Hello Mudduh Hello Fadduh: ILX Rolling Parenting Thread

I had what was known as "shared care", which consisted of seeing my own GP and the community midwife for the routine ante natal appointments, and then I gave birth at the local NHS hospital attended by one of the community midwives I had already got to know (which was nice - it felt better to have someone with whom I had some kind of rapport already, rather than a complete stranger).

I gave birth to Rhian on a beanbag on the floor, like I was some sort of whelping labrador, to the sound of They Might Be Giants' "Particle Man" blaring out on the CD player, while I giggled uncontrollably from having had far too much gas an air. It was great :)

I am seeing the midwife next Friday and will get info about classes and hospital visit then I think. I like the idea of a beanbag!

I don't remember packing anything useful in my hospital bag except the clothes I wore home.

No epidural? Oh,... hahahahah... HAHAHAHA I was as naive as you when I was pregnant. After ten hours I'd have KILLED for drugs. I was a junkie without crack. But hey I know it can be done.

Teeny, how's everything? Cured of that cold I do hope!

Ophelia is sitting but in a wobbly fashion. I was SLIGHTLY worried but then I met a mother who's baby doesn't even have good head control at seven months (granted, it was ten weeks premature). I realized that I should not worry if some things go slower.

I was trying to find when Louis was standing up. Yes, I like to follow your son's progress (and every other ILXor baby). :-)

Oh yes, tooth seven and eight are coming through.

Emma started JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL yesterday OMG WTF. I dropped her off for 6th grade orientation day and we did this whole awkward wave thing that kind of broke my heart, I wanted to hug her but, y'know, NOT IN FRONT OF ALL THE OTHER KIDS DUH so I forebore. She is funny and sarcastic and wise, and taller than her mother at not-quite-eleven years old.

Sammy got a pretty good scar from falling onto our coffee table last year, it got kinda sunburned this summer, we might have to do a little more about that. He is now in 3rd grade and obsessed with:
*Gene Kelly movies, musicals in general, and Broadway
*Judaism (his own, and others)
*Genghis Khan, Egypt, Rome, other ancient figures and civilizations
*"Project Runway" and "Lost"
*Italian football team, esp. Gennaro Gattuso (we just bought him a jersey on eBay for his birthday)
*North Carolina, still, but also now Seattle for some reason
*writing soap operas and serial dramas about guys with strange names defeating Hitler
*talking trash during our fantasy football draft

And (at the risk of making everyone saw "eww") the only important thing you need to pack to take to the hospital is a plentiful supply of Always Ultra Night-Time Super-Duper Absorbancy type pads because you'll need them for several days afterwards and they don't seem to have any available in the hospital to just give you.

Do you still get loads of freebies for the baby? I got a huge box load of free nappies, creams, wipes etc while I was in hospital - a marketing ploy from pampers to target new mothers I guess. Still, it was very useful.

The pads are a good idea but at our hospital they had tons. I really needed'em as bled like a pig. :-( I lost so much blood they had to give me two bags of blood.

My son started 3rd grade today and my daughter begins preschool this morning. I can't quite believe it...

Louis is way advanced on the gross motor skills front, I'm sure he'll make up for it by waiting until seven or eight to read. He sat up around 5.5 mos, started crawling and pulling up a week or so after he turned six months. If I leaned him against something, he could hold himself standing up around four months, but he couldn't get up by himself at that point. I certainly wouldn't worry about Ophelia although I know exactly how you feel!

Hurrah! Fuck one long labour, get hacked right in there!

Maria, that sounds scary - glad you got through relatively unscathed. Thankfully it *was* an old lady driver, rather than a carefree young guy in a fast car...

and looking like bob hoskins (according to adam):

ihttp://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6929/412/1600/DSCF0836.jpg

ten weeks old tomorrow, still eating CONSTANTLY although the nights have gotten slightly better over the past few days; we ditched the bassinet entirely and he's in the bed. we all sleep better this way (not having to get up).

BTW WHAT A CUTIE!

anyway I challenge you all to a baby cute-off!

http://static.flickr.com/81/241787024_145bde823c_m.jpg

Cyrus had to have shots today and was understandably distraught. Otherwise, he's just fine. I keep driving past the spot and imagining other worse alternate realities. Every time I drive by, I'm reassured that I wasn't doing anything risky by walking there. I called the lady who hit us and she promises to send $ for a new stroller.

Edith wants me to pick her up:

http://static.flickr.com/80/239112981_e71873a86d.jpg

Edith is reading Fantastic Mr Fox:

http://static.flickr.com/82/239180325_f23539a874.jpg

Edith is at the fun fair:

http://static.flickr.com/85/239555044_30b8ebe40b.jpg

Cute, moi, I'm not really sure, I'll have to ask my manager.
...
He just rang me back saying all the ilxor babies are cute. There's no point in competing.
...
Ah well.

Maria, I still get shivers when I reread it.

A cousin of our salesperson's husband just had a baby. Apparently it's blind in one eye, the other is closed, the legs are misaligned (or something) and the poor thing also has a hole in the heart. Yesterday the poor baby had to undergo an operation for the heart and the eye (that's shut). Apparently the iris in the blind eye doesn't react to light or something which is very painful for the baby. I nearly cry everything I hear her talk about this. :-(

Asleep in Greenwich record shop:

http://static.flickr.com/86/239433106_05cf2c122c_m.jpg

Surround sound:

http://static.flickr.com/66/226569536_0dce441ea6_m.jpg

Ordering more hats over the internet:

http://static.flickr.com/87/236756128_77fddfd4b3_m.jpg

I notice a pacifier. Sadly Ophelia discovered her thumb (or rather both of'em) and refuses a pacifier (and a bottle/sippy cup that has gum (?)).

Although I feel very bad because the first thing I look at in pictures is now the pushchair. Still have not purchased... but I think we are getting a Maclaren Ryder.

From November it'll be the Mutsy (as long as we can find a cheap duo seat).

She's way ahead of her brothers in everything else. They got teeth at eight months. She's nearly ten months with none in sight.

There's your answer.

it's funny. I can remember everything about our first child and basically nothing about the second. that's the punishment from having Irish twins I guess.

Mrs Sister Disco is very keen on a Quinny. We are on our second "small" pushchair, and neither have been very satisfactory. One is now in Spain.

finger food is so much fun!
http://static.flickr.com/80/241786719_79074ace83_m.jpg

Good luck with the whole "OMG a baby totally didn't come out of my vagina" thing :-)

Thanks for good wishes etc, I'll pass them on to Mrs O and I'll let you know how everything goes.