An unexpected night...

It has been an age since I have posted on this blog, I am not sure what has stopped me, the only thing I can think of, sat here on the sofa musing over a cup of tea, is life.  Week days have their routine and fly by all too quickly and the recent weekends for us have been a little crazy.
June has whizzed by with Pip in New York on a work trip the first weekend, followed by cricket for him the following weekend and then his cycle race (London to Brighton), which he achieved in 7 hours (proud wife) last weekend while I had a jolly of my own up to London and also a wedding (beautiful day) to attend!

Medals at the finish line (and apparently Mick never smiles for a photo...)

And then here we are the 24th of the month already and baby #2 birth a mere 6 weeks away, or not depending on your take on Monday/Tuesday's events....

Just before I share our eventful 24 hours I will take my usual time to document size/weight of this bubs.  As per advice online baby D is now around 45cms in length, it still baffles me how that is all fitted inside my somewhat neat bump, and should be weighing in at a slightly alarming 4.5lbs!  I am all out for any vague food comparisons without refering back to CC blog from HT's story.  But in case you are curious, in this weather it amounts to a slightly uncomfy, unbalanced feeling :)  I have fallen on my backside several times the last few weeks, strangely I am crouching down more than last time, and each time J thinks is Really Funny.  Hahaha son.  It's actually the getting up that's more of a problem...

And so to our eventful day. Monday I awoke feeling decidedly out of sorts and bubs had definitely shifted down, very down.  I had a very achey pelvic area and was walking very much John Wayne style.  I took the morning as holiday (having spooked Marie about potential labour twinges and told her I would draft handover emails to my colleagues) and spent some welcome time with Pip to see how I felt - we popped out for a coffee and some baby bits - and logged on to work from home in the afternoon, the aches now coming and going and me thinking I was very much over thinking things.
The evening continued and off to bed we went with me still grumbling about how odd I felt.

At around half mid-night I woke feeling a familiar pain.  It is strange how something I have only experienced once before can be referred to as familiar.  I led in bed and sleepily kept an eye on things and they were certainly coming and going so nudged Pip awake and told him.  After an hour and 8 or so "contractions" I got up and went downstairs to make-up a hot water bottle and test whether I was being a bit neurotic and talking myself into something that actually wasn't happening.
Being me I wrote a quick list of things to do; Home, Work, James breakfast routine...
Pip got up, re-made our spare bed (for mum), called mum (who then woke Ali - much appreciated at half 2 in the morning!), brought down our hospital bag and essentially completed half the things on the list I had written. Uncanny doesn't cover that...
While we waited for mum to arrive I called the Labour Line - yes it is actually called that and they agreed with Pip that at this early stage I should really pop to the hosp for the once-over.

And so there Pip and I were walking onto labour ward at quarter past 3am  where I was promptly strapped up and monitored and tested.  Emma our midwife had a very dry sense of humour and after a passing comment from a colleague about another patient wanting pain relief Pip and I both sensed she had not had the easiest of nights.  Pip passed comment and given her "it would be very unprofessional of me to comment on other patients needs" reply and the tone we said it in we shared a chuckle.
Bubs heart rate was in the 160's so I was told to lean back and relax and press the beeper everytime I felt bubs move.  We stayed like this for a fair old while, listening to the radio that Emma had put on to "wake everyone up" - lady its gone 4am, some of us haven't really slept.....  But Seal, Lionel and other disco classics did the trick.

One bump strapped up for monitoring

I had a slightly more invasive test that I think was checking hormone levels to confirm if I was in/about to go into labour, while we waited for the results we were told (again) that 34 weeks is a little earlier than preferred and also that Southampton's Neo-Natal unit was full at the moment - as it's one of the biggest locally I sent a silent prayer out to those parents with children there, having gone through some emotions towards the potential experience Pip and I thought we were about to have - so I could be shipped anywhere.  The not most jolly consultant jumped from Bristol to Liverpool during the conversation which I can assure you got an eyebrow in response (even at 5am)....

But the results came back with no baby on the horizon so now there seemed to be a little bemusment as to what was causing my symptoms.  The solution seemed to be a dose of painkiller and to see how I was after an hour of taking it.  While we waited Pip headed off to make a cuppa (nectar) and we played scrabble on his tablet.  Another midwife came back with my painkiller and released me from my straps to I could nip to the loo and then we were moved round to a labour room for monitoring.

The labour room, well!  When we arrived at Princess Anne to have James we were told by the midwife that we were in the smallest room (it wasn't that pokey) but now Pip and I saw what she meant.  Tuesday we had a bathroom, with an actual bath!  The luxury!  Though I said to Pip I felt a fraud being in there as we weren't going to be using it.  As I called mum to check in (she had apparently, unintentionally, shocked James so much with her appearance with morning milk that he simply stared at her saucer-eyes instead of having his drink) Pip headed out for toast (best tasting food ever) and we played more scrabble and then drifted off in our respective chair and bed.

Another midwife tapped the door at around 8.15am to see how we were offer us a drink and tell us the Dr would be around shortly to see how I was doing.  I was now pain and ache free and despite little sleep felt much more myself than I had Monday.  We awaited the Dr.  and another (the third) all-clear wee sample later the Dr. said that they weren't really sure what had caused my false alarm, the test they had completed not only confirmed I wasn't in labour but also tells that my body isn't likely to start the process for a couple of weeks unless the situation changes i.e. my waters break, how clever a test is that?!  I find it amazing that a simple swab can give so much information about what the body is up to.  He went on to say that the painkiller seemed to have worked and that if I needed anything more than a couple of paracetamol in the next few hours then I should go back but we were free to go.  Off we headed to collect James from mum and headed home for slightly worn out day!

Yet again I find myself grateful for the excellent care we received at Princess Anne, we were seen and treated by 7 different people in our 6 hour visit and felt comfortable and very looked after the whole time.

Now I just have to mentally cross my legs for a fortnight at least and hope for that lovely labour room when we return soon enough!

A preggo and her bride chum

Dear James,

Hello handsome,

I've been meaning to write this since before we went away on holiday, you are growing and changing so much I want to document a few of the changes along the way.
However I am going to have to skip forward a month and document up to present day.

playing in the tent with your sibling..., no wait, that's your dad....

You are now 18 months old, what a milestone!  It's so exciting to see you learning and developing, you are so much fun as well as so much work.
We have a little temper issue that we are all working through, it generally involves a fit from you and if you end up led on the floor in the strop, we step over you and leave you to it - trying not to smile at the site of such a wee person having such a fit.  I explain it to most akin to an advert that used to be on tele involving a child having a tantrum in the middle of the supermarket but the mothers joins is and has one to, shoots the child a look that says "done?" and they both get up and move on.  I forget what the advert was actually for but your wobblies are reminiscent of it.

Evidence that your not always such a cutie...

Fun in the sandpit

Trying out the books in my new book kit

Other than these boundary testing sessions, that are a little too frequent for our liking at the moment, you are a love.  My little love, as I call you.

Rocking the sunglasses, for 10 seconds, a record!

You have a full set of nashers, that sometimes catch your dad or I by surprise if we are not paying attention at mealtimes and a wicked sense of humour.  The strangest things seem to make you laugh and laugh and laugh;  your dads stubble (yuck), granny C spinning a biscuit tin lid, a ball bouncing where we say "bo-ing, bo-ing, bo-ing" and you have also been through a phase of trying out a grown-up laugh, a mixture of your dads and my chuckle (please do not copy my laugh...!) but if you laugh enough you resort to a toddler giggle, which makes the whole situation even funnier.

Family selfie

You have recently discovered words and your vocabulary increases daily it seems, current favourites are "bubble" and "purple", though "yellow" and "toot-toot" are popular too.  This weekend you just about said Bob (we thought that was easier to master than Uncle Rob) as he was down for a visit and thankfully (I jest not) an attempt at Ali, if you hadn't have come up with something you'd have had to pull a major cute to redeem yourself!

SMILE, the cheeky chappie returns

With regard to your future brother/sister, you know where the "baby" is a regularly poke what's left of my tummy button and recognise pictures of children smaller than you and say "baby".  I hope when the little one arrives you are able to understand when we explain that "baby" is no longer in my tummy but an actual being but we shall deal with that as and when Doherty Jr. arrives and we are a family of four!

My ultimate Easter nests...

Another slightly impromptu post but it's about cake so only half a surprise!

Sadly this cake is not overly baby related in size but I can advise that bubs is now around the length of a school ruler and in this coming week develops hearing so will be able to experience my laugh in its full glory :)

This weekend, which started on Friday for us as Pip took the day off and we headed to the activity farm; photo's below, as it's almost Easter conversation turned to easter nests and I discovered with great shock that Pip never had (does not recall) a homemade easter nest cake when he was younger.  We had them every year, Cadbury Mini eggs and all...  They are not something I ever remember making, unless I made them as a child at home or at Girls Brigade, so decided that perhaps I should dabble.

Up went a facebook post to discover what is truly the best option - facebook is of course the oracle for these life choices; Cornflakes or Shredded Wheat? (mixed answers) and a new option popped up; raisins or not raisins??

And off to the BBC Food website for a recipe

As I was testing shredded wheat against the cornflake option I doubled the recipe, added in a handful of raisins to each dry mix and ended up with a bit more chocolate as (here comes the Ultimate part) I added in a Terry's Chocolate Orange!!!   To explain, I purchased the TCO first - they were on offer in the petrol station when I paid for fuel and I thought "Sod it, why not?", then I topped up the chocolate with Co-op's cheapest, so it balanced off!  And in true food blogger style I took photos of the process too...

Ta-da

The majority are off into work tomorrow as 24 cakes is pushing even my limits so Tracy and Rachel look out!

"oh crap, I just dropped some"

My ever photogenic hubs, taste testing

Melted mixture

Mixture pre-melt

Cornflakes...

....or Shredded Wheat

An impromptu recipe and a rough night

Thursday evenings, a fairly standard evening you might think and it was for us too.  James and I had received a short notice invite to dinner at my mums, so I purchased a pud to take a long.  My mums lasagne, to us kids, is a family staple meal, the sort of meal that if it's offered, you head back home for.  Thankfully James feel's the same about Granny C's lasagne (and also Waitrose bread & butter pudding with custard).

We headed home, J went down to sleep, I caught up on the ironing, the usually thrilling activities.  Pip came home, we chatted and headed to bed.

Sometime later I woke, to the sound of J coughing and then could hear that he wasn't really settling afterwards.  You know the sort of sleep you get when you wake refreshed then realise you've had about an hour?  I had had that sort of sleep.
I went in to check on J and discovered him, bleary eyed and smelly, one end and a nasty surprise (above mentioned lasagne and pud) the other.
Baby change, sheet, jammies, sleep bag and ducky in the bath, scrabble around for spare sheet, fetch semi-sleeping baby from parents bed (having cleaned him up with babywipes - Pip told me this weekend he still reeked as he lovingly nuzzled into Pip for cuddles), silently congratulate oneself on dealing with night-time illness unaided by hubs, head back to bed.
Half an hour later, come-to, hear more coughing and unsettled baby.  Fear the worst.  Go to check on J and fears are confirmed, repeat the above (why do small children lie in said nasty surprise rather than move?) minus the parents bed part, from there on replace with call Pip to fetch Rufus (toy) from downstairs as J more awake this time and rather bemused as to why mumum is stripping him off and trying to pop him in a sleep suit while trying to remember where the spare spare sheet/blanket combo is. Whisper in agreement with hubs when he suggests loading the washing machine - at 1am - (even at that hour the thought of vommy sheets, jammies etc. the following morning was Not appealing).
And as all good things come in 3's, now super sensitive-to-baby-not-sleeping mum hears child stir again a short while later and makes it into the room to rescue baby, blankets and toys from vom.  Silently congratulates oneself on minor achievement whilst thinking we actually have no spare sheets left for the cot.  Hubs duly folds a single bed sheet to lay in the cot.  A quick wet wipe later and a cuddle with a truly smelly baby and head to bed at 1.45am.

Despite the video above Friday James was as wiped out as we were so while Pip had to head into work this preggo spent a morning nap researching house insurance quotes and savings account over a cup of (very strong) tea.  Lunch was at the Uni with Pip and during a brief stroll round Shirley I decided that Friday afternoon could only be made better by a cake, a marble cake (not sure why) so we nipped in to purchase some ingredients and headed home.  J for another nap and me to bake. A Mary Berry Chocolate Marble cake no less, recipe here.

I took liberties and added in some chopped walnuts to the vanilla half of the cake, which has added some good texture and I would suggest upping the vanilla favouring generally to the cake as it uses less that I would add to a standard cupcake recipe.
Also, check how large your loaf pan is, turns our mine isn't a 2lb tin...

Cake did indeed make Friday better and while I am now on high alert for every cough during the night (super-sensitive-to-baby-sleeping has bitten me the rest of the weekend and I am pooped!) we have had no further incident and have caught up and dried all the washing and even managed to finish hanging the wallpaper in the lounge!

Halfway through!

So far this week we have had our mid-way anomoly scan and quite the hissy fit from our first born. 

It seems that teeth are not the only thing to rock up early with J we get the "terrible two's" as well, hurrah!

But to more exciting things, the scan was great, all is well, everything is where it should be and measuring in at the right place.  It still amazes me that someone can see so much on what to Pip and I looks like a mass of grey.

The scan pics are not so brilliant as bubs was laying round the wrong way - helpful - so I shall pass on popping them on this blog; in one you can vaguely make out a nose and in the other a slightly horror movie style skull.  Instead they shall be tucked away for prosperity (and a reminder of what you get for £10...)

Finally, I am starting to look pregnant, while I shouldn't knock the lack of a bump thus far, comments of "you don't look" pregnant with pointed looks at my tum are starting to wear a little thin.  Of course, I hope, said with the best of intentions but in equal measure part of me wishes to respond "no really, I hadn't noticed" or "I'm not in the habit of lying about being pregnant..." I blame pregnancy hormones but I'd hazard a guess that some might disagree...!

Helping in the garden!

The last couple of weeks have been fairly average in activity in the Doherty household. We have finally managed to tackle some decorating, since moving in almost a year ago.  Pip thinks I am nesting.  I say if we haven't started decorating with one kiddo then with 2 it's going to be nigh on impossible!

I've also been out in the garden tidying things up.  I prepared well on one occasion and togged up James, took out some toys etc. and still, before I had even picked up the gardening gloves, he'd gone down onto the tarmac and cut his nose and face.  High drama and cuddles later, we ventured back outside and boom! within 5 minutes he was on his back with a bump to his head.  10 minutes after that he tripped up a small step.  At this point I could do nothing but chuckle and he gave up crying as he tripped up the same small step another 3 times...

It was Mother's Day here in the UK this last weekend and I was treated to a lovely waffle breakfast with bacon and fruit. I received a waffle maker (I have been after one for months) and also a voucher for a trip to a gelato house of my choice.  Anyone sensing a theme here?

Along with some daffodils given out at church and a tea round at (my) mums that afternoon I had a lovely day.  Although this is my second Mothering Sunday I still can't quite get into my head that that means me now, I only think of it for my mum!

The best of a bad bunch from Mothers Day, my boy does not like to smile for the camera!

Talking of mums, mine has had another birthday this month.  I've passed on birthday posts this year but if I had written one it would generally have said Thank You in large brightly coloured letters.  Mum has been fantastic this last year and a great support looking after James while I returned to work.  

Pip's mum has had her second knee replaced and seems to be making quite the swift recovery.  I sense that the arrival of grandchild #2 may be nudging that along a bit as I am sure she has given herself the target of driving down in August.

We have received our first gifts for baby #2.  A great set of clothes from (Aunty) Ali and a lovely mixed bag from mum, which included a couple of knitting books - animals and nursery rhyme characters - a My First Charlie Bear and a book to record the first year milestones.  

Gifts for the new arrival (and me)

Ginger biscuits and a movie premier!

So as we move into week 17 bubs #2 is about 5 inches long from bot to head and definitely having a wriggle around now.

I'm did try to bake something of vague size comparison, ginger buttercream biscuits - partly for Granny C for looking after J at hers this week, due to a slight vom situation Pip and I found ourselves dealing with too early Tuesday morning - however, they were so darn delicious that I didn't really get a chance for a photo...
Here's the recipe for anyone that wishes to give it a whirl, note if you work with me, please bring them into the office :)  Despite not being a fan of ginger, mum is hence making them with her in mind, I would still up the teaspoons of ground ginger to give them a bit of a kick.

My 16 week midwife appointment went well, despite leaving a nasty scratch on another car in the car park.  I did leave a grovelling note of apology on the wind screen but haven't heard anything back, thus adding to the guilt I feel.  Our car is bright red, their Volvo was a very black, black.  And now has a small red go faster stripe down its drivers door...
Anyway, all seems well with me and baby, heart rate, blood pressure (despite the car prang!) and wee check all in order and I don't go back until I'm 28 weeks.  I said to the midwife sounded ages away, especially when you think that its 12 weeks before baby is due, oh my!
She said that if I feel I want to have a chat with someone I can always book in a further appointment but for "low risk" pregnancies 2nd time round they are happy not to see you!

Now we're just waiting for the 2nd scan to come around and it feels that so many more people are keen to know if we are going to find out the flavour of this baby.  I'm not sure, is the short answer.  Does it matter to us either way?  Not in the slightest.  Do I have an inkling for a girl so we're equal?  Not especially, though I do Love our chosen girls name!  Would it be nice to know so we know whether to go shopping or not?  Maybe, but thats only because I'm me and prefer everything in order.  Something I have learnt rapidly simply has to go out the window a lot with a small person around, let alone 2.

Pancake anyone?

In other news James has particpated in his first proper Shrove Tuesday, by participate I really mean, had a pancake with Nutella in it and ended up with more on him then in him but I think its border line right of passage to have a "messy face" photo when you're little...

Not quite pancake day but spot the choccie spread...

Discovering the fun of a den this week

 Ali and I went on a bit of a jolly this week and were lucky enough to have a preview of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel through Pips work.  A local charity was launching a new scheme that involves encouraging older people back into a local community via the medium of cinema, I hadn't realised quite what the evening was for and while the speeches went on for a while longer than we had thought, Student Union cinema seats are not os comfy as they could be, it was really interesting to hear about the work the charity does: http://www.damaris.org.uk/ 

It was a great premier evening and Ali and I had a great time, I'd absolutely recommend the film to those who enjoyed the first one, Maggie Smith is tremendous and educates americans in the finer art of making a cup of tea.

Me and the sis

Me and the almost there bump

Hopefully below you can see the dancers that greeted everyone as we left the showing!

Disclaimer: this post has not been proof read by Pip, I hold my hands up to any typos, spelling or grammar errors

Week 15; shoes and meringues

This week I am into week 15 of this pregnancy, maybe because I think I'm feeling some movements in the last few days I feel like this is a big deal. 15 weeks in, 25 to go; in 6 months time our new addition should (had better) be here.  It shall have a name, an identity and a big brother that will be trying to gauge what "it" is and what it does with "it".

According to some info I have read bubs #2 is approx 4 inches in length this week, the size of an apple.  Now I'm not sure what sort of apple this app is referring to but judging by the last lot that were in our veg box ones from a different tree...

To me 4 inches is the size of a good, non-work, pair of shoes.  Shoes for a night out; drinks, dinner, the cinema.  Most things that are a distant memory for me at the moment!  Last pregnancy I had to put most of my shoes away fairly early as my feet started to swell up (sniff, sniff) but so far all is well on that front so when I saw a pair of these on sale this weekend, it was rude not to!  These are for work and should put a spring in my step that has definitely been missing in my current work shoes, black and boring and originally purchased to wear only as uniform for concerts...

We've been up to Sue's this weekend and it always seems to involve shopping, more than I'd do in a weekend at home anyway and I managed to avoid The Wool Shop, which was completely unintentional as I actually need 2 sets of new needles but there we go.

I have made some meringues this week, which are more akin to the size this baby actually is at the moment and they are not lasting very long so I took a snap before we finished them!

At the moment our curent baby, who I must stop calling that, seems to be changing daily.  His comprehension is amazing - to us anyway! - he understands so many things, instructions, and knows where to go for his coat, tries to put on socks, shoes and hats.  He loves to "read" at the moment and very studiously sits and turns the pages on any sturdy book he can find.  We have recently purchased a couple of new books and I have discovered Zog the dragon, written by the same couple that wrote The Gruffalo, I am officially a Zog convert.
James is very helpful and emptying the food shopping and handing it to Pip or I seems fun, something that I am sure will wear off all too quickly!
He's weighing in at a pleasing 22lbs and the health visitor last week thought he was "very sociable, happy and alert" which is always nice to hear.

We're back to the midwife next week, here's hoping all is in order!