Back on it - Promise

Sorry it has been a while. What is my excuse this time?  I have been sooo busy, my laptop fell out the window, I was eaten by a giant crocodile?  Nope, just plain laziness (as you can tell by my weight loss).

Sabotage that's what happening. Who is sabotaging me I hear you ask? Me. that's who. I seem to have some sort of disease that makes a little red devil appear and say, "wow you've done amaze-balls this week so why not completely go backwards next week?" So that's what I do. I lost 5lb, out on 6lb then lost 4lb so I am 2lb bigger than before my that fortnight! Its seems 11st 6lb (160lb) is my brick wall. It took me ages to break through it only to end up stuck back at it again, ahhhhh.

I am determined to shift this baby weight and be under 11st by the end of August. I must, at 5ft 3" I look like a beached whale! I hate my silhouette. What is different this month than any other month? For starters my hubby is on it like sonic too (Transforming Me - SlimDownMike) also this month my wage has gone down to statutory maternity pay therefore I can't afford to spend more on bad foods from the supermarket/takeaway.

I will post soon about how the kiddiewinks are getting on, think I may come up with some kind of colour code system so you know when I am blogging about my fatness(!) or the little uns so you can skip whichever one you are not interested in.

Good week

Well as you can see my first week back on it and I have to say I am very pleased with my 3lb  weight loss.

This week is also going well except tomorrow (Friday) I am going to an all you can eat buffet for a friends 40th. I would like to say that I won't go overboard but sending a fat person to an all you can eat buffet is like sending a sex addict to a brothel and telling him to be good, Impossible! On Saturday I am going to a party so apart from a couple of cheeky vinos that shouldn't be too bad.

I may have my weigh in on Friday morning instead of Sunday morning this week :-) If I do though I will still weigh on Sunday just so I know how well I did and how much damaged the weekend did!

Started potty training Oliver again. Its actually going quite well. We started last week and he just wasn't getting it so someone gave me the idea of having him run around without anything on his bottom half. Its working really well, just 2 accidents since Saturday. We've decided to establish it at home then move onto doing it at nursery afterwards.

I know longer need to sit him on it, he'll more or less decide that himself now, I think he just thinks that when he has something on his bottom half whether that be a nappy or pants it is ok to just go. My next step will be to move the potty out the room so he needs to ask for it and then I'll think about putting pants on him, then pants and trousers then he can try again at nursery. May take a few weeks but its best to do it properly than to rush him as it'll probably take longer in the long run if I do that.

Max is great, he is hitting all his milestones if not, surpassing them. He's held his own head up from 3 weeks and held it stead since 5 weeks. He's very strong on his legs and enjoys his tummy time - he looks like he may be an early crawler by the way he kicks his legs. Also you know your own kids and whether they have wind or are smiling and I know he was smiling from 2 weeks - he was giggling from 3 weeks. He's such a little babbler too, couldn't be more proud.

Here's 2 little recent pics of my rascals for you from a shopping trip (don't worry its just glass in the frames)

Not good, not good at all

Well as you can see by my tracker I am back where I was at the beginning of April and I actually want to kick myself as I have basically lost out on 3 months of weight loss. It all came to a head this week after our week away to Norfolk, even though I can't be too mad at myself as it was a holiday after all but that doesn't excuse all the weeks before it.

I've decided to try the slimming world way again, the extra easy plan. Which basically means I can eat as much as I want whenever I want as long as its not processed and I trim any fat off the meat.

Heres an example of what I ate today;

Breakkie - Omelette consisting of 2 eggs, 1/4 tin of bake beans, tomatoes, onions and mushrooms

Lunch - Pasta & ham salad

Dinner - Stew that had huge chunks of beef in it (fat trimmed off of course), a mountain of veg and a good amount of potatoes

Snacks (so far) - one peach, 1 plum, 1 satsuma and gasp 1 naughty (but nice) sherbert lemon sweet (oh and I also finished off my sons lunch as a mid afternoon snack which was a tiny bit of homemade chicken curry and rice).

As you can imagine I am quite stuffed at the moment which is a great feeling to have knowing that I am stuffed with good foods.

Sunday will be weigh-in day now and also treat day so we'll defo be heading for the chippy most Sundays from now on.

If you are interested in weight loss things then please check my hubbys blog too on

http://transforming-mike.blogspot.co.uk/

On a family note Max is thriving. He is 3 months and 3 days old now and weighs in at 13lb 5oz which is on the 50th percentile so he is doing great.  Sleeping is still all over the place in the evenings but from tomorrow I have laid out a routine where he only gets 3 naps per day so I am hoping this will help with the night time sleep.

Oliver has also started something again this week - potty training - its not going that well to be honest but I'm hoping he'll get it eventually. This is the 3rd time of trying it and each time has been for at least a week but he just doesn't seem to care when he wets or poos himself :-(

Wish me luck

30 day shred

As you can see, not the best week for weight loss however I have started the 30 day shred. I go away for a week so will need to take a 7 day break from it but I didn't want to use going away as a reason not to start it. Wish me luck...

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: Bedroom Habits

1. Do you set an alarm clock? If so, for what time? 

No, I have a 3 month old so he has me up every 2-3 hours anyway.

2. How many hours of sleep do you get on an average night? 

About 6 or 7

3. Do you bring your laptop to bed? 

Very rarely

4. How many pillows do you require to sleep?

2 decent sized ones

5. Do you sleep with socks on? 

Sometimes in the winter but I take them off halfway through the night if I do

6. How often do you change the sheets? 

Once a fortnight ish (oh dear, thats really bad isn't it!)

7. Do you remember your dreams? 

Yes vividly, for about 1 hour then they are more or less completely gone. Used to have a dream diary but I was cr@p at keeping up with it. Good to read back on weird dreams I've had though

8. Which side of the bed do you sleep on?

I don't have a side, I just like to be furthest from the door (not sure why, have done since I was a kid). However at the moment the moses basket only fits the other side but we'll switch back once baby is in his own room

9. How often do you take naps?

I love naps but don't get them often, however other half usually lets me have the lie-ins at the weekend

10. Do you sleep soundly?  

I sleep like a rock as always tired due to being up a lot with the baby

Not deserved

Hi
Well 2lb lost this week. Completely undeserved and certainly thought it would be a gain. I am highly motivated.

Especially with only 2 weeks to go until our 1 week family Holiday in Great Yarmouth.

I thought I jump on this train to connect with more people so please see below;

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: Quick and Easy

1. When is your birthday? 20th October.

2. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? Erm.... Can't remember, possibly to Santa when I was a kid or possibly to my Grandad when I was around 10. Do the postal service still exist?

3. What did you eat for breakfast this morning? Nothing/cup of team

4. Who is the next band/artist you will see perform live? Sister is dragging me to a concert of someone I have never heard of (Squeeze) in December however she is paying so thats cool!

5. What is the last song you listened to? Something on Radio 1 yesterday however I wasn't really paying attention

6. If you could be fluent in any other language, which one would you choose? Spanish.

7. Does anything on your body hurt right now? Stomach, ate too much yesterday as it was treat day!

8. What’s your favorite sports team? Guess I have to say Liverpool FC as hubby sometimes reads my blog :-p

9. How often do you watch the news? Most days but I not bothered if I miss it

10. Do you wear glasses? I have a prescription but no glasses as the optician said it is a very slight need that won't get worse so if I am happy as I am they are not required.

Excited

Its my first girlie night out tonight since having Max. 10 months its been.

There is enough breast milk in the freezer to last a week! so Mike should be alright.

I am going out with good intentions of matching every alcoholic drink with a glass of water but we all know what happens to good intentions as the night goes on. This time tomorrow I will probably be regretting half the drinks I will drink tonight but I'll worry about that then.

See you on the other side!

First Holiday

On Monday or Tuesday last week we decided we had finally had enough of the daily grind and fancied a weekend away so we did just that. I booked a weekend in SkegVegas and we had a lovely time. We have not been there in the (near on) 8 years we have been together so we thought it might have changed for the better and to be honest we didn't care if it hadn't as we had booked in to a Park Resort so everything we could want/need was on site anyway. We had a really nice time but lets rewind a sec.

Last weekend we went to check on our caravan which is in storage and put in a damp buster, yes that's right our first caravan has caravan cancer and we were trying to preserve it as long as we could. When we got there we saw another caravan and it was for sale. Only 2 years younger than ours but in very good condition and at just the right weight for our car, its fate (don't believe in fate btw). Anyway, we took a look around and loved it, we used a machine that detects damp and it had none, called my dad to check it and he gave it the thumbs up so after some haggling that got me nowhere and sleeping on it we decided to go for it. Our old caravan is going to caravan heaven (split and sold for scrap!) and we decided to road test the new one, hence the trip to SkegVegas.

The best thing about the holiday was seeing Oliver come out of his shell and both nights he went to the front of the dance floor near the stage to watch and take part in the party dances. I also found that it wasn't that difficult with the breastfeeding either, as long as we timed it right I could find somewhere to feed little Maximoo. Fantasy Island had feeding facilities however no lock on the door? and the club in the night time had a baby room but no chair. I have fed it back though so hopefully they'll rectify that.

The drive back was the worst ever. Got to 17 mins from where we store the caravan (as per the sat nav) and Max wanted a feed so we pulled over in a lay-by and fed him however 5 mins later we found the main road to the storage place was shut. We went round which took 45 mins only to find the other approach to the road closed too. We were getting low on fuel so the only thing we could do was call the police so I did just that and they agreed to let us through. 3 and a half hours of a journey that should've take 2 hours!

Today is the hottest day of the year so far and Max has slept through more of less all of it, really hope he sleeps tonight!.

Well I'm doing it!

Well so far so good. 23lb lost so 5lb until 2 stone which is great. Guess what? I am back in a pair of (UK) size 16 trousers which I used to where before I was preggers, not directly before as I lost a bit of weight before having Max but about a year before so I am very chuffed and very motivated to keep going in the right direction.

Max has slept really well over the last couple of nights with feeds between 2-3 hours and sometime as long as 4 hours between the hours of 10 and 2 which is nice. Lazy bones me though didn't get up until 10 am this morning! Guess I am just lucky to have a great hubby who at 8:30 (after a feed) he took Max downstairs with him while I had a extra snooze followed by an amazing shower. There are 2 other great things about these breaks between feeds, the first being that the feeds are taking less time at night as boobies are that full that Max feeds so much quicker as its easier and also I am finding that there is milk left over after the morning feed to express and freeze for my planned girly night on on 25th May.

I have a confession to make, I seem to have turned into a huge snooker geek! I haven't been able to take my eyes off the crucible! I am super excited about the O'Sullivan/Carter final this afternoon and Carter is currently trailing 10-7 so I am hoping he can pull it back. I always like to support the underdog, he will probably lose but I just hope that he doesn't lose spectacularly. Go Carter!

Ooh, better go, snooker is on in 4 minutes!

A blip

Have not blogged for a while, whats my excuse? I could say that I am just too super busy with family life to do it but that would be a lie, so I guess laziness is the reason which is also the reason my weight loss has stalled. I've decided slimming world is not the way for me as the intake of bread and bread products is very limited so I have switched to the good old fashioned way of sticking to a calorie intake of 1200 per day via My Fitness Pal (MFP). I only started this week but I would like to lose at least 3lb if poss with another mini goal of being 11st (154lb) by 25th May as this will be my first evening out with the girls since having Max. So basically I have 3 weigh-ins to lost 12lb, I think its doable but only if I stick to the diet properly, the continuation of breastfeeding should help me in my quest!

Talking of breastfeeding it is going really well. Took Max to be weighed last week and he has put on 1lb 3oz in 12 days and now weights in at a respectable 9lb 15oz so well done us. I've started expressing now too and Max took to a bottle no problem which is a bonus as that means that I can go out for a couple of hours as long as I leave a feed behind!

I think we may have finally got into a routine, its only been 2 nights so don't want to count my chickens however Max has started to cluster feed between 8 and 10pm in the evening and then sleeping until between 2 & 3am then after a feed going back down until between 5 & 6am so I am feeling much more refreshed. Hubby is being brill too and takes him downstairs for an hour between 6 & 7am before he goes to work so I get a extra hour in bed (hubby is an early riser no matter what time he goes to bed).

This week marked the start of Oliver being at home in the mornings and nursery in the afternoons. Going well so far however this is only the second day. It gets me out on a walk everyday which is a 1.7 mile round trip so this should really help aid my weight loss. Its really nice to play with him in the mornings whats not so good is I am getting very quickly bored of Mickey Mouse, Spongebob, Peppa Pig, etc...

Oliver does really love Mickey Mouse at the moment so yesterday I sent off for Oliver and Max's first passport and my passport renewal so once I've received the paperwork and got the photo's together I'll get it done as soon as I can as would love to take Oliver to Euro Disney. Knowing us we'll end up in Tenerife instead! We haven't had a Holiday (abroad that is) for 3 and a half years so it'd be nice to get away and Oliver loves kids discos so wherever we end up there has to be cheesy kids entertainment!

First day on my own

I'm apprehensive today, obviously I've done this before but Mike went back to work today after 3 weeks at home with baby Max and I. Oliver is at nursery full time still but goes to part time in May which is even scarier as it means 2 kids under 5 to look after all on my own. I know other mums do that and more however I have never done it before so it'll be new for me.

I'm sat here blogging at the moment but only doing this in the few mins I get between breastfeeding, nappy changing, entertaining Max and cleaning. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all, I love my little family and I'd rather be here than anywhere else in the world but its a scary time.

Took Max to work last week for everyone one to meet him. It was like a production line and there was literally a queue to hold him! Everyone loved him though and he didn't mind the attention so it went well. I then when to register him so he now officially exists!

On another completely unrelated note we've had some travellers pitch up at the end of the road on the green. Hubby and I had been left the house for 2 hours and when we got back there were about 10 caravans. Hubby thought I'd go mental but after watching that Big Fat Gypsy Weddings I've mellowed on them somewhat and most of them are nice, we just don't understand their way of life. Its likely they are only stopping off for the night or a couple of days as we are just off a main road on the way to a motorway and I can't imagine as they literally are next to a dual carriage way that they'll want to stay there long anyway so I'm cool with it. Whats funnier is that they are opposite the police station, the cheek, hehe. Where do they get their water from though and empty their toilets? Some questions are best left unasked!

Max is calling for a feed so catch you later and FYI, weigh in is today, not holding out much hope as cheated a couple of times, oops!

Easter and diet

Poorly sick Easter Sunday, stayed in my jimmie jams all day :-(   Nauseous in a way that if I stood up or bent over it made me sick. So Easter was suspended until Monday.

Monday was lovely though.  I did an Easter egg hunt for Oliver with a Cars 2 prize of a large 'Mater' car. He found them with Daddy after about 20 mins and was so excited with his prize so that was lovely. He ate way more chocolate that I would normally allow but its one day a year so I tried not to have a coronary.

There is now loads of choc in the fridge which at the rate I allow him to eat it on normal days he'll still be eating it next Easter. We only bought him a tiny Thomas the Tank Engine egg but other people bought him normal and large eggs so he has more than enough choc to get through, problem is, he knows its there.

Now me - are you wondering how much weight I lost this week? Well I can't really believe it myself and somehow think it may be wrong but I lost 8lb! Thats 20lb gone since I had Max 2 weeks ago and I am very happy about it. Diet is going really well though due to meal planning and with the extra breastfeeding boost.  Tried on a pair of jeans from when before I was pregnant and they actually do up, can't sit down in them though but in a couple of weeks time looks like I might be back in my old clothes and hopefully not for long and they'll be to big for me soon!

Wish me luck

A couple of rough nights over Easter

Well as the title suggests really but I can hardly expect the little guy to be in a routine yet.  On Sunday night he woke every 2 hours or so for a feed but last night he decided that 1am was the time to have some awake time so I was awake for 2 hours in the night with him, gutted. Max is more alert now so I'm attempting to create mood lighting etc... so that he recognises when it is wake time and when it is sleep time. I have touch lamps in the bedroom and put them on the lowest setting in the night while feeding so he starts to recognise the night and day process. I'm sure he'll get it soon but at just over 2 weeks old I can't expect a miracle.

I am so glad that the hubby (who is currently wallpapering the hall) had 3 weeks off work though to get me through the first difficult stage he is one in a million and takes my not so occasional snapping at him in the night all in his stride. He is absolutely amazing and worth his weight in gold.

All this has made us think though and I can't believe we forgot how stressful this can all be from the first time around. When I was younger I always wanted more than 2 children, usually between 4 & 6. Hubby already had 2 from a previous relationship when we met (he had the children very young, when he was 18 and 20) and was adamant he didn't want any more. Me being the stubborn girl I am I carried on the relationship as we were so in love and in the hope I may bring him round. Fast forward 4 years from the day we had our first date and we got married and started trying for a child within a couple of months - 1 year and 1 month after we were married little Oliver arrived after a very difficult pregnancy (that's a story for another day). Those first few weeks were some of the most difficult of my life as Oliver had trouble feeding and sleeping.

How we forget as we decided when he was under a year old that we wanted a little bro or sis for him. At this point the amount of children I wanted had dipped to 3. Unfortunately one of the worst things that could happen happened. I had an ectopic pregnancy (which I blame on the mini pill I had been taking before coming off it to try again) which resulted in the loss of my tube and in my mind the chance of Oliver ever having a sibling. Now, I can never claim I have been depressed but those were some dark days and I cried, a lot, for a month - grieving for the child I lost and the future children I would never have. Desperate wasn't the word, I really didn't want Oliver to be an only child, the thought of it was heartbreaking as I know how much my dad is an isolated person which he thinks is down to not having a sibling and I feel somewhat the same as there is nearly 7 years between my sis and I. The ectopic happened in the November 2010, we started trying again in Feb 2011 and was lucky to conceive in June 2011. I was convinced something really bad was going to happen and I am only just over that fear now to be honest.

Please excuse the digression but what I was getting at is that I wanted 4-6 when I was younger, then it went to 3 and I was then just wanting one more little one so desperately.  During the pregnancy it went back up to 3 however these first couple of newborn weeks got hubby and I talking this morning where he admitted he is not sure he can do it again and I tend to agree however there is this niggle in the back of my mind that says there is room in my heart and my home for one more and we'll probably forget again how hard it is those first few weeks.

I have not been abroad for over 3 years now though so I NEED A HOLIDAY FIRST! It'll be a while though, not easy to save for a holiday with 2 little ones to bring up. Not asking for much, a 1 week all inclusive holiday in the Canaries with the kids would be awesome. Fingers crossed. Please feel free to buy me a holiday if you are reading this!

Got to go its nappy change and feeding time.

Sleeping/weight loss

I think we must have the best baby in the world! Like I said previously his sleeping is brilliant for a breastfed baby. Admittedly on Tuesday and Wednesday he was up every 2 hours however last night he only woke twice. We put him down at 10:30 and he woke at 1.30 and 4.30 then hubby got up with him and Oliver at 7.30.

Why didn't I get up might you ask? Well today is the day my body has decided I am going to be poorly. Went to bed last night absolutely freezing and woke at 4.30 sweating like hell and I can hardly keep my eyes open and I have a nasty taste in my mouth, great!

This is the type of thing that makes me worry what the hell am I going to do when hubby goes back to work and Oliver is only at nursery in the afternoons. Ahhh. I'll cope because I'll have to. No complaints really though as I'm not back at work until January, whoop!

I'm sure you'll be happy to know that we got over the breastfeeding hurdle in my left breast however yesterday it started to feel bruised all underneath so I am guessing its a blocked milk duct, its eased off now though so hopefully that'll be the end of that.  MW said to me last week that she would like me to attend a group where there are pregnant women and talk about the benefits of BF. I am by no means a public speaker but I have tentatively agreed but more than anything I feel flattered that I may be seen as a role model.

Well the second I left the hospital I decided I have weight to lose, of course so we started well, not. We had either 3 or 4 takeaways in that first week. I would like to blame it on how busy and tired we were but thats just a lie, we were just plain lazy. I still lost 12lb though (I know, jammy sod right!).

This week is going a whole lot better. We had treat night on Monday as usual and we (well hubby) has been cooking nutritious low kcal meals every day. I'll track my progress for those of you that are interested on the right of this blog.

Baby Max

I did it!

I'd like to introduce Max Walter into the world.

Went into hospital on 25/03/12 to be induced and was lucky enough to be assigned the Midwife that was my community midwife with Oliver so nice to see have a familiar face around.

I was examined at 9am and it turned out I was already 3cms (no contractions though) so they decided the best thing was to break my waters. MW tried to do it 3 times, no luck so a senior midwife tried and again, no joy. I was told to give it an hour to see if I start contracting and come back. By this point as I was being played around with so much I was contracting every 7 mins also already but they were not for very long or painful.

Dr came to see me at 1pm and also tried to break my waters, she couldn't be sure if she'd done it and told me she'll be putting me on the hormone drip. MW asked if it could be delayed for 30 mins while I had my dinner which the Dr agreed to - once Dr left MW said that she wanted to give me more time as the extra stuff going on down there it may have pushed me along. Boy she wasn't wrong, within 10 mins of the Dr leaving I was contracting every 4-5 mins and was on the gas and air. I went for a walk and came back as was contracting every 3 mins.

I was taken to the pool room around 5pm but was in a lot of pain and MW said that if I got in the pool I may not be able to get out so would deliver in there. Not sure why looking back but I chose not to get in the pool and went back to my room. After about 30 mins I was in so much pain that I demanded an epidural but the anaesthetist was in theatre at a C-section. I was dead against diamorphine but I agreed to it as I was in so much pain but I was then told the anaesthetist was on his way.

He turned up at about 6:10 and by this time I was pretty out of it with pain to be honest, apparently I wasn't being very nice and they couldn't get the needles in etc... They got my back cleaned for the needle just as I screamed that I needed to poo! At that point the MW somehow got me back on the bed much to the annoyance of the anaesthetist and she said she could see the head. I honestly wanted to die at this point as I am no good with pain but was being told to push. After about 10 mins they pressed 'the red button' and another MW came in. They turned me onto my left side and within 5 more pushes little Max was born with no other pain relief than Gas and Air!

Baby Max Walter was born at 18:47 weighing 7lb 11oz and he was worth all the pain. He latched on straight away so breast feeding is going well or so I thought...

A few days after I posted this birth story on a baby website I frequent, my left nipple started to really hurt. I've tried the standard bf and the football hold but to no avail so giving that side a rest today however it just happens to be the booby that produces the most so I am more or less expressing every hour from it to stop it leaking. Which isn't working by the way and I have gone through 3 breast pads already today!

I am not giving up though, stuff the benefits of cost the benefit to our baby is immense so I wouldn't care if my nipples dropped off, I'd still bf.

On another note I think we may have the best baby ever. He is sleeping really well, he feeds around every 2 hours except between 12 & 4 where he gives me a interrupted 4 hour rest, how great is that? Hoping he'll sleep through in a few months but I can't really complain a I am getting between 6-8 hours per night still.

I may not be able to post as often while we get into a routine, hope you like the pic.

The Eviction

Well I'm now 40+11 and baby is on its last chance, if he doesn't attempt an appearance within the next 12 hours he is being evicted (well 11 hours as the clocks go forward tonight)!

Drs here don't like you to go any further than 12 days over so tomorrow morning come rain or shine the induction process will begin.

Nervous? Slightly. I'm spending more time thinking about Oliver to be honest at the moment and how his life is going to change from being the centre of attention to having to share that attention. He's off for a sleep over and Granddad and Nannas tomorrow and will be there until baby is born and other half (at least) is home. I want him to be the first to meet his new baby brother so I have discussed with the hubby that I do not want visitors until Oliver has seen baby.

Still don't have a name!

Next time I blog (which I admit may be a while) will be once our new little guy is here! Eeek!

Worth the risk

Realised I only did one wash this weekend so when hubby went to wear the shirt he always wears on a Monday (weirdo)  it was still in the wash basket, oops. So this morning I took Olibear to nursery then came back and put a wash on. Once the washer was done I put it in the dryer and put another wash on, at that point Mr Meter Reader came which made me think, 'Why am I using the dryer?, its not raining and its quite windy'. I realised that I was just being lazy and wasting money so I stopped the dryer and have now put it on the line outside. However, if you look up you can see that the clouds are very dark. I have decided that this is an acceptable risk and crossing everything in the hope it doesn't rain.


Still no baby, 40+6 now. I have completed a Facebook rant today. I am sick of people pointing out that I haven't had the baby yet, don't they think I know that? I also do not require any advice on how to induce labour - Sex, curry, pineapple, walking, castor oil. Get Lost! If all that stuff worked then there would never be a late baby. I read that you'd have to eat 7 pineapples in one sitting for it to even have a 10% chance of working so stop with the advice and leave me the hell alone!

Still here, still preggers

Its a lovely Saturday afternoon and the last place most people want to be is exactly where I want to be. In hospital. Only for good reasons of course!

Today is what would've been my mothers 70th birthday so my dad and I went off and paid our respects. Unfortunately she never got to meet Oliver, see me marry or get to know the hubby really which is is really sad and I miss her dearly however I have to be thankful for what I do have and I'm sure she is smiling down on us all. It would have been really nice for baby to come today but not in other ways so I guess it is for the best.

Once dad and I got back he and his Mrs came around for a cuppa and as grans do she came around with goodies. A really lovely Thomas the Tank Engine dressing gown for the bear as well as a dinosaur top and socks. She also got baby some cute socks and sleep suits. Really grateful and I can honestly say that my dad could've done a lot worse, she is a nice lady but could never replace my mum, obviously, and I'll never think of her as a step mum, at most she'll be a friend but always Grandma to the kids.

Last night was interesting, I was having loads of pressure in my bum (tmi) and some period type pains so hubby and I decided we should get an early night expecting a long day today but nope!  So we've tried most things, not that I believe in them as think baby is ready when he is ready. We tried the obvious (use your imagination), hubby had a very hot curry for dinner and I had some of that and I've also been eating lots of fresh pineapple. Today we are going to going to go look at some cars, just browsing, then a look round Tesco. Basically keep me mobile, it may help!

Wish me look that baby makes an appearance before the force an induction on me!

Due date come and gone!

Well here I am at 40+1 still no sign of baby yet but I think he is better off where he is for now.

I know I keep banging on about it but we are now on day 12 of my cold. I have gone through the whole range of symptoms with the worst being over the weekend when I couldn't breath out of either nostril and if I lied down my throat closed up! I then went onto weepy eyes and coughing fits, which I am still having and it sounds as though I am a dog barking! This has been nearly 3 days now and just when I think it is subsiding I wake up at 3:30 am this morning with such a bad one that I actually have to get up so I've been up since 4am. Not only that but I have now lost about 50% hearing in my left ear, Google tells me that I am either going to die (never Google anything!) or that as my ears, nose, eyes and throat are all connected its likely that my ear is just blocked the way my nose is and should all be fine once cold is over - I think I'll go with that explanation for now. Just need a sore throat now and I'd have had the lot.  I think the sleep deprivation from this is worse than breastfeeding a baby every 2 hours.

So thats me at the moment. Sat indoors feeling sorry for myself,getting bugger all done, really wanting baby to come but at the same time wishing for a good 8 hours sleep before he does arrive.

Who knows may be next time I blog I'll have some pics of our new little boy to share.

Poorly-Sick

Hi

Not sure if I mentioned before but I have had a cold on and off now for one whole week! Its one of those ones that has yours eye and nose running as well as tickly throat and itchy eyes (defo not hay fever fyi).

Problem is my illness is making me snore so the poor hubby isn't getting much sleep at all. He even spent half the night on the couch last night :-(. With me being poorly he got up at 7:30 with Oliver this morning to allow me a lie-in but I couldn't lie flat any more so I was up by 8am. Well I say up but it is now 1pm and I am still in my pjs. I'm just glad I have done lots of cleaning this week as today is the day I am just going to sit here and stay!

Hubby is upstairs busy building Olivers new set of drawers and wardrobe so after today I'll finally have somewhere to put the baby clothes as we'll be taking the nursery furniture out of his room and back in the nursery.

Toilet training - not going well at all!  Spoke to Olivers mentor/key worker at nursery yesterday and she thinks he is not ready and I tend to agree as he just doesn't care when he wees or poos himself. Thing is he is nearly 2 years 8 months and I really want him sorted by 3. We'll give him another few weeks and try again I guess, there is no point in forcing a situation that is just not working.

Not sure if I mentioned that MW said my iron level was a little low, not low enough for iron tablets but low enough to look at my diet. No wonder my iron levels are low, I hate 90% of the food that contains iron - Oily fish, lentils, liver - ewwww. Not going to happen. The one thing I do like is eggs (not the yolk though - I know I am weird!) and guess what, the bit that has the most iron is the yolk therefore I had egg on toast for breakkie with the yolk mixed in, an egg and cress sandwich for lunch and I am having a omelette with gammon tonight - boom, iron levels sorted (hopefully).

39 week Midwife visit

I had my midwife appointment today, all is well and baby is happy. 


I chatted to her about the fact I calculated my due date as 23/03/12 but that the scans pushed it forward 10 days but that now I am measuring 2 weeks small (measuring 37 weeks today) and was wondering if she thought that they had any relation to each other. She agreed that it is likely that it is my date that is the correct one and that it is up to me what I want to do about that.

I have a further MW appt when I am 7 days overdue (by their dates) and are then offering to book me in for induction on 12 days over (which will be 2 days over by my dates). She said if don't want an induction they can do a scan and check all is well but that it is my decision as to whether I have an induction or wait a while. She said she cannot professionally agree to me going further than 12 days however she can personally agree that it is likely my dates are the correct ones.

What a dilemma. I don't even think there is a question there as we can't risk our baby no matter how minimally but lets just hope I go into labour before then!

Relaxing vs Cleaning

As you may have read yesterday, I decided that today was the day I was going to rest as I didn't do it yesterday.

I got up at around 7:30 got Oliver and myself ready, had our breakkie and watched some Spongebob for an hour while I emptied the dishwasher and did the little things that households do every day. Took Oliver to nursery at 10am and thats when it started to go wrong.

I decided that I could pick up some bits from the shop for dinner so I did that, I then went to see the Midwife but on the way back I decided to call work on the way home. This resulted in a 25 minute work chat that really has nothing to do with me any more. I then came home and had some lunch as well as preparing the evening dinner (as a woman in the modern world I can do 2 things at once!).

You know how you just randomly look around though and see the 'little things'? I decided a little dusting around the TV area was required, this resulted in me sorting out all the DVD's in the cabinet and polishing around the TV area. But while I was sat on the floor I thought the coffee table could do with sorting out so I took all the mags etc... from under it and sorted into 2 piles, recycle and keep. I then dusted and polished the table and put back the mags to be kept. (Dusted and polished the fireplace too).

On the way to the recycling bin I notice that the indoor recycle bin also needed emptying so I did that also but then thought the bin needed a clean so I cleaned it. I came back indoors and thought the door looked a bit grubby so I gave that a wipe down.  I walked through the porch and into the kitchen and thought the cork board could so with some re-arranging as well as the things stuck, with magnets, on the front of the fridge so I sorted that.

I thought right, I'm done until I saw the oven, only spent 30 mins to do that and then wiped over the worktop. Couple of hours later and I was done!

Maybe I'll relax tomorrow

Today is the first day of my 10 and a half months!

I'm not counting Friday as its  Friday, today is Monday and its not sunk in yet, feel like I am meant to be doing something?

Have a stinking cold, typical, so was up at about 5am trying to breath which is a marathon in itself when you think that I have a baby crushing my internal organs and what seems to be a blocked throat also. I finally got back to sleep around 6ish (when hubby got up) with the anticipation of Oliver waking at any moment.

Rewind over the last few days, he's been getting up between 5 & 6am everyday so we bought a black out blind for his room which daddy put up yesterday. I had to get Oliver up! I was up at about 7:30. I came downstairs and emptied the dishwasher and some other cleaning bits, before I knew it it was 8:45 so I went to wake him.

I started as usual by just opening his door, he didn't stir so a few mins later I went in and got the fright of my life, he had one of his blankets over his head, which I whipped off and there he was all sweaty and snug underneath. Light turned on, still not woke up, clothes put out and still not a peep. I actually had to talk to him to wake him, bless. So the moral of the story? Black Out blinds are awesome!

All geared up for my Midwife appt today except just realised that its for the 6th, tomorrow, which would be a long wait in the waiting room if I was to go today! Contemplating going into town and having my photocard licence renewed which coincedently expires on 13th March (my due date).

I did say that the first day of my mat leave I would do nothing, oh well, guess I'll do nothing tomorrow after I have took Oliver to nursery and finished at my MW appt!

Its been a while

Had a hectic few weeks and just haven't found the time to blog!

Firstly off the back of the last post I did manage to get a new table, the one that was on offer and we've had it a few weeks. Its actually really nice, not nice enough to wait 5 months for but glad I decided against the table that kept breaking and went for this one instead.

As you can see I am now over 38 weeks preggers, eek! Bag is packed and we have all the things we need so its just a waiting game now.

I have now officially finished work, yay (10 and a half months off), except I have brought some work home with me! Its a case of I've taken holiday until my due date thought I'd bring my laptop back with me and tie up some loose ends while I wait for the nesting instinct to kick. I think it may have started a little as I woke this morning with an urge to clean the oven, I got downstairs and guess what, hubby was already doing it. Great minds think alike and all that! I think the plan now is just to clean one room a day, don't get me wrong we don't live in a shite hole but I want to clean the bits that get done less often for example the skirting boards, doors and windowsills etc. We also seem to have a bit of clutter about so I want to do away with that too.

Took Oliver on a family day out yesterday to Sundown Adventure Land (its like a mini village with rides for under 10's), it was really nice for him and he especially enjoyed the santa sleigh ride (yes, I know its March) and we went on it twice. His face was a picture and worth the entrance fee alone just to see that. I've also bought him a little prezzie which we'll give him from baby when he arrives, just need to get something little from Oliver for baby.  I'm still not sure Oliver completely understands baby is coming and it'll be a huge shock for him especially as he might see the breastfeeding as cuddling and be upset that baby is getting more cuddles than him. I just need to make sure that I make the extra effort to show Oliver he is just as important with some us time every day.

Well I'll have more time to update this now I'm a lady of leisure, unless I give birth early that is so hopefully it won't be as long next time.

Argos Rant!

Had yet another blip with Argos yesterday, why do I continue to shop there? I'll try to keep this short and I am sorry if I have ranted about this before.


We finally decided in October last year (2011) that we needed to get a 'proper' family table instead of the pine one that is hidden in the corner of the dining room. We decided on a drop leaf but couldn't find one we like anywhere so we decided on a nice wooden 4-seater one which was dark wood with nice cream covered seats. All was well until around the end of November when hubby sat on one of the chairs and it collapsed beneath him (hurting his back in the process). Now don't get me wrong Mike is not a small guy but he isn't a hefer either and doesn't normally go around flattening chairs!


We contacted Argos and complained who asked us to collapse the table and chairs and take it back, problem is it took 2 hours to put up so they were asking us to pack it away, bring it back to store and have it replaced? All we wanted was  a replacement chair - apparently it is easier to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon than it is to get a replacement chair! As emails were going back and forth we noticed that another chair was starting to split so a complete replacement did seem to be the best option.


Have I yet to mention that Argos have the worse customer service ever? In store, via telephone, via email and on Twitter? I emailed their customer service to see if there was any chance they'd collect and replace, no luck. I email their directors office, I was told they would not deal with my complaint as not in line with the escalation process, Twitter - pretended to help outwardly but nothing ever came of it. I finally emailed the customer service MD direct (raye.summers@argos.co.uk - just in case you ever need it) and finally started to get some response, might I add by this time it was about 1 week before Xmas, which is not the best time to be tableless as by this point we only had 2 usable chairs for a family of 3 along with about 10 people coming for a boxing day lunch. Luckily I finally had contact with a helpful gentleman in the directors office and he arranged for a table to be delivered by taxi from one of their stores and the faulty one was collected.


What the gentleman at the directors office wouldn't have known was that we were sent a second, it was scratched to hell all over the table top. The seat cushions were stained with wood stain and all in all just a bad manufacturing job all round.  Contacted directors again and after more emails it was agreed they would exchange or refund and offer me a pittance compensation (£40).


Cut to this weekend.- We dismantled the second table took it to Argos and had to explain to 2 different customer service representatives the whole story from start to finish as they were obviously not happy to replace the item, I then had to show her my phone with the email on from the directors to prove they were allowing the exchange. I was asked how much I paid for the table which I couldn't remember as the item was first purchased over 5 and a half months ago so I gave the customer service lady my Argos card  to which she replied was not helpful because if I purchased anything else that month it would not be able to be determined how much I paid. This is not my issue, this is an issue at Argos. She called the card services customer service department, came back and more or less stated I was a liar as my card had no transactions between June and November 2011. How was I to know that two Argos cards on the same account do not show the same transactions? (which as they are for the same account surely they should?). Luckily my husband was with me and he handed over his card which turned out to be the card we used. I advised that I no longer wanted a replacement of the same table (due to already having two that were sub-standard) and wanted the a different one they had on offer which shows as being in stock for home delivery on the Argos website   - I advised her of this, I got a dirty look and a comment of if I continued to check out then it would say it was out of stock, apparently another Argos blip.

At this point I became frustrated so just advised that I'll just have a refund. To which her response was yes as long I have brought back everything including the chairs, was she having a laugh? why would I keep the chairs??? She had no idea to do a refund might I add and two customer service agents had to help her to add I received no please, thank yous, apologies or even a smile while I was in store - I was treated like a complete nobody, shocking customer service! I checked when I got home and she was indeed right, the Argos website lets you go all the way to checkout until it tells you there is no stock, interesting that Argos have no stock when it is being offered at half price don't you think?

The situation I now find myself in after 5 and a half months of trying simply to buy a table and sort all the errors out is no dining table whatsoever for myself and my family (eating dinner at the coffee table is neither comfortable or appropriate) and I am 23 days from the birth of our second child!

We now desperately require a table to fill the gap we have in our dining room which not only do we use for our meals I also recently use to work from home off of, so it is quite difficult and inconvenient to say the least! 

I have now asked that they get the table that I want, to me ASAP, however I won't hold my breath because I think dying from asphyxiation would be unpleasant!

What do think my chances are, I think bugger all but maybe if I got Watchdog involved it may help? We'll see.

So frustrating

Firstly I'd like to say hello to my first follower Lorna, Mike doesn't count as he is the hubby :-)

I said I wasn't going to hold my breath but apparently for once I was being listened to. Went in on Monday and I  was more or less in a meeting all day with my boss with the first part discussing my working day. It has been agreed that I am going to be working from home for most of the time now (yay). Looking at my rota now I only have to work for 4 more days actually in the office and I did one of those yesterday so 3 to go! I do have to go in briefly on one afternoon to do an exit interview for one of the staff but thats no big hassle.  On one of the days I am interviewing all day and another I am doing my staffs opening yearly reviews so not much time will be spent actually at my desk which suits me down to the ground.

Want to know some major TMI? My lady bits are causing me some jip, according to my off and on best mate (Google) its perfectly normal during pregnancy but I do feel like someone has booted me in the crotch, laughed, walked off and left me to deal with the aftermath. When I get up/walk I feel like the inside is all bruised, as I said I am sure its normal and I can't say that I am concerned, I have the MW on Monday so I'll mention it to her then.

This part is the reason for the title. All week in the morning Oliver has been requesting big boy pants so we thought, awesome he is ready to try potty training again, hmmmm. So the weekend comes and the first thing I did this morning was put him in big boy pants and I had a little chat with him about the potty which he seemed to understand (he's 2 years 7 months). Whats the first thing he does once we get downstairs? Wet himself, what does he do 10 mins later? Wet himself! For 456! I talked to him about it (calmly) and he says he doesn't want to use the potty, make your mind up dude! Helllllpppppp!

Baby news - I only have 24 days left, I go from excited to freaking out completely, about everything!. As far as I am aware baby is still head down but Midwife, I'm sure, will tell me on Monday, baby is still having some kind of disco party in there, which apart from a couple of painful manoeuvres I actually love the feeling.  My new fear is that the baby will get stuck! I know I am having a small one like with Oliver (who was 6lb 9oz) however the woman on One Born Every Minute the other day only had a 10 pounder and it got stuck, it was touch and go for a couple of minutes and they had to butcher the poor girl to get the baby out!  I am still really hoping that all I need is the pool and gas and air but if I really need it I'll have the epidural - eek!

Maternity and Billy Connolly

Well the decision was made. It was decided that I would make my last day at work 23rd Feb. All was planned out - official letter written to employer etc...

Anyway, I gets to work on the Thursday and I pull aside the other manager on the team to let her know my plan before I tell the boss however it turns out she had already spoke to the boss for me and suggested I work from home for the rest of my maternity - nice one. I ask my boss myself if that was an option for me and she said she will look into it and call me back.

I hear nothing all day Thurs or Friday so my decision was made and I felt fine with it. I called the boss on Friday afternoon to tell her 'the plan' but she jumps in first with risk assessments and that she'll come in on Monday and do the assessment then potentially go home early Monday and only come in when I am needed. I'm not holding my breath and I'm more than happy to leave on 23rd Feb. I have plenty of Jeremy Kyle and Eastenders to catch up on!

Went to see Billy Connolly last night, I'd bought the tix as a Xmas prezzie for the hubby and I wasn't looking forward to it for 2 reasons. 1) Front row centre to see a comedian (am I crazy!) and 2) Not really my cup of tea. There turned out to be a 3rd reason. We get to the theatre and we heard and announcement that I nearly had a heart attack from hearing "at the request of the artist there will be no interval". Ahhh, No interval + 8 months preggers + front row centre + comedian = not a good mix! As you can imagine I decided not to drink at all before or during the performance and had 2 wees in half an hour beforehand.

I was pleasantly surprised, after about 45 mins I really got into it and he was on for 2hr 45mins. Baby was bouncing around all over the place for nearly the whole time and towards the end of the show my bladder was starting to protest but I made it. Not that I'd have moved anyway as I'm not having a comedian take the p out of me (excuse the pun) for going for a wee.

Gutted he didn't he didn't ask me if I wanted a rich godfather for my unborn child though! :-)

I think the time has come

For me to leave work.

Went to Midwife on Monday who was a bit of a dingbat to be honest. It had snowed very heavily over the weekend so after walking nearly an hour in the snow dropping off my son at nursery then going to the clinic you'd expect my blood pressure to be slightly raised and it was. She said it was on the high side but not to the point where she would worry but said she would check it again before I left.

So I go on to tell her I had a speck of blood on a tissue (tmi) on Saturday which I was 99% sure came from my urethra but as I am rhesus negative I have to be safe so she took some bloods to check if I need the Anti-D injection. Anyway she said she wasn't from round here and wasn't exactly sure which blood bottles to use but had taken an educated guess! She took my blood and listened to baby (forgot to measure baby, so I reminded her!) and I left, blood pressure not taken.

No call received by 4pm with my blood results so I called her, she called the blood banks and it turned out they couldn't test my blood as she labelled the blood wrong and as the next day was 72 hours since the bleed I had to go into hospital to have them re-taken.  Luckily I was only in hospital for about 2 hours and they couldn't get the blood back that night so gave me the Anti-D anyway and told me to call the next day for the results.

I called for the results the next day and guess what? They've lost my blood! Was told doesn't matter anyway as I've had the Anti-D now!

Had to work from home Tuesday as Oliver had a pretty bad cold and hubby couldn't do it as he was at a conference. He took today off to stay at home with him.

When I woke this morning I just got a silly worry that my BP wasn't taken, I also had a stiff neck which you can get with pre-eclampsia so I called MW to see if I could drop in to have my BP taken. Instead I was told to leave work so I am home for 12:30 (luckily I have a very good employer/manager) which I did. MW arrived at 1pm, BP is normal so all is well.

All this though has totally spooked hubby and worried me so I may make next week my last. We'll see.

Snow and lots of it!

Started snowing at about 2pm yesterday and didn't stop until the early hours. Woke up to a complete white out. At least 5 inches of snow, probably more and my recommendation would be for you not to walk out in it in slip on shoes!

Had a kiddies party to go to today so went to Toys R Us and bought the prezzie, came home, wrapped it the hubby and I took Oliver along to the party. It was nice, an indoor affair (luckily) and it had a nice soft play area and bouncy castle. Food was provided for the kiddies and after a few moments Oliver was playing with all the other kids so it was nice for him to do something different on a Sunday afternoon.

What I haven't yet mentioned is our little guy is poorly at the moment, he woke up with a cold which seems to have got gradually worse throughout the day. He has now got to the stage where his nose and eyes are constantly streaming, bless him. He's a good boy though and just gets on with it, mummy and daddy get more cuddles too! We were hoping to take him out and build a snowman but want to keep him all nice and warm indoors today.

Luckily I am working from home tomorrow so if he is still poorly tomorrow I may keep him home with me. I have a midwife appointment so we'll need to go out for that but apart from that he can snuggle up on the sofa watching cartoons while mummy does her work.

On the other hand though he may be better off at nursery as it may keep his mind off things, I'll just see what tomorrow brings. We'll have a nice hot bath later together later and give him some calpol (as he has a little temp) and hope that he can get a good nights sleep.

Happy

Yay, got my new phone. loving it and whats even better is that there are so many apps for children. Most of Saturday was spent downloading apps for Oli bear to playing like the talking Tom Cat (repeats what he says and there is a Spongebon app too). Must admit its scary letting a 30 month old play with an expensive phone! Oliver is currently talking to the cat, he's obsessed, at least it is encouraging him to talk as he is quiet. I think baby likes it too as he is jiggling around all over the place.

On another note I am now 34 weeks pregnant, only 6 weeks to go, can't believe how fast its going! Only 4 full weeks left at work then utter bliss (as in really bad day time tv) until baby comes. Taking Oliver to a theme park for little uns on March 2nd though as want him to have one last day just the 3 of us before baby comes as even though I think he knows baby is coming it'll still be a huge shock.

I feel like I am the most unprepared person ever. I have not yet packed a bag and I've hardly bought anything that we need. We've got nappies and wipes, a few vests and baby grows but no nursery furniture like wardrobes and drawers. I know baby will be in our room in his moses basket for the first few months but we should at least be attempting to set the nursery up, I guess its just less of a worry the second time around? Think I'll clear out a drawer in our room for the babys clothes and worry about the nursery later.

Still scared of labour :-(

Eastenders Rant

Right thats it!

I am finally going to speak up for Bianca Butcher/Jackson (aka Patsy Palmer). SHE WOULD NEVER WEAR THAT!!! What I hear you ask? Everything she wears, thats what! She studied fashion in college. Now don't get me wrong, I know that most designers are quirky to say the least but they are never chavtastic. Leopard print leggings, bright pink valour tracksuits and lets not forget the silver puffa jacket which was fashionable for about 5 seconds when she first wore it in the 90's.

I know she doesn't have much money but a lot of people don't but they still don't look like they buy all their clothes out of an 80's reject bin!

Come on produces cut the poor girl some slack and give her some decent clothes!

That is all...

Cheating on Blackberry

I've had a BB for 2 years but I have finally given up on it. So many problems with it with the main ones being taking 5 mins to turn on and sometimes coming up with a timer on the screen which can take up to 10 mins to finish doing its thing.

I've gone for the IPhone, now I am no techy therefore I have gone for the cheaper version (3GS). I've only had it for 6 hours and I already love it. Had some initial set up problems because I'm a complete idjit! but I finally got there.

Funny thing is though is I haven't really used it much for myself yet except for FB, I've been downloading free apps for Oliver and he loves them. Especially the Spongebob one. I'll have a look at some stuff later after 7pm when the little one is in bed, looking forward to seeing what apps are out there!

Well Oliver's carpet was finally put down this morning (as well as the bathroom vinyl) its very red (the carpet not the vinyl :-)), even the carpet guy checked with us that it was the right one! Its really nice though as it goes. Olivers Thomas Tank Engine bed is up as well as his Thomas curtains, his Thomas Toy Box and Thomas Bookcase. We have also transferred over his wardrobe and draws which as they are white with a kind of blue shimmer it goes really well. Need some black out blinds in summer though as the curtains aren't lined. As it turns out, Olivers new room has more space than ours, not fair. We have built in wardrobes, feel like ripping them out but  history suggest we'll uncover untold nasties, which I'd rather not deal with at nearly 8 months pregnant.

Seems as though Oliver has taken a mardy pill today though because even though he loves his new room he has spent today going mental at every opportunity. I just hope he isn't poorly as he is usually such a good boy. He just wants the complete opposite at the moment and is screaming his head off in time out but when he has done his 2 mins and we ask for an apology he says no, he know a hug and an aopolgy is the end of time out, think he is just testing the boundaries but it is very frustrating.

He is at the moment screaming that he doesn't want dinner so when we say thats fine he says he wants it so we tell him we need to put his bib on and again says no. He will not win, he won't be one of those children that ends up getting what they want, I've seen those type of kids grow up and there is no other way to describe them apart from being little sh1ts.

Anyone been watching 'Call the Midwife' on BBC 1? It was really interesting but I can honestly say that I would never want to be in a position where I had to give birth to a baby that is breech (which apparently they allow in hospital still???) I think that would be one of my few reasons I would elect to have a C-Section.

Here is hoping for a nice 'normal' birth.

2nd antenatal class

Was quite interesting - all about the drugs for the labour and the different types of birth there are. Standard, assisted, c-section etc...

I have established that being induced is more painful due to the hormone drip therefore I'm hoping that they'll be no induction this time, that I labour naturally, I get to use the pool and I'm not scared of the gas and air. I really do need to use that this time as my refusal of using it last time I think may have contributed to me having to have the epidural as I lost control.

I can't say I am interested in the Diamorphine or Penthadine and I'm thinking that TENs may be all in your head so I think it'll be a case of the birth pool, some gas and air and if all else fails the old reliable Epidural.

I just want a normal delivery!

33 Weeks in tomorrow!

Astrologists and Mediums (just my opinion)

On the way home from work there was an Astrologer on the radio talking about star signs and how all the planets are aligning and all that BS. Now don't get me wrong after chatting with the hubby I get that the moon controls the tides so it is perfectly plausible that as our brains float around in watery fluid then the moon and planets could well have an affect on my mood therefore affecting the things I do and the choices I make but come on! How can you tell someone not to try Internet dating because Mars is in Jupiter which is crossing over Saturn, or advise to keep the silent partners in your business silent as Mercury and Venus are aligning?  Its just ridiculous.

My point is that you can buy two separate news papers on the same day and each will have a star signs section which will be completely different to each other. Now some will say that its down to interpretation by the Astrologer, if thats the case then which one is right and whats the difference between an Astrologer guessing what it means and me guessing, whose to say I am any more wrong or right than them?

With all that being said at least most Astrologers think what they are doing is right and they are basing it on some kind of science and not just as a rip off, now mediums on the other hand...

Mediums just make me so mad! A very small few may just be crazy and think that the dead are talking to them but most are just complete con artists. If the dead could communicate with the living we would have absolute proof by now with all the technology we have. I have seen so many expose shows about these people yet people still fall for it! Now I know for some it brings them comfort and if the people that are giving the comfort are only doing it for that reason then why not do it for free or for a minimal charge? No they fleece people right left and centre and you know what? some are stupid enough to deserve it, but most are vulnerable and do not.

Its called cold reading, and don't get me wrong, you have to be incredibly smart and dedicated to do it. Not everyone can do it so for that and only that I give them credit. I watched an experiment once where a bloke posing as a medium to a group of around 50 people spent time with them and then wrote them all a reading. They all read it and couldn't believe how great it was and how personal to them - he got them all in a room again about an hour later and showed them that they'd all had the same reading, this is because you can apply all readings to most situations and life experiences if you really want to. You'll hear a lot, especially when you watch these dodgy TV shows where the medium has an audience "go away and think about it" - this is when the Medium has got it wrong and the person they are reading is having a problem associating what has been said to them to something in their life however if you think about it long enough, you'll eventually find something to apply it to, no matter what it is and then you'll be sure that the Medium was absolutely right and brilliant.

I once pondered something similar about Mediums on a social network site and some guy claiming to have 'the gift' offered me a free reading and said he already had things coming through to me for me now and said he would give me a free reading. I accepted but he said that he needs to see me face to face, why would you need to do this? Its so you can read my subtle reactions thats what - he refused to tell me anything over the Internet which spoke a thousands words to me!

What else can I say? I don't like Astrologers much, but I really don't like profit greedy Mediums!  The message for Mr or Mrs Medium is - if you really and truly do have a gift then you tell me, what is my Maternal uncles full name? Most of that side of the family have now passed away as well as most of his work colleagues so you should have no problem finding a dead person to find out from. Its a simply question, answer it.

Had a lie in

So nice that I didn't get up until 9am this morning. Mike got up at stupid o'clock (6ish) and then when Oliver woke at 7:30 he got him up and ready. I didn't wake until 9 so must have needed the sleep. I played with Oliver until about 12 while hubby boarded the bathroom then I watched that BBC's Call the Midwife.

Scary stuff! Enemas, no pain relief, unsanitary conditions but hey, thats the 50's for you. It was very real and the thought of going through that myself is terrifying. I guess I'm just lucky to be giving birth in the modern world. I've been thinking a lot about the labour recently and I go from absolute fear to absolute calm. I ask people about their experience of second births, most say it is less difficult as you know what to expect so you don't panic however it can be quicker so even though you are in pain for less time it can be more painful. I just want to try and make sure I use the gas and air this time and the pool (as long as I'm not induced), I just want to be more calm and use less profanity!

Anyway - back to my day, we went to Uncle Marks and Auntie Laines in the afternoon and Laine dyed my hair back brown, its darker than I would have liked (my fault as I got the dye) but it'll fade over time so I'm hoping it'll fade to the colour of my roots over time as the reason I dyed it back brown so I didn't need to worry about over the next few mins while I have a baby to look after.

We went to ASDA after visiting the family and came upon a massive bargain! £25 for a car seat suitable from birth to 7/8 years brilliant. We also got some nappies, baby vests and an all in one warm fluffy body suit/coat for when we take baby out and from the hospital. Looks like everything is finally coming together. Found a Amazon shop that does the Thomas the Tank Engine Toddler bed for £99 and £155 to include mattress and bedding so thats Oliver pretty much sorted.

Mike and I finally played Friends Scene It, he won so I think a re-match is in order. Pizza was had and an episode of Charmed as well as quite a few largers had by Mike we had an early night and went to bed at 9:30 however I read for ages so didn't go to sleep until about 11pm, here's hoping for a Sunday lie in too!

Much better

Oliver woke in a much better mood this morning which was nice, sometimes I think he is two different toddlers.

1 sick person came back to work today and 1 stayed off so it was better today than yesterday but its still not the best. At the moment I am only working in the office 4 days a week as every Monday for 4 weeks running I either have an antenatal appt or a Midwife appt so I work from home on Mondays, bonus! I tell you what, I'm loving it. I don't get up any later on a Monday or do less work but the home environment is so much more relaxed, I just wish I could work from home every day!

I gave the carpet shop a ring and asked that they don't come until tomorrow afternoon to allow hubby enough time to board the bathroom but they couldn't guarantee it (er, who is paying them? me, thats who!) so I had to re-arrange for next Saturday. I then made a call to Toys R Us to see if they had the Thomas Tank toddler bed in that I am after, I got through to a right numpty. First she said they only do Thomas beds on line to which I confirmed this is unlikely as they had them advertised in store on Wednesday! She then said they only have deliveries on Fridays and Mondays, I pointed out that it was Friday! She basically ended the call saying they had none at present and to call back Monday. Think I'll just go in to be honest.

Hubby and I could not be bothered to cook so we had chips for tea, whoops. Looking forward to tomorrow as dying my hair brown (from red), taking Oliver to see his uncle Mark and Auntie Laine and then I am going to kick Mike's ass on Friends Scene It!

OMG!

I really had to impress today and show what I could do.

Really bad morning got even worse and turned into a bad afternoon, evening and night! It'll all started around 06:30. I got up, showered, brushed my teeth, etc... as usual. Hubby makes us a cup of tea and Oliver some toast and juice then goes to get him up. He opened the door as usual and proceeded to get his toothbrush ready. Well I think Oliver went from Oliverbear to Olivergrizzlybear overnight. Everything we asked him to do he wanted to do the opposite, he wouldn't let us brush his teeth so Mike had to hold him while I did it. He then wouldn't get dressed or let us change his nappy, we obviously didn't give him a choice but its horrible to hear him scream his head off all morning. He went in time out at least 3 times in half and hour and this is all before we left to take him to nursery.

Fast forward and we get to 08:30, I walked into the office, got to my bank of desks and looked up. "Where is everyone?" I asked John (who is a temp by the way therefore not fully trained), "I'm here" was his response. Apparently the two that were due in from 8 had both called in poorly-sick. Luckily John is a smart, decent bloke and he got on with things best he could as well as taking some telephone calls from some difficult customers, which he had never done before.

Now having two people off in an office you would think is not so bad but what would you think if I tell you we are a specialist team of 9 (as in no one in our Very Large company can do our job), we currently have 3 vacancies therefore this brings us down to a team of 6. 2 off sick and 1 on hols mean OMG we are now a team of 3 (plus a temp = 4). Lets just say this day was the busiest day ever and I was glad when it was over.

We collected Oliver from the nursery and he was still a complete grump. Again he just wanted to opposite of everything and this went on until bed time. He is usually really good at bed time but he just screamed for about an hour in bed before finally falling asleep (probably with exhaustion). I hope its not the start of a trend. I don't think he is poorly so may be just having a bad day - lets just hope he wakes up on the right side of the bed tomorrow.

We're having Oliver's carpet delivered on Saturday as well as having some Vinyl laid in the bathroom so Mike had to remove the current floor tiles. While he did this I started to make a chilli for tea.  Mike shouts down after about half an hour to say them tiles are not coming up any time soon therefore he needs to take up the boarding that is attached to the floor boards and re-board the whole bathroom. Unlikely he'll get that done before Saturday so I'm going to have to call the carpet people tomorrow and tell them not to come until the afternoon.

Had dinner, watched Biggest Loser US and went to bed quick before something else happened!

Last day before I go it alone

Turns out my colleague who shares with me the running of my team at work is off to Thailand (I suspect she may just be spending 2 weeks in a Skegvegas tanning salon!) and it'll be just me. Challenging yet I relish the challenge and think I can really show how awesome I am!

Anyway its her 30th birthday while shes away so I did a collection and bought her the ugliest shoes I have ever seen, corduroy Toms in brown (I've never heard of them either). I ask the man in her life what she wanted and tbh when I got them I started to worry that it was some big wind up which was worrying as they weren't cheap but she loved them! I also got her something which was a really nice champagne glass that had 30 on it as well as the traditional items. What are those you ask? They are really really bad DVD's the worst I can find. I got her 3, Mega Shark, Mega Shark and Giant Octopus and some really dyer looking film called Premonition. She loved em!

Baby has it in for me at the moment and beating me up from the inside but even when it hurts I don't care as it just reminds me of how lucky we are and that 3 is soon to become 4!

Day of meetings

Had my 121 today, which is basically where my manager tells me what she wants from me this year as well as asks me what my aspirations are.

What are my aspirations? 

1) To give birth to a happy and healthy baby

2) The labour not to be painful

3) Not to go bankrupt after baby arrives

4) Stretch marks to randomly disappear

5) To lose the 42lb I have likely put on

Apparently this isn't quite what an employer is looking for so I stuck to corporate stuff but it is difficult to think about what you want from the year when you aren't going to be there for 10 months of it. Here's hoping my my maternity replacement is happy with the objectives I've chosen.

More meetings in the afternoon and as we were short staffed it wasn't the best time as I do like to support my team but you just have to grab the chance to have these meetings when you can so unfortunately thats life.

Until next time...

Busy baby day

Was meant to work from home today (Monday) however not much got done to be honest, let me explain...

I had 2 appointments, Midwife in the morning and an Antenatal class in the afternoon and as work has to give you the time off for that then they allow me to work from home on the days I have baby-related appointments.

At 7am I got up and logged on while still in my PJ's, I got some emails out of the way and then got Oliver up, dressed, teeth done and face washed at 8am. I also did the same (including a shower) as was downstairs for 08:30 with breakfast made for Oliver, CBeebies on and me back to work. Got a few bits done along with some work calls then at 09:45 I took Oliver to nursery.

Got some good news at nursery, turns out that I can take Olivers hours down to part time from May and then back to full time in Jan 2013, also turns out I get a 10% sibling discount for baby when he starts, nice one!

Midwife appointment when really well, baby is very well with a heart rate of 148-150 bpm, just below average size (as Oliver was) and is already head down (heres hoping he stays that way!). Next appt is Feb 6th, can't believe time is going so quick but so slow at the same time.

Got home for 11:30am and did another hour or so work then off I went back up the road to catch the bus to the hospital for my antenatal class - took about an hour to get there and hubby met me off the bus as he left work early to come with me, such a great guy. It was really good actually, same woman as last time but she really helped me to focus again as I have been freaking out more about the pain of labour the nearer it gets to it.

32 weeks tomorrow, 8 weeks to go.

Quiet Day

Dad came around today with his wife and had a cup of tea which was nice. He brought with him about 20 brochures on all the caravans sites he has sent off for leaflets of over the last week. We're going away in June for a week (that'll be fun, a small caravan, 2 adults, a toddler and a 3 month old! To be honest it'll be fine, we've had the caravan for 2 years now and have used it at least 10 times and its been really nice to get away. The only problem is that its now got damp (old caravan) which is caravan cancer so it'll probably only last another season (thats even if its lasted the winter which is yet to be determined!).

We never go very far in the Caravan - most of the time just half hour down the road but we have took it to Blackpool and as Oliver was quite young up until this year I was reluctant to take him abroad and with another little one coming then it'll be at least another couple of years before I feel comfortable leaving the country. I would like to hope that the caravan lasts another 2 years then that'd be perfect but thats unlikely and its not worth the cost to fix!

Once my dad had gone I decided that I was finally going to tackle our bedroom, it had been used as a dumping ground for way too long now! I literally filled an entire bin bag with junk and a tiny tiny carrier bag with stuff I actually want to keep, its so nice to come into the bedroom and actually be happy with what I see. Still needs decorating and a new carpet, at least it looks nice-ish for now though.

Mike, Oliver and I took a walk in the afternoon to the shop which was nice, but cold. Oliver was a very good boy and because of that he got a treat which was a little car, he likes cars and thats better than chocolate and about the same cost, 69p!

We were a bit naughty that night and after we had been naughty (hehe) hubby got us a takeaway, its a day early but oh well!

A lovely day

As the title suggests we all had a lovely day yesterday (Saturday).

Had a lie in so got up around 8am and played with Oliver for a bit while the hubby finished the decorating in Oliver's new big boy room. We've decided to go with a red and blue theme as this matches his Thomas Tank Engine Furniture (book shelf and toy box). Even though we have a almost brand new single bed from when we first moved in (it was a guest bed which was never used) we are now thinking of getting him a Thomas toddler bed to finish off the Thomas theme but we don't want it to look like Thomas threw up in there!

Didn't take hubby too long to finish up as only had a bit of in-fill to do so once that was done we all had a jacket potato lunch then he went back up and painted the radiator and it was done. Took Oliver up to see the room and he really seem to like it so we put up his Thomas poster that he got for Xmas and told him he'll be in the room very soon. We want him to go in there as soon as possible as with baby coming we don't want him to feel like the baby is kicking him out of his room, thats not the case at all, he's the eldest so he gets the 2nd biggest room (after ours) thats how its always worked in our family.

We went to the carpet shop in the afternoon and ordered for his red carpet to be fitted next Saturday so Oliver should be moved into his new room by the end of next week. We haven't got his Thomas bed yet but he can use the Cot Bed until we get it as there's no rush (we've spent enough this month!).

While we were in the Carpet shop we also arranged for some new Vinyl to be fitted in the bathroom so all thats left to do in our house is to decorate our bedroom and get a new carpet in there then the whole house has been decorated within the last year. We'll probably start again soon though as we are already considering taking up some of the lounge/dining room carpet and replacing it with laminate so there is a clear split between  the living and dining area.

The day just kept getting better as the rest of the afternoon we all played lego and Oliver baked us a cake (not a real one of course, he has a play kitchen). Once Oliver was bathed and in bed Mike and I had a Scene It competition on the Xbox, I lost the first 2 games and finally won the last one! Hubby enjoyed a bottle of wine while I drank some Cherry Coke and munched on salt and vinegar sticks. I'm enjoying snacking while it lasts because in 9 weeks I'm going to  be straight on the Slimming World diet - I want to be a yummy mummy. The exercise part is sorted as I'll be walking Oliver to nursery every afternoon which with a pushchair and a toddler on a buggy board you are looking at least 20 mins each way with one way being mostly up hill.

Looking forward to tomorrow - nanna and grandad are coming round for a cup of tea and its just going to be a nice family day except I have decided I WILL be tackling our bedroom - needs a good clean after all the decoration its been used as a dumping ground.

:-)