Talyn's Travel's!

Caleb's Site

Talyn's Pregnancy

Latest update on new page 'here'

13/12/2007(11months old)

Yikes!!!  I'm so far behind in updates here I'm going to have to run through everything as best as I can remember.

Let's see....where is my little man up to?

Physically he continues to develop well.  He is a fast crawler now.  Full crawling on knee's and hands now instead of the commando crawl of old.  He certainly knows when he wants something and it's often a race to get there before he does.  He pulls up to standing on whatever he can find and cruises quite fast around lounges etc.  He's not yet taken any independent steps but I don't think it will be very long now!

He now has 4 teeth.  Two centre top and two centre bottom which are very cute.  And boy does he like to use them!!  Caleb was never a biter but Talyn likes nothing more then chomping down on my toes or hands or anything else he can get his teeth into.  While it was funny at first, and comforting while teething, it's fast losing it's humor :)  So now we have to stop him and reprimand him everytime as god knows we don't want him to be a biter of other children!  He's been grinding his teeth a bit of late but I guess that's just him experimenting with those strange new things in his mouth?

Those big toothy pegs also come in handy at meal times now.  He loves finger food like banana and other fruit, vegemite sandwiches, teething rusks, vege chunks, cheese, chicken, hot chips etc.  Pretty much anything we offer he'll take with glee!  He's moved onto Weet-bix for breakfast now instead of baby cereal and his bottles are down to 4 a day and dropped from 225ml to 175ml.  He drinks water from a cup in between also.  I hope to move the milk over to a cup after his birthday when we can also move from formula to cows milk and then we can end the bottle business entirely.  That would be great.

Speech wise, Talyn is definitely a noisey little monkey!  He loves to squeal and scream when he's playing with Caleb, or in the bath etc. We hear lot's of mum-mums and bub-bubs and plenty of other various baby babble but still no Dad-da (hehehe much to Simon's chagrin as Caleb said Dad-da as his first word - I told him it was my turn to have my name 1st this time).  He is a willful little man and already throws the most impressive tantrums!  He rolls around the floor screaming and flailing his arms around like a champion. It doesn't work for him of course but it's entertaining to watch *wink*

Sleep wise he continues pretty much unchanged.  He has a morning nap of about 60-90min's each morning at about 9am and then he'll have another 60-90min's about 1pm in the arvo when Caleb naps.  We have Talyn in bed by about 6.30pm each night and he get's up about 6.30am.  He still wakes for his dummy over night but most nights I only have to get up a couple of times so I can handle that.  Simon is always so helpful too and he'll get up to him every Fri and Sat night so I get some sleep which is great :)

We put our Xmas tree up this week which was quite a drawcard for Talyn but we have an old play pen that we've opened up to use as a fence around it like we did for Caleb and that seems to work ok to keep him out.  Can't say the same for cupboards, drawers and wardrobes of late.  He's into everything so it's time we went out and child proofed everything again...ho-hum.

We are still going along to the child health nurse each month for his head measurement but thankfully it keeps growing well (since the early closure of his soft spots) so no drama's there.  He has to continue monthly measurements until he is 1yr old....and how close is that coming!!!  I've barely thought about his birthday with all the Xmas rush going on but come new year I'll have to organise a party for him on Jan 12th.  But I can't think about that until I have got through the Xmas/NY craziness first!

Talyn is still so completely taken by his big brother Caleb.  They play so well together most times and Caleb is very tolerant of Talyn and the fact that he gets into everything and sometimes restricts what Caleb can do when he is near.  They love baths together now which is lot's of wet and splashy fun.  The pool is getting a great workout too now that summer is here and Talyn just loves it!

This week we have to get our Santa photo's done with the boys and when I do I'll post one here. For now though I have included a pic (left) of the boys taken at our recent family portraits.

I'm so looking forward to seeing how Talyn goes with Xmas this year.  I think Santa, Xmas lights and pressies to rip into are going to go down a treat!  I don't expect I'll get another update done here before then so I'll be back after the big day to let you all know how it went. Until then....Merry Christmas!!!!

Cheers P

08/10/2007(8months, 3.5wk's old)

Wow has it been that long since I updated here?  I have heaps to say so let's begin with the new developments.

We no longer have to sit on top of Talyn when he is sitting up alone now.  He sits perfectly well by himself without falling over and it looks like he is now close to being able to move from sitting to crawling/lying.  For now though he just sits and rocks on his bum when he has had enough to let us know he wants a change of position.  It's great for Caleb to have him sitting up so well though as now they sit together on the mat and play together in the toy box or block box which they both really enjoy.

Another big first was that my little man now has teeth - two teeth!  He got his first one on 26th September at 8.5months old.  Then within a day the one beside it was coming up too.  They are bottom centre and just look so darn cute!  We got him his first tooth brush last night and so begins a lifetime of brushing for him :)

He no longer has a dummy any more except in his cot.  I like to get rid of it in all other area's as soon as I can as I can't stand seeing older kids out and about with dummy's plugging up their little faces.  Having said that though we think we may make the move to get rid of it during his sleep in a few weeks too.  He is FINALLY once again sleeping through the night and has not had an overnight bottle in at least two weeks or more.  He has his last bottle at about 6.30pm then doesn't have another until about 7.00am the next morning.  But we still get up to give him the dummy overnight when he cries anywhere up to 3 or 4 times.  Last night was only once but I'm sure that was just a lucky night.  So if we no longer had the dummy then we could all get some solid sleep once more.  Wow would that be awesome!!  It's never an easy process to remove a dummy habit but a couple of days of perseverance and it can be all done for good. Caleb was much older when we did it (about 2yrs old I think?) and we snipped the top off it and told him it was broken and he accepted that fairly well.  It seems cruel to do it to a little bub like Talyn though who you can't explain it too but the sooner we do it the sooner he'll forget it and we can all get our beauty sleep.  Will keep you posted how that goes.

Our little Talyn is now speaking also.  On Sept 20th he said his first words - "Bub-bub-bub" and just 5 days later I got my first "Mum-mum-ma".  That was a really big thing for me as Caleb said Dad-da first so I assumed Talyn would too.  But hoorah I got in first this time! *wink*.  Simon is still waiting for his Dad-da but Talyn is really babbling lot's now with lots of bub-ba's, ga-ga's and mum-ma's so I'm sure it's only a matter of time until Dad-da makes it's first appearance.

After months of struggling with his food/fluid intake he is finally eating and drinking like a champion!  He now takes 4 full bottles a day (adding up to about 900ml which is spot on for a 9month old) and he has three meals of solids a day.  Breakfast is usually apricot porridge or banana cereal....lunch is usually yoghurt and fruit or a fruit muesli.....tea is meat/pasta/rice/veg and if he's a good boy he'll occasionally scoff down some custard for dessert once or twice a week too.  He's drinking water from a cup occasionally and now that he has teeth he's finally devouring a teething rusk too when he get's one.  I've been cooking up big batches of apple and blending them...or mushing banana's etc, then I freeze them in ice cubes trays and just defrost a few as he needs them.  So far I've done apple, banana, paw-paw and avocado this way and he's loved them all!

Talyn is really enjoying standing against us now, holding our hand or leaning on our body.  He loves to crawl up me to get himself into a standing position and he's been seen to been looking at furniture in the same way of late so I think it won't be long before he begins to pull up on chairs etc and cruise between furniture.  In the meantime he loves walking around the house in his walker seat and he really seems to love the independence of this.  It's much faster then his commando crawl that's for sure!  However he is getting up on his knee's more and more and rocking back and forth so it's only a matter of days now I think before he begins to crawl in the traditional way instead of just the commando crawl on his belly.

Something else he's enjoyed for the first time is our pool.  Caleb has been going in every day over his holidays and Talyn has watched with great interest.  So the other day we got out the baby float seat with a sunshield over it and tried Talyn to see how he'd go.  I thought it would be too cold for him but he absolutely loved it!  Then on the weekend he got in just in Daddy's arms and even went underwater twice and seemed to take to it like the proverbial duck to water.  I can see it's going to be a big summer for swimming this year!  During the holidays I took both the boys to the beach one morning too and Talyn thought that was just the best thing. He was digging his toes into the sand and grimacing when it went through his fingers....hehehe....just like Mommy he can't stand sand on his hands :)

After finally reaching 9kg his car seat has been changed from a backward facing capsule into a front facing upright car seat now.  He just loves that!!!!  No more tears in the car is great but also he can better interact with Caleb (they hold hands!!) and he can look out the window and look at me also.

Just like his big brother did he has discovered his feet in a big way!  Especially in his high chair when I often have to remove the toes out of his mouth to get the spoon in!  Tee-he!

This morning he went back to the Child Health Nurse for another measure of his head circumference (it has to be measured for growth each month until he is 1yr old due to his soft spots closing early).  It's grown well and hopefully will continue to do so.

Ok....well I think that's about enough for today.  Golly this has been quite and entry!  I'm off now to add some new pic's to Talyn's photo page.  You can see them for yourself here.  There are also a couple of new pics above left :)

Cheers P

05/09/2007(7months, 3wk's old)

Well there is so much happening in the world of Talyn right now that I thought I'd best get on here for an update.

Physically it's a time of big changes for him.  He is now sitting up by himself.  At this stage I still sit behind him but not close enough so that he touches or leans on me - just there so that if he should fall he'll land on me and not the tiles.  He loves to sit between my legs with his toybox between his legs.  He pulls everything out as he explores the box, and of course the first stop for everything is his mouth!  He'll have a lick or suck then cast it aside for the next thing that grabs his eye....hehehe

As well as rolling wherever he wants to go he has now begun commando crawling.  He slithers along on his belly, using his arms and elbows to gain ground and it's so exciting to watch.  He absolutely adores applause and he get's plenty of it.  His face lights up and his usual wide open mouth grin comes in full force when he gets a big clap.

Of course being more mobile means he's into stuff more.  Especially the blinds in our lounge room.  We know the choking/strangulation risk of blinds so he has to learn early on that they are off limits.  Luckily with Caleb around he is always super fast to yell out "Mummy....Talyn's playing in the blinds".  Then we always say loudly and firmly "No Talyn"....to which he'll spin around and grin at us and kick his feet in excitement - the little monkey!

Besides getting around the floor he has also discovered his walker can actually move now.  Before he used to just sit in it occasionally for a change of scenery but this week he realised he could go places in it.  Now there is no stopping him!!  He can reach pot plants, blinds, shelves and all sorts of new things in it....heaven help us!

His eating is continuing to expand.  We are still trying to get him into vege's and not so much of the fruit and sweet stuff.  Caleb always loved his vege's but Talyn's not so fond of them.  But give him fruit and yoghurt and he's away.  His usual is iron-enriched rice cereal for breakfast, fruit and yoghurt for lunch and vege/meat if we can get it into him for tea.

Yesterday he had his first ever finger food and it was a big success.  I gave him about 1/3 of a banana and watched him nervously to see what he'd do with it.  Choking is so scary with bub's and I know with Caleb we held off longer then we should have on finger food and I didn't want to be so timid this time.  He licked and sucked the banana a bit then got really stuck into it.  He was able to gum off bits and I was thinking - should I fish those out of his mouth?  Nope...he gummed them around and swallowed them just fine.  Success!

He had his child health nurse check yesterday and she recommended we try to decrease his number of bottles now (currently 5 - totaling about 800ml a day) and increase solids.  So to this end we have been increasing his serving sizes of the solids and he's taken to it with glee.

His head measurement was the same this month but she wasn't concerned about that.  We'll see how it goes next month I guess.

The only other thing was his weight which was about 8kg.  We are waiting for him to reach 9kg so that we can turn his car seat around from a rear-facing capsule to a front facing seat.  Both he and Caleb will enjoy this I'm sure.

Anyway....speaking of Caleb...time to go get him from Kindy so I'd best leave it here for today.  More soon :)

Cheers P

04/09/2007(7months, 3wks old)

New pics, including naming ceremony photo's can be seen here.

Cheers P

23/08/2007(7months, 1wk old)

We celebrated Talyn's naming ceremony this weekend just gone and it all went off perfectly.  As we held the ceremony in the local Botanical Gardens we were worried that it may rain but thankfully it was a beautiful day and stayed fine throughout.

As mentioned in the last post we chose different godparents then Caleb had so that each would have their own special set.  Talyn had Scotty as godfather and Rebecca and Julie as godmother.  Caleb had Julie also (and Karl for godfather) but as we wanted Julie to be godmother of all our children, we also chose Rebecca just for Talyn.

Both the boys looked gorgeous all dressed up and we took heaps of pic's on the day.  I am creating new photo pages at the moment but they should be all done in the next day or two and I'll be able to share all the pic's of the big day then.  Will let you know here when I've done that.

The celebrant that we used was lovely and she had certificates to present to not only Talyn and the godparents but also the grandparents too.  Talyn and the godparents each got symbolic candles that they lit and kept and we also got a special print out of the meaning of Talyn's name etc.

After the ceremony we had a morning tea at the park then later that night friends and family who were in town all came to our house for a late night of drinks and pizza.  Poor Talyn had become sick by that stage though and that, combined with all the noise of the party, meant that he would only nap in Simon' s arms until after midnight and simply would not settle to bed.

Turns out that was only the beginning as he's been terribly sick since then.  He's had fever's, blocked and runny nose, a terrible cough and has not been sleeping or eating well for days.  Poor little bubba :(

When he's not sick he's eating well though now.  He's expanded his menu to include fruits, yoghurt, custard, vege's, occasional chicken and beef minced, rusks, farex rice cereal and jelly's.  Biggest discovery this month....he's not allergic to dairy like Caleb!!!!!  That means we were able to change him over to regular formula instead of the soy formula he was on and voila - no more constipation!!  I am so relieved for him that he is not allergic but I can imagine it may make things a bit harder for Caleb in future but at least he will be older and able to understand??  We are going to begin some finger foods in the coming days which I'm really looking forward to.  Dinner time is always hard for us as one of us usually ends up holding a tired and cranky baby while the other one shovels down their food.  When he is able to eat his own finger foods though he will be better able to entertain himself in his highchair while we eat beside him.

He's not had any toothy pegs show up yet?  Caleb didn't get his until about 9 months so it may still be a while yet.  He is drooling and chewing everything so in theory I guess they could come any day.

We had his head measured again at the nurse last week and it had grown over the last month (see last entry for details of the problem) so I hope it continues to grow well.  Otherwise he is certainly growing well and has gained 1kg over the last month or so :)

Talyn is still waking us up for one feed overnight and several dummy trips also.  He's also got way too dependent on being rocked to sleep...something we are going to tackle once his flu has passed.  Thankfully he is fine overnight at least...we give him a bottle and put him into bed wide awake and he doesn't make a peep and goes straight to sleep.  But during the day he has to be rocked to sleep in our arms and as he get's heavier it has to stop.  Hopefully as he get's better at getting himself back to sleep he'll wake us less for dummy's also?  But given that Caleb had us up and down for dummy's for about 2yrs I won't hold my breath! :)

He is now sitting up for short periods by himself.  Usually for only a minute or so but as he's getting better at it I'm sure he'll be sitting up for as long as he wants in no time at all.  He loves standing up, holding onto our hands and bouncing around.  Once he's sitting, soon will come crawling, then cruising on furniture and before we know it walking.  Sigh.  They grow so fast!

Speaking of growing....our family is growing once more.  Talyn's Aunty Alicia and Uncle Andrew are about 20wk's pregnant with their first bub and we have just found out it's another little boy for the family.  I can't wait until the bub arrives and Talyn and Caleb can enjoy their newest little cousin!

Cheers P

24/07/2007(6 months, 2wk's months old)

Well our little man had his first holiday on the weekend.  We took a family trip to Australia Zoo and stayed in a motel for the night.  He did great on the drive and even took a bottle in his capsule from Daddy in the seat behind him.  Gotta love the new Kia Carnival!!

The sleep in the portacot was not so successful but the space in the room did not allow us to put it anywhere other then in the lounge with us so that didn't help.  Overall though he did great. He loved his day at the zoo, in his pram, checking out all the animals and getting excited over Caleb's excitement.

I tell you Talyn just loves his big brother to bits!  As soon as I get him up in the morning he's twisting around looking for Caleb.  Caleb can get him to smile and laugh better then any of us.  Of course Talyn must also deal with Caleb taking toys off him and sometimes playing a bit roughly but as he get's older I'm sure he'll give back as good as he gets *wink*

I love babies at this age.  6 months old was always my favourite age with Caleb too.  They are solid enough to be cuddly at this age without being so delicate as a newborn.  The way their face lights up in a smile to see you...and Talyn flaps his arms and kicks his legs like crazy when he's excited.  In the morning when I get him out of bed he'll grab my head and try to suck onto my face in his version of a loving cuddle...hehehe  It just melt's my heart :)

He's pretty vocal at this age also.  Screaming for frustration or pleasure and going and babbling to entertain himself at times.  In particular he likes to hold his dummy up and talk to it...hehehe.  One thing he does do that Caleb never seemed to get the knack of is replacing his own dummy - thank the lord!!  He'll roll over to reach it, pick it up, turn it around and pop it in as easy as can be.  Boy were there months on end that I'd wished Caleb would do that.  Talyn doesn't do it overnight yet but soon I'll begin to clip his dummy to his PJ's and he'll soon get the hang of that I'm sure.

He's still rolling over, though only occasionally.  As Caleb did, he'll acquire a new skill then rarely do it for ages before it comes back and becomes routine for him.  He can easily roll from front to back but only occasionally rolls from back to front.  He's beginning to sit up alone still but will topple over or fold himself in half forwards after a little while of it.

For now he still wants us to feed him most times that he's up overnight.  He'll wake occasionally for the dummy but most nights it's 1-2 times for a feed as well.  As his daily intake balances out with his 2-3 meals of solids we are hoping those nighttime feeds will soon disappear once more as they originally did when he was 8wk's old - until reflux started. 

We did in fact trial stopping his Zantac for the reflux a week or so again but it brought back his symptoms in no time so I guess it's too early to stop just yet.  We'll keep trying though as I really want him to be medication free.  We did at least find a solution to the horrible constipation the Zantac was causing.  We changed from Coloxyl drops in his bottle to Lactulose liquid once a day and hey presto - he's filling his nappies again with ease!  What a relief that was.

He is enjoying his solids now.  His favourite is banana and also vanilla custard.  He's not too keen on vege's yet but he'll get there.  He'll also take apple or pear but seems to have really gone off his Farex rice cereal of late?

Talyn recently had his 6month check up with the child health nurse.  He'd put on 1kg and is now 7.23kg.  I'd stopped weighing him myself as I knew he was happy and healthy no matter how little he drank some days so it wasn't worth stressing over.  The only problem the nurse found was that his fontanelle (soft spot) on the top of his head had closed early.  This means he'll have to go back every month to have his head measured to ensure it's still growing.  I asked what happened if it stopped growing and she said "You don't want to know".  I'm sure I don't as I can imagine and that's bad enough!

Talyn will celebrate his naming ceremony next month.  We are holding the ceremony and morning tea in the local gardens near the duck ponds with a celebrant and loved one's.  Talyn will share my best friend Julie as his godmother along with Caleb who has Julie and Simon's oldest friend Karl as his Godparents.

However I each wanted them to have their own special one's too so we will have two godmothers for Talyn, Julie and my friend Rebecca.  Talyn's godfather will be our best mate Scotty (actually Rebecca's brother). I'm really looking forward to the day.  I've got to get him a smart little outfit but I also want to get a special gift for the godparents but I'm not sure what?  Any suggestions anyone out there?

Otherwise...all is wonderful in our world.  We are truly blessed with our two boys and are already eagerly anticipating adding to our brood.  Simon is already trying to get me to try again but I want to wait at least until Talyn is 18months or so to begin trying.  Who knows how long it may take next time but in the meantime I want to let my body heal and also give Talyn his own baby time before adding another to the mix. 

I love my boys and while I remember fretting while pregnant that I wouldn't love another as much as I love Caleb I know now that it doesn't matter.  A mother has infinite love in her heart for her children and love's them all as much as the next one.  And boy do I love my boys!!!!

Cheers P

11/07/2007(6 months old)

My littlest man is 6 months old today!!!!

Where on earth did that time go?

He's growing big and strong and is a happy little chappy for sure.  I've not had him weighed in weeks now but I'm not worried about it.  Feeding him a bottle is often still a struggle but he's not underweight or unhappy so I'm not going to worry what the numbers say for him.  He's well covered and not overweight by any means but has the chubby bubby legs etc.  As the nurse once said to me "some babies are just not milky babies".  He doesn't take a bottle easily still but as his solids increase I don't suppose that matters.

So far his solids have included Farex rice cereal, banana, pear, and pumpkin.  He's also had pear and prune juice in his Farex to try to help with his ongoing constipation problems.  He goes #2's most days but he still cries when he does and sometimes there is blood there.  I often have to press his knee's up to his chest when he is straining to help him get things moving.  We are hopeful that either the varying solids may help prevent this or that soon he will no longer need the Zantac for his reflux and thus will no longer be constipated??  In any case he is enjoying his solids and has a messy fun time gobbling them down :)

He is still rolling over all the time.  Like Caleb used to, when he first developed the skill he did it a few times then barely did it at all for weeks.  Suddenly yesterday he must have remembered he could do it and he was rolling over again and again.   Funny little fellow he is :)

He's beginning to sit for longer periods unsupported as he get's better at it.  It wont' be long until I wont have to be there for it to grab him when he eventually topples.

He reaches out to be picked up now which is just so adorable and totally irresistible.  There is nothing like the feeling you get when you stumble into his room, dead tired yourself, resigned to the fact your sleep time is over and there he is .... face broken wide in a beaming smile for you and arms reaching for you as he kicks his legs out in excitement.  Melts my heart!

Unfortunately his night time feeds have still not settled back to the sleeping through he was doing before the reflux kicked in.  We still have to get up to give him two bottles overnight and often a couple of dummy runs or helps back to sleep too.  I am like the walking dead by Friday but thankfully Simon takes over on the weekends so that I can get some rest to get through another week.

Talyn just adores his big brother Caleb!  His face lights up for him more then anyone else and he is always looking around for him to see where he is or what he is up to.  I find him gazing at Caleb's car seat when he is at Kindy and not in it.  I think Talyn genuinely misses him when he's gone.  Ahh sweet!

Next weekend we are off to Australia Zoo.  Caleb has been before when he was about 18months old so I know he'll love it this time.  Talyn may not appreciate what he is seeing so much but I know he will still enjoy the new sights and experiences of his first real holiday.

Will post heaps of pic's on our return :)

Cheers P

04/07/2007 (24wk's, 5 day old)

Yikes!  Didn't realise it had been so long since I updated here.  I guess life with Talyn and Caleb and Simon just keeps me so busy!

My littlest man is doing just dandy.  He's still practicing his rolling over.  His solids have progressed to Farex rice cereal and now fresh banana too.  This weekend I'm going to add stewed apple to the mix then the following week I'll add a vege like pumpkin.  He's taken to them really well and we are going super slow with introducing new food types and meals.  So far he is up to two small meals (about 1-2 tablespoons) a day and we are introducing food a week at a time.  So far so good.  He had his first rusk, just to suck on the other day, and showed no sign of reaction to the small amount of dairy in it.  It was a slow build up for Caleb at the start but this time we know what to look for and how to manage it so we'll be a lot more prepared should he prove to be allergic to dairy like his big brother and his Granny.

He's still suffering terribly with constipation.  He pushes so hard and usually cries but can't get it out most times without some help to push his knee's up to his chest to help him push.  He's still on Coloxyl drops in his bottles and we've tried pear juice in a syringe and a small amount of prune juice in his Farex.  I guess, looking back, the pear juice has had the best success but I just don't like the idea of introducing a taste for such a sugary sweet drink so early on.  Caleb had nothing but water and soy milk until he was probably 1.5 to 2yrs old.  But at the same time I have to do something to help little Talyn's bowels so I should get some more.  I assume that as soon as the reflux settles and he can get off the Zantac the sooner the constipation will resolve itself.  Sooner the better :)

We had our first night out together with friends for my birthday last week since Talyn has been born  He stayed at home with his Granny and did great.  Simon stayed home until he was in bed and then he joined us out for dinner and drinks.  I am really struggling with our plans for a night out of town at the end of next month.  We have already bought tickets to our destination but I am having serious second thoughts about leaving him.  He'll be in his home, with Granny and Caleb but....??? 

I know she is more then capable but I never left Caleb until he was about 18months old overnight and I am struggling with leaving Talyn overnight at only 7.5months.  I have to work up to it over coming weeks and just see how I go?  Keep you posted.

Otherwise, all in the world of Talyn is going great.  He is loving his big brother home on Kindy holidays this last week and a half.  That's probably another factor in why I had not updated much in that time....I have NO time!  hehehe  Life is hectic but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Cheers P

19/06/2007 (22wk's, 4 day old)

Well yesterday was a big day for our littlest man!

He rolled over!!!  When put on his tummy for tummy time he's been able to roll back over to his back for a while now with ease.  However yesterday he did his first roll from back to tummy!!  It was met with screams and squeals of encouragement from me and I gotta say - I think he thought he was pretty damn special too! *wink*

I had only been saying to Simon the night before that we needed to stop using his playmat with toys dangling above him and move him onto an open blanket to promote rolling.  Then yesterday was the first day we did this...and he rolled over!  Hoorah!

I tried to catch it on the camera a second time for Simon but had no luck.  But then when I was out in the afternoon he did it again while Simon was home.  He missed it mind you but he came back to find him on his tummy so he knows he can do it :)

The other big thing that happened yesterday was that he started solids!

We were trying really hard to make it to 6months before we began them but he had all the signs of wanting and needing it sooner so we figured 5.5months was pretty close anyway.  We also realised that since starting just 30ml's of pear juice a day for his constipation that he had dropped a night feed and was back to just one bottle over night again at last.  So if a small amount of juice in his system could do that then chances were he was hungry for more then just milk.  And in Talyn's case he's never been a good milk drinker yet does seem hungry even when he doesn't want the bottle so we figured we'd give him a shot anyway and see how he went.  And he went great!

We started on plain Farex baby cereal, just a teaspoon full last night and a tablespoon full this morning and he took both really well.  His very first mouthful was a grimace and a perplexed look...as if to say "this isn't liquid in my mouth???"...but then he was good. It was so much fun too as I'd been dying to start him on them as I just love that stage of trying new vege's and fruits and watching them experience real food for the first time.  Of course Talyn will stay on Farex for a while yet before we try anything of more substance but it's great to make a start all the same.

We are still struggling with his constipation so I can only hope that the introduction of solids helps this and doesn't hinder it.  God know we've had our share of poo drama's to last us a lifetime! *wink*

Cheers P

16/06/2007 (22wk's, 1 day old)

Well we are still battling the constipation with this little man too.....what is it with our boys and their bowels???  We have introduced some diluted pear juice though on the advice of our child health nurse and while it did get one good motion a couple of days ago it was still no good this morning. I know babies strain and grunt and the like but he cries and sobs so we know it's not normal.  Hopefully as we increase the pear juice we may get some relief for him.  We had considered prune juice but apparently it's an irritant to the bowel and shouldn't be given to bub's under 9months old.  Yet many forum mom's online had used it with great success?

Who knows?

I just want a life without poo drama's once more *wink*

Otherwise my little man is doing fantastic.  Just beginning to try his luck in Caleb's old walker.  Of course his feet don't even touch the ground let alone move it but it gives him an alternative position from which to view the world. 

Other then that we still praise every cent we spent on his new high chair a while back.  It's on wheels and has various seat inclines and height positions and is just a godsend.  We use it all the time and for short spells at least he's keen for it. 

We still take turns keeping him calm during dinner when he is at his most tired and fed up.  We start with him in the highchair but after a while he's on our lap or walked around while the other one of us gulps down their tea so they can relieve the other to eat their tea.  Oh the joys of the very young.

Next month he'll finally be ready for solids and then not long after that we'll be able to eat normally again as he occupies himself with something to suck on and chew also while we eat.  Because of Caleb's history with eczema and allergies we'd like to wait the recommended 6months to introduce solids to be extra sure.  If he's going to get it then he's going to but I'd like to at least do our best to prevent it.

Anyhoo....the little tacker is great and we just love him so!  We are having some troubles with Caleb being too rough with him or careless around him but as a family we are doing the best we can and god knows we wouldn't change them for the world!

Cheers P

10/06/2007 (21wk's, 2 day old)

Quick update....took him to the GP....GP said keep withholding the Zantac (for his Reflux but also what is giving him the constipation) and see how we go.  That went well until day 3 without it when we noticed he was vomiting heaps and heaps again, taking less and less of his bottles and his sleep was getting more and more disturbed.

So it's back on the Zantac again from yesterday and already he's back to eating and sleeping good and smiling all the time again.  So the Reflux is obviously still present and the Zantac is needed to control it.

So that bring's us back to square one with the constipation???  A reader named Clare (I would have liked to email you but you left no contact details??) suggested prune juice but given that he has not even started solids yet I'm reluctant to introduce that.  I'm not sure how else to proceed.  The Coloxyl stool softening drops are doing seemingly nothing so I'll take him to the child health nurse on Tuesday and see if they have any suggestions.

Keep you posted.

Cheers P

07/06/2007 (20wk's, 5 day old)

Talyn is now constipated!!!

I'm sure anyone who has been following Caleb's horrific bowel drama's will understand just how I feel about Talyn now being constipated too!!  I just can't believe it!

However in his case we think we know the cause.  Given that his only intake is formula we are left with only two possible causes...the formula or the Zantac that he takes for his reflux.  Given that the main side effect of this Zantac medicine is constipation we think that's the probable cause.  Even though we have been giving him Coloxyl drops (for infant constipation) in three bottles a day as directed the problem has only got worse.

He cries his pain cry every time he has to do a number too and he pushes, strains and groans for ages with little reward for his efforts.  I mean it is just me or does this sound like total dejavu with Caleb??  What is it with these boys and their poo's???  hehehe

So today we are trialling a stop of the Zantac.  Given that his reflux type symptoms settled at the same time we started the Zantac and also made the change from breast to formula we have since wondered if he really did need the Zantac or if the fact he was having a better fluid intake had helped to make him his normal happier self again.  The GP said the only way to know was to trial stopping the Zantac but we just did not have the strength to risk it at that stage with everything else that was going on.

Now....well I still don't know how I feel about it?  But I have a GP appointment tomorrow arvo so I figure I'll try him without it today, keep up the Coloxyl drops and see if we can't help the poor little tacker to have a poo in peace?  Failing that I'll have to see what the Dr suggests?

Otherwise he's great :)

He pushes up really well on his tummy and lifts his chest up high.  Given that this is what we were referred to a physio about (appt still pending) I don't know if we still need it but they recommended we go along and see them when it comes up anyway. 

When he is up on his tummy he can easily roll over onto his back.  When on his back he almost get's onto his tummy but not quite yet.  Won't be long and he'll be rolling all over the shop I'm sure.

On that note...someone has just woken up from his nap so I'd better end this here.  I'll be updating the pic's in Talyn's online album soon but I'll let you know here when I've done that.

Cheers P

23/05/2007 (18wk's, 5 day old)

All continues well in the world of Talyn :)

He's eating like a little champion now.  I think I will bring the bottles from 150ml of water back up to 200ml + formula, now that he is taking most of them most of the time.

I've not had a chance to weigh him yet but I'm quite confident all will be good in that regard now.

Today he had his 4 month immunisations.  The little trooper took the 3 needles in the thighs fairly well at the time but I think his legs are hurting him tonight as he was quite sad and crying a lot when handled this afternoon but would totally crack it if put down and not held close.  Poor bubba :( 

But then when it was time to get nude for his bath tonight he was having a blast.  He was wriggling around on the carpet in his room, squealing in delight with Caleb giving him his usual in ya face attention.  I swear that boy loves his big brother - and vica versa.

Talyn has really found his squeal of late and seems to delight in letting it rip at full force whenever he can.  In Target today I'm sure several people wondered what was issuing those ear piercing screams from my pram ..and you gotta be careful to read the screams the right way too.  One minute they can mean "Weee I'm having so much fun"...then in the blink of an eye they can become "This is your first and final warning - I am about to self destruct in 10 seconds....9.....8....7..... *wink*

I got him a cool teether book today.  He's really taken a shine to some of Caleb's old boardbooks and the appearance of one will immediately get his attention as he tries to reach for it.  Is it too early to guess he is going to be a major book lover like his big brother?  Anyhoo the new book is fabric with teething edges and noisy crunchy sounds on some pages when you scrunch them and honking horns in other pages etc.

Speaking of teething....tonight you should have seen him going off on a cold teething toy from the fridge!  He sucked it and chewed in like crazy for a good 15minutes without pausing.  Perhaps we may see some early toothy pegs yet?

Cheers P

20/05/2007 (18wk's, 2 day old)

Just a super quick entry to say things are continuing to improve with Talyn's bottles.  Yesterday he hit an all time high and cracked the 1L total for the day for the first time ever!!  Considering he was averaging 600-700ml a day at a real push, this was a real breakthrough for us.

He seems to have turned a corner and is now taking them fairly eagerly which is such a relief.

I'm going to weigh him again tomorrow morning but I am thinking he is going to have a nice big gain this week at last.  Here's hoping!! :)

I guess while I am here I should cover what else he is doing these days too.  He has still not rolled over yet but he get's right onto his side on his playmat when the urge takes him so I don't think it will be long until he's over. 

Despite being referred to the physio for his neck strength/pushing up ability....we think he's doing ok?  He can certainly hold his head steady just fine when on our shoulder or sitting up on our lap etc.  He doesn't enjoy tummy time but he can get his head right up to 90 degree angle when he lifts it and can hold it for a while so I don't know?  We'll go along to the appointment they have arranged when it comes up but I suspect they'll find he's doing just fine.

Talyn loves to play on his playmat with the toys suspended above him or just holding a toy of his own.  He loves to grasp things now and it's fun to watch the concentration it takes for him to co-ordinate both hands to go where he wants them to and to get a hold of it when they get there.  He also loves to grasp his hands together and play with them....and don't even get me started on his mouth!  Everything goes into that.  His fingers/hands are his favourite but any toy, book or bib get's a good chewing/mouthing/slobbering over too!

He now enjoys games of peek-a-boo and loves books already (just like his big brother who is book crazy).

We are trying to give him time sitting up on the floor too (with our support to keep him upright) so he get's good and strong at doing that soon too.  Caleb is really looking forward to him sitting up so that they can share baths and play better together.

Speaking of baths....he has now moved from his baby bath into the big bath now.  Yesterday I packed up his cradle and his baby bath once more to return it to the shed again ready for #3 down the track.  It's so sad :(  For the 9 months of pregnancy you anticipate having a newborn again and to get out all of Caleb's old baby things was so special.  But all too soon it's time to put them all away again??  Still there are more to replace them.  Soon we'll be bringing back out the high chair and walker so I guess once one stage ends it's just onto the next :)

So looking forward to starting solid's in another month or two.  We really want to wait until 6 months to do this to minimise the chance of allergies/eczema etc that often comes with early introduction of solids.  Also given what we went through with Caleb's allergies and eczema if we could avoid it all together this time it would be great.

So yeah....in summary all is good in the world of Talyn.  I'm hoping he'll have a good weight gain this week and things can settle down again here once more.  Keep you posted.

Cheers P

17/05/2007 (17wk's, 6 day old)

Just realised I forgot to pop back in with the details of how Talyn's weight went on Tuesday.

He gained!!!!

I cannot tell you what a relief that was :)

It was only 200g mind you but after the last few weeks of maintaining and even losing it was such a reassurance to me that things were going to get better.

Since then....well I guess they have improved slightly?  We still struggle with getting him to have a bottle sometimes but since stretching it out to 4hrly or more we find he takes it much more readily then when we were offering it 3hrly as before. 

I'm going to weigh him again next Tuesday and if it shows another gain then I'm just going to go with the flow and let him eat what he likes without any anxiety.  He's still only averaging 600-700ml a day but if he's happy and healthy with that so be it.

He's certainly a much happier bub again as he once was.

Now all we need to do is to get him sleeping through until 5am again every night as he was and we'll be right!  It's so weird as formula babies tend to sleep longer as it takes longer to digest yet before the reflux started he was sleeping 8pm-5am and now he wakes to feed at around midnight and 3-4am again as well???  Weird! (Not to mention exhausting)

Cheers P

14/05/2007 (17wk's, 3 day old)

Well I wish I could say our feeding drama's have ended...but they have not :(

As much as I'd hoped the bottle would bring an end to our troubles it has only transferred them from breast refusal to bottle refusal.

Not all the time but I'd say 80% of his day time bottles are a struggle to get into him.  He takes them fine overnight but he is having two feeds most nights as he's not getting enough into him during the day despite all our efforts??

He should be having around 1000ml a day but most days he averages 650-750ml.  Now I'm ok with that if he is so long as his weight continues to increase so tomorrow I am going to take him back to the scales at the Child health nurses office to see what he has gained in the week since he last went.  I think I'll also make an appointment to talk to them about it all too to get some hints on how we can help.

We've tried every position and trick we can think of.  Different people feeding him, different shaped bottles and teats, cuddling him to feed... laying him on the old feeding pillow in our lap or on a chair....on the floor....in front of the TV....in our arms walking???  Nothing seems to work consistently.  Sometimes he'll take 70-100ml ok but then steadfastly refuses another drop.  He very very rarely gets a full 200ml bottle in so now we have begun to only make them up to 170ml so that we are wasting less.

It's so frustrating and I find myself anxious and tense before every feed again just as I was when he was constantly refusing breastfeed's.  I try to relax and make it fun and I'm conscious to never torment him with force feeding of the bottle when he doesn't want it as the last thing I want is to make him grow to hate bottles/feeding time. 

He is often point blank refusing his bedtime bottle so he ends up in bed at about 7.30pm without a feed, then I have to get up again about 10pm (after going to bed myself about 9pm) to feed him, then again at about 3am or so before he wakes for the day around 6 or 7am.  At least he does take the bottles well overnight for some reason - I guess because he is tired and hungry and just wants to eat then get back to sleeping??

But it's all just so hard!!!!   Aaaargh!

I just hope that tomorrow's weight will show a good increase and I can relax and just let him eat as little as he wants/needs.

In other news yesterday was of course my first Mother's Day with Talyn.  Daddy helped him to make a special card for me and helped him hold the pen's to decorate it with lot's of swirls and colours.  Very nice :)

He had his 4month health check last week with the child health nurse and that went smoothly.  Her only concern was that he was not holding his head up or pushing up his chest when on his tummy as well as she'd hoped he would at this age so he has been referred to the pediatric physio to look into this.  More appointments!!! 

I think though that we have not had him practice so much of late as he often cries during tummy time from the hard work of it all and lately he has cried so much that we did anything to avoid it.  Now that his crying etc has settled now though we are practicing it more.

He is a much happier bub again on the Zantac.  He rarely cries and will play on the mat etc again now which is nice.  If we can just get him to feed happily and that will then flow on to helping to get his sleep back to the great pattern that it was....life can return to normal around here.

Whatever normal is?????

Cheers P

06/05/2007 (16wk's, 2 day old)

Well my baby boy is now weaned off breastmilk and onto bottle :( 

Boo-Hoo!!!

I feel really sad about it all but at the same time I'm relieved that the battle is over.  It is very emotionally draining to face a screaming child every few hours, offering him the breast only to be screamed down and refused.  I began to get tense just at the thought of a feed and would cry at the drop of hat at all hours of the day and night and that was helping neither of us so I did what I knew had to be done.  I feel guilt for stopping so early but we did the best we could and that's all anyone can do in this situation.

I did my last feed at 2am on Friday morning and I soaked up every last second of it.  I enjoyed the feel of his body curled against my own.  Watched him drink from me without complaint (as he usually did overnight unlike during the day).  I felt his little hands roam around my chest or grasp my fingers.  I felt his little toes curl around my hand like a little monkey.  And I stroked his silky hair or simply rested my hand on his little waist and just enjoyed every bit of what I knew would be my last breastfeed for Talyn.

Since then he's done fantastic on bottles, no complaints at all.  We are now progressing from feeding him on the floor as first worked to getting him back in our arms so we can still have close time while we feed as I miss having him cuddled into me every few hours now.  He's taking soy formula without any complaints and overall everything seems easier now.

Of course I'm now washing/sterilising/filling bottles etc twice a day but you get that :)  I went and got a new smaller nappy bag and a bigger bottle bag and I'm all set with our new feeding regime.  At least I don't' have to lug around my feeding pillow everywhere anymore *wink*

The visit to the lactation clinic on Friday showed a gain of only 40g in 5 days but I was just glad it was a gain and not another loss.  I hope that his Child Health Nurse review on Tuesday will show further gains over the weekend?  I was a bit concerned yesterday when he calm as could be, turned his head and vomited up an entire bottle when he was almost finished it!!  It gave me quite a fright but he seemed completely unphased by it all so not sure what the story was there??

My supply is dropping fairly smoothly.  I've not fed since 2am Friday and only had to do one very small express on one side this morning just to relieve some of the pressure.  I still feel very full right now but no longer in pain so I'm hoping the remaining supply will drop off soon.

It's funny how vulnerable I feel now???  Like before where ever we went there was not fear of delays etc as me and my milk were always available.  But now if we were to go out and break down or something without spare bottles???  The joys of formula I guess.  And let's face it...I'm always so over prepared with two bottles every where I go I'm unlikely to get into any probs ;) hehehe

I've just got over a killer flu and a case of tonsillitis this week that has left me absolutely shattered.  I guess it hit me when I was really worn down and my defences were low.  I can't remember being so sick in a long time so I'm really appreciative to have my health back now at last.  Being sick with young kids is no fun!!

Talyn is continuing on the Zantac for his reflux for now.  I asked the GP about a nicer tasting one but he said it did not exist and thankfully Talyn has now grown more used to the taste and only grimaces and gasps now instead of chokes and cries.  I think it is working though.....either that or the fact he is now eating better is helping I'm not sure?? 

All I know is that my boy of old is coming back.  He smiles a lot more again, he'll play on the playmat or bouncer etc again, he is always going "ahh-goo" at us and while his sleep has still not improved I'm happy to wait for that to stretch out longer again so long as I have my happy healthy boy with me again!

Cheers P

02/05/2007 (15wk's, 5 day old)

Ok the latest on young Master Talyn.

Went to the child health drop in clinic on Monday and found that he had lost a further 90g since he was weighed on Friday!  This is bad enough but over the weekend he steadfastly refused to take any bottles at all.  We tried different teats, different bottle shapes and even different formula's without any success.  Finally on Sunday night Simon got him to take one by laying him on the floor in front of the TV to distract him...and he's not looked back since in that regard. After seeing the child health nurse on Monday I went to the GP who excluded any ear/nose/throat issues but diagnosed him with Reflux and commenced him on Ranitidine/Zantac.  I'm not sure that it's made much difference yet as he still is screaming a lot and he HATES having the medicine 3 times a day and cries and shudders when it hits his mouth :( 

However the fact that he is having more bottles of formula now means that hopefully when I next see the nurse on Friday his weight will be increasing and not decreasing further??

The only thing is he is basically weaning himself off the breastfeed's.  I'm only able to get him to have about 4 feeds from me a day now (if I'm lucky) and the rest he'll only take bottle.  Last night I did express a bottle which I gave him just to relieve the pressure off my poor full chest but that seems to have settled today so I think my supply is dropping by itself.  So at the end of the day I guess I'm going to go ahead and wean him.  4 months was not what I'd hoped for (having done 9 months with Caleb) but honestly I just can't stand the battle any more.  I expect I'll probably finish up by the end of the week :(

Cheers P

28/04/2007 (15wk's, 1 day old)

The saga continues *wink*

Thursday night we gave Talyn a bottle of formula at bedtime and...other then a few dummy runs in between...he slept through until 4am again!!!  Hoorah.

Went to my lactation clinic appointment yesterday morning and ended up spending over an hour with her and then being sent to Emergency Dept for several more hours.  The short version is this....

Symptoms are green poo's, unsettled behavior, frequent positing, deterioration in sleep pattern, breast refusal and now poor weight gain (only 70g gained in last two weeks instead of expected 300g).  Also had an infected area under neck due to vomit contact there in folds of skin.

Nurse suspects: query reflux, query lactose intolerant...wanted him reviewed by pediatric doctor.

Nurse tries to contact pediatric Dr's but they are all on rounds so sends me to emergency where the Dr's there can call down a pediatric Dr...in theory!  Instead the Emergency Dr see's me after waiting over an hour...gives me a lecture on burping the baby, some cream for his neck and sends me on my way....Grrrr!  Says I am best to investigate lactose allergy via my GP referring me to a pediatrician????

So today....I'm not much the wiser.  Last night we could not get him to take a bottle on two separate feeds so even that avenue seems closed to us for now.  This morning he seems to have a slight fever so I've given him some paracetamol, he's napping now and we are just going to keep an eye on him.  I'm going to let him feed from me as often as he wants to both build up my supply further but also to help him to increase his weight.  I'm not sure if the green poo's etc are causing him to loose weight or what it is?

I'm worried about my little man but for the most part he seems happy enough so I'm sure we'll get through this little bump soon.  I'm going to take him to the GP on Monday for that referral and in the meantime just keep on keeping on :)

Cheers P

26/04/2007 (14wk's, 6 days old)

Well things have not gotten better - in fact they have got worse!

But there is light at the end of the tunnel ... I hope :)

Firstly let me say last night was the worst so far.  He's gone back even further now and added back in yet another feed overnight - feeding at 7.30pm, 10.30pm, 1.30am and 5.30am!!!!  What happened to his usual routine of last feed at 7.30pm and next feed around 4-5am???

It was the final straw for me and tonight I am going to try the formula bottle feed for last feed as discussed in the previous entry.  The late night dream feed was trialed on Tuesday night and made no difference what so ever!  I woke him for it at 9.30pm and yet he still woke at 2am and 5am for his next feeds?????

However yesterday I had a breakthrough.  I changed his nappy and noticed green frothy poo's.  And by frothy I mean almost all froth!  I knew I had read something about that so I hit the Internet to do a search.  Turns out breast refusal and green frothy poo's tends to point to one thing - lactose intolerance!!!!  Given that his big brother is allergic to dairy I am sure that's what is going on. 

Apparently, as well as the dairy in my own diet that is passed through my breastmilk, things are also complicated by milk imbalance.  Basically when they feed they get high lactose foremilk first then the good, fatty and satisfying hindmilk second.  It's recommended that for these babies the mum's use 'blockfeeding' which is basically just doing two consecutive feeds on the same side before changing sides for the next two (rather then changing sides each feed which is the norm).  That way bub get's less lactose and as a bonus more satisfying hindmilk also.

God I hope that's it!!!  I need a solution to this problem as going back to newborn sleep patterns yet again is killing me!!!  So starting last night I began blockfeeding and I am also cutting out all obvious dairy in my diet.  I'm not going to go so far as all trace elements of it as Caleb has to but for now I think no milk, yoghurt, cheese or chocolate should help things greatly.

I've got the appointment at the lactation clinic tomorrow morning to discuss all this so I'll let you know what I am advised.  Until then fingers crossed and praying that we get some relief soon.  (For both boys in fact - see Caleb's drama's here)

Cheers P

24/04/2007 (14wk's, 4 days old)

Well the move into his big cot and into his own room went without a hitch.  I'm sure we could have done it earlier still and it would have been fine also but I liked having him closer to me in his cradle in our room for the first few months.

I'm not sure it really has done much to improve my sleep though.  While I guess I don't hear the little noises so much...when he does wake I have to walk to the other end of the house to give him his dummy etc so then I'm more awake by the time I get back to bed...hehehe

His sleep has got really bad lately too?  He was going so well there for months...gradually extending out to 4-5am for his first feed after going to bed about 8pm.  But in the last week I've done several feeds around 2am and even one at 11.30pm??  Most times he'll then sleep through until 5.30am or so.  It's like he's taken a step backwards and added back in another night feed???  I don't know what's going on?

I'm considering two options.  I need to either make myself stay up later and give him a feed at about 10 or 10.30pm to see if that helps him get through from there or I may introduce a bottle of formula each night for his last feed to help him settle longer??  I'm not sure what to do. 

I tend to got to bed about 9-9.30pm as I still have to get up to Caleb at 6am (as well as several trips to Talyn overnight) so I know I will find it hard to stay up at first but I think I've got to try.  I remember with Caleb the hardest part of staying up for feeds was when everyone else went to bed and I couldn't.  I used to try to bribe Simon to stay up and watch TV with me.  Having said that though, I find it hard to get much computer time these days so I could use this time for that after Simon went to bed?? 

But will it make a difference?  Last night for an example I got up to give him his dummy at 10.30 and 12.30....then fed him at 2.15am and 5.30am.  Even if I get him to stretch out his feeds again will I be woken for the dummy?

And do I really want to introduce a bottle of formula every night?  I know there is nothing wrong with it and he will still be getting good breastmilk at all others feeds but.....???

I just don't know what to do?  I was always telling everyone what a fantastic sleeper he was and feeder then his feeding went to hell and so did his sleeping!

The feeding did improve heaps but even today I had a huge scream fest again before a couple of feeds???  It makes me want to give up breastfeeding but then I could do that and still find he's no better off on the bottle??  It's just that he'll often settle with the dummy when he is screaming so I think a bottle teat would be the same and I'd still get the feed into him?  Plus as I've already said I'm looking forward to finishing up breastfeeding this time around for some reason??  I feel guilty for not giving him 9months of it as Caleb had but at almost 4 months old now every week I get through with how things are is a bonus for now.

Ho-hum.  The joys of little ones.

It's lucky he's so damn lovable, adorable and kissable!!!  My little cherub :)

Cheers P

20/04/2007 (14wk's  old)

Note to self....Talyn is 14weeks old today - not 13weeks as I was telling people at playgroup today *blush*

hehehe

Quick update on all things Talyn....

Feeding has improved out of site!  No more real feed refusals for about 2-3 days now (thank you god!).  Sometimes he'll fuss a little bit on the occasional feed but nothing like it was.  I've stayed away from chocolate and dairy since it all started and I tend to think that the Easter increase in chocolate consumption was the culprit?

That or a growth spurt?  Last night he actually was up to feed at 1am and 4.30am which is not like him at all.  Usually his first feed is around 4am.  Not only that but he fussed and cried and was given his dummy about every hour to keep him asleep as much as we did so something is going on right now?  His day feeds are good and regular so I'll just see how things go tonight.

Having said that...today has been a day of big changes for him!

This week I met my first person who has known me from my website!!  Her name was Bronwen and her and her little bub and sister and nephew were so friendly and easy to chat with.  What I got from her though was an idea I'd never thought of before??  She said she combines breastfeeding her little girl with the occasional bottle of formula.  Her's was to supplement her milk supply but I had another idea.  When I have to leave the house for a while at a set time (like my hairdresser appt tomorrow) it's always a pressure to get a bottle expressed for it or feed just before I go and as soon as I get back.  Then I got to thinking....well why don't I use the odd bottle of formula for occasions like this?  So I did!

In order to do this tomorrow I had to trial a bottle of formula today to be sure all went well and it would work for tomorrow.  I also wanted to do it in daylight hours to monitor for any reaction.  I went with the Karicare Soy formula as Caleb had used just in case Talyn is also allergic to dairy.  He's had bottles of breastmilk before but as this was his first taste of anything other then Mummy's milk I was little unsure of how it would go.  Unsure...guilty....worried...you name it I felt it *wink*  However I needn't of worried as it went great and he guzzled down 150ml all the while cooing and smiling and staring up at me.  It was such a blast from the past to smell that formula again.  It really took me back to Caleb's days on the bottle when he was 9-12 months old.

Of course I don't want to give too many bottles in case I affect my own milk supply but I figure one or two a week, on a weekend will be fine and it's great to know that if anything happened and I was delayed from home Simon has at least something he can feed him.

The other big change....we moved our bubba out of our room, into his own room and his big cot tonight!  *Sigh*  I really wasn't sleeping well with his cradle in our room and we figured if we were going to move him out then we may as well make the move from cradle to cot at the same time.  With Caleb we moved the cot into our room first to adjust to that then later moved it and him to his own room.  This time we just did it in one go.

We have a great monitor so I know we'll hear anything if there is any probs....he just seem so incredibly teeny in his big cot.  I have mixed emotions.  Sad to see the cradle empty and that phase of our family life passing once more - but also I feel happy memories of Caleb's cot days and a sense of pride that my little Talyn is growing up and moving on.

Ho-hum.

Will let you all know how it goes anyway :)

Cheers P

15/04/2007 (13wk's, 2 days old)

Just an update on the feeding debacle of the last few days...

Well things got much worse before they got better.  On Friday evening I ended up going out and buying formula...resigned somewhat to the fact I'd have to wean him as he simply refused the breast no matter what I tried.  I was distraught at the very thought of being forced to give it up under those circumstances but I knew he had to be fed one way or the other.  Then something happened and it just got better?  He fed twice that night and then fine yesterday too.  The odd little fuss but nothing too severe.  Today has been hit and miss.  He's refused two feeds so far but has taken them well when I've tried again an hour later?  I have cut out dairy and chocolate since Friday lunchtime so I'm not sure if that's helped but I hope that what ever it is does not come back entirely?  I guess I just have to also try to let him tell me when he is really hungry rather then feed him every 3hrs or so also.  If he's hungry he'll let me know and if not I need to just chill for a while and see how we go??  It so stressful to have your little one screaming and contorting in your arms and not know how to fix it?  Especially when booby used to be the great fixer of all things! *wink*

Cheers P

13/04/2007 (13wk's old)

Well things have got a bit difficult in the feeding department of late.  The last couple of weeks have seen Talyn suffer from severe wind pains after feeding.  He often won't allow me to sit him up to burp him after a feed and instead holds himself stiff as a board and screams blue murder.  Even burping him over my shoulder is near impossible as he bends out in a banana position off my chest??  This doesn't happen every feed but several a day - more so in the afternoon and evening. 

He's also vomiting more too...not a lot of volume most times but often after each feed.  Then the last couple days things got much worse. 

He now screams before each feed too!  As soon as I lay him down to begin he starts.  He screams and pulls away - even when I know he is hungry.  I have to end up putting the dummy in to calm him down then as he stops screaming and sucks on it for a while I quickly pull it out and replace it with the boob before he notices.  Sometimes this works...sometimes it takes several goes.

He's also become very touchy with the feed.  If I move him or myself or there is noise or another distraction (as happens a lot with a 4yr old in the house) he let's go and we have to start the process all over again.

The result...one very stressed mum.  I know the stress it only making the problem worse but I've come to dread feed time in anticipation of the screaming that comes with it.  Once I do start I'm scared to move or speak for fear of him letting go and I've become very snappy with Caleb also which I just hate to do.  It's really getting me down and the last two days I've been very teary and strained by it all.

I'm sure the fact Caleb has been on his first 'holidays' from Kindy and home all day every day with his own problems (see his site for details) has not helped things.

Having said all that it's not every feed this happens?  The 4am feed today was fine before and after....the other 3 feeds I've done today have been a nightmare scream fest before hand but the burping has gone well afterwards???  We have been using Infacol wind drops to help but I'm really at my wits end?

I went to the drop in clinic with the child nurse this morning desperate for answers but really got none?  I got advice on diet and stress relief but no real answers??  I don't know what to do but I'm beginning to wonder how much longer I can go on like this before I consider a change to bottle feeding...and even then I don't know if that would make any difference other then the fact it wouldn't have to be solely my problem to deal with??

My personal minimum was 3 months of breastfeeding which I have done.  My ideal was at least 6 months until he began solids.  If I could manage 9months again as I did with Caleb then super but I fully expected to probably stop at 6months this time.  But now with all this.....I just don't know?

I've not had any experience with Colic before so I don't know if this is what that's like?  I think I recall a similar pre-feed terror time with Caleb so I'm going to go back over his site later today to see what I did that time or how long it lasts?  If I know it will pass then I can get through it ... but for now it just seems like 3hrly torture for us both :(

To finish on a more positive note...I am thrilled to say he has become very vocal.  He will lay on his playmat with the toys suspended above him and holler and coo and yahoo at them while he swipes at them and batts them around.  Very cute!  (That's when he will lay down of course as he's wanted holding upright a lot more of late too)  It's lovely to hear his 'voice' for the first time.  He's growing up so fast! *sigh*

ps new pics will be added to his album this weekend.  Will let you know here when they are done :)

Cheers P

01/04/2007 (11wk's + 2 day old)

Wow it's been way too long since I've updated here!  Glad I popped in today to do one as I had not realised how long it had been.

So what's new....gosh I don't know?

I'm pregnant again!  Hows that for shocking!!!!  But more on that later.  For now more on Talyn....

Our little man is giving us heaps of big gummy smiles now.  He smiles when we appear above his cradle, he smiles at tickles and nose raspberries, wiping his mouth with a bib will do it and so too will boxing his little hands around.  Yeah in fact anything brings on a smile now!!  Caleb love's to get his first smile each morning and no matter how rough a day we are having a smile from Talyn is sure to melt away any stress or tension.

He almost always has his 'dukes' up now.  You know that cute phase they go through when they are discovering their hands/arms and hold them up in front of them all the time like a boxer getting ready to fight.  It looks so cute.  I remember when Caleb used to hold his arms up when in his cradle and just stare at his fists waving around above his face - I can't wait until Talyn does that too!

He gurgles and coo's a lot now too.  He is really enjoying time on his play-mat now and can get quite vocal with the toys there.  By play-mat I mean a circular padded mat that has two arches over it that toys are suspended from.  He'll watch a toy for ages, getting his little fist ready, then bat at it fiercely.  His little face lights up when he connects and he can often be heard hollering at it when it doesn't....hehehe

I've come to know his cries better now.  I know the type of cry he does when he is in pain of course as that is something you know right away.  Then there is the type when he is so tired and all he wants is a cuddle and someone to help him settle down to sleep.  The wind cry comes with arched back and flailing legs and no dummy can sooth the 'I'm hungry and I want booby right now cry' *wink*

He's sleeping so well!  He will have a morning nap about 9am most days (often when we are doing the Kindy drop off or he is in the pram while I shop or exercise).  Then after lunch he'll go down for 2-3hrs straight each day which is lovely.  It coincides with Caleb's naps too so that's my little bit of me time each day while it lasts.  Then at night he goes to bed about 8pm and has his next feed anywhere from 4am onwards.  The last three days he did 5.30am and 6.00am then back to 4.00am today so it's still stretching out but overall I couldn't be happier with how well he sleeps for us :)  He's happy to go down asleep or awake and will lie contently with his eye's open until he drops off all on his own which is nice.  With Caleb we made the mistake of always feeding him or holding him to sleep most times and it's nice to make Talyn more independent.  If he cries I always go to him but he usually only wants a quick cuddle or his dummy and a stroke and then he's happy to again get himself back to sleep.  Mind you it's hard to walk out of the room with those big eye's silently following you and not want to go back and swoop him up for more cuddles. hehehe

The eye's are an ongoing argument in this house.  I'm fairly sure they will turn to dark brown like Simon and Caleb's rather then stay blue like my own but Simon hopes they will remain blue.  However for now he still has those baby blue/slate colour.  Some days I think they may stay blue yet other days I swear I can see the brown coming out in them.  I know Caleb's took quite a while to fully go brown so who knows how Talyn's will change in time.

Life with the boys is busy, hectic and more often then not LOUD!  Caleb has become a bit naughty of late so I guess he is struggling with the new member of the family a bit but we are working it out as we go along.

I still always get a little jolt when I say 'the kids' or 'the boys'.  I guess I feel like it's a game of make believe in some way.  I mean we didn't know that we would ever be able to have kids let alone TWO beautiful boys that we have been blessed with.  There is something so truly family- like about saying 'our kids' and 'my boys' *beams*  That and the new Kia Carnival 7 seater car we got a couple of weeks ago certainly screams "Breaders!"...Hahaha

Our trip to buy the car was Talyn's first travel and he went great.  There was almost a whole day and a half spent in the car for him which he wasn't so keen on but he did good considering. He slept well in the port-a-cot overnight and being breastfed, he was a breeze to travel with.

The breastfeeding continues without any trouble and he has about 8-10 feeds most days.  Sometimes I can't wait to finish breastfeeding which is weird because I never felt that way with Caleb??  I guess I just want my body back to normal and that's the last part of it that is devoted to bub.  However I'm an avid pro-breastfeeder so I know I'll go as long as I can.  For now my goal is 6months at least (did 9months with Caleb) until he starts solids and I'll reassess it then and see how I feel?

He's so going to be a thumb sucker I think too!!  Caleb never showed any interest in his thumb but Talyn get's his fist in his mouth at every opportunity and it's only a matter of time until he discovers the joys of his thumb.  He'll get it in randomly sometimes now and suck on it for dear life but doesn't have the control to do so most times.  I think of thumb sucking as short term gain (no dummy duty) for long term pain (can't take the thumb away as you can a dummy) but we'll just have to see where he goes with that in time.

Posting new pics to the album in the next day or so.  Will let you know here when it's done.

ps I'm not pregnant either - April Fools!!!!!

Cheers P

14/03/2007 (8wk's + 5 day old)

No more scares since last entry - thank god!!

My little bubby is growing up so fast!  He's full of smiles for us now...and the odd chuckle too so I'm really looking forward to real little baby belly laughs to come :)

He's beginning to swat at toys hanging above him on his play mat and to anticipate where our hands are headed when we come in slowly for a tummy tickle.  He wriggles and squirms as we get closer - hehehe.

He had his first immunisations yesterday.  I took him myself this time.  With Caleb I always went with Simon so he could hold him as I felt holding him to me in a breastfeeding position while he was given a painful stimuli was a bad idea.  They did offer a nurse to hold him yesterday but I knew that once he cried out in pain I'd want him in my arms not someone else's and I wouldn't have been able to stand to just stand there doing nothing. 

So I held him...and he cried....lots!  He had 3 needles, two in one thigh and one in the other.  He settled fairly quick afterwards but was quite distressed again in the afternoon when he was carried to be changed.  I gave him some paracetamol (his first ever dose) and it settled well and he didn't need any more overnight.

Speaking of overnight...we got to 5am before his first feed last night (after going to bed at 8pm!). I gave him the dummy at 2am, 2.30am and 4.00am but otherwise he slept soundly.  I'm hoping that as he maintains this pattern of sleeping through until 4-5am every night that he will need the dummy less and less.

He's a bit of a fist sucker this boy is, which Caleb never was.  I'm just hoping that does not become thumb sucking.  I'd rather remover a dummy in time then battle to stop thumb sucking. When I see him with his thumb near his mouth I give him the dummy instead as a dentist recommended.  It's so tempting to let him self soothe with his fist/thumb but in the end that's short term gain for long term pain I think.

Simon is sick with tonsillitis at the moment so he is having very little to do with Talyn as we sure don't want him getting it.  Add to that the fact Caleb has come home from Kindy this week with ringworm and ?intestinal worms (thanks Kindy!)....it's a miracle Talyn and I are so far maintaining our own health.  Long may it last!

We are getting a new car in the next few days.  A 2004 Kia Carnival....so excited!!!!  Will tell you all about it when we get it.

Until then....all remains well in our area of the world.  Caleb turns 4 next Wednesday!  Crikey where has that time gone???

Cheers P

08/03/2007 (7wk's + 6 day old)

Wow what a scare with had with Talyn last night!

We had settled him into bed as usual and within 10min's we heard him crying/fussing.  Simon went into him and came out seconds later, holding him in an unusual manner and said something like "Umm you'd better look at this".  The fact he had gotten him out of bed, the way he was holding him and the way he spoke instantly brought panic to my chest. 

I jumped up and saw that Talyn's head was covered in vomit. As we lay him on the bed Simon said that his whole body was stiff when he picked him up and I could see now that he was struggling to breath.  We lay him on his side as we cleaned the vomit from around his mouth and nose (it was all over his face too).  He was very pale in the face from struggling to breath and was obviously distressed by his ordeal.

As soon as we thought he could breath again we set about cleaning him up, changing clothes and bedding and just cuddling him close and soothing him.  Simon and I were both as frightened as each other by what had occurred.

I knew then and there that I would not sleep that night. 

The vomit was all over his bed, the wall and floor near his cradle and it was lumpy with curdled type milk parts and had that strong odour of vomit from deep in the tummy.  My poor bubba!

Simon and I took turns just holding him close for the next half hour or so.  However as we fretted he soon settled back to sleep and stayed that way.  The little monkey then proceeded to sleep the 8hrs until his first feed without incident.  Mummy on the other hand barely slept a wink.  I think I had one eye on him all night and every time he stirred or I rolled over I sat up to check his breathing and ensure he was alright.

He was, and today we have had no further incidents.  There has been a vomiting and diarrhoea bug going around that his Granny got and Caleb got the diarrhoea part of. I don't know if this is what caused the large and uncharacteristic vomit but I sure hope it's over with now?

It really brought home to us how quickly and easily the situation could have become tragic.  I know that for SIDS reasons bub's need to sleep on their back but it really increases the risks when vomiting occurs as we have just seen.  Of course I'd never sleep him on his front due to this one isolated incident but boy - I sure hope it never happens again.  I'm so grateful he was nearby us in our room and not alone in his own room further away (we intend to make that move when he is about 3-4months old as we did with Caleb).  I'm also glad we went to him straight away and didn't leave him to self settle etc when he began fussing.  Boy all the what ifs that come to mind after something like this!

Today I keep getting up to check on him during his day nap.  I keep cuddling him a little closer when he is in my arms and telling him I love him even more so then I usually do. 

God knows I love both my boys more then I can describe!

Cheers P

03/03/2007 (7wk's + 1 day old)

Finally I've found the time to post new pics to Talyn's online album here.

I also have a new update at Caleb's site and new pics in his album also :)

Cheers P

01/03/2007 (7wk's tomorrow)

Well I never thought we'd have to do this!

But yesterday I had an Implanon contraceptive implant inserted into my upper left arm!  It's a bit of a joke really since we have not had to use contraception for over 10years.  However after the surprise of Talyn I want to ensure that we don't have another surprise before we are ready.

We are fairly certain we'll go back for number 3 but at this stage we are thinking we won't be ready for that for another 2-3yrs.

The implant is great.  $30 for 3yrs worth of hassle free contraception.  It's safe for breastfeeding and I don't have to worry about taking a pill every day either.  When I first filled the script I almost died after looking at the size of the needle on the inserter.  However I was relieved to get a local anaesthetic first and other then some lovely bruising and a 12hr pressure bandage it was all good.  I can feel it just under the skin on the inside of my upper arm and there it will stay until it is taken out in 3yrs time (barring any complications in the meantime).

All else at my 6wk post natal check-up went good.  I've got the all clear for life to return to normal now and I no longer have to go to dressing clinics etc for my incision wound as it is about 96% healed now and should be fine on it's own for the last part.

We discussed future deliveries and it seems fairly certain that bub number three will have to arrive via c-sect now that I have already had 2 previous ones but I feel ok about that now.  Unlike my first pregnancy with Caleb, this time I was able to experience contractions, a show, the daily build up of anticipation etc towards the end, breastfeeding straight after birth etc and overall I feel less that I have missed out on something as I did the first time.  Let's face it...all I missed now is the painful part of a vaginal exit.  I can live with that *wink*

Talyn's 6wk check-up also went incident free.  He still has a bit of a snotty nose but is otherwise perfect :)  He's sleeping until about2.30am-4.00am each night before his first feed (after going down about 8pm) and he has 3hrs sleep each day after lunch.  This is also when Caleb has about a 2hr nap so Mummy get's too enjoy one too...Bliss!!

I had to laugh yesterday when I heard of another new mum that I know who is setting her alarm every 3hrs overnight to wake her newborn (the same age as Talyn) for a feed.  I did the strict 3hr thing with Caleb (although not sure I went so far as an alarm??) and I have definitely learnt that the relaxed approach has worked much better for us this time.  But each to their own and we all have to try what we think is best for our bub's.

Talyn has his 8wk immunisations needles next week...*Gulp*.  Never a fun thing but something we would never go without.

I have a heap of new pic's of Talyn to share and have finally caught a smile on camera.   Shall post new pic's over the weekend and let you know here when they are done.

Cheers P

22/02/2007 (6wk's tomorrow)

Wow my baby boy is 6wk's old tomorrow!!!  Holy cow that went fast :)

He is sleeping like an absolute champion!  He went 8pm to 4am last night between feeds.  He woke at 2am briefly and I used the dummy to settle him and he went back for another 2hrs after that.  Awesome.  Then he went until 7am until he woke for his next feed :)

He doesn't go down with a dummy at night or arvo and I only use it sparingly to extend times between a feed or when out and about in shops etc to buy more time or help settle him.

He also sleeps about 2-3hrs each day after lunch which is great as it coincides with Caleb's arvo nap.  Not so great on Kindy days when I have to get him up to pick up Caleb but he does tend to sleep through the whole trip, in and out of car etc regardless.

It's surprising how much better his sleep is then Caleb's was considering Caleb was on the whole 3hr feeding routine by the book schedule and Talyn is simply demand fed.  Live and learn huh?

Otherwise what else is new? 

He will watch us with his eye's now, turning his head to follow us across the room.  Today he turned his head to find us when both Caleb and I called him from across the room which is the first time I've noticed him do this.

He's very content to be cuddled by strangers for now so I hope that lasts and he does not get too clingy in the months to come.  Don't get me wrong - a bit of mummy-love melts the heart but sometimes you just need them to be ok with being held by someone else for  a while too.

Last weekend he had his very first expressed bottle feed.  I have never expressed a feed ever before - not even in the 9months of breast feeding Caleb, but Simon said it went great.  He had 130ml with no complaints and Mummy got to sleep through!  Ok...well I didn't so much as I was fretting how it would go but now that I know it worked well I'll be giving it another go this weekend and hope to sleep much sounder *wink*.  I did find I really needed to express in the morning to have enough milk for it though and Saturday is really the only day I can manage the task when Simon is here to help out with the boys while I do it but I think I will make it a Saturday routine and store some up for future use.  It sure would be handy to have a back up if I were delayed away from home on an appointment or something etc.

Talyn is enjoying daily tummy time and his little neck is getting much stronger when he is held over the shoulder etc.  He tends to hold it up for quite a while and check out the world but I have to be careful that he doesn't get tired and then head-butt my shoulder with his poor little nose as he has been prone to do.

His nose has been blocked and snotty for about a week now.  It makes sleep time noisy for him with his breathing but doesn't seem to bother him much?  His first 6wk visit with the GP is tomorrow so I'll talk to him about it then and see what he thinks.  I keep thinking it will clear up but it seems to be lingering??

He continues to charm us with huge gummy smiles...although seems to save most of them for Daddy.  I have so far been unsuccessful in catching one on camera but surely will do soon.

Otherwise all is good in the world and our little angel is a total treasure!  Long may that last :)

Cheers P

16/02/2007...

I have finally found the time to add some new pic's to Talyn's album at last.  I have heaps more to come but for now you can check out the newest one's here.

I'll be updating Caleb's album in the next week also but will let you know when that's done.

All else continues well.  The delightful little Talyn slept from 8pm to 3.15am last night *bliss* (Extra bonus since Mummy was up until after 9.30pm watching the LOST season return!). Then we started the day with the next feed at 5.45am.   We had been up a bit more frequently the two nights before that for some reason but on average the first stretch of sleep goes for 6-8hrs so I'm not complaining :)

He had the nurse check up on Wednesday and passed everything with flying colours.  He now weighs 4.4kg which is up over 0.8kg since his birth which she was very pleased with. 

And the biggest highlight this week?  His first smile on Feb 12th!  It's enough to melt our heart's.  I've yet to catch one on camera yet (despite many attempts) but as he's smiling more and more each day now I'm sure I'll have one to share soon :)

Big brother Caleb finally got the plaster cast off his arm this week too so slowly life is returning to some sense or routine around here.

My c-sect wound is finally showing good progress.  I'm still going to the dressing clinic once a week but I suspect next week may be my last as it is almost closed at last!  Hoorah!!!

Life is great!

Cheers P

09/02/2007...

Do you know what that beautiful boy of our's did last night?

He slept almost 7hrs straight!!  He started his last feed at 7.30pm and did not wake for his next until 2.20am!!!  Wow.  Pity I was awake for the first 2hrs of that time...and then woke bolt upright at 1.45am worried that he had not woken so had to turn on the light and check his breathing...hehehe

Then he woke for his next feed at 5.30am.  What a great night and not a moment too soon as I was absolutely shattered yesterday from lack of sleep.

Tonight we are going to try our first ever express and Simon is going to try to give him a bottle for his first (and maybe only??) feed overnight so I can catch up on some sleep.  In the 9 months of breastfeeding Caleb I never once expressed so I'm not sure how it will go but I'll keep you posted.

I expect last nights long stretch was a fluke so I won't hold my breath for that pattern staying around just yet but it's encouraging to know it's coming closer at least :)

My dressing clinic went well on Wednesday.  The nurse and my Dr both said the incision site is healing nicely and shows no signs of infection.  The redness I was worried about was only a surface irritation and they gave me some antibiotic type cream to combat that.  I really can't see any improvement in the open parts?  The largest is still about 5cm long and about 1-2cm high...and the other is much smaller...but I guess at least it is not leaking fluid non stop as it had been so that's got to be a good sign.  They say it will have to heal from the bottom up so I'm guessing the open area will be the size of the scar in that area - but who cares?  Just so long as it closes sooner rather then later I'll be a happy girl! :)

I can't believe our little Talyn is 4wk's old today!!!!  Our newborn is growing so fast!  It made me realise last night how much I still want to do all this again yet.  Not soon, maybe when Talyn is 2-3yrs old - but I think I will want to go back and experience the miracle of it all at least once more.  Perhaps it will be third time lucky for a vaginal birth??  *wink*

Cheers P

05/02/2007...

We caved!

After avoiding using a dummy for 3 weeks we finally gave in and gave Talyn one.  We used one for Caleb for about two years (but only ever in his cot after 1yr old) and I don't mind them as such.  I just hated having to get up several times a night to plug it back in all the time for the next 2yrs.  This time we wanted to try to avoid it all together but given the option of being a human dummy all day long or giving him one there really wasn't a lot of decision to be made.

This time however we do want to avoid using it as a sleep aid...more so just to extend feed times during the daytime.  At the moment he feeds at about 8pm, 1am and 4am overnight but during the day he wants to snack every 2hrs or sometimes less.  This is exhausting for me and my poor nipples *wink* but also makes planning outings or anything for that matter very difficult.  So with the dummy I hope to gradually extend the day time feeds to about 3hrs apart...although I am happy to feed more frequently in the evening to top him up nice and full prior to bedtime.  It's a work in progress though so we'll just see how it goes?

Nothing much else is new.  His circumcision bell comes off tomorrow afternoon so I'm looking forward to that being over and done with :)

Caleb has started Kindy this morning for his first full 3 day week so I'm hoping to be a bit more time rich and get back to my routine and get things done around the house again etc.  Still have to take it easy with any heavy lifting etc until my tummy is healed but I am at least driving again now which is FANTASTIC after 3wk's of being house bound. 

I'm a bit worried that my tummy is beginning to show signs of possible infection - just what I need!  So I'm watching it carefully for now and I'll be going back to the clinic on Wednesday morning again so I'll see what they say then?  Keep you posted.

Cheers P

03/02/2007...

Wow I can't believe my little Talyn was 3wk's old yesterday.  Boy is the time flying!  In some ways that's most welcome in the early days because you just want to get to the sleeping through the night part ASAP to survive yourself.  Yet at the same time you want them to stay teeny tiny forever :)

However after two rough nights after his circumcision we are now back to feeding at just midnight and 4am which is very nice compared to what it could be.  I can survive on that for a couple months more at least :)  After an initial fear re his circ healing it is now looking great and I think the bell may even fall off before his appt to have it removed on Tuesday.  It looks clean and is free from swelling etc which is good.

Caleb is still loving every minute of his big-brotherhood *wink*  He tells Talyn a dozen times a day how much he loves him, how he is his best friend etc and just loves to help out with nappy changes/bath times etc.  We do find ourselves asking him over and over to give Talyn some space as he is just in his face ALL the time, kissing, cuddling and touching him...but how can we begrudge that?  We don't want him to feel displaced by bub but at the same time it's hard to get him to understand that there are limits as well?

We just try to continue to lavish Caleb with love, affection and one on one time when we can, accommodate his crowding Talyn as best we can and remember that it won't always be this way with two boys in the house *wink*

I went for my first drive yesterday.  The drive was easy.  Taking both boys out in the rain and trying to wrestle the pram out of the boot and back in was not!  In the end Talyn was crying, I couldn't fold the damn pram up and I was in the rain and hurt my tummy when I lifted it back into the boot.  D'oh!  hehehe I'll think I'll give the pram a miss for a bit longer yet after that disastrous effort :)

My sister and nephew are coming to visit today for two nights so I'd best get moving and get some things organised.  Talk more soon.

Cheers P

31/01/2007...

Went back to the dressings clinic today and all seems to be going well with my wound healing at last.  I now only have to go once a week (thank god!) and when my Dr reviewed it he says it's looking good.  He says there is no sign of infection but he gave me the option of returning to theatre to have it reclosed again but as I'll only have to heal from that all over again, and I've had my full of hospital of late, I gladly declined that option.  They think it will heal well from now anyway and I can even stop the antibiotics after tonight.  So, unless it shows any signs of beginning infection I think it may be good from here on in.  It still has a large open area to heal over, and I still have to do twice daily dressings myself...but just knowing it looks to be progressing well is a huge relief.

Now I can't wait to begin driving again!  I think I'll do so the end of next week or early next week?  With Caleb starting Kindy today and for 3 days a week from next week I really need to be mobile again.

Day 1 of Kindy went great I might add!  No tears and he seemed really excited by it all so I hope that lasts.  It's just a short orientation day today but he starts Mon - Wed, 9am-2.30pm next week.  Hope he still loves it when it's 3 days in a row! *wink*

Talyn had his circumcision done yesterday.  Please, if you feel strongly against this then I ask you keep your judgements to yourself.  I found it very difficult to go through with, but having his father and brother done I really didn't feel I had an option but to have him the same.  It took only 10min's to do and when we returned after this time he was already fast asleep.  I'm just so glad it's behind us now as I've been dreading it ever since he was born a boy.  He seems to be healing well and he'll go back in a week to have the dressings removed. 

Otherwise all goes well for us for now *touch wood*

Cheers P

29/01/2007...

Well I still have not got around to creating Talyn's new page yet but hopefully I will find the time for that soon.  Just wanted to drop in and say I'm going ok. 

I had my first appointment for the wound review/dressing today and it went great.  The nurse is a wound management specialist and was very encouraging about how it would heal etc. She's using the latest technology in dressings etc and hopes it will all be good in about 3-4wk's.  I guess that seems like a while but I was expecting much longer so I'm happy with that.  I feel very confident in her skills and I know I'm in good hands :)

Since beginning the anti-biotic's in hospital the watery discharge from the site has near stopped at last so that is very encouraging at least.  I just want all this to be over and done with already so I can return to normal life!

Talyn is doing fantastic :)  Feeding every 2hrs or so during the day and anywhere from 3-5hrs overnight so that's fantastic!! The painful cracked nipple problem on one side is almost *touch wood* healed so I'm looking forward to pain free feed's soon.  In the meantime I've gone back to using my pillow to feed on until I am fully healed.  At home I use a U shaped pillow but yesterday I also purchased a specific breastfeeding one to keep under the pram which is much smaller and convenient to take out and about -yahoo!

Otherwise all is good.  I can't believe my little boy is 2 and half weeks old already!  Where has the time gone?  I'll be adding some more pic's to his album some time this week but will let you know here when that is done.  We are just so busy with appointments etc right now, and Caleb starting Kindy on Wednesday but I'm sure things will settle down soon :)

Cheers P

27/01/2007...

Me oh my!  My drama's continue!

I have been back in hospital again and was just discharged last night.  What a series of changed stories and mixed up views my entire 24hr stay there was.

The not so short story went like this....

Nurse viewed my c-sect wound on Wednesday and recommended a GP review it.

GP reviewed it Thurs arvo and said...'yep looks infected, your specialist needs to see it, here's some antibiotics and if it busts open all the way over the weekend go to Emergency!'  Hello???  Being Australia Day long weekend of course I would not be able to reach specialist until Monday but he was happy for me to just go home without even cleaning or dressing it for me *fumes*

So I come home and ring Maternity Ward to try to leave message for my Dr and to get advice.  Advice was to present to Emergency straight away.

Do that.  Wait bloody hours to be seen (with Talyn and Simon in tow...Caleb was thankfully at Granny's). 

Dr there says 'yes looks infected.  No you cannot go home like that.  Antibiotics GP prescribed are wrong ones and I think you need IV one's stat.  I'm admitting you'.

Then on-call gynae Dr arrives....prescribes yet another oral antibiotic and admits me and Talyn to surgical ward.

Original Emergency Dr then comes back and says he still thinks I need to IV antibiotics also despite what other Dr says.  So I'm set up in a bed in Emergency and people proceed to jab and needle me.  First I have blood taken.  Then another nurse collapses two veins on both my arms trying unsuccessfully to insert a cannula for the IV med's.  Finally the Dr comes back and get's the IV line in and the drugs can begin.  After they run through I am finally moved to the ward at about 11.30pm.

At long last my wound is finally given it's first clean up and decent dressing after more then a week of my concerns about it falling on deaf ears. 

Simon finally heads home about midnight and I try to settle down for some sleep.  Forgetting of course the shocking beds, the constant bing-bong of the nurse call button's alarming, the phone's ringing and the nurses talking loudly in the corridor and at the nurses desk just outside my room.  I do get a single room at least given that I have bub with me but unfortunately, being surgical ward, I spend all night listening to the poor man across the hall hacking up a lung every few minutes.  Oi!  What a night!

Then in the morning I begin my oral antibiotic that the A&E gynae Dr prescribed.  Several Dr's and nurses have by now advised that I'll likely go to theatre on Sat to have the wound re-opened, cleaned and restitched under general anaesthetic.  I was really worried about how I would go breastfeeding when this happens etc, not to mention all the drugs they intend to flood my body with!  In the end we plan to have maternity staff assist me to express milk into a bottle that Simon can use to feed Talyn with while I am in theatre and/or unable to feed him myself after the event.

The ward Dr then arrives mid morning, tells me my private Dr will review me in the afternoon but in the meantime I need to begin yet another different antibiotic (of which I never did start but I guess I would have had the first one of them last night had I of remained there??).  I then wait all day for my Dr!  He finally arrives at about 6pm (having been away all day and in theatre all afternoon). 

He checks out the wound.  Says it does not look infected (!!!)...that the constant flow of fluid from it is ok and just needs regular dry dressings and that he will not re-stitch it as it will likely only break down again.  Instead he cancels all the other antibiotics...prescribes the same one as my GP did on day 1 and says I can go home!!! 

What the????

So home I went.  I need to go to clinics Mon, Wed, Fri's for dressings and wound reviews by the midwife there and he will review it himself on Wed.  In the meantime I do my own daily dressings at home.  I'm just so glad someone will be watching over it while it begins the long healing process.  It is open in two places of about 4cm long and 2cm high...Ugh!  But he does not seem overly concerned by this.  Only that it will take a long time to heal and the scar will be bad.

Bloody hell!!!

I just want all this to be over already!

Cheers P

23/01/2007

Tomorrow while Caleb is at daycare I will be creating a new page for Talyn, as I have for Caleb, that is separate to this pregnancy journal.  But for now I'll write here and just move it when the new page is done :)

All continues well here.  Caleb is rapidly adjusting to life with his cast.  He's got good at using his toes etc to hold things that need two hands even - it's amazing how kids adapt!  Today he goes to the fracture clinic so we are hoping that he get's a nice light fiberglass cast today to replace his bulky heavy one he has now.  We also hear that a water proof lining may be possible so that would be fantastic if it is available at our hospital?  His night time sleep is still pretty poor since the cast has gone on but thankfully Simon see's to him (bless him!) while I see to Talyn.

As for Talyn's sleep....I could not wish for a better sleeper!  He goes anywhere from 3-5hrs overnight between feeds!  The average is last feed from 7-8pm...then I'll feed again about midnight and 4am and that's it!  FANTASTIC!!!

Last time with Caleb I was so rigid about following a 3hrly feed cycle that I even woke him at night when it was time.  This time we are going demand and he's going twice as long as Caleb ever did and he's not even two weeks old yet!  Joy!  Who knows how long it may last but for now I'm loving it.

I'm pretty much back to routine now.  Doing washing, light housework, making lunches etc...though Simon still covers vacuuming, shopping and often tea prep for now (what a champ!).  I can't wait to be able to drive again in a couple of weeks!  Yesterday I took the boys for a walk to the shop (only about 100m each way) but it was a nice start to gently exercise again.

I'm still having a bit of pain in that cracked nipple..ouch!  It was getting better but the new pillow-less feeding hold I was shown aggravated it again (I guess it was pulling down on it a bit?).  So I'm back to my trusty pillow until I'm all healed.

I feel like my body is a bit of a battle ground of late.  My stomach wound continues to bleed/weep all the time so that I have to keep a dressing there at all times.  I have a nurse coming to see Talyn tomorrow and she actually looked after me on the ward also so I'm going to ask her opinion and if she thinks I should then have it reviewed by my GP.  There is no signs of infection but the bleeding does worry me??  Ahh I just want my body back!! :)

Another change with Talyn, as opposed to Caleb, is that he is sleeping in a world of noise.  With Caleb we lived to very much regret surrounding him in silence to sleep as then he depended on it.  Talyn sleeps in his cradle in my room for now which is right next to the lounge.  The door stays open, the TV blares, phones ring and Caleb yells and yahoo's all day and he doesn't flinch at all.  That's the way we want it to stay too.  Anything else would be impossible in  house with an almost 4yr old anyway *wink*

This morning we are having people come to do a 3D mould of the boys hands and feet.  They will do one hand of Caleb's and one foot and one hand of Talyn's and mount them in a frame with plaques of their names and ages etc.  You can view their site here (we are doing the '2 children 1+2 option').  We did Caleb's foot ourself but this time we wanted to get a professional job done of them both.  Lucky they only need one hand of Caleb's anyway since his other is in the cast *hehehe*  Can't wait to see the finished product!

Well that's about it for today I guess.  Talyn is sleeping and Caleb is busy playing blocks in the lounge so I might try and catch up on my other website's while I can.  When I have created Talyn's new page I'll leave a link here for it tomorrow :)

Cheers P

22/01/2007

You can view Talyn's photo album here.

Cheers P

20/01/2007

Oh boy!

Not sure who I pissed off in a past life but my first week home with Talyn got a whole lot harder on Thursday afternoon. Caleb broke his arm!!!!!!!

I couldn't believe it!  He fell/got double bounced off a trampoline and broke his left arm just above the elbow joint.  So after yet another night spent at Emergency until almost 11pm he now has a cast from his wrist to near his shoulder.  It is set at a 90 degree bend and he has to wear a sling to hold it's weight in place until he is reviewed at the fracture clinic next week.  Then he'll hopefully get a groovy colored fiberglass cast for the next 6wk's or so that will be a lot lighter and easier to maneuver.

My big independent boy became almost baby like overnight.  He couldn't sleep, couldn't toilet himself, get in and out of chairs or do almost anything he wanted too *Sigh*.  That's improving as he adjusts to it all and I'm hoping by the time I have to cope with both alone come Monday he'll be more used to it.

The only highlight of the whole thing was hilarity he provided while doped up on Medazolam when they had to set it in place. I was in more pain then him as he had us and the staff in absolute stitches with his drunken like antics.  He was talking non stop about the funniest things, swaying, with heavy eyelids and kept smiling at Simon and I and telling us how much he loved us!!!  Just like a drunk :)  So funny! 

I sure needed the laugh as I was beside myself to see my little boy in so much pain and add the that the fact that my stomach wound starting up bleeding heavy again on the way to the hospital - so much so I had to turn back and change clothes that had soaked through with blood!  I've not had it seen to again but it seems to have settled now so I think I just over did it that afternoon in all the excitement??

By comparison, Talyn is smooth sailing! The feeds are no longer painful.  He is demand feeding every 2.5-3.5hrs during the day and sometimes longer overnight.  Last night he went 6hrs, 4hrs, then 3hrs between feeds which meant lots of sleep for this lucky mummy :)

He has such a placid nature and is either asleep, feeding or happy to gaze around at the world around him :)  Joy!

I'm making my first venture to the shops this morning to buy him some clothes so I'm looking forward to getting out somewhere other then to the hospital! 

Yesterday I went to the lactation clinic and was thrilled to finally be shown how to master a breastfeed without using a pillow.  You would think after feeding Caleb for 9months I would know this but believe it or not I remained dependent on my pillow right to the end.  Now I feel so much freedom to feed places other then at home with my trusty pillow when the need arises.  Double Joy! :)

Oh and for those who have asked....Talyn is pronounced the same as the bird claw Tallon....or just think 'talent' without the 't' at the end :)

Life is good.  Not great for Caleb but he'll do fine I'm sure and he is being so brave and strong.  That's my boys!!!

Cheers P

--The Birth of Talyn Mason--

Where do I begin to describe the day my second son arrived in this world??  And how do I begin to describe all the emotion of that day??  Well...let me start at the beginning...

After an eternally long morning of waiting we finally arrived at the hospital at 10am as advised.  After a quick check in at central admissions it was time to present to the maternity ward.  I can't begin to describe how weird it was to walk into that hospital, pregnant for the last time, knowing that the next time I walked out I would be holding my baby!

Despite going private this time around there was only a double room left in the ward but the second bed was empty at least (and remained that way until I was moved to a single room the second day).  After the usual admission work up my Dr arrived and it was time to have an ultrasound and see if bub was still breech.  I had been told the previous day that if he was no longer breech it would be my decision as to whether or not to proceed with the c-sect or await a natural labour.  How on earth was I supposed to make a decision like that?? 

Thankfully Talyn remained in a transverse breech position (sideways across the top of my uterus, head on the right, feet on the left), so the decision was no longer mine as this position cannot be delivered vaginally.  It was then I knew that my baby would arrive that day!

Caleb stayed with us a while before heading home with Granny and we began the second long wait of the day, waiting for them to take us to theatre.  We were booked for theatre at 1pm and left the ward at 1.15pm. When we arrived Simon was taken to a lounge to wait while I was taken to the prep room for my cannula's etc to be put in.  After several goes at that, my drip was finally up and running and I was ready to enter the theatre.  Having had the spinal with Caleb, it was time again for the part I had been dreading - the spinal.  Boy if only I knew!

While the spinal at Caleb's birth had gone in first time this one did not.  They had many painful attempts and at one point even had to repeat the local anaesthetic there (the one that feels like a swarm of bee's stinging all at once).  After becoming feint I had to be given oxygen.  I'm not sure if this was due to pain, being bent over so far or just a bit of panic after hearing them begin to discuss putting me under a general anaesthetic instead??  In the end they called in another anesthetist but just as he entered the room they finally got it in right - thank god!

Then I was finally able to lie back, a catheter was inserted and Simon was brought in ready for the procedure to begin (I didn't realise but he had been waiting over an hour by this time!).  At this point the room reeked of burning hair/skin smell so I'm guessing that was actually some sort of lazer device to make the incision into my skin??  I'm sure I also heard them say something about cutting out the old scar first but I'm not clear on that?

Anyway then we waited, me with a screen just below my chin and Simon on a seat just beside my head.  The funny bit was I could actually watch everything they were doing to me.  The large theatre light above my head had a moving metal arm that was positioned above me where I lay.  It didn't take me long to look up and realise I could see the reflection of my stomach on the metal of this arm!  I wasn't going to watch but in the end couldn't help myself...hehehe  Truly bizarre to see your own operation I must say *wink*

Between the pulling and tugging I could feel, and my view from above it wasn't long (I guess 10mins) before it was time for my baby to be born.  We heard him cry before he was even fully out.  This time around I had asked to be shown bub immediately apon birth as I had not been given this chance with Caleb.  My Dr said he would in fact not tell me the sex of the child but instead show me.  They joked about how I should keep my mouth closed when this happened and when it was time to be shown him  I realised why.  The baby was held over the screen above my face and the Dr said "What do you have Mum?".  Well...there was no doubting the result. My first glimpse of my child was a slightly bloody, red, hairy bum and testicles hanging down for all to see!!!!  Hahaha  Yep it was a boy!

Simon was called over to the other side of the room to cut the cord from bub and to watch them measure and weigh him etc.  Then he was given him to hold beside me for a few minutes before it was time for them to wait outside in recovery.  Then I was stitched up etc and within about 20-30min's wheeled out to hold my son for the first time.  There was Simon trying to keep this noisy, and obviously hungry baby settled while he waited for me and in no time Talyn was put to my breast for his first feed.

This part was so very important to me as I had not had this opportunity for more than 3hrs after Caleb's birth and I have always attributed that to the difficulties we had initiating breast feeding with him.  Talyn however wasted not a moment.  He attached right away and went on to feed for the next 40min's or so while I was in recovery and even stayed on while I was wheeled back to the ward.  I cannot tell you what that meant to me!  I am very pro-breastfeeding and to see how easy it could be done this time around (after Caleb took until day 4 to get going on it) was indescribable. I kept marveling to people that I couldn't believe it could be so easy sometimes :)

After settling back into the ward Caleb arrived soon after to meet his eagerly awaited little brother.  And boy did he love him on the spot!!  I don't think he's stopped kissing him ever since *wink*  He is constantly wanting to kiss and hold him and we give him the chance to do both at every opportunity we can.  So...just like that...our family of 3 became 4!

The Hospital Stay...

I gave birth on Friday afternoon and was discharged at 1.30pm Monday.  My stay in hospital was great and I cannot speak highly enough of the midwives there.  The first night I only slept about 2 hrs but after that each night passed in a blur of feeds and toilet trips.  The food was great and what a luxury to have it served to your bed at every meal *wink*  After that long awaited first shower the next morning after the drips and catheter etc were taken out I was free to move around and did so with some gingerness but basically unhindered.  Talyn was very spoiled with gifts from his many visitors and Simon and Caleb visited several times a day until we were finally able to leave.  The Dr had assumed I would stay until Tuesday or Wednesday but I couldn't see the point of staring at those 4 walls when I could be home in my own comfortable bed instead.  Besides which Simon only has 1week off work so I wanted to make the most of this time getting into a routine at home while I still had help.

The Early days...

Our first days home have not been without a couple of drama's.  Firstly I got horribly painful cracked nipples!  I never once had that in 9 months of feeding Caleb and having had it I have never ending sympathy for any women who experiences it!  Having to feed every few hours on a nipple that feels like it is being cut off with razor blades is excruciating and left me an emotional mess.  I was determined to not let anything stop my breastfeeding but I didn't see how I could go on.  After several tearful phone calls to Breastfeeding Assoc Support workers and to ward staff I was advised to express for a few days until it healed.  After a mad morning spent trying to hunt down a hire breast pump, and eventually buying our own instead I then ended up never using it.  The early discharge nurse who was visiting me for the first two days at home said that expressing would only cause my body to produce more milk - something my already painfully engorged breasts did not need after I had already avoided using the most painful side for the last 12hrs.  She said just to count backwards from 10 each feed until the most painful part had passed.  Count backwards from ten!!!!!  I didn't know if I should laugh or slap her!!

However I did as she suggested to get through it.  I also expressed some milk onto the nipple after each feed as she suggested as breastmilk has healing properties.  I also tried the rather bizarre sounding suggestion of placing water soaked, and mostly frozen disposable nappies inside my bra to sooth the discomfort.  This is sort of like the cold cabbage leaf trick of old but boy did it feel good!  I must admit my countdown from ten was rather unique.  Between each digit was as many swear words as I could fit in *wink*...but in the end it worked.  I am now at day 6 and the engorgement has passed, and while still a little painful I no longer need a countdown.  Talyn has gone from feeding every hour to hour and a half...to 2.5-3hrs now as my main milk supply has come in.  Joy!  Last night he fed at 8pm, 12pm, 3pm and 6pm so I got heaps of sleep which was fantastic!!  I feed him 3hrly during the day then longer periods overnight if he should happen to sleep longer.

The night before was not so good.  After a midnight feed I discovered my wound site was dripping blood from beneath the water proof dressing.  Dripping enough that it ran down my legs onto the floor and showed no sign of stopping.  So up to Emergency ward we went at 1am with a sleeping bub in our arms and Caleb at home with his godmother who was staying with us.  They took off the old dressing, cleaned the wound, pronounced it fine and sent me home with dressing pads to soak up any further blood loss.  I'm pleased to say there has been only minor bleeding since then so I guess whatever it was has stopped at least.

Otherwise my healing has been great.  I'm moving around fine and only need to be cautious when standing from sitting or moving around in bed.  Otherwise I'm getting plenty of rest, getting the star treatment from Simon who is looking after Caleb, cleaning house and cooking all my meals.

Talyn has loved his nightly baths done by Daddy and even sleeps during them!  This amazes us because Caleb screamed blue murder during his baths for at least 3 weeks or more :)

I'm more then a little nervous about the next two weeks when I will be home alone with both boys all day and unable to go anywhere as I cannot drive for about 3wk's.  Caleb and I usually go somewhere each day so I'm not sure how I'll go entertaining him, keeping house and doing it all on no extra naps?? I also wonder how I'll do things like his arvo story time before nap etc it bub needs feeding during that time etc?  Still we'll manage alone some how?  The 3rd week is the start of 3 days a week Kindy for Caleb so I know things will get much easier from there on in.  I just need to get to that point first.

Until then I'm loving every bit of being a mum of two. I love that Caleb has adjusted so well and that he is as taken by Talyn as we are.  Just looking at Talyn warms my heart and I can't get enough of him.  I know just how fast this teeny, tiny newborn stage lasts so I want to absorb every little bit of it while it lasts.  The miracle of birth is a true blessing and I know that both Talyn and Caleb will bless our lives now for eternity!

Cheers P

ps...I am uploading photo's to an online album in the next day or two and will let you all know when that is done so you can see them for yourself.  Until then, I just love that pic below :)  Aww shucks!!!!!

18/01/2007

--Welcome to the world Talyn Mason--

Sorry for the delay in posting this but I'm sure you can all imagine how I'm a little pressed for time right now.  I'm still working on the birth story but I'll have that up by the end of the week.  For now I just wanted to share a picture with you and say a HUGE thank you to all the wonderful and touching guest book messages I have received.  I always reply to every guestbook entry individually but I'm afraid that for now there are just too many and my time is just too little so please accept this as my personal thanks for your best wishes and comments.

When I post the birth story in the next couple of days I will also post a photo album with heaps of pic's to share of Talyn and all of us since his arrival...but for now here is one I love.  It was taken yesterday at 5 days old :)  My gorgeous baby boy, Talyn....

         See pic on top left of this page        TALYN MASON

  Born: January 12th 2007, 2.43pm

  Weight: 3580g

Cheers P

14/01/2007 Baby Details by Simon

Sorry about the delay but I've been very slack and thought I had better do it now to stop Paulene going crazy at me.  All is well with babe and mum so here is the details...

We have a handsome baby boy Talyn - ( pronounced tallin ) - weighing in at 7pound 14ounces (exact as Caleb) born 2.43pm 12 Jan 2007 by c-section.  Just a note it is amazing the almost exact looks of Caleb at the same age but I'm sure Paulene will post comparison photos for all to see.  Thanks for all your support for Paulene and she will put a more comprehensive post up tomorrow when she is home. Cheers, Simon.

3 Months

5 Months

My boys!

9 Months

1 year old!

From birth to 1 year old.

Talyn 1-2yrs