Clearly it's been a crazy 3 weeks since I updated this blog and I am no longer an expectant blogger; I am a mummy. After all my fears about pushing something the size of a melon out of something the size of a lemon, I had to have an emergency c-section. Click the link for the whole rather grisly story! I am slowly getting my life on track but of course, with the arrival of the bambino, everything goes a little haywire. I started to type this post and I heard the distinct cries of my little one and had to run off and change her nappy and feed her.
I absolutely love being a mother even though it has it's testing and daunting moments. Sometimes I look at her and I'm hit with this sudden clarity that this little person that is made up from the boyf and I is wholly dependent on us. That is frigging scary! When she gives me a goofy smile after her feed or wriggles around in overexcitement at that prospect of the boob, I feel myself glow with happiness. Sometimes I stare at her and feel all teary - it really is one big hormonal rollercoaster!
I cried on the boyf several times last week as my wound from the c-section became sore at each end of my bikini cut and I had to go on antibiotics. I became convinced that my insides would suddenly start spilling out on the floor and the boyf had to console me, no doubt stifling laughter from my dramatics. I have to wear the biggest pants that I have ever worn in my life in order for me to be comfortable and it's a measure of the boyf's love for me that he has managed to stop having laughter fits everytime he sees me in them. It seems the sex kitten persona is on hold for a little longer whilst I heal up...
It's not all easy. I still wince when she cries and there are some moments when my patience gets tested by the well meaning grandmothers. Haven't they twigged that not only do they give me 'words of wisdom' but that I am bombarded with advice from the health visitors and midwifes plus every other Tom, Dick, and Harry? It can be pretty overwhelming sometimes. I've had to start being firm before they end up pissing me off and getting me down. Fortunately the boyf is feeling it too. No-one is born a parent and it's all a learning process, which we're enjoying feeling our way through. We're not shy about asking for advice - we just need to be given the chance to ask for it!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Off to Have The Bambino
Well after cacking it that I'd go into labour dramatically, I didn't go into labour at all and I'm going to be induced tomorrow night after spending the day moving. Wish me luck!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Overdue & Hormonal Day Three
No-one really prepares you for how crap you'll feel when you go overdue. I'm on day three and I've done quite well at getting on with things but I've found that I've become twitchy when the phone rings or I hear the telltale beep of a text message. I spent the morning and half of the afternoon at my GP and then the hospital. I feel completely pissy because it is difficult to get consistent information and everyone contradicts the shit out of each other. All the pain I've been having for the past month? Yes, some of that is 'early' labour pains but what nobody mentioned until today is the position of the baby is causing much of the pain.
The bambino is OP or back to back - she is presenting all the limbs to my stomach as opposed to my back and even though she is 4/5ths engaged, the position means her head is not at quite the right angle and that unless she shifts position when I go into labour, I am in for a long drawn out labour. Oh joy...
I've been booked to be induced on...yes you guessed it...the evening of the 29th, the day we move. Fecking sods law. My hospital induces on day 10 or 11, so we have to go with it. Pray that I don't have to go through the whole induction thing. I hear it's not pleasant....
The registrar tried to do a membrane sweep but apparently, my cervix is NOT ready...
I got home a while ago after pottering around the shops for a bit, and took 3 calls and replied to a few texts on my return and then burst into tears. I felt better afterwards...
Oh and I forgot to mention that another one of my friends from the antenatal class gave birth yesterday to a baby boy. My cervix and the bambino may not be getting the show on the road, but the rest of the world is ;-)
The bambino is OP or back to back - she is presenting all the limbs to my stomach as opposed to my back and even though she is 4/5ths engaged, the position means her head is not at quite the right angle and that unless she shifts position when I go into labour, I am in for a long drawn out labour. Oh joy...
I've been booked to be induced on...yes you guessed it...the evening of the 29th, the day we move. Fecking sods law. My hospital induces on day 10 or 11, so we have to go with it. Pray that I don't have to go through the whole induction thing. I hear it's not pleasant....
The registrar tried to do a membrane sweep but apparently, my cervix is NOT ready...
I got home a while ago after pottering around the shops for a bit, and took 3 calls and replied to a few texts on my return and then burst into tears. I felt better afterwards...
Oh and I forgot to mention that another one of my friends from the antenatal class gave birth yesterday to a baby boy. My cervix and the bambino may not be getting the show on the road, but the rest of the world is ;-)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
I Haven't Gone Crazy or Given Birth Yet
I wonder if I could record the following voicemail:
"Hi, you've reached the voicemail of NML and the boyf. We are home at the moment, but we're just refusing to answer the phone because of non-stop calls. No we haven't had the bambino yet, and of course we would have told you if we had. Yes, we will let you know if there are any developments and in answer to the question 'Any signs yet?', NML has been having pre-labour pains for 3 weeks - The bambino will show up when she's ready! Thank you for your call"
But alas...that wouldn't be very nice of me now would it?
My due date was yesterday - There were so many calls, texts, emails and posts on Facebook, and I almost fel guilty for not being like 5% of women who actually deliver on their due date, instead of like the 80% of women who deliver after it....
I can't make a phonecall without the person answering in a panic and if this bambino chooses to hold out till the bitter end, I probably will be climbing walls by then...
And like some sort of f*cked up clash of the two biggest events of our lives, the boyf and I exchanged on our house yesterday. Despite thinking we would have moved at least a month ago, we exhanged on the baby's due date and we're moving on the 29th. Yes, it would be stating the obvious to say that we don't do things by halves....
"Hi, you've reached the voicemail of NML and the boyf. We are home at the moment, but we're just refusing to answer the phone because of non-stop calls. No we haven't had the bambino yet, and of course we would have told you if we had. Yes, we will let you know if there are any developments and in answer to the question 'Any signs yet?', NML has been having pre-labour pains for 3 weeks - The bambino will show up when she's ready! Thank you for your call"
But alas...that wouldn't be very nice of me now would it?
My due date was yesterday - There were so many calls, texts, emails and posts on Facebook, and I almost fel guilty for not being like 5% of women who actually deliver on their due date, instead of like the 80% of women who deliver after it....
I can't make a phonecall without the person answering in a panic and if this bambino chooses to hold out till the bitter end, I probably will be climbing walls by then...
And like some sort of f*cked up clash of the two biggest events of our lives, the boyf and I exchanged on our house yesterday. Despite thinking we would have moved at least a month ago, we exhanged on the baby's due date and we're moving on the 29th. Yes, it would be stating the obvious to say that we don't do things by halves....
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The Waiting Game - Rant alert
Nobody tells you just how tedious it can be, waiting to go into labour. I'm not literally sitting around waiting to pop, but I am now at that stage where I'm bored of having pre-labour/early labour pains and just want to get the show on the road. Every day I'm reading about people giving birth and I'm thinking "When I'm f'ng going to give birth?!" Yes, I am starting to feel impatient.
It's my own fault for listening to all and sundry comment on how me being the size I am, there was no way I'd make it to 40 weeks. "Oooh, you'll definitely go early!";"Your bump has dropped. I reckon it's any day now."; "Look at the freakin size of your bump and how tiny you are!";"Your uterus is very stretched. I'd be surprised if you didn't go into labour soon.";"I'll book your 41 week appointment but I'd be surprised if you actually make it in for that appointment."
Well prepare to be surpised mofos! Ugh, I am being such a cranky bitch and I should be lapping up what free time I have left (yes I know my days are numbered) but I've been off work for almost 6 weeks and it's starting to feel like I'm going round the twist. It takes effort to drag myself into central London, and when I get there I enjoy myself, but I'm exhausted quite quickly, I take phonecalls checking on my whereabouts and whether my waters have broken, and I spend a lot of my time looking for toilets.
I woke up from a dream where I was in labour with jacked up hair on Thursday and the fear of looking like someone who'd been plugged straight into an electrical socket in my first photos with the baby filled me with panic. So I dragged myself into central London yesterday to get my hair done. I know it's vain but I don't do jacked up and the fact that you get bombarded with visitors once the bambino arrives is all the more reason to ensure I look half way presentable.
One of the girls from antenatal class that I was supposed to meet with for our Wednesday coffee, went into labour that morning and gave birth 4 hours later. The other girls and I are in awe of her quick labour. She was due two days before me so she gave birth a week early. We had similar pregnancies as we'd been bitching about our pains for the last few weeks, so of course I wondered if that meant that I should brace myself for the onslaught of labour...clearly not!
I had contractions for two hours and then another hour and a half session on Thursday. Then nothing. They were about 15 mins apart and at one point went down to seven, and then five. Then frickin NOTHING!
As for moving...it's not happening this week. Let's just say that it is very soon now...like potentially three days after my due date! Or ten days after! Merciful hour! To be honest, I'm beyond caring. What will be will be. Who knows when the bambino is going to arrive? The house situation isn't ideal but it's the cards we've been dealt. We've done everything possible to make things move quicker and being in a chain has just made everything go slower. Much like the onset of labour....
OK, I'm going to stop bitching now....
It's my own fault for listening to all and sundry comment on how me being the size I am, there was no way I'd make it to 40 weeks. "Oooh, you'll definitely go early!";"Your bump has dropped. I reckon it's any day now."; "Look at the freakin size of your bump and how tiny you are!";"Your uterus is very stretched. I'd be surprised if you didn't go into labour soon.";"I'll book your 41 week appointment but I'd be surprised if you actually make it in for that appointment."
Well prepare to be surpised mofos! Ugh, I am being such a cranky bitch and I should be lapping up what free time I have left (yes I know my days are numbered) but I've been off work for almost 6 weeks and it's starting to feel like I'm going round the twist. It takes effort to drag myself into central London, and when I get there I enjoy myself, but I'm exhausted quite quickly, I take phonecalls checking on my whereabouts and whether my waters have broken, and I spend a lot of my time looking for toilets.
I woke up from a dream where I was in labour with jacked up hair on Thursday and the fear of looking like someone who'd been plugged straight into an electrical socket in my first photos with the baby filled me with panic. So I dragged myself into central London yesterday to get my hair done. I know it's vain but I don't do jacked up and the fact that you get bombarded with visitors once the bambino arrives is all the more reason to ensure I look half way presentable.
One of the girls from antenatal class that I was supposed to meet with for our Wednesday coffee, went into labour that morning and gave birth 4 hours later. The other girls and I are in awe of her quick labour. She was due two days before me so she gave birth a week early. We had similar pregnancies as we'd been bitching about our pains for the last few weeks, so of course I wondered if that meant that I should brace myself for the onslaught of labour...clearly not!
I had contractions for two hours and then another hour and a half session on Thursday. Then nothing. They were about 15 mins apart and at one point went down to seven, and then five. Then frickin NOTHING!
As for moving...it's not happening this week. Let's just say that it is very soon now...like potentially three days after my due date! Or ten days after! Merciful hour! To be honest, I'm beyond caring. What will be will be. Who knows when the bambino is going to arrive? The house situation isn't ideal but it's the cards we've been dealt. We've done everything possible to make things move quicker and being in a chain has just made everything go slower. Much like the onset of labour....
OK, I'm going to stop bitching now....
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Still Pregnant...For Now
I think it's safe to say that I'm at that stage of the pregnancy (almost 39 weeks) when I'm starting to feel like I've been pregnant forever and I get twitchy at the texts, emails and phonecalls asking if I've popped yet. Overall I'm quite chilled and relaxed but I am starting to feel weary and just want the bambino to arrive now. I'm dying to see her! But at the same time, I'm making the most of this time whilst I have it.
I have been very absorbed in various writing and blogging projects and my brain has been forced to override it's pregnancy bimbo mode, because one of my blogs Baggage Reclaim, had so many technical problems in the space of the past 9 days, it was scary. Thank goodness for small mercies that it all happened before not after the bambino arrived as it would have been game over no credits. I have had to figure out so much stuff (lots of code crap) and I ended up having to do a redesign, but the worst is over now. Thankfully I love doing all of this stuff (even though I'll do a bit of bitching and moaning)!
I have also started building my shopping blog for baby and mother products which I'm loving doing. It gives me somewhere to put all of my shopping energy!
I've been having lots of Braxton Hicks and 'early labour pains' which haven't materialised (clearly) into actual labour. Some of them really bloody hurt which makes me wonder that if I'm like this for the dress rehersal, what will I be like for the big production!?! Today it felt like my pubic bone was cracking...NICE!
Life is good but not particularly exciting. I'm not exactly a social animal at the moment and even though I have been meeting up with friends a few times each week, I actually like being at home. Everything requires a lot of energy and I think I have a fear of my waters breaking in public, plus when I get the pains, it's difficult to clutch yourself in public!
I had my last acupuncture and midwife appointments today and it all felt so final. The next time I see either one of them is either if I go overdue or after the birth. My doctor, like my consultant at the hospital, isn't convinced that I'll go overdue, but I've heard all that waffle before and I try not to place too much stock in it as I'll be pissed off if I do go overdue. But if I don't, by Friday of next week, I'll be a mum! Fecking hell! Exciting, scary, daunting, knee wobble inducing stuff!
I'm meeting the girls from my NCT class (National Childbirth Trust antental class) tomorrow, for the first of what is no doubt going to turn into mums who sit in coffee shops every week meetings. It'll be nice to meet up with people going through the same thing as me.
Ok, I'm offski to bed. Every time I go to bed, I wonder if I'll wake up in labour or something...jaysus!
I have been very absorbed in various writing and blogging projects and my brain has been forced to override it's pregnancy bimbo mode, because one of my blogs Baggage Reclaim, had so many technical problems in the space of the past 9 days, it was scary. Thank goodness for small mercies that it all happened before not after the bambino arrived as it would have been game over no credits. I have had to figure out so much stuff (lots of code crap) and I ended up having to do a redesign, but the worst is over now. Thankfully I love doing all of this stuff (even though I'll do a bit of bitching and moaning)!
I have also started building my shopping blog for baby and mother products which I'm loving doing. It gives me somewhere to put all of my shopping energy!
I've been having lots of Braxton Hicks and 'early labour pains' which haven't materialised (clearly) into actual labour. Some of them really bloody hurt which makes me wonder that if I'm like this for the dress rehersal, what will I be like for the big production!?! Today it felt like my pubic bone was cracking...NICE!
Life is good but not particularly exciting. I'm not exactly a social animal at the moment and even though I have been meeting up with friends a few times each week, I actually like being at home. Everything requires a lot of energy and I think I have a fear of my waters breaking in public, plus when I get the pains, it's difficult to clutch yourself in public!
I had my last acupuncture and midwife appointments today and it all felt so final. The next time I see either one of them is either if I go overdue or after the birth. My doctor, like my consultant at the hospital, isn't convinced that I'll go overdue, but I've heard all that waffle before and I try not to place too much stock in it as I'll be pissed off if I do go overdue. But if I don't, by Friday of next week, I'll be a mum! Fecking hell! Exciting, scary, daunting, knee wobble inducing stuff!
I'm meeting the girls from my NCT class (National Childbirth Trust antental class) tomorrow, for the first of what is no doubt going to turn into mums who sit in coffee shops every week meetings. It'll be nice to meet up with people going through the same thing as me.
Ok, I'm offski to bed. Every time I go to bed, I wonder if I'll wake up in labour or something...jaysus!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Flying Visit
It's been an oddly hectic few days. I've been caught up with sorting out stuff on my other blogs which has involved trying to sort out a technical problem with my mushy pregnancy brain...oh joy and the rest of the time has involved a lot of concern that I may be exhibiting some early signs of labour. Lots of lower abdominal and back pain along with Braxton Hicks (false contractions) is enough to have me clutching myself. We even had to go up to the hospital on Sunday evening as they wanted to check me to be on the safe side. I actually saw the obstaetrician on Friday who said that he's be surprised if the baby ended up being late because I am having signs that labour is imminent. Imminent is not the best word to use with pregnancy as the bambino could end up turning up in a few weeks still if she feels like it.
As a result of all of this carry-on, I get a lot of phonecalls from the boyf and my family checking up on me plus emails and now I want to hide away! Ah, not really, but I've been patient for over 37 weeks but it's wearing thin and so is calling people and having them be silent with bated breath because they think I'm in labour!
Right I'm off to bed before the boyf comes looking for me! I'm not sleeping that well so it is beddy byes for moi!
As a result of all of this carry-on, I get a lot of phonecalls from the boyf and my family checking up on me plus emails and now I want to hide away! Ah, not really, but I've been patient for over 37 weeks but it's wearing thin and so is calling people and having them be silent with bated breath because they think I'm in labour!
Right I'm off to bed before the boyf comes looking for me! I'm not sleeping that well so it is beddy byes for moi!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Broken Sleep and Birth Plan
I heard myself moaning about broken sleep (I go to the bathroom a few times during the night and if I'm not quick enough, she wakes up and thinks it's play time) and it suddenly dawned on me that soon, broken sleep is the only thing I'll know. I was awake for over an hour in the early hours of this morning as the bambino hiccuped, then stretched, then kicked and punched for a while. I adjusted position to a half lying, half sitting position and just as it seemed like she was finally settling down and I started to doze off, the kicking started up again.
I had my last NCT (National Childbirth Trust) antenatal class yesterday with the boyf and it really answered a lot of questions for us although I will admit that I am a little bit antsy about 1) the size of the epidural needle, 2) tearing and episotomy's (shudder) 3) breast milk shooting out during sex and 4) stitches. The trouble with me is that I soak up information and get visual and I feel slightly traumatised. Off course the boyf was pissing himself laughing, except for the bit where the milk comes shooting out, but that's because he doesn't have to endure any of the other things.
I'm not keen on hospitals. I spent 4 weeks in a children's ward when I was 5 years old because I had to have a birthmark skin graphed because they believed it had the potential to become cancerous. There was no record of my type of birthmark and they had concerns about it spreading all over my body. I thought it was the opportunity to go to a holiday camp type atmosphere but hated it within 24 hours. The whole experience stayed with me for a long time, mostly because I became a shadow of my former self and my young brain comprehended that all of the children were seriously ill in my ward and that when they left the hospital it's because they were better...or they died.
Since then I've been in hospital a few times for bumps and scrapes, plus I had a laporoscopy 8 years ago and then spent the past 3 years having blood tests, chest xrays, breathing tests and various examinations because of my sarcoidosis. I still haven't forgiven the nurse for flipping me over and giving me a suppository at my laporoscopy (imagine major drugged out hissy fit where I accused the nurse of violating me) but I have become a bit more chilled about hospitals especially because I was generally taken care of very well over the past few years.
I now have to practice having happy thoughts about the hospital and I'm going to write a birth plan so that I have some control over what is taking place around me. I'm not going to dictatorial but by pre-empting certain things by mentioning my low blood pressure (this can be an issue sometimes with epidural), not wanting to be in the lying down as this is a major cause of tearing, minimising tearing and the possibility of an episiotomy, wanting to use the birthing pool to help with pain relief and ensuring that if I do need stitches that there are no delays doing them (apparently when there are delays this is what can cause problems) etc, I will feel comfortable about my needs being communicated from the outset, especially since I may not be 'functional' after a while. The boyf knows what I want but laying it out in black and white will prevent confusion!
I found out yesterday that the nipple has more than one hole that breast milk comes out of! I wasn't the only one who thought they were like bottle teets thankfully....
I had my last NCT (National Childbirth Trust) antenatal class yesterday with the boyf and it really answered a lot of questions for us although I will admit that I am a little bit antsy about 1) the size of the epidural needle, 2) tearing and episotomy's (shudder) 3) breast milk shooting out during sex and 4) stitches. The trouble with me is that I soak up information and get visual and I feel slightly traumatised. Off course the boyf was pissing himself laughing, except for the bit where the milk comes shooting out, but that's because he doesn't have to endure any of the other things.
I'm not keen on hospitals. I spent 4 weeks in a children's ward when I was 5 years old because I had to have a birthmark skin graphed because they believed it had the potential to become cancerous. There was no record of my type of birthmark and they had concerns about it spreading all over my body. I thought it was the opportunity to go to a holiday camp type atmosphere but hated it within 24 hours. The whole experience stayed with me for a long time, mostly because I became a shadow of my former self and my young brain comprehended that all of the children were seriously ill in my ward and that when they left the hospital it's because they were better...or they died.
Since then I've been in hospital a few times for bumps and scrapes, plus I had a laporoscopy 8 years ago and then spent the past 3 years having blood tests, chest xrays, breathing tests and various examinations because of my sarcoidosis. I still haven't forgiven the nurse for flipping me over and giving me a suppository at my laporoscopy (imagine major drugged out hissy fit where I accused the nurse of violating me) but I have become a bit more chilled about hospitals especially because I was generally taken care of very well over the past few years.
I now have to practice having happy thoughts about the hospital and I'm going to write a birth plan so that I have some control over what is taking place around me. I'm not going to dictatorial but by pre-empting certain things by mentioning my low blood pressure (this can be an issue sometimes with epidural), not wanting to be in the lying down as this is a major cause of tearing, minimising tearing and the possibility of an episiotomy, wanting to use the birthing pool to help with pain relief and ensuring that if I do need stitches that there are no delays doing them (apparently when there are delays this is what can cause problems) etc, I will feel comfortable about my needs being communicated from the outset, especially since I may not be 'functional' after a while. The boyf knows what I want but laying it out in black and white will prevent confusion!
I found out yesterday that the nipple has more than one hole that breast milk comes out of! I wasn't the only one who thought they were like bottle teets thankfully....
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Size Does Matter and Baby Shower
I am finally getting some time to myself after a crazy few days of running around like a blue arsed fly. I am officially on maternity leave since Friday which you thought would have signalled a bit of resting, but I spent Thursday at home typing my handover notes like a maniac, Friday at the hospital (more on that in a moment), then at work for my leaving lunch with the team, then I met up with one of my closest friends for a few hours. Saturday was running errands for the baby shower and Sunday was the craziness that was the baby shower. It's taken until today to get over the tiredness!On Friday I had a consultants appointment at the hospital and she decided to book me for a scan (I had it this morning) as she thought the baby might be a 'little bit small'. This is the second time that someone has suggested this although the first time they didn't scan me and instead sent me to the obstraetrician who pretty much said that my midwife had been talking out of her backside. It seems that it's the same thing this time around, except for this time the scan confirmed it. I know they're only doing their jobs and being cautious, but it doesn't stop me from cacking myself in fright each time (not literally)! It was great to see the baby again and I can't get over how much she has grown! And after all of the comments about boys coming out when people have been told that it's a girl, I have had it definitely confirmed that it's a girl. Ha! The bro will be gutted as I'm sure he had a bet on for a boy!
It was actually quite sad to leave behind my peeps at work on Friday. I was incredibly touched by the card and plus I got vouchers for Gap (God I love that store!). As I read leaving messages from my colleagues, I felt myself well up... Hormone alert! I have to say though, I am loving having my life to myself. I certainly don't miss getting up for work or worrying about how many ads there are in the magazine I work for.
I had a fantastic time at the baby shower. The weather was beautiful which meant that we could have a barbeque and people were clammering to get at the great food prepared by my mum, the boyf's mum and a few friends. I hadn't realised that so many of our friends are jerk chicken mad! My ma decided that instead of playing th
e grandmother to be role, that she'd have a hot date instead which had hilarious, if not cringey moments! We got lovely gifts (we haven't even got them all yet as some people ordered online) but highlights include a bouncing baby cradle (right), Tommee Tippee nappy wrapper, height chart, funky potty (left), bath support and cuddle robes from Mamas and Papas, lots of beautiful clothing, organic cosmetics for the bambino, froggy bath storage (pictured at top) bath mobile, and someone brought us shedloads of nappies which is so handy! I felt incredibly blessed to have many of our nearest and dearest all together and I will remember Sunday for a very long time. The bambino is very popular and she's not even out yet! After I left the hospital this morning, I popped into TK Maxx. This used to be a favourite of mine as I can spend ages scouring for designer bargains, but admittedly I haven't done it for ages. This morning it paid off as I finally got a baby changing bag. It's a Samsonite bag and it would normally retail for £85 but I got it for £15. Result! It has a changing mat and bottle warmer and lots of handy pockets. There are few ways that it can be carried and it includes to straps to attach it to the handle of the pram. I also left with a pair of Tommy Hilfiger sunglasses £15 instead of £85 and an Osprey wallet/purse £12 instead of £85. A morning well spent....
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Maybe a routine isn't such a bad thing
I dragged myself into Soho today for lunch with the girls and followed it up with a two hour stint at the office doing my handovers for my clients and agencies. It was weird being back even though I've only been gone for two weeks and already I already feel so distant from the dramas of publishing. I have no desire to be a desperate housewife, but I've discovered that I'm not averse to not having to be at work every day. I am frickin knackered after dragging myself and the bump on the train and the tube and feel like I need an early night!
I spoke with a friend last night who told me about mutual friends who have been using The New Contented Little Baby Book. They have had great results and as well as having healthy, happy babies that sleep, they also have freedom in their lives. To be honest, I had read about a third of the book and then became nervous as everything seemed so overwhelming - routine feeds, waking, putting down for a nap and I just don't think my mush brain could cope with it at that point. But I spent some time with a good friend and her 2 month old and much as I adore him, he needs to be held a hell of a lot, including when he's napping and is won't sleep in his cot and sleeps during the day but not at night. It suddenly occured to me that having a go at following the routines in the book wasn't such a bad idea because the thought of breast all day long made me feel tired before I've even started!
The other reason is that I will be monitored closesly for the few months after the birth due to my previous battles with sarcoidosis. Your immune system takes a big dip about two or three months after the birth and I have an immune system disease, albeit in remission. My plan is to continue my acupuncture and to do my best to maintain my immune system but that could all go tits up if I'm sleep depraved and not eating properly, and I need to be as fit and able as I can be for the bambino. I don't want to be sick again, especially when the bambino will need me most, so whilst it's never plain sailing with any newborn, trying to establish good routines for us both from as early as possible sounds like a damn good idea.
I found myself buying vests and mittens for the bambino in John Lewis and decided to give in a buy nipple cream and was horrified to discover that it the best part of £10! Flipping daylight robbery! I'm telling you right now - I better not feel so much as a frigging twinge in my nipples!
The health visitor came to visit me at the flat today. I had no idea that they come around and introduce themselves whilst overloading your brain with information. Apparently your not supposed to use fleece blankets or the sheepskin covers that go on pushchairs and prams until babies are a year old due to overheating. That's two items to come off the baby shower list...
I've got my NCT (National Childbirth Trust) antenal class tomorrow. These are private classes that you shell out for, as opposed to the NHS ones that you get for free. It's a 2 day intensive course - 5 hours tomorrow and another 5 hours next week. The boyf is in Israel for the first one, so his mum is coming with me. I wisecracked to her that people may think that we're a couple. It was only while we were laughing that I realised that I had just cracked a lesbian joke at his mum.... Hmmmm....
I spoke with a friend last night who told me about mutual friends who have been using The New Contented Little Baby Book. They have had great results and as well as having healthy, happy babies that sleep, they also have freedom in their lives. To be honest, I had read about a third of the book and then became nervous as everything seemed so overwhelming - routine feeds, waking, putting down for a nap and I just don't think my mush brain could cope with it at that point. But I spent some time with a good friend and her 2 month old and much as I adore him, he needs to be held a hell of a lot, including when he's napping and is won't sleep in his cot and sleeps during the day but not at night. It suddenly occured to me that having a go at following the routines in the book wasn't such a bad idea because the thought of breast all day long made me feel tired before I've even started!
The other reason is that I will be monitored closesly for the few months after the birth due to my previous battles with sarcoidosis. Your immune system takes a big dip about two or three months after the birth and I have an immune system disease, albeit in remission. My plan is to continue my acupuncture and to do my best to maintain my immune system but that could all go tits up if I'm sleep depraved and not eating properly, and I need to be as fit and able as I can be for the bambino. I don't want to be sick again, especially when the bambino will need me most, so whilst it's never plain sailing with any newborn, trying to establish good routines for us both from as early as possible sounds like a damn good idea.
I found myself buying vests and mittens for the bambino in John Lewis and decided to give in a buy nipple cream and was horrified to discover that it the best part of £10! Flipping daylight robbery! I'm telling you right now - I better not feel so much as a frigging twinge in my nipples!
The health visitor came to visit me at the flat today. I had no idea that they come around and introduce themselves whilst overloading your brain with information. Apparently your not supposed to use fleece blankets or the sheepskin covers that go on pushchairs and prams until babies are a year old due to overheating. That's two items to come off the baby shower list...
I've got my NCT (National Childbirth Trust) antenal class tomorrow. These are private classes that you shell out for, as opposed to the NHS ones that you get for free. It's a 2 day intensive course - 5 hours tomorrow and another 5 hours next week. The boyf is in Israel for the first one, so his mum is coming with me. I wisecracked to her that people may think that we're a couple. It was only while we were laughing that I realised that I had just cracked a lesbian joke at his mum.... Hmmmm....
Monday, April 16, 2007
I'm getting used to being at home now after almost 2 weeks of being signed off by the doc. I thought that I would escape being pregnant in the summer heat but there's been a bit of a heat wave for the past few days and I've been driving the boyf demented as I struggle with feeling clammy, lumpy, hot, bothered and incapable of keeping still in the bed. He gets to escape it for a few days now as he is going to Israel tonight for work until Thurs/Fri. Before he left, he pulled the cover back and warned the bambino that she wasn't to get any ideas about trying to turn up whilst he's away. This is the first time he's had to go away for a while so he is suffering from early labour fear. I phoned him at work earlier and I thought he was being off with me. I asked him if something was wrong and he told me he had thought I was calling to say I was in labour.... I realise that I will have to put up with this from all and sundry till the baby arrives.
I brought an electric breast pump on Saturday for 85 fecking squids (English pounds for anyone not in the know)! Jaysus! It's an AVENT Isis iQ uno breast pump. My mum was horrified when I told her (I hadn't even told her what it cost...) and started waffling about breast feeding back in her day. "If I have to remind you yet again that this is not frigging 1977, I won't be responsible for what I do!" I warned. I have spoken to enough people to know that breast feeding is not the piece of piss that our mothers make it out to be and that manual pumps have stressed my friends out even more, causing many of them to give up on breastfeeding. On top of this, I want the boyf to be part of the feeding process so that he can at least give the bambino one bottle each day. My mum doesn't get that either...
Have I mentioned that I live in fear of what it will be like when the baby arrives and I have to court opinion on my mothering skills? Bad enough now where every decision I make has to be questioned the arse out of! Mothers...jaysus and I'm going to be one myself soon...
The baby shower is this Sunday and no doubt some sort of controversy will unfold with that too. Fortunately I still have a good sense of humour and an ability to tune out when necessary.... I'm being asked about decorations and food and I keep giving vague answers. I thought this was already organised! I'm going to end up like a toddler lying on the floor screaming my head off and refusing to move at this rate....
The house move has progressed about a quarter of an inch since I last updated this blog... Seemingly we will very likely be moving two weeks before the bambino is due. I'm vowing not to move again but obviously I'm talking out of my arse....
I brought an electric breast pump on Saturday for 85 fecking squids (English pounds for anyone not in the know)! Jaysus! It's an AVENT Isis iQ uno breast pump. My mum was horrified when I told her (I hadn't even told her what it cost...) and started waffling about breast feeding back in her day. "If I have to remind you yet again that this is not frigging 1977, I won't be responsible for what I do!" I warned. I have spoken to enough people to know that breast feeding is not the piece of piss that our mothers make it out to be and that manual pumps have stressed my friends out even more, causing many of them to give up on breastfeeding. On top of this, I want the boyf to be part of the feeding process so that he can at least give the bambino one bottle each day. My mum doesn't get that either...
Have I mentioned that I live in fear of what it will be like when the baby arrives and I have to court opinion on my mothering skills? Bad enough now where every decision I make has to be questioned the arse out of! Mothers...jaysus and I'm going to be one myself soon...
The baby shower is this Sunday and no doubt some sort of controversy will unfold with that too. Fortunately I still have a good sense of humour and an ability to tune out when necessary.... I'm being asked about decorations and food and I keep giving vague answers. I thought this was already organised! I'm going to end up like a toddler lying on the floor screaming my head off and refusing to move at this rate....
The house move has progressed about a quarter of an inch since I last updated this blog... Seemingly we will very likely be moving two weeks before the bambino is due. I'm vowing not to move again but obviously I'm talking out of my arse....
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Joys of...Back Ache and other such things
So I'm still at home on bed rest and 'technically' on maternity leave as I've actually been signed off until I was due to finish work on the 19th. I'm not sure what caused the change with my back but I have now had persistent pain in my lower back for 10 days. Normally I would ache after sitting down, standing or walking for a while, but now I don't need to do anything to hurt. At least I have ruled out early labour which apparently persistent lower back pain is supposed to be an indicator of.
"Have you been having any labour pains?" asked the doctor.
"Er....how do I know what's labour and what's just pregnancy aches?" He gave me a bemused look. "Yes...this is my first pregnancy and if I went into labour now I wouldn't have a clue what to do...I have gathered that it hurts a lot...unfortunately lots of things with pregnancy do!" I quipped.
The boyf has bought me a pair of Crocs against his will and they've gone a long way to soothing my back pain. He has made some noises about the shoes only being for pre-baby but I've actually fallen in love with them as they're so fricking comfy and because I'm only a size 4, I don't actually look like Sideshow Bob...
It dawned on me a couple of days ago that I am transcending 'career girl' and taking up the roles of 'housewife' and 'mother'. Sweet baby Jesus and the orphans! Have I ever mentioned how much I despise ironing? I wisecracked to the boyf's mum that I should buy an apron for my new role and promptly howled with laughter. She laughed too but I suspect an apron may arrive soon...
After fannying around with Evite and My Registry.com for the past week or so, I finally sent the invites for the baby shower. Apparently I need to decide on a theme for it now (%$****!!) and so far I have suggested a Michael Jackson theme. This went down like a lead balloon with the boyf who lives in perpetual fear that I will teach the baby to moonwalk...
The house move is proving to be a pain in the arse. I'm not allowed to stress about it...apparently...but the whole thing takes so long and there are 3 of us in the chain and 2 are proving to be slow jackasses and our solicitor f'd off on holiday for 3 weeks and left a guy that had an allergy to the telephone as her cover. You don't know how many times I've wanted to phone them up and get gangsta with these people but the boyf says that he will do the stressing so I've had to zip it. It looks like we'll be moving 2 weeks before the due date. Yikes!
Still haven't been able to bring myself to buy a breast pump even though I do intend to buy one. The boyf will probably want to play with the bloody thing anyway! When we were in Mothercare the other day, there was an Avent video playing demonstrating the breast pump and the boyf was so startled and transfixed, he stood there watching it for ages as it looped around again and again. "Boyf! You're supposed to be shopping with me, not looking at that bloody woman's nipple!" I yelled. "It [the nipple] just seems so big! And the baby really loves the boob!" he explained helplessly.
The last major thing we have to buy is the cot and we're down to 2, the Leander Cot Bed (o
n the left) and the
Longhouse cot bed from Mama's and Papa's (on the right). I think we're leaning ever so slightly more towards the Leander but with us we can change our minds right to the last moment! The Leander is Danish and really unusual but not limiting in other furniture that we could buy around it whereas we're a bit concerned that much as we love the Longhouse, we'll end up having to stick around that wood colour (rustic oak) for everything. The one thing that has me slightly hesitant with the Leander is that the sides don't drop down and because I'm a shorty (5ft 3), am I going to struggle when the base of the cot is at the bottom level and I need to take out the bambino? These cotbeds don't come cheap either! The Leander is around £450 and the Longhouse is £425 plus the mattress. Oh the joys of buying baby stuff!I'm going to acupuncture tomorrow (I've been going for over a year and it's what put my sarcoidosis in remission) and hopefully she can help with the back pain. The bofy is supposed to be coming along so that he can learn about massage techniques for labour. I just know he will be his usual entertaining self....
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Bed Rest Again and Finally Bought Stuff
I'm on bed rest due to rather annoying lower backache. What started out as a painful giggle at the trapped nerve in my arse has now become a persistent back pain that had me a bit worried this morning. It didn't stop me from dragging my arse out of bed and going to work, but I spoke to the midwife when I was minutes away from the office and explained the pain (combined with irritable bladder) and she bollocked me for going to work. Nothing is showing in initial tests but my results will be back in the next few days. At least I know that I am NOT in labour although it turns out that I have been having Braxton Hicks. They monitored the bambino for twenty minutes by hooking us up to fetal monitor which also drew the movements. The bambino kicked from the moment they strapped up the bump to the moment they took it off. The midwife looked at the graph and said "Gosh your baby moves a LOT!" You're frigging telling me! She doesn't get woken up in early in the morning by her!
I have ordered the pushchair and carrycot which turns it into a pram (yay!), carseat and base, plus the baby carrier. Babies suck up money before they ever suck milk out of your nipple....
I brought a Quinny Buzz Pushchair with Dreami carrycot for £389 instead of £464 after a lot of time spent searching the crap out of the internet. I only managed to save £20 on the Maxi-Cosi carseat and Easybase but it's still better than forking out on the high street. Oh and I own a steriliser...jaysus!
I have ordered the pushchair and carrycot which turns it into a pram (yay!), carseat and base, plus the baby carrier. Babies suck up money before they ever suck milk out of your nipple....I brought a Quinny Buzz Pushchair with Dreami carrycot for £389 instead of £464 after a lot of time spent searching the crap out of the internet. I only managed to save £20 on the Maxi-Cosi carseat and Easybase but it's still better than forking out on the high street. Oh and I own a steriliser...jaysus!
The bambino is gathering together a lovely wardrobe which I must talk about in my next post. Today she was given the gift of cashmere by her uncle...
OK must go now as my boobs feel like they are on fire.....
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Under pressure, but at least I'm making decisions!
Jaysus I have just under 7 weeks to go and everything is seeming very real. I am getting it on both sides now as my ma and the boyf's mum are asking me loads of questions and pushing me into the decision zone.
"Have you decided on the pushchair?"
"Well you see....."
"And the cot?"
"Mmmm, yes we are going to get one. Just don't know which one yet....."
"Steriliser?"
"I think I'm getting one of those Avent electric sterilisers for about forty quid and I'll get an electric breast pump too."
"Don't they have sterilising tablets anymore?" Cue tumbleweeds as I stare at her blankly.
"Is that something you put in the microwave?"
"Maybe they don't have those anymore....It might be more 1972...."
I of course snickered. "Well a lot of things have changed since then...." I added.
And the questions went on and on and on and on... They mean well but it's booming in like crunch time.
After all of the panic about the pushchair and reading countless reviews and testing and eliminating, I am back to my original first choice, the Quinny Buzz pushchair with Dreami Carrycot and a Mama's and Papa's Pilko Pramette . I'm leaning towards the Quinny but considering all of the pallava I have been through considering that it was my first choice, I will have one last test of the Pilko in the next couple of days. I budgeted for about £500 and the Quinny will be about £375 (It should be £469) and I might be able to get the Pilko for about £250 (RRP 300).
I have also decided on the car seat (Maxi Cosi Cabriofix) plus an Easybase so that we don't f*ck up the installation (all together should cost £170, will probably cost £144). I still have no clue about the cot, but that's my next task....
I have managed to make decisions about nursing bras (trusty Marks and Spencers), which are funny looking things, the baby carrier (Baby Bjorn Active Carrier) and have done at least half of the baby shower list. I set it up with My Registry which enables me to put the list together from lots of stores and people can mark what has been bought like a traditional registry list. I have lied to both of the mothers and said that I have done the guest list for the shower but I will get this done in the next few days as I need to send the invite, and to top everything off, I have put together a budget spreadsheet.
I feel tired just reading what I have typed....
"Have you decided on the pushchair?"
"Well you see....."
"And the cot?"
"Mmmm, yes we are going to get one. Just don't know which one yet....."
"Steriliser?"
"I think I'm getting one of those Avent electric sterilisers for about forty quid and I'll get an electric breast pump too."
"Don't they have sterilising tablets anymore?" Cue tumbleweeds as I stare at her blankly.
"Is that something you put in the microwave?"
"Maybe they don't have those anymore....It might be more 1972...."
I of course snickered. "Well a lot of things have changed since then...." I added.
And the questions went on and on and on and on... They mean well but it's booming in like crunch time.
After all of the panic about the pushchair and reading countless reviews and testing and eliminating, I am back to my original first choice, the Quinny Buzz pushchair with Dreami Carrycot and a Mama's and Papa's Pilko Pramette . I'm leaning towards the Quinny but considering all of the pallava I have been through considering that it was my first choice, I will have one last test of the Pilko in the next couple of days. I budgeted for about £500 and the Quinny will be about £375 (It should be £469) and I might be able to get the Pilko for about £250 (RRP 300).
I have also decided on the car seat (Maxi Cosi Cabriofix) plus an Easybase so that we don't f*ck up the installation (all together should cost £170, will probably cost £144). I still have no clue about the cot, but that's my next task....
I have managed to make decisions about nursing bras (trusty Marks and Spencers), which are funny looking things, the baby carrier (Baby Bjorn Active Carrier) and have done at least half of the baby shower list. I set it up with My Registry which enables me to put the list together from lots of stores and people can mark what has been bought like a traditional registry list. I have lied to both of the mothers and said that I have done the guest list for the shower but I will get this done in the next few days as I need to send the invite, and to top everything off, I have put together a budget spreadsheet.
I feel tired just reading what I have typed....
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Catch Up
I had this vision that I'd be winding down in the run up to going on maternity leave mid-April but instead I am running around like a blue arsed fly. It's at times like this when I realise that it pays to be one of those anal retentive organised people because the next 8 weeks till the bambino arrives (that's if she doesn't arrive early) are going to be so hectic.
I have 4 weeks left of work so I have lots of meetings to go to (I take the piss about the amount of internal meetings I attend but I actually have lots of external ones too), I need to get up to date with all of my accounts, do handovers and clear my backlog of things that I always intend to do but haven't got around to, otherwise known as a To-Do List.
I've started organising my baby registry list but haven't remembered to sort out the guestlist, but I am meeting with a couple of friends at the weekend and hopefully it can all get sorted. I have had moments where I have gotten pissy about this whole baby shower mallarky. I know it's all well intentioned but combined with the shitload of things I have to do, it feels like Yet Another Thing. When I agreed to one, I just didn't think about what I would need to do in order for it to happen and I wish I had because I would have been more organised... Ah coulda, woulda, shoula....
After thinking that we had made up our minds about our pushchair, I have backtracked and now have to spend almost every day reading reviews and product tests to try to get to grips with what is out there. It is truly mind boggling and it's clear that people buy different pushchairs for different reasons, regardless of whether it's considered to be technically good or sh*t. Our original choice, the Quinny Buzz, we love the look and feel of, but in hindsight there are some potential practicality issues and on this occasion, size does matter. Not only will I be a user of public transport, but we are off to the US at the end of August and need to feel like we can travel with a relatively light pushchair and not have to weigh ourselves down. Some people love the Quinny Buzz, others hate it, and I'm torn on elements of it. But for something that costs almost £500 if you buy the whole frigging lot, I need to love it...
We've changed hospitals as we liked the very positive things that were said about the new place, plus we even brought more baby clothes today. We had a day off and popped up to Peter Jones in Knightsbridge and got lots of basic white stuff for the bambino's arrival. Due to the paranoia about the possibility of the bambino being a boy, we have stuck with neutral stuff.
On top of all of this, we are researching stuff for the new house, dealing with the paperwork and headaches of moving, trying to pack up stuff in the flat so it doesn't creep up on us, decluttering yet again for the charity shop, and trying to ensure that we spend quality time together. Oh and of course I am trying to blog, plus tooling around with a few web projects. Oh and how could I forget reading about breastfeeding and birthplans....
Everyday I feel different about the breastfeeding - some days confident, but since starting to read about it, more often than not, anxious...but that's whole other post.
8 weeks to go.....scary flipping stuff!
I have 4 weeks left of work so I have lots of meetings to go to (I take the piss about the amount of internal meetings I attend but I actually have lots of external ones too), I need to get up to date with all of my accounts, do handovers and clear my backlog of things that I always intend to do but haven't got around to, otherwise known as a To-Do List.
I've started organising my baby registry list but haven't remembered to sort out the guestlist, but I am meeting with a couple of friends at the weekend and hopefully it can all get sorted. I have had moments where I have gotten pissy about this whole baby shower mallarky. I know it's all well intentioned but combined with the shitload of things I have to do, it feels like Yet Another Thing. When I agreed to one, I just didn't think about what I would need to do in order for it to happen and I wish I had because I would have been more organised... Ah coulda, woulda, shoula....
After thinking that we had made up our minds about our pushchair, I have backtracked and now have to spend almost every day reading reviews and product tests to try to get to grips with what is out there. It is truly mind boggling and it's clear that people buy different pushchairs for different reasons, regardless of whether it's considered to be technically good or sh*t. Our original choice, the Quinny Buzz, we love the look and feel of, but in hindsight there are some potential practicality issues and on this occasion, size does matter. Not only will I be a user of public transport, but we are off to the US at the end of August and need to feel like we can travel with a relatively light pushchair and not have to weigh ourselves down. Some people love the Quinny Buzz, others hate it, and I'm torn on elements of it. But for something that costs almost £500 if you buy the whole frigging lot, I need to love it...
We've changed hospitals as we liked the very positive things that were said about the new place, plus we even brought more baby clothes today. We had a day off and popped up to Peter Jones in Knightsbridge and got lots of basic white stuff for the bambino's arrival. Due to the paranoia about the possibility of the bambino being a boy, we have stuck with neutral stuff.
On top of all of this, we are researching stuff for the new house, dealing with the paperwork and headaches of moving, trying to pack up stuff in the flat so it doesn't creep up on us, decluttering yet again for the charity shop, and trying to ensure that we spend quality time together. Oh and of course I am trying to blog, plus tooling around with a few web projects. Oh and how could I forget reading about breastfeeding and birthplans....
Everyday I feel different about the breastfeeding - some days confident, but since starting to read about it, more often than not, anxious...but that's whole other post.
8 weeks to go.....scary flipping stuff!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
The Contented Little Baby Panic
I put off ordering The New Contented Little Baby Book
for as long as possible, but what with there being less than 9 weeks to go now, I figured it was safe. I'm sh*tting a break because within 2 pages I realised that 1) we have so much to do 2) we haven't done very much and 3) we are still so frickin clueless!
I am going to sit down and write my own list and prioritise things and set targets. I really don't want it all to pile up on me for my maternity leave and there is always that fear of the bambino arriving early. It seems like we need lists to organise our lives at the moment because between work, selling the flat, buying the house, the bambino and all the life that happens in between, we have a hell of a lot of stuff to do. I know that we'll do it but I don't want us to go into a meltdown afterwards. Jaysus, I haven't even done the stuff for the babyshower that his mum asked me for...
This can't be like the lists that I create that never get looked at though....
I did find a site called Kaboodle.com that lets me create my own baby registry...I just need to find the time to decide what to put on it...Feck...nothing is straightforward...
Oh and we've changed our hospital so I have to go for more appointments...
And the hospital didn't include my summary sheet in my notes which strangely enough is the piece of paper that mentions that I have sarcoidosis. Whilst it's not active, apparently I need to be accessed and plan of care be determined by a consultant...
And I still have to finish reading The New Contented Little Baby Book
. I have read the reviews which are mixed because it's all about routines and let's be fair now, most adults can't cope with rigid routines so it must be difficult for them to enforce it on babies, but I also know people who swear by the book, so I'll have to draw my own conclusions.
Now, I'm off to think about what sofa we want for the new house...Oh and the TV here at the flat has decided that its sound should go bust so we'll be getting a new TV sooner than planned...And the bambino is kicking more than ever at the moment. All sorts of body parts have taken to protuding out at strange times and she seems to lift herself up and down as if she's doing press-ups in there. I have my work cut out for me...
for as long as possible, but what with there being less than 9 weeks to go now, I figured it was safe. I'm sh*tting a break because within 2 pages I realised that 1) we have so much to do 2) we haven't done very much and 3) we are still so frickin clueless!I am going to sit down and write my own list and prioritise things and set targets. I really don't want it all to pile up on me for my maternity leave and there is always that fear of the bambino arriving early. It seems like we need lists to organise our lives at the moment because between work, selling the flat, buying the house, the bambino and all the life that happens in between, we have a hell of a lot of stuff to do. I know that we'll do it but I don't want us to go into a meltdown afterwards. Jaysus, I haven't even done the stuff for the babyshower that his mum asked me for...
This can't be like the lists that I create that never get looked at though....
I did find a site called Kaboodle.com that lets me create my own baby registry...I just need to find the time to decide what to put on it...Feck...nothing is straightforward...
Oh and we've changed our hospital so I have to go for more appointments...
And the hospital didn't include my summary sheet in my notes which strangely enough is the piece of paper that mentions that I have sarcoidosis. Whilst it's not active, apparently I need to be accessed and plan of care be determined by a consultant...
And I still have to finish reading The New Contented Little Baby Book
. I have read the reviews which are mixed because it's all about routines and let's be fair now, most adults can't cope with rigid routines so it must be difficult for them to enforce it on babies, but I also know people who swear by the book, so I'll have to draw my own conclusions.Now, I'm off to think about what sofa we want for the new house...Oh and the TV here at the flat has decided that its sound should go bust so we'll be getting a new TV sooner than planned...And the bambino is kicking more than ever at the moment. All sorts of body parts have taken to protuding out at strange times and she seems to lift herself up and down as if she's doing press-ups in there. I have my work cut out for me...
Friday, March 09, 2007
False Braxton Hicks and Finally Buying Baby Clothes
I'm starting to wonder who's pregnant here as the boyf falls asleep on the sofa far more often than I do. It's as if his body has said to him that he needs to get his sleep now, whilst he still can...
I've been having lots of weird twinges, which of course had me paranoid that I was experiencing Braxton Hicks (vague labour type thing, but not real labour) but I think the bambino just looks likes to jump up and down in my va-jay-jay and has extended her abilities to being able to kick or punch me in my left side...
Yesterday, I finally did it. I brought some baby clothes and I can't believe how small they are! I'm trying to order more stuff on Gap.com at the moment through a US delivery service Borderlinx, which enables UK residents to order from American sites that don't deliver overseas. The exchange rate is so good, it's be too good to miss. In the meantime though, I got some neutral stuff as our paranoia about the margin of error when it comes to girls means that we've decided to get neutral stuff for now....
The boyf has just woken up on the couch and I called him 'sleepy head'. He let male pride rear its head and announced that he was never going to sleep again. That's quite a promise! Unfortunately he's just dozed off again as I heard a distinct snore...
If one more person asks me if I'm afraid about the labour, I will frigging scream. The joys of being pregnant mean that despite the fact that you're cacking yourself about pushing something the size of a basketball out of something that normally fits penises in it, is overriden by the acceptance that it has to happen and obviously you want to see your baby.
I've been having lots of weird twinges, which of course had me paranoid that I was experiencing Braxton Hicks (vague labour type thing, but not real labour) but I think the bambino just looks likes to jump up and down in my va-jay-jay and has extended her abilities to being able to kick or punch me in my left side...
Yesterday, I finally did it. I brought some baby clothes and I can't believe how small they are! I'm trying to order more stuff on Gap.com at the moment through a US delivery service Borderlinx, which enables UK residents to order from American sites that don't deliver overseas. The exchange rate is so good, it's be too good to miss. In the meantime though, I got some neutral stuff as our paranoia about the margin of error when it comes to girls means that we've decided to get neutral stuff for now....
The boyf has just woken up on the couch and I called him 'sleepy head'. He let male pride rear its head and announced that he was never going to sleep again. That's quite a promise! Unfortunately he's just dozed off again as I heard a distinct snore...
If one more person asks me if I'm afraid about the labour, I will frigging scream. The joys of being pregnant mean that despite the fact that you're cacking yourself about pushing something the size of a basketball out of something that normally fits penises in it, is overriden by the acceptance that it has to happen and obviously you want to see your baby.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Jaysus a Baby Shower
People have been going on at me for ages about having a baby shower and I have succumbed and agreed. Thing is, I think I am only twigging what it is in the context of myself and I suddenly feel very nervous. I can't imagine playing Baby Charades, or Baby Scrabble or other such word puzzles involving baby words. I love babies and I'm excited about the bambino, but I don't do cheesy. I suddenly thought of Miranda in Sex and the City demanding that there weren't storks all over the place and getting really sh*tty with Charlotte who was stork crazy. I'm not anywhere near as bad as that, but I wonder what I've let myself in for.
I have several friends with kids and lots that don't. What if the one's that don't think that I've been snatched by baby aliens? It's like when I went to my friends hen party a few years back and was expecting a pretty wild night. We had some crazy times back in our 'youth' so it wasn't a leap of imagination to expect a bit of sauciness. It was a very placid affair and whilst I also hate cheesy hen nights, especially L plates, there was nothing even remotely sex associated in sight! I remember wondering where the girl who danced on tables and did the occasional bit of flashing on a girls night out went! I felt like I hardly knew her!
I was going to leave it all to my friend but now that I'm paranoid about a frilly affair, I think I'll do some research on this baby shower stuff...
I have several friends with kids and lots that don't. What if the one's that don't think that I've been snatched by baby aliens? It's like when I went to my friends hen party a few years back and was expecting a pretty wild night. We had some crazy times back in our 'youth' so it wasn't a leap of imagination to expect a bit of sauciness. It was a very placid affair and whilst I also hate cheesy hen nights, especially L plates, there was nothing even remotely sex associated in sight! I remember wondering where the girl who danced on tables and did the occasional bit of flashing on a girls night out went! I felt like I hardly knew her!
I was going to leave it all to my friend but now that I'm paranoid about a frilly affair, I think I'll do some research on this baby shower stuff...
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
The Last Stretch
I'm 30 weeks pregnant tomorrow and I have been dreaming about going into labour early for the past few nights. I don't ever get to the point where I even start to have contractions but I wake up feeling panicked about five times a night. If I have palpitations dreaming about the thought of it, God help me if the dream moves on a bit with actual contractions!
Tomorrow, I have decided, will be the day I put together my What to Do in an Emergency list for my crackerjack colleagues. If I leave it in the hands of the God's, I could be having vulture boy, Barry from Eastenders (my boss), and MSlash getting hot water from the tea machine and using the jackets and coats for 'towels'. They would keel over if my waters broke or anything untoward happened. Bless 'em!
Because the boyf sometimes goes abroad for a few days with work, I want to ensure that there is a smooth system for what is to happen if I need to go to hospital as when I had the severe reaction to my Wagamama's salad in January and ended up in hospital, it was like a bad comedy trying to let my family know. Wouldn't you know that the one day that the boyf goes away after almost two months and I end up throwing up repeatedly and collapsing, my mother's mobile is broken, the bro was in Canada, the boyf's mum was in Africa, and lil bro was being a typical 17 year old and screening his calls. The list will have a plan a, b and c, and no doubt it'll get f*cked up....
I am soooo tired at the moment that I think about going to sleep from about an hour after I woke up. This makes for a veeery long day. The bambino is kicking like there is no tomorrow because of the reduced space she has due to the size she is at this stage of the pregnancy. This means that she has taken to manoeuvring what feels like elbows or her feet and ramming them hard against my tummy so that they poke out like funny little bumps. I give her little rubs which then seems to set her off into lots of wriggles. She's a funny little thing!
Someone asked if we are all set for the bambino's arrival. Set? The only thing that the baby has is a pair of Havana sandles which a friend brought for her in Brazil. We've 'chosen' the pushchair, pram and car seat and that's it. Jaysus we have a lot to do.....
Tomorrow, I have decided, will be the day I put together my What to Do in an Emergency list for my crackerjack colleagues. If I leave it in the hands of the God's, I could be having vulture boy, Barry from Eastenders (my boss), and MSlash getting hot water from the tea machine and using the jackets and coats for 'towels'. They would keel over if my waters broke or anything untoward happened. Bless 'em!
Because the boyf sometimes goes abroad for a few days with work, I want to ensure that there is a smooth system for what is to happen if I need to go to hospital as when I had the severe reaction to my Wagamama's salad in January and ended up in hospital, it was like a bad comedy trying to let my family know. Wouldn't you know that the one day that the boyf goes away after almost two months and I end up throwing up repeatedly and collapsing, my mother's mobile is broken, the bro was in Canada, the boyf's mum was in Africa, and lil bro was being a typical 17 year old and screening his calls. The list will have a plan a, b and c, and no doubt it'll get f*cked up....
I am soooo tired at the moment that I think about going to sleep from about an hour after I woke up. This makes for a veeery long day. The bambino is kicking like there is no tomorrow because of the reduced space she has due to the size she is at this stage of the pregnancy. This means that she has taken to manoeuvring what feels like elbows or her feet and ramming them hard against my tummy so that they poke out like funny little bumps. I give her little rubs which then seems to set her off into lots of wriggles. She's a funny little thing!
Someone asked if we are all set for the bambino's arrival. Set? The only thing that the baby has is a pair of Havana sandles which a friend brought for her in Brazil. We've 'chosen' the pushchair, pram and car seat and that's it. Jaysus we have a lot to do.....
Thursday, March 01, 2007
The Bambino at 21 weeks
Don't read this if you don't want to know the sex...This was the scan where we found out the sex...sort of... Unfortunately the bambino is such an active baby that it was difficult to pin down to be sure about the sex. Eventually the midwife said that she was 'pretty certain' that it's a girl...but not to go overboard on pink.
My acupuncturist had done the dousing thing with the pendulum and it said that the baby was a boy and this was when I was about 10 weeks pregnant, so for ages we'd thought it was a boy going nuts in there.
We're very excited about our little girl who is a kicking maniac that doesn't like to rest very often. In the scan pic she is putting her thumb into her mouth. This was after showing off and moving around so much that they couldn't even measure her head initially as she was moving the hands and legs around whilst looking upwards. After a while I had to bounce up and down on the bed so that she eventually moved her head into a measurable position.
Seeing how much she had developed from when we'd seen her at 14 weeks was unbelievable. We saw her little bum, heart, kidneys, feet and all sorts of detail. She also likes to use the umbilical cord as a rattle.... I thought she was blowing bubbles but it turned out that it was the umbilical cord....
Because the sex of the baby is potentially in dispute, everyone we know is speculating about the sex. My ma, who claims to be psychic insists that it's a girl, the boyf is paranoid that it's a boy now (when we thought it was a boy, he became paranoid that it was a girl) and the rest of our friends are divided. Maybe we would have been better off just not asking about the sex but whatever comes out, we can hardly wait!
The Chosen Pushchair - Quinny Buzz
I'm pretty sure we've chosen our pushchair. It's the Quinny Buzz which we'll buy as a travel system with the Dreami Carrycot and a Maxi-Cosi car seat. It comes in a few different colours but we haven't decided what colour we'll go with yet.
I thought it would take us a lot longer to research but because we were looking for a travel system, it narrowed dow
n the search to just a few brands. I'll post about the other travel systems that we looked at (Bugaboo, Mamas and Papas, Micralite) on a separate post.As we'll be using a mixture of public transport, walking and driving it makes sense for us to buy something that caters to everything and whilst it is slightly bigger than we had hoped at 12.8kg, it has a lot of features that resonate well with us, such as a front and rear facing pushchair (pictured) which can also be angled to different positions. It unfolds automatically at a touch (it can be locked too) and the wheels are gas something-or-other so they're great for when you coming off or going onto trains, although bus drivers may not like it so much! It manouvers really well and it's a very smooth experience. We'll use it from when the bambino is 6 months old.
The pram is really cute and the hood of it has a handle incorporated in it which helps with when you take it off the frame. It comes with adaptors which can be fixed to the frame for when you want to set it up as a pram. When we tried to figure out how to do this without a demonstration, the boyf faffed around for a while with it, not realising that there were adaptors. We were very pleased with ourselves when we saw it attached to the frame but quicklybecame nervous at how wobbly it seemed, and then a woman walked by and it fell off! Fortunately it's not complex to set it up as a pram but it doesn't come off easily either. Apparently people use the carrycot as a moses basket as well, but I don't think we'll do that. It's nice to know that we have the option though!
The Maxi-Cosi car seat will be mostly used in the car but we can use it for taking the bambino on short jaunts in it by using it as a pushchair. Apparently they should only be in it for no more than two hours a day though. Maxi-Cosi is also supposed to be the best car seat brand so we feel we've really lucked out by finding the Quinny Buzz travel system.
It doesn't come cheap though! It's supposed to retail for around £500 (close to $1000) but we will buy ours online or wherever we get the best deal. Annoyingly there was a fantastic deal on where we could have got it for just under £400 on one website, but for the sake of our sanity and space, we aren't planning to get the pushchair till we move/month before baby due. I am monitoring prices because if something really good comes up again, we'll just go for it.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
A place for my pregnancy waffle
I set up this blog a few months ago when nobody even knew I was pregnant and I was wandering around with my little secret. Of course I had good intentions to diarise my secret pregnancy but a flurry of work, headaches, and life, and OK, a dodgy memory let it fall to the wayside.
Of course by the time I started thinking about doing a pregnancy and baby blog, I had revealed my secret. Since then, whilst I have shared my thoughts and fears about pregnancy and squeezing the bambino out of my va-jay-jay, there is vast amounts of information I want to share and find out. The boyf and I are not that clued up about everything and as the arrival of the bambino fast approaches (I'm 28 weeks today), we are starting to make the mountain of decisions that we need to about what we want to buy and how we want to start out.
I don't do things by half. I met the boyf a just under a year ago after a few years of juggling serial bad taste in men and an immune system disease. I met him just as life started to slot into place personally for me and my health took a turn for the better with the help of acupuncture. The past year has been fantastic and even finding out that we were pregnant became the most amazing thing after we'd gotten over the shock. I really couldn't be happier.
So what will this blog be about? My pregnancy, most likely the trauma of giving birth (something that has been a life long fear) and everything and anything about pregnancy and babies as I'm having to learn and research a lot. I've had a lot of people wanting to know what I plan to buy, what clothes I've brought and all sorts so this will be a home for it. It's a very exciting and slightly daunting time - Bambino due in 12 weeks, selling a flat, buying a house, learning to drive, preparing for bambino arrival, going on maternity leave in 6 weeks and managing crackhead grandmothers (not actual crack). Pray for me....
Of course by the time I started thinking about doing a pregnancy and baby blog, I had revealed my secret. Since then, whilst I have shared my thoughts and fears about pregnancy and squeezing the bambino out of my va-jay-jay, there is vast amounts of information I want to share and find out. The boyf and I are not that clued up about everything and as the arrival of the bambino fast approaches (I'm 28 weeks today), we are starting to make the mountain of decisions that we need to about what we want to buy and how we want to start out.
I don't do things by half. I met the boyf a just under a year ago after a few years of juggling serial bad taste in men and an immune system disease. I met him just as life started to slot into place personally for me and my health took a turn for the better with the help of acupuncture. The past year has been fantastic and even finding out that we were pregnant became the most amazing thing after we'd gotten over the shock. I really couldn't be happier.
So what will this blog be about? My pregnancy, most likely the trauma of giving birth (something that has been a life long fear) and everything and anything about pregnancy and babies as I'm having to learn and research a lot. I've had a lot of people wanting to know what I plan to buy, what clothes I've brought and all sorts so this will be a home for it. It's a very exciting and slightly daunting time - Bambino due in 12 weeks, selling a flat, buying a house, learning to drive, preparing for bambino arrival, going on maternity leave in 6 weeks and managing crackhead grandmothers (not actual crack). Pray for me....
Pregnancy Support Pillow
Sleeping, sitting, standing, bending, pretty much everything that requires me to move a muscle is becoming quite a task. I've just ordered a multi-purpose support pillow on Mothercare (bit unimpressed with the steep delivery charge) which should be arriving tomorrow.Apparently I can wedge this under the bump which is becoming rather weighty...but I can also use this as a feeding pillow. I fed my friends newborn the other day and even though he's a tiny little thing, after a while he started to weigh down so this pillow should prove to be a handy number.
£19.99 plus more postage than I can to remember...from Mothercare
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)