Mid-August Testers

[Srbjbex]

Aw poor Finlay. I hope he is not suffering too bad! I guess he can't go to nursery for a couple of weeks now. Hopefully he will get better very soon!

Snow - how are you getting on? Can't believe a month has gone by already, it literally feels like yesterday, but I bet you can barely remember life without him!

Elliot now a fully fledged cruiser...think hell be a 9 month walker, you can see the concentration on his face as he is trying to work out what to do to walk between sofas!

 

[InHisHands]

That's great Bex!!!!! Dexter was a 9 mother too and he's now 12 mo and can already pull himself up onto the couch, and I take him for walks down to the mail box and I can hold his hand while walking across a parking lot.

It really does help when they learn how to walk early. Right now im trying to teach him to stay with momma before he hits that terrible two stage and i'm able to do it because we have short little walk trips and etc.

 

[NotNic]

I think we are past the contagious stage now, which after almost a week indoors would be a great thing. Thank goodness the weather's mostly been nice enough for us to be in the garden! He's been lucky not to have very many big blisters, and if he's wearing long trousers you wouldn't know he's had it. He has tiny blisters on his hands and feet but everything else has faded or scabbed now. Which is great because we are off to Spain on Saturday. We think there may be a chance he'll have taken a few steps by the time we're home. He's stood for 15 secs before sitting down now and will walk well just holding on to one hand. We've realised he walks much better in shoes, so he's wearing shoes more now. I think he just needs to get the idea or dare himself to do it. It would be so nice to paddle in the sea with him.

Hope everyone else is okay. Lisette do you have any more lovely photos? X

 

[InHisHands]

Dexter started saying Mama consistently yesterday... YAY!!! I have a NAME!!!

 

[NotNic]

Clever boy!!

 

[Srbjbex]

Yay dexter!! You sure know your mummy!

 

[Srbjbex]

Hey. Ladies

Mega heat wave here in the uk! Been 30 degrees for the past few days, makes for Ricky sleeping conditions for he babies!! How is Finlay coping nic?? Elliot is struggling, just going to bed ina vest and no sleeping or anything. We're battling with 2 top teeth coming through as well!

Bea, I really feel for you being pregnant in this heat!

Saying that, I am loving the fact that summer has arrived, Elliot loves playing out in the garden and eating outside. The sunshine is lovely!

 

[InHisHands]

It's been about 105 here.... that's about 41 C ..... I feel for you guys. I like the heat, but one can only take so much of it. Try to keep the little one cool as much as you can.

Dexter has developed an "adverse reaction" to his MMR vaccine. Basically what that means is that he has a mild case of the measles... BOOOO my poor baby. He has had a fever for 6 days, and the rash for 4 days thus far. He's so itchy and looks like he has landed in a bee hive with bumps all over him.

They say he isn't contagious though... so that's good... but still. I wish he didn't have to go through this. We have another doctor's appointment today.

 

[InHisHands]

Benedryl works wonders!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahaha.

How is everyone doing?

Nic is Finlay all done with his chickenpox?

Bea, how's the pregnancy? Are you going to find out the gender?

Lisette how is your little one doing?

Snow, how are you getting along with Kellan? Is daddy much help?

Bex what does Elliot do in the Garden? Dexter's favorite thing is to run though the sprinklers.

 

[snowflakes120]

I miss you guys! Being a mommy is keeping me so busy!

Hope Dex is feeling better from his shots. Kellan goes next week for his 1st set and I'm a little scared for him. Yeah for mama! Happy belated Birthday too!

Bex - Have you started OPKing for TTC yet? Or are you guys just NTNP for now? Hope you guys are keeping cool over there so Elliot can enjoy his garden time! We've gotten just tons and tons of rain here in the SE this year! My backyard is practically a lake!

Nic - Is Finlay feeling better from the chicken pox? I remember having them in 3rd grade - I had Calamine spots all over!

I was thinking of CH the other day. I wonder what ever happened with her and her hubby. I wonder if she was able to get PG or is still trying.

Well BF hasn't been going all that great again. Baby boy has now started screaming and hitting when BF - I think he isn't happy that my milk is too slow to come out. Then I get sad and start crying and it causes alot of stress on me emotionally. I also think I have an oversupply so baby doesn't get any of the hindmilk and then he gets green muscousy poops when I do BF. Plus, we have yet to master our latch and he took forever to try to eat. I have pretty much resigned to the fact that I am going to be an exclusive pumper. I haven't tried to BF in like 10 days now bc it really upsets me emotionally for the rest of the day when it doesn't work out for us and I'm scared to try and then feel yucky all day - I just don't want to do that to myself. EP sucks and is alot of work and time (I pump 7x a day for 20 minutes) but I really really want baby boy to have the benefits of my BM. I am able to keep up with his 7 - 4oz bottles a day and still be able to freeze at least 6oz a day for when we wean. In fact our freezer is so full of my milk that we had to go out and buy a deep freezer for the garage. I am hoping to make this work til he is 6 months as that is what AAP recommends.

I can't believe baby boy turns 2 months next week. Time is going way too fast. I go back to work on Sept 3 after Labor Day. It's going to be here right before I know it as I'm already half way done with my leave. Really wish we US girls got the time like you GB girls.

Sleep is going ok. He is able to make it about 4 hours so far. Not great but not horrible either. Any tips on sleep?

I still have about 5 pounds to loose til I am back at pre-pregnancy weight. None of my clothes fit because my hips are too big still and my boobs are freaking monsters so none of my tops fit either.

Anyways I love being a mommy but worry alot that I am doing things wrong. I am quite the nervous nelly and get a bit of anxiety now if I doing things good/right. I seem to second guess myself a bit more than I'd like to - I have always had low self esteem and been insecure so mommyhood brings it all out in me. Hope that I learn to trust myself and believe in myself a bit more as time goes on.

 

[InHisHands]

Awww snow it's great to hear from you! No worries... we all know what it's like with a newborn here

This is about the time I quit breastfeeding (at 10 weeks). I hope pumping works out for you. If it doesn't, try not to feel bad about it and don't second guess yourself. I did that CONSTANTLY and I still do to a degree... but my little boy loves me (most of the time) and he's happy and thriving.

You can read all the books out there and they are good guidelines but nothing beats Momma's know-how. You are the one who knows your baby the best. Some of it is trail and error, but you'll know what is and isn't working by his reactions and your instincts.

BTW i'm so jealous that he's smiling already. Humph!!

As far as sleep goes 4 hours is GREAT and it will probably get even better between now and 4 months... and then when 4 months hit, BAM 4 month sleep regression hits most babies and then it's awful again for a while. Hang in there.

Dexter was a horrible sleeper. I tried everything under the moon, rocking him to sleep (in which he hit and fought me the whole time), reading to him, singing to him, putting him in a swaddle, letting him sleep something that smelled like me, the light on, the light off, music on, music off, sitting him in a swing, setting him in his car seat, going for a car ride, having a fan or white noise on, co-sleeping (which actually helped he went from sleeping for an hour to three hours, but I didn't like how he would always try to curl up under me and I felt like it wasn't safe for him), finally I broke down and put him to sleep on his tummy and he slept much better.

Also I started sleep training early. Since he hated to be cuddled and fought sleep, I just stuck him in his crib and let him cry it out at 10min intervals at a time. I could go in and pat him on the back or sing to him, but I wouldn't pick him up. I started that at 5 months though, weaned him from all night feedings at 8 months and he started sleeping through the night at 9 months.

Each little one is different.... perhaps hubby can do some night feedings now that you are pumping so you can just stay in bed, pump and go back to sleep. That would have helped me a LOT!

 

[Srbjbex]

Hey snow, great to hear from you!! Don't worry we all understand what it's like trying to post on here with a newborn! Ha! I love coming on thoug and catching up with what all of you have been up to, even when I don't have time to post.

We will be coming up 2 years soon, from when we all 'met' , can you believe it?! Wish we could all meet and have a mid august party to celebrate! I was thinking too about CH, I hope it all worked out for her in the end. I know they were considering adoption, so maybe they went down that route? It's her thread really, who know one day she's migh pop back in and say hi to us!!

Snow, I want go give you a huge hug and massive congratulations for doing so well so far with feeding little Kellan. You are doing a great job, and Hands is completely right, mummy knows best!! Do whatever your instinct is telling you to do....sounds like EP is the way to go for you and I am really proud of you, try not to see it as a failure and a negative, but focus on the fact this this is a really good way for Kellan to get your milk. You are doing just great, and it is great preparation for when you go back to work!

As far as sleep is concerned I'm not sure I can offer too much help there...Elliot has slept through the night a handful of times, but on average he still wakes up a couple of times a night!! Unfortunately it seems to be one thing after the other...first it was the 3 month growth spurt(non stop feeding...you should account for this in your freezer stash!) then 4 month sleep regression, then teething, now the heat, hahah! Maybe nic can bring some more help for you to the party!!

Hands - we don't have any sprinklers in the garden (although wish we did as our grass is pretty dead now!) but Elliot loves going in the paddling pool in this weather! He also like picking the daisies in the grass and trying to eat them before I stop him. He is a little monkey putting everything in his mouth still!

So we have been ntnp for a while now, but I think now we are finally making the shift to ttc. Hubby has admitted that he is ready for another!! so still ntnp for this cycle, but then once my period comes then I am onto the agnus castus again, and I have bought opks. I'd want to temp again too, but will be harder with Elliot's night wakings!

So we are crunching it up a gear from next cycle, athugh I don't think we will be doing the whole thing every day just yet, neither of us have the energy for that !

 

[InHisHands]

I've been hoping that CH would come back on and give us an update. It's been over a year since she left

I too was wondering about her trip to Vegas, her new job, and how the surgery went.

 

[Srbjbex]

It's a boy!!!!!

No name as yet....maybe they will take inspiration from us ladies and we will get a future King Elliot, King Finlay, King Dexter or King Kellan!!

 

[NotNic]

Ah that would be nice but my money is on George, though I think we're due another King Arthur or Alfred!

Sorry I haven't been online recently. We had a lovely two weeks in Spain and everything was so hectic beforehand with the pox.

Hands - sorry to hear that Dexter had a reaction. These boys are a bundle of pickles! Hope he feels better now.

Snow - you're doing amazingly with expressing. It's such a hard job and so time consuming. Once Kellan is weaned (which will come sooner than you'd think) how long you bf for will no longer matter to you, so don't beat yourself up. With another baby I'd doubt I'd keep going for as long as I did with Finlay. Your own sanity matters more to them in the early days than what milk they get.

Finlay slept through from 8wks til 4mths and then went to pot! I think consistency and a proper bedtime routine are the best things you can do. Also I heard that once they are sleeping through properly then don't reintroduce night feeds if they wake as that encourages them to wake up for a snack.

Bex - good luck with TTC. In still in two minds about trying. Selfishly I feel much happier about by body again and I don't know if I'm ready to loan it out just yet! Also I'd be knackered by TTC'ing. I value my sleep too much. Haha!

Finlay now is almost walking. He took a few steps on holiday but he hasn't got it yet. He also got two teeth through - first his molar and then his forth bottom one. He also now has a second molar breaking through too. He can say Lily now and waves if you tell him to say 'Hola!' It's been a busy fortnight.

 

[Srbjbex]

Arthur would be my choice. Still a traditional King name but we haven't had one in a while.

Plus King Arthur's conjures up all kind of lovely and exciting things with dragons and knights of the round table etc!

 

[Srbjbex]

Oh and Elliot too has now taken his first steps! If he concentrates, he can now get up to about 8-10 steps!!

 

[NotNic]

Also I think Arthur is one of William's many middle names and its cute. Regal but not common. I can see Kate having a 'Freddie' but Alfred doesn't seem to have been suggested in the media yet.

Good work Elliot! Another early walker! Finlay is far too lazy to try more than 2 steps. No problems climbing though!!

 

[InHisHands]

Well I heard that they settled on George .... Welcome to the world Ge!

 

[NewbieLisette]

Hey girls :wave:

I can't believe how much time has passed & how much I missed

Snow you have a beautiful little baby boy congrats sweetie!!! Please absolutely have no bad feelings about EP instead of BF'ing...I think there is soo much emphasis on BF'ing that we forget mommies feelings & energy are SSOO important to baby's well being as well as mommy's! Hang in there, u are doing wonderful I'm sure

Hands, Nic, Bex & Bea I miss you ladies & our weekly chats! I feel so out of the loop certainly have some catching up to do soon I promise!

As for us here's a quickie before I gotta chase my little trouble maker! She's almost 11months now & into EVERYTHING!!! A dare devil for sure!!! She can stand & climb stairs & furniture but Still not a single tooth so that's been bugging us, she calls everyone Daddeeeyyyy including me! Lol her baptism was great, I will post some pics next time I'm on the PC & now iinto planning her first bday (mickey theme)! She has a cake smash on Sept.2 & then starts daycare the day after! Eeeekkkkk momma is scared to let her go but I think she's gonna love it, such a social butterfly & LOVES other babies & kids everywhere we go so here's hoping! Back to work Sept.24th for me...sniffle sniffle