NaBloPoMo #6: One Year Old

Remember I said climbing was next? Well this picture demonstrates that but I have skipped past her first steps (at 9 months!) and gone straight to 'combinations of moves'!!!!!

This was taken on her first birthday; that's Grandma behind her with a balloon! Probably holding her hand too although she never really needed it held. That kid was doing gymnastics in the womb and she has rarely stopped since. Oh, I fib. Turn on the TV and she becomes transfixed to the spot!! To this very DAY :-D

This was one of my favourite dresses of hers. Denim. So practical. Wrap around. Again, so practical. Able to be worn over a variety of all in one, button under tops. Remarkably practical!!!
And very stylish I thought.

Notice she's still not smiling much. She didn't give em away easy, especially for the camera. You'll notice the point in her photos when she starts to smile....hasn't stopped since.

I wanted to say an official thank you to all my bloggy friends who are taking this journey with me. Most of the time I sigh in nostalgia as you post something about your babes. I wish I had had a) a digital camera and b) a blog in those days. There was so much to collect and record.
It is great to relive those baby/toddler/small person days as I watch your kids and read about their antics (probably not the right word but you know what I mean). It actually makes me forget how middle aged I am :-D So thank you all again. A big, heartfelt thank you.

It's funny to think that for such a long time I was sure I would have another baby. I thought I would meet Mr Right and that would be it. I was encouraged by the stories of friends or friends who had had late life babies (one was 47!!). "There's hope for me yet!" I thought. But when I met Himself he let me know early on that he was not 'totin' live ammunition' (sorry, couldn't think of a polite was of saying it) having already had 3 kids.

Initially I thought perhaps we could go through medical routes to conceive, I mean, it's not unknown for these things to be reversed. I was only 44. Only. Then one night, after we had decided to get married, we took the Baby Angel (aged 10) and Small Boy (aged 7) to the pub for a meal. A nice family friendly pub, with children's menus and a play area.....

Well, by the time we got home I looked at Himself and said "I'm too old for anymore kids." I was exhausted!!! If they weren't running around on a Coca Cola high (don't start me on kids and Coke......we don't do it anymore!!! It was an Himself thing) they were bickering over whose sundae was bigger or complaining about the quality of their chicken nuggets. They were bored, they were high, they were tired, they were bouncing off walls. I suddenly realised that people have kids young for a very, good reason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But at the time this photo was taken I was blissfully unaware of what life would throw at me. Of the twists and turns it would take and of the blessings that would rain down upon me in abundance.

Speaking of blissfully unaware, until this NaBloPoMo, I was blissfully unaware of the rubbish quality of my scanner!!!!!! The photo I scanned in was as clear as a bell and this image could have been shot through a piece of waxed paper!!!!!!

Onwards and upwards everyone. I'm looking forward to having a chance to go check out all your NBPM posts. (I am so sick of typing that acronym!!!!)

NaBloPoMo # 5: Christmas at 7 months

Here she is at 7 months, 'cruisin' the furniture. She was pulling herself up on anything at this stage and the next step was climbing things! I loved this little dressing gown Grandma bought. It had a hood with little 'bear' ears and was the cutest thing!! I think you can see the enormous woolly slippers she'd kicked off.

Best Shot Monday: Especially for You

"Look ........I've arranged these strawberries especially for you." (Mine are the ones on the left).


This weekend was eventful.

There was the footprint incident.

There was the broken X Box game incident.

There was the 'riding the bike without a helmet and failing to tell me where you were' incident.

There was the 'I want to go to Marion with my friends' incident.

There was the Graffiti on the Mailbox next door incident.

All of these meant I had my Flaming Sword in full swing.

I think I shall post on each one separately since I am currently meant to be feeding my child.

Click on the button to see what other Best Shots are around this Monday.

NaBloPoMo #4: Fourteen weeks...if looks could kill!

I LOVE this photo! OK who am I kidding? I have just rejected 50 other photos I also love :-D
This morning, as I was lying, snuggled up and trying to have 'just 5 more minutes' after the alarm went off, I started to try and calculate what monthly intervals I would need to leave in order to get Baby Angel up to her current age by the end of the month. Unfortunately, the calculation sent me back to sleep.

Later, in the shower I got a figure of 6 month intervals although I still haven't double checked it but then I thought...oh b*gg*r it! There are certain photos I just want to look back on and certain time periods which were so amazing and gone so quickly; I will just post 'em as they take me. So this one is 14 weeks.

She spent a lot of time looking at us like this. In my 'new mother neurosis' I imagined that she had been born without a sense of humour. She wouldn't smile, she just examined us!!! With a very dubious look on her face.

"Are you sure I'm meant to be here. With you? You're positive there was no mix up in the hospital?"

On another note, she is wearing a navy blue 'all in one' (I think the in the US you call them 'onesies'??) lovingly decorated with embroidered rosebuds....by moi. I spent the last few months of my pregnancy in the bosom of my family embroidering anything that was not tied down. I even knitted her a Peter Rabbit soft toy and had the pattern for Jemima Puddleduck but never got it done. I wanted to embroider a soft, cream , woolly blanket but couldn't find one so I bought blanketing material, edged it in ribbon myself and made her a blanket!

I made and embroidered bassinet covers, bassinet frills, car cot covers, bibs, socks, hats...you name it. And after she was born, I embroidered a cushion cover for my midwife. Such a flurry of creativity has seldom been seen in these disposable times. Of course it could never last. The last project I started was in 2003 and I am still chucking a few stitches in every holidays.

Here's Peter and the home made blanket.

The Humpty Dumpty bib with rosebud socks and gloves.

The car cot cover with bassinet cover lost in the corner there, accompanied by the all in one she's wearing in the photo and matching socks. The hollyhock hat she wore home from hospital.

I'm exhausted just looking at them all!!! :-D

NaBloPoMo: #3 Three weeks old.

Here we are having a little chat.......as you do! I used to make little noises and she would respond in turn. It was quite freaky really. She stopped doing it after a while and just came out with random baby noises but for a few weeks there, when she was really little, it felt like there was a genuine conversation. She's still a good talker :-) Can't think where she gets it from!!

Boys Were Here

On Water Birth

Since a number of you have commented on the fact that we had a water birth, I thought it was worth a mention.

I had never considered it to begin with. Before I was pregnant I was sure I would be a 'give me ALL the drugs' girl but when I moved to the UK I went to Active Birth classes and that changed my life.

The most inspiring little Scotswoman called Bette Duncan talked us through the benefits of letting gravity do the work. She gave us exercises and information, support and deep relaxation and she ran an extra class for those interested in water birth. Previously I had been very cynical about such Earth Mother/Hippie type nonsense. After all, they may come out of one nice warm environment into another but at SOME point someone was going to HAVE to take them out of the water!!!

Bette's class however, explained the other benefits; the use of warm water as a muscle relaxant and for pain relief; the fact that water encouraged skin to stretch and reduced tearing; greater mobility due to buoyancy. In addition to this, in about the third week of classes, a wonderful girl came back to show us the baby she had had just that week. She told the story of her water birth and of the positive experience it had been. I wanted to have an experience like that.

Fortunately, the Midwifery Lead Care Team (who had put me onto Active Birth in the first place) were also advocates of water birth and the local hospital had a water birth pool. We planned for a water birth. The idea is that you have to be a fair way along in your dilation before you can get into the pool, mainly because they have limited resources and need to keep the pool free, so I planned some other pain relief for the interim.

I used a TENS machine which attaches to your back and stimulates various nerves in your spine to block pain receptors. Some people use them for back pain. I don't know how effective it was really but as you pressed a button to 'up' the electrical impulses during a contraction, it at least gave you something to focus on! I also used gas when I was in the pool because you could just hang over the edge and puff on it during a contraction. Don't know if that was effective either, again, it just gave me a sense of doing something and I suppose it improved my breathing which is always good for pain. It turned out that the pipe was not properly attached to the tank for a lot of the time so I don't think I was even getting the gas. Apparently I had pulled so hard on it that it had come away :-D.

The best thing for me was the ability to move around with minimal effort. I just rolled/floated over if I wanted to change position. It was also great to have the midwife pouring jugfuls of hot water over my back to help relax me and ease the pain.

Overall I was in labour (induced..so pretty vigorous throughout) for about 8 and a half hours, four of which I spent in the pool. I can't imagine doing it any other way. I had wonderful midwives and I felt informed and in control for most of the time. Of course very little in this life goes completely smoothly and so I did have a rather extended second stage due to the fact that the Baby Angel was leading with her chin and got herself jammed at one point. I was trying to avoid interventions such as episiotomy and ventouse/forceps so I kept going for sometime (probably longer than was wise given the long term damage to my pelvic floor) and eventually one of the midwives rummaged around and flexed the BA's head so that she tucked it in and made her appearance on the next push.

So that was waterbirth. Its not for everybody but I thoroughly recommend it. I look back with pride on my achievement and what I was able to cope with. I think nowadays we get so much made 'easy' for us that we quail in the face of trial and throw up our hands at the least frustration. I wonder if depression was as prevalent in past times as it is today? There is something rewarding and fulfilling about surviving struggle and proving to yourself that you can do it. It reinforces your sense of 'self'. Who has time to be depressed when facing a challenge to survive?

And on that note I shall go and put my feet up on my gorgeous squashy couch, put on the kettle and sip instant coffee, maybe defrost a chicken in the microwave for dinner and think of skype-ing my Mum in England when the digital clock tells me the time difference is right.
:-D