Lovely sleep!

For the past week or so, Imogen's sleeping has been great! Evenings have sometimes seemed to be one long feeding frenzy, but once she's down she's slept through to 4-5am. And for the last couple of nights the evenings have been better - she's been asleep about 1 1/2 hrs after the start of the bath/bed-time routine - and then she's slept through until 6am. Dave's then got up, changed her nappy and brought her to bed so I can feed her there and get a couple of hours more sleep. Bliss!

I don't know what we've done to get her into this, although she's more reliable in getting thumb to mouth for sucking (as shown in the photo) and we've locked the crib as she was rocking herself to the side and getting tangled up in the bars. But to be honest, I don't really mind that we don't know what we've done. All I mind is that she's happy and content, which she obviously is. Long may it continue!!

Proper camping

Although we've been with Imogen to a couple of different campsites with SAGGA, we'd so far avoided sleeping under canvas, as it was just a bit cold. But that changed this weekend. It was our Scout group's annual family camp, so this family joined the fun!

The weather wasn't great for the first half of the weekend and she didn't sleep particularly well on Friday night - I was up with her twice, and both times her little hands and nose were freezing! But after a _lot_ of rain on Saturday the cloudy skies meant that the second night was warmer and we had a fantastic night's sleep (once we'd walked her in the buggy round quieter areas to persuade her to go to sleep in the first place) with her sleeping through until 6am. The other leaders couldn't believe it when I was there cooking breakfast - I don't normally do mornings!!

Molly and I did some crafts and made sure Imogen has a souvenir of her first camp - a painted fish suncatcher. Other than that, Imogen seemed to enjoy watching the trees blowing and dropping Mr Cow in the mud! She got bits of leaves in her nappy when the wind blew at the wrong time, and didn't seem to mind the greenfly and money spiders crawling on her.

So that's it, there's no stopping us now. SAGGA summer camp here we come! And then in September, were hoping to go away on the boat, which will be another milestone in her little life.

Toys are great!

It's lovely to see Imogen taking more interest in the world around her. And toys are the best!

She loves just looking at things, so we bought her a play arch off ebay (for a bargain price of £9.50!) which she spends ages under, now also trying to hit and grab the dangly toys. I bought a chime with a nice ring to it as well, so at least it doesn't get too annoying.

The Freddy Frog bath book was mine when I was little, and I can still remember the story word for word - how sad is that?! She's now in the big bath, having outgrown the baby bath, and loves splashing and "swimming" . We haven't got many bath toys at the moment, so we're going to have to go shopping soon.

Mr Cow (on the right of the second picture) is a current favourite. It's lovely and soft, and she is getting much better at grasping it. Her eyes light up when she's shown it, and she loves it when he moves about and his head rattles. His ears, horns and hands are also great for sucking on!

BTW I've added more photos to the web album, so you might want to check it out again.

Post natal yoga & baby massage

Today Imogen and I went to a post natal yoga & baby massage class. It's run by Olivia (who ran the maternity yoga class I went to) and Lesley Lister (who does the massage bit). It was only a small class, with just three mums and babies, which was nice. Massage first, which Imogen really liked; it was legs and feet today. Then, after herbal tea and chocolate biscuits, time for yoga. I was a bit worried that Imogen wouldn't let me do anything, but she seemed quite happy to lie on the floor and chatter away to herself or Olivia. Different moves to the maternity yoga - which makes sense when I think about it - which are focussed on pelvis and stomach as well as relaxing shoulders and back.

Shame Imogen's been a bit of a nightmare since we got home; she slept in the car on the way back, but woke when we got home. Since then she's been trying to convince me that she's hungry (although when I've fed her she got uncomfortable and then brought it all back) but I know she's just tired. So much for me getting the lounge cleared today!

BTW last night's sleep was fantastic - 8pm til 5.30am, with a good feed and then more sleep until 8.30am. I hoping we can have the same again tonight, but based on previous inconsistencies, I'm not holding my breath

I was being too hopeful!

Last night was awful. I couldn't bring myself to go to bed when Imogen went down at 7.30 - just too early (although now I wish I had). So, at 9.30 I decided I'd go to bed - at 10 o'clock, just as I was drifting off, she woke up. And that was it for the night. She didn't sleep for more than an hour at any one time :(

Bless her, she did try and suck her fingers at times, but with her arm through the bars on the side of the crib it wasn't easy. Don't know why she kept waking up though - it's a mystery that we just couldn't work out. Bum was clean, tummy was full, not too hot, not too cold. The only thing that's possible is tummy ache from wind (she does do quite a lot of farting), but if I try and wind her after feeding most times nothing happens.

Any ideas?

Is this a turning point?

For a while now we've thought that Imogen would eventually find thumb or fingers. Occasionally we've managed to edge her thumb in, which she then sucked. For a few days she's been putting fist in mouth and sucking on it when she's tired, but today fingers went in - definitely not by accident and not just once! (Takes after her Mummy!!!) The first time I'd put her in the cot while I hung some washing out, and came back in to find her a bit unsettled, but calming herself with her fingers; since then they've been in quite a bit. And I've just put her down for the night - as I did she stirred which would usually mean her waking and crying, but tonight fingers went in and she soothed herself to sleep. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's a sign of a good night tonight - and that we've reached a turning point when she may be quite happy to be left sometimes. Or am I being too hopeful?!

Campfire songs are great!

Imogen was in a really grumpy mood after her bath tonight - didn't want to feed, didn't want to sleep, didn't want a cuddle... So I sang her campfire songs and she calmed down! A true Scout!!

Every day brings something new!

Imogen is changing and developing all the time and it's amazing to see what's new each day. She's been smiling since she was about 3 weeks old, but now she'll smile spontaneously, rather than just in response to someone else's. Her head control is improving, and she quite likes her "tummy time" - as long as there's something interesting to look at. She's recently found her hands - it started with her spending time just staring at them, but she's now trying to use them for bashing her toys on the play arch and in the pushchair, and can now reliably put fist in mouth to suck on (but there's still work to do on straigtening thumb/finger). She's been watching us move round the room for a couple of weeks, and now doesn't always like being left in a room - she thinks you're never going to come back. In fact Dave had fun hiding behind the wardrobe door (when she cried) then popping out again (when she smiled)! Imogen is certainly an inquisative little girl and doesn't like to think she's missing anything - she's started wanting to be sat up a bit in the pushchair so she can see what's happening, although it tires her quickly.

It's fantastic spending time with Imogen and watching her changing every day.

First jabs

Yesterday Imogen had her first jabs. She was due to have them last week, but we decided to delay them when she wasn't very well. It wasn't too traumatic - I fed her while the nurse stabbed her, and after the initial scream she decided that milk was far more interesting than crying! (Thanks to the midwife for suggesting I fed her when she had the Guthrie test when she was tiny - it worked then, so it was worth a try again.)
She wasn't too bad for the 24hrs after either - she slept quite a lot yesterday afternoon/evening and we gave her a couple of doses of paracetamol because she was hot, but that's all. Luckily it didn't seem to affect last night's sleep much either - just the one feed at 4am, but a bit unsettled after that.

Bugs are great!?!

Imogen's not been well for the past few days. It started at the end of last week with a bit of a cough - C took her to the dr last Friday when it sounded a bit chesty, but all was OK. Over the weekend, the congestion and cough got worse and Sunday & Monday nights were a nightmare - we didn't get more than 1 1/2 hrs sleep at any point and most of the time it was only 30 minutes. At one point on Tuesday night we were all in tears - Imogen because she felt rough and couldn't sleep, C because she was getting ratty and then felt guilty about it, and me because I just didn't know what to do! On Wednesday night, I went to bed early with the idea that if she couldn't/wouldn't sleep, I'd take her shopping to Tesco, but we got a few more hours sleep that night, so we've still got no food in the fridge!
Imogen was due her first vaccinations yesterday, so we put that off until next week, not wanting to add more hassle to this week. Dr Nicola visited yesterday and pointed out that 5 bugs in the first year gives a reduced chance of developing asthma and eczema, so at least she's on target for that!
She's been better today, and has enjoyed church Sunrise group and a taster session at Gymboree, but was really tired from all the excitement, so C gave her an early bath and she's now sleeping like a little angel - hopefully tonight will be a good one!

Poorly Imogen

At the moment, we've got a grumpy girl caused by congestion, cough, and general bleurghness! It started mid-week, but really picked up yesterday. A quick trip to the Dr reassured us that there's nothing on her chest, so it's just a case of lots of cuddles and sleep, and making sure she keeps feeding. She's too young for Karvol/Vicks or similar, but we've propped the head of her cot up and are doing a bit of baby massage to try to help. Lets hope the snotty nose clears in time for photographs at Sunrise group on Thursday.

Staying Away

It was inevitable really - Imogen's first night away from home was on a Scouting event. We'd been to our group's St George's Day camp the previous weekend, but only visited for the day. Then, over May Day BH weekend, NW SAGGA were at Giants Seat, so we decided to go over from Saturday until Sunday. All went well: she slept OK in the travel cot and didn't keep everyone awake; the camp chair was OK for breastfeeding; George told Imogen about the idiosyncrasies of SAGGA so she's prepared for summer camp; and she had a bath in a crate in true camp style! We did stay in a building, so she hasn't had a night in a tent yet, but it won't be long.

We'd promised we'd take Imogen to see Dave's Nana as soon as we could, so last week in all that hot weather, we travelled down to near Reading. The trip down was a bit of a nightmare - Imogen was too hot and thirsty, and screamed a lot of the way, as Chris Evans announced to the whole of the country on Radio 2. Again, Imogen slept OK, and didn't keep anyone at the B&B awake. Nana was thrilled to meet Imogen, and had a cuddle with a smiley baby. We took Nana out to lunch, where Imogen charmed the pub staff, before coming home again - the trip was OK.

To top off a busy 10 days, we headed north to my cousins 18th birthday. There were plenty of people who Imogen hadn't met, including Godmother Tilly, so plenty of cuddles all round. Imogen went spottily dressed for the whole weekend, not just the mandatory party bit and had a little dance at the disco, before finally going to sleep. Again, she slept quite well that night, and the journey home was fine too. We were all krackered after all that travelling, so it's nice to have the next couple of weeks with not much planned.

It's a busy life

Imogen and I like to get out and about every day. The fresh air and recent sunshine are good for both of us (although Imogen's not too keen on the heat that goes with the sunshine). We're slowly discovering the secret world of baby activities - there's so much going on that I didn't know about before becoming a Mummy.

Mondays is Sunshine Hour at church - singing, a bible story and activities, as well as the obligatory drink and biscuits. Imogen's too young for it really, although she enjoys the songs, but it gets us out of the house.

There's a choice of several baby or toddler groups on Tuesdays, but this week we found one that was really lovely. It's in Hillsborough, so quite close, and is just for babies (basically until they can move about themselves). This week there were quite a lot of first time Mums with babies of only a few weeks old, so it was good to chat with people in a similar situation to me. There were loads of lovely toys for Imogen, and everyone was so friendly - the chocolate bars helped too!

On a Thursday its the Sunrise group at church - this is for babies and toddlers, and is more a fellowship/friendship thing than a bible teaching thing. It's nice to go there because there's people we know from church, but also other people from the village, so hopefully we can make more friends.

Once a month the local libraries have "Babytime" which we went to a couple of weeks ago. I thought that Imogen may be too young for it, but everyone was really nice and Imogen enjoyed the singing bits, and since then we've been looking at books together - she likes ones with black and white pictures, bright colours, or shiny reflective bits.

That's the regular things at the moment, but there's other stuff happening soon too. We're hoping to go swimming when Imogen's had her first vaccination, although I'm still trying to work out where to go for that. We're booked on a postnatal yoga & baby massage course for 6 weeks starting in June - run by Olivia who I did the maternity yoga with when I was pregnant. Gymboree is something we're looking at as well - we're going to a free taster session for the baby class next week, so more about that later.

And between all that we have to find time for shopping, washing, hair cuts etc etc. It's all go, and I am tired, but I'm loving it (or most of it!)

Breast-feeding

I would never have thought that something so natural could be so difficult. Even now, with Imogen seven weeks old, we still have some feeds that we struggle with. It's been shear stubbornness on my part, together with fantastic support from Dave and NCT breast-feeding
counsellors, that means I'm still carrying on. Oh, and the thought of the faff of sterilising & making up formula! It would have been so easy to give up on several occasions.

The antibiotics I had for a uterine infection left me prone to thrush, and sure enough it happened. It's difficult to describe the pain associated with thrush in the milk ducts, but the best I can do is that it feels like someone is sticking pins behind the nipple after a feed. Not pleasant at all! Luckily the BF counsellor and my midwife gave me some really good information (also available on the Breast feeding \network website) about what treatment was needed. So, after taking antifungal capsules, using cream on my nipples and gel for Imogen's mouth, I managed to clear it. But only for about 10days - yes, it came back last week, so we're back on all that treatment. This time my breasts are itchy as well, which just adds to the fun! Luckily Imogen hasn't caught it, so we haven't had to struggle with her having a sore mouth or horrible nappy rash as well.

The main thing about breast-feeding, or at least the bit we've struggled with, is positioning. At first it all seemed to be going OK, and I don't really know when things started to become difficult, but it has mainly been on the left side where the problems have been. We tried loads of things - feeding in the bath (really lovely at the beginning when she was only little and I needed baths to relax me), feeding in bed (still lovely and a good choice when we're having a bad night or when we don't have to get out of the house too early in the morning, 'cos I get extra sleep!) and "rugby-balling" (which is the current position of choice but might become more difficult as she
grows bigger.

But breast-feeding is back to being lovely now, rather than the tearful struggle it has been at times, and I'm enjoying it. Before she was born, I thought I'd want to express so D could share some of the night-time duties, but at the moment I'm quite happy, and don't want to do anything that might bring another complication to it.

A long-overdue update

It's been so busy, that finding time for blogging is difficult, but I've finally found a bit of time, so here goes...
Imogen is doing really well. She's gaining weight and is now 9lb 9oz - it's not as rapid growth as Henry from NCT who's nearly doubled his birth weight already, but I love my little baby and don't want her to grow up!
She's developing her own little character now. Smiles came when she was about 3 weeks old, and now she won't even save them just for Mummy and Daddy - anyone who talks to her nicely gets one. She watches everything that goes on, and loves looking at picture books and brightly coloured toys. Mirrors and shiny surfaces are also a hit.
It's looking like she's going to be a morning girl - when she wakes up at 7-8am ish, she's a right little grump until we open the curtains and then she's all smiles, like she's saying that she just wants to be up and about getting on with the day.
People keep asking if we're in a routine yet, but I don't really think about it, other than getting her to bed. What happens during the day is very flexible and we just work it out as we go along. If we need to be somewhere I'll try and make sure she's fed before we go; if we don't have a target time then she gets fed when she asks. If she's awake, we play and talk etc; if she's tired she sleeps.
But I do like to know what's going on in the evening, so we're trying to get some routine into that. Feeding, then bath at about 7.30-8pm, then more feeding and cuddles until she's asleep, which is usually by about 9.30. Over night she usually goes about 4-5 hours before she first wakes up and then about 3 hours after that, so it's usually a couple of times that I'm up with her. Overnight feeds aren't usually too long and she settles well again after, so I'm normally only up with her for about 1/2 hour, which is good. And sometimes she's even happy to go back in the crib while she's still awake, and then put herself to sleep.
It looks like she might become a thumb sucker. She's always liked a finger (from Mummy or Daddy) to suck on when she's tired, and has recently managed to suck on her fist, but it's just not the same. Straightening her thumb is not natural at the moment, but on Saturday with a little help with that last little bit, she happily sucked and put herself to sleep. Hurrah! I know that some people would say "Give her a dummy to suck on" but I really don't like them.