The Smell of Little Pong

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

potty news

And how could I have forgotten to mention that Freyja did a poo in the toilet this morning for first time ever!!

Adrian went back to work this week after his two weeks paternity leave. I was a bit worried about how I would manage to get myself, Freyja and Theo up, fed, dressed and out the house by 8am to get Freyja to her child minder on time, but it has gone surprisingly well - even this morning when I fell back to sleep for 20 minutes after my alarm had gone off...

I put Theo in the sling to get to the child minder and he sleeps all the way there and back and if I leave him in it will sleep until around 10am. I took him in the pram today, thinking it would be easier to get a few things done if he was asleep in there rather than in the sling. He slept there and back but as soon as we got home his eyes pinged open - just like his sister's used to do! It doesn't matter - so far he is a pretty good sleeper during the day and I am managing to get him down for one long sleep in his cot plus a few other naps here and there. It's very different to Freyja who really fought sleeping during the day from very early on - amazing to think that now she loves her nap and asks to go to bed!

This afternoon, at about 4pm, Theo and I retired to my bed for what I thought would be a 20 minute snooze, given that he'd already had three naps, but actually turned into an hour and half sleep.

Bliss!

I had forgotten how quiet it can be at home all day with a newborn. I understand why they give you that 'Talk to Me' leaflet after you have a baby - hours can pass and you've barely uttered a word. Tomorrow will be a whole different ball game...Freyja doesn't go to her child minder on Thursdays...

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

With a 'grunt, grunt' here...

We had a bad night last night.

Our evenings and nights have taken on a sort of pattern. For the first 3 weeks, we got Theo ready for bed at the same time as Freyja and then he went into the Kari-me sling and slept there until I went to bed at around 10.30pm. I'd then feed him and he'd go into his moses basket by our bed and he generally wakes to feed at around 1.30am and 4.30am. After the 4.30am feed he comes into the bed with us until the morning. This pattern is still happening but he now goes into his moses basket in his cot for the first part of the evening - from about 8pm to 10.30pm.

Mostly it seems to being working well. He does take a long time to feed - usually around 40 minutes, which, with getting up, nappy changing and getting back to sleep again, really eats into that 3 hour period between feeds, but he tends to settle well after his feeds which makes it all a lot easier to cope with.

We have had a couple of bad nights though and they always take the same form. It's usually after the 1.30-ish feed, although it has occasionally been after the 4.30-ish feed, he just won't settle. He lies in his basket and grunts loudly until he eventually starts to cry. I try and settle him with his dummy or with feeding or bringing him into the bed but nothing seems to work. He just keeps grunting and is only really happy when he's latched on (though not really feeding). Last night he woke at 1am and 2 and half hours later I was still trying to settle him. He then got hiccups (something he gets a lot) so I fed him again as this seems to get rid of them and finally he stopped grunting and went back to sleep until 5am. I think it is probably wind/digestion related although when I burp him hardly anything seems to come up, and things certainly seem to be moving okay for him down there.

Then I was having a look through some old emails I had kept from when Freyja was a newborn. And there was one to Adrian moaning about how I hadn't got any sleep because of Freyja's grunting! I had completely forgotten about it but it turns out I used to stick ear plugs in to hide the sound of her grunting - I could still hear when she started to cry but could actually get some sleep in between.

It sounds like an awful thing to do! But I might just dig those earplugs out again if the grunting persists...

Monday, May 12, 2008

He's Awake!

I know it's supposedly wind....but I'm sure he's starting to smile...

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Theo

Yes, I know he has a bit of a funny eye but it just makes me love him even more.

Anyway, he can open it when he wants to:

Good Hair Day

My friend Antonia has recently blogged about having her hair cut. This has prompted me to look once again at the state of my daughters hair.

At almost two and half years of age she has still never had a hair cut. Her friends are now all sporting elaborate plaits and pony tails and taking regular trips to the hair dresser. Freyja is sporting a rather fetching mullet and cropped fringe look:

It has grown enough now that the longer bits sort of sweep over the front, but for some reason along her actual hairline is still as short as ever. Turns out my hair was exactly the same. My mother sent me a photo to prove it and there I was, a mullet-y haired and cropped fringed toddler, just like Freyja:

I kind of wish my hair was still like that.

I love Freyja's hair and am very reluctant to get it cut, though it is getting rather unruly. But then every time I think I probably should cut it, she has a good hair day, like today:

Isn't that always the way?

Friday, May 09, 2008

Battersea Park Zoo

Making the most of the nice weather and Adrian's last day of paternity leave, we went to Battersea Park Zoo, which has been recommended to us by a few people now.

We managed to get everyone ready and out the house in only an hour and a half - a record so far. I'd expected some kind of little petting farm yard and was slightly alarmed to realise that it was going to cost £17.50 for us all to get in. But don't let this put you off - the zoo is brilliant! It has monkeys, meerkats, lemurs, emus, butterflies and peacocks as well as the usual farm animals. We spent a happy two hours wondering round - Freyja remarking on how everything was 'lovely' and 'beautiful'.

The meerkats enclosure has a tunnel you can go down leading to a bubble which pops up into their enclosure so you can get a close up view - or just amuse everyone else who is watching:

There are loads of fun things to keep everyone amused - big footprints and games printed on the ground, a great playground, tractors to sit on and diggers to try out:

It was a far more successful trip than the one we made to London Zoo at the end of last year. I think the scale of it and the mixture of animals and 'fun stuff' was more appropriate for a 2 year old. Let's face it, as exciting as all these animals are, you just can't beat a super-speedy tunnel slide.

It's a big thumbs up for Battersea Park Zoo - we will definitely be returning.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Sunny Days

Luckily, with Adrian's return, the day took a turn for the better. Theo fell asleep in his father's arms (Adrian is not allowed to go back to work - I won't be able to get Theo to sleep during the day!!), Freyja stopped whining and listing off all the things in this world that she doesn't like (today it was the garden, her purple shoes, flies and alphabet biscuits) and we had a lovely lunch together in the sunshine.

At bedtime, Theo wanted a feed at the time that I normally do Freyja's story. We have managed to keep her bedtime routine pretty much the same - Adrian does bath and gets her dressed and then I take over to read her a story. Tonight Adrian did the story as well because I was still feeding Theo. Then I lay on my bed, with my newborn son asleep on my chest and listened to Adrian reading Freyja her story in the next room. It was a little slice of heaven. I've discovered that there aren't many chances to enjoy moments like that any more and you need to make the most of them when you get the chance.

I would have done, but I'm so bloody knackered I was out like a light in minutes...

A little taster

Oh my God. I have just had a taste of things to come. Adrian had to pop out this morning, leaving me with the kids (hee). I wasn't worried - it had gone fine on Saturday and it was only for a few hours this time. It started well, with Theo awake but relaxed in the travel cot and Freyja pottering. I even managed to clean the bin and the fridge, have a quick shower and get dressed. Then Theo got hungry and it all went steadily downhill from there until Adrian finally arrived home to find me with a half made pot of coffee, most of which was split over the table, Theo clamped to my boob and Freyja clamped to my leg.

Suddenly life as mother of one seems so simple and care free...

Sunday, May 04, 2008

It takes two, baby...

I wish paternity leave was longer. I'll have had 3 weeks with help by the time Adrian has to go back to work - my mum came to stay for the first week and Adrian started his paternity leave after she had left. Theo so far is proving to be a calmer and more laid back baby than Freyja was, but he's still a newborn, he still has a bit of a fussy time in the early evening (at around Freyja's dinner time), likes to be held and he feeds pretty much every 2 hours during the day and 3 hours at night and for at least half an hour each time (and often longer). Having an extra pair of hands to help with Freyja or to hold Theo has been fantastic. Theo was quite unsettled last night and I didn't get much sleep - being able to stay in bed this morning while Adrian got up with Freyja was wonderful. I'm not quite sure how I'll manage on my own.

Yesterday I had my first taste of it. Adrian was playing cricket and due to still having no car and it being in Chiswick, I decided not to go. That left me a whole afternoon and bedtime to get through. And it was fine - luckily, as long as he's fed, I can generally put Theo down in his chair or the travel cot (which has now taken up a permanent place in the living room) at least for a little while. But I saw straight away that I'm going to fall into bad habits. Freyja has survived the transition to being the big sister with rather a lot of chocolate, television and her dummy. I've just started reigning it back in again - but yesterday I have to admit I did resort to putting the telly on quite a lot - though I managed to keep the chocolate and dummy a bit more in check. Also, Theo loves his feeds and whenever he got a bit fussy I ended up giving him a quick feed just to settle him so I could get back to giving Freyja her lunch/dinner/bath or whatever it was I was trying to do. I ended up feeding Theo at the same time I was giving Freyja her dinner and then had to give him a quick feed again while Freyja was in the bath - just so he was zonked out enough for me to get through the rest of her bedtime routine. But I did manage to get both of them down for a 2 hour nap at lunch time - and had one myself.

The thing is, I didn't really have time to enjoy it. I've absolutely loved these last 2 weeks - with someone always on hand to help it's been wonderful looking after a newborn and feeling more confident about it than last time round. But yesterday I didn't really stop to think - one or the other, or more often than not both at the same time, needed something from me the whole day. I suppose it must get easier once the newborn phase is over, but I don't want to wish it away - after all, it may well be the last time I do it. An extra pair of hands for a bit longer would be lovely. Actually, an extra hand of my own would be very useful - maybe then I wouldn't have dropped Freyja's dinner on the floor trying to get it ready while carrying Theo in the other arm...

At least I will have 2 days a week when Freyja is at her child minder - though how I'm going to get us all up, fed, dressed and out the house by 8am, I'm not quite sure...

Friday, May 02, 2008

Blissed out baby

First bath, full belly, mummy's shoulder...

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Rhinestone Cowboy

I have a confession to make. I love Glen Campbell. We have his "Twenty Golden Greats" album and I do listen to it quite often. However, I was rather astonished this evening when I put it on and Freyja started singing along to "Rhinestone Cowboy" - and knew all the words in the chorus...

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Buns

Today I received this:

It is a basket full of muffins, cookies and brownies - It's exactly the sort of thing I like. It came with a little card that read: 'Congratulations! Hope all is well. Here's something to stave off hunger anyway!'

Problem is, I have no idea who sent it! Does anyone know?

Update: Mystery solved (by a quick phone call to the bakery)! Thank you very much, Fiona, what a great gift - I love it!!!

Monday, April 28, 2008

Hoodie

She is also obsessed with playing MP3s loudly on Adrian's mobile. It's only a short step to the back of the bus...

Freyja's Chicken Pox

This was taken on one of her worst days:

This was when she was on the road to recovery - first bath in almost a week:

Although she was pretty covered in spots - her back and nappy area being the worst - she wasn't too ill with it. She had three cranky, irritable days and she was a bit itchy but we gave her Piriton, which helped. She's quite proud of her spots now.

For anyone who is interested, I told the paediatrician in the hospital after Theo was born that his sister had just come out in chicken pox. He went to look into it, to see if Theo would need to be given an injection to give him temporary immunity, but the verdict was that as I had had it he would be protected by my antibodies. And so far so good - he's not come out in spots yet!

Update: Theo did come out in spots about a week later. It was very mild - only 5 spots in total and no other symptoms, although he was still contagious. We took him to the doctor who said it was unusual, but not impossible. She said my antibodies should prevent it getting worse and we just had to keep an eye on him for a few days to make sure he didn't get suddenly ill. And although he caught it, because it was so mild, he may not have been left immune to it.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Tickle his tummy

Saturday, April 26, 2008

One Week On

A week old already! I was just getting home from the hospital this time last week. And how has it been? Well, better than I dared hope. As wonderful as it was, I wouldn't say that I found the early weeks of Freyja's life easy and I did worry that I would feel overwhelmed this time.

What I've actually found is that while having the first baby is a major life change, the second seems to be more of an adjustment. Life goes on and Freyja demands some sense of normality which we have to provide. It helps that so far he seems to be a much calmer baby than Freyja was. He is feeding every 2 to 3 hours, sleeping quite well in between and is just starting to get more wakeful during the day. He's very sucky, like Freyja was, and feeds for ages, like she did, but in between he seems more relaxed (I'm so scared of jinxing it!). I'm finding the feeding much easier this time and the nights more bearable - it's the only chance I really get to appreciate him!

Physically I have recovered much quicker. I was sore for about 2 days but after that I felt pretty much back to normal - although I must be careful not to overdo it. On Thursday I walked to a few friends to show him off (as Freyja has chicken pox so I can't invite people round) and that evening I was exhausted and spent all night with cramps. Must remember it's only been a week since I gave birth!

But on the whole things are going well - I keep waiting for the happy hormones to crash and to be in tears but it hasn't happened yet. I feel in control and delighted with the new addition, feel Freyja is coping as well as could be expected (more on that later) and not only do I love Theo as much as I love Freyja, I don't feel I have betrayed her either.

Turns out there really is plenty of love to go round.

Second TIme Round

Everything is a little more relaxed second time round....

The Birth

Warning - only read if you want an account of the birth (and a rather boring one at that but it's taken me so long to write I don't care any more)!

It wasn't really like Freyja's birth - I'd kind of expected a similar but shorter and easier experience. Obviously it may just be that after 2 and half years and a lot of gas & air, I just can't really remember the details of Freyja's birth - already Theo's birth seems that it wasn't that bad but I know that at the time I thought I was going to die with the pain. I think what it probably was was a shorter but more intense experience.

Anyway, the first indication that it wasn't going to be the same was at 1am on Friday morning when my waters broke, before I had actually gone into labour. This didn't happen with Freyja until I was well on my way, 7 cms dilated and in the hospital. I hadn't factored this into all my plans for going into labour and who would look after Freyja, but as it turned out, my parents had arrived to stay on Thursday so the timing couldn't have been better. I'd got up to go to the loo and was lying back in bed and I just knew it was going to happen. I jumped out of bed just in time (it's an expensive mattress, you know).

I wasn't having any contractions at this point but you are supposed to phone the hospital which I did and after much questioning about whether I was really sure it was my waters and I hadn't just wet myself (well, it is still coming out now...) Adrian and I went in. It was quite strange being there, knowing it was going to start soon but not actually being in labour - I was just checked over, advised to take my temperature every 4 hours as there was now a risk of infection, sent home and told to come back when I was in labour, or on Sunday morning to be induced - whichever came first.

We got home at about 3am and I had already started feeling mild cramps. We went back to bed and I tried to get some sleep but was now having mild contractions. By about 4am/4.30am they were getting stronger and closer together and by 5am we called the hospital back, woke my dad up to drive us there and got ready to go. By the time we got into the car I was in considerable pain and having contractions about every 4 minutes apart.

We got to the hospital at 6am, I told them I was having contractions every 4 minutes and they took us to a room and left us to it for a bit. I actually think by this point I was having contractions much closer together and within about 10 minutes of arriving I was starting to tear my hair out with the pain. The midwife still hadn't come so I was dealing with them with no pain relief at this stage and what had surprised me was how quickly they had gone from painful but manageable to absolute agony. I do remember feeling I had lost control a little bit at this stage and all sorts of things about never ever having another baby and that there was no way I was going to be able to stand this were going through my head (and coming out my mouth...).

Adrian went to find someone and the midwife came in and got the gas and air for me. As soon as I had that I relaxed bit - it doesn't really take the pain away so much as makes you feel a bit light headed and gives you something to really focus on throughout the contraction. Even just breathing deeply helps - the contractions that were hard were the ones I let get on top of me where as if I really kept focussed on something - breathing, the second hand on the clock, whatever - I could handle them better. I really did go for it with the gas and air though - Adrian told me after that at one stage he nearly told me to steady on with it, but decided against it...!!

I then felt the urge to push - at first I thought I was going to be sick, but it happened again and the midwife asked me if I was pushing and I realised that was what it was. The midwife checked me, said I was fully dilated and could go ahead - we'd only been there about half an hour by this point and I remember feeling relieved that I was already so far. The pushing was easier than it had been with Freyja, mainly because I knew a bit more what I was doing and I also felt the urge more strongly than I had with her. I found it more manageable then - just as the contraction reached the point of being unbearable, the urge to push would kick in and take over.

After a while I remembered that the pushing stage can last as little as 5 minutes and I seemed to have been doing it for quite a while so I asked the midwife how I was doing. She said the baby was coming but I wasn't maintaining the push for long enough so he kept slipping back. This is exactly what happened with Freyja but this time I found it easier to deal with and started going for it a bit more with the pushing. This quite quickly brought his head right down but then he sort of got stuck half way out. Now that I can tell you was painful. The midwife was rubbing my tummy to try to keep the contractions coming, she had Adrian, who was absolutely brilliant throughout the whole labour, holding one leg, me holding both legs, both of them spurring me on, trying to get me to push as hard as I could. This was the stage that I started to feel something wasn't quite right. I remember looking down and seeing his head and thinking how quiet he was - Freyja had been letting out little squeaks by this stage. The midwife was brilliant - she was encouraging me very enthusiastically at this point, but never to the point of making me scared. She then told us that his cord was round his neck and tried to pull it over but it was too tight and she had to cut and clamp it. And then she told me we had to get him out and to push - so I really pushed and I remember thinking I don't care if I rip to pieces (which it certainly felt like - but I didn't actually tear at all) and out his head came and then, after a few more pushes, his body.

I'll never forget seeing him come out. With Freyja she had been delivered onto my chest, but Theo was bright blue and still and silent and I really wasn't sure he was still with us. I do know that it is actually quite common for babies to be born blue, with cords round their neck, no heartbeat, not breathing etc, but that doesn't prepare you at all, after hours of pain and exhaustion, for seeing your own baby all limp and lifeless. I did lose it a little. The midwife whipped him off the second that he came out and told Adrian to hit the button - I remember her saying 'crash baby', me shouting (well sort of whimpering really...I didn't have the energy to shout), Adrian holding me and then the room was full of midwives doing their thing. It must only have been seconds but it felt an eternity and then one midwife turned to me and said 'it's fine, it's fine'.

We still didn't know what sex we had had - Adrian went to look at him (just to make sure he actually was fine...!) and said 'it's all fine - and I know what we've had'. I asked him to tell me but he said no, I want you to see for yourself. I knew then it was a boy.

I was hoping to go home that day but his blood test came back showing an excess of something to do with stress so he had to be monitored 4 hourly until the next day. I can't tell you how disappointed I was especially as I knew Freyja, with her chicken pox, wouldn't be able to visit. Still at least it would give a chance to rest and sleep....or so I thought! Theo, of course, had other ideas...!!

My memories of the birth are already fading and taking on a rather warm glow - it's amazing how those hormones kick in. Already I think it wasn't really that bad and maybe I could do it one more time...!!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Out in the cold

Altogether

Freyja and Theo

Monday, April 21, 2008

Introducing Theo

So, here he is, in all his squashy-faced glory - Theo Tryggvi Lightly:

He arrived at 7.20am on Friday 18th April, after around 4 hours of labour. He is so adorable and I am in love. I'll get back to the birth bit later, when I can bear to think about it again - I have a word or two to say about 'easier' second labours. Shorter, yes. Not so sure about the easier though...

His middle name, Tryggvi, is an Icelandic name from which my maiden name - Tryggvason - is formed. It is also my uncle's name.

And a word to those of you who really think I would allow my husband to name our child after a 19 year old Arsenal footballer - Theo has been our boys name for a long time and was to be Freyja's name had she been a boy. I did wobble slightly when Theo Walcott came on the scene but there was just no other name that came close - he was always going to be Theo.

I am slightly surprised to have a produced a boy (though not as surprised as I was when I found out he was 8lbs 7oz!!) although if I'm honest, I did have an inkling after the 20 week scan that it might be a boy. I really didn't mind one way or the other but, as always, now he has arrived I am so, so happy it is him.

I will update soon on how the last few days have been, but my final word for now goes to my daughter, who, not to be outdone by the arrival of her brother, came out in chicken pox the same morning that he arrived...no body said it was going to be easy...

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Waiting Game

We didn't really go through this with Freyja. Her birthday is so close to Christmas that we hardly had any time to really think about when she might arrive - I was just hoping it wouldn't be Christmas Eve/Day or Boxing Day and we were busy going to parties, meeting friends and looking forward to our first (and last for a long time) Christmas with just the 2 of us, that it didn't really feel like we were just waiting for things to start happening. One advantage of a Christmas baby...

This time, for the last 2 weeks I've felt slightly on edge, wondering when it is going to happen, though I don't mind that it's late as I wanted as much time to rest and get ready as possible. The last 2 days I've suddenly started feeling pretty good. I noticed it on Tuesday night when it got to 10pm and I realised I hadn't been looking at the clock for the last 2 hours wondering if it was still too early to go to bed. Then yesterday afternoon I started feeling a bit weird - slightly nauseous and a bit detached.

I've had my last midwife appointment. Baby is still 3/5s engaged and is lying slightly back to back. Freyja was also back to back which made for a rather painful backache labour and a lot of waiting to see if she would turn - which she did. I'm not sure there is much I can do at this stage to correct it and maybe that's just the way my babies lie - I've already been bouncing on my ball and sitting on the floor rather than the sofa as much as I can.

The midwife was rather more cautious about the chicken pox though. She didn't feel that the immunity provided by my antibodies was as reliable as the GP said. She said I must keep a careful eye on things and if Freyja breaks out (or has already got it) within 7 days of the baby being born I need to take him/her to the doctor. She told me chicken pox caught by the baby 7 days either side of the birth is called neonatal chicken pox and can be rather nasty. It is totally confusing, the amount of contradictory information that there is out there (and of course doesn't help that typing it into Google produces a mass of information which may or may not be correct).

The midwife did make a prediction as to the sex...I'll let you know if she was right, hopefully in a few days time...

Update: The midwife was right. She listened to the heartbeat, asked me if I knew what i was having and when I said no she said it sounded like a boy.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Happy Anniversary

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary. And look what Adrian got me:

He knows me very well - this is the sort of thing I love. I've always been a big chocolate button fan. My mum has only recently stopped buying me a Cadburys Buttons chocolate egg for Easter. But these buttons are something else...I don't even want to open the packet they look so lovely. But I will.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

40 weeks

So, it's my due date today. Which I think pretty much guarantees that I won't go into labour.

(Mind you, I was rather surprised to be given the 15th as my due date. I had it more around the 20th. But my dating scan came back as the 15th and they moved my due date. I was a bit surprised because when I had Freyja, initially my dates were the 22nd December and then the dating scan came back as the 28th Dec, but that time they told me that because there was less than a week's difference between the two dates, they would leave it as the 22nd. As it was, she came on the 27th. This time, by dates I was due the 2oth and by scan I was due the 15th - also less than a week's difference, but they changed it. I think they make it up as they go along...)

Chicken Pox

Yesterday I had a text message from my friend to tell me that her daughter has chicken pox. This is the friend who I shared a car with to the one o'clock club on Thursday. Her daughter had come out on spots on Saturday meaning that she will have been contagious on Thursday, when her and Freyja sat next to each other in the car, giggling and laughing and playing peekaboo around their car seats.

I have had it, so no need to worry about that side of things, but I've been trying to find out what the risks are to the baby after it's been born. It's not good for a very young baby to get chicken pox and I wanted to know if there was a big risk or a small risk of the baby catching it - I didn't need anyone to commit to saying 'your baby will not get chicken pox' I just wanted an idea of the likelihood so that I could then make my decision about what I thought was best.

First I looked on the internet and advice varied from keep them apart (how?) to the baby will have partial immunity for 7 days to the baby will have full immunity for 6 months.

Then I called a midwife at the hospital. She hedged her bets, and told me to keep an eye out in case I developed a rash and that the baby would have some immunity but I should still try and keep the baby and Freyja apart during the incubation period (that's up to 3 weeks...).

I then consulted my wonderbook - Dr Yehudi Gordon's 'Birth and Beyond', which I bought after having Freyja. It is one of the best parenting books I have because it is very non-judgemental and just gives sound advice. Dr Gordon reckoned the baby would have passive immunity (that's antibodies passed from the mother to the baby) for about 6 months. This made sense to me, having been through a measles scare when Freyja was 6 months. I was told then that had she been exposed to it a few months earlier she would have been protected through my immunity but that at 6 months they couldn't be certain she was still protected and needed to be immunised as a precaution.

And finally today I got some sound advice from a GP who called me back and told me that the chances of the baby getting chicken pox if I am immune is minimal. She said it is quite likely that Freyja will get it and to just not let her cuddle the baby if she develops weeping blisters, but other than that to carry on as normal while keeping a little eye on things. Hurrah!

It's not great timing, particularly if Freyja does get ill, and I am sad that she won't be able to visit me at the hospital (I wouldn't risk her passing it onto other newborns who may not be immune), but at least I don't have to quarantine her just when her whole little world is about to be turned upside down....

Friday, April 11, 2008

Colours

An (only interesting to me and Adrian) update on Freyja's progress with colours...

For quite some time everything was pink. Although the very first colour she said was blue, and correctly too, after that everything became pink, whether it was or not. And then she started getting yellow, orange and blue too, though not always correctly - if there was any doubt, not only about the colour but also the question, the answer was always pink. But she's come along quite a way now. She knows pink, yellow (lellow) , blue, purple and brown (bown). She usually gets orange and green (geen) right too. The one she's had most trouble with, but seems to have got now, is red.

The thing is, she delights in giving the wrong answer, waiting for a reaction, then saying 'No!!!!' and giving the right answer - a sense of humour developing, I guess. I've got it now and I don't correct her immediately. She does this with puzzles too. She puts them together wrongly, looks at me, shouts 'No!!!' and gets the correct piece. She thinks it's hilarious. Other things she finds funny are farting and trying to get Adrian to give her dummy a kiss goodnight...

Thursday, April 10, 2008

One O'Clock Club

Today I took Freyja to the one o'clock club at Crystal Palace park. It's brilliant - it runs during the week, mornings and afternoons and has loads of fun activities. There's drawing, painting and sticking inside and then outside is a big play area with bikes, Wendy houses, climbing frames etc. My whole group of mums was there so we all sat in the sunshine with our coffees while our children ran around outside, then we went inside for some painting and sticking and, the most fun of all, washing of hands afterwards in a great big bucket of soapy water...

It really made me see how big my little girl is getting. I don't generally see her at these sort of activities - I usually take her to the park or the Horniman Museum, or we just go round to a friend's house, while her child minder takes her to an art group on a Monday and she goes to a singing group on a Wednesday. It was funny to watch her sitting down with her pot of glue and just get on with making her bird as if she does it every day, then queuing to wash up afterwards.

Until I stopped work, I hadn't really realised how much of my time and energy it did take up. I do like working and I think the balance of working part time on the whole works well for me, but since the beginning of this year, the Thursday mornings from home started creeping into the Thursday afternoons, which meant that I ended up doing house stuff on Fridays rather than always spending good, quality time with Freyja. Although at 9 months pregnant I'm now exhausted, I've really loved my time with her these last 2 weeks - work is a million miles away and we've had a lot of fun, both just at home and out and about.

Things will change again when the baby arrives, but I'm enjoying this time and really looking forward to spending the rest of the year concentrating on my family life and my child(ren).

Sunday, April 06, 2008

April Snow

We woke up this morning to snow. Real, proper snow - in April. Freyja decided that actually 'snow is my favourite and my best' (yes, too much Charlie & Lola, I know - but at least it is a book not one from the telly) and spent a good chunk of the day pottering about in it.

Adrian, being Dad, had to go out in it too and make a snowman. Me, being Mum and almost 9 months pregnant, got to stay in the warmth and just watch through the window - which is how I like my snow best.

Friday, April 04, 2008

38 Weeks

The baby is still 3/5s engaged - and my bump has really dropped.

I went to see the midwife on Thursday. Freyja played with some Thomas the Tank Engine puzzles, which had most of the pieces missing, while I talked to the midwife. I then got on the bed for the midwife to check the baby and listen to the heart beat. At this point, Freyja went crazy and cowered screaming behind a chair. I then got off the bed, extracted her from behind the chair and, as if nothing had happened, she went back to the puzzle and asked me where Thomas was. She now keeps talking about how mummy's tummy went 'beep, beep' and she was crying.

Last night Katie's mum and dad babysat for us and we went to the Dartmouth Arms for dinner. We went there just before Freyja was born too. It was so lovely to go out, have half a glass of wine, some delicious scallops (not sure I'm meant to be eating them, but I couldn't resist) and just chat about things.

Just as well we did because according to the rather depressing 'tell-it-how-it- is' parenting' book I flicked through this morning, we won't have time to look at each other, never mind actually speak, once baby no 2 comes along...

Thursday, April 03, 2008

No like Baby...

I had a midwife appointment today so told Freyja we would be going to see the doctor so she could check the baby. Freyja informed me that 'No like Baby'.

I thought about this for a bit then asked her if she liked:

Baby Lola? - 'No'
Baby Rosie? - No'
Ruby? - 'No'
Mummy? - 'No'

I decided it probably wasn't worth worrying about.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Cooking!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Gardening

We did a bit of gardening today to try and make the front of the house, which had become very overgrown, slightly more presentable. It was good fun, especially as Freyja really enjoyed it - she was helping the with weeding, digging and planting and wanted to know all about what we were doing.

Afterwards, I told her that we could make a little section of the garden just for her, to plant her own seeds and flowers in and asked her if she would like that. The answer?

'No!'

No!

This is Freyja's favourite word, usually shouted defiantly and often accompanied with a stamp of the foot. I am sure I have the most miserable 2 year old around.

'Would you like something to eat?' - 'No!'
'Would you like to play with your puzzle' - 'No!'
'Will you come here so mummy can get you dressed?' - 'No!'
'Are you ready to say to sorry?' -'No!'
'No banana!'
'No kiwi fruit!'
'No apple!'
'No green cup!'
'Not this one!'

If it isn't 'No!' it is 'No like'

'No like thunder'
'No like snow'
'No like this one' (that's the electric heater in the bathroom)
'No like coat' (to the gorgeous coat my mum wanted to buy her)
'No like glasses' (to the sunglasses my mum had bought her and which she had just been parading around in)

It is exhausting keeping up with her list of don't wants and dislikes. In fact, it is very difficult to get anything right at all in Freyja's world:

Me: 'Would you like an apple?
F: 'No!'
Me: 'Okay, how about a banana?'
cue frantic stamping, wailing and often throwing herself to the floor
F: 'No, want apple, want apple!!'

F: 'Watch Bob the Builder'
Me: 'Okay'
2 seconds later
F: 'No Bob the Builder, watch Caterpillar'
Me: Okay
2 seconds later
F: No Caterpillar, want Bob the Builder'

Arrgggghhhhhh!!!!!!!

Friday, March 28, 2008

37 weeks

I had a lovely first day off, despite having to work in the morning.

My friend Harriet and her daughter Ruby came round for lunch then I had the midwife in the afternoon followed by a long promised trip to the park with Freyja. It felt different - like a weight was off my shoulders.

The baby's head is now 3/5s engaged. I was pleased - at my last appointment the head wasn't down at all and it was lying breech. This is apparently very normal with second pregnancies and often the head doesn't even engage until you go into labour. But yesterday it was right down - that will explain the constant trips to the loo. I know it doesn't mean I'm going to go into labour at any minute, but it does show that everything is starting to get ready. I am also measuring spot on for my weeks - 37 cms at 37 weeks pregnant. This is good because everyone keeps telling me how massive I am this time so now I can tell them that actually I am exactly as big as I should be! I asked the midwife for a guess at the weight and she thought it was around 6 pounds 4oz at the moment and I have 3 weeks or so left to go.

I have to say though that I do feel it could all happen at any moment. I had stomach cramps on Sunday night and it brought home to me how close it all is. I had a sudden panic about being completely unprepared in terms of what I would do with Freyja. At that time my sister was on holiday, my mum and dad were in Dubai, my friends Katie & Paul have just had their first baby and my friend Harriet was first point of call for Alice, who was overdue. Now my sister is back and Alice has just had her baby so I'm a bit more relaxed. Harriet will be my first point of call now and will come over until my sister arrives (or my parents if it happens after the 14th, which is what I'm hoping for). I suppose I'd better let my sister know this.

The logistics of having a second baby are a bit of a nightmare. There's no time to get worried about the birth - you're too busy trying to sort out what to do with the first one!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Finished

I've finished. Far from being a lovely relaxing last day at work I was tearing my hair out at 4.30pm because something I had to get finished wasn't working due to technical problems, I ended up dumping a massive amount of filing on my colleague and I was an hour late picking Freyja up from her child minder. Good job she doesn't charge £1 a minute, like some nurseries!

But I did manage to squeeze a quick lunch in with my team, was given the most beautiful bunch of flowers from my manager and a lovely card and collection (to spend on the baby but I may spend it on myself...!) from the office.

I waited in the drizzle for a bus, caught the train to Honor Oak, dashed to Cathy's in the increasingly heavy rain, trudged up the hill home in the pouring rain, got Freyja ready for bed and now, finally, I can stop.

Well, almost. I didn't quite get everything done at work and I'm going to have to do my half day from home tomorrow which I had booked off. When I go back, I'm definitely dropping the half day...

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

One more day to go...

I finish work tomorrow. I'll be 37 weeks pregnant, which is a week earlier than the last time. With hind sight, I should have stopped at least 2 weeks ago. I had no idea my second pregnancy was going to be so tiring.

After I had Freyja I said that next time round I would give myself longer off before the baby arrived. But then you get caught up in work and projects and earning money and suddenly find yourself committing to unrealistic deadlines and working for longer than you planned. Or that's what I do anyway. As it happens, work has been crazy this year, I've been run off my feet and have not completed any of the projects that I was working until the end of March in order the complete. But I am walking out of that door at 5pm (I have to pick up Freyja) tomorrow for the last time this year.

I am more than ready to clear my mind of work and focus on getting ready for the new arrival. I hope it doesn't make a surprise early appearance - I'd hate not to have had my hair cut, legs waxed and toes polished before it arrives....

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter Egg Hunt

Adrian and I scored some parent points today.

We woke up to snow and sleet. We were supposed to be going to an Easter Egg hunt in Dulwich park at 11am. At 10.40am, sure it would be cancelled, I texted my friend who was organising it to see if it was still on. Unfortunately it was.

Suddenly feeling guilty that a little bit of bad weather was depriving Freyja of a half hour out in the park (and having not left the house in 2 days), we had a mad dash to get dressed and get the bus (still no car...) to the park where we then traipsed around in the mud and drizzle collecting cardboard eggs which were exchanged for chocolate eggs. It was actually good fun and a lot of our friends had turned up for it. Most of the toddlers had little bunny faces painted on for the occasion, but Freyja wasn't having any of that. Afterwards we all retired to the cafe for coffee and hot chocolate and congratulated ourselves on being such good parents (apart from the gorging on chocolate bit...)

That good deed set us up for the rest of the Easter Sunday - I spent the afternoon sleeping and then we headed round to Katie and Paul's for pizza and football.

And Adrian got me this egg from Hotel Chocolat:

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

36 week bump

Here it is at 36 weeks:

It has really grown in the last 4 weeks! The baby still doesn't seem to have settled at all. It is constantly on the move, squirming around and kicking and it particularly seems to like lodging itself under my right rib cage which is rather uncomfortable.