, so nutrition would be out the window and it would be ice-cream and cookies here too - Although she is good and doesn't give her too many treats in between what I send over thank goodness :thumup:

That is absolutely fantastic about the Mommy and Daddy and "Tee-ra" that is so cute, I can actually here her saying it too as it is how Natasha pronounces Kira. That is definitely the start to it.

Enjoy thanks giving and all that rest.

Shiv: Oh Shiv, you are not having an easy time of it with the dairly free, you poor thing and after all the hardship Cora is still not settling. Did you try the infacol after? Did it help at all? No wonder you are shattered and then to head down to your mum and dads and have all that happen. I can totally understand you being pissed too. Your mum shouldn't have shouted at her when she was actually being quiet and there is no possible way in asking a toddler to apologies for making lots of noise or having a tantrum because when they are like that they don't see reason or realise that they are being unreasonable, so by asking the to apologies is only going to start another tantrum. It will all get easier though. Does Sophia have to sleep in the same room as you when you are there as maybe she might sleep better in a different room. I know this may not be possible, hopefully as Cora gets a little older and settles better, you might all get more sleep when you are there.

Well done on the weight loss though. Please tell me what your secret is though, What did you do so differently this pregnancy from the last to not pile it all on??

Well done to your mum on the 1 year mark, I am doing a lot better this week, so I'm hoping that this is the start of it all disappearing from my brain now

yay for the potty training and you didn't really have any stress or fuss with it. I'm going to try again the week after New years because I'm not back to work until the 9th so fingers crossed she is ready then. She is not showing any different signs though, but then I figured she was ready mentally, but when it came to it, she just didn't have the bladder control and the couple of months may have improved that. Although she doesn't tell me before she needs to go yet or doesn't attempt to take off her nappy, so I'm not sure, so we will have to see. I will just take the relaxed approach again and if it is a disaster, well it won't be the end of the world and we will just leave it until later again.

Overcomer: I see you have a ticker, congratulations

Cleck: I hope you have got home okay and that you are enjoying the time there and that Emma hasn't been sick again.

MJ: Hope you are doing well too and managing well with both babies, let us know it is all going when you have a minute

Vici: How is Imi now, is she feeling any better? I definitely think the Soy is doing something hand on heart, so please don't get completely frustrated with it all. I can understand how upsetting it must all be though. I was like a basket case this cycle not knowing what was going on when it went passed the 32 days again - so if it was going up to 170 days I would be tearing my hair out.

Pippin: I hope Sam and Adeile are both keeping well.

Well not much news with us at the mo - AF got me as you all probably know from FB - it was 6 weeks exactly, but at least my LP was 14 days. I was a bit disappointed at first, but then I think I knew she was on the way for the few days before and once I had figured out my chart I had an idea that was going to happen. I'm realy glad I did chart though as I honestly never expected to have a normal chart, so that was really nice and I actually find it all facinating. the human body is a funny old thing. I'm going to try and use OPKs this month. I was going to use your monitor Cleck as they were on special in Boots, but when I went to get it the special was nearly over and they had none in stock and they are €150 everywhere else.

OPK's didn't work for me before, but I may have missed my surge as I definitely only tested once in the day and it may have even been FMU by times, I can't remember now being honest. In one sense I don't want to use them as I know I will probably forget, but if my cycles are going to be irregular I don't want to miss the window like we did this month and I'm not as energetic as I used to be especially this time of the year and my joints are bad. As much as I love dtd with DH - I wouldn't be able for every two days for weeks just to make sure we didn't miss the window - I hate that charting doesn't tell you beforehand. If it even told you 1 day after, you might have some chance, but 3 days later is too late

If I do have a 28 to 32 day cycle this month and did get pregnant I would be due at the same time as Natasha was born, so in one sense I kind of don't want to get pregnant then because I would hate it if two babies shared the same birthday, I think it would be cruel. DH thinks it wouldn't make a difference, but I know I wouldn't have liked to have shared my birthday with my sister and also it would mean myself and DH would be stuck in the hospital for Natasha's birthday next year.

Even though I wouldn't like it, I'm still going to ttc this month as I do think everything happens for a reason and am not going to start chopping and choosing and if I do become pregnant even thought it wouldn't be ideal, I will be just damn happy that it did happen and so so grateful to have a healthy pregnancies and baba at the end of it.

Well any sign of snow in your part of the world spidey, I think they reckon we won't get any until after Christmas if we even do at all. It is actualy really mild here at the moment and is not cold at all, we have had plenty of rain alright. This is my mad time if year with my arthritis - None of the winter is good, But November and Decmeber is really a killer, I really did think I would escape this year when it was so mild, but I'm really swelling and in a huge amount of pain the last few days. I'm going to try and exercise tomorrow as sometimes it actually helps afterwards, but doing it is a nightmare. Oh well I have done better this year than most as Its only really hitting in this week and not from Oct / early Nov so I shouldn't complain.

Hopefully the next few weeks will go quickly, also for Christmas. I really can't wait to see Natasha's face this year, she is talking about Santa and all the last few weeks and knows he is bringing presents, so she really will be so excited that morning

Okay well enough rambling. I'm off to bed. Chat soon girls. Xx

 

[spidey]

jelr, I hope the opks work for you. Do you ever notice changes in cm? It's hit and miss with me, but with this past cycle when I got pregnant, I had ewcm right at the time I got positive opks, so I had 2 pieces of info to go off of (actually 3 if you count my psychic nips ) Don't stop yourself from TTC this cycle. My brother and I are born 2 days apart, as well as DH and his brother, and neither of us have bad memories from sharing a birthday. My parents did a great job of treating us fairly and I remember it being fun having a joint party with my brother. We both got so much attention at the same time, that neither of us ever felt jealous or left out.

Vici- I had a look at your chart on FB, and to me your chart looks very promising too. I can see why ff put crosshairs where it did. Another cycle or 2 like that and you might wind up pregnant. I really hope you continue to have fairly regular periods because those ridiculously long ones would seriously drive me nuts.

Kira had a complete potty regression today. She peed in her pants 6 times and once in the potty. The first 2 were true accidents because DH doesn't think to remind her to pee and she pees when she sees water flowing. By the end, she was peeing in her pants on purpose. DH reacts a bit too dramatically about pee in the pants and I think she was having fun watching him freak out. The only time she used the potty was when I watched her for an hour as DH made dinner. But I think it's 2 steps forward 1 step back. Her language has shown more improvement today and she was saying things like "Daddy up", so I think her potty skills regressed as her language skills leapt forward And, she was eating wonderfully today too- huge amounts and all her veggies, so really I can't complain about a bunch of pee laundry

I also found the HB on the doppler and I'm only 8w1d. I tried for about 10 minutes when DH and Kira went to bed and there it was (and I only found 1 )! I've been in denial that there's actually a baby in there, and fearing that all this m/s is for nothing. I couldn't get a reading on how many bpm because it was so quiet, but it was a babies HB for sure!

No signs of snow here either jelr. It's been rainy but very mild, so I can't complain.

 

[overcomer79]

Thank you Jelr.

I hope you get your bfp soon!

James is now looking at the potty as "oh boy I get to sit and play with no clothes on"...si that a good thing? He sat there 10 minutes this morning and played but I explained to him that this is where he "pee pees and boo boos". In fact, he started at his diaper and said I gotta pee pee but never did. I'm trying to do this very stress free lol

 

[spidey]

Hi girls :wave: its been too quiet in here! How is everyone doing?

It's that time of the night where I get really nauseous and can't sleep but if I keep myself distracted until midnight I'll start to feel better and can get to sleep. So don't mind me, I'll just chat to myself if I have too

We had Thanksgiving on Thursday which was really fun. Usually my parents are out of town, but they stayed home this year and 2 close family friends visited too. Kira was being sooo flirty and sweet and she really made me a proud mommy. Not long ago she would scream at anyone (including these 2 friends), but she interacted with them so sweetly. They're "uncle" and "aunt" even though they're not blood related. She's starting to talk a bit more saying "pizza pie" ALL the time. She also started calling me "meanie ma" instead of "mommy" because her and DH were laughing about it one day and it stuck All the potty issues from the past few days have resolved and it seems like she's even more mature about using the potty and not holding her pee until the last possible second. My mom always says there is some regression before they take a big step forward, which always seems true with Kira.

DH has been off work this past week and has been spoiling me with letting me sleep in and breakfast in bed! It makes a huge difference in how I feel in the mornings if I get an extra hour and then eat very slowly. He goes back to work tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it! Kira has no idea that I sleep in her bedroom, so in the mornings she doesn't even look for me! Then I appear out of nowhere dressed and with my hair brushed and DH says "Mommy's home!"

I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. I'm hoping I'll feel better soon so I can actually go out to the stores but I might have to order everything off Amazon this year. I tried taking a short trip to the store last week and I had to run out feeling really ill. I stripped down to my tank top while shopping since I was sweating so bad but I was still so hot and sick to my stomach so I had to leave. People must have thought I was crazy- everyone else had their winter coats on and I was wearing a strappy tank fanning myself

As for how I feel- pretty sick to my stomach but I still haven't vomited and don't plan on it I dread meal times since I can't even think about food, so DH has been struggling to come up with meals for himself. My teeth are probably going to rot out since I can't brush them before I go to sleep since my nausea is much worse at night. But overall I have much less symptoms this time so I really can't complain. But I'd love another week off work with DH spoiling me

That's all I can think of for tonight, maybe I'll bore you all some more tomorrow night

 

[jelr]

Hey spidey, there is no need for you to chat to yourself - I'm reading just haven't had much time to get on as Natasha has been really sick with a cold and temperature the poor little thing is really miserable with it and is not eating or sleeping much and she really doesn't know what is happening to her I don't think, was a bit of shock to us too, because she hasn't had a proper cold since last January.

Hopefully the sickness will ease soon Spidey, not long to go, I know it probably feels like an eternity to you though. I don't cope well with sickness at all, so I don't envy you.

Kira sounds so cute and it definitely sounds like she is coming out of her shell. she is so good with the potty now

I hope it goes as well for us in a couple of weeks.

Well not much going on here, I haven't been anywhere really with Natasha being sick since last Thurs. I did go into to town on Saturday afternoon while DH and Natasha relaxed at home and almost finished the Christmas shopping, so I'm glad that is nearly out of the way.

We are going to put up our tree this weekend, we don't usually put it up until the 8th, but we decided we are going to get Natasha to help this year, so it will have to be a weekend and the weekend after we are heading out for a meal for my sisters 30th, so I don't fancy still sorting decorations and trying to get ready at once, so this weekend it is.

I have a meeting in work tomorrow to sort out exactly what is going on with my job, hr have made decisions and we are going to be given the options available. I'm scared being honest and feel sick to my stomach every time I think about it. I hate all this unsettlement this year and worry about stupid money and stupid recession, but sure at least tomorrow I will know one way or another what is happening.

 

[spidey]

I know you girls are busy but reading, so I really don't mind chatting to myself I'm the bored one who doesn't have much of a life right now

aww poor Natasha.. she's been sick for awhile, poor baby I hope you and DH can get by without catching it. Kira had a bad cold a few weeks ago and really went off food for 2 weeks total. It was starting to get worrying, but for the past 7 days she's been eating insane amounts of food. She might finally gain weight away from 24 pounds now. She's been stuck at 24 pounds for almost a year. I hope Natasha feels back to normal soon. Good luck at your work meeting... I really hate job stresses.

We always put up our tree and decorate the weekend after the 6th since that's my Dad's birthday. It's a family tradition now... why do you wait until the 8th?

Poor DH ate something bad and has been peeing out his butt all day and night. We have 3 bathrooms and he graced all 3 of them during the night, so I had to spend the morning bleaching out 2 of them and leaving 1 just for him to use. He claims its not contagious but I'm still freaking out that me or Kira could catch it. Bleck He asked me if I knew anything to make his butt hurt less, so I found a numbing spray they gave me when I had stitches after labor and witch hazel pads. Poor guy.

I took some pics of my cute bloat baby I'm going to work tomorrow and have no clue how I'll hide it since it's there all the time now. My stomach muscles aren't doing their job anymore!

Kira- week 9

Spoiler

https://www.razortoe.com/share/tummy/p1w9.jpg

Kira- week 20

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https://www.razortoe.com/share/tummy/p1w20.jpg

New baby- week 9

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https://www.razortoe.com/share/tummy/p2w9.jpg

I think this one is comparable to the week 20 bump from Kira

 

[jelr]

Gorgeous photos, there is definitely bumpage there now, You are so skinny still I'm jealous apart from the bump there is not a pick on you

I'm so glad Kira is better, it is horrible when they are sick, Natasha is finally starting to come around, but is still a bit snuffly and still off her food, mind you I'm not 100% sure if it is not just a fussy phase, because she ate more today, but what she wanted and not what I wanted her to eat - but sure once she eats at all when she is sick that is all that counts I guess and hopefully she will be like Kira and stuffing herself by next week.

How is the sickness now, is it getting any better at all??, I really hope so

Can I ask you about your food allergies, It is coeliac disease that suffer from isn't it, a friend of mine has had awful trouble with her stomach for years and in the last year it has gotten really bad, she is constantly full of wind and in a huge amount of mine most of the time now, she has tried cutting out various foods as she thought she had ibs, but nothing has helped. Her doctor has done the blood screening for Coeliac and it came back negative, but the pain got so unbearable over the weekend and somebody told her that the blood test doesn't always come back positive, but you can still be coeliac, so she just said for the sake of it she would try gluten free this week and she hasn't had any wind or pain. But she is finding it really limiting because she doesn't know what she can eat or drink - she did have 2 bottles of beer last night and did get a twinge so is thinking she will need to cut that out also. Any info you would have that I could give her would be geatly appreciated and it will give you something to do when your bored tonight

It must be hard though at the moment not being able to go or do anything with the sickness, that would be the exact way I would be, I know I wouldn't be able to leave the house if I had ms because I don't cope well with nausea, give me pain anyday

No news from me, I'm on CD14 so we got busy tonight once Natasha went to bed just in case my cycle is back to 28 days, I will know over the next few days if my temp goes up as my opks still haven't arrived grrrr thats what I get for ordering from Hong Kong - although maybe it is a good thing as maybe it will jinx me into being pregnant already and then they will arrive and will be no good to me

 

[spidey]

Jelr, I will gladly talk about celiac disease You've made my evening

me blabbing away about gluten:

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The blood tests for Celiac aren't accurate, and even an intestinal biopsy will give false negatives. I didn't have any tests to confirm or deny since I didn't have insurance at the time and it was all too expensive. The true test is whether a strict gluten free (GF) diet makes the symptoms go away. Beer contains malt, which comes from barley so she can't have beer. Distilled alcohol and wine are okay, and there are a few specialty beers that are made GF. I had major withdrawals at first and would lay on the kitchen floor and cry. Once I got over it I tried to center my meals on meat and veg, with potato, corn or rice as the starch. If she continues with a GF diet she might find that intestinal symptoms will come back after a few weeks either because gluten is hidden in some of her foods, or because she has secondary food intolerances that crop up since the intestines have been damaged badly for years. Ultimately I had to eat strictly GF, dairy, oat, soy and corn free for 6 months. After 6 months I slowly added dairy, corn and soy back in and then only ate them every 3rd-5th day until I felt fine eating them again. Most people I know have similar stories as mine with seeing secondary temporary (and sometimes permanent) food intolerances. Also, once she's GF for awhile and if she slips up and eats gluten, her symptoms might come back even stronger than before and last up to a week.

The hardest part is the social aspect of eating. It seems that everything is centered around food and I've had people get mad and offended when I turn down food offered to me. I can't go out to eat with friends or stop for fast food. I've been with my job for 10 years and people saw me at my sickest (95 pounds and on the verge of a mental breakdown) and then they saw me get better. I still have people offer me a cupcake and when I say "no thanks" they say "oh, thats right, you have those issues". My diet annoys some people more than it annoys me! I never expect people to accommodate me, but I've been pleasantly surprised when people go out of their way to include me. My old lab would have lab parties and a few co-workers always brought fruit or veg with dip so I could eat too. I even had a co-worker bake me a cake made from chickpea flour.

At first she should think about removing dairy from her diet too. The part of the intestine that releases Lactase to digest Lactose is usually damaged in people with undiagnosed Celiac. It'll take a few months for her intestines to heal and for milk digestion to happen again. I'm happy to answer anymore questions. It's hard to feel supported in general since many people roll their eyes at food allergies, and doctors rely on inaccurate tests too much.

Oh, and for foods she cannot eat. She needs to avoid anything with wheat, rye, oats and barely (malt). Soy sauce usually contains wheat- not something you'd expect. Most processed foods aren't okay so she'll have to stick with simple meats, veggies and fruit. There are alot of ancient grains that are okay, like quinoa, buckwheat, etc, so she can get creative and use those instead of wheat based cereals. Rice and potato are good for starches too. Blue cheese sometimes contains wheat since they grow the fungus on bread, so I avoid all blue cheeses just incase. In the US, "food starch" is made from corn unless otherwise specified... I'm not sure what "food starch" means for you, so that's something to keep in mind.

Good luck on baby making this month!! You'll have to keep us informed on your symptoms!

My m/s is still here, but still not bad enough for me to complain. I'm hoping it'll calm down next week when I'm at 10 weeks. I'm mostly annoyed that I can't cook or think about food I also think I'm getting stretch marks already from my super sudden bloat. I had a few light ones just around my belly button but now I have them alot further out. It's not good to have them so soon, I might be doomed this pregnancy!

 

[jelr]

Thanks you so much Spidey for all that info, I will pass it all onto her and I will let you know if she has any questions.

Did you have physical withdrawals or was it that you missed it all so much. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to give all that up. I try to keep away from white bread as my weight seems to go up more quickly when I eat it and I hate having to give it up, but at least I can have a sneeky slice of toast or sambo every now and again and it won't make me sick. So it must be so so hard to give so much up in the one time, especially when you have no choice.

Sorry the MS is still not gone, but thankfully it is not as bad as last time. FX it goes after the 10 weeks.

Dont think I ov'd yesterday anyway as my temp is still down, althugh it may happen on Day 18 as I went up 2lbs this morning even though I have been dieting and I'm very bloated so I could be gearing up for OV - I just hope I don't have all those symptoms again in my LP because they were horrilbe for a start and messed with mind also making me think that I was pregnant.

Also It would take away all this need to diet to keep my cycles right and it would make me quit smoking because even though I can't face stopping again right now, partly because it seemed to make my LP so much harder and hard know which were symptoms or withdrawal, but I do also feel really guilty and every day is will I won't I.

It would also be really cool to get pregnant this month as one of my best friends started ttc in October like us and she found out yesterday she is pregnant. This will be her fourth child and it would really be lovely for us both to be pregnant at the same time and moan together and it would be lovely for our babies to be the same age.

We are going to put up our tree this weekend and bring Natasha see Santa if she is well enough, so I'm looking forward to that before it is all back to doom and gloom as our budget is on next week and for the first time ever it is a 2 day budget. One is the normal budget and the other is a public sector reform budget, which as you all know I work for government so am public sector, so it will be 2 days of cuts right on top of my huge pay cut. I'm not actually going to make a final decision about my job until that is over because it could mean another huge cut and if that happens I will have to leave.

Hope you have a great weekend Spidey and to any of the rest of you that are maybe reading. Hope you are all well Xx

 

[Shiv]

I'm reading and will hopefully get back in later to reply properly to you both

 

[Shiv]

okely dokely, sorry i have been a bit MIA, I have been reading but literally haven't been able to write a reply. Cora just will not sleep in the day or evening. She will sleep great once she is down for the night but sometimes (mostly) that isn;t until gone 11pm so I always have one hand holding her so can't type too well.

So let me see what I can remember

Spidey - really great that Kira is more omfortable around people who she doesn't see all the time. I think it is all too common for it to go the other way around this age so it is great that she is becoming more of a joiner.

Lovely having your DH off work, jealous!

Sorry your morning sikness isn't over yet, won't be long. Have you a feeling as to whether you are having a boy or a girl and will you find out?

Youe baby bloat is quite impressive, Ithink you look bigger now that an 20 weeks with Kira, still a skinny bitch though!

jelr - sorry Natasha has been unwell, I hope she has erked up by the weekend.

I was really sorry to hear about your job news, I ope that the budget next week doesn't bring any worse news as it seems you have got your head around your current situation. I must admit the economi climate is really getting me down.

Glad you are gettig busy with it Jean, fingers crossed for a festive BFP for you.

I hope Natasha enjoys putting the tree up and seeing Father Christmas, I think (hope) it is going to be pretty magial this year with our LO's.

Well as for me, I have been feeling a bit low this week, absolutely nothing for me to moan about, just at that everything is always the same stage where the excitement of new baby is wearing off and routine is taking over,that plus Cora never sleeping in the day is getting a little frustrating for me and more so for Sophia.

SOphia had her fist day in knikers today and having had no acidents for over a week went through 4 pairs of knickers and tights today. I partly blame David he had the day off work and insisted we go out to a disovery centre which is a place with cool science stuff for kids. Sophia loves it but we were out all morning and she was engrossed in stuff so kept forgetting to tell us she needed a wee! She is fine at home but struggles when we are out.

Sophia and i have been having tummy issues, both keep getting dodgy tummies (bottom end). fine all day until I need to poo and then have pain and loose bowel movement then fine again unt the next day I need to poo and the same again..........weird and annoyingly not going away.

We are going to Kent tomorrow to see David's mum, then staying at my parents and David is going out for a friends birthday and I may join them for a couple of hours once I have got cora settled (if it is before 11pm which is unlikey!).

I started my Christmas shopping this week, iplan on doing as much as possible online. Christmas is fast approaching so I need to get on it. People keep asking what I want and I can't think of anything, I don;t know if it is because i am very lucky and have everything I ould ever want, or because i am sad and have no interests!

Our tree goes up after 12th Dec usually as that is my Dad's birthday. Plus David is totally bah humbug so it is a challenge getting him to put it up. All our decs are back at the house in Kent so need to pick them up at the weekend.

Did i tell you girls that we have managed to rent the Kent house out to David's cousin, they have asked us to take it of the market because they would like to rent it pretty long term (2 years plus) which we have agreed to do as nobody is interested inbuying it anyway. They move in 1st Jan, but have asked us if they can redecorate before hand - well yeah! We are putting in new carpets for them as we figure it'll help with resale further down the line. So we get to cover the mortgage (+£100 each month) and they get a good deal for a 3 bed house, It is a big relief as it was becoming a bit of a noose around our necks. Means we can't buy here, but we can't afford to buy a nice house here anyway so will carry on renting.

David got approahed to apply for a job in Singapore this week. It is a good job (£90,000 per annum eek) but I don't think I am up for living so far away from here, you saw what I was like when we moved 100 miles away from home so Singapore seems a bit of a stretch. What a shame there aren;t any £90 k jobs here, imagine taking home like £6000 a month after tax (singapore tax is only 10%) - it would be AMAZING!

right well Cora is actually asleep, although I fear she has not had her last feed of the night yet so I am going to get to bed, which is bound to make her wake up!

Big hugs to everyone x

 

[spidey]

Shiv- I'm sorry Cora isn't a good napper during the day. Is it that she falls asleep and doesn't stay asleep? Yay for big girl underpants for Sophia! It takes time and anyone who claims their toddler was fully trained in a week has memory problems I still have to look for clues that Kira has to pee since she's not always aware when she needs to go especially when she's doing something really fun that requires focus.

Wow, thats neat that David got offered a job in Singapore! If my DH was offered a job like that we would say no too. It would be nice before we had kids- a fun adventure. But with Kira I need family support nearby.

re:gluten. It might have been physical withdrawal that I experienced for those first 3-4 days when I stopped eating gluten. Overall it wasn't hard to give up since I felt so much better without it. The symptoms were all physical but overtime feeling ill wore on me mentally that I was wishing for my life to end.

jelr, make sure you keep up with the since you may have a longer cycle this time due to job stress. I hope your pay isn't cut anymore- my fingers are crossed for you.

re: baby gender- I think we're going to be team yellow again this time. The babies nickname is Rebel... Kira's was "Flicker"


I finished Kira's Christmas shopping. Everything was bought online this year except for a wooden train set that DH found in Aldi.

Here is the final gift list and links (if you want to see anything in particular)

large cafe play house- its a big tent that is easy to set up and take down and big enough for her play kitchen to go inside.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UCZ3LE/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details

cash register. I think Kira will spend hours opening and closing the money drawer
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000DMD2/ref=oh_o02_s01_i00_details

Doll feeding set
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037UP9GU/ref=oh_o03_s00_i00_details

Flutes that you play with in the bath tub
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I7ZHO4/ref=oh_o03_s01_i00_details

A doll that pees!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037UT2CC/ref=oh_o03_s01_i01_details

A doll to undress!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037V0Q62/ref=oh_o03_s02_i00_details

wooden pizza set. Kira is currently obsessed with pizza
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000658L4/ref=oh_o03_s02_i01_details

butterfly necklace for her stocking
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O7JRLC/ref=oh_o03_s01_i02_details

stamp set
https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug...P1CO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1322881116&sr=8-7

wooden train set
(from Aldi)