Violet Crossley 11/11/2013 - Last member of our brood

[Dotty_woman]

My little girl is certainly coming on leaps and bounds. Not rolling yet but getting more interested in trying to. She's been increasingly knarky the last couple of days and had a couple of crying spurts more than normal. Putting this down to leap 4 as she's happy most of the time still. Can't beat that smiley face when I go to say hello in the morning. xxx

 

[Sophie_P]

Aw x

 

[Rednursie]

Wow she's grown Dotty! Gorgeous Xxx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Out for a walk yesterday in the lovely sunshine. Walked 8 miles with Vi in her baby carrier. Feeling it today! Ouch! Think I'll take the pram if we go anywhere today!! xxx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Well we did go for another walk which was another 7 miles. The wheel broke on my pram when I was about quarter of a mile from home though! On Thursday Vi had her third set of jabs but hasn't suffered too badly afterwards fortunately. Went to meet up with my new friend from breastfeeding group. It was really windy and chilly so we sought solace in the cafe.

 

[Dotty_woman]

A year ago today I found out our little baby was on the way. Now look at her! Feeling so lucky. xxx

 

[Sophie_P]

Dotty she's just adorable!! Xx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Just a bit over two months before I go back to work. Can't believe it's going so fast. Vi is now doing some long sleeps on a night and going to bed a bit earlier. Think she went to sleep at about 10 - 10:30 last night. I'm waiting to hear back about my application for flexible working this week. It was agreed in principle before I went on maternity leave but I'm still a bit nervous in case they start being awkward. Think I'm going to have to try to put it out of my mind for now. I'm not envisioning bf by the time I go back to work as I don't think I could hack it. I certainly can't express enough to cover Vi's feeds. Since she started doing a big sleep (8-10 hours), I'm only managing to squeeze 6-7 feeds in a day. She has gone from 50th percentile to between 25-50 but now seems to be levelling out on a line between the two. Just hope I've been feeding her enough. Perhaps she'll pick up whe I move to formula. I'm just feeling a bit sad about the thought of winding it down. Feeling a bit emotional but realistically don't want to have leaky boobs when I go back to work. Think I'll have enough on my plate as it is by then.

On the up side, I'm expecting a replacement back wheel for my pram today and I'm off for a posh facial which will hopefully make me feel a bit better about how my face looks. Feeling really old at the moment and saggy jowls and a wrinkly forehead aren't helping. Hoping it gives me a bit of a lift in both senses of the phrase. xxx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Bit disappointed with facial. Last time I had it all. The lines disappeared from my forehead. Next one is supposed to "triple the effect". Yeah right. I'll believe that when I see it. Nice way to spend an hour though.

Lewis's new girlfriend (#4) came for tea last night and actually ate a decent sized portion. The last two have eaten like sparrows. Really hope Vi doesn't have any major issues with worrying about her size. Obviously don't want to encourage her to be overweight but there seem to be way too many neurotic teens who think they are fat when they look like a rail.

Thought Vi had woken up at 6:30 but when I had a peep, it looked like she was still asleep. Breastfeeding group again today so on with my 5 miles round trip. Off to the doctors fir my 6 week coil check and just remembered I've forgotten to check for the threads. Oh left for work this morning without saying goodbye. Hope he hasn't got a monk on about something. That's normally what it means.

 

[Rednursie]

Oh that's disappointing about your facial I can't believe your getting ready to go back to work already, that is scary! I'm also only taking the 6 months off myself (presume that's what you're taking?) as we can't really afford for me to go on unpaid leave. Bummer but I plan to take a couple of annual leave days every month so I'm not doing gill hours.
Have a nice time at your breastfeeding group. I'm off to one too today! But mine is literally a ten minute walk away. I hope there are some friendly mums there. I went last week and didn't think they were overly friendly. Sounds like Violet is sleeping great for you. Hopefully that will make your transition back to work that bit easier Xxx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Hi Rednursie! I'm negotiating with work at the moment and waiting to hear back from them regarding my application for flexible working . I've asked for a 4 day week which they agreed in principle before I went on maternity leave. My OH works freelance so there can be times when he isn't in work but he's been sorted for the last couple of years. I'm supposed to be the one with the predictable income. If I took longer than six months off, I'd also lose some of my holiday pay as holidays need to be taken before the end of May and only five days could be carried forward. On the upside,
I'll get three weeks pay before I actually start work again (hopefully!!).

Try to stick it out with your group. I'm not good at striking up a conversation with strangers but I think a lot of people feel the same. I have met up with one of the ladies from my group a couple of times and we've taken our little ones for a walk and a coffee. The more you go, the more people seem to talk to you. I ended up talking to the HV for most of the time on my first visit! Hope you are both doing Ok. Are you enjoying motherhood? xxx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Tried going to the original Mother and Baby group I went to again yesterday. Vi seemed to enjoy herself once she finally let me out her down without crying. There were three babies all laying on their bellies on a massive cuddly snake all looking at each other. Vi was smiling her head off but the other two were less fussed.

It took me about three quarters of an hour to change the bedding on our bed yesterday morning as little woman burst into tears every time I put her down. We are in the middle of leap 4 according to Wonder Weeks so it could be this that's not helping. Can't see the start of any teeth yet. A bit of Calpol last night seems to have helped a bit. xxx

 

[Rednursie]

The breastfeeding group was nice yesterday thanks Dotty. I'm really lucky to have one so close to me. The nurse there as lovely and reaffirmed a few things with me. She also looked at my latch as I still get pain at every feed. My little man gained an unbelievable 6oz's this week! From 9lbs3 to 9lb9! he feeds so much I shouldn't really be surprised. I hope he starts to feed a bit less soon though to be honest. Xxx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Sounds like you're doing very well Rednursie. I know people say it gets easier and it really does. Hope you're one of the lucky mums whose baby sleeps through quickly.

Once I got Vi asleep last night she slept until about 8:30. She's a bit less grouchy today. I have had a go at trying her with formula milk this morning. I'm giving Hipp Organic a go. My younger son had this when he moved from bf so I thought we'd try that one. I was a bit sad about trying but now I've done it I don't feel so bad. She took about 5oz. I've order a steriliser from Boots so hoping it will make it a lot less hassle than having to boil a pan of water to sterilise the odd bottle. Feel like the beginning of the end. Still deciding wether to keep the morning and evening bf long term. I think I'll see how it goes. xxx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Woke up this morning and my elbows are hurting again, particularly the left one. I can only assume it's from lugging Violet around. It's starting to get uncomfortable. Only going to get worse I guess though. Not sure if there is anything else I can take for the pain whilst breastfeeding. Might pop a couple of paracetamol this morning though.

Picked up a steam steriliser from Boots yesterday so readying myself for more formula feeding. Only doing one formula feed a day at the moment. Going to try the next sized teat up though next time as Vi seems to be running out of steam after about 4oz.

My boss has been in touch to come in and discuss my flexible working application which sounds like it will be happening in the next couple of weeks. Really hope they don't start being dicks. I've got potential assistance from the staff association if needed though but hoping I won't have to call on that.

 

[Dotty_woman]

For the last two days, Vi had decided she doesn't want to take a bottle any more. I've introduced one formula feed at around lunchtime. At first I thought it was because I had tried a faster flow teat but having changed back to the slower flow one, she was still having none of it. As a last ditch attempt, I tried bf and then trying to sneakily pop the bottle in whilst in the same feeding position and thankfully that seemed to work. Feel like such a cow for denying her boob but needs must unfortunately.

My eldest son has to have two teeth out tonight. Poor lad! He will also be having braces fitted. Just what he needs as he comes up to his GCSEs! xxx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Yesterday Operation formula feed took another step in the right direction. Vi decided she was going to take the bottle without insisting on me giving her a bit of boob first and also not needing to lay in boob feeding position. That is hopefully a step in the right direction. Still just doing 1 bottle a day. We managed to go for another stroll today so feeling a bit better for that. Need to up the exercise a bit so I can say I've shifted a stone since new year. Woefully slow. Need to up my will power. Here's a couple of Vi's latest piccies from week 19 and xxx

 

[Dotty_woman]

And another xxx

 

[Sophie_P]

Very cute xx

 

[Dotty_woman]

Had a lovely but tiring Mother's Day/wedding anniversary yesterday. Violet let me sleep in until 10:15 (although it was really only 9:15) so got off to a good start. Then got breakfast in bed. My presents consisted of a skull necklace and key topper, a cartoon Darth Vader/Princess Leia book, an inflatable unicorn horn for the cat and a zebra onesie for Vi. What a bizarre combination. Had a trip to see my mum but had to rush home as the in laws were coming. My FIL and SIL have both now been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the last couple of months which is not good. Was surprised about my FIL but my SIL is extremely overweight unfortunately this was less of a surprise. Bit puzzled why my MIL can't understand why when SIL drinks tons of pop, eats crap and has no top teeth.

Didn't get any time to ourselves until about 11pm after Vi had gone to bed. Hoping to go out for a meal some time this week instead. Can't believe we're only 2 years away from our silver wedding anniversary now! Eek.

Going to have to drag myself up this morning as the plumber is (hopefully) coming to make a start on installing our new ensuite bathroom. Our bedroom has been a bomb site for months with all the sanitary ware. Can't wait for it to be finished now. xxx