Another Xmas come and gone!

Been meaning to write on here from sometime now but with all good intentions and quite a few busy weekends it hasn't happened.
Martha is now 2 and is really coming on now with words and phrases and copying even more. I actually said shxx the other day and in the corner this little voice repeats me! That will teach me! We need to be a lot more careful now.
We had a lovely weekend the weekend of her birthday, starting with new swimming lessons for both of them, Millie wasn't so keen but more to do with being hungry than anything else as the next week she was fine! Martha really enjoyed it too. We had most of the family here for her birthday and had a little tea party for her which was lovely. Not sure she quite understands the concept yet but still fun anyway. It seems that since then and until a couple of days ago is all she has done is open presents and cards so her birthday and Christmas have all rolled into one. She must be confused.
The Xmas tree was put up the Sunday after Marthas birthday and she was very wary of it at first and all the other decorations, including my parents but she soon got used to them. Now she loves watching and looking for lights.
The day Jen, Lynn, Steve and Erin left to go back up North after Marthas birthday Erin was starting to get a cold, by the Monday we all had it and so did everyone in Liverpool, how quickly these things spread and also come round again. It had seemed so quickly, mind you we had gone such a long time since the last illness before that so can't complain and when Martha starts Cilch (pre nursery) next week I am sure we will start getting colds frequently again.
I am sure a lot has gone on since then but trying to keep things brief!!
The weekend before Xmas we were in Liverpool visiting family and friends which was nice, busy too. We then had Xmas day just the 4 of us which was lovely and quiet, although we did go to my parents Church Xmas morning as our local one down the road only had a midnight mass. Martha was sort of understanding that Santa had been but not fully and wasn't excited enough to rush down stairs in fact it took some coaxing to get her dressed, she was happy playing with her old toys!!!
Martha and Millie both had loads of presents, both toys and clothes and money, very spoilt little girls, not sure where we are going to put them all- well the money is obvious- a bank account!!! The one present rule was mostly stuck too but they still had loads.
Boxing Day was spent in my parents house and we were there for a few days, both Martha and Millie have been out of sorts over the Xmas week and Liam had some sort of tummy bug, which incidentally my mum has now got. Not sure if all the travelling and different faces, beds and environments in such a short period of time has been too much for them, you think they are fine but when they can't tell you much its difficult to tell. Everything sounded so good on paper but in theory its a different story, things might have to change next year but thats a whole year away now so don't need to think about it just yet!!
Sunday saw us in Ikea buying some bits of storage for their new toys but more so for bookcases for our office. Lately the office has become a dumping ground and getting worse and worse so we have finally decided to do something about it- well I have and I am bossing Liam round, he will thank me for it in the spring when he wants to be in the garden.
So Liam now has the rest of this week off and we are hoping to have some family time together. Tomorrow is New Years Eve and as in the past few years it will probably be a quiet night in with some nice food, wine and a film- maybe even to bed before 12 for me!!!
We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and all the best for 2009.

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Colds are over with for now and there seems to be loads of news so best get on!!

Martha had her very first haircut last week, how scary and exciting. I wasn't sure how she was going to react to having chopping at it, she doesn't like it being brushed much so I went in with my fingers crossed. Funny though went up to the hairdressers on the main road on Thurs morning hoping I could have it cut there and then- she didn't have her scissors!!!? Well anyway went up later that day and she got sat in the chair and the apron went on- first word to come out of Marthas mouth- off!! Great start, however I held her hand and she was fine, kept saying off off off and I think that was more to her hair coming off rather than wanting apron off. I think if sahe had wanted the apron off she would have created more fuss over it. Wasn't sure up until that moment whether she was going to have a fringe or not and in the end I decided to go for it, not sure how long it will last but actually it makes her hair a lot easier to manage as now I don't need clips and bobbles so even though it will need to be cut more often it might actually be worth it. So there we have it Martha had her hair cut!

Sarah turned 30 a few weeks ago and it was arranged that we would have a family meal last Saturday in Morgans in Swansea, very nice hotel and restaurant- I think CZJ has been there. We met early afternoon and had a really lovely meal and catch up with everyone. This was followed by the game (Wales v NZ) and then drinks down the 12. A really good night and a lot of Sarahs friends made it out which was nice for her too. She wasn't as drunk as I thought she might have been in fact it was me who was a little bit worse for wear, but then I have had 10 months off so who can blame me. I was actually ok until we left and got home and then I think the fresh air hit me quite hard! Not a pretty sight.

Martha is now really getting loads of words and putting them together loads now, I think when she goes to the cilch in Jan she will get even better, she is so busy and doesn't stop. She is great.

Millie is now coming along nicely now too and is gurgling loads and smiling loads too, such a lovely time, I know where she is if I put her down and just generally being very cute.

Christmas is fast approaching and I am quite glad to say we are pretty much sorted now and I know the next few weeks will fly by what with it being Marthas birthday next week- can't believe she is going to be 2!! I had a real problem getting to sleep last night and I was thinking loads about Christmas and getting excited about what it will be like in a few years- how sad am I!! Tonight I need to clear my mind and get a good nights sleep!

I updated Liams website the other day and just now have my November pictures to put on there and pictures from Sarahs birthday on Sat. Will do that soon but not tonight. Off to grab an earlyish night.

Playing at being mum!

Colds, colds and more colds!!

So as the title suggests we have had colds. Martha started the ball rolling a week and a half ago and I sort of got mine not long after that. Millie then also started with hers the end of last week and continued into this week. So horrible when they are so little. They both still have fairly nasty coughs too which is not nice. To top it off Liam has one now this weekend which hopefully will see the end of it for a few weeks at least. There is obviously loads of it around there aren't many people I have seen recently who either have had a cold or know of someone who has a cold. Last weekend was pretty tough too as both Millie and Martha both had one night of not being settled. Marthas was a strange one, we were in my parents and we got up in middle of the night to feed Millie, it was when I went downstairs that I heard Martha shouting haaaaa hooooooooo and singing. This was just before 4.00, I went it to see her and she creid and wanted to go downstairs, then she wanted to me to get in bed with her, I finally got her to lie down, however when I left and went back to my room she was still singing!!!!? I went back in, gave her some calpol in case that was the problem and she finally went to sleep around 4.30. My mother had also been up and her room backs onto where Martha sleeps- she had been up since 2.30 singing on and off!! What a strange thing. It had been very windy and rainy and the door next to my parents house had been banging and we thought that might have woken her and then she just couldn't settle. So that was the Saturday night, the Sunday night was Millies turn, she had been fine until she woke to feed, then she just didn't settle at all, she kept coughing and was full of cold and I think that was the problem. Monday then with me being shattered and Millie being ill we then left Martha with my parents to ease things a little bit. Health visitor came out that day and weighed Millie, after my worrying she put on 13oz!!! Made up for the previous week. She was a little bit worried about her illness. So we rung the doctor, not sure I have spoken about the weird system here, you ring up, then the doc rings back and decides whether you should see them!! We rung at 12.00 and were told we would be rung back in the next hour or so, 4.00 still no call. They did finally ring about 4.30 and Liam spoke to the doc (he was working from home on Mon) the doc didn't seem too concerned and said we were more than welcome to go up but we said we wouldn't and if she was worse the next day we would go up. She was better the next day so that was good. She did have a temp on the Sunday night and Monday morning but that had gone by Tues so all good. She still has a cough and a bit of a watery eye but hopefully over the worst now.
Liam is funny, we have a digital thermometer and he keeps saying he has a temp but every time he takes it is fine!! He is pretty under the weather though and he has been good this weekend, still letting me have a lie in this morning- love you!
Got our Xmas shopping pretty much finished last weekend, it was good to get it over and done with, although we did miss having a pram to hook bags onto, our hands were aching so much by the end of it.
This week has been a lot better for me emotionally and hopefully a sign of things to come!?
Oh by the way Liam has found an easier way for me to put pics onto his website so will be doing that over the next few days.

My two beautiful girls

Chilling out with auntie Sarah

Another little blip!!

All has been going well and Millie is in a bit of a routine and is so far (touch wood) good in the nights, up once and then straight back. I had even been saying to my antenatal friends how positive I had been feeling. That was until went to have her first injections on Tuesday, they were fine yes she screamed but even I scream a bit when having injections so who can blame her! However, I also wanted her weighed to just check things were still going well. this is where it all goes wrong. Millie only put on an ounce last week, average is 6-8. So that set me off worrying, health visitor said not to worry but its easy for her to say and especially after what we went through with Martha don't want to do that again. Martha has been full of cold so that has been a bit of a challenge too, such hard work. So anyway looking on things I have probably not been drinking enough fluids for the feeding and also I think my milk had dried up a bit with giving the top ups, so yesterday Millie is still having top ups but I was putting her to the breast a bit more. Today I have noticed the tingling you get when the breast fills up or is ready for a feed and I have leaked a bit again so hopefully things will get back on track next week. If not then we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
On a more positive note Martha has been going down in her bed and not getting up and out again for us to spend quite some time picking her up and putting her back in!! She was fine when she first went in the bed and I think she didn't realise she could get out. Then I think it was not long after Millie was born we tok to getting out and playing all sorts of games, including pretending to cry then stopping when we arrived, pretending to have had a poo to name a few. However since the end of last week she has gone in and stayed in, she was even singing in bed the other night so hopefully we have turned a corner and that stage is over and done with for awhile.
Can't quie belive we are in November already! Liam and I are hoping to take full advantage of my parents this weekend and go to the cinema and go Xmas shopping without the girls. It is actually the only weekend we can do it, unless we want to go one of the last weekends before Xmas- not likely! We have already dnoe quite a bit of shopping (I should say I have!!!) so hopefully we can get it wrapped (get it!) up this weekend.
I have been totally rubbish with photos and I know Liams website needs updating but I don't know how to do it on this computer bu hoefully they will be updated soon.

A little blip!

Well Millie is now 7 weeks old and Liam has been back in work 5 weeks and all well. Almost! Monday was one of those days where I didn't really have anything planned but was quite happy about that but after 2 hours of Millie feeding on me I lost the plot. I think for a few days upto that point I had been worrying that Millie was not getting enough from me, even though she was having top ups. Of course with Marthas early weight issues running through my mind too paranoia was setting in. Not good. Martha was testing the boundaries a little bit too so everything just getting to me a little. Of course when Millie was weighed on Tues she had put on a healthy 6 and half ounces, great. Although something had to be done as I could not go on sitting there for 2 hours constantly feeding, not with Martha to deal with and wanting to be amused. Didn't know whether to give up with the breastfeeding or carry on, half of me wanted to do give up and half of me didn't want to give in!! So anyway I have decided now not to stress too much about things and I am carrying on with the breastfeeding but if Millie is still hungry then she gets a little top up. If my milk dries up through this then I will give up but at least I will have tried. Plus Martha needs me too I am a mother of two now not a newborn only! Will let you know how it goes.
I had a couple of days with my parents this week too which was lovely and helped me too. Its so good having them close by, not sure how I would be coping if we were still living in Hounslow.
Not a lot of other news really, Liam and I are going out tomorrow night for a meal and a couple of drinks, nothing mad really as I am feeding but just a chance to be the 2 of us. Nice having parents close, we went out for our anniversary in the summer, aside from that not sure when we went out the two of us. Looking forward to it.
Will put some pics on here soon, doing better with that lately though don't you think?

My girls

Messing about with Millies hat!

Some pics!

A good week, Millie was a little guzzler last week and it showed on the scales today, a whopping 14 oz gain. A lovely day yesterday and what better than to spend it on the beach, if only we had known how nice it was going to be. No towel or anything to sit on, I must admit when we set off I thought it would have been a nice walk along the beach but not sitting on the beach. Oh well a good day was had anyway. Anyway here are some pics as promised.

Ooppps same pic posted twice, no idea how to get rid of it!!! Oh well at least she is cute!

Its a hard life!

Sound asleep

Just testing out new phone!

Hospitals grr!

Yet again we have spent some time in hospital and lo and behold it was a different one! Not sure there are many more we can sample now!! As I mentioned in my post the other day I was concerned about Millie being very sleepy. She did feed that night but it took a lot of work and was still sleepy Fri morning. I rang the health visitor and just left a message, in the meantime my parents and my gran came to visit. In the afternoon Millie was still sleepy and the health visitor rang me up to see what was up. I explained that Millie was very sleepy and that she had been hard work to feed, also she hadn't had a bowel movement since Tuesday morning. She suggested some tips to get her bowels moving but was concerned about her sleepiness especially as I had said it was out of character for her. So she wanted me to see the GP. Before we went to the docs I tried to wake Millie and give her a feed, I changed her nappy and lifted her legs to her head to hopefully get things moving below. It worked and she let out some wind followed by a very thick brown poo!- Nice! I then gave her a little feed and off we went to docs. The doctor did a pretty thorough examination of Millie and stripped her off to listen to her chest etc. Millie was still asleep and didn't cry, something she hadn't done the last couple of days. She couldn't say what was wrong and wasn't overly concerned but wanted us to go to hospital to be on the safe side.
So here we go another journey to hospital, good job my parents were here as my Dad was able to collect Liam from train station and my mother came with me to Singelton hospital in Swansea.
After examination from the doctor there and the registrar it was decided that bloods would be taken, urine collected and that she would be admitted overnight. No initial concerns though but could see that Millie was drowsy. Liam and I were both allowed to stay so he went home to get our things. Millie and I got onto the ward around 9.30 where we were seen by someone else. By this time Millie was starting to become a little more alert (typical!). They wanted Millie fed 2-3 hourly and nappies were weighed to see how much urine she was passing. The nurses were lovely and woke me up the first time to feed but then Millie woke the second time in the night to feed- whoo hooo!! It was more like 3-4 hourly though which was nice not sure I could have coped with feeding at 1.00 for 45 mins to be woken again at 3.00 etc. I was already tired and feeling worn out- not good for my milk.
This morning the doctors did their rounds and the outcome was that the bloods were ok and they were waiting for the urine sample results. Millie was more alert, had fed well and also cried. We were told that if urine came back ok we could go home but that it would be a couple of hours. I managed to sleep while Liam had some dad to daughter bonding. The nurse then came and told us that the urine would take longer because the lab people were not in on a Sat, so we could take another sample and they would do a general dipstick test, as long as that came back ok we could go home. It did and off we went, we haven't heard anything about the urine sample so hopefully everything is clear. As for what was wrong the only explanation was that it could have been a mild viral infection that cleared itself up. I think maybe the big poo helped!?
Millie was weighed when we got to the hospital and was down a bit from Monday but hopefully thats down to her not feeding much Thurs and Fri and when the health visitor comes out on Monday she will be back up a bit. I feel like my milk has decreased a bit since this has been going on and I know Millie will probably be a little guzzler the next couple of days and I am going to have to try and deal with it so my milk will be up. Liam has said he is going to take Martha out for the day tomorrow so that I can do just that but I think it will probably depend on the weather, what a change since this time last week.
So thats the latest hospital visit, hopefully now that we have been to 4 different one in the area thats it for awhile!!! I think Millie missed out on getting name labels when she was born that she wanted her own set and how else to get them than a visit to hospital!!!

4 weeks already

Yes you've guessed it Millie is 4 weeks tomorrow! I don't know where the time has gone!

Millie has been doing well and is now 8lb 1oz which is pretty much spot on according to the health visitor.

Liam has done almost 2 weeks in work now and it has been ok, sure we have had a few moments but personally not as bad as I thought it would be. Last week was fairly busy which included me seeing Rachel and Daniel for the first time, what a little cutie and another sleepy baby- Millie obviously isn't the only one! Both mother and baby looking and doing well.

The weekend was fairly quiet and Liam was very kind in letting me have a couple of early nights- I love you Liam x

The start of this week Martha spent a couple of nights with my parents which was nice for me to catch up, life is so easy with one small baby!! I don't think I appreciated how easy it was back then when Martha was tiny. LOL! I met up with my antenatal friends for coffee and saw most of the newbies, only one baby left to pop out and one other girl who didn't make it this week but is hoping to next week. Its been every week we have met so far which has been great and hopefully will continue. Its great sharing our stories, concerns, advice and everything else baby or not!

Wednesday I took Martha with my friend Nic and her little boy Jac to a soft play place. It was pretty empty there but we both decided that it was probably better for Martha and Jac as they could play on the stuff on thier own and build their confidence. I am pretty sure if it had been very busy there Martha wouldn't have liked playing, it took her ages as it was to get into it.

Today has been a day of nothing and general household choreness, plus grabbing an hour at lunchtimeness!!! Great! PLus I now have an eye infection- fun!

Tomorrow my Nan is coming to visit and will meet Millie for the first time so that will be nice for them. Plus my parents will be here so yet another chance for a bit of a break. The tiredness is really over whelming at the moment.

Yesterday and most of my days since Liam went back to work have been good days without tears, however today was not one of those days, Millie has slept all day and hasn't taken as much milk as she normally does, she wasn't even waking for feeds I was waking her and she was asleep through the feeds too. I have been worried and I am concerned whether she will wake in the night- listen to me, other people would be praying for a long night!! I have reason though and esp with all the issues we had with Marthas weight. I have decided to see what happens tonight and see how she is in the morning, if she is still sleepy in the morning then I will ring health visitor for some advice.

So thats our news for now, Liam worked out how to upload pics to our website but I can't remember how to do it but for now here are a few for you to look at.

We are crying lots! (Round 2!)

As the title suggests my hormones yet again have been just amazing!! (I had a similar post back in Dec 2006 ranting about my crying!) Last week was quite bad and all could think of was how was I going to get through this week and the following weeks without Liam being here to help. Plus Millies weight dropped to 7lb 6oz which is fine but after the problems we had with Martha I am paranoid! She was weighed again by Tina (midwife) last Thurs and had put on an ounce so was happier then. Health Visitor came today and she is now back up to her birth weight so a lot happier. Also without having Xmas and New Year to screw us over with weigh ins I am sure we will be able to keep on top of things this time.
The weeks while Liam was at home were good, we had his family down a couple of weekends ago which was nice but also quite busy with having Erin (just turned 1) here aswell. My hormones were pretty bad that weekend and then carried on into last week but hopefully things are settling down a bit now! The end of last week was a lot better and I did have a couple of moments over the weekend but nothing like what it had been like. Also today has been my first day with Liam back in work and no tears, apart from a teeny moment this morning with Liam. So quite pleased about that. I think if today had been bad then it wouldn't have set me up well for the week. Not sure who is going to find it harder Liam or me, I think we will both have good days and bad days and we knew this was going to be hard but things will settle down again and I am sure we will cope. If we were in Hounslow I would still be on my own for the majority of the day and night feeds I would be doing because Liam would be in work next day. Having family close by is going to make a big difference and also starting to get to know people in the area now too which is good.
Last weekend we invited a couple of the neighbours round to toast Millie, both Liam and I were very nervous about doing it but it was a good couple of hours and we were both glad we did it. Especially as two of the girls have now become Marthas new best friends!! They are 8 and 10 and want to play with Martha loads which is nice as it keeps her occupied. Also while Liam was putting up our new shed with my Dad on Sat the future son-in-law from across the road came over and started helping. These sorts of things would never have happened in Hounslow. Its just so nice to know the people who you live near and also I now feel like I could actually call on a neighbour if I needed to.
So the rest of the week is going to be busy and I think I will try to keep my weeks like that as staying in all day is no good for anyone. Sure I will have bad days but hopefully more good ones than bad!!
Off to do some household chores now while the two M's are settled. Will put some pics on soon when I take some!!!

Millie Rose Bennett has arrived!

Most of you who read this will already know that Millie Rose Bennett entered the world on Friday 5th September 2008, 8.45pm 7lb 11oz. If you had asked me many months ago when I first found out I was pregnant and the dates were done I would have said that she was going to be born on the 5th of Sept and that I was carrying a girl! I know I should have said then but I did to some people. Only because Martha was due on 2nd of the month and born on the 5th so following that I thought the same would happen with Millie being due on 2nd and then the girl thing was because the first three months were pretty much the same as with Martha. Then people were saying things about the amount of movement and I felt Millie was moving a lot more so thought it could be a boy, then I thought I was carrying the same so thought it was a girl, then I just switched between and should have gone with my gut instinct! As for dates well with the ins and outs of hospital and the fact that head had been engaged so early made me think she was coming early. Well shouldn't have changed my mind should I!!!

So home birth, no I ended up in hospital but mainly because when my waters went there was old meconium (baby poo and a sign of distress) in my waters and the one midwife who was here thought it should be checked out. Also the heart rate dropped slightly but apparantly thats quite normal close to delivery. My midwife Tina wanted us to stay and just have the ambulance on stand by but the other midwife is a bit more traditional and wanted to go by the rules. The reason the other midwife thought it would be ok to stay is because the guidlines are changing and if old meconium is found then it isn't essential that it get checked out as long as everything else is ok. Also by the time the ambulance did arrive on stand by outside the house I was very close to delivering and my midwife Tina was worried that I would deliver on route- its a good 45 min drive to hospital. Anyway when two midwives disagree about what to do then it has to go by the rules so we ended up going in. I was very close to delivering and the ambulance guy was quite worried we would have to pull over. I wouldn't believe I was that close and also thought I was going because I wanted to go and was going to have an epidural!! Totally oblivious to anything else going on!!! I got to hospital at 8.10 and delivered by 8.45 so very close. I did have some pethadine when I got to hospital but it didn't hit me until after I had delivered and think it was given to me to shut me up! I was a lot more vocal this time in labour, even shouted at my mum at one point, last time I was a lot more quiet. The pushing bit surprised me and was over very quickly, less than 10 mins! During labour I wouldn't believe anything Tina told me and thought I was going to be ages in hospital hence the epidural, Tina had told me I was fully dilated but I wouldn't believe her! I didn't believe anything she said!!! I should be more trusting.

It also turned out that if a different midwife had been with Tina then I wouldn't have ended up in hospital. Oh well I had a lot of drama and a ride in an ambulance! Tina has said that as far as she is concerned I had a home birth and only went into hospital to deliver. I even ended coming home that night and was home by 12.30, that was really nice to not have to stay in over night and be in my own bed.

So details over with and now we are a family of 4!!! Martha on the whole has been very good with her and at the moment seems to understand that Millie is with is permanently. I am managing to feed again and so far so good, not being weighed again until 10 days so only time will tell if she is getting enough milk from me. I am trying to make sure that Martha gets lots of attention from me but it is difficult with me feeding. Hopefully things will get easier and I am hoping to do a couple of days next week as if I was on my own. Liam can then get some work done as his two weeks pat leave started last Fri so that would make up for the extra day too. Plus its how its going to be the week after next so need to get to grips with dealing with the two M's!!

Most of the pics will be on Liams website shortly but here are some for you to feast your eyes on. Oh btw a lot of people say she looks like Martha, I do see that but it seems to be more in pics than in real life!!??

Nope no baby yet!

I did say the other night that I was going to post on here now once the baby has arrived but unfortunately no baby has arrived as yet but on the upside I have some news!
Martha has done her first poo on her potty!!!!! LOL!!! How exciting and great timing!! She has been very aware down below for some time, saying when she is having poo's and wee's so we bought a couple of potties. She has sat on them with clothes on but very reluctant without and when she has sat on it it has only been for a few seconds. So earlier on Liam went to the toilet and she followed and wanted to take her trousers off and go on the potty so Liam let her, she was then just pottering around in the bathroom when all of a sudden she pulled a strained face. I quickly put her on the potty and she stayed there- thankfully don't know what mess we would have had if she hadn't stayed put. So anyway there we have it her first official poo on the potty. We weren't going to do anything proper about her potty training until she was really ready and could pull her trousers down and also when baby was here and in a bit of a routine, so in a way it couldn't have come at a worse time. We shall have to see what she does tomorrow now!

On another note she is now on a reward chart as I was finding general things like changing a nappy, getting dressed, eating etc have become a little more on her terms and taking a long time. I am not going to be able to spend the time with this when baby arrives so she now has stars when she has been good, she now has 7 stars and is responding well to it. I am not sure she totally understands but she does like the stars. I think also with everything that has gone on over the last few weeks she has been out of a routine, has spent time with my parents and a bit messed about so I don't think that has helped her but hopefully now after having a good week here not being too messed around will settle her back a bit.

Back to baby news, my friend Rachel was due to give birth 2 weeks after me, well like all her friends who are/ have been pregnant and due over the last few weeks or so she went and gave birth early. Daniel Aneirin was born on Sunday morning 5lb 13oz! I predicted ages ago that she would as my other friend did the same to me when I was pregnant with Martha, then with everything that happened with me I thought no. She did very well and went into labour on Sat night/ early Sun morning and got to hospital 8cm dilated, she had been adamant she wanted an epidural but managed without- well done Rach! I am very proud of you and pleased for you and Dean.

As for my baby news I am now officially late and most bets are on for Friday, months ago when I found out I was pregnant and due on the 2nd Sept I said that it wouldn't be the 2nd but the 5th as Martha had been due on the 2nd but came on the 5th. Silly I know but you never now we could start a trend and birthdays would be easy to remember! Also my periods were always very regular but instead of being 28 days they were 31 days so going on that it would put it three days later like Martha, some docs go with your actual amount of days others go with regular 28 days. I suppose only time will tell and the baby will be born when its good and ready.
I am pretty sure now that I will be posting once baby has been born but you never know I might have a lot more news soon!!

Wish me luck!

What a couple of weeks!

Liam has been hassling me about updating this as the last time I updated I had had what I thought was a tummy bug with my stomach being quite tender.
I felt fine the rest of that weekend and went out on the Monday to meet my antenatal friends, ate normally- tummy was still tender though. Anyway something was telling me after lunch to go and spend the afternoon with my parents, the afternoon turned into the evening and I was going to stay the night. Until just before 10.00 I had these unbelievable cramps right down at the bottom of my stomach, just like you get when you haven't quite made it for a pee!! Anyway out of range from my midwife was told to either get back home to Ammanford or go to hospital local to my parents. I then decided that if I came back here the midwife would have to come out and if still in pain prob end up making another 45 min journey to hospital. So in the end rung the local hospital and they sent a midwife out who said it could be a urine infection and I needed to go to hospital. In the meantime Liam had been called and was making his way to Paddington all set to come home which I decided he should do at that moment as I wanted him with me.
On way to hospital pain changed and I had pain in my back and front exactly like contractions but just one constant one and really thought I was in labour. Got to hospital and they checked me over, lots of protein and ketones in urine, asked if I had been sick or not eaten- answer no had been fine since the Friday before, told my I was not in labour and gave me some pethadine for the pain I was having- it did nothing whatsoever!!! The pain finally died away but then I was left with this awful dull but painful ache in my side. Liam arrived at hospital gone 3 in the morning and then stayed with me. Inital thoughts from medics was that it was indeed a urine infection. Next day the doctor had wanted 24 hour urine collection and a scan, neither of which was carried out and the doc I did see said it was most likely muscular as. I was then moved to the ward and just being monitored through the day, care was useless and reminded me of when I had been in hospital afterwards with Martha on the postnatal ward. Nurses chatting away and no answers or help. So anyway day goes on, parents come with Martha and I ask if I can go home, answer no as I was still in pain. Liam leaves and was just leaving the building as I had been put on a monitor- babies heart rate drops and I am told I am off to labour ward to have an emergancy c section! Liam comes back, I am on labour ward strapped up again and lo and behold heart rate back up, baby having a nice old dance!! Saw the first doc who wanted to know why I hadn't had scan and urine collected!!?? Anyway as heart rate was back up I was told that if heart rate dropped again I would be having a c section and that I had to be monitored all night!
Heart rate did drop once again but this time docs were in surgery and by the time they had come out heart rate was back up and didn't need c section.

Another disturbed night, no c section and then different docs, had to have a scan. No problem there- just the communication- had the scan at 11.00, it took them 3 hours to get the results upstairs to where I was on ward! Still in a lot of pain and prob getting worse because I was getting uptight with no answers. Martha also saw me in pain and now if I even pull a slightly painful face then she is Mummy ow ow. Not good! Anyway I kicked off and all of a sudden there were loads of people round my bed trying to find out what was wrong, did bloods and urine again and came back ok, checked for appendicitus to rule it out too. So in the end was sent home with what they thought was muscular pain!! Why couldn't I have gone home on Tuesday and saved all the emotions. It was really horrible on the Wed as I really thought we were having a c section, all the girls who had been induced on the ward the day before had their babies and I could see them it was not nice, I just wanted my baby.

So days of rest were what followed with the pain easing over the days- being at home helped. Friday I was to see the consultant to see if I needed to be induced so that the if the pain was not baby related then baby could come out and then more invasive tests could be done, well he was a bit useless and I was sent home without anything other than another date to go down after due date has passed. On that Friday I hadn't been able to give a urine sample and I was conscious of that all day. I hadn't passed water since 7/8 in the morning, a call to m/w suggested I needed to go down to hospital. Off we go this time to Carmarthen hospital and of course as soon as I get there I pass water! They strap me up to monitor, everything else fine so jsut watching me, again you get the usual nurses chatting and laughing but no care or answers- I really hate hospitals now! In the end I was moved to a ward but passed water again, they were happy with the sample and thankfully was sent home!

Still in alot of pain and discomfort over the weekend and quite tired so lots of rest was had and needed. Sat night arrives and I get this back ache like I had before I went into labour with Martha, didn't sleep well that night and thought I had a few minie contractions, well that didn't turn into anything and was still having back problems when Liam left for work Tuesday morning. I was seeing my own midwife that morning and she did an internal to see where we were at as she said with everything that had gone on and the back ache that something wasn't right. Things had moved on since last internal in first hospital which was good and she said cevix was nice and soft too, she also said a lot of other things and was explaining them very well I am sure but a lot of it was going over my head! I also got my parents over as didn't feel like I could deal with Martha on my own with my back the way it was and was also worried about being on my own. So my mother moved in for the rest of this week just gone until Liam came home yesterday. It was great having her around and support with Martha- all this would have been horrible in London. Saw midwife again on Thursday and she is off next week!!! But has said she isn't going anywhere and will do her best to be with me when I do go into labour. She did another internal and said things had changed slightly but no imminent signs of labour that day. However since then have had the odd contraction here and there and a few more today but that could be braxton hicks and could go on for awhile yet. Also had a show though so will see what the next few days bring!! Hope that wasn't all too confusing for you all and I am off to bed for an early night- trying to get as much sleep in as possible before baby arrives. Will probably post again now when baby has put in an appearance! By the way latest consensus is its a boy as only a boy could cause this much trouble! Bets are being taken on due date now.

Feeling rough!

So for the last week or so I have been convinced things are moving with regards to the baby. Head has really been pushing down this week and that has led me to believe, rightly or wrongly that baby will not make due date! My mother was away yesterday and today and was so paranoid that something was going to happen. So Thursday night arrives and I lie down to go to sleep and I feel really sick, then I spend most of the night up and down on the toilet and tossing and turning in bed not really sure whats up. Yesterday morning when I finally get the energy to get out of bed and deal with Martha I feel rough as. Get Martha and myself some breakfast, however I can't eat mine as still feeling sick. Still back and forth the toilet, some say you empty your bowels before labour but this was crazy. Not sure what to do for best and just about managing with Martha decided to give in and call my Dad. He came over to give me a rest and looked after Martha. In the meantime I decided to speak to the midwife, not knowing really if there was anything she could do, in my mind it was a tummy bug. She came out and did a routine check and sent some urine off to be tested. She then informed me that the babies head is 3/5's engaged, something that didn't happen with Martha until the very end. She also thought the way I was moving that something might be happening. Poor midwife found it difficult to decide whether it was a tummy bug or something else, she also said if it was a tummy bug that it could set things off. My stomach was aching so much if it was something else yesterday I don't think I would have had the energy to go through labour at home. After trying to get some rest and trying to eat- unsuccesfully with both, the midwife rung to see how things were, as I was still feeling sick she said it was most likely a tummy bug or something I had eaten.
So anyway after a much better nights sleep last night, I am feeling a lot more refreshed and been able to eat a lot more today. My stomach still feels very tender and I am getting twitches every now and then - contractions, braxton hicks- who knows only time will tell, all I know is that I am very uncomfortable! Liam now doesn't know whether to go back to London on Monday or whether to work from home. I think we will have to see how I am feeling this time tomorrow night. My own feeling is that if he goes to London something will happen and if he doesn't then we will just be waiting and could be for another couple of weeks or even more! I am only 37 weeks now. So well thats the latest update and will try to keep you informed of any other developments- if I can!

Life in Wales

7 weeks in or is it 8, either way can't believe we have been living here that long!! A nice week last week with Liam coming home early on Wed for our anniversary which was lovely and will probably make this week that much harder! Finished my antenatal classes last week also so that means the following weeks are going to be a bit quieter, well until baby arrives at least! Although was brave enough to suggest we meet up and are doing so next Mon for a mid morning cuppa. There are 7 of us I think and if I ome away with a couple of good friends then great, if I come away with 6 good friends then even better! They will be my first friends I will have made in the area, apart from a few conversations with the neighbours. I am sure when Martha starts her little welsh nursery in January then I will meet more parents there. Also there is the chance I will meet others when I finally start going to Mother and Baby/ Toddler groups. This week is a fairly quiet week with the only thing planned is my next antenatal appointment with the midwife. Thats on Wed so there is no chance of me meeting one of my friends either as thats her only day off. I suppose I could get on with sorting out the office and empting some more boxes but probably won't, hoepfully the weather will be nicer this week and Martha and I can get out and do some nice things together before baby arrives.

Liam and I had a nice 3rd anniversary this week and we went out for a really nice meal last night. We went to a place in Llandeilo which is about 25 mins drive away but it doesn't matter seeing as I am not drinking currently. Its a nice hotel and quite well known in the area and I am not surprised the food was really really nice. If I hadn'tbeen pregnant we might have stayed over and really splashed out but hey maybe next year. I have been reminiscing a bit the last couple of weeks about our wedding, can't believe it was 3 years ago but also feels like it was a few weeks ago. I have had the book which everyone signed out and its been quite funny reading some of the comments people wrote to us. Also looking at pictures has been really good. I said at the time that I would get married all over again as the day was so good, especially getting dressed up like that- I would still do it again! I wonder if I will ever lose that feeling?

35 weeks pregnant now, nearly 36 and can't believe the time has gone so quickly! Starting to get a bit uncomfortable now but don't want these last few weeks to go too quickly as trying to enjoy my time with just Martha. I am quite concerned how she will react when the baby arrives, I think a lot of spoiling her will be necessary. I am sure everyone around us will do that though anyway. Hopefully I will be updating on here before baby arrives and in the meantime here is a pic of me now. If you want to compare you can go right the start of my blog and find a pic of me about a week before I was due last time, obviously a few weeks difference but comments on shape, gender of baby are all welcome, the jusy is def out down here!!

Marthas new room

Well did promise some time ago that I would put some pics of Marthas new room on here, here they are!

Back in the land of internet!!

As you can see from the title I am back online, even if I did break two computers last week trying to get online, how desperate can one girl be!!! It is great being back online though.
Shame is we are not wireless yet, that will be even better, I am never happy!!!

So Marthas room was painted and decorated now we just need to set up her bed, put up some shelves and rearrange the furniture. Hopefully that will be done over the next week or so and then I will post some pics for you to see. We can then set up the babies room so thats all ready to go. Only 6 weeks left now!! Feeling quite positive about the birth at the moment and thats after watching a home birth at antenatal classes last week too, that sort of brought it home a bit but fingers crossed it will all go to plan. I really hated being in hospital last time after the birth, the post natal ward was horrific and I think if I keep remembering that then I will be fine!!! Scary!

Whilst on the subject of pics, some of you will remember that I posted a link to a photo shoot we had done a few weeks ago now. Well we decided to get hold of the CD and now have in our posession all the images. If you would like to order them then you can do so through us, we will be a lot cheaper than the website but might be slightly higher than the shops so we can make a bit of money back.

So far things are going well with Liam commuting each week, I did have a bad day last week and that affected Liam too, I got all emotional over broken computers- how sad but then the tears wouldn't stop coming! Hormones. I think the real test will be when the baby arrives and Liam is back in work.

Can't believe we have been here now for over a month, it is incredible where the time goes. Speaking of which its our anniversary next week, 3 years where did that time go!!! Liam has decided to come back Wed next week instead of Friday and work from home for two days. It will be a good test to see how he actually manages to work from home as we are hoping he will be able to make it 4 days in London and 3 at home after Xmas. I need to stay out of his way!
Lost the point there, wedding anniversary, lol, Liam will be home which will be really nice and then we are going out to a localish restaurant on Sat evening for a nice meal. Martha will be at my parents so a lie in too- yummy, can't wait!

Will post some pics soon, promise!!!

Settling in

Well in a few spare minutes that I have got at my parents I thought I wold quickly update!
Can't believe we have now been in Wales nearly 3 weeks! The boxes are slowly disappearing and rooms are looking like the rooms they are meant to be now rather than dumping grounds.
I have been quite busy and I think thats why the time has flown by.

Met my midwife last week and I am hoping for a home birth this time, the midwife seemed to think I would be able to cope ok with it, on with the hypnotherapy CD and pregnancy relaxation CDs then. Also need to carry on with my yoga, when I get a chance. The midwife was really nice and someone who will hopefully be there during my labour. Can't believe we only have 8 weeks
left.

Last weekend Liam and I spent some time getting things for Marthas room which is very exciting and we are getting someone to paint and wallpaper for us next week, pics will be on here once its finished. Unfortunately the baby will have to put up with the room Martha is in for now and later on we will decorate it with a new carpet and a colour. Its not quite the same the second time around!!! Poor child!!!

As for the whole Liam working away thing, both Liam and I said it hadn't been too bad last week, I personally have felt the same this week, not sure about Liam this week though!?

This weekend is Erins Christening and Liam and Martha will both be going to Liverpool for it. I have decided not to go as I don't think I will cope very well with the journey and travelling such a long distance. I have been quite tired this week so think its for the best. So sorry Jen, Erin and Shea that I won't be there, hope you have a good day, will be thinking of you.

Pics (by Liam)

Hi, Liam here, I am posting for Ruth as she has no internet access unless she drives 3-4 miles down the road and sits in Tescos car park. Anyway, I have a couple (well a lot actually) of photos to keep you going until she is online. Liam

P.S. The pics are in a really odd order because I can't quite work out how to move them. Hope it kind of makes sense.

This is the view from a road about 5 mins from our house. I was driving down it and decided to stop as it really shows the main reason we decided to move.

This is the upstairs bathroom.

The is the room currently known as "The room that will be Martha's room". That's because we are going to make it Martha's room. One day...

This is another bedroom at the front of the house, this is the one known as "The place where all the stuff to go in the attic goes." We try not to think about this room.

This is the upstairs shower room.

This is the landing, for completeness, should have been at the bottom but can't really work out how to move it. Don't worry, things do get better again.

Downstairs bathroom, complete with unopened boxes, this is a bit of a feature of the house at the moment - but we're getting there...

Alcove in our bedroom, there is a little bathroom behind me.

Our bedroom.
Another view of our bedroom.

This is the room Martha is sleeping in at the moment, but she will be moved into the other room when it is ready.

The dining room from the kitchen

The kitchen (extra points if you can spot Ruth, she didn't want to be in the pic so hid but you can play "Where's Wally" - or "Where's Waldo" for the Americans out there...)

Closer in on the dining room

Martha's toy room - she has far too many!!!

The office, it's a bad picture for a number of reasons, not least that you can see my pants in it... but it's the only one I have so here it is.

We live somewhere on the left of this picture, probably hidden by the trees.

Our fish pond (hope Ruth remembers to feed them while I'm not there)

The garden
The garden from the other end, and the back of the house.

The vegetable patch close up.