See you later everyone

[meganjane]

Gosh you're a gem! I hope things become a little easier for you in the months to come and you find some time to settle down at the computer with a coffee to have a browse on the forum.
Stay well and bless you!

[trudy]

Well Denise I take my hat off to you and your family.  How long do you think they will be with you?  Enjoy this special time.

[Halex]

Denise, we have a timeshare in mandurah and just booked yesterday wecare coming down for 6 nights. We will be at silversands.

Dh will commute to work, we are free monday 19th to catch up if you can manage.

Ds woud love to see the babies.

Hally

[Ceejay]

I can only say one thing D!  WOW!

You are amazing. 

Sending much calm and happiness to some very lucky littlies! 

[Bedlam]

Quick hello everyone,
I have to say that although I am missing you all and playing with my Thermie (very basic use at present) and sleep! I really am  enjoying my time with these beautiful little people. they are full of smiles and love and have given us much happiness. it is expected they will be withus 3 months. I can totally empathise with a young mum having problems coping, I am experienced with littlies and would have difficulties keeping up without my beautiful daughters help. (although i could never harm a innocent baby, however stressed or busy). Our days  have settled nicely however I think the oldest has nightmares and can scream for a few hours in the night very difficult and subsiquently difficult to get through the days tired. not every night, thank goodness.
Anyway  feeding as we speak then off to bed. Any twin tips appreciated as I have never done twins before.
x

[Meagan]

Denise are you interested in using cloth nappies? I have some you are welcome to borrow if you like.
My sisters are twins and mum said she used to wake one when the other would feed so she wasn't up all night with them same with nappy changes.

[Frozzie]

oh wow having bad nightmares so little...how horrible and makes you wonder...poor little munchkin and can imagine how hard it must be with the three of them and lack of sleep!  I had enough problems when DD wouldnt sleep more than a couple of hours a night until after 8 mths old...i was breaking down and only had her and DS, cant imagine dealing with twins and another child..

cant help out with twin tips...thankfully never had twins even though they are in my family...although I know when breastfeeding alot of mothers have them in either arm crossed over with a maternity pillow underneath but dont know if htat would work with bottle feeding...i foudn the maternity pillow quite helpful as they were close to your body which every baby likes but you didnt have to hold them so maybe try and borrow one???  Guess it depends what your wanting ie having a moment or just trying to get them into a routine.  I imagine fostering isnt the easiest job as you need to love them and give them balance but not get too attached as you know they are only there a short time...feel for you and you should be very proud of what your doing...I think I would get hopelessly attached so not a good person for foster care!

in any case hang in there and keep up the love

[Bedlam]

Kim that is exactly what they need, attachment, if you dont give them attachment then it isn't worth doing.  I know it will be hard to see them go but feel I am giving them a good start. Attachment can heal a traumatised babies brain.
I love all kids so I dont find it difficult.  We all know we will feel a loss when they leave but only having them a few months wont be as bad as some who have them for years and then never hear anything of them and how they are.
Meagan, thanks for the offer but I wouldn't be able to keep up with cloth nappies.  Not environmentally friendly the disposables but Denise friendly.

[Frozzie]

would that not just create more trauma...feeling at ease and getting attached then up and off to somebody new...Im not a fan of the system..my cousin fostered a child and ended up adopting her which wasnt an easy task even though the parents didnt want her and had another baby which they also gave up (some people I tell you)....she is a gorgeous kid as alot are!  It would definately be hard for those who have them over a longer term then not hearing anything...doesnt surprise me though...again hat off to you and hope it all goes smoothly and you stay strong   

oh and understand re the nappies...I did cloth nappies with DS which were a task and a half and gave up with DD and went back to the industrial kind..had a giggle re Denise Friendly! 

[cookie1]

Much love to you all Denise.

[Bedlam]

Hello Everyone,
I have 2 nights respite so first thing to do after a good nights sleep is check the forum.
At times I wonder how long we will be able to keep going.  I wanted to give but at the moment I am giving almost 100% of my life. The 3 babies have not been well (just routine virus) which means even more disturbed sleep - hard to stay positve when you are sleep deprived. It is lovely to see them adjusting to our home.  Our baby boy has made the most improvement, when he arrived we thought he may have hearing and sight problems now I think it was his coping mechanism as he reponds beautifully.  He is sitting unaided for a few minutes also.  The twins are now 6 months.  Its our eldests second birthday on Friday, so no longer 3 under 2 - I guess it gets easier as they get older.  We havent yet had a careplan meeting so really don't know how long we will be needed with these little guys but will only take one next time.
Unfortunately our diet has degenerated - I would dearly love to continue making everything from scratch but too busy.  It will happen again sometime.
Anyway Happy New Year to all - I look forward to being an active member again very soon.  Must go and catch up on some of the millions of post I have missed.

[fundj&e]

you are doing a fantastic job by the sounds of it, like you said  it will get better. cooking from  scratch can wait for a while, do what is easier for you.

[Cuilidh]

Sound like you are an absolute marvel.  Keep strong and, even when (not if) things go wrong, i.e. if they are unwell, you will all come through and everyone will be happy and well again before you know it.  You've accepted a huge responsibility and your goodness is shining through.  You have my total admiration for what you are doing.

[judydawn]

Enjoy the respite Denise, it sounds like you really need a break.  I don't know how anyone can possibly cook everything from scratch with 3 little ones to care for so do the best you can and just eat anything nutritious to keep your strength up.  Keep up the good work, it is a mammoth task you have taken on and I take my hat off to you.

[Halex]

Hi Denise,
Glad to hear you have some respite. If you are thinking of having these little loves for a lot longer, you need to regular respite or have them all in day care one day per week.  You should be able to negoiate this as they wont want to loose you as carers. When you have the careplan stand firm on what you want too, you will be surprised what they will offer you to help you. Learnt all this from experience (the hard way) now I would speak out from the start.

When we had our special needs boy for 2 tears, they paid for daycare  1 day a week, they understood I needed the break. The other option is they will have funds for you to have soeone come in and help you 1 day per week. I would opt for day care, gives you a total break for the day.

We have just finished having a lovely 12 year old boy on respite, we all had a great time with him, he played  nicely with ds. We are looking forward to his next  visit.

The kids sound lovely, shame we didnt catch up when I was in Mandurah.

Take care, enjoy yiur break

H