Month of March... parents of February, and a few January babes!

[erobin1]

Julie-- I am sorry about all of your stress. I can relate to ambivalence about going back to work. I would say that when you do go back to work he might be old enough to start to stretch his nighttime feeds some. And/or really forcing your DH to take some of the night duty. Is he planning to care for him while you go to work? If so you might be really pleasantly surprised by how it changes your dynamic in general. My DH does a lot more child care now than he did when Sammy was really little and it has helped our relationship hugely.

Country-- YEAH!!! FREEDOM! You look fantastic. Love the photos. Ahhhhh.... think I'm going to have to take a hike with that ergo soon myself... Hope you and Arabella can work on some nice comforting routines now that you have your space back, so that when you have to go to work you can do it feeling sort of set a bit. Didn't you say something about having her close by work at first? I can't remember the plan.

Hope everyone else is having a mellow weekend.

AFM-- We had a great day yesterday. Went to the Farmer's Market in the morning and Sammy played with friends. Then two parents and I took a whole gaggle of kids to lunch at a cafe where we got to sit outside. Very pleasant. Then two of Sammy's friends came over for the afternoon! One of the dads came along to help and my DH and he took the boy's "turkey hunting." Sammy's grandpa lent them camo outfits (he's a big duck hunter) and they hid in the ditches and trees stalking the wild turkeys and devising how they were going to kill them for dinner with sticks and/rocks. (those of you who are shocked will have to wait until your boys are over age 4... ). Anyway, SHOCKINGLY, the turkeys escaped utterly unscathed, in fact probably having no idea they were being hunted at all (the turkeys are almost as big as the boys and can fly). The coyotes made no appearance (we've got two on the property right now).

Meanwhile, Tommy and I took a nap....

Anyway, hanging in there.

[MumInWaiting]

Elena - Sounds like you've had a wonderful weekend with great weather. Definitely worth treasuring days like this.

Country - You look wonderful! Looks like the sun is shining down on you, too, and I love the sound of a bush walk with some breastfeeding stops. Perfect.

Mull - You are superwoman!! I've tried to bf in the sling and it's a bit awkward but seems to work if I hold Toby with one of my hands...thus defeating the "hands free" solution. I need to look online for some tips. I also think maybe if I try it with the Beco that could be easier? I think I recall you saying a while ago that it's much better when they have more head support, too, which makes sense.

Julie - Wonderful that your mom took the baby to help you get sleep. That is so important.

AFM, I've been away for two days because we had a wedding this weekend and two different friends in town, so the weekend disappeared. My mom was in to babysit during the wedding which was fantastic. Friday night was an Indian ceremony so I had to wear a sari that was comprised of a cropped top and skirt with a VERY SHEER layer on top. Not exactly a postnatal-friendly outfit with my midriff on display, but it was still really fun to get all dressed up!

Saturday was the American wedding, and it was beautiful. I had to leave after dinner to pump in a restroom stall which was really not the highlight of the evening. But, I got 8 oz so it was clearly very much time to do so! I just wish there was some other way to do it without sitting on a toilet seat for 20 mins bored to tears. Next time I'll pack my hands-free bra so at least I can use my phone or something.

We're also about to finalize our choice of contractor so hopefully we can start renovations on our new apartment in a few weeks. It will feel great to get that going, particularly because this 1-bedroom apt we're living in during the interim serves the purpose but is going to feel very small very fast!

DH is on Toby duty now so time for me to dive into bed!

[Ophelia Payne]

Hello, ladies! hope all is well with you and yours.
I'm on post #330, so I'm catching up...and will continue to do so.

This weekend was a taste of summer! We had a very nice and warm day on Friday. I took Sam and Jade to the park by myself (our first solo outing!) It was really windy, though, and it wore both kids out (oh darn, right?). Sunday morning, dh and I surprised Samuel with a trip to a local farm that has a playground, pony rides, and other animals to pet. We didn't tell him until we were there. It was really busy, but nice, and his best friend met us there (also a surprise until we found them at the goat pen). He had a blast, and Jade cried the whole way out to the farm (about a 30 min drive) and then slept all morning and afternoon. We then dropped Sam off at grandma/grandpa's for his weekly slumber party. Then, we headed out to reunite with a friend we hadn't seen in 3 yrs. She was widowed (they were our best friends) 3.5 yrs ago (he died on the day I went into labor with Sam). We'd given her space, because it was hard being around us, without her other half. :-( We'd hoped she was well.. but we found out last night that she isn't at all. She's barely functioning, hopeless, and lonely. We can do something about the lonely part, but not sure what can be done about the rest. It doesn't help that she's fighting off some kind of bacterial infection as well as a rare parasite (sorry, Docs, I can never remember names of anything!) after finally "winning" her many-year battle with Lyme disease (no detectable levels now- hooray!). It was all very draining. We tried to beg away at Jades bed time, then when she started screaming in the restaurant, when they kicked us out 30 min after close (10:30pm), and also as we stood in the cold, windy parking lot (with Jade asleep in the car). It was one of those impossible situations. We'll have to plan our next outing carefully. We also strained to hear her mumbles all night long. It's like she's lost the ability to be socially appropriate. She cut me off every time I tried to talk and talked so quietly that we missed about 30-40% of what she said- and that was after I moved within inches of her face. Thankfully, dh is a fairly good lip reader and filled me in on what I'd missed. In the SEVEN hours we spent at "dinner" with her, I wasn't able to finish one sentence. LITERALLY, not one! It was very frustrating. I got Jade dressed for bed in the women's restroom- oye, I was out of practice! Tip for changing clothes when out: I didn't want to set her back down on the hard changing table to get her dressed for bed, so I finally remembered the trick: Back yourself up against a wall (I do it out near the sink), bend your knees, letting your back slide down the wall, settling you into a supported crouch. Lay baby on you lap and change him/her- voila! Thankfully, after walking around the cafe, I was able to get her to go to sleep (bed) by 9pm. She slept fitfully until I got her in the car where she was zonked.
We got home at 12:30am but I was too stressed to sleep, so I finally got to sleep at 2:30, and she woke up at 6:30, but was able to convince her to go back to sleep. She slept until 11:30am. Poor mite. Today, she was awake so much of the day- nearly all. It hit 90 degrees outside and we tried to sweat it out since a cold front moves in tonight, but we finally caved at 6pm, when indoors we reached 83. The a/c is only now catching up (4 hrs later).
I'm worried about how hot her and I were today. I had her in a frilly cotton dress, but it was too hot for her. She was cranky and sweaty... once I got her down to a loose cotton tee and her diaper she was better. I love wearing my babies, but am not sure how that will look this summer! think I miss the snow! I can always warm her/myself up, but cooling us down is another story.

As for all that "grooming" I had last week: my crown popped off on Thursday night, so I had to go back in Friday morning to re-cement it. That hygienist apologized for the crappy work the last one had done- there was cement everywhere. I knew that, it had been driving me crazy. That meant that she had to SCRAPE the old cement off (without any numbing anything). It already had been sensitive to the air, and this about sent me through the roof! The new lady did a great job, though, as the cement is nearly undetectable. The time it took with my mouth open, though, has me drinking through a straw again. Had to send dh out to the store to pick up mushy and drinkable foods. If I wasn't allergic to dairy, it would be so much easier! I can't even open it wide enough to fit a banana in- I have to mush that. It's crazy.

Tonight, we're having hail and funnel clouds nearby. We've no basement, so I hate spring/fall tornado seasons!
Oh, and as far as having her out and about, we are limiting it to just restaurants and outside places.
I am sooo sore from walking around the farm yesterday, and then standing in a parking lot for 2 hours. I am surprised at how much so!

We received a few gift certificates, they are small, and to different places. I'm spending most of my "free" time figuring out what to get. I don't have any extra budgeted to add to them, so that makes it MUCH harder for me! Esp. because we don't have hardly any girly things still. I hear my laundry chiming, so I'd better go get it. Maybe back later?

[country girl]

elena....sounds like you had a great day with sammy at the farm...what a great experience for him..Im so glad it was a positive day.
Tommy's vaccinations must be this week... good luck...a bit of glucose always helps pre vaccination.

Mum....wow it is really busy in your life. the weddings sound lovely...but it was a huge weekend... sounds like you went really well... I am impressed with the breastpumping in the toliet...a true sign of dedication... wow what a mega amount of milk.. I still only get 3oz per pump and that is really all from on breast... I call it the cash cow...lol..
I hope that you are enjoying some well earned rest now....

ophelia...OMG could you have any more drama and emotional upheaval in your life..... your friend certainly sounds like she is in a very bad place with depression... I hope that she is able to get some help or talk to someone...... You are a very good friend to want to help her and to stay so long especially with a newborn with you..... A big hug to you for all your efforts, Im sure you feel emotionally wrung out,
bummer about the crown on your tooth...dont you love it when people comment about poor workmanship...sigh... I hope that it is much better now...
gosh the weather sounds mental around you... I hope that you dont get any severe storms or tornados.... Ive often wondered why houses in areas of tornado risk often dont have cellars...it seems odd to me...

mull... how are you going.... I hope that its all good....

Yesterday I was busy++++++... I decided to go to the big smoke for a shopping day (250km drive each way) so arabella and I were all ready and loaded in the car just after 9am... a good effort since we woke at 8am. the only problem was the car had a flat battery..grrrr... no idea why as the battery is only 10months old... luckily a friend was able to give me a jump and I was on my way.
So it was trips to Babies R Us (I had a 20%off voucher)..outlet sotres and the shopping centre to target.
After all the stops I got real good at getting arabella in and out of the carseat. I must say breastfeeding while out is so much easier than having a formula fed baby. I had 2 breastfeeds out... one in the car watching planes land..very nice and the other in the outlet malls parents room which was fantastic..got to love brand new buildings... it had little curtained cubicles that you could go in and relax in privacy... so lovely. its a pity the one at the other shopping centre and babies r us were so toxic.
Anyway my credit card got a huge work out.. gulp..not looking forward to the bill.... but arabella got hugely spoilt and mummy was very pleased by her efforts.
So it was 9pm by the time we got home.... only had one huge kangaroo (male) that was standing in the middle of the road and would not move... I actually had to nudge him with the car to get him to move off.....lol....
Arabella travels well in the car...she slept the entire 2hr+ trip there and most of it on the way home.. although she woke hungry and cried and cried.... So I ended up singing to her...of course I only know the first couple of lines in the nursery rhymes....lol and ended up making everything up....lol..lol but it worked .
So today Ive been on the internet buying a few CDs of nursery rhymes...lol..lol.
I called into work (hospital) last night on the way home... all the nurses needed to have a cuddle of arabella.. I needed some dressings for my finger which has a granuloma on it. it was nice... they also weighed her...she is up to 9lb12oz at 5 weeks... so chubba chug is doing very very well...... at least it is reassurance that my breastmilk is doing its job. I had to retire some of her newborn sized clothes today...so sad... as they are so cute... hard to believe looking at photos that she was swimming in them 5 weeks ago and now they are all too short for her.

My parents left saturday... thank fricken goodness... its been like a weight has lifted off my shoulders...
Ive had a productive day today with cleaning and sorting and arabella has been a dream with happy and easy to settle for naps.. she had one at 10am and 2pm which has not happened at all with the grandparents prodding her all the time.... so I am very pleased. I have begun trying to get her feed and sleep schedules to align with my work hours.

So both us girls are in bliss.....

oh and I put on my pre-pregnancy jeans and they fit fantastically even a little more room that before...woohoo...now Ive just got to shift 8kg of IVF weight.,,



stay well everyone off to have a cuppa............................................. ...... and chocolate...lol

[mullinska]

Good morning!

So we are having another spit-uppy morning. Just one of those days, but Fiona is happily napping in mommy's room and Allison is happily going through her old toys and books in Fiona's room! So I am steeling away. I did not get much computer time this weekend as my husband was writing an exam for his organic chemistry class... very time consuming.

Elena, sounds like you had a nice sleep. The extent of my husband's nighttime help is occasionally getting Fiona up out of bed while I use the bathroom and changing a diaper. I am not really all that bothered by it though since he is the working one this time around. It is a little annoying though to be up for an hour while is is snoring away. I have kind of retaliated by making him be the one to make sure she is content enough to fall asleep, so while we are trying to get to bed ourselves, if she needs an insert of the paci, it is his job

Sorry you are not enjoying the baby bubble because of work/school/health stress for your family. Take whatever moments you can get. I have been cherishing those naps that Fiona takes on my chest, even when they are ill-times as I will not get these again. It is hard with an older child as well... the infant time is just so different.

The trip to the market sounds great, we don't have a great one here in town, but we have a lot of individual farms that have their own markets around and one pretty good collective market about 20 miles away. We really need to start going more now that we are heading to spring, I like to buy local when I can, and we plan on growing some of our own. It is a good thing to teach Allison about where food comes from... Of course with a farm in the family.. that won't be to much of an issue. I feel sad for the day when she learns the cows on granddaddy's farm are for food. And you are so right about the boy thing post 4yrs old.. my neighbor's son is totally into pretend shooting and lasers and things... his parents said the only thing you can pretend to shoot are monsters and ghosts, because those aren't real). The gender gap is starting and it makes me sad because they used to play so well together.

MUM, what a fun wedding weekend. For me, being closer to 40, the wedding #'s have significantly dwindled. We had one that we were invited to last year, and so far only one on the horizon for this year.. in November. The Indian one sounds fun. They are so colorful and I am sure the food was great. Sorry about the pumping in the toilet thing. I guess the one nice thing about the country or suburbs is that you pretty much always have the car that you can pump in when necessary. Good luck getting started with the work. Choosing a contractor is not easy work. We have had 2 projects in the house, the first was when we bought and moved in, new kitchen, flooring and new bath fixtures throughout... lots of stuff. The second was adding the office and doing the siding. I liked my 2nd contractor so much better. I did not shop around as much the first time around, and while I really liked my 1st contractor's philosophy regarding keeping things green and re-using and recycling as much as possible, he was a bit lax on some of the finishing details. The 2nd guy we hired was great. I hope you have better luck the 1st time around

Country, I am so glad you are free! I was not in as much of a confined space as you, but was so happy to be on our own. Your walk looked so nice. I really need to get out and about more. We are supposed to be close to 80 degrees here today!! So we will need to get out and about for a little while. Your visit to town sounds great, productive and social and tiring all at the same time. I am sure your co-workers at the hospital were thrilled to bits to see Arabella. I hope the bills aren't too shocking when you get them. I always find it interesting to hear about your outings as you have the same stores now... the whole Target/Wal-Mart/Toys-r-us taking over the world... While convenient, it makes me a bit sad about how things used to be more regional and specific to a certain place, especially restaurants. I always thought it was a bit of a homogenization of the USA, I guess it is of the world. If you know where to find stuff in one Target, you can find it in any... it all has to look the same blah blah blah... ok, off my soap-box. And yippy on pre-pregnancy pants. I too have fit into mine, although they are on my upper limits of my pant sizes, I can't wait to get into my normal pants, and not my pre-pregnancy fat pants.

Julie, nice weigh in! I am pretty sure that YouTube has some Moby instructional videos. I think if you and hubby are only having a few spats with the addition stress of him being out of work, you are doing great... I am sure that by the time you go back to work the sleeping will improve. Some say it is when they hit the 12 lb mark.. I hope it is true for you because you will be there soon. I think once you get passed the 6 week growth spurt also. Of course, that was true for me with Allison, however, Elena and Mum will testify that it isn't always true. You are so lucky to have a mom close enough to give you occasional breaks.

Ophelia, I was tired just thinking about your dinner! What a hard situation to be in, to care so much, but be aware that besides listening, there isn't much you can do. I do hope that she is better soon and that the next visit doesn't feel like you are being held hostage in a way. I am happy that you have weekly overnights for Sammy. Our in-laws are only an hour or so away and Allison has yet to go there for an overnight on her own. I would welcome it, but they have not offered yet. I am not sure if his step-mom is quite ready for the energy that is Allison. She keeps saying, when you get bigger, you can come stay at the farm.. isn't 4 big enough?

Your family outing sounded like fun, minus the crying in the car. Take note new moms... about how you do not tell a child of 2-3 where you are going until the day you go or until you are there... if something comes up and you don't get to go it can be disastrous!!! I am glad that at 4 we are beyond that stage. I remember if we were going to our in-law's farm that if we told Allison the night before, she wouldn't sleep well at all which made a horrible day for us, so we started to wait until the morning to tell her so that we could all be well rested.

So now to me! We are looking at record temps today, I think today we will officially start our garden. I had hoped to get peas in the ground last warm snap, but it never happened. So that is my goal for the day, get the garden prepped and hopefully started. I have seeds started inside for peppers, eggplant and tomatillos but we still have a few weeks until they can go into the ground. We will buy tomato plants from our local nursery and plant lots of other stuff outside; radish, beets, chard, spinach, and lettuce. Those are our standards and we will try to get squash (winter and summer), pumpkin, and maybe even carrots and parsnips in this year. It may not all happen this year, but hopefully we will have all the beds ready to go for next year. We have a small hill outback that needs to be terraced a bit to be functional. We may be able to use part of it this year... I hope...

So when we have a spit-uppy morning, we really go all out! I am not sure how much of her 9am feed actually stayed down, but she is still happily sleeping, so it must be ok. How normal is the spit-up coming out of the nose? I do not remember this happening much with Allison but it seems like Fiona has it come out of her nose pretty often.

Anyway, I need to get some inside house keeping done before we get to outside garden work as my husband's brother will be here tomorrow with is wife. They are driving up tonight and staying at a B&B nearby and spending tomorrow with us and the house is a complete sty! ugh, why can't I be a good house wife? I think I do ok at the stay at home mom thing, but I am a horrible housewife.... poor hubby.

Have a great Monday everyone!

[MumInWaiting]

So...I had an appointment at 12pm with a babysitter to interview her. It's now 12:20pm and she's not here, nor has she called. I'm thinking I shouldn't hire her???

[mullinska]

Mum, ya think??

This day has just flown by, I have gotten little done besides trying to get my 4 year old to eat, cook something for myself, eat while nursing and nurse/burp and take care of Fiona. Why do I even make goals like gardening. I totally forgot about having to get Allison to swim, my day is now officially shot... ugh.. I need order in my life and it just is not happening for a few months would be my guess!

[Grapecrush]

New month, new thread!

Month of April - February Due Date Club Parents