Mums Running Club

Hello

All fine here - Megan is loving being a bottle-fed baby and has taken to formula like a duck to water. I did have a low couple of days earlier in the week with guilt about stopping breastfeeding, and was investigating relactating, but am glad didn't actually do it as Megan just seems so settled now. Although there is no evidence to suggest this is down to formula, it very well may just be down to both her and us beginning to find our feet somewhat - but if I had relactated I think it would have been quite stressful for us all so am glad I didn't!

Have had a mad couple of days with decorators in doing the nursery and our hall. My mum came up to stay a couple of nights and lend a hand and the star that she is, she got up to do Megan's 1am and 5am feeds both nights she was here to let hubby and I get some sleep (my mum is an ex-midwife and recently retired staff nurse so had no qualms about this at all). However, the more sleep you have the more tired you feel I think! But still, it was nice to know that somebody else was looking after Megan's needs during the night.

So this weekend will see us finally sorting out the nursery, building the cot, etc - all of which should have been done before Megan was born, but well...

Mitts, JT - funny to hear you talk about a 2nd baby. Not something I'm sure I want at all, although everyone assures me I will. It scares the beejesus out of me that I'm responsible for one small person, never mind a second so not sure we'll be back for No. 2 if our nerves continue to get the better of us. But I'm 34, so I guess if we do want another we shouldn't hang about

Hope everyone is well, have a nice weekend all

Another question - apologies regarding the topic before I start!

Previously I have noticed something like small sugar crystals on James' skin as I change his nappy.  It was usually after he was in a disposible after a night without being changed.  this morning it was quite a lot and now this evening (in a disposible again) my husband has commented on it (not having worn the nappy for that long).  has anyone else found this?  Is it the nappy or is it him? 

Hello everyone, hope we're all well! Hope you're feeling a bit brighter soon DCM. I suffered with tonsilitis a lot as a teenager and evetually had them removed. Use it as an excuse to eat lots of ice-cream (as if one is needed!)!

Mitts - would echo what Vixo said about the pethidine. I had a similar problem when I had a shot of morphine last year (in the bottom!). For ages afterwards I had a sore rear end whenever I ran - very irritating. But it did go away after about 2 months, I think.

MR - glad it's working out with the formula. I'm doing mixed feeding, as I just didn't have the milk to keep up with my huge boy! I give him whatever I have and then top him up with formula. I did feel bad about it for a while (made to feel guilty by breastfeeding police...), until I realised how much happier we both were! I don't know about you, but I love the freedom and convenience that formula gives you. If I know I'm going out (or going somewhere I don't want to breastfeed - i.e. FIL's house!), then I take formula with me.

PA - not sure about this one, but I seem to remember a midwife in an antenatal class saying something about it being the uric acid in the pee reacting with something in the nappy?? Think it's harmless though.

 Right, off to watch X-Factor results - how sad am I???

Oh, forgot to say yesterday that I laughed very loudly when reading your post about weighing yourself, EF. I do exactly the same!!! But this morning it didn't seem to make any difference, as I have gained half a pound this week.  Never mind, I'm sure I'll lose some next week! I have a theory that I have gained a bit due to starting running again (have done 11 miles this week, hooray!), as I have been trying really hard with my food. Have got 11lbs to lose to get to pre-preg weight, but I always lose weight REALLY slowly, so I'm thinking it'll probably be well after Xmas when I'm back to that.

Also forgot to say glad the foot is feeling better, JT!

Hello Mums

Just said goodbye to my big ones who are off to school (phew!). Baby number three due in two weeks. Can't wait!

Hope you and your families all had a good weekend/half term.

A quick question that I hope a few of you could help with - is a TENS machine worth hiring/buying do you think? It is six years since my daughter was born and I can't remember that far back!! Don't want to spend the extra money if it isn't worth it and yet any relief from the pain whilst at home is surely not to be turned away...I know it depend very much on the kind of labour I have/baby's position etc but hope a few of you might clarify things for me. I need to get a move on if I want to hire one.

Many thanks. Happy Runningx

x

Sequin, I used a TENS machine and definitely found it worthwhile.  I just hired mine from Mama Tens (I think - ordered it online).  I didn't actually use any other pain relief at all except the TENS and was doing fine on it until they discovered Kit was breech and whisked me off to theatre.  Not sure I'd have managed the entire labour on it if I'd had a natural birth but got to 5cm without even having it up very high.  It's a weird sensation: not sure it exactly relieves the pain, but for me it was more about having a distraction each time I had a contraction.

MM, thanks for giving me the amounts of milk your two have.  Think Kit's probably fine - he usually has 6-7oz first thing, then about 5oz mid-afternoon and about 6oz before bed.  Not to mention all the extra he has on cereal, in baby rice and the cheesy sauces, fromage frais etc.  That was reassuring to read - thank you.

He's had a cold over the weekend but has been generally OK with it, just a bit grizzly the day it started.  Hubby and I went out for dinner for our 3rd wedding anniversary on Saturday - it was such a treat to have an evening out together.  My mum babysat for us.  So great having her so nearby; not sure what we'd do otherwise!

Hi Minks

Thanks very much for your advice. Appreciate it.

Glad you enjoyed your meal out - you are lucky to have your Mum nearby, we spend a fortune on babysitters! I remember using steam to help relieve my son when he had a cold. Hope he gets better soon and thanks again.

Hi Sequin, cannot believe you only have a fortnight to go!!!  It will be good to see you up and about on here  I used a Tens machine for the whole of my first stage labour and some of the second stage (until they decided I wasn't allowed any pain relief ) at the time I didn't think it worked, however, when hubby didn't switch the boost button on at the start of a contraction, he was shouted at!!!  So I'm guessing it did work.  Ted was OP and got stuck so just about the worst possible scenario really and it still worked for me.  Hope to see you here very soon!

Hope Kit is feeling better Minks, we've not had the cold scenario yet and I'm not looking forward to it!  I have a friend who swears by Carvol too.

Tatty - well done on your running, sounds like you're doing really well.

Well, I have to admit to myself that Ted is rolling over....  He's only 15 weeks and last week he rolled over onto his front three times which I tried to convince myself was a fluke.  This morning he rolled over and then flipped himself back over onto his back!!!  Help!!!  I've always been quite happy for him not to be on the move1!!!  Better go, he's currently trying to roll back into the mirror on the baby gym....

Thanks Janie. I am going to get online and order one now! Think I might buy one and then sell it on. How horrible not to be allowed any pain relief! Will was OP(back to back) too so I fully understand what it was like in terms of no let up between contractions. Trying to do all I can to get this baby in the 'right' position for labour...On my swiss ball as I type!

Rolling over!! Oh no! Did Ted look proud of himself or just suprirsed?? He's soon be crawling...bless him. My son was much happier once he was on the move and hasn't looked back since! Think he takes after me in being active.

I did the same thing Sequin, bought mine off ebay and then sold it on for about £10 less.  Just make sure you replace the pads or they'll withdraw the listing...

Ted looked very pleased with himself today, so I'm guessing he knows what he's doing.  He looked completely stunned the first couple of times but his facial expression has definitely changed!!!

Need to get round to selling my TENS machine too! It was great for the early stages, and even for a bit later. I had to take mine off after I demanded an epidural! Memories...

Clever Ted!  E and M can only manage front to back but boy do they try to go the other way!  Time to start childproofing the house!

Had a bit of a mare of a week as Dads been diagnosed with Lung cancer, luckily they think they have got it early enough they can remove it and that should be that.  Been up to see him and was really pleased with myself and the girls as I manged a 4 1/2 hour drive on my own with them, people at services were really helpful which was nice.

The girls slept through til 7 for the first time last night, lifes just not fair though, I was awake on and off from 5 as my boobs felt like they were going to burst!  Fingers crossed for tonight and it was not a fluke, and that my milk supply adjusts quickly.

Hetty I'm really sorry to hear that.  It's such a worrying time for you.  Big hugs and hope you're ok.  It's mad about how you end up awake though when the baby starts to sleep through isn't it?  I spent one night trying not to think about my sore/leaky boobs (sorry tmi!) berating myself for not going back to sleep.

 You'll probably find E and M suddenly go, he did it once and then not for a couple of days, but boy is he off now!  My NCT friends were laughing that I'm going to be the first once chasing...

Tatty  - I got my replacement pads from Boots after I had my listing removed.  I put mine on for a £45 buy it now and it went within two days.

gosh - such early rollers.  jacob rolled front to back at 16 weeks, but didn't roll back to front until he was 7 months! but he was fairly late doing everything except walking.  he was doing that at 11 months, and then there was no stopping him!

all this talk about baby number 2... i think in theory it would be lovely to have a 2nd baby, although a logistical nightmare with getting them ready in the morning to go out to nursery / school etc!  however, from my point of view, i've only just really stabilised after my PND and am still on medication, which I would have to stop if i wanted to get pregnant again.  i could take other stuff, but what i'm on at the moment works a treat and there's always a possibility that other medication wouldn't be so good.  anyway, i am doing something positive about trying to get off the medication and am going to get some CBT (counselling) in a couple of weeks.  if i can come off the medication and be stable and have means of not diving back into my anxious state, then maybe baby number 2 might be possible.  i'm 35 though, so need to get my act together soon!

Baby number 2 would be nice as well, but seeing as i needed fertility treatment first time round not sure how easy it would be.  Wasn't having periods or ovulating before i went for treatment.  However did have one period about july, but no more since, maybe once i stop breastfeeding altogether (Isla still gets a wee feed in the evening before bed) they may come back.  They say that having a baby sometimes gets your hormones working again.

mrs o - i had no periods at all while feeding jacob and i fed him till he was 12 months.  within 3 weeks of the last feed, my periods were back.  i thought it might take a bit longer than that, but oh no!  hopefully your hormones will get kicked back to normal again by having a baby.  one of my friends struggled for years to get pregnant naturally and then she was pregnant again naturally within a year of having her first baby (by accident as she was still breastfeeding).  she has had two more babies since then and they have both been conceived quickly.  so fingers crossed for you...

ploddingalong - i think it was you asking about milk.  i gave jacob soya milk on his cereals for a while and he seemed fine with it.  he now has goats milk to drink and on his cereals because i don't drink cow's milk, so don't buy it.  he seems fine with that as well.  re: expressing - odd that you can't express now.  it's not something simple like a valve gone on your pump is it?  mine wore out (i expressed 100% of jacob's feeds from 3 months until he was 12 months old!) and made it hard to express. i had to buy a whole new pump because i couldn't find a replacement valve anywhere.  the other possibility is that your body has just adjusted to exactly how much milk james is taking and is not making any more than that.  do you express first thing?  sometimes that's a bit easier because you have more milk then, although not a great time of the day for having lots of spare time to express!

Hetty, your boobs will adjust. I remember all too well lying awake around 5am in agony for 2 hours until they woke up. I even nudged hubbie and said shall I go and wake them i can't bare it!!! I didn't, and after 3-4 days my boobs were used to the 8 hour stint. I was still expressing the dream feed around 10.30pm at that point.

Hope your father is OK. Hubbie's Mum has just been diagnosed with breast cancer so we know how you feel. Again early diagnosis so fingers crossed. Well done on the long drive. I've managed about 5 hours too, but went to the loo in a bush at the services!Now I would have to get them out as they don't sleep at all in the car unless its night.

oh and MR - GREAT to hear you sounding so much more positive! i was a bit worried about some of your posts previously because you sounded so desperate, and it was all a bit too much like how i felt when j was first born.  but it sounds as though you have absolutely made the right decision.  try and enjoy megan while she is tiny.  i didn't enjoy jacob at all when he was born, and only really started enjoying him when i went back to work.  now i feel as though i missed out on his being a baby because he's grown so fast and isn't really a baby anymore (except when he bangs his head and wants a cuddle from mummy!)

My two rolled around 4-5 months front to back and mastered back to front soon after, I think we found them both on their tummy's in their cots one morning! H used to roll everywhere! They started sitting around 7 months but this did take a while, and started crawling around 8 months, now J can stand for a couple of minutes but seems to get scared after that and sits down. They are both very competent with walkers though and do spend most of their time standing up cruising around the furniture. Am unsure how long it will be till walking this stage seems to be going on for ever. Not sure if I want them to walk or not, its going to be such hard work!!!

Believe me it is nice when they don't move! I have friends whose babies just sat for 6 months what bliss that would be!! I think my two just sat for about 2 weeks!

Hi,

Sequin - I definately found TENs machines brilliant with both my two.  But also know people who didn;t find them helpful at all.  you can buy them really cheap now from some of the smaller chemists - not sure if I'm allowed to name names.. Or you can hire them reasonably from a lot of places.

 Cathy