Catching up

Well, we're nine weeks in and doing grand! Amelie has settled beautifully into our family, and everyone just adores her.

It's nearly the end of the summer holidays here, and it's actually gone pretty well. The kids have been good at entertaining themselves when we've been busy doing housey things/baby care, and in between, we've made a good effort to spend quality time with all of them.

Last week, we went on a family holiday to Craig Tara holiday park in Ayrshire, and it was lovely to spend some chilled out time just having fun together. There were loads of things to do, but being the outdoorsy, camping types that we are, the highlights included walking along the beach and playing cards in the caravan!

Oh, and the sunsets...

Isn't that stunning? Who needs flashy entertainment and arcades when you can sit outside and look at this!

Anyway, we're back home and Steve had another week off, so the past week has been spent trying to catch up around the house. I love it when he's home, not only do we get to spend lots of family time together, he always seems to find himself a project so that when he goes back to work, the house is always better than it was.

This time, it's the garden. One half of our garden had become a bit of a dumping ground. It was full of uneven slabs, recycling boxes, storage bunkers, the wheelie bin and some big overgrown trees. Often we would fill the wheelie bin within a week, so would end up with bin bags cluttering up the area as well.

Steve has worked wonders this week, trimming and cutting down the trees, moving the bunkers, bin and boxes, and doing endless skip runs to get rid of unwanted bits and bobs. 

Here's how it looks so far...

Those trees at the back were completely overgrown, you culdn't even see that back wall! The rest of that slabbed area was rammed full of bunkers and boxes and bins, he's done a grand job!

The next step is to flatten it all, put down grass and hopefully build a little summerhouse at the back for the kids to play in, and we will also build a stone bbq and domed bread oven, I've always wanted one of those! It'll be a beautiful place to sit on a nice evening, and perfect for Amelie to toddle about in once she's bigger.

I love how Steve takes it upon himself to think of these projects and turn our house into a home.

Before I met Steve, I'd just moved back into this house, and apart from the extension being built, there had been no major renovation work done in the house for over 20 years. The past year has been spent planning (and paying for!) our wedding and the arrival of Amelie, so now we're getting stuck into making the house the way we want it.

This will mean a lot of decluttering, a lot of decorating and a lot of building work, so we will have loads of upheaval but it'll be worth it in the end.

On monday, we have a joiner coming to make some huge changes in our living room, kitchen and hallway, so I'll blog about those as they happen.

Another big change here is the fact that I'm still dairy free, so I've discovered the world of vegan cooking, using this book...

It's by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, who runs the website Post Punk Kitchen, a truly inspirational vegan way of life! I'll be blogging plenty about this as well, it's bringing a much more xciting way of cooking and eating veggies into my life, and everything I've made so far is delicious!

Anyway, I think that's enough catching up for one day. I have a hungry baby shouting at me, so best go and feed her. Have a great day!

The first six weeks

Can you believe it, my little lady is almost 7 weeks old already! Well, everyone says the first six weeks are the hardest, and I'm inclined to agree.

It's not actually been very hard to be honest, but there's naturally an adjustment period in the first few weeks, while everyone gets used to the new dynamic in the house. We've all got on very well during this time, I can honestly say there have been no majorly stressful times, I think we're all of the "Keep calm and find a solution" mindset, so when things don't go according to plan, we just try a different tack until we find something that works.

The kids have been very good, it's the summer holidays and to be honest, I did have a small dread about how I would entertain them with a brand new baby to take care of, especially since I couldn't drive for the first six weeks.

We've been going for walks, meeting up with friends and they've never once complained of being bored. I'm really lucky, I think this is where having older kids is a blessing, they're old enough to understand that mum just can't be everywhere at once, and we're taking them away on holiday next week, so I don't have any guilt about not doing anything too "exciting" so far! As my health visitor says, if I can survive the summer holidays with a newborn, I can survive anything, as it's the longest and most challenging time for keeping kids of different ages busy and happy.

Baby wise, it's been brilliant, we all love having Amelie in the house, and none of us can imagine life without her!

The biggest challenge for me has been that Amelie has had reflux, which has meant that she found it almost impossible to lie down without choking, coughing and vomiting. At its worst, I couldn't even lie her down to change her nappy without her being sick everywhere and choking, it was awful.

The lack of sleep was the hardest.I was prepared for being woken up several times a night, to feed, change and settle a baby. What I wasn't prepared for was having a baby who physically couldn't lie down, which meant having to spend every single night sat bolt upright in bed holding her up on my chest. There were quite a few nights when I would spend a good hour just crying quietly to myself in the middle of the night because I was so tired. I was determined to not let it impact on the rest of the family, so rather than get grumpy ad snappy during the day, I'd save it all up and have a good bubble to myself overnight!

We tried Gaviscon, which made a little impact in terms of settling Amelie and making the reflux less distressing for her, but she was still vomiting a lot and couldn't lie down, so now we're on Ranitidine (Zantac), which has made a world of difference. Suddenly we can put her down in her crib at night and I can lie down and actually sleep, yay!

We can even put her down for naps during the day and I can do housework, blog and rest, where before, she had to be carried and held at all times.

Another issue was the Amelie had a major skin rash which fared up after feeds, and lots of explosive nappies. The doctor suggested that she might have a cow's milk protein intolerance from my breastmilk, and that it would be worth cutting out dairy from my diet to see if that made a difference. Wow, huge difference!

I'll do a specific dairy free post later, but honestly, it's been almost a week and I see a huge improvement already. Her skin is clear, her nappies are better and she's like a different baby. A combination of the ranitidine and the dairy free diet has resulted in a happy, contented and settled baby girl who is an absolute joy to be around!

Anyway, this has to be a quick post because I have loads to catch up on, but will update on more stuff later. In the meantime, here are a few of my favourite photos from the first six weeks...

Recovery

Okay, it's been two weeks (I KNOW! Already!!), and I'm feeling great - tired, of course, but otherwise fine. I have to keep reminding myself that I did have major surgery only 16 days ago, and am still very much "in recovery".

It's very tempting to try to be superwoman, but eventually, the adrenaline will wear off and I need to be gentle on myself. Good to stay active, and increase your activity every day, but listening to your body after childbirth is so important. Babies are entirely dependent on us, so we need to be as healthy as possible. Here are the top tips for childbirth recovery I've learned in the past two weeks...

1) REST! - this is number one for a very good reason, rest is so important. It's virtually impossible when you have other kids, but resting when you can will make all the difference.

I was very lucky in the first ten days because I had both Steve and my mum to help with making dinner, doing bedtime stories for Daisy, fetching things for me when I was feeding and doing the tidying and laundry. I was also able to get back to bed for an hour or so each morning and that really helped.

If you don't have help, try to make life easier in the early days by getting ready meals or easy dinners, and keep housework to a minimum. Obviously you can't ignore it completely, but dropping your standards for a couple of weeks will make life much easier. As long as your family has clean clothes to wear and clean dishes to eat from, it's all good! Hell, if you need to, buy plastic disposable plates and chuck them away, whatever helps!

2) WATER - I've never drunk so much water in my entire life as I have in the past couple of weeks! Breastfeeding makes you incredibly thirsty, and childbirth makes you lose a lot of water, so drink loads of the stuff.  I had a pack of 6 sports bottles of water, and whenever they're empty, I refill them and keep them in the fridge so there is always water on hand for when I'm feeding.

I used to think tea, coffee and fizzy drinks made me feel better when I was tired, but nothing refreshes you quite like ice cold water, and it's free!!!

3) PAINKILLERS - take them. Seriously, even when you feel okay, just take regular painkillers for at least a week after birth, because the pain sneaks up on you, and usually hits a sudden peak just when you're feeling really tired. I'm on day 16 and only stopped the pain relief yesterday!

4) CRY - you will feel tearful at points, even if you're perfectly happy. It's a combination of hormones, tiredness, overwhelming emotion and adjusting to the massive change in your life, so let it out! I warned my family well in advance that if they saw me crying, not to worry, that it was perfectly normal. I have had a couple of teary days, and all I really needed was a cuddle. With my older two, I repressed the tearfulness, because I didn't want people to think I wasn't happy or wasn't coping. It really doesn't mean that at all, it's just a normal process, so let those tears flow, you'll feel better for it.

5) SUPPLEMENTS - I've been taking Arnica, a homeopathic remedy which is really good for recovering from trauma and reducing swelling and bruising.

I've also been taking Fenugreek, for increasing milk flow. My milk is flowing like an ocean, so I highly recommend it!

Placenta capsules - I read about the benefits of consuming your placenta before I gave birth, so I took mine home and encapsulated it myself. I'll write a separate post on that another time! I've been taking 2-4 capsules a day, and I feel awesome! You can pay someone to do it for you, but it's easy enough to do yourself, and it makes you feel like a super clever surgeon/pharmacist ;)

6) TALK!!! - Talking is so important. Talk to your partner, no matter how happy you both are, there will be times when one or both of you is feeling frazzled and stressed. As long as you both communicate and assure each other that everything is fine, it will make life so much eaiser. When you're full of hormones and tiredness, it's so easy to take little comments or sighs personally. All it takes is "Sorry, I'm just tired. I love you", to make everything better again. Don't fall into that trap of niggling about who has had more sleep or who has changed more nappies. Building resentments is pointless, just talk about it!

I do all the waking up in the night, I'm breastfeeding so there's no point in Steve waking up. He did offer to change nappies, etc, but I really don't see the point in us both being awake! I'd rather he got a good nights sleep so he could let me back to bed in the morning. Coming to arrangements like this before your baby comes can avoid resentments and arguments afterwards.

Also, building a support network of other parents is brilliant, you can share stories, swap top tips and discoveries and if you really need to, have a good old moan to someone who has been there and understands.

As the old BT adverts said, it's good to talk.

7) FRESH AIR - so, so important. No matter how exhausted you might feel, a bit of fresh air always makes you feel better. In the first couple of days, I would just take Amelie out to the garden and sit while Steve hung out the washing, and as soon as I felt able, I'd take her in her pram around the block. Now, I'm building up to longer walks, but still trying to get outside every single day. You will have times when you feel like the walls are closing in, and just five minutes of reminding yourself that there's a world outside really, really helps.

8) PATIENCE - finally, be patient. Especially if you've had stitches or surgery, recovery requires patience. Don't do too much too soon, the time will pass regardless, and paradoxically, if you rush yourself, you might actually find your recovery takes longer. Take this time to enjoy your baby, and slow down. This is your moment, accept the help and take it easy!

.....and then there were five!

Well, here we are! Two weeks after my last post, we are now a happy family of five. On Tuesday 11th June, 2013, at 2.59pm, we welcomed our beautiful baby daughter Amelie Matilda Widden into the world.

My c-section went perfectly, albeit much later than planned due to a couple of emergency cases being taken before me, but she was more than worth the wait!

The last 12 days have been a blur of visitors, nappies, breastfeeding, baby cuddles, tiredness, euphoria and general manic family life. We had the added craziness of Charlie having a cub camp and Daisy having a cheerleading competition just a day after I came out of hospital. Thank goodness for my mum and Steve, who kept the whole ship afloat with a minimum of stress!

Recovery has been easy, I spent just under 24 hours in bed, and then it was business as usual. As long as I've kept taking regular painkillers, I've really had no issues at all. We were discharged from hospital less than 48 hours after Amelie was born, and so far, it's all been fairly plain sailing.

Amelie has slotted right into the family, she is adored by her brother and sister...

I'm so proud of how well they've adapted to stepping aside and letting Amelie's needs be a priority. I try wherever possible to carry on as normal and spend as much time with them as before, just with an added small person attatched to my boob!

Of course, it makes me extremely happy to see Steve being a daddy. He's been amazing, cooking for us all, tidying up, having more patience with the kids than me, and of course, giving me heart melting moments like this...

OMG. That is all.

He goes back to work tomorrow, and these two weeks have gone far too fast for my liking. I will miss him ridiculous amounts, but I guess we have to get back into a normal routine eventually. Only 5 weeks until he is off again though, so we have to just start looking forward to the summer holidays!

Anyhoo, lots of blogging to catch up on, but even more sleep, so I'll leave it there for now. Back soon with more stories of what we've been up to! I'll leave you with another peek at my newest little princess...

Isn't she perfect? This amazing little bundle of hope and possibility, I can't believe we made her! She is the link that bonds us all, a part of me, Steve, Charlie, Daisy and our parents and siblings, and that makes her even more special. I couldn't be more grateful for her.

The Final Countdown - T-2 days and counting...

Gestation: 39 weeks

I'm feeling: Nervous! My c-section is in two days time and I can't wait, but obviously I'm a bit apprehensive. It's major surgery and I'll be wide awake and completely aware of what's going on, so I think it's pretty natural to have a teeny bit of fear.

I'll be fine though, as soon as I'm fully numb, and baby is out and crying, it's all going to be amazing! I can't wait to see our baby's little face for real, and give him/her a cuddle.

So, so looking forward to seeing Steve's face when he sees his son or daughter for the first time, it's going to be a very emotional day. 

Anyhoo, quick blog today, my brain has no words! Next time you hear from me, I'll be a mum of three, see you all when I'm out of hospital :)

The Final Countdown - a week to go!!!

Gestation: 38 weeks

I'm feeling: Right now, I'm feeling pretty good! Definitely taking it one day at a time, I've had one or two days this weeks when I've felt really ill or had a lot of pains, but I had my whooping cough vaccination on Tuesday, so a lot of that could have been side effects.

I'm tired, of course, but it's been a very busy week! Just to give an example, here's a day in the life from yesterday;

6.10am Wake up with alarm

6.40am Get up and make tea for myself and Steve

7am Drive Steve to work, head straight from there to MOT test Centre

8.50am Book car in for MOT, wait for mum to pick me up

9.30am Get picked up, head straight to supermarket for picnic food

10.30am Go straight to school for kids' sports day, stand and watch them do their sports events

12.30pm Head over to another field for family picnic

1.30pm Kids back at school, head home and take dog out

2pm Have shower and tidy up

3pm Leave to pick up kids from school (including dragging Charlie's bike into car)

4pm Head back out to pick up Steve from work

5pm Pick up Steve, head back to MOT test centre

6pm Pick up car, head to asda for quick and easy dinner

6.30pm Frantically feed Daisy some soup, get her ready for cheerleading (including very reluctant hair and make up, complete with tantrums)

6.45pm Steve takes Daisy to cheerleading, I feed Charlie his dinner and tidy up

7.30pm Steve and I eat dinner

8.30pm Leave for Daisy's cheerleading dress rehearsal, wipe away tears of pride

10pm Rehearsal finished, head home and make a cup of tea. Daisy full of adrenaline and very hyper!

11pm Daisy finally asleep, we head to bed.

Phew! Thank goodness my days aren't always this full! Amazingly, we managed to get through the whole day with no major stress of grumpiness, even though I was understandably knackered and Steve had had a horrible day at work. We all work pretty well together, we just know what needs doing and get it done, which is exactly how it should be! My mantra on days like these is "Don't panic - prioritise"

If the important stuff gets done, the rest can be caught up on later. I think this attitude will help once baby is here!

Today, I'm kinda tired because I was woken up at 2.30am by my phone ringing, I still have no idea who was phoning me at that time, possibly a wrong number! Of course, when your phone rings at that time, it worries you and you struggle to get back to sleep!

Then, Daisy decided to get up at 7am, and once she's awake, there's no getting her back to bed quietly. The dog wakes up and starts barking, and if I'm not quick to get downstairs and settle things down, the whole household is awake, so I have to get up!

Ach well, I'm getting plenty of practice at dealing patiently with lack of sleep and being very busy, and I think it's important to just get on with things. No point in being grumpy once you're up and about! I'm off now to get caught up with housework I fell behind on yesterday, then take the dog out.

Tomorrow, my poor little girl has to get up at 4am for her Cheerleading competition in Inverness, the bus leaves at 5am! Thankfully, my mum is taking her, I'm far too pregnant to be three hours from home right now!

Daisy is hoping we will have the baby while she is away so she can come home to a surprise - you never know!

C-section is ten days from today, so the final countdown is now in days rather than weeks. Can't wait!!!

The Final Countdown - 2 weeks to go!!!

Gestation: 37 weeks

I'm feeling: Tired! It's been a crazy week. In fact, it's been a crazy couple of weeks! Loads going on here, between school meetings, Daisy's cheerleading competitions, appointments, dog grooming...there has hardly been a single day without lots of things happening, and often we're on the go from 6.30am and don't get a chance to sit down until after 9pm. At this stage of pregnancy, it's an exhausting pace to keep up with, but we manage.

Thursday was a difficult day, because I had to take Charlie's bike to school in the car (dragging a heavy bike in and out of the car is not pleasant when you're this big and sore), and I had to take the dogs to the groomers and back, cook dinner, do the usual housework, pick the kids (and bike) up again, take Daisy to cheerleading and Charlie to cubs....all in gale force winds with freezing cold driving rain. 

Thank goodness for Steve, who just jumps right into dad mode when he comes home from work and helps out with the evening routine! To be fair, he did most of the cheerleading and cubs runs, while I stayed home and tidied up after dinner. It was just one of those days where as soon as one job was done, we had to immediately go out and do something else, so by 9pm, I was pretty tired and tearful.

Luckily, I'm pretty good at adopting the "Just do it" attitude, so I sucked it up, got on with it, and reminded myself that in a few weeks, it'll be the summer holidays and we won't have to be in a million places at once!

As I said to my mum though, this busy lifestyle is actually an advantage, because when baby comes, getting into a routine won't be a hassle. I well remember sitting in my pyjamas all day long when Charlie was tiny, wondering how on earth people managed to get out of the house! Nowadays, I have no choice but to be organised and get to several places over the course of a day, so I won't have a chance to sit around feeling tired when baby comes, it'll be the same routine, just with an extra tiny person strapped to my chest!

Having said all that, I'm looking forward to tonight, the kids are off to their dad's overnight, and although I really miss them when they go, it'll be nice for Steve and I to just flump and relax after our hectic week. He's incredibly busy and overstretched at work, so I'm looking forward to a nice evening of loveliness, we both deserve a rest!

17 days today until Baby Widders is here, and then our days and nights will be even busier! Best enjoy the peace while we still can...