Friday was Elizabeth's birthday, and she woke up with a streaming cold. We opened her presents in bed, then flew to get ready for our trip out to Shrewsbury. She had some Medised, and seemed ok. The afternoon went by ok - both sets of grandparents arrived, more presents, cake, candle... lots of playing with new toys. She went to bed, and we sat down (exhausted as per usual) with a glass of wine to celebrate coming this far, and managing to get through what I thought would be a very emotional day but it didn't actually turn out to be so.
Saturday was 'our day' as a family. We went on our trip out to Hoo Farm which, despite our efforts to 'think positive', ended up in disappointment, but at least we got our money back. It was freezing cold, very bleak, and hardly anything was open. What was open we couldn't really see because there were Christmas trees lined up everywhere. What we could see (i.e. Christmas World) was hugely disappointing. Elizabeth seemed delighted to see an owl, and was able to mimic him, but I think she was glad to get back home.
Sunday saw us at home receiving guests, with more presents for her. She wasn't herself, and was clingy and whingey, not a good combination. She had some more Medised (which I was loathe to give her) and that helped her sleep in the afternoon, but when she woke up she was really unhappy, and clung onto me for ages. I thought she might sleep it off and be better the next day but...
Yesterday was a real 'clingon' day. She was in a bad-but-not-so-bad-she-needed-to-go-to-the-dr way, and I ended up carrying her around the house for most of the day. She fell asleep in my arms after feeding around 2pm, which I haven't seen for literally months. By the time husband came home she had picked up a bit.
The question is - what is wrong? It seems unlikely that this has anything to do with her injections that were last Thursday as they are only likely to have an effect during the 48 hours afterwards. It could be teething although I can't actually see inside her mouth to confirm. She definately has a cold, but doesn't usually suffer quite so much, so is it something else as well? How would I know if it was an ear infection, or tonsillitis or something?
Today she is much the same. We went to group this morning and she clung on to me for most of the morning, stopping to have a go on the walker, and to crawl around a little bit. She sobbed when we came home, then fed (again) and I was about to administer more Medised but decided to try lunch first. She ate her scrambled egg on toast and yoghurt, and has now settled for a nap, so she seems ok again. So confusing!
She has learned to say "Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiir" while pointing to the sky, indicating a bird.
She can also say "Whhhhaaasaaaaa?" which we think means "What's that?"
and can more or less say 'hello' and 'bye' - she says hello while playing with one of her many toy phones. She can also say "Oh Da?" which we think means, "Where has Daddy gone?".
Lets home things pick up soon.
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Thursday, 22 November 2007
This time a year ago....
This time a year ago was the day I spent the entire 24 hours in labour. I have been thinking about it all day - remembering exactly where I was at each point in the day. I think I started that day at around 5.30am being examined and told I was 3cm dilated. From 6am I was on the birthing ball. After 9am I was re-examined and we were told baby could be breach and I'd need to have my waters broken in a 'controlled manner' so was taken by ambulance in agony to the hospital in Shrewsbury with husband following behind in our car at break-neck speed.
At 11am my waters were broken and I was put on a syntocin drip. At 2pm I had pethidine, by 3.30 pm the epidural was sited, by 7pm the notes say we were 'dozing' which I dispute!! By about this time we were getting ready for me to be examined again. I started pushing and was told I had one hour at 11.30pm. Elizabeth was born at 1.01am on 23rd, so by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, on her actual birthday, it would all have been over. I remember that I was lying in bed on the ward sobbing, being told by a midwife to get up and walk when I clearly couldn't though!
I've just made her cake having made her card yesterday, and have just assembled her presents in our room ready for the opening ceremony tomorrow morning. I feel like a bag of nerves and can't put my finger on why. We're meeting Lorna in Shrewsbury tomorrow - feels odd to be going back there, but should be good in several ways. Hope I sleep tonight!
Elizabeth had her injections today. It was different to last time, when she was 3 months old. Then she just screamed. This time she was sitting up, looking at the nurse and smiling, then when the needle went in her lip curled under, and she crumpled into me sobbing, she looked so upset! It was really difficult to try to reassure her - she seemed devastated.
At 11am my waters were broken and I was put on a syntocin drip. At 2pm I had pethidine, by 3.30 pm the epidural was sited, by 7pm the notes say we were 'dozing' which I dispute!! By about this time we were getting ready for me to be examined again. I started pushing and was told I had one hour at 11.30pm. Elizabeth was born at 1.01am on 23rd, so by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, on her actual birthday, it would all have been over. I remember that I was lying in bed on the ward sobbing, being told by a midwife to get up and walk when I clearly couldn't though!
I've just made her cake having made her card yesterday, and have just assembled her presents in our room ready for the opening ceremony tomorrow morning. I feel like a bag of nerves and can't put my finger on why. We're meeting Lorna in Shrewsbury tomorrow - feels odd to be going back there, but should be good in several ways. Hope I sleep tonight!
Elizabeth had her injections today. It was different to last time, when she was 3 months old. Then she just screamed. This time she was sitting up, looking at the nurse and smiling, then when the needle went in her lip curled under, and she crumpled into me sobbing, she looked so upset! It was really difficult to try to reassure her - she seemed devastated.
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
This time last year!!!
21st November had been etched in our brains since we first discovered I was pregnant on 17th March 2006. As soon as we saw the positive sign in the pregnancy test window we found a due date calculator online, and the daet that came out was 21st. This remained unchanged as I saw the midwife, and had my dating scan - and as we knew that Elizabeth had been conceived on 22nd February we knew it wouldn't change.
People say babies aren't born on their due date, and I fully expected to have to suffer a long period of waiting after 21st but Elizabeth had other ideas. She wasn't actually born until 23rd November (just!) but the marking of the anniversary of her birth starts today, a year on from when I went into labour.
On the one hand I can't believe that this date is here again, considering we waited so bloody long for it the first time around. From March last year November seemed an age away. Our lives have changed beyond recognition, and I'm facing facts at the moment that Elizabeth is no longer a baby. She is fiercely independent, and on the verge of walking. She's eating more and more, and her words and sounds are becoming more recognisable. She copies things more and more (like answering the phone, blowing her nose, washing her face, putting on her socks) and this morning tried to put a shoe on her self and was devastated that it didn't fit - we'll have to get her some proper shoes soon. She walked holding her V-Tech babywalker yesterday afternoon for the first time, not a tentative couple of steps but a very energetic couple of laps of the living room. She's been at it again this morning - still on tippy toes, and still a little tentative at first, but definately on the go.
What can I remember about this time last year? Absolutely nothing. I remember ringing husband at work at about 10.30am and speaking to the midwife because I thought my waters might have broken (they hadn't). I remember him coming home at normal time, and eating tea, and remember starting to time the contractions at around 5.30pm. I remember feeling oh-so-pleased with myself that I was coping so well, with my TENS machine strapped on, pressing the booster button for dear life when the contractions came. They were every five minutes so I thought the birth was very close. Little did I know. I remember trying to get everything packed into the bags for the hospital. The baby case (!) had been assembled for ages, but my things needed collecting together such was my limited supply of maternity clothes, and my need for contact lens stuff and make-up etc to go in at the last minute. I remember we were using her changing bag as the 'labour bag' so this had the TENS machine pouch, the Lucozade, flannel etc in. I remember on the midwives instruction getting into the car at around 9.30pm, and the agonizing journey to the hospital, with contractions outside Tesco, and outside Wrekin College. The pain in the car was unbearable - but I realised that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, saying how painful it is doesn't make it any better. I was examined and was so gutted to hear I was only 1 cm dilated. I was told to go home, have a bath and get some sleep. Yes - as if. I took two co-codomol when I got in, and tried to get into bed. It was agony and there was no way I could. I tried and tried - I remember kneeling on the bedroom floor - to cope with the pain, then rang the midwife back and begged to be allowed to come back. She told me to have a bath which I did against my better judgement, and took the TENS machine off at that point. I don't think I put it on again. In the early hours of the morning we set off to the hospital again. I remember standing in the car park in the dark while husband got a parking ticket, and then slowly and gingerly making my way to the back entrance. Being met by my community midwife, being shown to a room, a small room. The heating was broken, and the heater was being used by someone about to give birth. I remember the position of the bed, in the middle of the narrow long room. I remember (I think) taking my day clothes off and putting on my grey t-shirt. I remember being examined and being told I was 3 cm. That, apparently, was when 'established labour' began, but I don't count it from then, because it bloody hurt a lot before that!
People say babies aren't born on their due date, and I fully expected to have to suffer a long period of waiting after 21st but Elizabeth had other ideas. She wasn't actually born until 23rd November (just!) but the marking of the anniversary of her birth starts today, a year on from when I went into labour.
On the one hand I can't believe that this date is here again, considering we waited so bloody long for it the first time around. From March last year November seemed an age away. Our lives have changed beyond recognition, and I'm facing facts at the moment that Elizabeth is no longer a baby. She is fiercely independent, and on the verge of walking. She's eating more and more, and her words and sounds are becoming more recognisable. She copies things more and more (like answering the phone, blowing her nose, washing her face, putting on her socks) and this morning tried to put a shoe on her self and was devastated that it didn't fit - we'll have to get her some proper shoes soon. She walked holding her V-Tech babywalker yesterday afternoon for the first time, not a tentative couple of steps but a very energetic couple of laps of the living room. She's been at it again this morning - still on tippy toes, and still a little tentative at first, but definately on the go.
What can I remember about this time last year? Absolutely nothing. I remember ringing husband at work at about 10.30am and speaking to the midwife because I thought my waters might have broken (they hadn't). I remember him coming home at normal time, and eating tea, and remember starting to time the contractions at around 5.30pm. I remember feeling oh-so-pleased with myself that I was coping so well, with my TENS machine strapped on, pressing the booster button for dear life when the contractions came. They were every five minutes so I thought the birth was very close. Little did I know. I remember trying to get everything packed into the bags for the hospital. The baby case (!) had been assembled for ages, but my things needed collecting together such was my limited supply of maternity clothes, and my need for contact lens stuff and make-up etc to go in at the last minute. I remember we were using her changing bag as the 'labour bag' so this had the TENS machine pouch, the Lucozade, flannel etc in. I remember on the midwives instruction getting into the car at around 9.30pm, and the agonizing journey to the hospital, with contractions outside Tesco, and outside Wrekin College. The pain in the car was unbearable - but I realised that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, saying how painful it is doesn't make it any better. I was examined and was so gutted to hear I was only 1 cm dilated. I was told to go home, have a bath and get some sleep. Yes - as if. I took two co-codomol when I got in, and tried to get into bed. It was agony and there was no way I could. I tried and tried - I remember kneeling on the bedroom floor - to cope with the pain, then rang the midwife back and begged to be allowed to come back. She told me to have a bath which I did against my better judgement, and took the TENS machine off at that point. I don't think I put it on again. In the early hours of the morning we set off to the hospital again. I remember standing in the car park in the dark while husband got a parking ticket, and then slowly and gingerly making my way to the back entrance. Being met by my community midwife, being shown to a room, a small room. The heating was broken, and the heater was being used by someone about to give birth. I remember the position of the bed, in the middle of the narrow long room. I remember (I think) taking my day clothes off and putting on my grey t-shirt. I remember being examined and being told I was 3 cm. That, apparently, was when 'established labour' began, but I don't count it from then, because it bloody hurt a lot before that!
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
I went out!
On Saturday 17th November 2007 I, Firt Time Mum, went out without husband and child. I did it! It was only around the corner, for two halves of lager, with my sister - but that's not the point. I was out. It felt really strange getting ready to go out after Elizabeth went to bed, instead of getting ready for bed myself. The concept of finding clothes to wear and putting make-up on in the evening have been totally alien to me for well over a year. When my sister arrived at the door and asked if I was wearing heels I felt my age though!
We had a lovely time nursing our halves of lager in a really old manny type pub that thankfully wasn't too far from home. We chatted about this and that, then came home. Husband was still up watching a film, Elizabeth had slept soundly, all was well.
That little outing was at the end of husband's week off - a week in which he came to clinic with us for her final weigh-in of her first 12 months, he came swimming with us, and we visited friends and family and went out shopping in the Bullring! We also looked in numerous furniture shops with a view to investing in a new sofa, but just as we had chosen the perfect one we talked ourselves out of it as it really doesn't seem sensible to buy anything when things are so uncertain about my job and I have no income at all at the moment.
He went back to work yesterday, leaving one very clingy Elizabeth around my legs yesterday. Still waking up at night but after her star has been handed back to her she tends to get back to sleep quite quickly and it is just the early waking that remains a problem however that is better than it was - now around 6.30am so I suppose I should be grateful.
I've just heard from my union legal advisor that the legal department have looked into my case and think I have a case so a claim is being lodged with the Employment Tribunal in Birmingham today. My work will then have 28 days to reply. In the meantime I've got my hearing date for the grievance appeal set for December 12th, so that will be nice(!).
Just emailed two editors from the Shropshire Star pleading with them to let me write an article for them, and been writing reviews for a new review website - Qype (quality or hype?). Done 12 so far, plenty more to do!
Elizabeth is still asleep, so I'm back on the internet to see if I can see any other ways to make money.
We had a lovely time nursing our halves of lager in a really old manny type pub that thankfully wasn't too far from home. We chatted about this and that, then came home. Husband was still up watching a film, Elizabeth had slept soundly, all was well.
That little outing was at the end of husband's week off - a week in which he came to clinic with us for her final weigh-in of her first 12 months, he came swimming with us, and we visited friends and family and went out shopping in the Bullring! We also looked in numerous furniture shops with a view to investing in a new sofa, but just as we had chosen the perfect one we talked ourselves out of it as it really doesn't seem sensible to buy anything when things are so uncertain about my job and I have no income at all at the moment.
He went back to work yesterday, leaving one very clingy Elizabeth around my legs yesterday. Still waking up at night but after her star has been handed back to her she tends to get back to sleep quite quickly and it is just the early waking that remains a problem however that is better than it was - now around 6.30am so I suppose I should be grateful.
I've just heard from my union legal advisor that the legal department have looked into my case and think I have a case so a claim is being lodged with the Employment Tribunal in Birmingham today. My work will then have 28 days to reply. In the meantime I've got my hearing date for the grievance appeal set for December 12th, so that will be nice(!).
Just emailed two editors from the Shropshire Star pleading with them to let me write an article for them, and been writing reviews for a new review website - Qype (quality or hype?). Done 12 so far, plenty more to do!
Elizabeth is still asleep, so I'm back on the internet to see if I can see any other ways to make money.
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Teeth...
Elizabeth has three new teeth. The bottom left tooth has finally come through (bottom right was her first) - like a little razor's edge at the moment. And the top teeth either side of her two front teeth have appeared at the same time. That could explain why she has been waking up so early since the clock's went back. I'm not sure if it does though, as she goes to sleep fine, and doesn't wake up during the night, just at around 4am or 5am. We had a dilemma about what to do when she does wake up. If I feed her we are back to reinforcing her waking up, and what do we do then? Start the day at 5am? How would that affect the spacing out of her meals throughout the day? And woudn't she just be really tired by the end of the day? In the end we settled on trying to settle her back to sleep. For a couple of days that involved waiting to a more reasonable time (i.e. 6.30 am) and feeding her then with the result that we were all exhausted. This moring husband settled her back to sleep by 4.50am and we got a bit more sleep, and I was actually able to have a shower before she called out at 7am.
We bought her a Winter coat on Saturday, just in time as the weather has turned really cold. We opted for a purpley coloured zip/popper anorak that is really padded and warm from M&S after rejecting pink puffy creations from various cheaper shops. It felt like a real relief that she is wrapped up warmly in something that actually fits rather than layering her up in bits and pieces of jackets/hoodies etc that are too small. Not a day too soon as on Sunday it was bitterly cold, but she was warm as toast in her new coat.
I've ordered her a second sleeping bag online from a company called The Dream Bag - slightly cheaper than Mothercare and definately cheaper than Gro-Bag. I think the 18-36 month jungle bag that we've chosen was £18.99 incl. postage and packaging, so that was a bargain! Will wait and see how we get on with it, but she definately needs one to wear and one for the wash.
Mental note to self - in future only buy white socks. Buying different coloured socks for Elizabeth means waiting for ever for them to dry, then realising you can't make up a pair because one has gone missing or is still in the washing basket!
Interactive games have developed a lot this week with Elizabeth. There is the 'Starbo' game where we lie in bed, I put the star on my head, and we both call out "Oooooooooooooooooooh" until it, ahem, drops off my head, then she takes her turn. There was the shape sorting game where Elizabeth handed me all the shapes from her shape sorter one by one until I was holding one on each finger, then she took them all off me and put them back in the sorter. She can identify her socks, Simbob the dog, Starbo, and can hand me her hair clip.
She is still fairly clingy, making doing anything while she is awake very difficult. I'm wondering how much longer she will carry on with two naps (she naps at 9am and 2pm now) - wondering if I should instigate a nap at about 12.30pm... we'll see.
No news from work, other than to say they are organising the meeting. No news on having my own business, except to say that the research continues. No news from anyone else really.
We bought her a Winter coat on Saturday, just in time as the weather has turned really cold. We opted for a purpley coloured zip/popper anorak that is really padded and warm from M&S after rejecting pink puffy creations from various cheaper shops. It felt like a real relief that she is wrapped up warmly in something that actually fits rather than layering her up in bits and pieces of jackets/hoodies etc that are too small. Not a day too soon as on Sunday it was bitterly cold, but she was warm as toast in her new coat.
I've ordered her a second sleeping bag online from a company called The Dream Bag - slightly cheaper than Mothercare and definately cheaper than Gro-Bag. I think the 18-36 month jungle bag that we've chosen was £18.99 incl. postage and packaging, so that was a bargain! Will wait and see how we get on with it, but she definately needs one to wear and one for the wash.
Mental note to self - in future only buy white socks. Buying different coloured socks for Elizabeth means waiting for ever for them to dry, then realising you can't make up a pair because one has gone missing or is still in the washing basket!
Interactive games have developed a lot this week with Elizabeth. There is the 'Starbo' game where we lie in bed, I put the star on my head, and we both call out "Oooooooooooooooooooh" until it, ahem, drops off my head, then she takes her turn. There was the shape sorting game where Elizabeth handed me all the shapes from her shape sorter one by one until I was holding one on each finger, then she took them all off me and put them back in the sorter. She can identify her socks, Simbob the dog, Starbo, and can hand me her hair clip.
She is still fairly clingy, making doing anything while she is awake very difficult. I'm wondering how much longer she will carry on with two naps (she naps at 9am and 2pm now) - wondering if I should instigate a nap at about 12.30pm... we'll see.
No news from work, other than to say they are organising the meeting. No news on having my own business, except to say that the research continues. No news from anyone else really.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)