Hi girls,
So i started a new thread for shirls and hopefully it will help her to get her BFP.

Megan's having a strop at the moment because Mickey Mouse playhouse has finished!
I bought her Sophie the giraffe yesterday and she seems to love it. Its the new in thing at the moment apparently.

Hows Archie doing Frecks? Has he settled now?

Still waiting for some pics when you get a chance BOB. How is Holland and did all go ok at the hospital?

BC - How are you hun?

Jx

Good call Jay. We are doing well here. Archie is acting up a bit after his 2am feed and makes the weirdest unsettled grunting noises until about 5:30am. It was so bad last night I had to take him into bed with me and let him sleep on my chest for an hour. A total last resort so lets hope he doesn't get any bad habits. He is getting so much bigger now. He has nearly doubled his weight and is prob about 11lbs and measures about 55cm.

Bob ...can't wait to see those pics. Hope you and Holland (and OH)are doing ok? The first while can be totally exhausting. I am like a zombie most mornings and before I had Archie I was up with the lark and awake by 7am each morning. OH had to give him his morning feed today...I'm not joking, I couldn't open my eyes!!! :roll:
Hope you are in less pain.

Shirls....don't be such a numpty!!!!! Of course we are all still there for you and won't be going anywhere until you and BC get your BFPs. GGs stick together. It just gets a little more complicated to jump on when a little squirt is ruling every second of your day! I always wondered why people went on about not having any time or even getting time to shower but boy do I understand now. You seem a right social butterfly on FB. I wouldn't change a thing but I so miss going out and to be honest...a right good knees up too. What are your new shoes like???? I am not allowing myself anywhere near a shop until my post baby jelly belly disappears a bit. Nothing fits me right now. Will have to give myself a good kick up the butt and start some exercise. Bit difficult though to speed walk in 40 degree heat. Have my 6 week check up on Wednesday.

BC...how are you doing hun?

Gotta run xxx

OK, I will definitely work on getting some pics done maybe today as Dh's mum keep asking for more too! I tried to take some proper pics of Holland yesterday but she got a right strop on and was having none of it so those will have to wait for the moment as changing her into clothes for different pics will take some work! How old was Archie Frecks when you had yours done?

Well the hospital did not go well at all - poor Holland seems to have no hearing in her left ear and now we have to wait for a referral to a specialist. I am hoping to god it is something simple like fluid still in her ear from the birth. I am trying not to stress about it but I am struggling.....

She is so precious but my god she is a sassy one - Frecks I too have had to resort a couple of nights to Holland sleeping on me as she just won't settle and dh and I just need to get some rest. It has happen twice in 10 days now but I know she is still settling in and it will resolve itself so we plod on. Some nights though she is great and she'll go back in her bassinet not problems some night though she is just irritable.

So Shirls I know you OV'd when I had Holland and she is 10 days now so when will you test?

I nearly got Holland a Sophie Jay - I have heard really good things about them!

BC how's things with you? When do you OV/test????

Laura - where are you???? You're about to pop if you haven't alreay!

Here you go, finally a couple of pics of Holland for you!

Here she is at 2 days old in the hospital - dh called her smurf due to the hat!




and here she is at 8 days old:




I can't believe how much time is flying by as she is 11 days old today!

Jay I meant to ask you does your scar from the CS feel kind of numb around it? How are you healing?

Awwwwwwwwwwwww...... BOB - Holland is ADORABLE!!!!!!! LOL re hubby calling her smurf! She is totally edible - well done you

AF is due on Saturday - holding out til then - although my PMT is starting to kick in at work - so perhaps it'll be onto lucky month 14 ... we shall see :roll:

Ah thanks Shirls - I do love her to bits. I hope it's not onto month 14 for you :roll: are you still using cbfm? what else are you doing?

Jay and Frecks couple of questions for you:

We are having a challenge getting Holland to sleep in her bassinet at night. Did either of you have problems with megan or Archie? How did you get around it? I have tried to put a pillow case of mine that I have slept on in on her mattress (tucked in tight), she sleeps in our room and the lights are low, just a night light on the wall socket, we try not to stimulate her to much when she wakes but she simply wants to sleep on one of us. We swaddle her too which she doesn't seem to mind and we tried her without swaddling, just putting a blanket tightly tucked under her arms as she likes to suck her fingers and we thought that might help. We're not really sure how else to entice her to get to sleep in her bassinet, maybe it will pass as she gets older as she is only 12days today - I know she is a little young for routines right now but I am not comfortable sleeping with her on one of us or on the bed and most nights she seems to get very upset when we move her to her bassinet after feeding or having her nappy changed - any advice would be good.

I was also wondering if either of you have or had the odd day where you felt teary? It's not all the time and I don't feel like I can't cope just feel abit down and useless sometimes. I was all teary again today as I felt that I was doing a bad job at night getting Holland to sleep and felt that I should know what to do. Why I don't know as she doesn't come with a manual. I assume my tears will pass and that it's because I am still under the influence of hormones - at least I hope that's what it is! I don't think it helps that I don't have family around, although my parents arrive in a little over a week maybe that will help....

Hope you're all doing well.

Bob...she is gorgeous! A proper little munchkin.

Archie is on me so one finger typing. I think any baby under 6-8 weeks is too young for a routine. Everyone is different but I loosely followed the Gina Ford advice and I stress loosely. I give Archie a bath every evening at approx same time to let him know that bedtime is approaching. He has his bottle and after I wind him and before he falls asleep I swaddle him, give him a kiss and put him in his crib. He usually gripes a bit but each time I go up to him I start by just making a gentle shushhh noise and putting my hand on his chest. If he still cries I lift him out, cuddle him briefly and then put him down again before he falls asleep. Last resort...I use a dummy. Archie is a thumb sucker but cant always find his thumb. he then gets confused and thinks he's hungry again. Silly numpty. Sometimes if you put them down when they are asleep they wake up not knowing where they are or where you are. Its so easy (and nicer)to let them fall asleep on you but a lot harder on you in the long run but you have to do what you feel is best. Sometimes you have to do it to preserve your own sanity and get some rest. At the end of the day, if I had the choice of sleeping snuggled up to OH or on my own I know what I would chose. Babies are clever little devils...it's so much nicer snuggled up to Mummy than in their crib. I find that it takes patience and sometimes leaving them to see if they can learn to self soothe and fall asleep on their own. I never leave him to cry his little heart out though.
I am still having teary days. Combo of my sister being a stubborn moody jack*ss at times, utter tiredness, OH not realising that I am down and not waking to help feed Archie, looking in the mirror and seeing my train wreck of a body, no clothes fitting or bras, hormones and more hormones
I cry in front of people at the most ridiculous times and have to hide now when I feel my chin wobble. But I know it will get better. I have just been through a massive life changing event and it's normal as it is for you. There is always wine and G&T to cling onto if it takes longer to improve than expected.
And most importantly ...GO EASY ON YOURSELF.... no-one knows your baby better than you and every baby is different so we write their manual as we go along.

xxx

Ah thanks Frecks. We have tried various things with Holland but she doesn't build up to anything she just goes from asleep to crying her heart out if she is hungry or doesn't want to be on her own we have tried letting her soothe and me putting my hand in and the shhhh shhhh while holding her hands as per the nurse at the hospital told me, but I think it might be a bit early for self-soothing for her, I will definitely try it when she gets a little older though. We have also resorted to a dummy but she tends to spit it out and we have also tried the white noise. What we did last night was move her mattress from her bassinet into the middle of our bed and we slept either side of her rather than have her on us and she seemed to like that so hopefully when she is ready I will put the mattress back and see how she goes back in her bassinet.

So we're off to the hospital today again as they want to retest her hearing - wish us luck.

Thinking of you BOB - I do hope all goes well at the hospital with Holland xxxxxx

No good on the hearing test girls, she failed again on both sides - I'm totaly gutted and am very tearful as it is with the hormones, now this is not helping at all I seem to cry at the slightest thing now and am extremly worried about her. I have managed to book an appointment for Monday with a specialist.

Oh poor Holland, bless her heart. Im sure all will be fine and they will be able to do something for her. I dont blame you for crying though BOB, I think i would be exactly the same.
I was still quite hormonal after I had Megan and i do still get a bit emotional now so i wouldnt worry about that. The health visitor gave me a leaflet which asked the following questions to sort of indicate whether you may have post natal depression or not:
1, I have been able to laugh and see the funny side of things.
2, I have looked forward with enjoyment to things
3, I have blamed myself unnecessarily when things went wrong
4, I have been anxious or worried for no good reason
5, I have felt scared or panicky for no good reason
6, Things have been getting on top of me
7, I have been so unhappy that i have had difficulty in sleeping
8, I have felt sad or miserable
9, I have been so unhappy that i have been crying
10, The thought of harming myself has occurred to me
It gives you 4 different levels of responses and if you really agree with a lot of these then you may have pnd but if you only agree sometimes then you probably dont and its just hormones.

Also with the sleeping thing i would do whatever Holland wants and she will go down in her bassinet when she is ready. Megan would only fall asleep on me if you remember and I had to have her in bed with me all the time. Now shes gone to sleeping in her crib until her 5am feed and then she comes in the bed with me as thats when dh gets up to go to work. Or sometimes she will go back down in her crib. To be honest i wasnt bothered about a routine for her at all in the first couple of months and its only now that im starting to get her into a proper routine and she seems to be getting used to it now. So i dont think letting her do what she wanted for the first couple of months has ruined any chance of her getting into a routine. Also if shes having troubles hearing then she may want you close to her more so she can smell you and see you. Hows the feeding going?

Poor Megan was just starting to settle down in the evenings and now shes got a tooth coming through already. She also had her first set of injections on Tuesday and she was very good i must say. She didnt cry with the first injection but she did a little bit with the second one. I was dreading it as they say it hurts you more than it does the baby. I guess its because you dont want to hear your baby screaming in pain!

Anyway girls i had better go and give Megan her dream feed (which she doesnt always have and then i end up getting woken at about 1am!!)

Night girls
Jx

I forgot to say the pics of Holland are just gorgeous. Oh and Megan's got that vest too!! My friend bought it for her and brought it over with her from San Francisco. Its a Carters one isnt it?
And my scar from my CS was sore for a couple of weeks after but i also got an infection in it. It started to ooze, which i thought was because the stitches had come undone but it was because i had got an infection.

How did the appointment go Bob? Have been thinking of you and Holland x

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry i've been awol for so long. Really long story involving major stress with the inlaws. Will explain everything and caych up with you all properly asap. Im popping on today to tell u all i had a little girl yesterday at 17:58 weighing 6lb 4oz and we called her Amber. Another little girlfriend for Archie! Birth very traumatic but cant expect anything else with me just now! Amber is ok and thats all that matters.

Take care everyone, i know i havent been in touch but i think about all of u all the time. Will catch up with u all as soon as i can.

Love Laura! xxx

Awwww Laura - what lovely news!!!! I'm so pleased you are ok - was very worried about you for a while there! I Love the name Amber - beautiful!!

BOB - how did the appointment with the specialist go?

xxx

Ah...Laura that is fantastic news and such a lovely name. I hope you are looking after yourself and enjoying every minute with you new little baby girl. Well done you!!!

xxx

Fab news Laura, so glad all is ok, we were all worried about you! I have a lovely friend called Amber so like the name alot!

Specialist went ok Monday, Holland failed her tests again and the doc said that Holland has a collapsing canal on the right and fluid in her left ear so we have to go back and see how things are in 6 weeks, she hasn't ruled out any other issues yet as to run full diagnostics she would need to sedate Holland but for now we are hopeing that's the extent of the problem.

Keep meaning to ask Shirls how's your sister doing?

Jay I don't think it's pnd hun I think hormones, lack of sleep and worrying about Hollands hearing is the extent of it....

Phew glad its not pnd then BOB x You dont need that on top of everything else at the moment. How are you enjoying mummyhood so far. Hows the sleeping going now?

Great to hear from you laura and welcome to another mini GG! Love the name Amber. My labour wasnt great either and I ended up having an emergency c section. Are you going to write your birth story? Look forward to reading it if you do. So whats going on with the in laws then? They being a right pain in the rectum by the sound of it?

Hows Archie Frecks? Is all going ok?

shirls -so whats happening with you hun? Did AF turn up yet? Are you still doing the take it easy approach or are you temping etc?

BC - Hows things with you?

Megan will be 3 months on wednesday but she seems so much older. Shes even trying to walk and will stand up with just a little bit of support from me or dh. She loves it in her door bouncer. I bought her an activity station today which she sits/stands in the middle and plays with the toys around her. Shes still a little small for it but she seems to like it.
Shes also starting to teeth
I started doing zumba on a wednesday evening. Quite enjoying it actually. DH tried to feed her with a formula bottle last night but she was having none of it so i had to feed her when i got back from zumba. Looks like shes not going to take to a bottle! :roll:
My aunt said that my cousin was the same and he went straight from the breast to a sippy cup so i might try her with a sippy cup later on.
Its done nothing but rain today! Apparently we're supposed to get good weather from saturday though.
Anyway have a good weekend girls
Jxx

Sleeping is not going well, we have good nights and bad ones, last night was a prime example of bad! Jay and Frecks when did your lo's start to get more interested in swings and playmats etc.? All Holand wants to do at the moment is sleep (apart from at night :lol: )but I know that's normal for less than a month old, just wondering when she might want to have more entertainment! Also did you carry Megan and Archie around a lot when they were little (well they're still little but I mean before they were 2 months) or were they content in a swing chair or bouncer?

How's is going Laura - you should be home by now? Put some pics up if you get a chance although I know it's not always easy to find the time!

Shirls where are you at in your cycle? You should be approaching ov if my calcs are right???

BC how are things with you?

BTW I'm like you were/are Jay, I just can't stop looking at her! I can't believe she is here!

So Jay and Frecks are either of you ready to join TTC forum officially again yet????

BTW I am now pretty much exclusively expressing for Holland as she is not a good feeder and wasn't getting enough, I do try and breast feed her too but I usually end up pumping and feeding after to get her enough milk - Wow like you said Frecks where does the time I spend most of my day pumping and feeding and I don't know what I'll do when dh goes back to work, I'm not sure I'll leave the house!!!!!!