Back from our lovely two weeks in Devon! Have to admit it was more than exhausting... I saw the chiropractor the week we left, and my right-side was in agony (unstable pelvis trying to right itself) so didn't start well. Had an exhausting day getting down there, having to stop several times for Elizabeth to go to the toilet, but made it by about 4pm. Then had to go and do Sainsburys. On our knees by the time we just about got sorted that evening.
The time flew by - went on the mainline train journey from Totnes to Exeter to see Brunel's line next to the sea. Had lovely Pizza Express in Exeter. Went on boat trip from Dartmouth to Totness, had lunch in Totnes, had two ice creams in Dartmouth, went to Babbacombe Model Village (which Elizabeth loved - not sure we'd go back though, and was very expensive!), went to Bigbury, Slapton, Blackpool Sands and North Sands, had lunch at the Winking Prawn, went to Salcombe, she went rock-pooling, he had a great time in the sea, went swimming in Kingsbridge... The weather wasn't terrific, but it was warm the whole time, and that suited me. I found it exhausting and my back/leg/pelvis was painful most of the time. We took delivery of an E-bay purchased MacPac Possum just before we left, so Edward rode on George's back a few times which made a change from lugging the buggy everywhere. His words came on in leaps and bounds - Elizabeth would run through his lessons in the back of the car everyday, "Edward, say 'b', say 'ssss', say 'cooker'" etc etc. He can say so much now! Car, Car park, sea, cooker, paper, banana, me, you, more, Daddy, Mummy... He seemed to really enjoy the holiday. The open-plan aspect of the cottage didn't work fantastically for us - husband had to sit down blocking access to the kitchen to allow me to cook, as Edward was constantly into the bin, cupboards, drawers and to the cooker. Her behaviour deteriorated markedly too - lots of really melodramatic tantrums, and pretty challenging behaviour. Had a horrible moment with her at Bigbury when I lost it big time in the car park when she refused to move to the side of the steps to let anyone get past, and refused to move full stop. Went absolutely mad, and husband was pretty shocked. Felt guilty afterwards, and do keep trying to be more patient and take things away from her rather than shouting, but it is so hard!
Since coming back husband went straight back out again and went to Milton Keynes to see the Prodigy leaving me home alone with the two of them, feeling pretty exhausting. My parents are now on holiday in France, so no chance of any help from them. Saw midwife today, and my iron levels are low, which could explain some of the absolute exhaustion I've been experiencing, plus the breathlessness I got the other night when I woke in panic and couldn't understand what was happening. Am going to start on iron tablets tomorrow when my prescription is ready. Varicose vein/vulval varicose vein really unpleasant now, saw GP on Monday and no need to wear support stockings etc. Have some itching on bump, but mainly on my left leg where the vein is. Have stopped using the steroid cream and started using the Dermol again. Chiropractor told me to try tennis ball massage for the muscular problem in my right buttock/hip, so will continue with that. Stressful issues include fact that our camera has broken, boiler needs mending, tumble dryer has broken (engineer won't call out for another week), fridge got pools of water in it... you name it everything seems to be breaking!
