Is there life after birth?

9 Aug 2005

Nice to have a baby daughter when she is behaving herself and not crying her tiny lungs out punching and kicking the air around her, but is there life after birth? What do single mums do to entertain themselves and how do they find the time? I sometimes wonder whether I should continue my membership to SH seeing how it seems impossible to do the things I once wanted to do but never got the opportunity to do.

9 Aug 2005

She was born end of June and weighed 8lbs 6oz.
I am trying to keep up with SH whenever possible.

9 Aug 2005

Congrats hun!!!
U will need this bunch of loons more than ever, but not just for the swinging side of it but for someone who can talk about something other than babies. I find its away of having an adult conversation but without having to leave the kids, and also having a social life when sitters permit
Take care and enjoy every moment with her as she will grow up so quickly

9 Aug 2005

congrats a lovey wee lassie wain thats what ny mother said when i had ny daughter and yes there is life after givind birth it gets easier
x

9 Aug 2005

sorry about the spelling in my last post one glass to many of the amber nectar

9 Aug 2005

What are doing at home all day - get back to work!!!

9 Aug 2005

Quote by Happy Cats
What are doing at home all day - get back to work!!!

Me? Last time I checked it was illegal to leave babies home alone... :P

9 Aug 2005

Quote by Tania
What are doing at home all day - get back to work!!!

Me? Last time I checked it was illegal to leave babies home alone... :P
Go strawberry picking - take the baby with you!
Theres no excuse really.
wink

9 Aug 2005

Quote by Tania
Nice to have a baby daughter when she is behaving herself and not crying her tiny lungs out punching and kicking the air around her, but is there life after birth? What do single mums do to entertain themselves and how do they find the time? I sometimes wonder whether I should continue my membership to SH seeing how it seems impossible to do the things I once wanted to do but never got the opportunity to do.

First my congratulations :-)
Apart from munches being a pain cos you need baby sitters... kids shouldnt change your life or lifestyle per-say.
True, there are somethings that you just don't do once you have kids... but it doesnt stop you meeting poeple and having a life.. infact getting into that rut is the quickest way to PND possible or to make it worse if you do suffer from it.
When I had my son, his mum and I broke up within about 2 years (loads of reasons, being inexperienced and 100's of miles away from parents didnt help) but when I did become single I quickly found out that apart from packing nappies, change of clothes, and some pre-made formular my life didnt really change.... then again unlike his mum who packed nappies, wipes, calpol, 4 changes of clothes, blanket,2 dummies (incase one got dropped), 2 pairs of spare shoes, anticeptic wipes, anticeptic spray... I wasnt as fussy, lol. He's now a healthy (if somewhat spotty pubesant) 15 year old so I obviously didnt need all that other shit, lol. (1)
If you are not working.. then a very good piece of advise is to sleep when you can... also to make sure she is awake when she's put to bed at night... My son used to fall asleep at the breast and then woke up 10 mins after being put in the cot. But when he was about 8 months I decided enough was enough of the sleepless nights for us both especially as I couldnt sleep during the day so made an effort to put him down semi-awake while talking to him "here's you cot, its a nice place for you to sleep... etc.".and increase the time between picking him up when he woke during the first 10 mins of being there... 2 weeks later we were at 4 hours, 1 wake, then 4 hours again... its a bastard hearing your baby cry but when you know that he will feed for about 1 min and then go off again you know its not hunger waking him up.
We also used to have a radio on quietly all the time in the bed room near his cot so he wouldnt be disturbed by noise (flushing toilet, creaking floor boards or bed ;-)) or any other noises that happened such as if we went downstairs to watch a film then went to bed later and the door creaked.
I don't know if they still do it... but gripe water was blody marvelous (and I used to like the taste, lol) Plain water with 2 teaspoons of brown sugar disolved in it are better (and has less sugar) than any expensive juice.
Plenty of stimulation and talking and reading and playing with them gives you your own time after and saves them getting bored and then bugging you, lol.
Oh well the above is a little help from myself as a time served single parent and hope some of it helps... if nothing else hun, they do get older and you get your freedom back in stages as well as seeing them get older and into things :-)
Jon
(1) there is also a potential link between the lack of contact with germs and dirt at a young age that is possibly one reason for the rise in alergies and astma and the like as each generation is no longer creating a tolerance to things that would be passed on via the colustrom during the first few weeks of breast feeding, and re-inforced by the next generation picking enhancing it and then passing on said imunity.

9 Aug 2005

Congratulations Tania!!

Don't worry, you get used to the constant tiredness lol

You'll soon find new worries to keep you going :lol:
Only kidding, once you get a routine sorted, it'll all become much easier. Once again, congratulations and enjoy your baby kiss

9 Aug 2005

Quote by Tania
What are doing at home all day - get back to work!!!

Me? Last time I checked it was illegal to leave babies home alone... :P
A policeman told me that there's no age at which you can't leave any child alone. You can, however, be held responsible should anything happen to them whilst unattended.
Having said that, I still would never leave a baby alone at home and I still worry about leaving mine alone (aged 15 years and 13 years) when we go out.

9 Aug 2005

It is very hard to get your life back to normal after having a baby, but i can't see any reason why u should leave the site, even if u just come on the have a chat while the nippers asleep, after having a baby u make find it take u a while to want to leave her or even be able to but if staying on the site means that in a few months time or even a year being able to meet some of the people u have gotten to know then its worth it smile

I have 3 kids and both me and my hubby work so meeting is almost impossable for us at the moment but we still hang about and just meet when we can.
Good luck with ur baby shes worth loosing a few meets over :)

9 Aug 2005

Congratulations Tania and baby!! Heartwarming - visit us often.

9 Aug 2005

congratulations you may think life sucks when you have just had a baby,so did i.
but they`re not babes for long.
wish ihad a computer 6years ago when i had my first baby, but at least i had my hubby.
hang in there girl it will get better, enjoy motherhood.
wishing you all the best x x x
sierra x x kiss

9 Aug 2005

Is there life after birth?
No
"Parenthood is a parallel universe where time has no real meaning"

9 Aug 2005

Agreed about over cleanliness and lack of resistance to micro-organisms at a later stage in life.
At the moment my life is not very happy. Apart from a very difficult pregnancy/labour, I have been diagnosed with DVT which has thrown me into a turmoil. Having DVT means frequent visits to hospital to have your blood checked and your medication adjusted and one can't help but wonder about the future.
Maybe this explains a bit more about the lack of time to do things that are pleasant.
Still, it is nice to read your good wishes and experiences. Would you believe it, freckledbird, that I would have one thing in life that I am not an expert in? LOL
Goodness gracious, the world is coming to an end! lol

9 Aug 2005

Quote by sierra
congratulations you may think life sucks when you have just had a baby,so did i.
but they`re not babes for long.
wish ihad a computer 6years ago when i had my first baby, but at least i had my hubby.
hang in there girl it will get better, enjoy motherhood.
wishing you all the best x x x
sierra x x

A computer wouldnt have let you squeeze its hand whilst saying "thats it breathe"

9 Aug 2005

Awww Tania :therethere: Sorry to hear your having a bit of a rough time at the moment :therethere:
It is a massive adjustment you have to make, and not made any easier by the DVT and labour - but you'll be up and running about soon enough. Sounds like empty words, but it's true. Give it a little while, let everything settle down and you'll be back in this thread bouncing all over the place biggrin

9 Aug 2005

Quote by Happy Cats
congratulations you may think life sucks when you have just had a baby,so did i.
but they`re not babes for long.
wish ihad a computer 6years ago when i had my first baby, but at least i had my hubby.
hang in there girl it will get better, enjoy motherhood.
wishing you all the best x x x
sierra x x

A computer wouldnt have let you squeeze its hand whilst saying "thats it breathe"
nope agreed, but what i wouldnt have given just to have had someone to talk to.
post natal depression sucks. sad

sierra x x

10 Aug 2005

for my own (unusual) experience I found the first 2 1/2 to 3 years the worse. after that it got and is still getting better by the day... when she's 13 I feel this may start to decline but that's a fair way away.
GET yourself someone that you trust. LET them look after your baby and GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.
Ok you'll have to reciprocate but at least then you can begin to get a life back.
If there is no-one then use this site for help- certainly those ladies who have replied seem to know what they're on about. Your daughter won't break without you (you'll feel like shit the first few times you go out) and once those few months have gone (and I can't begin to tell you how awful I found 'em) its really good.

10 Aug 2005

You have all the good things to come...
First smile.
First words.
First steps.
First picture.
Remember those cos there gone to fast. I missed my 1st taking his 1st steps cos i was away working.
Its going to be fun, very very hard work but its worth it.
Congratulations.

11 Aug 2005

Life after birth no chance lol

Just wait until she is a teenager oh the joy you will have then :lol:

11 Aug 2005

Quote by seagull69
Life after birth no chance Just wait until she is a teenager oh the joy you will have then :lol:

Oh yes - it is joyous!
evil

11 Aug 2005

Welcome back into the fold
congratulations on the baby daughter
perhaps you will do some more story writing now ?