Friday 4 December 2009
My 1st Christmas!
Check it out, here's me on my first ever Christmas day sat on Wendy's knee. Made this earlier in the week with the new kit from Designs by Tater - Greatest Time of Year. Get it www.scrapmatters.com
Wednesday 2 December 2009
December Update
Wow, it's been almost a month since I last wrote anything here, and what a month!
In the past few weeks I've been to hospital and had my surgery, now on the final few miles of my road to recovery I hope. Finlay has taken his first trip out of Lincoln and also had his first mild illness, a little tummy bug. We've also been geting ready for Christmas to descend so the office now sports an enormous pile of presents of all shapes and sizes!
The final few weeks of the year are set to be rather hectic too, starting this Friday when my mum is coming to stay. We are hoping to visit the local school's Christmas fair and introduce Finlay to Santa before heading to the huge and historic Lincoln Christmas Market. The next day we're setting off to Stoke for a family get together where Fin will finally meet his Great Aunt Elaine.
The following weekend is the NCT meal with the other parents from our birth classes and their wee ones - all of whom are doing really well as we saw them on Monday at the class reunion. That day is also our nephew Will's 3rd birthday celebration at his house. Just a few days later is the hospital finance department meal which I'm looking forward to as I haven't seen a lot of people for quite some time. I'm especially looking forward to seeing Paul and Rachel as they'll be getting married just a few days before, much to all our shock as they only told everyone this week! Finally that week I'm off to Manchester for Depeche Mode at the MEN Arena on Merran's birthday!
So much to do before Christmas, plus cards to write and presents to wrap! Best not linger too long here then!
In the past few weeks I've been to hospital and had my surgery, now on the final few miles of my road to recovery I hope. Finlay has taken his first trip out of Lincoln and also had his first mild illness, a little tummy bug. We've also been geting ready for Christmas to descend so the office now sports an enormous pile of presents of all shapes and sizes!
The final few weeks of the year are set to be rather hectic too, starting this Friday when my mum is coming to stay. We are hoping to visit the local school's Christmas fair and introduce Finlay to Santa before heading to the huge and historic Lincoln Christmas Market. The next day we're setting off to Stoke for a family get together where Fin will finally meet his Great Aunt Elaine.
The following weekend is the NCT meal with the other parents from our birth classes and their wee ones - all of whom are doing really well as we saw them on Monday at the class reunion. That day is also our nephew Will's 3rd birthday celebration at his house. Just a few days later is the hospital finance department meal which I'm looking forward to as I haven't seen a lot of people for quite some time. I'm especially looking forward to seeing Paul and Rachel as they'll be getting married just a few days before, much to all our shock as they only told everyone this week! Finally that week I'm off to Manchester for Depeche Mode at the MEN Arena on Merran's birthday!
So much to do before Christmas, plus cards to write and presents to wrap! Best not linger too long here then!
Friday 6 November 2009
My DSD Layouts
Digital Scrapbook Day is almost here and my designers have been getting busy releasing two amazing Grab Bags over at http://www.scrapmatters.com/. Somehow I've also managed to squeeze in some time to work with these great products, inbetween hospital appointments and dealing with a rather unhappy baby with an upset tummy!
In case the secret isn't out yet, a few days after accepting my place on MickeyB's Design Team, I was also asked to join the first ever creative team for Designs by Tater. Obviously I immediately accepted and took my place amongst the Tater Tots!
So, onto my DSD layouts. Here's my page using the new kit from Designs by Tater. You can snag it here: http://scrapmatters.com/shop/product.php?productid=2938&cat=0&page=1 and check out some more great layouts by the rest of the Tater Tots here: http://taterscraps.blogspot.com/
In case the secret isn't out yet, a few days after accepting my place on MickeyB's Design Team, I was also asked to join the first ever creative team for Designs by Tater. Obviously I immediately accepted and took my place amongst the Tater Tots!
So, onto my DSD layouts. Here's my page using the new kit from Designs by Tater. You can snag it here: http://scrapmatters.com/shop/product.php?productid=2938&cat=0&page=1 and check out some more great layouts by the rest of the Tater Tots here: http://taterscraps.blogspot.com/
MickeyB has teamed up with Man in the Moon Designs to produce her great Grab Bag. You can snag it here: http://scrapmatters.com/shop/product.php?productid=2897&cat=0&page=1 and see lots of layouts using it here: http://mickeybdesigns.blogspot.com/ and also here: http://maninthemoondesigns.blogspot.com/ where Rochelle is giving away a little coordinating freebie.
Ok, time for a few more layouts from me, here are two using Designs by Tater products. First up uses Boogity Boo:
And here is one using Expectant Moments:
Remember as it's Digital Scrapbooking Day tomorrow, Scrap Matters is having a huge sale so everything is at bargain prices! Also remember that I'm a creative team member and receive all these products for free.
Before I go, I just need to give a shout out to Sahlin Studio (who I don't design for.) She just launched her new kit Innovation at http://www.thedigichick.com/ and she has an amazing EPCOT themed freebie on her blog - go grab it!
Tuesday 3 November 2009
Digital Scrapbooking Day
This weekend is Digital Scrapbooking Day and I'm working hard on some layouts for my creative teams for this Friday's new releases. Can't wait to see them up in the shop and on the designer's blogs.
For now, here's a layout I did recently for MickeyB using the Caribbean Wedding kit - remember I'm one of her creative team so I kindly got her kit for free. That's probably the last time I'll be wearing a bikini in public, I think my pregnancy may have put a stop to all that!!!
Monday 26 October 2009
Galling Gallstones!
Greetings!
Judging by some of the phone calls, text messages and other communications I've been receiving, a lot of people are a bit confused about what's going on here in regards to me and these blimmin' gallstones. That's ok, to be honest I'm a bit confused myself! However I'll try my best to explain below.
99% of the time, I'm perfectly fine and going about my daily business with no pain, discomfort or anything of that sort. However at any time I can get hit by a gallstone attack, and that's what happened on Friday night and Sunday afternoon. These attacks come on within a very short space of time. Friday night I felt the first twinges about 6.30pm and had to go to A&E by 8pm, Sunday was much faster, I needed to get to A&E within 15 mins of the first hint of pain. I cannot begin to describe what this pain is like, suffice to say I would rather go through my full labour experience twice than have one 20 minute gallstone attack!
Now we know what's happening, and it's on my A&E file that I have gallstones, the proceedure on arriving at A&E seems to be the same. I generally get through triage very fast, nurse comes and sticks a cannula in my arm and gives me an anti-sickness drug and 10ml of morphine then tha pain vanishes. On Sunday I also got a shot of Buscopan and on Friday it was something else along with the morphine. Now on Friday they kept me in the EAU overnight which was a good thing as I had recurrances of the pain at 3am and again at 5am. By the next morning I was fine and discharged in the afternoon. Last night they decided not to keep me in and simply discharged me from A&E with a large amount of very strong painkillers which I ended up taking at about 11pm as I could feel discomfort as the morphine wore off. Neither of us were very happy about them discharging me so fast last night as the morphine was still at full strength and could easily have been masking the pain, plus I couldn't walk by myself as my legs felt like I'd had an epidural again!
Today I feel pretty much fine, hence me being online. The only issue I have right now is not being able to take any weight on my right arm, that's due to a failed cannula insertion last night which seems to have caused a lot of pain and means it's a bit difficult for me to pick Fin up - but I'm coping fine. I am still groggy becuase I find morphine makes me feel very drunk at first then give me what feels like a hangover for about 24 hours or so. Scott has stayed off work today as I was still very groggy this morning and also becuase he is concerned that I may have another fast relapse and doesn't want me home alone with Fin. That's also why it's been arranged that I'm with people for the next few days, so if anything happens they can get me to hospital/call an ambulance and immediately take over caring for Fin. Hopefully I will be totally fine and will just get on like normal.
Of course the question everyone is asking me is "well why aren't they doing something about this?" Well, they are doing the best they can. Annoyingly it appears that whoever was meant to refer me a month ago never did which is why I'm still waiting on the outpatient consultation. Due to these attacks this weekend I've now been told I am prioritised and will be receiving my outpatient appointment very soon. That will be to go over what options I have and, most likely, arrnage for me to have keyhole surgery to remove the gallbladder.
I also keep being asked "isn't there anything you can do to stop this until your appointment?" Well, no, not really. Trust me, I've looked into this in great detail ok? You would too if you knew you could get these attacks. All I can do (and already have been doing) is keep the fat in my diet to an absolute minimum as the gallbladder is involved in breaking down fat so the less work it needs to do, the less likely an attack. Note I said LESS likely, nothing will completely stop the attacks until the stones are removed.
So there, hopefully that covers what's going on here. I will keep you all updated but for now I'm just trying to get on as normally as possible until my appointment, keep my fat intake low and look after my baby. Just remember that 99% of the time everything is completely normal and we wouldn't be twittering updates to facebook if there were problems, they are generally very short lived issues. Once that morphine has kicked in I'm perfectly fine, I was sat chatting away to Scott in A&E last night - slurring like a drunk woman though. I'll just be glad when I don't have to keep rushing in there for drugs anymore!!!
Judging by some of the phone calls, text messages and other communications I've been receiving, a lot of people are a bit confused about what's going on here in regards to me and these blimmin' gallstones. That's ok, to be honest I'm a bit confused myself! However I'll try my best to explain below.
99% of the time, I'm perfectly fine and going about my daily business with no pain, discomfort or anything of that sort. However at any time I can get hit by a gallstone attack, and that's what happened on Friday night and Sunday afternoon. These attacks come on within a very short space of time. Friday night I felt the first twinges about 6.30pm and had to go to A&E by 8pm, Sunday was much faster, I needed to get to A&E within 15 mins of the first hint of pain. I cannot begin to describe what this pain is like, suffice to say I would rather go through my full labour experience twice than have one 20 minute gallstone attack!
Now we know what's happening, and it's on my A&E file that I have gallstones, the proceedure on arriving at A&E seems to be the same. I generally get through triage very fast, nurse comes and sticks a cannula in my arm and gives me an anti-sickness drug and 10ml of morphine then tha pain vanishes. On Sunday I also got a shot of Buscopan and on Friday it was something else along with the morphine. Now on Friday they kept me in the EAU overnight which was a good thing as I had recurrances of the pain at 3am and again at 5am. By the next morning I was fine and discharged in the afternoon. Last night they decided not to keep me in and simply discharged me from A&E with a large amount of very strong painkillers which I ended up taking at about 11pm as I could feel discomfort as the morphine wore off. Neither of us were very happy about them discharging me so fast last night as the morphine was still at full strength and could easily have been masking the pain, plus I couldn't walk by myself as my legs felt like I'd had an epidural again!
Today I feel pretty much fine, hence me being online. The only issue I have right now is not being able to take any weight on my right arm, that's due to a failed cannula insertion last night which seems to have caused a lot of pain and means it's a bit difficult for me to pick Fin up - but I'm coping fine. I am still groggy becuase I find morphine makes me feel very drunk at first then give me what feels like a hangover for about 24 hours or so. Scott has stayed off work today as I was still very groggy this morning and also becuase he is concerned that I may have another fast relapse and doesn't want me home alone with Fin. That's also why it's been arranged that I'm with people for the next few days, so if anything happens they can get me to hospital/call an ambulance and immediately take over caring for Fin. Hopefully I will be totally fine and will just get on like normal.
Of course the question everyone is asking me is "well why aren't they doing something about this?" Well, they are doing the best they can. Annoyingly it appears that whoever was meant to refer me a month ago never did which is why I'm still waiting on the outpatient consultation. Due to these attacks this weekend I've now been told I am prioritised and will be receiving my outpatient appointment very soon. That will be to go over what options I have and, most likely, arrnage for me to have keyhole surgery to remove the gallbladder.
I also keep being asked "isn't there anything you can do to stop this until your appointment?" Well, no, not really. Trust me, I've looked into this in great detail ok? You would too if you knew you could get these attacks. All I can do (and already have been doing) is keep the fat in my diet to an absolute minimum as the gallbladder is involved in breaking down fat so the less work it needs to do, the less likely an attack. Note I said LESS likely, nothing will completely stop the attacks until the stones are removed.
So there, hopefully that covers what's going on here. I will keep you all updated but for now I'm just trying to get on as normally as possible until my appointment, keep my fat intake low and look after my baby. Just remember that 99% of the time everything is completely normal and we wouldn't be twittering updates to facebook if there were problems, they are generally very short lived issues. Once that morphine has kicked in I'm perfectly fine, I was sat chatting away to Scott in A&E last night - slurring like a drunk woman though. I'll just be glad when I don't have to keep rushing in there for drugs anymore!!!
Friday 23 October 2009
Reflections on CeeBeebies
Since Fin's birth I have started to become rather well versed in the offerings of CeeBeebies. Here are my thoughts on the shows I've seen so far.
Big & Small
This thing is just wierd, not something to put on when I'm trying to calm the little mite down. Small's squeaky voice does irritate me somewhat but the sarcasm from Big makes up for it.
Big Cook Little Cook
How can anyone possibly be as happy as these two are? Scott despises this one but I kind of like it. Small's hair cut is simply brilliant and the happiness is somewhat infectious. Some of the recipes look really good but others (yesterday's "Marrow Telescope" as an obvious example) are lacking rather.
Chuggington
I would like to think that Fin will gro up smart enough to be able to pick up the moral of a story without it being rammed down his throat like this show feels the need to do. Add in the catchphrase "Train-Tastic!!!" and it's one of the few shows I'll actively switch off if it comes on.
Come Outside
They're still showing this??? I watched this as akid (I'm sure the big shaggy dog had nothing to do with why mum out it on...) I do find it really irritating now though so I try to avoid it.
Get Squiggling
It's called a crayon, NOT a "Squigglestick", irritated me no end.
I Can Cook
Not much to it, but nice and chilled out. It's fun to watch the kids attempting to cook and also to not look revolted when they have to eat the veggies at the end of some episodes!
In the Night Garden
Ahh where would we be without this one? The only show currently series linked on our Sky+ box, it's often nice and effective at sending Fin to sleep. Definately my favourite of the lot.
Louie
Let's draw the most random things we can think of. Most kids I know want to know how to draw a house or a cat, not storks and stagecoaches... Bizzare in the extreme.
Mama Mirabelle
Not overly offensive to my brain but something about the voices really irks me.
Mister Maker
I'm guessing this has replaced Smart and made it more upbeat for today's kids? I really like this one as it's creative, I actually want to make some of the things in the show (although not the fish tank made from a plastic box and scouring pads...?!?!) I get the feeling once Fin is old enough to participate I will have a house full of odd pieces of artwork made from household objects and torn paper. I'd be happy if the Shapes bit was removed, that song is really annoying.
Nina & The Neurons
I like that there's a show based on science, although I feel the neurons themselves were pretty superfluous to the show. Really liked it when I saw a proper experiment being done at the start of te episode I was watching, reminded me of the old RI Christmas Lectures!
Numberjacks
What the flipping hell is going on here? Just what were the writers smoking when they came up with this nonsense? I watched this as Vikki & Simon had mentioned how non-sensical it is and I had to see if for myself. "Oh no! If all the 4s become 7s catastrophes will occur!" What is with the rubbish supervillain too? "The Puzzler" (in no way a rip off of The Joker - not at all...)
Show Me Show Me
Quick! Somebody hand me a rifle pronto.... BANG! My God this is the most irritating piece of crap I have ever seen. Sadly I think there's a good premise in there somewhere, but do kids really need a TV show to help them play with their toys? This gets switched off as fast as I can find the remote.
Something Special
Feels a little bit worthy, especially the opening sequence, but I like that there's a show teachign sign language. I find it interesting myself too as I actually get to learn something from this, not knowing sign language myself. I could happily see Mr Tumble tumble down a well never to be seen again though, may have something to do with him being very clown like - I don't do clowns.
Space Pirates
Not showing at the moment much to my chagrin, I would turn this on even before I was pregnant. I know Wendy doesn't like it much but I find it hilarious and love the totaly random pieces of music it introduces.
Timmy Time
Not quite as good as Shaun the Sheep but it's still Aardman so it's still very good. The theme tune was in my head for days the first time I saw it!
Waybuloo
Scott calls this the druggie show cos of the Pipling's enormous eyes. I like the yoga sequences but how some of the poses are supposed to resemble their names I cannot fathom. What precisely is "big roary thing"? I do find the children annoying in several episodes!
Big & Small
This thing is just wierd, not something to put on when I'm trying to calm the little mite down. Small's squeaky voice does irritate me somewhat but the sarcasm from Big makes up for it.
Big Cook Little Cook
How can anyone possibly be as happy as these two are? Scott despises this one but I kind of like it. Small's hair cut is simply brilliant and the happiness is somewhat infectious. Some of the recipes look really good but others (yesterday's "Marrow Telescope" as an obvious example) are lacking rather.
Chuggington
I would like to think that Fin will gro up smart enough to be able to pick up the moral of a story without it being rammed down his throat like this show feels the need to do. Add in the catchphrase "Train-Tastic!!!" and it's one of the few shows I'll actively switch off if it comes on.
Come Outside
They're still showing this??? I watched this as akid (I'm sure the big shaggy dog had nothing to do with why mum out it on...) I do find it really irritating now though so I try to avoid it.
Get Squiggling
It's called a crayon, NOT a "Squigglestick", irritated me no end.
I Can Cook
Not much to it, but nice and chilled out. It's fun to watch the kids attempting to cook and also to not look revolted when they have to eat the veggies at the end of some episodes!
In the Night Garden
Ahh where would we be without this one? The only show currently series linked on our Sky+ box, it's often nice and effective at sending Fin to sleep. Definately my favourite of the lot.
Louie
Let's draw the most random things we can think of. Most kids I know want to know how to draw a house or a cat, not storks and stagecoaches... Bizzare in the extreme.
Mama Mirabelle
Not overly offensive to my brain but something about the voices really irks me.
Mister Maker
I'm guessing this has replaced Smart and made it more upbeat for today's kids? I really like this one as it's creative, I actually want to make some of the things in the show (although not the fish tank made from a plastic box and scouring pads...?!?!) I get the feeling once Fin is old enough to participate I will have a house full of odd pieces of artwork made from household objects and torn paper. I'd be happy if the Shapes bit was removed, that song is really annoying.
Nina & The Neurons
I like that there's a show based on science, although I feel the neurons themselves were pretty superfluous to the show. Really liked it when I saw a proper experiment being done at the start of te episode I was watching, reminded me of the old RI Christmas Lectures!
Numberjacks
What the flipping hell is going on here? Just what were the writers smoking when they came up with this nonsense? I watched this as Vikki & Simon had mentioned how non-sensical it is and I had to see if for myself. "Oh no! If all the 4s become 7s catastrophes will occur!" What is with the rubbish supervillain too? "The Puzzler" (in no way a rip off of The Joker - not at all...)
Show Me Show Me
Quick! Somebody hand me a rifle pronto.... BANG! My God this is the most irritating piece of crap I have ever seen. Sadly I think there's a good premise in there somewhere, but do kids really need a TV show to help them play with their toys? This gets switched off as fast as I can find the remote.
Something Special
Feels a little bit worthy, especially the opening sequence, but I like that there's a show teachign sign language. I find it interesting myself too as I actually get to learn something from this, not knowing sign language myself. I could happily see Mr Tumble tumble down a well never to be seen again though, may have something to do with him being very clown like - I don't do clowns.
Space Pirates
Not showing at the moment much to my chagrin, I would turn this on even before I was pregnant. I know Wendy doesn't like it much but I find it hilarious and love the totaly random pieces of music it introduces.
Timmy Time
Not quite as good as Shaun the Sheep but it's still Aardman so it's still very good. The theme tune was in my head for days the first time I saw it!
Waybuloo
Scott calls this the druggie show cos of the Pipling's enormous eyes. I like the yoga sequences but how some of the poses are supposed to resemble their names I cannot fathom. What precisely is "big roary thing"? I do find the children annoying in several episodes!
Wednesday 30 September 2009
Monday 28 September 2009
First Week with Finlay
Finlay James Malcolm Brown arrived at 11.45am last Monday (21st Sept) weighing 8lb 3oz. That's exactly 1 year and 1 day after our wedding, I'm thrilled!
It's been a very traumatic week for me. The birth didn't go as I'd hoped because when I was admitted in labour they found I was running a very high temperature and had to continuously minitor me and Fin throughout, cutting out most of my natural water birth hopes immediately. Fin's heart rate kept dropping very low so we had doctors regularly checking us and a student midwife with us at all times to watch the machine, c-section was also mentioned early on. I managed a very long time just using paracetamol and gas & air but eventually had to have an epidural as it got too painful and I was only 4cm. Managed to avoid the section but had to have a ventouse delivery so that made it all a bit worse and means I'll take longer to heal up.
Got out of hospital about 9/10pm on the Tuesday night but was feeling realy bad all Weds and Thurs with increasing back pain and a pain near my ribs. Thurs evening it got excruciating so we had to call Scott's parents to come and watch Fin whilst Scott rushed me to A&E and I was given an enormous syringe of morphine. Initially they thought it might be an effect of the epidural so I was taken back to maternity and given some stupid diagnoses (bad posture... ) before they noticed something strange on a blood test to do with liver function. I was kept in overnight and on Friday afternoon they found I had gallstones. I was kept in another night for obs and came home Saturday with a new diet which means I can have practically no fat, very difficult for me! I have an appointment with a surgeon in 6 weeks to talk through my options but will most likely have keyhole surgery to remove my gall bladder to prevent any recurrances.
I'm sure you can imagine just how stressful this has been for us all, not only having a new baby but having this straight on top of it. Being in hospital 2 nights without Fin was agonising as I was in the baby blues phase and struggling to come to terms with everything. He made it very easy for me by being an angel for his grandparents and not crying when they had to take him away in the evenings.
It's been a very traumatic week for me. The birth didn't go as I'd hoped because when I was admitted in labour they found I was running a very high temperature and had to continuously minitor me and Fin throughout, cutting out most of my natural water birth hopes immediately. Fin's heart rate kept dropping very low so we had doctors regularly checking us and a student midwife with us at all times to watch the machine, c-section was also mentioned early on. I managed a very long time just using paracetamol and gas & air but eventually had to have an epidural as it got too painful and I was only 4cm. Managed to avoid the section but had to have a ventouse delivery so that made it all a bit worse and means I'll take longer to heal up.
Got out of hospital about 9/10pm on the Tuesday night but was feeling realy bad all Weds and Thurs with increasing back pain and a pain near my ribs. Thurs evening it got excruciating so we had to call Scott's parents to come and watch Fin whilst Scott rushed me to A&E and I was given an enormous syringe of morphine. Initially they thought it might be an effect of the epidural so I was taken back to maternity and given some stupid diagnoses (bad posture... ) before they noticed something strange on a blood test to do with liver function. I was kept in overnight and on Friday afternoon they found I had gallstones. I was kept in another night for obs and came home Saturday with a new diet which means I can have practically no fat, very difficult for me! I have an appointment with a surgeon in 6 weeks to talk through my options but will most likely have keyhole surgery to remove my gall bladder to prevent any recurrances.
I'm sure you can imagine just how stressful this has been for us all, not only having a new baby but having this straight on top of it. Being in hospital 2 nights without Fin was agonising as I was in the baby blues phase and struggling to come to terms with everything. He made it very easy for me by being an angel for his grandparents and not crying when they had to take him away in the evenings.
Friday 18 September 2009
The Nursery
I finally got around to photographing the nursery and here's the proof! Have a look around...
1. The entrance to the room. Those drawers are temporary, eventually they'll move into our room and swap places with the cot which is in there now for the first 6 months or so. Pic is a cartoon lithograph of Cinderella Castle surrounded by Disney characters and "autographed" by them all at he bottom. Also visable is Bean's laundry basket.
2. Bookcase which is mainly housing Scott's books at the moment. Second shelf down is all Bean's books and our Harry Potter collection is on the top along with more toys. I've changed the bottom shelf a bit now, it has some wooden jigsaws there.
3. Changing table, all neat and tidy - that won't last! The baskets contain nappies, cotton wool, wipes, muslins an other random bits like dummys and talc. You can just see the bouncy seat propped up on the left. Those cuddly toys won't be staying, they're just there for decoration until we start actually using the thing. Picture needs to go up on the wall when we get around to it but might get replaced quite soon.
4. The wardrobe with height chart stickers on the side. It's a kiddy size one so I can actually reach up on top of it! There's a big box of Lego on top which Bean will have once he's a lot older and some other toys like Mr Potato Heads and a school in a boot (of course...) Wardrobe has some clothes hanging in it on one side and bits like the baby monitor and my breast pump in there for now. The shelves have more baskets with all the clothes he's too little for yet and the drawers have his bedding and more nappies.
5. The nursery from the door. The drawers have all his current clothes, bibs etc in them. There's a Farthing Wood clock on the wall and toy animals on the windowsill with some picture frames that need more appropriate prints in them, still got the old ones from Leeds in there. Moses basket is just on the floor for now, all wired up with the breathing monitor in place, fresh bedding and new mattress.
1. The entrance to the room. Those drawers are temporary, eventually they'll move into our room and swap places with the cot which is in there now for the first 6 months or so. Pic is a cartoon lithograph of Cinderella Castle surrounded by Disney characters and "autographed" by them all at he bottom. Also visable is Bean's laundry basket.
2. Bookcase which is mainly housing Scott's books at the moment. Second shelf down is all Bean's books and our Harry Potter collection is on the top along with more toys. I've changed the bottom shelf a bit now, it has some wooden jigsaws there.
3. Changing table, all neat and tidy - that won't last! The baskets contain nappies, cotton wool, wipes, muslins an other random bits like dummys and talc. You can just see the bouncy seat propped up on the left. Those cuddly toys won't be staying, they're just there for decoration until we start actually using the thing. Picture needs to go up on the wall when we get around to it but might get replaced quite soon.
4. The wardrobe with height chart stickers on the side. It's a kiddy size one so I can actually reach up on top of it! There's a big box of Lego on top which Bean will have once he's a lot older and some other toys like Mr Potato Heads and a school in a boot (of course...) Wardrobe has some clothes hanging in it on one side and bits like the baby monitor and my breast pump in there for now. The shelves have more baskets with all the clothes he's too little for yet and the drawers have his bedding and more nappies.
5. The nursery from the door. The drawers have all his current clothes, bibs etc in them. There's a Farthing Wood clock on the wall and toy animals on the windowsill with some picture frames that need more appropriate prints in them, still got the old ones from Leeds in there. Moses basket is just on the floor for now, all wired up with the breathing monitor in place, fresh bedding and new mattress.
Thursday 17 September 2009
An Open Letter...
Dear Body,
At this point, I have a fairly good idea, actually make that a very good idea, what a contraction is. I've done the classes and I've lost count of the false labours and Braxton Hicks. I do not need any more "practice" contractions. I especially do not need them:
a) when having my dinner in a restaurant
b) in the car heading AWAY from the hospital
c) in ASDA
Next time we do the whole "contraction" thing, please can we do it for real? We both know what one feels like and don't need to practice anymore ok?
Thank you,
Xxx
At this point, I have a fairly good idea, actually make that a very good idea, what a contraction is. I've done the classes and I've lost count of the false labours and Braxton Hicks. I do not need any more "practice" contractions. I especially do not need them:
a) when having my dinner in a restaurant
b) in the car heading AWAY from the hospital
c) in ASDA
Next time we do the whole "contraction" thing, please can we do it for real? We both know what one feels like and don't need to practice anymore ok?
Thank you,
Xxx
Friday 4 September 2009
Calm Before the Storm???
These past two days have been pretty unbeliveable. I've had more energy than I've had in the past two weeks added together and I've barely experienced any pain at all.
Today I almost finished off the scrapping room/office - just a few bits and pieces to find homes for. I also made scrapbook pages (digital ones - not feeling upto getting all my traditional stuff out yet), baked a cake, made up Bean's moses basket ready for him coming home, bought mum's Disney tickets and ordered Scott's anniversary card and present - phew!
Yesterday I got all mum's holiday paperwork in order, downloaded and organised a ton of digital scrapbook kits, scrapbooked and printed off copies of every birth, marriage and death certificate that mum doesn't have so she's fully up to date with the family tree.
It's crazy how much I'm getting done and I wonder if this is the infamous "nesting instinct"? I wondered if I'd spot anything like that as I've done little but tidy and organise since we've moved in, but these last few days there does seem to be a major increase in my activity. For now I'm just making the most of having plenty of energy, sleeping well and getting lots done.
Today I almost finished off the scrapping room/office - just a few bits and pieces to find homes for. I also made scrapbook pages (digital ones - not feeling upto getting all my traditional stuff out yet), baked a cake, made up Bean's moses basket ready for him coming home, bought mum's Disney tickets and ordered Scott's anniversary card and present - phew!
Yesterday I got all mum's holiday paperwork in order, downloaded and organised a ton of digital scrapbook kits, scrapbooked and printed off copies of every birth, marriage and death certificate that mum doesn't have so she's fully up to date with the family tree.
It's crazy how much I'm getting done and I wonder if this is the infamous "nesting instinct"? I wondered if I'd spot anything like that as I've done little but tidy and organise since we've moved in, but these last few days there does seem to be a major increase in my activity. For now I'm just making the most of having plenty of energy, sleeping well and getting lots done.
Thursday 20 August 2009
36 Week Drama
Well yesterday ended up not being the day either of us had planned for, or wanted. Here's the full version for anyone that wants to know what happened.
I'd spent Tuesday having some rather nasty stomach cramps which just weren't going away but decided to call the midwife Wednesday morning if they were still about as there wasn't any real appern and they weren't getting any worse. Of course I woke up and there they were so I spoke to Tracey at just gone 8am who asked me to call the assessment centre at Lincoln County and see what they thought. After expalining the symptoms, and some other things that had been going on lately, they insisted on me coming in immediately to be checked over. I was told to bring my bags just in case.
So off we went to hospital (again), me now having cramps reasonably regularly, they were about every 2 minutes by the time we actually arrived. Straight into a private room and I was hooked up to the Sonicaid which discovered Bean lying nice and still for once, what a relief not to spend the half hour chasing him around my abdomen with the sensor like the last two times! For the most part, things were ok. Bean's heartrate was normal but would have the occasional dip which concerned the midwife on duty. The other line showed that I was having lots of uterine movement that didn't look like Braxton Hicks or "real" contractions. The midwife suggested I had an irritated uterus, possibly caused by another urinary tract infection (or the one from the other week not having gone away properly although that's less likely as nothing was found at my regular midwife appointment last week) but decided to call in the doctors to have a look as the readout could also indicate I was starting to go into labour.
Eventually a junior doctor came in and asked some questions. Still no one was sure what exactly was happening. By this point I'd been given a large dose of painkillers but was still in severe pain so they decided to do an internal (lovely image for you all I'm sure) to see for sure whether labour had actually started. Well the junior doctor tried twice - ouch! - and couldn't find out so we had to wait for a registrar to become available. Eventually she came around, asked the same questions (clearly having not even glanced at any of my notes so far) did a 3 second internal, showed the Junior what to do (for those keeping tabs we're now at 4 internals in about 20 minutes) and informed me I was having Braxton Hicks before leaving.
The midwife came back to find out what the conclusion had been as the registrar hadn't written it on my notes either. She took one look at me, told me there was no way all of this was being caused by BH and she was admitting me to the ward at least for a few hours until they could treat the pain better, so off we moved to a ward. Eventually the pain started to subside and I was given some lunch, after which I managed to sleep for an hour or so as I was feeling exhausted. When I woke up the pain came back stronger than ever so we called for a midwife who came around, realised I was due for my drugs anyway and gave them to me. This time they worked faster and I started to feel better, although sleepy as one of them was known to cause drowsiness.
After a few hours we were mainly feeling bored and hot. I'd had another dose of painkillers and was now feeling ok, until I went to the bathroom and found I was now bleeding. Obviously I was pretty terrified so we called for help again and got a student who just looked confused when I said I'd found I was bleeding, as though that was totally normal, however she did go and find a midwife who reassured me. In her opinion the four internals I'd had earlier would almost certainly be the cause but she called for a doctor and told me to try and relax, hooking me up to another Sonicaid to check Bean was ok. He was fine, just a slightly lower heart rate than in the morning but no distress. The doctor came quite quickly this time but never even bothered to look at me, just asked if I'd had any internals and told me that would be the cause. As much as I appreciate this must be a reasonably common thing, it would have been nice not to feel like I was being overly dramatic as I can't begin to explain how scary it was to suddenly find you're bleeding after being in severe pain for hours.
Dinner time came and went and we started to wonder what was going on. I'd not felt any pain for about 4 -5 hours and the bleeding had stopped, so Scott went and asked the midwife for an update. She was totally confused as I was booked in to stay overnight for observation and we should know that, apparently not as no one had told us this news! By now all I wanted was to go home where I'd be able to relax properly so I eventually got to speak to the midwife and said Id not experienced any pain or discomfort for hours and wanted to leave. She advised me not to just in case but after talking with Scott, I decided to go anyway as I was feeling fine, so we finally left at about 8.30pm.
Since then I've felt ok, just quite zombie-ish and out of sorts, most likely from the sheer volume of drugs I've had in my system. Bean seems fine, if a little more chilled out than normal today - I think he's just glad he's not being prodded and poked about anymore. I, personally, am simply sick of the sight of Nettleham ward and will be glad to have the baby and come home so I don't have to go back anymore - for a while at least!!!
Here's the info I found on the "irritable uterus" as discussed by the midwife as a possible explanation for what's been going on. These two describe perfectly what I've been experiencing the last few weeks so I think she's onto a good bet with her thoughts:
http://www.irritable-uterus.com/Description_IU.asp
http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/health_wellness/complications/article/contractions-irritable-uterus
I plan to follow the advice of resting lots and trying to stay chilled until he decides to arrive.
I'd spent Tuesday having some rather nasty stomach cramps which just weren't going away but decided to call the midwife Wednesday morning if they were still about as there wasn't any real appern and they weren't getting any worse. Of course I woke up and there they were so I spoke to Tracey at just gone 8am who asked me to call the assessment centre at Lincoln County and see what they thought. After expalining the symptoms, and some other things that had been going on lately, they insisted on me coming in immediately to be checked over. I was told to bring my bags just in case.
So off we went to hospital (again), me now having cramps reasonably regularly, they were about every 2 minutes by the time we actually arrived. Straight into a private room and I was hooked up to the Sonicaid which discovered Bean lying nice and still for once, what a relief not to spend the half hour chasing him around my abdomen with the sensor like the last two times! For the most part, things were ok. Bean's heartrate was normal but would have the occasional dip which concerned the midwife on duty. The other line showed that I was having lots of uterine movement that didn't look like Braxton Hicks or "real" contractions. The midwife suggested I had an irritated uterus, possibly caused by another urinary tract infection (or the one from the other week not having gone away properly although that's less likely as nothing was found at my regular midwife appointment last week) but decided to call in the doctors to have a look as the readout could also indicate I was starting to go into labour.
Eventually a junior doctor came in and asked some questions. Still no one was sure what exactly was happening. By this point I'd been given a large dose of painkillers but was still in severe pain so they decided to do an internal (lovely image for you all I'm sure) to see for sure whether labour had actually started. Well the junior doctor tried twice - ouch! - and couldn't find out so we had to wait for a registrar to become available. Eventually she came around, asked the same questions (clearly having not even glanced at any of my notes so far) did a 3 second internal, showed the Junior what to do (for those keeping tabs we're now at 4 internals in about 20 minutes) and informed me I was having Braxton Hicks before leaving.
The midwife came back to find out what the conclusion had been as the registrar hadn't written it on my notes either. She took one look at me, told me there was no way all of this was being caused by BH and she was admitting me to the ward at least for a few hours until they could treat the pain better, so off we moved to a ward. Eventually the pain started to subside and I was given some lunch, after which I managed to sleep for an hour or so as I was feeling exhausted. When I woke up the pain came back stronger than ever so we called for a midwife who came around, realised I was due for my drugs anyway and gave them to me. This time they worked faster and I started to feel better, although sleepy as one of them was known to cause drowsiness.
After a few hours we were mainly feeling bored and hot. I'd had another dose of painkillers and was now feeling ok, until I went to the bathroom and found I was now bleeding. Obviously I was pretty terrified so we called for help again and got a student who just looked confused when I said I'd found I was bleeding, as though that was totally normal, however she did go and find a midwife who reassured me. In her opinion the four internals I'd had earlier would almost certainly be the cause but she called for a doctor and told me to try and relax, hooking me up to another Sonicaid to check Bean was ok. He was fine, just a slightly lower heart rate than in the morning but no distress. The doctor came quite quickly this time but never even bothered to look at me, just asked if I'd had any internals and told me that would be the cause. As much as I appreciate this must be a reasonably common thing, it would have been nice not to feel like I was being overly dramatic as I can't begin to explain how scary it was to suddenly find you're bleeding after being in severe pain for hours.
Dinner time came and went and we started to wonder what was going on. I'd not felt any pain for about 4 -5 hours and the bleeding had stopped, so Scott went and asked the midwife for an update. She was totally confused as I was booked in to stay overnight for observation and we should know that, apparently not as no one had told us this news! By now all I wanted was to go home where I'd be able to relax properly so I eventually got to speak to the midwife and said Id not experienced any pain or discomfort for hours and wanted to leave. She advised me not to just in case but after talking with Scott, I decided to go anyway as I was feeling fine, so we finally left at about 8.30pm.
Since then I've felt ok, just quite zombie-ish and out of sorts, most likely from the sheer volume of drugs I've had in my system. Bean seems fine, if a little more chilled out than normal today - I think he's just glad he's not being prodded and poked about anymore. I, personally, am simply sick of the sight of Nettleham ward and will be glad to have the baby and come home so I don't have to go back anymore - for a while at least!!!
Here's the info I found on the "irritable uterus" as discussed by the midwife as a possible explanation for what's been going on. These two describe perfectly what I've been experiencing the last few weeks so I think she's onto a good bet with her thoughts:
http://www.irritable-uterus.com/Description_IU.asp
http://www.babyzone.com/pregnancy/health_wellness/complications/article/contractions-irritable-uterus
I plan to follow the advice of resting lots and trying to stay chilled until he decides to arrive.
Monday 10 August 2009
August Update
So here we are in August, a month that, so far at least, seems to have it in for us and our families somewhat. So much for bad things coming in threes, I count five this month already and that's not including a long list of pregnancy niggles which I could write an entire post about in their own right! Hopefully this trend will be over soon and the bad luck will move on elsewhere (apologies to whoever is next in line.)
However, despite the continuing series of nastiness, it must be said everyone is still alive and, for the most part, healthy and uninjured. Our baby boy continues to grow and thrive in his ever decreasing space, Wednesday sees the next midwife appointment where again we hope for positive news. Our house is becoming ever more organised and tidy, just a few things left to do and none of them are urgent. I am looking forward to the arrival of Bean's wardrobe which will allow me to finally finish work on his nursery, in plenty of time for his arrival.
Little left to share so I will leave with one of the photos from our little guy's 4d scan a few weeks ago (the other pic is over on the right hand side of this blog.) It was wonderful to see him again and watch him wriggling around on screen for twenty minutes, although I'm not sure about the constant trying to kick himself in the head - need to put a stop to that young man!
Thursday 6 August 2009
Long time no speak!
Hang on, let me get rid of these tumbleweeds… go on, shoo… shoo…
Well, contrary to what you may have been thinking, neither Sophie nor I are dead and our little unborn baby boy is doing just great judging by the pummelling he is giving his mummy’s internal organs. Either that or he’s desperately trying to re-enact that infamous scene from Alien.
Since our last update it has been several whirlwind months of moving house, unpacking innumerable boxes, buying new furniture and putting it all together and/or shifting it in to position, waiting for phone lines and broadband access and then trying to get the damn router to work… pardon my French.
But now we’re in and settling well in to our new home. The baby’s room is nearing completion bar the wardrobe which seems to have gone AWOL since leaving the shop’s warehouse – hopefully it will turn up soon. Everything else is nearly in place and the cute cotbed is taking up a sizeable portion of our bedroom ready for the triumphant arrival. I think we only really have the bags to get ready in time for whenever labour kicks in though I expect Sophie will disagree.
We recently had a 4D scan of our little boy done and what an amazing experience that was, seeing him up on the screen in such detail. He has Sophie’s nose and beautiful shapely cheeks, and apparently my mouth though he still appears to be able to do the “Sharpe Pout” despite this. When Sophie gets the scanner working I am sure she’ll post up the pictures so you can see what our forthcoming baby boy looks like.
So we’re in to the last 6-8 weeks. It’s now really up to him when he decides he wants to make an appearance. The oft mentioned baby name issue has been paired down to just two names now. Typically both Sophie and I have different preferences! Not a problem as Sophie will be so out of it after the birth that it’ll probably be left to me to communicate the name so it will end up as my choice. Shhhh! Don’t tell Sophie!!
More frequent updates to come along with a few pictures. Promise!
Well, contrary to what you may have been thinking, neither Sophie nor I are dead and our little unborn baby boy is doing just great judging by the pummelling he is giving his mummy’s internal organs. Either that or he’s desperately trying to re-enact that infamous scene from Alien.
Since our last update it has been several whirlwind months of moving house, unpacking innumerable boxes, buying new furniture and putting it all together and/or shifting it in to position, waiting for phone lines and broadband access and then trying to get the damn router to work… pardon my French.
But now we’re in and settling well in to our new home. The baby’s room is nearing completion bar the wardrobe which seems to have gone AWOL since leaving the shop’s warehouse – hopefully it will turn up soon. Everything else is nearly in place and the cute cotbed is taking up a sizeable portion of our bedroom ready for the triumphant arrival. I think we only really have the bags to get ready in time for whenever labour kicks in though I expect Sophie will disagree.
We recently had a 4D scan of our little boy done and what an amazing experience that was, seeing him up on the screen in such detail. He has Sophie’s nose and beautiful shapely cheeks, and apparently my mouth though he still appears to be able to do the “Sharpe Pout” despite this. When Sophie gets the scanner working I am sure she’ll post up the pictures so you can see what our forthcoming baby boy looks like.
So we’re in to the last 6-8 weeks. It’s now really up to him when he decides he wants to make an appearance. The oft mentioned baby name issue has been paired down to just two names now. Typically both Sophie and I have different preferences! Not a problem as Sophie will be so out of it after the birth that it’ll probably be left to me to communicate the name so it will end up as my choice. Shhhh! Don’t tell Sophie!!
More frequent updates to come along with a few pictures. Promise!
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Better late than never
My sister, Vikki, finally gave birth on Sunday after being induced. Phoebe Erin came in to world at about 6.30am weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces. Both Mother and baby are doing great.
Most babies when they are first born and for the first few weeks are, to be frank and honest, ugly little wrinkled things but Phoebe certainly is not. She’s a very cute and very beautiful little thing and no, I am not being biased. From the moment I saw her lying in her cot on the maternity ward I was struck how small and perfect Phoebe looked. I was then struck by the thought “oh dear God, I’m going to be taking one of my own home in about 3 months time!”
I couldn’t help thinking that when we bring our bundle of joy home and it is just Sophie and me left on our own with this new life, I really have no idea what to do. We’ve been reading books about pregnancy, birth and babies but I find them no real help. All they seem to say is “don’t worry, you’ll cope and know instinctively what to do”. Cheers, that’s a great help.
Now we’re back in Lincoln I will take courage from the fact that we’ll have friends and relatives who have had babies of their own so we can get support and advice from them, plus we have Sophie’s family on the end of the phone for their support and input too. With all these loving people I am sure we’ll be fine in the end though I am under no illusions that it will be easy.
Scared? You bet.
Feeling dread? A little.
Wish it wasn’t happening? No even slightly. As terrifying a prospect as this is, I can’t wait to be taking Sophie and our own little baby home for the first time. I just apologise in advance if you receive a stressed and upset phone call in the middle of night from us because ‘Bean’ will not stop crying and go to sleep! Oh the joys of parenthood.
Most babies when they are first born and for the first few weeks are, to be frank and honest, ugly little wrinkled things but Phoebe certainly is not. She’s a very cute and very beautiful little thing and no, I am not being biased. From the moment I saw her lying in her cot on the maternity ward I was struck how small and perfect Phoebe looked. I was then struck by the thought “oh dear God, I’m going to be taking one of my own home in about 3 months time!”
I couldn’t help thinking that when we bring our bundle of joy home and it is just Sophie and me left on our own with this new life, I really have no idea what to do. We’ve been reading books about pregnancy, birth and babies but I find them no real help. All they seem to say is “don’t worry, you’ll cope and know instinctively what to do”. Cheers, that’s a great help.
Now we’re back in Lincoln I will take courage from the fact that we’ll have friends and relatives who have had babies of their own so we can get support and advice from them, plus we have Sophie’s family on the end of the phone for their support and input too. With all these loving people I am sure we’ll be fine in the end though I am under no illusions that it will be easy.
Scared? You bet.
Feeling dread? A little.
Wish it wasn’t happening? No even slightly. As terrifying a prospect as this is, I can’t wait to be taking Sophie and our own little baby home for the first time. I just apologise in advance if you receive a stressed and upset phone call in the middle of night from us because ‘Bean’ will not stop crying and go to sleep! Oh the joys of parenthood.
Thursday 14 May 2009
He moves in mysterious ways
I was delighted at the weekend to have my first tangible contact with my son: I actually felt Bean moving around in his Mummy’s tummy. Granted it wasn’t exactly belly wobbling stuff but I definitely felt something and Sophie confirmed it was Bean. I am sure I will feel him moving around more and with increased vigour over the next 3 months or so but, as with most things in life, the first time is always special.
The big name debate continues with little agreement or resolution. Sophie is sticking to her guns with the name she loves but which I am adamant I don’t want to use. And no, I don’t think I am being unreasonable. There are plenty of names I believe we’ve agreed we are happy to consider and it is now likely that the final name chosen will be a compromise. Which shouldn’t be a problem as most marriages are based on compromise. Aren’t they? *waits to be set straight by all the female readers of this blog*
The big name debate continues with little agreement or resolution. Sophie is sticking to her guns with the name she loves but which I am adamant I don’t want to use. And no, I don’t think I am being unreasonable. There are plenty of names I believe we’ve agreed we are happy to consider and it is now likely that the final name chosen will be a compromise. Which shouldn’t be a problem as most marriages are based on compromise. Aren’t they? *waits to be set straight by all the female readers of this blog*
Tuesday 5 May 2009
Bumps A-Plenty!
Just a quick post today to share a photo. Here's me at 21 weeks and Vikki at around 38 weeks, taken Sunday May 3rd. Bean's newest cousin was in fact mooning the camera at this point so I'm told!!!
Friday 1 May 2009
What Was I Saying...?
So what did I write here only a few days ago about how easy the pregnancy had been so far? You'd think by now I'd have learned to keep my mouth shut!!! So, after a hellish few days, here's the full report of last night's drama. Before we start I must say that me and Bean are doing ok today, the little fella is giving my innards a nice kicking at the moment so all is well.
End of March when we were officially moving out of the old house/city I started feeling like I wasn't coping well. As I have a history of depression the medical bods were keen for me to report anything like that so I saw my doctor and was diagnosed with very mild antenatal depression, most likely down to the stress of moving and having to live with inlaws during the pregnancy. Fast forward to Wednesday of this week and I had my initial appointment with the mental health assessment centre (who incidentally confirmed the initial diagnosis and are referring me for some sessions to help deal with stress and fight off any negative stuff before I give birth.)
I was feeling really bad, stomach churning etc but I put it down to nerves based around that appointment. Had the appointment, then did some shopping finishing up with booking out most of the library's collection of parenting books! Weds night I started to feel bad. My stomach hadn't settled and I was getting severe back pain. I did my pregnancy yoga DVD which eased it a little, barely ate anything and had an early night. Figured I'd just pulled something carrying those books up the hill to DH's office and my stomach would be fine in the morning.
Woke up yesterday and it was immediately obvious I wasn't any better. My back was even worse, my stomach too and now I was feeling chest constrictions similar to when my asthma flares which it hasn't done in years. I knocked back paracetamol and did my yoga to try and ease up my back but nothing worked. All day things continued to get worse, by mid afternoon I'd also developed a very sore throat, was coughing terribly and feeling sick. When DH got home I went for a bath and felt better as it eased my back and blocked nose which had also come on over the last few hours. I thought I was ok when I got out but after an hour it became obvious that I was worse than ever. I was also worried that Bean had been unnaturally still all day.
At about 9pm I called the midwife assessment centre and described how I was feeling, they immediately advised me to ring the emergency out-of-hours doctor's practice which I did, now in floods of tears as I was in so much pain. They did a telephone assessment and said they wanted me in the hospital to check me and the baby over as they suspected a virus and they booked me an appointment for 15 mins later (we live very nearby!) We grabbed coats and left, after DH told his parents what was going on and they freaked out a bit.
At the hospital I had a pretty comprehensive exam done, twice in the end as the first guy wanted to be sure he hadn't missed anything. They also listened in on Bean who seemed to be happily ignorant of anything going on outside the comfort of the womb! In the end they told me I had been incredibly unlucky and contracted a basic cough/cold along with a stomach bug on the same day I'd most likely pulled a muscle in my back!!! Worst of all, as I'm pregnant I'm not allowed any pain killers stronger than basic off the shelf paracetamol!! I was not happy and ended up coming home, doping up on the maximum safe dose and spending most of last night getting to know the inside of the toilet more closely than I'd care to!
I'm glad to say that today I feel much better, except like I went 20 rounds with George Foreman last night and he got to use some of his grills as weapons!! I'm eating little and often, just having toast when I feel like it and my back is very sore, although not within a million miles of the pain it caused yesterday. Taking lots of rest and I don't plan any more day long shopping trips until I'm well recovered from giving birth!
End of March when we were officially moving out of the old house/city I started feeling like I wasn't coping well. As I have a history of depression the medical bods were keen for me to report anything like that so I saw my doctor and was diagnosed with very mild antenatal depression, most likely down to the stress of moving and having to live with inlaws during the pregnancy. Fast forward to Wednesday of this week and I had my initial appointment with the mental health assessment centre (who incidentally confirmed the initial diagnosis and are referring me for some sessions to help deal with stress and fight off any negative stuff before I give birth.)
I was feeling really bad, stomach churning etc but I put it down to nerves based around that appointment. Had the appointment, then did some shopping finishing up with booking out most of the library's collection of parenting books! Weds night I started to feel bad. My stomach hadn't settled and I was getting severe back pain. I did my pregnancy yoga DVD which eased it a little, barely ate anything and had an early night. Figured I'd just pulled something carrying those books up the hill to DH's office and my stomach would be fine in the morning.
Woke up yesterday and it was immediately obvious I wasn't any better. My back was even worse, my stomach too and now I was feeling chest constrictions similar to when my asthma flares which it hasn't done in years. I knocked back paracetamol and did my yoga to try and ease up my back but nothing worked. All day things continued to get worse, by mid afternoon I'd also developed a very sore throat, was coughing terribly and feeling sick. When DH got home I went for a bath and felt better as it eased my back and blocked nose which had also come on over the last few hours. I thought I was ok when I got out but after an hour it became obvious that I was worse than ever. I was also worried that Bean had been unnaturally still all day.
At about 9pm I called the midwife assessment centre and described how I was feeling, they immediately advised me to ring the emergency out-of-hours doctor's practice which I did, now in floods of tears as I was in so much pain. They did a telephone assessment and said they wanted me in the hospital to check me and the baby over as they suspected a virus and they booked me an appointment for 15 mins later (we live very nearby!) We grabbed coats and left, after DH told his parents what was going on and they freaked out a bit.
At the hospital I had a pretty comprehensive exam done, twice in the end as the first guy wanted to be sure he hadn't missed anything. They also listened in on Bean who seemed to be happily ignorant of anything going on outside the comfort of the womb! In the end they told me I had been incredibly unlucky and contracted a basic cough/cold along with a stomach bug on the same day I'd most likely pulled a muscle in my back!!! Worst of all, as I'm pregnant I'm not allowed any pain killers stronger than basic off the shelf paracetamol!! I was not happy and ended up coming home, doping up on the maximum safe dose and spending most of last night getting to know the inside of the toilet more closely than I'd care to!
I'm glad to say that today I feel much better, except like I went 20 rounds with George Foreman last night and he got to use some of his grills as weapons!! I'm eating little and often, just having toast when I feel like it and my back is very sore, although not within a million miles of the pain it caused yesterday. Taking lots of rest and I don't plan any more day long shopping trips until I'm well recovered from giving birth!
Tuesday 28 April 2009
A General Update
This week we have reached the 5 month/20 week stage. Firstly I have to say I'm just very grateful that we have made it this far without any terrifying scares or major concerns. Other than some very mild "morning" sickness and nausea, plus some more recent developments such as occasional back and bump pain and increasing tiredness, I've so far made it through incredibly easily. I don't believe for one second that this will continue for the entire duration but the longer the better. We've been lucky so far not to have had any major panics stemming from bleeds or other worries, I only hope this is the case for the rest of this pregnancy and any subsequent ones as well!
As we posted over the weekend, our 20 week scan happened on Friday, technically at 19+5. Little Bean was most cooperative, lying in a very helpful position so our sonographer could see everything she needed to and more. I'm glad we're so far managing to raise a well mannered, helpful child! As well as confirming that all appears to be as it should and Bean is growing at a healthy, steady rate, our sonographer also told us that Bean will be a little BOY! Although I'll admit this came as a complete shock, for some reason I'd lately been convinced he was a girl, we are simply happy to have a healthy baby and nothing else matters - appendages or none!
In addition to the good news from the scan, all my own test have come back as I'd hoped - either negative or positive as required. The midwife at the hospital did give me a mild panic by saying rather casually that I'd flagged up as having Rubella - before hastening to add that this just meant my childhood innoculations had worked. Thanks, I didn't need the few seconds of believeing I'd somehow contracted measles last week! I also found out my rhesus status and am relieved that I don't need any extra jabs, fantastic news as far as I'm concerned. Sorry Vikki! Bean's test also showed we are super low risk for Down's Syndrome (1 in 8200) and normal risk for neural tube defects. Although neither of these results completely rule out the respective problems, I am happy enough with them as is Scott.
The news that Bean is in fact sporting an extra appendage that we didn't think he had, has created havoc on the naming frontier. We were pretty much settled on a girl's name (which is being kept a secret for the future) and now have been thrown back to square one with a sizable bump. There are very few boys names either of us actually like, and the number that overlap is infitessimally small. We each have some thoughts but I don't think either one of us is singing and dancing over any - certainly not any that the other of us is prepared to entertain anyway. Still, we have several months remaining and I'm sure one of us will fall in love with a preferred name of the other or we will stumble upon a name neither of us have yet thought up and both fall in love with that Otherwise expect to be reading tales of Baby or Bean from September onwards!
Not much left to add I don't think. I remain baffled at how everybody seems attuned to my yoga hour and manages to text or call during it when there's the rest of the day when I'm doing pretty much bugger all. Bean is increasingly active and has decided patterns of activity such as first thing in the morning, during car/train journeys, after large meals and when I'm lying in bed at night. Scott is yet to feel these kicks and punches but as they continue to streghthen with each passing day, I'm positive it won't be much longer before Bean makes his presence felt to a wider audience. Speak of the miniature devil, the little tyke has just given me a little thump to let you all know he's here too!
Wow, that's a long post so I'll sign off before you all need to take time off work to read it!
xxx
As we posted over the weekend, our 20 week scan happened on Friday, technically at 19+5. Little Bean was most cooperative, lying in a very helpful position so our sonographer could see everything she needed to and more. I'm glad we're so far managing to raise a well mannered, helpful child! As well as confirming that all appears to be as it should and Bean is growing at a healthy, steady rate, our sonographer also told us that Bean will be a little BOY! Although I'll admit this came as a complete shock, for some reason I'd lately been convinced he was a girl, we are simply happy to have a healthy baby and nothing else matters - appendages or none!
In addition to the good news from the scan, all my own test have come back as I'd hoped - either negative or positive as required. The midwife at the hospital did give me a mild panic by saying rather casually that I'd flagged up as having Rubella - before hastening to add that this just meant my childhood innoculations had worked. Thanks, I didn't need the few seconds of believeing I'd somehow contracted measles last week! I also found out my rhesus status and am relieved that I don't need any extra jabs, fantastic news as far as I'm concerned. Sorry Vikki! Bean's test also showed we are super low risk for Down's Syndrome (1 in 8200) and normal risk for neural tube defects. Although neither of these results completely rule out the respective problems, I am happy enough with them as is Scott.
The news that Bean is in fact sporting an extra appendage that we didn't think he had, has created havoc on the naming frontier. We were pretty much settled on a girl's name (which is being kept a secret for the future) and now have been thrown back to square one with a sizable bump. There are very few boys names either of us actually like, and the number that overlap is infitessimally small. We each have some thoughts but I don't think either one of us is singing and dancing over any - certainly not any that the other of us is prepared to entertain anyway. Still, we have several months remaining and I'm sure one of us will fall in love with a preferred name of the other or we will stumble upon a name neither of us have yet thought up and both fall in love with that Otherwise expect to be reading tales of Baby or Bean from September onwards!
Not much left to add I don't think. I remain baffled at how everybody seems attuned to my yoga hour and manages to text or call during it when there's the rest of the day when I'm doing pretty much bugger all. Bean is increasingly active and has decided patterns of activity such as first thing in the morning, during car/train journeys, after large meals and when I'm lying in bed at night. Scott is yet to feel these kicks and punches but as they continue to streghthen with each passing day, I'm positive it won't be much longer before Bean makes his presence felt to a wider audience. Speak of the miniature devil, the little tyke has just given me a little thump to let you all know he's here too!
Wow, that's a long post so I'll sign off before you all need to take time off work to read it!
xxx
Saturday 25 April 2009
Monday 20 April 2009
No news is good news?
Right now, yes. Not much has been going on recently except for Bean giving Sophie’s insides a good kicking. A future England international perhaps? No kicks hard enough for me to feel just yet but maybe in the next few weeks I’ll get to feel the pummelling too.
We should have more news by the end of the week though as the 20 week scan is on Friday afternoon. We’re trying not to get too excited at the prospect of possibly finding out Bean’s gender as most other people we know who are currently expecting haven’t yet found out as their babies have been too coy in front of the Sonographer to reveal anything. So we’re trying not to get too worked up in case Bean is a little shy as well but it would a nice birthday present (*cough* hint hint) for me if we could find out.
We’ve started hunting around catalogues and online for information and inspiration on the stuff we’ll need prior to Bean’s big arrival. My God it is mind boggling! Just looking for prams/pushchairs/travel systems has melted our brains, let alone everything else. There is sooooo much to consider and check before you get to comparing the prices which are vastly different in the extreme. Hopefully though we’ve found a good travel system at a middling price so we’re going to locate one in a store at the weekend and give it try. I hope it is fine as I don’t want to be trailing around loads of shops and pushing these things around the aisles.
So not much news to impart right now but all being well lots to reveal at the weekend.
Just finally, I think my baby name obsession has now passed. As far as I am concerned we have the option of 2 baby names per sex (though Sophie will no doubt disagree) and no, we’re still not revealing any of them.
Yes, I am still referring to the baby names issue just to tease those of you interested in that topic. Hey, I’m bored right now. Okay?
We should have more news by the end of the week though as the 20 week scan is on Friday afternoon. We’re trying not to get too excited at the prospect of possibly finding out Bean’s gender as most other people we know who are currently expecting haven’t yet found out as their babies have been too coy in front of the Sonographer to reveal anything. So we’re trying not to get too worked up in case Bean is a little shy as well but it would a nice birthday present (*cough* hint hint) for me if we could find out.
We’ve started hunting around catalogues and online for information and inspiration on the stuff we’ll need prior to Bean’s big arrival. My God it is mind boggling! Just looking for prams/pushchairs/travel systems has melted our brains, let alone everything else. There is sooooo much to consider and check before you get to comparing the prices which are vastly different in the extreme. Hopefully though we’ve found a good travel system at a middling price so we’re going to locate one in a store at the weekend and give it try. I hope it is fine as I don’t want to be trailing around loads of shops and pushing these things around the aisles.
So not much news to impart right now but all being well lots to reveal at the weekend.
Just finally, I think my baby name obsession has now passed. As far as I am concerned we have the option of 2 baby names per sex (though Sophie will no doubt disagree) and no, we’re still not revealing any of them.
Yes, I am still referring to the baby names issue just to tease those of you interested in that topic. Hey, I’m bored right now. Okay?
Sunday 5 April 2009
Joyous news (kinda related to Bean)
In terms of “Bean”, there is not much to report this week. All literature and internet sites report that our little bundle of joy is in the middle of growth spurt which probably explains some of the weird sensations Sophie says she has been feeling in her belly over the past few days. This is in addition to the “butterflies” which the same information sources claim is the growing baby moving, kicking and dancing. So all in all, everything is going well so far.
In other news, our stress and anxiety levels have been reduced this week as the sale of our Leeds home has finally been completed. Last Sunday we moved out all our possessions in to storage with the help of my parents and best man, Roger, before Sophie and I spent Monday cleaning the house. We finally got the phone call informing us of the Exchange of Contracts in the morning on the Monday and by 5pm that same day we had dropped off the keys with the Estate Agents after bidding a final goodbye to what had been our home together for 5 and a half years, and mine for 2 years longer than that.
It was sad to leave the old place behind for sure but in my mind I had been ready to relocate for a couple of years and I’ve also had the benefit of working in Lincoln for the past year and living here half the time for the same period. It is the end of an era but I have no doubts that moving to Lincoln will be better for us and our brewing child. Which brings me on to the next flurry of activity…
The day after we Exchanged on the Leeds house, Exchange of Contracts took place on our new Witham St Hughs property. Yesterday (Saturday), we went to the site office and picked out our kitchen unit fronts and counter, tiles for the kitchen and bathrooms, flooring and carpets. We also specified a washer/dryer and dishwasher for the kitchen. We’re well on the way to creating a lovely home in time for Bean’s arrival. Fingers crossed that the builders will keep to their schedule and finish in time for the end of June.
That’s all for now folks, maybe next time we’ll have more Bean specific news to impart.
P.S.: My name obsession has subsided a bit. For now…
In other news, our stress and anxiety levels have been reduced this week as the sale of our Leeds home has finally been completed. Last Sunday we moved out all our possessions in to storage with the help of my parents and best man, Roger, before Sophie and I spent Monday cleaning the house. We finally got the phone call informing us of the Exchange of Contracts in the morning on the Monday and by 5pm that same day we had dropped off the keys with the Estate Agents after bidding a final goodbye to what had been our home together for 5 and a half years, and mine for 2 years longer than that.
It was sad to leave the old place behind for sure but in my mind I had been ready to relocate for a couple of years and I’ve also had the benefit of working in Lincoln for the past year and living here half the time for the same period. It is the end of an era but I have no doubts that moving to Lincoln will be better for us and our brewing child. Which brings me on to the next flurry of activity…
The day after we Exchanged on the Leeds house, Exchange of Contracts took place on our new Witham St Hughs property. Yesterday (Saturday), we went to the site office and picked out our kitchen unit fronts and counter, tiles for the kitchen and bathrooms, flooring and carpets. We also specified a washer/dryer and dishwasher for the kitchen. We’re well on the way to creating a lovely home in time for Bean’s arrival. Fingers crossed that the builders will keep to their schedule and finish in time for the end of June.
That’s all for now folks, maybe next time we’ll have more Bean specific news to impart.
P.S.: My name obsession has subsided a bit. For now…
Tuesday 24 March 2009
24th March 09
Another week and again not much to report. Bean is very active it seems judging by the feelings I get in my stomach every day, he/she seems most active in the early evening, normally just after dinner and again at bedtime. A week today is my 16 week appointment with the midwife so hopefully all will be well.
In a different topic, our new house is well under construction and the area is amazing. We went down there last week to take some pics and video so I will leave you with those for now.
In a different topic, our new house is well under construction and the area is amazing. We went down there last week to take some pics and video so I will leave you with those for now.
1. Our house so far:
2. The cycle/foot path that runs around the village outskirts, right alongside our house. We've just come around the corner (so our house is behind and to the right from this perspective) and we're looking more towards the centre of the village where the green, pond are play area are. 
3. The village green with kids play area. The buildings at the left are the hairdressers/salon and what should soon be a corner shop. Directly ahead, behind the van, is the primary school. The van is on the road where the buses to Lincoln run. The buildings on the right may be coming down soon to make way for the small supermarket, pub and community/sports centre that should all be coming at some point in the future.
Monday 23 March 2009
Obsessed much?
As the light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter and there finally appears to be movement on our house sale, I can once again return to and focus my attention on my fixation with potential baby names. However, as Sophie is no doubt descreetly thinking to herself, this is a complete and utter waste of my time as no matter how many lists of baby names I read through the plain and simple fact is that there are very few names I like or want to use.
Most names we both like are already taken by other friends or relatives, or remind us of people from our past (or moronic media-greedy celebrities) who have tainted the name in some way in our minds.
So right now, there are only 2 boys names and 2 girls names which I would seriously consider monikering our future child with. And no, I wont tell you what they are! Thankfully, Sophie also likes them and is happy to consider them for our little bundle of currently-jiving-like-he/she-is-auditioning-for-Strictly-Come-Dancing joy.
Right, so will I be logical and stop fixating on potential baby names and scouring name lists? Probably not. There may be a doosey of a name out there we haven’t thought of or considered yet and I want to make sure I haven’t missed a good one.
After all, I found *name censored* the other week and we love it. I just hope most of you think it is on the right side of pretentious if we actually use it! *tease*
Most names we both like are already taken by other friends or relatives, or remind us of people from our past (or moronic media-greedy celebrities) who have tainted the name in some way in our minds.
So right now, there are only 2 boys names and 2 girls names which I would seriously consider monikering our future child with. And no, I wont tell you what they are! Thankfully, Sophie also likes them and is happy to consider them for our little bundle of currently-jiving-like-he/she-is-auditioning-for-Strictly-Come-Dancing joy.
Right, so will I be logical and stop fixating on potential baby names and scouring name lists? Probably not. There may be a doosey of a name out there we haven’t thought of or considered yet and I want to make sure I haven’t missed a good one.
After all, I found *name censored* the other week and we love it. I just hope most of you think it is on the right side of pretentious if we actually use it! *tease*
Wednesday 18 March 2009
18th March 2009
Just a quick update this week as there's not a huge amount going on with the Bean. Here's a side view of the bump, must be said that it's pretty darned impressive for 14 weeks!!!
Tuesday 3 March 2009
3rd March 2009
Well, as you can probably see from the above, today was our 12 week scan. The pictures don't show the whole story but you might just be able to make out a body, head, 2 arms and 2 legs. During the scan we also got to see a tiny little heart beating away furiously, so everything our little Bean needs to survive.
Bean decided to go in the most awkward position possible during the scan so the sonographer had to attempt to move him/her by getting me to move onto my side and using the hand held stick thing to poke him/her. It must have worked as she got all the necessary measurements. The wee one is 6cm long, 12 weeks old and dancing about like a trooper. The due date was confirmed for Sept 13th.
All the appointments with the sonographer and midwife were done within an hour so we were very pleased. I've had yet more blood stolen, sorry, taken. Scott says I can't call it stealing as I allowed them to do it, albeit unwillingly, however I still subscribe to mum's theory that medical staff are actually masquerading vampires! We've also been quizzed about lots of things and given what appears to be a small library of magazines, pamphlets and leaflets to read, including our first Bounty pack. Inside was a nice little temperature gauge for the nursery, first of the freebies.
Just breathing a huge sigh of relief that all is well, now to go and book another appointment for 16 weeks. Onwards and upwards (or outwards in the case of my tummy) as they say!
Wednesday 25 February 2009
Daddy's musings
I guess it’s time for “Daddy” to say a few words and express some thoughts on all of this.
As we’ve both admitted to each other, it has been hard to imagine that all of this baby/pregnancy thing is real. Sure, Sophie has had the physical manifestations of being pregnant such as morning (or in her case, evening) sickness but even then it has been hard to believe that the baby brewing in Sophie’s belly is actually there. What probably hasn’t helped me is that Sophie and I have agreed that, for the time being, she will worry about growing our baby and I will focus on getting our Leeds house sold and ensuring we have a home in the summer well before Bean arrives… Bean being our pet name for the little bundle of joy.
Perhaps the first sonogram images of Bean will be the tangible evidence my brain needs to realise that this is really happening? We’ll see on Tuesday afternoon I guess.
Despite all of this, I am still over the moon about the prospect of our first child entering the world in September. This is something I’ve wanted for a long time and on one level I can’t wait for Bean to arrive. Yes, I am fully aware of everything that goes with having a baby. Yes, I know it will be hard. Yes, I know it will be scary. Yes, I know it will be difficult. And yes, I know it will be tiring. But it will be our baby and from what I am told by all other parents it is the most wonderful thing in the world and all the stress, exhaustion, frustration and financial hardship is more than worth it in the end.
Sophie already has specific designs, themes and colour schemes in mind for the baby’s room and they’re fine with me. No arguments there. I suspect the sticking point will be the baby’s name. We’ve had a list of boy and girl names for years and for the most part we had agreed on our joint favourites. However, I now find myself moving away from these preferences for various reasons.
There are really very few names I like or want to use. I have a definite personal favourite boy’s name but Sophie pretty much refuses to use it. Our joint preferred boy’s name is now not so desirable to me – maybe I will come around to it again over the next 6 months.
As for girl’s names, I have a far-out-in-the-distance favourite. Sophie likes it too but the spelling may be up for significant amounts of negotiation. At least the name, whatever spelling we agree on, shouldn’t be too common so its doubtful there will be a girl with the same name in school classes. Despite not being popular, the name shouldn’t horrify people. Hopefully. Well, I think it is fantastic and beautiful.
At least we have a selection of names to choose from when Bean bursts (not the best choice of words, sorry Sophie!) in to the world and we can pick the one that best fits our child when we see him/her. Feel free to start the name sweepstake now.
Okay, I think I’ve rambled on a little too long. Next time I will try to be a little more concise assuming Sophie doesn’t ban me from posting and clogging up her blog!
If you want to take away one thing from this blog then it is that Daddy is very happy with the baby growing in Sophie!
As we’ve both admitted to each other, it has been hard to imagine that all of this baby/pregnancy thing is real. Sure, Sophie has had the physical manifestations of being pregnant such as morning (or in her case, evening) sickness but even then it has been hard to believe that the baby brewing in Sophie’s belly is actually there. What probably hasn’t helped me is that Sophie and I have agreed that, for the time being, she will worry about growing our baby and I will focus on getting our Leeds house sold and ensuring we have a home in the summer well before Bean arrives… Bean being our pet name for the little bundle of joy.
Perhaps the first sonogram images of Bean will be the tangible evidence my brain needs to realise that this is really happening? We’ll see on Tuesday afternoon I guess.
Despite all of this, I am still over the moon about the prospect of our first child entering the world in September. This is something I’ve wanted for a long time and on one level I can’t wait for Bean to arrive. Yes, I am fully aware of everything that goes with having a baby. Yes, I know it will be hard. Yes, I know it will be scary. Yes, I know it will be difficult. And yes, I know it will be tiring. But it will be our baby and from what I am told by all other parents it is the most wonderful thing in the world and all the stress, exhaustion, frustration and financial hardship is more than worth it in the end.
Sophie already has specific designs, themes and colour schemes in mind for the baby’s room and they’re fine with me. No arguments there. I suspect the sticking point will be the baby’s name. We’ve had a list of boy and girl names for years and for the most part we had agreed on our joint favourites. However, I now find myself moving away from these preferences for various reasons.
There are really very few names I like or want to use. I have a definite personal favourite boy’s name but Sophie pretty much refuses to use it. Our joint preferred boy’s name is now not so desirable to me – maybe I will come around to it again over the next 6 months.
As for girl’s names, I have a far-out-in-the-distance favourite. Sophie likes it too but the spelling may be up for significant amounts of negotiation. At least the name, whatever spelling we agree on, shouldn’t be too common so its doubtful there will be a girl with the same name in school classes. Despite not being popular, the name shouldn’t horrify people. Hopefully. Well, I think it is fantastic and beautiful.
At least we have a selection of names to choose from when Bean bursts (not the best choice of words, sorry Sophie!) in to the world and we can pick the one that best fits our child when we see him/her. Feel free to start the name sweepstake now.
Okay, I think I’ve rambled on a little too long. Next time I will try to be a little more concise assuming Sophie doesn’t ban me from posting and clogging up her blog!
If you want to take away one thing from this blog then it is that Daddy is very happy with the baby growing in Sophie!
Sunday 22 February 2009
22nd Feb 2009
Yesterday was the day of the Great Jeans Hunt. It appears that women under 5' 3" don't have babies, or so the high street seems to think. Plenty of maternity jeans out there but barely any in the short leg/petite range. Next and Top Shop both stocked the tall range in maternity but not petite, irritating isn't the word. I ended up going to Mama's & Papa's where there was a great range of style in the petite range. I got a pair of boot cut style, right now they're a little baggy to say the least but I doubt that will be a problem given a few more weeks.
Feeling very tired and irritable today, generally quite down and miserable. Wondering if it's the realisation that comes with beginning the packing process that's triggered it? I packed most of my scrapping stuff up this afternoon and knew I wouldn't see it for several months. *sigh* I've kept a small(ish) box of stuff out to take to Linda & Graham's house, I'm hoping to work on the Disneyland Paris album there. Having that goal helped me minimise the stuff to take with me.
I feel guilty for secretly wanting the solicitors to keep dicking us about with the paperwork for selling this place. Every day they drag this process out is another day we don't have to live under someone elses feet. I always feel like I'm massively imposing when I'm there, even if it's only for a day, I'm gonna feel permanently guilty when we actually move in! At the same time I want this place to get sold quickly to get rid of the niggling worry of it falling through and so Scott can chill out a bit, he's worrying over every tiny detail right now.
No wonder I'm tired and miserable!!!
Feeling very tired and irritable today, generally quite down and miserable. Wondering if it's the realisation that comes with beginning the packing process that's triggered it? I packed most of my scrapping stuff up this afternoon and knew I wouldn't see it for several months. *sigh* I've kept a small(ish) box of stuff out to take to Linda & Graham's house, I'm hoping to work on the Disneyland Paris album there. Having that goal helped me minimise the stuff to take with me.
I feel guilty for secretly wanting the solicitors to keep dicking us about with the paperwork for selling this place. Every day they drag this process out is another day we don't have to live under someone elses feet. I always feel like I'm massively imposing when I'm there, even if it's only for a day, I'm gonna feel permanently guilty when we actually move in! At the same time I want this place to get sold quickly to get rid of the niggling worry of it falling through and so Scott can chill out a bit, he's worrying over every tiny detail right now.
No wonder I'm tired and miserable!!!
Friday 20 February 2009
20th Feb 2009
Woohoo! My baby book arrived today. It's based on "Guess How Much I Love You" and is totally adorable. I got it because it matches the scrapbook I've had for a while so the baby's early life books will all match - I'm making the most of having time to think about things like that! Here's a link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guess-How-Much-Love-You/dp/0744561183/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1LC91OCSJ1IAV&colid=3INHR6HRF1Y4F
Wendy has given me a load of her maternity clothes, sadly quite a few don't fit but I've got a skirt, pair of trousers and a top from the haul which saves me some money.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guess-How-Much-Love-You/dp/0744561183/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1LC91OCSJ1IAV&colid=3INHR6HRF1Y4F
Wendy has given me a load of her maternity clothes, sadly quite a few don't fit but I've got a skirt, pair of trousers and a top from the haul which saves me some money.
Thursday 19 February 2009
19th Feb 2009
Mummy is feeling very sick today. Not as sick as last night though, which is a good thing. On speaking to Susan (my unofficial GP) the sickness is a good thing as it means the hormones are doing their work. Try telling me this when I'm hunched over the toilet bowl feeling like death.
The sickness is especially difficult at Nanny & Grandad Brown's house where the toilet seat doesn't stay up and can unexpectedly whallop you on the back of the skull if you're not cautious. This is not a bonus factor. So far I have avoided the Skull Kracker during the pregnancy (it's got me in the past though) I'm hoping to continue without injury.
Today I have discovered:
http://organizedmommy.blogspot.com/
and the Baby Galileo DVD which teaches babies astronomy!
The sickness is especially difficult at Nanny & Grandad Brown's house where the toilet seat doesn't stay up and can unexpectedly whallop you on the back of the skull if you're not cautious. This is not a bonus factor. So far I have avoided the Skull Kracker during the pregnancy (it's got me in the past though) I'm hoping to continue without injury.
Today I have discovered:
http://organizedmommy.blogspot.com/
and the Baby Galileo DVD which teaches babies astronomy!
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