Morning

I feel much better today, Callie slept the whole night and i got a whole 10 hours sleep, i sooo needed that. Still no top teeth yet tho, i can see them but they've not broken thru yet.

Well done on the weight loss ladies.

We've now had to buy a new dishwasher (ok didn't have to but i NEED one), Landlord decided he wasn't going to replace the old one . I suppose at least this one will be ours and we can take it with us when we move.

Joanna sorry to hear you will be out of a job soon, it's a shame they can't get another part timer so that you could job share.

Joanne i keep going through stages of wanting to go to work but then change my mind again. I've been off work since being pregnant with Codie so thats a little over 3 years!! It just really wouldn't benefit us by me working, with 2 of them to put in nursery my wages would be used up just on that! I'll have to wait a couple more years i think.

hello all.

im natalie and i am due to have my second baby this december and i am looking for some advice.  as you have all been through this before i thought who better to ask.

see its very trivial my problem but thought i would ask anyway. i am due to give birth 31dec. so it could happen any time over the festive period. am a little confused what to do with my daughter if it were to happen on xmas day. did anyone give birth on xmas day? and if so did you have other children? 

i know its not ptractical to have her with me at the hospital and i am very lucky to have a great family support so they will no doubt keep her occupied. but how did the othere children react to the arrival of a new baby at that time of year? and when did you actually celebrate? and for anyone giving birth in that week period around xmas do you have any advice?

not really worried as i know i cant stop baby comming but just wondereing if there are any practicalities to think about? and advice when have a second child would be good.

hope you and your babies are all ok. look forward to hearing from you all soonxxx

oh and baby name ideas are always useful. think im having a girl but only 90% sure so all names welcome xxx 

Hi Natty and congrats on the bump! My 3rd daughter was born by elective section on the 4th so i had a couple of weeks to recover and get ready for christmas but some of the other ladies had their babies closer to xmas so they may have more advise.

AAAARRRGGGHH Hannah is now doing the whole " i dont want to sleep thing"!!! She goes down no probs at about 6pm but then wakes at around 2am crying or singing and stays awake for a good hour which in turn wakes up the other 2 girls!! Any advise? She still has 2 naps a day, one at about 10am and one at about 2pm, both for 1-2 hours, is that too much sleep during the day at this age?

Hi Natty, are you able to consider a home birth?  My little boy was born on Boxing Day at home and it was great.  Granted my older son had gone on holiday with his dad on Christmas night and, had he been at home, he was 14 then anyway so would've chosen to stay well out of the way.  You haven't said how old your daughter is so unless you can have somebody there to supervise her it might not be an option, but if its practical for you I'd give it serious consideration, got to be better than being in hospital over the festive period.

It was great though having a Christmas baby, I think it will be an even more special time of year now.  He might not agree when he gets older mind having it altogether but we've already come up with a scheme to make sure his birthday is always special.

As for names, stay well away from Christmas ones, ha ha.  Our boy was due on Christmas Eve and we joked about calling him Jesus or Santa - people still refer to him as the baby Jesus !!  I haven't really thought about girls' names having two boys but some I quite like are Poppy, Ruby, Summer (if that's appropriate for a Dec baby?!), Pheobe, Daisy - nothing too outlandish basically.  Good luck with it all anyway.

Emma, Jay still has at least 2 sleeps during the day, generally around an hour each too.  Could she perhaps go to bed a little later, say 7-7.30 ish, might be worth a try, we try to keep Jay up til around 8-8.30ish and then he rarely wakes before 7.30-8.30 in the morning.  Other than that not really sure, hope you get it sorted though, nothing worse than disturbed nights after you've got used to full nights sleeps.

Natty i ended up having my baby in November so i'm no use at all, good luck tho with whatever you decide to do x

Emma it's hard when baby shares with siblings, i have the same problem. When Callie wakes she usually screams the house down and wakes Codie up if i leave her for more than a few minutes. I would do what Joanne suggests and put her to bed a little later. Callie goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 and usually sleeps through, she also still has 2 naps a day. Her morning nap is for about half hour and then she usually has 2 hours in the afternoon from 1-3ish.

x

Evening all,

Hi Natty, congrats on Bump! I had my first baby on the 19th December by elective c-section - so probably not much use to you because I did not have any other children to consider - I am with Joanneon trying for a home birth if it is practical and it does make Christmas that little extra special

Emma - Jemma and I have been having the same problem with Kya and Isabella - the HV advice was to give them a little drink of water and then do the rapid return technique - try not to talk to them, turn them on to their side and leave the room - not sure if this works well if they are sharing a room with other siblings - but it might be worth a try - she said that one of the reasons babies do this is to test their boundaries - Thankfully Kya was only a pain for a couple of weeks and things seem to have settled a lot lately - she also has two main naps during the day and will doze in the car or in her buggy if we are out. Hope that helps a little x

Finally Kya has hit the 18lb mark - was very excited when she got weighed - not sure why though

She has also managed to jump up from the 9th percentile to the 25th for her weight and is on the 75th percentile for her height - still can't get over how quick this year has gone. 

Enough babbling from me - hope you all have a wonderful weekend

xx

Hi Natty. I had Charley on 23rd December but came home Christmas Day. OH has two other children, one was 9 at the time and one was 2. Enzo (2yr old) went a bit funny for a while and didn't really want to know his new half-sister but we just didn't push him and he came and introduced himself in his own time. Lily (9yr old) still thinks Charley was the best christmas present ever!

It was hard waking up in hospital on Christmas Day - especially as at that point we didn't even know if we were going to be allowed home as Charley refused to feed. But the it worked and she worked it out, when Paul picked us up we got home and he'd done the shopping and put the tree up and everything (tree was always my job so I was a bit disappointed).

Having a baby over Christmas was brilliant because OH only gets 2 weeks paternity leave but with all the bank holidays he was off for about 3 in the end, plus all the family are around to help etc so it was perfect in the end!

Hi all

sorry I havn't been on for an age but I have started back at work and its been mad !!!

well holly is doing really good she is walking with a stand up walker and has just got her first clarks shoes bless x

she is now weighs 23lb and is solid LOL x

I am so glad all of you are ok and sorry to hear some are not to well x

Debra and Holly xxxxx

Oh Polly thats terrible news hun! bigs hugs all round!!

I went to get Hannah weighed today and she is now 18lbs 10oz at 41 weeks! she is now between the 25th and 50th centile! Little porker!!!

hi ladies.

thank you all so much for your advice. i do love the idea of a home birth and have been trying to persuade dh. hes not sure and said maybe for the next one!!! also not sure if i could as i am under the consultant due to high bmi so may be they wont let me. might speak to my m/w about it anyway just to see if it is a posibility?

molly is 2 and a bit so is at the age where she is mischeivious!! she dosn't exactly understand but knows im having a baby and keeps asking for a boy!!! oppps think she may be disappointed!!! but not sure if she could be witness to me screaming in pain. is very v=confident but gets scared easily at loud noises.

as for names the suggestions are fab. the only slightly christmas name we have considered is holly. but not sure if it would confuse matters with having a molly!! also like poppy, izzy (isobella) and chloe. as for boys i am stumped!! they are so much more difficult.

well thank you all so so much. been really kind and helpful. i hope you are all doing well and the sleepless nights are statring to ease? it does get easier. that is until your find out your having another and your once sweet and innocent dd gets a wicked streak and starts becoming a monster!!! but hey these things come to test us. take it easy xxx 

Hi everyone,

Polly, really hope everything goes well for the little one and they can zap it all away x

Haven't been on much, Matt can stand up by himself now using the sofa or anything that'll stay still long enough for him to grab it! so that's all he wnts to do and I'm getting nothing done as I'm hovering round worrying he'll fall over!!

Can't believe they're growing up so quick, I really don't want to go back to work yet but only got a few weeks left, boo.

Matt was weighed last week and was 20lb3 so he's moved to his forward facing seat which he seems to like.

Hope everyone's ok xx

Polly, thats awful about your friend's little one, glad to hear it hasn't spread.  Sending all the best wishes in the world for a full and speedy recovery for the poor little poppet.

Good luck whatever you decide Natty, hope it all goes well for you.  If you would like more info on homebirths try www.homebirth.org.uk, its very good.  Also happy to answer any questions you might have.

Jx

Polly really sorry to hear about your friends little girl, must be awful for her and her parents to go through something like this at such a young age. We all moan about things in life when really we should be grateful that our little ones are happy and healthy.

I'm going to get Callie weighed on Thursday, she must be 20lb's by now i would think. I haven't taken her for 12 weeks and she was 17lb odd then.

I have my appointment on Monday to have the naughty cells burnt off my cervix. It's come round so quick and i'm getting a little nervous now, I'll be fine this time tho cos OH is coming with me .

x

Hi all,

Debbie- hope all goes well Monday, not a nice thing but at least it will be over and done with and make sure you lap up the TLC from hubby!  Polly, so sorry to hear about your friend and her daughter, it is so heartbreaking but like you said, it hasn't spread so that is really good.

I have a swollen tendon in my foot and should be on crutches but obviously that wouldnt be very practical!  Can also only take paracetamol so swelling might not go down for ages which means I can't really walk anywhere which is a real pain!  Hope it doesnt stay swollen for pregnancy or else I wont be able to walk anywhere and will become a huge heffer!!!!

off to do dinner, speak soon x

Debbie, because I've been so shit at getting on the computer lately I'll send you my best wishes for Monday now.  Hope it all goes well and I'll be thinking of you.

Jx