Mums Running Club

Janie, at four weeks Ted weighs almost what Kit weighed at birth! I still can't believe that someone as tiny as me had such a large baby. Obviously it's complete rubbish that women who exercise in pregnancy end up with small, low birthweight babies!

Kit's been a nightmare with his feeding again today. His last two feeds this evening were better - am hoping we're coming out of the 'blip'. I've kept records of all his feeds and it's been quite reassuring to read back and find he's had a few other feeding 'blips' where he's fussed and screamed for a couple of days, then gone back to eating quite happily. I spoke to the HV at the clinic today and she told me not to worry too much - he still gained 6oz in the last week (now weighs 16lb 4oz at 24 weeks) and he's perfectly happy and fine in himself. She said that he seems to be far more alert than the average baby for his age and suggested starting to wean him as he looked to be quite ready for solids. Funnily enough hubby and I had been speculating that he was fussing with his bottles because he was bored of just having milk all the time and wanted something more interesting! He certainly gets very excited every time he watches us eat. I let him lick my apple the other day and he got very enthusiastic and didn't want to give it back to me! He's also started to drink water from a cup - he LOVES it even though most of it ends up down his front! We've decided to start him on some baby rice at the weekend - waiting until then because hubby wants to see him take his first spoonful of food. He's sleeping fine without being weaned but once he's established on solids we should be able to cut out the 10:30pm feed which we're still waking him for at present. Have tried not waking him a couple of times but he just woke up on his own about an hour later which didn't benefit us at all!

Agree that the 6-week check-up is pointless. My GP did take my BP but only because I wanted to start back on the Pill. He gave me the OK to start running again too. The only thing I did find helpful was his reassurance that it's perfectly normal for the first few periods after having a baby to be very heavy, and that they should settle within 4-5 months. Mine are MUCH better now, thank goodness: I was a bit freaked out by the first two!

Sorry; mammoth post again!

Thanks for the votes of confidance guys... just done 2 days alone and its been ok apart from a bit of a meltdown last night when R got home cos I was worried I cant keep them both happy and do anything else like eat or clean! Its so hard when they both want to be held. Today was better though, just from not trying to be super housewife and just focusing on babies!

As for sleeping, we decided to try them in thier own room and it has generally been ok - using a dummy to settle them back down after night feeds works a treat and they seem happy enough. that said Ella has taken 2 hours to go to sleep tonight, not crying just getting unsettled when the dummy falls out so I have to respond incase she wakes Milla (I swore I would never use a dummy but I have to admit it helps, tried it in the day today when they were both wailing but they were not interested then) They come into me for the early morning feed and after a few cuddles sleep again til 10 with me so we still have that contact which is nice.

Blooming marvellous do so good bfeeding vests, worn with a wrap top over you would never know you were feeding. (just looked at the link AP and mothercare is cheaper!)

Got my 6 week check on fri, already been told they dont examine you???? Whats the point?

Its good to know that all as new mums are facing the same issues and that those of you with older babies have been there and come through the other side!

Hetty, we swore we wouldn't use a dummy at the beginning but to be honest it was a lifesaver in the early days! It was the only way we could get Kit to settle to sleep in the night when he awoke unless we wanted to be in and out soothing him every few minutes. I was really worried about how I was going to wean him off his dummy but he's actually done this himself. Once he learned how to take it out of his mouth it was of limited use anyway - now he treats it as a toy! I occasionally use it - mainly when getting him dressed for bed after his bath when he's a bit tired and fractious, and also for getting him to doze off in his buggy if we're out and about around nap time, as he's now so interested in everything going on around him that he won't drop off of his own accord as he used to do. Also useful in the car on a long journey as he gets fed up after a while. We've just bought a dummy clip to attach it to his clothes so he can find it and put it back in his mouth while we're in the car. Have spent several hairly moments kneeling backwards on the front passenger seat while on the motorway, rooting around for a dropped dummy! Totally illegal of course, not to mention dangerous!

Kit seems (touch wood!) to have got over his feeding 'blip'. He didn't fuss at all at last night's late feed and took 7oz no problem. This morning he guzzled down 6.5oz without fussing or screaming. Hopefully he'll be OK again now. Was not overly concerned as he's had 'blips' like this before when he just refuses to feed properly - it tends to right itself on its own but just makes for a stressful couple of days while it's happening. At this stage I'm not too worried about him not taking enough, it's more the fact that feeding becomes such an unpleasant experience when he's screaming and throwing himself backwards every time the bottle is placed anywhere near his mouth.

At the outset looking after a baby is such a steep learning curve (I take my hat off to Hetty, Mitchie Moo and anyone else with twins!) but several months in, it suddenly hits you one day that you're actually doing an OK job and you can't remember what life was like before the little one came along. I was the least maternal person in the world before Kit - I never yearned for a baby or took that much interest in other people's - but now I couldn't be more different. I find myself overwhelmed with love for him sometimes. I absolutely adore him - he has changed my life and I wouldn't want the old one back!

Hetty it sounds like you're doing brilliantly. We put Ted in his own room for naps yesterday which I found really emotional. He seems much more settled though so it's only fair really. As for cleaning, I do what I can, when I can, my Mum sent me a poem - think it might make you feel better about the cleaning thing...

Babies Don't Keep
Cleaning and scrubbing
Can wait till tomorrow,
For babies grow up we've learnt to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs,
Dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby,
And babies don't keep.

Anon

If you can read that without crying - you're better than me!!!

Minks - it's mad to think that Ted is still only the size of a newborn. You were so right when you said that time goes so quickly. Glad to hear that Kit is more settled again, it is such a massive learning curve,knowing where to start is nigh impossible! Lots of people assume that as I teach I must know all about babies - I have to keep pointing out that the four years between birth and school is a very long time!!!

Thanks JT, what a lovely poem. Indeed, when you have a well adjusted person setting off into the world without you, you'll be congratulated for all the caring and nuturing you did, and NOT how clean your house was kept!
GMx

Anyone at the 'which stairgate to get?' phase yet? We've just made an expensive mistake!!! DOH!
GMx

Wow! Been on hols for two weeks and so much has moved on. Am feeling very fraught this morning. The boys are now very mobile and am finding it all a bit stressful since we got home yesterday. We have had several quite bad bangs to heads this morning even though we have tried to make the house safe.

All I can say especially to Hetty is play pens are a life saver!! I wouldn't get anything done if I didn't pen them in for a few minutes!

They keep pulling themselves up on things, crawling everywhere, pulling on any cables they find. Joshie pulled up on a dining room chair which then fell back on top of him. Nightmare! He stands in his cot screaming. Harry is a bit behind but still dangerous!!

Good to hear everyone else is doing well.

Hetty my two were in their own room sharing a cotbed from the day we got home. I used to feed them in their room and then come back to my own room which really worked for me. Then I used to feed them in the morning in bed like you.

Minks sounds like Kit is ready for some baby rice. Good luck!!

My two are nearly 10 months can't quite believe it. Nearly time for the next car seat, although Harry is still only 16-17lb, so not sure if he is too small still, but he is tall and his head is popping out the top of the rear facing seat.

x

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Minks - I was thinking of you today when we had a dummy incident in the car... I ended up halfway out of the seat scrabbling round on the floor of the Newport Road on Cardiff, not the safest place to be finding a dummy! I was like you, adamant not to use them - in the NCT classes hubby and I were at odds - he thought they were a good idea, I was well against. How they all laughed at the first Bumps and Babes I went to with Ted with a dummy in his mouth...

GM - You are so right about the well adjusted child/cleaning issue. I'd far rather bring a well adjusted child into the world - I've seen too many maladjusted children who's parents are workaholics and never spend any time with them...

MM - Twins on the move must be so hard. My friend has perfected the art of picking one up with her hands and the other with her foot!!! sounds terrible but helps her keep them safe!!!

hello

Quick post as dying to get to bed!

Louise now 8lbs 8 - they grow up so quickly sob sob! She has a horrible rash all over her face, abdomen and shoulder but everyone putting it down to newborn rashes - milkspots or blocked pores basically. it's worst on her trunk bizarrely.

The nursing vests look quite good actually, may investigate.

Janie, you are lucky you aren't too lopsided, I am getting more ridiculous by the day. At 4am I managed to express 50ml from left boob and 160ml from the right. The right bra cup is strained beyond belief and the left is gaping.

We are still resisting dummy. i have two stashed in the cupboard but I have found so far that my finger will suffice for a wee while and that generally when I actually think about why she's crying, I realise that time has flown by and whilst I think she's just fed, it'll turn out to have been 3hrs since I started to feed her at least.

Escaped for the longest time so far tonight - went to see Harry Potter with some gym buddies. Andy coped really well and so did my mum who looked after Louise between me leaving and Andy getting home. He had to go via sainsburys to buy new nappies. I came to the conclusion that the size 1 nappies are now officially outgrown. Two poo leakage incidents in two days is two too many! Napisan works wonders though! I looked at her bottom and the width of the sort of inner flap bit and realised the two were exactly the same size so have moved her onto size 2. here's hoping it resolves the prob. I'm not entirely sure how you're supposed to judge it!

Right, beddy byes. Sorry have virtually forgotten how to talk like a normal person about things like food and bed and burping!

Just a quickie while I can!

EF - Don't worry about the spots/rashes, they are so common - Hector has little white spots on his face and sometimes gets a little rash. Something to do with their pores not working efficiently enough just yet, so they grow out of it. I did notice a rash around his waist area the other week and realised I had hand washed his nappy wraps in soapy water, stopped using this soap and the rash went, maybe worth thinking about that, or any perfumes or creams you might be wearing yourself. A friend's baby had 'baby acne' which came and went very quickly, so it seems as if most people experience it to an extent.

I'm off to Mothercare to buy some vests in a bit, I'll let you know what they're like.

Anyone got / using mothercare stair gates? The ones that sucker onto the wall?
Need to know if these work sufficiently pls.
Thx anyone.
Wishing all you ladies and babies well.
GMx

I've been to Mothercare too today! Discovered the vests were only £10 in the shop and work very well. I ended up changing in the car on way down to Cardiff Bay for lunch!!! Only thing I've found with them is you have to move your boob to the hole rather than the other way round, I couldn't work out for a while why Ted was getting a mouthful of t-shirt!

EF - Have you tried just expressing from the one side? I seem to have started to sort my problem out, big sister suggested always starting a feed from the lazy boob and expressing from it and emptying it at the end of the day. It seems to have worked for me, hope it might for you... Oh and well done you for escaping!!!

Sorry GM - have no experience of stair gates yet, hoping I won't for few months at least!

Sorry GM, Kit isn't on the move yet so haven't started investigating stair gates yet! He had his first solids this morning! I made up far too much baby rice as wasn't sure how much he'd take but I think 1 teaspoon would have sufficed to start with. His little face looked so puzzled when hubby offered the loaded spoon to him - he wanted to grab it and pull it into his mouth himself which was rather messy, but he ended up eating about a teaspoonful in all which is great to start with. Took him a few goes to work out that he needed to swallow it - at first it kept dribbling out of his mouth and we had to keep spooning it back in!

EF, I think poo leakage incidents are kind of unavoidable whatever nappies you use! We still have them now and Kit is nearly 6 months! It's hard to find the 'perfect fit nappy' and even if you do, they then outgrow it. At the moment we're using Pampers Baby Dry size 3 - I tend to judge what size he needs by his weight but lots of the nappies are meant to fit such a wide range of sizes - I think the next size up (which we've tried but are too big at the moment) are 15-40lb which seems crazy. Kit mostly poos during feeds so I'm at home 90% of the time and can change him straight away before any accidents - but last week I had to go out and he hadn't pooed. Of course, as soon as I got into the department store I wanted to look in I heard the telltale bubbling, farty sound he makes and saw the look of concentration on his face. I peered up one leg of his shorts to see poo oozing out the side of his nappy and dribbling down his leg. I immediately opened the changing bag and whipped out a wipe, not thinking about what I'd do with it once I'd used it. Caught as much poo as I could then dashed frantically to the baby changing loo (up two floors!) still clutching pooey wipe in one hand! Must have looked so attractive!

I always thought that in many ways breastfeeding was the simpler option in terms of it always being available immediately, no need for sterilising equipment or hot water to heat feeds. But I guess it's not that straightforward even once it's established. At first I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to make it work and had to give up after only a week. But Kit is so happy and healthy and has followed his centile line perfectly so I'm certain that I made the right decision for him - and for me. I have huge respect for women who breastfeed successfully as I found it so hard and didn't enjoy it at all.

GM I have bought a John lewis stair gate Lindam, beech wood and plastic grey colour. Seems to work well as Joshie loves standing at it and jumping up and down!!! Heaven help us!!!

Harry is still comando crawling, but moves very quickly, he can't get up to standing yet, but kneels. House is pretty safe now so feel slightly less fraught than the other day. But still loads of head bangs. Joshie pulled a dining room chair on top of Harry the other day when I turned my back for second, he has a big bruise above his eye.

I use motherease one-size washable nappies, with wrap covers and have never had any leaks, poo or wee (sorry if TFN)! Am so pleased with them and has saved us loads of money. Boys wear them from 7pm till 7am at night and we never have any problems. Only time we have had problems is with disposables when we go away for a weekend. I use tesco ones for these occasions.

I admire anyone who can be bothered with washable nappies. I like the idea of them, but we have a very small house and I don't fancy drying nappies draped all over the place. I decided at the outset that the energy I was most interested in saving was my own (!) so I'm afraid we have always used disposables. I put thoughts of bulging landfill sites out of my mind and kid myself that the amount of extra washing that washables generate makes them less energy-efficient than they might at first appear. I use eco-friendly products generally and we recycle as much as we can so I feel I'm doing my bit as far as I can. We only have one small refuse bag per week - everything else is recycled - and that's mostly Kit's nappies. I do agree that washables work out much cheaper in the long run though.

Kit is cutting his first tooth! He pulled my finger into his mouth when I was changing him ready for bed last night, and I felt something sharp. Ran my finger along his bottom gum and there's definitely a little tooth starting to poke through. My gummy baby won't be for much longer! He's been really good so far and the tooth doesn't seem to have given him any trouble - he was perhaps a little cranky once or twice this week and was a bit fussy with his food for a day or so, but overall he's been fine.

Re: Mothercare vests. I bought one and got it home to find that you really need to go without a bra to use it which, with these 38Ds, is not an option! As Janie said, the hole is in an odd place too! I might take mine back, but can see how it would work fine if you are able to wear just the vest.

We had our first social occasion last night that didn't involve people coming to us. It meant a one and a half hour tube ride in both directions and coming home WAY past our bedtime. Hector was a complete star and slept all the way through apart from a couple of feeds. Actually, I think people were disappointed he didn't wake up and entertain them a bit! Next 'hurdle' is our holiday in a couple of weeks, he's got his passport and is ready to go :)

AP - where are you going on holiday? Did you find that travelling on the Tube with a baby made you realise just how baby-unfriendly it is? All those steps! I had to rely on the kindness of strangers to help me up and down the stairs, and getting on the escalators with the buggy was quite hairy at times! I wouldn't want to have to do it more than very occasionally.

Talking of baby-unfriendly, we went to Brent Cross shopping centre this afternoon which is reasonably local to us. While there I needed to feed and change Kit and was quite disappointed at the scant baby facilities. Ended up in the baby changing room in John Lewis, which was fine but very small and only has enough seating for two people at a time. Given that it's buggy central there at weekends especially, I would have hoped that baby changing facilities would have been more extensive. Was chatting to another mum as I fed Kit who told me that Mothercare used to have baby facilities but they kept getting vandalised so were closed down. Can't imagine who would want to vandalise baby changing facilities - how sad. Apparently the facilities at Bluewater are fantastic but it's quite a journey for us to go there.

Did a 6-mile run this evening - the furthest I've been for almost a year. It felt fantastic. I'm quite surprised that despite the lack of any real distance for quite some time I'm actually running faster than I was before I fell pregnant. Out of the 6 miles I ran tonight, the last four were sub-7:45 pace and one of them had quite a big hill in the middle. The first two were around 8:15 pace but I always find my first mile is the slowest as I don't warm up before I run so tend to use the first mile to do so. I'm pleasantly surprised at my new-found pace as it doesn't feel any harder than when I was at my fittest just before Kit was conceived. Of course, as my mileage increases my pace may fall off a bit as I'll be a lot more tired. For the moment though, I'll just enjoy being faster than I've ever been before!

Oh, and it looks as though Kit's getting BOTH bottom front teeth at the same time! There's too much white there for it to be just one tooth. Little chap is a star as he hasn't made a fuss about teething at all.