[jimbobmel]

Hi ladies!!!

Just a quick one from me today too to say....

Karen, how lucky your boys are to have you as their mummy!! What wonderful words you have to say about them

You are right though. This past 6 months has just flown by & it must be so bitter sweet for those of you who have completed your families, I wish they could stay babies forever but I do so love to see the new discoveries that get made every day. These little people that we have created are just so amazing & I really think that being a mummy is the best job in the world!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Much love
Mel x

[doctorseuss]

Hi everyone!!!

Sorry have been absent for a while, Amon the phone so have to be brief.

Hasn't 6 months gone quickly?

Hope Mel you are getting more sleep.

T&A I would put formula into the food if she doesn't drink it from the bottle. Put it on weetbux, in custard etc

So Sage is being christened tomorrow!! How exciting. My brother has offered to do tapas so that's the menu. We have guests here so am also exhausted, but happy to have them.

Little Sage has continued to be a dream baby, sleeps from 8pm to at least 6am, sometimes 7am. Day sleros still erratic.

She has 2 meals a day, still on farex or mushed fruit/veg. I do about 4 milk feeds a day, sometimes split sides though because once she's full she stops - turns her head and gives a little annoyed cry as I try to feed her. Amazing how she communicates her needs with noises and expressions.

Today is DD1s b'day party, a disco party! Luckily not here!

Work is going well but tiring. Our nanny is fabulous - she helped the girls make decorations and a cake for my birthday on Thursday. The girls love her.

Must go now - we have 8 people here now and I can hearthe little girls up, Sage is stirring too.

hugs to you all:)
xxx

[Flutters]

Hi everyone!

Well 6 months ago today I was just being told my baby was in distress and I was about to be wheeled up to theatre for an emergency c-sections...thus started the most nervous hour of my life! I ant believe she is 6 months old...time flies! Happy half birthday to everyone else's little bubs as too xxxx

All is well here, we are slowly pinning Felicitys bedtime back and most nights she in bed around 9 I stead of 10 so we are getting g there. Day sleeps are still non existing unless she's in my arms, so that's still the same. I have decided not to rush back to work as I was going to do part time from home, but I am not issuing it, so no rush. Felicitys refusal to take a bottle and sleep in her cot for day times helped with that decision, but I figure I'll never get this time back with her, so it's more important than going back to work. I'm a travel agent and adore my job, but there have been big changes in the last 6 months, so I think I would be walking back into an intensely stressful situation, so I am I no rush to get back to that.

Doc good luck for sages christening to or row! That's fantastic your brother offered to cater! That will make things easier. And happy birthday for last thurs


Kel felicity used to cry in Her pram...I walked around the lake here the other day (5.5 km) and carried little miss while pushing an empty pram the whole way! 7kg weight plus resistance training ha ha ha. Oncwere sat her up and faced her out rather than facing us she's much better, and will even have a nap in it for 45 mins or so. She's pretty nosy and over social ( official diagnosis from out GP!) so that could be something to try for Liv?

My MIl just turned up so gotta go. Hope everyone is getting better sleep and going well.

Love love xxxx

[doctorseuss]

Happy half birthday Fliss!!

[jimbobmel]

Woooo Fliss!!!! How has this 6 months gone by so quickly??!!

How was the christening today doc??

Sleeping has been wy better here until last nigh tbut I don't think Nixon was feeling the best. No temp or anything, just grizzly all day long & not really settled. We both had a big sleep today so I'm feeling not too bad.

It took ages for Nixon to be happy in the pram. I still take the ergo carrier with me everywhere just incase. Some day she loves facing out & other days he wants to face us. I really just depends. Keep persevering because when it's a good day in the pram, it's great to be out

I'm still feeding bm around 6 times a day & 3 meals of solids a day too. Usually puréed fruit for breakfast, pumpkin/potato/sweet potato/broccoli for lunch & today he also had 1/2 a babybel cheese, then dinner is similar to lunch.

Ok off to bed for me..... Hope everyone had a great weekend & got beautiful weather like us up here in Bris

Mel xxx

This post has been edited by jimbobmel: 05/08/2012, 09:24 PM

[HurryUpAlready]

Hello ladies! Very long time since I've been here to say hello. I'm another one who hates typing in the iPhone & it makes personals so hard, so I tend to read to keep track of how you are all doing, but I haven't posted for ages.

Where to start with an update on Zara??

Z was 6 months old on 1 August. I agree with all of you - aren't these gorgeous little beings we have created just amazing! Being a mum is just the best thing I've ever done. It's like the first 37 years of my life just pales into insignificance in comparison to life since Zara arrived. I love spending every day with her and can't imagine life without her.

She's turning into such a cheeky monkey - blowing raspberries all of the time, including every time I feed her which means we both end up covered in veges. Very naughty, but very cute too.

So, a quick update on our life of late.

When Z was 16 weeks we took off to France for a month. She travelled so well, she was very cruisy in every situation - flying, trains, hours on end in the car or the pram ... she took it all in her stride which was great. It was lovely for my husband to spend time with her 24/7, it's like they really bonded during that month away.

Zara watched every mouthful of food we took at every meal. On occasion I resorted to feeding her baguette to suck on to keep her amused while we were having dinner. She loved it!!!

I guess the only downfall of the trip was that she went from being a great sleeper (she has always gone to bed at around 7pm, woken for 1 feed during the night and then again at maybe 6-7am, then back to sleep in bed with me for a couple of hours) to being constantly interrupted when asleep and forming bad habits. Not really her fault. She'd fall asleep in the hotel room at 7pm then we'd have to wake her up to go out for dinner at around 8pm. She would then be disrupted constantly while we were out and maybe get put into bed at 11pm, poor thing.

When on holidays, I did a lot of breastfeeding just to keep her quiet - when flying, in restaurants, at night so she didn't disturb other hotel guests. It meant by the time we got back she was waking every few hours at night and wouldnt settle unless I fed her. Half the time it would only be for a few minutes and she'd be asleep again. Using me as a dummy essentially

We started solids when we got back from France (she was 20 weeks) and she loved pumpkin & carrot. Less keen on broccoli and rice cereal. Puréed pees tonight seemed to be a hit, although I did end up covered in it after she blew raspberries with a mouthful - lovely!

I was hoping that solids would improve her night sleeping but it didn't change anything. After getting up every 2 hours on Monday night I decided enough was enough. There's no reason for her to be getting up so frequently other than bad habits, so I decided that things needed to change. I was prepared to try control crying, although I wasn't sure I'd be tough enough to do it. I let her cry when going to bed on Tuesday night. It took 20 mins but she fell asleep and slept through til 7am!! I was amazed!! It's like she knew what I was about to do do she just saved herself the bother. Since then she is going to sleep without crying and sleeping from 7pm-7am or thereabouts. She might wake during the night but she will either self settle or will go back off if I give her the dummy.

I really am amazed at how quickly she has settled back into a good routine. I used a combination of the advice from Tizzie Hall's "Save our Sleep" and the info from the "Baby Love" book... basically just combined both techniques to suit me/us and it worked. She must feel so much better for getting a solid night's sleep.

She has 3 day sleeps which are still not particularly long, but I think they are improving. Shortest will be 30 mins, longest 1.5 hours, but that's rare.

She's having 4-6 BM feeds a day + 3 solid feeds, although she's not overly fussed on breakfast or lunch so I just try to get a bit into her and leave it if she's really not interested.

I do make sure she eats her dinner though. I'm giving her 3 cubes of veges + 2 cubes of stewed apple or 1/2 a puréed banana for dessert. Fill her right up with BM at 6.30pm and into bed at 7pm.

I never thought I'd be a stickler for a strict routine but the last 5 nights have been so good that I think I am a convert.

So... that's us in a nutshell. All is well and getting better each day.

I'm still enjoying mothers group catch ups each week and have started Gymbaroo with one of the mum's and her bub which is nice. Was considering starting swimming lessons but think I'll wait til the end of the year for that.

I haven't left Zara with anyone yet (other than DH - or my mum for 10 mins while I go to the shops quickly). I think that's my next challenge... to get her taking a bottle happily and maybe leaving her. I probably should but I really don't want to! Never thought I'd be like that but I think it's the control freak in me. I'm worried that someone else won't do it my way and therefore she won't be happy. I'm sure that's not right though so I really should do it.

Ok ladies. That's my massive update on about 4 months worth of Zara's life.

I'm so glad to hear how well all the mummy's and bubbas are doing.

Who is going to be the first to be pregnant again? DH has been keen for #2 since Z was 7 weeks old! I'm trying to hold off on that until the end of the year, but a lack of contraception might mean that mother nature has other ideas. We'll see.

Take care everyone. Apologies for the typos, I haven't been back to check what I've written.

xxx

[~ Lucy's Mum ~]

Great to hear from you HurryUpAlready! It's sounds like you have had such an adventure with Zara and she was just an angel for you when travelling. I bet you all had an amazing time and a lifetime of great memories . Lucy is 6 months old next Monday and yep we are loving the raspberry blowing too, not mention with a mouthful of food too .

It sounds like Zara developed the same bad sleeping associations as Lucy (although we didn't have anything like an overseas trip to cause the disruption). We also did CC but it took a couple of nights to work. I reckon you're right and Zara knew what was coming.. clever girl. Lucy is sleeping 7 to 7 generally and is still waking once a night for a feed at about 4am which I am happy with much better than every 1.5 hours!! That wasn't doing anyone any good, we are all much happier and functioning a lot better too. I'm happy that she is getting solid blocks of good sleep and me too of course and I feel a better mother for it. At the end of the day it was only a few nights of intermittent crying for a lot of gain. She still wakes up at about 2am but settles herself within 5mins. I hear ya with the routine thing. For us the night time routine is super important and daytime we try to stick to if we are home but if we are out and about so be it. Luckily she sleeps well in the car but no longer keen sleeping in the pram unless we are on the go .

It's scary to think that we are thinking of doing it all over again... . DF wants to start trying again before the end of the year. I'm not so sure but I understand that he wants to sooner rather than later because of his age and we would like kids close together in age... so I better get use to the idea. In any case it may take longer than the first time to fall pregnant.

Oh I'm loving mothers group too but of few of the girls are starting to go back to work and it's going to get more difficult to catch up which will be sad as I'd hate to see it come to end. I know of one group that now catch up at night once a month with their babies now that they are over 1 year old which I thought was a nice idea as you really do make some good friends.

jimbobmel - I'm jealous of the weather you are having! It's crap here in Adelaide.. foggy and cold! Hope Nixon is feeling better. I must remember to face Lucy's pram out too perhaps she'll be more settled being able to do a bit more exploring.

Flutters - Happy Half Birthday to Fliss . Don't you just love the whole going for a walk and when you are the furthest point away from home they decide they don't like the pram anymore and need to held the whole way home, Lucy is now about 9kgs too!!!?? Grrr (I note that Kelbelblue has the same trouble too ). Glad to hear that you able to bring Fliss's bedtime back a bit.. sounds like she's doing a good job. Don't stress about the daytime sleeps, I reckon you just need to go with the flow. She may just be one of those babies that doesn't need a whole lot of napping.

doctorsuess - hope Sage's christening went well, sounds like you've been pretty busy with your social calendar. Lucy is definitely not taking as much during her milk feeds, so I'm thinking that maybe she doesn't really want as many during the day now that she is enjoying her solids. TBH I can't wait til I have my boobs back but will continue as she wants for another 6 months or so, I must admit bf is very easy (now) and convenient.

Mumof32b - I think being a mum to 3 little boys is just gorgeous too! I have a friend who has 3 boys under 3 and whilst she says it's crazy she loves her little boy family so much. My sister has 2 boys and if she has another she's convinces it'll be a boy which she would be super thrilled about too but she's just not sure whether they are going to go for number 3 at this stage. Like Archie, Lucy is still not rolling, she seems to be happy to be beached on her back for now... she's just too chubby! She almost gets there by arching her back and putting her head right back but just can't get her leg over... . She is sitting pretty well though for about a minute at times without assistance. I think she really enjoys seeing things from a different perspective.

Kelbelblue - The frequent night waking can be very exhausting. I was happy to put up with it for a good few weeks when I knew that Lucy was hungry but had to change things when it became clear it was just a comfort association thing. But remember just to do what works for the both of you. Lucy has 2 bottom teeth was popped up at 17 and 19 weeks... so on the early side. It wasn't a very fun time but things are back to normal now. Good luck with the BLW, we've been pureeing food her put I did give her a hot chip during lunch over the weekend which she chomped down. We've got next round of needles on Thursday and a paediatrician appointment in the afternoon. Lucy has a minor heart murmur which needs to be checked on again.

T&A - hope the milk feeding is improving for you, I don't have any tips for you I'm sorry, unless it worth bringing it up with your child and youth health nurse..??

Oh... I reckon that I'm breast feeding Lucy about 4 hourly during the day, sometimes every 3 and once overnight but I reckon it's going to drop further soon and 2 to 3 solid meals a day with water in a sippy cup which she loves to play with and dribble water all down her front. She is loving swimming goes under the water and all now.. very cute.

So I hope everyone is well... it sounds like it. Until next time take care xox

[T&A]

Hi everyone, sounds like everything's going well!
Just popped in to say Aithne turned 6months today! She's growing so well, sitting up, rolling around, pulling herself to standing on anything she can reach! She has one heck of a personality... she isn't talking yet but has special grunts for things (one for I want, one for no and one for mum! Soo cute!) Still no teeth but I don't think they're far off, have had a few warning signs and a few grizzly days for no apparent reason.
The milk situation has stabilized a little, she's up to around 450 - 500mL, and the MCHNs said as long as she's not dehydrated and she's eating a varied diet she'll be fine so I'm stressing about it a bit less now. Still go to my mums club in gawler twice a month, but we're going to be moving back to Kalgoorlie in a couple of months time for DHs work. Will miss my new mum friends, but a lot of my friends in kal have grown up with me and had babies too so should be fun to catch up!
Hope everyone stays well

[kelbelblue]

Hi Ladies, just a quick one from me tonight!
Snap T&A, Liv turned 6 months today, and it feels like time has absolutley flown by! She was literally pulled out of me in just under an hours time (10.02pm) after an ambulance ride to hospital and being told if we waited things would be bad...
wow 6 months on!
Liv had her needles yesterday as we were in town anyway, she is now 6.7kg, 65cm tall and head circumfence of 42.5cm. After preparng for the worst, she had her best sleep in about a month, only waking once at 1am for a feed, then up for the day at 7.20, I could get used to that lol
She is really getting into the BLW, I offer her food 3 times a day if she is awake when I am eating, she's not 'eating' much, but really enjoys chewing on everything. She is still BFing quite a bit, not sure how many exactly.
look forward to hearing about the rest of the babies
xox
ETA, I am also thinking happy thoughts about number 2 and when to start TTC, tossing up between waiting the full year or christmas... hmm, not much in it I guess

This post has been edited by kelbelblue: 10/08/2012, 09:38 PM

[~ Lucy's Mum ~]

Just a quick one to say that Lucy had a big day yesterday. Needles in the morning and 6 months check up with the paediatrician.

Her heart murmur is still there but innocent in nature and will likely grow out of it by the time she is 2. Lucy is 6 months on Monday no weighing in a 9.19kgs , 67cms, 43cm head circumference. She is over 97th percentile for weight and 75th for length, not sure about hc. So had a very grizzly afternoon but otherwise well after her shots.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend of co-parenting time and happy half birthdays to all of the bubbas.