What do they put in the water?

As I predicted eldest settled right down when he went back to school! He's really enjoying being in year 2 and has been soaking information up like a sponge. We've had a fantastic parent's evening and his behaviour improved at home too.

That was until the half term holidays! What on Earth do they put in the water at school?

-- Post From My iPhone

Holiday! Celebrate?

Well 4 months have flown by and we've just about survived the school holidays, just.

Baby is now sitting up and making his presence felt. Eldest is a live wire who finds it impossible to sit still or be quiet. As a result I have exhausted all funds in an attempt to keep him busy and entertained - soft play, bowling, walks in the park, trips to the seaside. These exciting trips haven't stopped the tantrums though - after the second game of crazy golf at the seaside we declined to play a third and received a tantrum of monstrous proportions - stomping, shrieking, crying and thumping - we never do anything for him only the baby and we don't love him and he doesn't want us as parents any more!

Almost as difficult as these episodes are the apologies later when he is filled with remorse and hits himself for being 'so stupid'. It pulls on the heart strings but you can't help wondering if it is all a ploy to get a bit softer treatment next time the red mist rears it's ugly head.

I'm looking forward to school starting next week to try and get some routine back into our lives. When people see me with a baby they invariably ask me if he sleeps well - yes, like a log, would go for 12 hours if it wasn't for his elder brother. For most of the holidays we've been woken at 3, 4, 5am by our eldest who just can't wait for the next day to begin - and then he's full on for the rest of the day. Every time the baby drifts of to sleep during the day he's woken by over enthusiastic hugging and kissing or impromptu singing sessions - this of course backfires as the time I could devote to him whilst baby is asleep is lost but he doesn't seem to learn from this.

So whilst many of my friends are mourning the end of the Summer - I can't wait for September and the school run to start!

Emerging from the fog

My baby boy is almost 2 months old now - and is now in 3-6 months clothes as he's a very hungry boy. I'd forgotten how delightful they can be at this age - smiling at you and making you feel like you are the most important person in the world, starting to try to communicate with coos and laughs, and developing a character all of their own. I could quite happily closet myself up with him all day but the school run must be done. His older brother is getting better but we're still prone to extreme tantrums over something minor with no warning. On Sunday my parents came over for dinner - youngest was asleep, eldest playing with Lego and I was cooking when eldest suddenly threw what he was building across the room, stomped upstairs and slamed his bedroom door! 'that', my dad said 'is what you call karma'. I'm sorry Dad for every temper tantrum I put you through ... Now tell me the secret of coping with them!


-- Post From My iPhone

Holidays again?

Last time I looked it was February half term, I was heavily pregnant and couldn't face a week with my 5 year old demanding entertainment. Suddenly the holidays are here and I have a month old baby to throw into the mix. Unfortunately there was miscommunication on the relative front as our school broke up this Friday whereas the schools where my mother lives don't break up until next week. So my son has next week attending various drs appointments and baby clinics with me with the promise of a few days after Easter with grandma - if we survive next week that is.

I knew that life with two children was going to be harder than with one. Unfortunately I had to go into hospital to be monitored and eventually the baby was induced and my eldest hasn't quite recovered from seeing mummy hooked up to monitors and drips. He is very proud of his little brother though and wants to hold and cuddle him all the time. We thought with the almost 6 year age gap that he'd understand more and take on board that we'd have slightly less time for him in the first weeks. We forgot that he's only 5 and used to having us all to himself. We had some awful behaviour - towards us rather than his new brother - but it seems to be subsiding and our lovely big boy is back (fingers crossed).


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Waiting is different this time

So I officially started my maternity leave 12 days ago and my due date is in 2 days time - we've just had a week of 1/2 term with both my husband and my son at home - so today is only the second day I've been 'alone' with nothing to do. Goodness I'm bored.

When I was on maternity leave I had (what seems now) a wonderful relaxing time. I finished work 4 weeks before my due date and my son was 10 days late. I caught up with movies that I'd always wanted to see, napped during the day, met up with my antenatal classmates, went to aqua-natal classes and antenatal appointments.

This time there's none of that. Where I live now there is little provision of antenatal classes - especially for second time around mums, my friends are all busy with work or children. I have a stinking cold so can't go to aqua-natal. My midwife is off this week - though 'someone' will be here on my due date. None of my maternity clothes still fit - well some do but it is too cold to wear them in this freezing weather, not only my ankles but my legs are all swollen and my hip is quite painful which makes it difficult to walk. The cold I have makes it difficult to breathe so sleep at night - and napping in the afternoon - is difficult. I can only just - with a struggle - get the car seat belt around me and it is difficult to drive with that painful hip. Oh and all I ever seem to do is moan!

But come 3pm my first born will be out of school and will catapult me back into normality again and bring me out of the dumps. Let's just hope there's not much waiting left.

Due date and failing tests

Well I'm 9 days away from my due date with baby number 2. There's no sign of anything happening yet and my first was induced and arrived 10 days after his due date so I'm sure I'm here for a while yet. Unfortunately that is depressing! If the baby had remained breech - as it was a few weeks ago - I would have had a c-section this morning and be holding my baby now. But I am glad that I didn't have to have an operation.

I've managed to sail through this pregnancy passing every test that they've thrown at me - I'm 'overweight' so I should by the medical professions predictions be a 'special case' - but so far my blood pressure, my glucose levels, my weight gain and my urine samples have all been fine. Until last week when my urine sample was ever so slightly out - expected in pregnancy I was told. I did another test and dropped it off for the pathology lab at the hospital. Today, a week later, I get a call to provide another sample at the doctor's surgery. I get there and whisper to the receptionist why I'm there. 'A URINE SAMPLE?' she shouts just in case the people at the back of the packed waiting room couldn't hear. She gives me a test tube and a plastic bag and tells me to go home and come back with it when it's done. Having struggled to get my huge bump behind the steering wheel of the car I can't face making a return journey so I ask if I can do the necessary there - she pulls a face but agrees that she could put it in the fridge to be collected (nice!).

Now if you've ever been 9 months pregnant or known anyone who is 9 months pregnant you will know that we can't be far from a loo for long but when we get there you kind of wonder what all the fuss was about - the baby pressing on the bladder means that any amount of liquid - no matter how small - has to be expelled immediately. I had drunk a pint of water in preparation so hoped that this wouldn't be a problem. No the problem was that the 'test tube' sized vessel is too small when 1. you can't see what you are doing because of the bump and 2. you're a woman and you can't aim! Added to that you are advised to take the sample 'mid flow' and you can understand why I failed before I started. Never mind I put in the bag, wrapped it up so that the receptionist couldn't comment on the paltry amount and I'm now hoping that the baby arrives before the results are proved inconclusive again.

So what are you here for?

Last week I was particularly down - why? Because I'd been on the NHS side! Whilst I agree that our NHS is a wonderful thing anyone who has spent anytime in hospital knows that they operate to different rules and time zones to those of us who have things to do, people to see, kids to get to and from school, etc., etc.



I'd had a standard letter from the hospital to turn up for a consultant's appointment at 9am. Along with the letter was a sheet with several notes saying that I would be seeing the consultant until my 'condition' was resolved. I'm not ill - I'm pregnant. As I usually do I got worried - I'd not had to see a consultant with my son, I'd been told all my tests so far were fine - what was wrong. A chat with my midwife didn't put me at ease - she pointed to a colposcopy I'd had in 2002 and streptococcal infections I'd had in 1997 and 2007 - but these were conditions I'd had before my son's birth in 2004 and hadn't rung alarm bells then.



In order to get a parking space we arrived at the hospital at 8.30am - unfortunately not early enough for a parking space near the maternity entrance (in fact I saw a woman, clearly in labour, making the 10 min walk from the 'overspill' car park). We stood in a corridor until the receptionist finally deigned to open her blind (after chatting loudly with a colleague, ordering tea, ringing her mum, etc.) at 8.55am. It then took her 10 mins to boot her computer up and get us booked in. Ten minutes later I was called in to see a nurse who told me what was going to happen at the appointment with the consultant and told me that because of my BMI they were going to have to keep a close eye on my weight gain and my bump size - not done with my son, granted I am a couple of stone heavier than I was before I had him and I am overweight but I did feel like great sirens had gone off when I walked through the door.



Back to the waiting room and I was eventually called in to see the consultant at 9.45am who sat down and asked me why I was there! 'erm I got a letter telling me to come to an appointment'. He then SAT AND READ MY NOTES, disappeared out of the door - a nurse came in and spoke to the student doctor who was observing (I wasn't asked if that was ok) and I discovered he'd gone to speak to another doctor, then came back with a purpose - to put the FEAR OF GOD into me.



As a result I now have to have a glucose tolerance test as I may be diabetic (if I had £10 for every diabetes test I've had done over the last 10 years ...). This involves no food from 10pm and only being able to drink water, a blood test at 8.30am followed by a horrible glucose drink - and still no food - and a 2 hour wait before another blood test to check how well I tolerated it.

I also have to have extra scans at 32 and 36 weeks to check the size of the baby as I'm at risk of having a bigger baby - especially IF I'm diabetic (I must point out that after all those tests I've had in the past I'm not even borderline, or close to borderline, diabetic). I know because of the streptococcus I will have to have a hospital birth rather than a home birth but I was saddened by how medicalized it will probably be - after being induced and unable to get out of bed with my first I wanted it to be different.



The most frustrating bit was that he asked me to book a scan for 32 weeks (New Years eve as it happens) and then book another appointment to see him immediately afterwards. This should have been straightforward except that the appointments clerk on the ultrasound unit had other ideas 'Oh you don't need this - they keep sending people up here to book 32 week scans but you've got one at 20 weeks and you wont need another'. It was only after both my OH and I had explained slowly that the consultant had told us that we did, and another at 36 weeks, and that we had to go back down to make another appointment with him which we couldn't do without the date and time of the ultrasound - she realised that we weren't leaving her office without one that she grudgingly printed off an appointment - still adamant that we'd have to cancel as we 'wouldn't need it'. I made a complaint with the consultant's receptionist - who also said 'oh we keep getting people saying that - I don't know what's up with her'.



I also went to the local MSLC (Maternity Services Liaison Committee) meeting that afternoon and told them all about it too. Felt slightly better but still more anxious about this pregnancy than I was a few weeks ago.