Tiny Turtle Hatchlings

[Leap]

Open to a new thread title, this is just to get the ball rolling as our totey turtle numbers are about to increase by three

Baby Hop is now 11 weeks, has had her first round of vaccinations and is sort of circling a routine (growth spurts, leaps* and cluster feeds notwithstanding). More often than not in the last two weeks she has gone 5 hours from her last feed of the day to the first night feed, followed by two 4 hour gaps. For us this means usually a last feed at 9 pm, wake ups at 2 am and 6 am and then another 2-3 hour sleep which is totally workable and helps my sleep deficit immensely even if I don’t ever get a whole night (I’m currently breastfeeding only).

She is also just a little joy. I think we have been incredibly lucky with a happy, hungry baby and we pinch ourselves quite a lot, even when things get a bit bleak.

Personally I have loads to say, but think a lot of it is summed up by an article I read which I will go and dig out which talks about motherhood (new or with subsequent children) as a distinct stage for those that choose it. I will describe it poorly so I will find it and try to quote directly instead.

I know in terms of young babies we also have Beatrix - who else do we have? Beatrix how old is M now?

*I really like the Wonder Weeks app even if it does tarnish my good name by associating it with the darker patches of parenting It’s £3.99 and its predictions of behavioural changes have been pretty accurate for Hop so far.

[Leap]

This isn’t the article I read but it talks about the same thing (“matrescence”). It definitely helps make sense of some of the thoughts/feelings I’ve had. Just today I felt like I fucked up general parenting massively, when in retrospect it was a tiny blip that I probably won’t even remember if I read this back in a year.

The Birth of a Mother

[Kenickie]

That's a lovely outfit and she is gorgeous!

I'll check out the app and article.

That amount of sleep sounds bearable and definitely better than the worst case scenario that I've been imagining, but still must be quite tough so you're doing really well with the feeding etc. She does look like a joy though.

I had to read your first sentence a few times as I was thinking 'hang on, but Hop is already here and there's only been three of us pregnant this year'. :alreadyforgottenhowmanybabiesimhaving:

[Kenickie]

She is lovely! I can see why you'd want another one. But also why your husband might be keener, not being the one to actually have to go through everything again.

I'd reassure you that I was really late to walk, and when my mum got me a door bouncer to encourage me I just sat down in it, but I've been a bit physically lazy /inept since then so I'm not sure how helpful that is. ;) I mean, I can walk and stuff now though.

[Kenickie]

She is lovely! I can see why you'd want another one. But also why your husband might be keener, not being the one to actually have to go through everything again.

I'd reassure you that I was really late to walk, and when my mum got me a door bouncer to encourage me I just sat down in it, but I've been a bit physically lazy /inept since then so I'm not sure how helpful that is. ;) I mean, I can walk and stuff now though.

[Leap]

Oh she is so lovely, Beatrix I respect a girl who decides to put her parents to work (remind me of this in a year or so) Do you think number 2 is a matter of when rather than if? Feel free not to answer of course!

Ken Honestly, the way I feel on waking up shows me how much this 5/4/3ish pattern is absolutely fine even if it lasts a long time. It’s enough time to feel rested enough to get up for the feeding and changes, and according to the books (and, I’ll tentatively say, for the last few nights) she doesn’t need a change in the night which is part of her circadian rhythm adjusting too, apparently.

The thing I would say that has helped the most has been a white noise app (just the first one that comes up on a search) - actual shushing soothes her too, but the Fan setting on the app has been known to actually knock her straight out It’s part of her bedtime routine now (nothing complicated here yet, just dark room, calm voices, white noise on and a few other things to cue her that it’s time to sleep) and also helped me to nap in the early days I found I was listening for her even if I had gone to bed to grab much-needed sleep, so tuning into the noise broke into that anxiety long enough for me to drop off.

[F'Artiste]

Look at all the squidge .

A2 is 13.5 months and still not walking yet (or showing any interest; he crawls really quickly, and V keeps him fairly entertained). I’m still waiting for him to sleep through the night though . It had gotten a lot better recently, with him only waking once or twice a night, for fifteen minutes (and he would go back to his cot), but the last couple of nights it’ll take me well over an hour at a time to get him back to sleep.

I don’t think we’ll have any more. Fertility issues aside, I would have to quit work for a third, which I don’t want to do right now.

[Tits McGee]

She likes nothing more than to slouch on the sofa with a book and point to things she wants brought to her, while saying ‘yesh’.

L is not remotely tiny any more (6! ) but I'm loving seeing the littlest hatchlings.

[F'Artiste]

That’s brilliant Beatrix .

And yes. If we had a giant house and acres of storage, cleaners and help, I would absolutely have more. But we rarely get to go out as it is, and have no help from my in laws really. Also, I think I’m a bit scarred from the months where V would throw the most awful tantrums at the same time that A2 would cry and cling to my legs .

[Kenickie]

A2 is very sweet, and looks quite grown up there!

I always thought three was a nice number but I don't think I could bear being pregnant again. Plus I'm not sure if a singleton after twins would always feel left out. And then there's the fairly high chance of having another set of twins. :eek:

I've also added up childcare for two and it's basically my whole take home salary (which before now I thought was pretty decent!) so I have no idea how people afford three unless they don't work or have free childcare from family or something.

[Rhodonite]

All these gorgeous tiny hatchlings!

I thought I'd like three too, but I really don't think I can do pregnancy again. Plus I'm 37 now so I'd need to do it again fairly soon. I definitely need to see how I actually cope with two first too. I'm slightly scared!

[Leap]

Oh I just lost a big post Hop had been asleep for seven (7) hours but my boobs had woken me up after 6 so I was just passing time as I was sure she was soon to wake up any minute! She is fed and back to sleep now but my post is gone.

Main thing was how cute A2 is The sleep issue sounds so hard though F’Arty, especially after so long and with dealing with work on top of it. Does he disturb V? How do they get on together?

Hop is now 12 weeks and has mostly been an absolute sweetheart this week, despite a very different sleep experience on Monday night leaving me very furiously insisting to myself around this time of the morning that I will not try to do this again

She is a proper chunk, and has been tracking on the 98th percentile for 3 weeks now and weighed in at 17 lbs 1 oz on Thursday. Clothes sizes are quite difficult as e.g. her Tesco sleepsuits are only just big enough in the 3-6 month size, whereas the Sainsbury’s ones (my preference overall) seem okay, but I’m sure that’s the case no matter what. I wonder if Next baby sizes are my best bet, given their vanity sizing in the women’s range

Here she is gazing at her first and most important friend: the window. :truelove:

[Kenickie]

Vanity sizing. So far we've got stuff from a range of places, but I was wondering whether it's easier to pick one shop to get most stuff from depending on fit. A bit like how I mostly shop for myself in Warehouse. ;)

Seven hours is brilliant! Sorry Monday was rubbish though.

[Dandelion]

M&S stuff comes up huge, Leap, FYI! Hop is so gorgeous and you sound like you are doing so well.

[Rhodonite]

Look at those gorgeous chubby cheeks!

12 weeks already! It's flown by. 7 hours is brilliant though.

I've always found Next sizes massive. Even now, J is still in 2-3 years from there. He is small for 4, but he's usually in 3-4 or 4-5 everywhere else.

[maya]

Aah they are all so lovely!! 12 weeks is a real milestone to reach, I always think.

I’m not the most frequent of posters but also have a little one - J is 14 months next week. I’ve posted before about his hypermobility and my development concerns but I’m happy to say that he is making good progress and i’m less worried now (not walking but crawling a lot and pulling up to stand all the time etc) ...he has two sisters, 4 & 6 who adore him

[Princess Morripov]

Oh look! He is so super cute

I always found that Tupac was in much larger sizes, usually one ahead of his age range. Next has always seemed a bit more generous on sizing though.

[Leap]

Oh maya, he is gorgeous! And so is your sink, is that your house?

That’s great news about his development. A friend of mine has (different) concerns about her 2 year old just now, and it has been so stressful for her just waiting and watching so I hope it’s not taken too much of a toll. It looks like he provides plenty of distraction in the meantime

Dande that’s a good point, we have bodysuits from M&S that are perfect for her just now. She hates having clothes put on her, the tiny nudist, so I’m conscious of not squeezing her into anything that only just fits.

[Leap]

So far we've got stuff from a range of places, but I was wondering whether it's easier to pick one shop to get most stuff from depending on fit. A bit like how I mostly shop for myself in Warehouse. ;)

It is a bit of this I’ve found - like that’s a Tesco sleepsuit in my last pic, and she’s the full length of it but we have to roll the sleeves up. The Tesco ones have also not washed very well, whereas even the Sainsbury’s stuff we had passed on from my niece is all in great condition and is also just beautiful.

The suit in my first post is a (new) Sainsbury’s number, and also has a benefit I keep meaning to mention to you - zip fastening. You can find them all over I’m sure (I know Gap do them too) but from my grumpy girl who finds every popper to be a torment, we would both recommend the speed of zips for twins in particular.

[Kenickie]

Ah, I don't think we've got anything with zips yet but that definitely sounds like a good idea! Interesting about Tesco vs Sainsburys too.

That's a lovely picture, Maya!