![The Doctor Is [IN]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1263/1384310808_1c5e3cd3d5.jpg)
So we're back on the antibiotics again - I don't remember when I last had this... 2 weeks ago maybe? Anyway, I finally went back to the dr today, after my coughing went from really bad to really really bad, and I started to wheeze, and cough violently (and sicking up - that sounds like the G-man). She listened to my chest, and immediately said I should go for a chest x-ray...and gave me a week's worth of antibiotics. G's on antibiotics too, for a cough too, but he started about 10 days ago now.
So, I trooped off to the hospital for a chest x-ray (I can't believe it, on the NHS, they are open till 8pm on Mon-Fri and open 9-5 on the weekends!!). I'll tell the dr that I went and did it, so she can ring in for the results - otherwise, with this being christmas and new year, I'll not hear about the results till 2009! Hopefully I can have another consult with dr on friday.
G's just sicked up his entire dinner, and we had a nice time (not) cleaning up his sick, which went all over daddy (mostly over daddy) and over himself, and on his horse. But he seems alot more comfortable, so maybe some phelgm came up with it. Let's hope so.
I'm so upset with this cough thing. I wish we'll have good health for christmas and new year - I need this break to get well!
Oh, and by the way, I've been losing weight too. Tonight, for the first time, I hit a low of 48.5kg (well, since my early 20s anyway!). Last night I was 49, and the night before I was 49.5kg. This is not good. 1kg in 2 days??? (and this was after dinner too).
Oh, and my blood test came up with quite a few abnormal readings...like a high score of 189 (normal is 10) for something called CSP (?) something protein something - which shows acute inflammation. Dr's hoping this is all related to this flu/cough/chest infection thing. I hope so too. Coz otherwise, we'll need to investigate more. And I don't want to find anything dodge!
Fingers crossed...xx
Wednesday 17 December 2008
Monday 8 December 2008
Monday 1 December 2008
Winter...
and the winter bugs...! what is it about winter and all the related illnesses?! It's almost bordering on madness at the moment. Since the last post, I still have a cough, which the dr has now prescribed super-strength co-codamol to suppress the cough, reduce the fever and the aches and pains that go along with nasty flu. I'm home today, without the G-master as he's gone to nursery and I'm home nursing my flu, which I hope will improve soon as I have the G-man tomorrow at home and because he's such an active baby, it's going to take tremendous strength just to follow him around.
Oh, the thought of that hurts my head......
Oh, the thought of that hurts my head......
Sunday 23 November 2008
A week of illness...
we've been ill... I've been on antibiotics since last monday and have had a hacking cough, and a cold. G's had a high temperature of 39.6 degC (at one point!) which finally broke on saturday. As a result, he's only been to nursery 1 day last week (out of 2.5 days).
Monday, the first day of my hectic week (I'd been coasting the last 7 weeks in comparison!) I had to bring G to the dr (who was most useless - I'd never seen him before) who said that 'it's normal for babies to have a temperature'...(yeah, but at something higher than a 38?!). D took G to the dr in the afternoon again where I'd made another app with another dr (I had a 3 hr session with the MBA class, so couldn't go!). He prescribed some antibiotics for G and said that we could hang on to them and see if he got better. Turns out he had an ear infection!
So, baby G's been on antibiotics since Thursday night, and he's much better now. I now wish I started his antibiotics much earlier, but they do say if we give babies too much antibiotics they'll grow resistant to the bugs! So what is mummy supposed to do?! He'll have his last dose tomorrow (Mon) and hopefully everything will be fine. On top of that, he's also had calpol and ibuprofen! talk about OTT.
He's now almost back to his normal bouncy self - I hope he'll be fine soon.
Today, we also had our first sight of snow! We had about half an hour of snow which then turned into snow for half the day. It's really cold today, and tonight!
Wrap up everyone!
p x
Monday, the first day of my hectic week (I'd been coasting the last 7 weeks in comparison!) I had to bring G to the dr (who was most useless - I'd never seen him before) who said that 'it's normal for babies to have a temperature'...(yeah, but at something higher than a 38?!). D took G to the dr in the afternoon again where I'd made another app with another dr (I had a 3 hr session with the MBA class, so couldn't go!). He prescribed some antibiotics for G and said that we could hang on to them and see if he got better. Turns out he had an ear infection!
So, baby G's been on antibiotics since Thursday night, and he's much better now. I now wish I started his antibiotics much earlier, but they do say if we give babies too much antibiotics they'll grow resistant to the bugs! So what is mummy supposed to do?! He'll have his last dose tomorrow (Mon) and hopefully everything will be fine. On top of that, he's also had calpol and ibuprofen! talk about OTT.
He's now almost back to his normal bouncy self - I hope he'll be fine soon.
Today, we also had our first sight of snow! We had about half an hour of snow which then turned into snow for half the day. It's really cold today, and tonight!
Wrap up everyone!
p x
Friday 14 November 2008
Update...
G's now nearly 9 months old and yesterday, (13th Nov), the community nurse came round to have a chat and weighed/measured G.
He's now 8.88kg (what an auspicious number!), about 19 pounds 8 oz; and 75cm (or 76 - depends on which measurement you believe). Which puts him on the 50th percentile for weight, and 91st/98th percentile for height.
He's still eating very well, but STILL waking up once a night (about 4am). The nurse said that he's not really waking up for food/drink but more out of comfort (this was after I told her how much he ate). I hope he outgrows this soon. When he goes back to bed after 20 minutes or so, he tends to sleep till at least 8am (so most days when we go to work we need to wake him up)...
He loves the Plum range of food and on Wednesday night at his godma's place, he had potatoes, fettucine with mince and tomato sauce, grapes, plus one pot of Sweet Potato with Lamb and Carrots.
ok - back to work now...
p and G ( 38 weeks) x
He's now 8.88kg (what an auspicious number!), about 19 pounds 8 oz; and 75cm (or 76 - depends on which measurement you believe). Which puts him on the 50th percentile for weight, and 91st/98th percentile for height.
He's still eating very well, but STILL waking up once a night (about 4am). The nurse said that he's not really waking up for food/drink but more out of comfort (this was after I told her how much he ate). I hope he outgrows this soon. When he goes back to bed after 20 minutes or so, he tends to sleep till at least 8am (so most days when we go to work we need to wake him up)...
He loves the Plum range of food and on Wednesday night at his godma's place, he had potatoes, fettucine with mince and tomato sauce, grapes, plus one pot of Sweet Potato with Lamb and Carrots.
ok - back to work now...
p and G ( 38 weeks) x
Thursday 30 October 2008
Chilling in Ikea..
Mummy ... can we bring this back to England?
Er no, because we only have 20kg limit and besides, it'll be too cold at home to sit in this! (maybe Ikea Thurrock will have it?!?! yeah, right.)
.......
Monday 27 October 2008
update on hospital...
apparently the spots are not a viral rash afterall...but 'heat rash' (at the start of winter?!)... oh well. They've discharged us now, and G's been declared well and fine. I guess seeing that he's bouncing and smiling and shrieking (in a good way) - they think he's bril. we think so too!! ha!
on a separate issue - we watched 'Sicko' on the weekend (a film by Michael Moore). And it was really interesting. I'm sure Michael Moore's really controversial (there are anti-MM websites out there!) but if even what he says is a mere dramatisation of the facts, then it's really spine-chilling, that in America, people get turn away from medical help because they don't have health insurance.
What I don't get about health insurance is this: surely after one has declared a known illness/symptom, then insurance should cover whatever illness you get afterwards, no? Perhaps one pays more for certain illnesses (like say cancer, in my case), but surely they'd get treated? There was a case of a man who had to decide whether the hospital should sew back one of his two finger tips that he'd sawn off. The price difference was 12K v 60k. He went for the 12K one (which incidentally is the ring finger). He now walks around without a middle finger tip.
MM then went to check out the Canadian, British and even Cuban health services....which did not discriminate between rich/poor and the like. I guess we experienced it first hand during the journey of G's conception till now. Every visit to the midwife was free, as was when we had the early contractions and got admitted to the hospital at 30weeks (and the proposal that I stay in hospital for 10 weeks till I gave birth!?), as was the final delivery and now, the 8/12/16 week immunisations, BCG, and even this recent hospital visit with x-rays. I've had a endoscopy done on the NHS and another one's on the way, this time at the private wing, but paid for by the NHS (because the queue's too long!).
We're proud of the NHS...! :)
p x
ps: G was weighed as a result of today's hospital visit, and he's now 8.82kg (back on the 50th Percentile).
on a separate issue - we watched 'Sicko' on the weekend (a film by Michael Moore). And it was really interesting. I'm sure Michael Moore's really controversial (there are anti-MM websites out there!) but if even what he says is a mere dramatisation of the facts, then it's really spine-chilling, that in America, people get turn away from medical help because they don't have health insurance.
What I don't get about health insurance is this: surely after one has declared a known illness/symptom, then insurance should cover whatever illness you get afterwards, no? Perhaps one pays more for certain illnesses (like say cancer, in my case), but surely they'd get treated? There was a case of a man who had to decide whether the hospital should sew back one of his two finger tips that he'd sawn off. The price difference was 12K v 60k. He went for the 12K one (which incidentally is the ring finger). He now walks around without a middle finger tip.
MM then went to check out the Canadian, British and even Cuban health services....which did not discriminate between rich/poor and the like. I guess we experienced it first hand during the journey of G's conception till now. Every visit to the midwife was free, as was when we had the early contractions and got admitted to the hospital at 30weeks (and the proposal that I stay in hospital for 10 weeks till I gave birth!?), as was the final delivery and now, the 8/12/16 week immunisations, BCG, and even this recent hospital visit with x-rays. I've had a endoscopy done on the NHS and another one's on the way, this time at the private wing, but paid for by the NHS (because the queue's too long!).
We're proud of the NHS...! :)
p x
ps: G was weighed as a result of today's hospital visit, and he's now 8.82kg (back on the 50th Percentile).
Sunday 26 October 2008
viral rash...
we have a check up appointment at the hospital tomorrow - 2 weeks after the last appointment. which is great, because G appears to have a viral rash! We discovered it yesterday during bath time when having stripped him off, we saw spots, and spots and spots on his tummy and his back!
First thought was 'oh no, it's chickenpox'... (followed by: 'how many meetings do I have next week that I can cancel??'). So we rang NHS direct (who were very busy but still called us back after 3/4 hours, at about midnight!?) and then rang our surgery who had an emergency number and they rang us back after half an hour. They confirmed it wasn't meningitis (thank God), and they also didn't seem to think it was anything to worry about as typical G, he was still bouncing about, and being generally quite cheerful.
They told us to watch to make sure his rash didn't get worse. And it didn't (or hasn't).
So, I guess it's a viral rash. We'll confirm it tomorrow at the hospital.
p x
First thought was 'oh no, it's chickenpox'... (followed by: 'how many meetings do I have next week that I can cancel??'). So we rang NHS direct (who were very busy but still called us back after 3/4 hours, at about midnight!?) and then rang our surgery who had an emergency number and they rang us back after half an hour. They confirmed it wasn't meningitis (thank God), and they also didn't seem to think it was anything to worry about as typical G, he was still bouncing about, and being generally quite cheerful.
They told us to watch to make sure his rash didn't get worse. And it didn't (or hasn't).
So, I guess it's a viral rash. We'll confirm it tomorrow at the hospital.
p x
Thursday 16 October 2008
Tuesday 14 October 2008
to the hospital...
we go.
We were at K&C hospital yesterday because G's cough wasn't getting any better, and if anything, it was getting worse. It developed as a slight cough, into full blown phlegmy cough, and then it turned a few days ago into a hoarse, sharp and 'harsh' (quote from nurse at hospital) cough. He was coughing so badly, he was throwing up his food/milk :(.
I made an appointment at the Dr's surgery yesterday, and saw the same doctor we saw 3.5 weeks ago, and she remembered him. As usual, he was his bouncy smiley self, and so she said he was looking well (I guess when one is used to seeing listless babies, then a bouncing one tends to be viewed as a 'healthy' baby!). But she did think that because his cough was deteriorating, we should get him checked out at the hospital where they might do an x-ray!
It was great that we got to see the Paed at 2pm (our dr's appointment was 11am - go NHS!). She sent us for an x-ray, thought his ears were slightly red, and his throat was slightly red but nothing scary. The x-ray was clear-ish, meaning there was no bacterial infection, although there was white stringy bits in the x-ray (which she said might be due to the viral infection). hm.
So, the conclusion was, we got given some antibiotics which she said will hopefully clear up the atypical bug which she thinks he's caught. I guess it's all down to the fact that he's in nursery and mixing with a whole load of other babies and their infections!! :(
We go back to see her in 2 weeks time, and hopefully, he'll be much better then.
He was also weighed - and he's now 8.49 kg! (18pounds 11 oz). Which puts him between the 25-50th percentile. He's dropped slightly in weight but I guess it's due to his illness!
p x
Edited: to say that on his check on thursday with the HV, he was 8.52kg! yay! every little helps!
We were at K&C hospital yesterday because G's cough wasn't getting any better, and if anything, it was getting worse. It developed as a slight cough, into full blown phlegmy cough, and then it turned a few days ago into a hoarse, sharp and 'harsh' (quote from nurse at hospital) cough. He was coughing so badly, he was throwing up his food/milk :(.
I made an appointment at the Dr's surgery yesterday, and saw the same doctor we saw 3.5 weeks ago, and she remembered him. As usual, he was his bouncy smiley self, and so she said he was looking well (I guess when one is used to seeing listless babies, then a bouncing one tends to be viewed as a 'healthy' baby!). But she did think that because his cough was deteriorating, we should get him checked out at the hospital where they might do an x-ray!
It was great that we got to see the Paed at 2pm (our dr's appointment was 11am - go NHS!). She sent us for an x-ray, thought his ears were slightly red, and his throat was slightly red but nothing scary. The x-ray was clear-ish, meaning there was no bacterial infection, although there was white stringy bits in the x-ray (which she said might be due to the viral infection). hm.
So, the conclusion was, we got given some antibiotics which she said will hopefully clear up the atypical bug which she thinks he's caught. I guess it's all down to the fact that he's in nursery and mixing with a whole load of other babies and their infections!! :(
We go back to see her in 2 weeks time, and hopefully, he'll be much better then.
He was also weighed - and he's now 8.49 kg! (18pounds 11 oz). Which puts him between the 25-50th percentile. He's dropped slightly in weight but I guess it's due to his illness!
p x
Edited: to say that on his check on thursday with the HV, he was 8.52kg! yay! every little helps!
New addition to the family!
My cousin's baby was born today - George has lost his USP as the youngest member of the family (that lasted all of 8 months!)!
Welcome to the beautiful world Caitlyn Kho!! (2.96kg)
p x
Welcome to the beautiful world Caitlyn Kho!! (2.96kg)
p x
Sunday 12 October 2008
Sunday 5 October 2008
My son...
the beng wanna-be..! (taken in Orchard Road, Singapore)
.jpg)
And a brilliant side profile, of G sitting upright! (outside Metro Paragon, Orchard Road, Singapore)
food...
that G eats... include chicken with sweet potato and apple (his current favourite), chicken casserole (leek, carrot, potato, chicken), and lots of food at the nursery including cheese scones, fruit, yoghurt, petit filou and various vegetable combinations, and fish pie!
Didn't think I'd like making food for him, but it's great and it's my mission every week or every half a week to make up a batch of food for him which we freeze and take out every day for him. He's on 3 solid meals a day and his meals typically look like this:
Breakfast: breast fed, then cereal (or currently, super porridge with apple and apricot from Plum) http://www.plum-baby.co.uk/baby-food-range/#Four%20grain%20super%20porridge%20with%20apple%20and%20apricotTitle
We mix that sometimes with a fruit puree pot.
Off to nursery (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays) where he eats a mid-morning snack of fruit and yoghurt (I was told that they'll give him an extra pot of yoghurt because they think he's hungry and that's why he's upset! - hm).
Lunch: Currently, home made chicken with sweet potato and apple (or whatever the nursery feeds him, last friday being fish pie!) plus yoghurt or fruit puree.
then breast feed (depends on what time I get down to the nursery during my lunch break!)
Tea: mid-afternoon tea. At nursery he gets scones, or biscuits. At home, he gets biscuits, or fruit.
Dinner: home made chicken with sweet potato and apple (this week's menu!)... or Plum's Parsnip, carrot and cheddar mash http://www.plum-baby.co.uk/baby-food-range/#Parsnip,%20carrot%20and%20cheddar%20mashTitle or any other variation. Plus yoghurt or fruit puree.
Before sleep: breast feed.
Sounds like a lot, huh? I think it's alot - but seeing how much he moves, I'm sure he'll eat more if he could. At the moment, he's eating about 100/120g of food (size of a small jar) plus dessert. And tonight, he had home-made cheese onion bread. Which he completely enjoyed chomping on! yum yum!
ok, gotta go have my bath. Before baby needs his feed!
p x
ps: If we're feeding commercial food, we go for Ella's Kitchen http://www.ellaskitchen.co.uk/, Plum http://www.plum-baby.co.uk/, Hipp Organic http://www.hipp.co.uk/, Organix http://www.organix.com/ or the Boots Organic Range. We feel they're the best and so far, touch wood, he's taken to their tastes!
pps: and our home made recipes are courtesy of Annabel Karmel..! http://www.annabelkarmel.com/
Didn't think I'd like making food for him, but it's great and it's my mission every week or every half a week to make up a batch of food for him which we freeze and take out every day for him. He's on 3 solid meals a day and his meals typically look like this:
Breakfast: breast fed, then cereal (or currently, super porridge with apple and apricot from Plum) http://www.plum-baby.co.uk/baby-food-range/#Four%20grain%20super%20porridge%20with%20apple%20and%20apricotTitle
We mix that sometimes with a fruit puree pot.
Off to nursery (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays) where he eats a mid-morning snack of fruit and yoghurt (I was told that they'll give him an extra pot of yoghurt because they think he's hungry and that's why he's upset! - hm).
Lunch: Currently, home made chicken with sweet potato and apple (or whatever the nursery feeds him, last friday being fish pie!) plus yoghurt or fruit puree.
then breast feed (depends on what time I get down to the nursery during my lunch break!)
Tea: mid-afternoon tea. At nursery he gets scones, or biscuits. At home, he gets biscuits, or fruit.
Dinner: home made chicken with sweet potato and apple (this week's menu!)... or Plum's Parsnip, carrot and cheddar mash http://www.plum-baby.co.uk/baby-food-range/#Parsnip,%20carrot%20and%20cheddar%20mashTitle or any other variation. Plus yoghurt or fruit puree.
Before sleep: breast feed.
Sounds like a lot, huh? I think it's alot - but seeing how much he moves, I'm sure he'll eat more if he could. At the moment, he's eating about 100/120g of food (size of a small jar) plus dessert. And tonight, he had home-made cheese onion bread. Which he completely enjoyed chomping on! yum yum!
ok, gotta go have my bath. Before baby needs his feed!
p x
ps: If we're feeding commercial food, we go for Ella's Kitchen http://www.ellaskitchen.co.uk/, Plum http://www.plum-baby.co.uk/, Hipp Organic http://www.hipp.co.uk/, Organix http://www.organix.com/ or the Boots Organic Range. We feel they're the best and so far, touch wood, he's taken to their tastes!
pps: and our home made recipes are courtesy of Annabel Karmel..! http://www.annabelkarmel.com/
surprise pressie!
from Dan... :) we took this picture when we were in Bintan, Indonesia for a 2-day break when we were back in Asia. He surprised me by blowing this up into a canvas and printing it at the photo shop. We're running out of walls to stick this - I hope we get to move house soon so that we can put up all the photos/pictures/portraits we've done! At the rate we're going, G will be at university by the time we get round to printing and putting them up!
p x
Thursday 2 October 2008
A-crawling...part II
Since the last post, he's been crawling all over the place and he's quite hilarious when he moves. He moves his arms rather deliberately, such that he looks like he's doing a march - a rather extreme march. (been informed it's referred to as 'goose-stepping'). Will try and get a video of him doing it. He's pretty fast too, so the gates have to go up ASAP.
One of his favourite toys at the moment is a remote control. Not any ordinary one that works with the TV/DVD players...rather one that makes lewd comments (rather like a Bart/Homer Simpson type). It's quite funny. Let's just hope his first word isn't from that repertoire!!! Edited: the remote control was NOT purchased by us...it was from my brother-in-law. yes... such warped sense of humour eh uncle stu-ey!
p x
One of his favourite toys at the moment is a remote control. Not any ordinary one that works with the TV/DVD players...rather one that makes lewd comments (rather like a Bart/Homer Simpson type). It's quite funny. Let's just hope his first word isn't from that repertoire!!! Edited: the remote control was NOT purchased by us...it was from my brother-in-law. yes... such warped sense of humour eh uncle stu-ey!
p x
Tuesday 23 September 2008
George & Phoebe...
Phoebe's the daughter of our friends Jen and Tim. She's 5 days older than G.
Here are some lovely pics of the two bubbas when we went to visit them at their new house in September!
p x
A-crawling...
he goes! :)
He's started to crawling - officially we're putting the date down as 21st September (on the cusp of his 31st week, so 30weeks and 6 days, just over 7 months).
He was belly shuffling for a little while, started when we were in Singapore. But he went on to more extreme shuffling when we got home and started to lift himself off onto his toes and his arms, and jigging all about..! On Sunday, 21st, he made a move. fab! Will upload a video of him moving soon! Edited: ok, it's not really a video of him crawling... but it's still very cute! :)
p x
He's started to crawling - officially we're putting the date down as 21st September (on the cusp of his 31st week, so 30weeks and 6 days, just over 7 months).
He was belly shuffling for a little while, started when we were in Singapore. But he went on to more extreme shuffling when we got home and started to lift himself off onto his toes and his arms, and jigging all about..! On Sunday, 21st, he made a move. fab! Will upload a video of him moving soon! Edited: ok, it's not really a video of him crawling... but it's still very cute! :)
p x
two teeth...
and counting! :)
they have made an appearance (just barely there...but you can see the whites peeking through the gums!)...perhaps that's not helped his cold/cough situation either (teething's a really painful process for most babies).
Half of me is thinking oh...how exciting that he's got teeth now! The other half of me's thinking I'm not going to have gummy grins for long! sigh...my baby's growing up too fast! :)
p x
they have made an appearance (just barely there...but you can see the whites peeking through the gums!)...perhaps that's not helped his cold/cough situation either (teething's a really painful process for most babies).
Half of me is thinking oh...how exciting that he's got teeth now! The other half of me's thinking I'm not going to have gummy grins for long! sigh...my baby's growing up too fast! :)
p x
poor bubba...
is ill! :(
So, the G man started nursery last week, 16th September 2008, 2 days short of his 7 month old birthday...! and he took to it very well. He took to Jade, his key worker (did I mention that already?!) and ate all his food, and played with the toys and other babies..!
He was already slightly poorly with a cold when we got back from Sg, but that got progressively worse as the week went by and by the weekend, he wasn't eating as much and was breathing rather laboriously. His little cold had developed into a bad cold, and a nasty hacking cough with phelgm! Poor little mite. Coincidentally, I was down with diahhrea and food poisoning on Saturday which has sort of just 'stopped' today (tuesday?!), so it didn't help with my milk supply at all!
Took him to the doctor's yesterday, who declared that it was a rota-virus (ie, something 90% of babies will get once they go to nursery) and that it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, at this age, they can't really get given anything other than paracetamol. His runny nose seems to have dried up but his cough's got worse.
We didn't go to nursery yesterday as I don't work mondays (for now! that's another long story), and today we didn't think we'd take him in but the nursery said it was ok to bring him in. So we did. Which was a bit of a disaster really, coz by 11.30am, they'd rung D and asked if he'd come and get G since he wasn't settling and being his usual cheery self. We got to the nursery. I fed him, he had a bit of a nap, and then tried to feed him some food. He wasn't eating much. We left the room for a little while to have a chat with the manager regarding possible change of days at the nursery and when we got back to his room, he was crying again. Poor bubba.
We took him home, he was much happier although whingey, and now he's sleeping. I hope he gets well soon. It's so sad to see baby suffering like this and not being able to express himself or tell us what's wrong! :(
p x
So, the G man started nursery last week, 16th September 2008, 2 days short of his 7 month old birthday...! and he took to it very well. He took to Jade, his key worker (did I mention that already?!) and ate all his food, and played with the toys and other babies..!
He was already slightly poorly with a cold when we got back from Sg, but that got progressively worse as the week went by and by the weekend, he wasn't eating as much and was breathing rather laboriously. His little cold had developed into a bad cold, and a nasty hacking cough with phelgm! Poor little mite. Coincidentally, I was down with diahhrea and food poisoning on Saturday which has sort of just 'stopped' today (tuesday?!), so it didn't help with my milk supply at all!
Took him to the doctor's yesterday, who declared that it was a rota-virus (ie, something 90% of babies will get once they go to nursery) and that it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, at this age, they can't really get given anything other than paracetamol. His runny nose seems to have dried up but his cough's got worse.
We didn't go to nursery yesterday as I don't work mondays (for now! that's another long story), and today we didn't think we'd take him in but the nursery said it was ok to bring him in. So we did. Which was a bit of a disaster really, coz by 11.30am, they'd rung D and asked if he'd come and get G since he wasn't settling and being his usual cheery self. We got to the nursery. I fed him, he had a bit of a nap, and then tried to feed him some food. He wasn't eating much. We left the room for a little while to have a chat with the manager regarding possible change of days at the nursery and when we got back to his room, he was crying again. Poor bubba.
We took him home, he was much happier although whingey, and now he's sleeping. I hope he gets well soon. It's so sad to see baby suffering like this and not being able to express himself or tell us what's wrong! :(
p x
Friday 12 September 2008
Party pictures from Singapore...
can be found here! http://puppy2006.multiply.com/photos/album/95/30_Aug_08-_Yeows_Family_Gathering
lovely pics of G!! :)
lovely pics of G!! :)
Settling in sessions...
at the nursery!!
G had his first settle in session on 10th Sept (our 3rd wedding anniversary!) at the Busy Bees Nursery http://www.busybeeschildcare.co.uk/nurseries/canterbury/, and it went really well. They were really nice, and his key worker's a lady called Jade. At the first settle session, I get to stay in the nursery room with G and he's playing and getting to know Jade and the room. He did really well and didn't fuss!! :)
G had his 2nd settle in session today (12th Sept) and this time, I wasn't in the room for about an hour and again, he did really well. Perhaps it helped that he'd just had his nap before that. He even did a painting!! bless.
G's next settle in session will be on Monday 15th Sept and then it's full steam ahead on Tuesday 16th Sept, when I return to work for the whole day. Scary bunnies!! Thankfully, term doesn't start till the 29th of Sept, so if need be, I can go collect him early if he's not too happy. Fingers crossed he'll be fine. Jade seems a lovely girl and she used to take care of godbrother Vic too, so she's quite experienced.
I'm relieved that we've passed one milestone. Onwards to work!
p x
G had his first settle in session on 10th Sept (our 3rd wedding anniversary!) at the Busy Bees Nursery http://www.busybeeschildcare.co.uk/nurseries/canterbury/, and it went really well. They were really nice, and his key worker's a lady called Jade. At the first settle session, I get to stay in the nursery room with G and he's playing and getting to know Jade and the room. He did really well and didn't fuss!! :)
G had his 2nd settle in session today (12th Sept) and this time, I wasn't in the room for about an hour and again, he did really well. Perhaps it helped that he'd just had his nap before that. He even did a painting!! bless.
G's next settle in session will be on Monday 15th Sept and then it's full steam ahead on Tuesday 16th Sept, when I return to work for the whole day. Scary bunnies!! Thankfully, term doesn't start till the 29th of Sept, so if need be, I can go collect him early if he's not too happy. Fingers crossed he'll be fine. Jade seems a lovely girl and she used to take care of godbrother Vic too, so she's quite experienced.
I'm relieved that we've passed one milestone. Onwards to work!
p x
Thursday 11 September 2008
Latest weigh in at 29 weeks...
and he's only put on a couple of hundred grams! He's now 7.92kg and is still 71cm. I've come to the conclusion that he was 68cm in Singapore (as measured by the paed), and he's definitely taller from Singapore.
George has also started eating abit of fish. I'm trying to mix with some sweet fruit and veg to make the transition easier... he seems to be ok.
Had a traumatic meeting at work today. Good news is I get the German programme back under my control. Not so good news - they've dumped 3 modules on me, even though I'm part time! Even though I have 2 PhD students currently under my supervision and 1 or 2 more coming on board once I'm back. Even though I'm also doing a significant administrative job. Did I mention I'm part time?! Can't see how I'll do all this in 2.5 days, which needs to include half a day of research, an office hour, prep time, admin time, PhD supervision time...... and the list goes on. Plus of course contact hours with students.
As a result, G didn't get his usual naps (not as long) and ended up falling asleep eating his dinner (poor baby!)... had a traumatising bath time, and calmed down after that, but has fallen asleep again. Let's hope he has a good night.
Am hoping to have a meeting with the relevant people next week to sort this whole mess out. In the meantime, in my first week back (part time), I've got a 2 hr meeting scheduled for Tues morning, and another 2 hr meeting for Wed afternoon. Which leaves me Tues afternoon, Wed morning and Friday morning to get my website up and going, and module guides and teaching team schedules out... ! argh.
p x
George has also started eating abit of fish. I'm trying to mix with some sweet fruit and veg to make the transition easier... he seems to be ok.
Had a traumatic meeting at work today. Good news is I get the German programme back under my control. Not so good news - they've dumped 3 modules on me, even though I'm part time! Even though I have 2 PhD students currently under my supervision and 1 or 2 more coming on board once I'm back. Even though I'm also doing a significant administrative job. Did I mention I'm part time?! Can't see how I'll do all this in 2.5 days, which needs to include half a day of research, an office hour, prep time, admin time, PhD supervision time...... and the list goes on. Plus of course contact hours with students.
As a result, G didn't get his usual naps (not as long) and ended up falling asleep eating his dinner (poor baby!)... had a traumatising bath time, and calmed down after that, but has fallen asleep again. Let's hope he has a good night.
Am hoping to have a meeting with the relevant people next week to sort this whole mess out. In the meantime, in my first week back (part time), I've got a 2 hr meeting scheduled for Tues morning, and another 2 hr meeting for Wed afternoon. Which leaves me Tues afternoon, Wed morning and Friday morning to get my website up and going, and module guides and teaching team schedules out... ! argh.
p x
Tuesday 9 September 2008
G - as featured in Dawn's blog...
G had a date with Dawn, on Saturday 23rd Aug, at his local haunt, Parkway Parade...!
Dawn's dad kindly took loads of pictures and here they are
http://blogwithbaby.livejournal.com/
or here, for the actual blog entry: http://blogwithbaby.livejournal.com/73969.html
We'll blog about their next date at McDonald's soon! (very LC huh...?!) :)
p x
Dawn's dad kindly took loads of pictures and here they are
http://blogwithbaby.livejournal.com/
or here, for the actual blog entry: http://blogwithbaby.livejournal.com/73969.html
We'll blog about their next date at McDonald's soon! (very LC huh...?!) :)
p x
We are home...
after a lovely 3 weeks (19 days) in Singapore...! Everyone loved G at home, and thought he was 'damn cute' and 'hen2 hao3 wan2' and 'hen3 hao4 wan2'!!
The journey started on 18th Aug, the day before we were due to fly - when we left our house, and went to Em's for the night (to break the journey up). Due to traffic jam, we only arrived at hers at about 9pm, and we were exhausted (not to mention G was grumpy). She very kindly made chicken pie and we could bath G and settled down for the night. The next morning we left 'late' but still got to airport in time to get brilliant seats on the A380 (upper deck is the way to go!). Even Heathrow was not the nightmare it usually is, with everyone being extra nice to us (it's the G factor I guess!). The plane was absolutely lovely, as were the stewardesses and G charmed his way round the entire plane. hehe - unfortunately, not enough to get us upgraded, but hey, we can work on that, can't we !!
G slept at the usual nap times, which was great, and when he finally settled down for the 'evening' he was woken up a couple of hours later, shocked to find out that it was actually 'day time'! (it was 7.45am in the morning). Thankfully he didn't have much of a jetlag, with only the first night, waking up at about 1am, and not sleeping till about 3am again.
We went to the paed, who declared he was perfectly normal (he was remeasured and found to be 68cm (he shrank?!), and 7.86kg) but also gave us some advice to massage the bit near his eye and nose to get his tear ducts moving and hey presto, he no longer has a gunky eye. I don't get why the GP here couldn't tell us that! hmph.
We also had play dates with Katelyn, and Dawn - we'll blog about them separately.
G had lots of 'solid' food when he was in Singapore - and now he's on 3 solid meals (plus milk feeds). I think he's doing ok. He had lots of sweet potato (prepared by aunty) and carrot. He didn't quite take to 'chook' (porridge) (haha - like mummy, and daddy too!). We see Katryn on Thurs for his monthly check in and we'll get an update on weight then. Since being back, G now has baby cereal in the morning for breakfast, and proper lunches and dinners. His poo has also solidified - which makes it easier to clean but woah - the smell!!!!!
ok - gotta go, will blog later.
p x
Monday 11 August 2008
24 weeks weigh in
So, we're now in our 25th week of existence, and he got weighed last thursday (7th Aug), and came in at 7.66kg (16pounds 14 oz) and measuring in at 71cm!! I'm not sure the health visitor got the length quite right, because if she did, he would have grown 5 cm in the last 4 weeks! hm. The weight again's coming in at the 50th percentile, and the height's back on the 98th percentile.
We're going to make an app with a friend's paediatrician to give G a one-time check over. This is the first-time paranoid mum speaking here, so take no notice, but I guess I just wanted a doctor who specialises in babies to have a lookover G and make sure he's all ok! Sounds a bit mad to deliberately make an appointment to see a doctor, but there you go...!
G's also had melon on thursday (loved it) and a cucumber on sunday and thought it was fine too. I know I should be more dilligent about his food intake - I'll try to be more on the ball when he's definitely 6 months! He doesn't seem to want food just yet, and if everyone says he should be breastfed till 6 months, then that's what we're going to do. It's only another week to go anyway.
Getting nervous about our longhaul flight next week - 12 hour flight and 7 hour time difference. Nice. I so want to pack the entire house and the kitchen sink but that's not possible... so we'll make do I guess!
p x
We're going to make an app with a friend's paediatrician to give G a one-time check over. This is the first-time paranoid mum speaking here, so take no notice, but I guess I just wanted a doctor who specialises in babies to have a lookover G and make sure he's all ok! Sounds a bit mad to deliberately make an appointment to see a doctor, but there you go...!
G's also had melon on thursday (loved it) and a cucumber on sunday and thought it was fine too. I know I should be more dilligent about his food intake - I'll try to be more on the ball when he's definitely 6 months! He doesn't seem to want food just yet, and if everyone says he should be breastfed till 6 months, then that's what we're going to do. It's only another week to go anyway.
Getting nervous about our longhaul flight next week - 12 hour flight and 7 hour time difference. Nice. I so want to pack the entire house and the kitchen sink but that's not possible... so we'll make do I guess!
p x
Monday 21 July 2008
G's first solid food is...
carrot!! :) OMG, we've started to wean. Very slowly, mind... but he's had his first taste of carrot (which was over-steamed I think so it broke into pieces... note to self: will steam for 10 min as opposed to 15/20 min!)... Not sure what he thought about it, but am very sure he was very happy when we gave him pear today! :) He had his carrot yesterday, 20th July 2008, when he was 21+6 weeks. Today, at 22 weeks, he had pear.
And he liked it.
A lot.
D had the pear in his hand, and the instructions were for him to eat the skin, and give G-man the pear whole and see if he'll take it. G man was watching him intently eating the pear, and when he was given the chance to hold the pear, took it in his hand and immediately (and I mean, immediately) started knawing at it!! Like a little hamster! It was too cute!! :)
And he wouldn't let go, getting upset when we removed the plate and so we gave it back to him... and he started back onto the pear.. When he took a break, he sucked on his fingers and made a complete mess of his t-shirt... but it was fine. hehe.
This, apparently, is called 'baby-led weaning' - where you let the baby hold his own food and stick it in his mouth (they recommend sticks of carrot, brocolli, apple, pear, sweet potato). Because babies get their most if not all of their nutrition from milk till at least 7 months or so, I'm not too worried that he's not getting enough using this method. I'm slightly concerned though when I see the other babies wolfing down purees of carrot, veg etc with baby rice, and G's only having sucks of pear! But we'll see. If he's super hungry (which he isn't), we'll start on purees. If he's losing weight or not putting weight on, we'll puree.
Reason why we started giving him tastes of food is because he seems very intent on chewing his fingers and toys, and I figured rather than eating plastic, he might as well have a chew on food.
Stay tuned!
p x
And he liked it.
A lot.
D had the pear in his hand, and the instructions were for him to eat the skin, and give G-man the pear whole and see if he'll take it. G man was watching him intently eating the pear, and when he was given the chance to hold the pear, took it in his hand and immediately (and I mean, immediately) started knawing at it!! Like a little hamster! It was too cute!! :)
And he wouldn't let go, getting upset when we removed the plate and so we gave it back to him... and he started back onto the pear.. When he took a break, he sucked on his fingers and made a complete mess of his t-shirt... but it was fine. hehe.
This, apparently, is called 'baby-led weaning' - where you let the baby hold his own food and stick it in his mouth (they recommend sticks of carrot, brocolli, apple, pear, sweet potato). Because babies get their most if not all of their nutrition from milk till at least 7 months or so, I'm not too worried that he's not getting enough using this method. I'm slightly concerned though when I see the other babies wolfing down purees of carrot, veg etc with baby rice, and G's only having sucks of pear! But we'll see. If he's super hungry (which he isn't), we'll start on purees. If he's losing weight or not putting weight on, we'll puree.
Reason why we started giving him tastes of food is because he seems very intent on chewing his fingers and toys, and I figured rather than eating plastic, he might as well have a chew on food.
Stay tuned!
p x
Wednesday 16 July 2008
G-man goes swimming...
in Emily's pool!! :) So, we got invited by Amanda to her house for a nice Wednesday afternoon hang-out. Turns out, she has a pool...and a humongous house (which we didn't get to see, because we were too busy hanging out at the pool and her loungers).
G's never been swimming before, and it was rather embarrassing seeing that it was a last minute thing that we turned up without any swimming equipment and only a towel. I had no real intentions of letting him go into the pool (I wanted him to have his first dip with D around) but got persuaded... G got given one of Emily's swim pants, and I didn't even bring my swimwear, and had to use one of Amanda's, together with a spare towel, and a bathrobe! Oh well, we made a good first impression then!
He absolutely loved it. I am so pleased that he's a natural water baby! Yay! We knew he enjoyed his bath times (as D calls it, 'splish splash'!!) and he's even learnt to go up to the end of the bath tub and push himself off it. But this time in a big person's pool it was different.
He had one of the baby floaters and so his bottom half of his body got wet but his top half was fine. I had to put his sun hat on just to protect his scalp from sun rays, and he was off. Didn't cry once (think he was in there for about half an hour or so!)... only time he cried was when I was trying to put on his clothes after the swim!!
He had a feed after that, fell asleep, had a poo (thank God not in the pool!!), and then we went home. He's now zonked out on the sofa having had a pretty good feed of 2 boobs and 180ml Aptamil. Success. We have to get him kitted out in swim clothes this weekend! Yay!!
P x
G's never been swimming before, and it was rather embarrassing seeing that it was a last minute thing that we turned up without any swimming equipment and only a towel. I had no real intentions of letting him go into the pool (I wanted him to have his first dip with D around) but got persuaded... G got given one of Emily's swim pants, and I didn't even bring my swimwear, and had to use one of Amanda's, together with a spare towel, and a bathrobe! Oh well, we made a good first impression then!
He absolutely loved it. I am so pleased that he's a natural water baby! Yay! We knew he enjoyed his bath times (as D calls it, 'splish splash'!!) and he's even learnt to go up to the end of the bath tub and push himself off it. But this time in a big person's pool it was different.
He had one of the baby floaters and so his bottom half of his body got wet but his top half was fine. I had to put his sun hat on just to protect his scalp from sun rays, and he was off. Didn't cry once (think he was in there for about half an hour or so!)... only time he cried was when I was trying to put on his clothes after the swim!!
He had a feed after that, fell asleep, had a poo (thank God not in the pool!!), and then we went home. He's now zonked out on the sofa having had a pretty good feed of 2 boobs and 180ml Aptamil. Success. We have to get him kitted out in swim clothes this weekend! Yay!!
P x
Monday 14 July 2008
My Big Three-Five Birthday Weekend!!
So, I turned 35 on Saturday... I can't blooming believe this. Friday, I was still in my early-thirties, and by Saturday night, I was in my mid-thirties. hmmm... but D (and the G-man, of course!!) did a really good job helping me celebrate it! :)
On Friday, there was a delivery of a bunch of beautiful flowers (roses, lilies, some other flowers I can't identify but think they are really beautiful anyway!) from the G-man, with a message "Dear Mummy, thank you for everyday!!"... Thank you George, and Thank you Daddy!
Friday night, my cousin arrived from Manchester, and we had a chinese take-away dinner...Yums!
Saturday morning, D arranged for a surprise manicure at my local salon, which was great, coz the last time I had a manicure done was in September last year, in Portugal whilst on holiday! It was all a very cloak-and-dagger operation as I had no clue what was going on.
The manicures were completed at about 1245 (D bought Jill one too) and I thought we were going straight home, but Jill rang D and was told to stall me till he rang us! Jill came up with a story about how the 'transportation' for the next part of the birthday surprise was not ready and I didn't know what was going on again! Didn't quite understand why we needed 'transportation' since we had a car! Anyways, the phone rings at about 1pm, and Jill reports that we need to go home coz G wasn't co-operating and needed his mummy. Whilst that was going on, my dad rang to wish me a happy birthday and I think was slightly disappointed that baby wasn't with me!
Anyway, we returned home,.....to a surprise birthday party!! Couldn't believe it. D had invited Lorraine, Chris and Euan, Chris and Nat, Rob, Jenny and Phoebe! There were others who were invited but couldn't make it for various reasons - I totally did not expect this (thank you D!)... It was fun - the last time I had a party was probably...my 21st..? (Jay, if you're reading this - you remember it, don't you?!). We even had a cake! (that looked like it was on fire....thanks alot!).
Following day on Sunday, Dan had organised a spa day for me at Rowhill Grange (http://www.rowhillgrange.co.uk/) - where I'd my hen weekend. It was lush! I had a back massage, and a facial. Totally relaxed.
Today, it's back to the grind with baby, but it's ok - I feel like I've been given a 2nd lease of life! Oh, forgot to mention that G must have realised it was my birthday coz he was very very good the whole day, and even laid quietly in his cot for 1.5 hours when he woke up on saturday (at 7am) ! Was very impressed.
Thank you hubs for a lovely lovely birthday. :) Mwah!!
xx
On Friday, there was a delivery of a bunch of beautiful flowers (roses, lilies, some other flowers I can't identify but think they are really beautiful anyway!) from the G-man, with a message "Dear Mummy, thank you for everyday!!"... Thank you George, and Thank you Daddy!
Friday night, my cousin arrived from Manchester, and we had a chinese take-away dinner...Yums!
Saturday morning, D arranged for a surprise manicure at my local salon, which was great, coz the last time I had a manicure done was in September last year, in Portugal whilst on holiday! It was all a very cloak-and-dagger operation as I had no clue what was going on.
The manicures were completed at about 1245 (D bought Jill one too) and I thought we were going straight home, but Jill rang D and was told to stall me till he rang us! Jill came up with a story about how the 'transportation' for the next part of the birthday surprise was not ready and I didn't know what was going on again! Didn't quite understand why we needed 'transportation' since we had a car! Anyways, the phone rings at about 1pm, and Jill reports that we need to go home coz G wasn't co-operating and needed his mummy. Whilst that was going on, my dad rang to wish me a happy birthday and I think was slightly disappointed that baby wasn't with me!
Anyway, we returned home,.....to a surprise birthday party!! Couldn't believe it. D had invited Lorraine, Chris and Euan, Chris and Nat, Rob, Jenny and Phoebe! There were others who were invited but couldn't make it for various reasons - I totally did not expect this (thank you D!)... It was fun - the last time I had a party was probably...my 21st..? (Jay, if you're reading this - you remember it, don't you?!). We even had a cake! (that looked like it was on fire....thanks alot!).
Following day on Sunday, Dan had organised a spa day for me at Rowhill Grange (http://www.rowhillgrange.co.uk/) - where I'd my hen weekend. It was lush! I had a back massage, and a facial. Totally relaxed.
Today, it's back to the grind with baby, but it's ok - I feel like I've been given a 2nd lease of life! Oh, forgot to mention that G must have realised it was my birthday coz he was very very good the whole day, and even laid quietly in his cot for 1.5 hours when he woke up on saturday (at 7am) ! Was very impressed.
Thank you hubs for a lovely lovely birthday. :) Mwah!!
xx
G's latest weigh in...
At his 20 week visit to the Health Visitor's, he weighed in at 15.8 pounds (7.04kg) and somehow managed to 'shrink' to 66cm!!!?! OMG. The weight's still about the 50th percentile (slightly below) and he'd not gained as much weight as I expected him to (as compared to other weigh ins). Kathryn didn't seem too bothered about it, so I guess I shan't worry either. He's looking well, and is still turning onto his belly at every opportunity! We'd just come home from our First-time Parents group and all the mummies (and daddies) were really impressed with G's amazing feat!! haha... felt so proud! Apparently all the other babies (even those who are his age or slightly older) aren't going on their bellies yet... (the proud parent syndrome's creeping in!!!)...
he's still thankfully sleeping through the night too - well, waking up for a feed at about 4 or 5am's fine...!
Still haven't gotten my head round the whole weaning thing but we did buy some organic pears and carrots on the weekend. I might start to make some purees!! Egad! My baby's growing up! having said that, I'm very tempted by the notion of baby-led weaning (http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/) as there's no need for purees and mush! Have to think about it more. The Department of Health doesn't promote this, and it's seen as a faddish thing. I think it does make some sense!
p x
he's still thankfully sleeping through the night too - well, waking up for a feed at about 4 or 5am's fine...!
Still haven't gotten my head round the whole weaning thing but we did buy some organic pears and carrots on the weekend. I might start to make some purees!! Egad! My baby's growing up! having said that, I'm very tempted by the notion of baby-led weaning (http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/) as there's no need for purees and mush! Have to think about it more. The Department of Health doesn't promote this, and it's seen as a faddish thing. I think it does make some sense!
p x
Tuesday 8 July 2008
Our solo trip to Bluewater...
G and I went to Bluewater last Friday to meet Em, puppy and ratty. It was such an achievement for me as Bluewater's about 40 miles away (takes about 45min-1hr to drive there) and I did it all by myself. I'm usually quite reluctant to drive distances by myself as I'm worried that I'll fall asleep. Factor in the G-man who's unpredictable at best, and you can understand why I was not keen to do this trip. About a month ago, the NCT girls wanted to go to Bluewater, and last minute, I copped out as G wasn't too good in the car (he'd cry everytime he got into the car), and I didn't want him crying all the way there and back!!
Fast forward, G at nearly 20 weeks and I decided that we could possibly risk it. He was very very good on the way there, slept all the way. We had sushi (which was a bit of a rip off!) and then spent a significant amount of time in the changing rooms, feeding and changing and feeding again! But it was good. G didn't do too well on our way back, crying for 30 minutes of the way. I had to steel my nerves and get home as by then it was rather late and I didn't want to sit by a layby feeding him!!
All in all, a good trip anyway, and hey I might do it again too!
P x
Fast forward, G at nearly 20 weeks and I decided that we could possibly risk it. He was very very good on the way there, slept all the way. We had sushi (which was a bit of a rip off!) and then spent a significant amount of time in the changing rooms, feeding and changing and feeding again! But it was good. G didn't do too well on our way back, crying for 30 minutes of the way. I had to steel my nerves and get home as by then it was rather late and I didn't want to sit by a layby feeding him!!
All in all, a good trip anyway, and hey I might do it again too!
P x
The car that crashed...
into our car was driven by a 76 year old man who I think, fell asleep at the wheel. Our stationary car which was parked right outside our house, was crashed into 2 thursdays ago (26th June), the day before C&N got married. It happened at about 12.30pm, on a thursday. Most other thursdays, I am at M&S having tea and biscuits with the other mummies and their babies. But this particular thursday, I decided NOT to meet up with the other mummies as we had a long day ahead of us that day (we were supposed to go pick up N's dress from Jodie's house, and then go for a dinner at the Fordwich Arms as a pre-wedding meal with the family!) and G doesn't do very well if we have a very packed day (I have to admit, I don't either!).
So, I was in the living room, sitting on the sofa with G, when I saw and heard the car move and crash. It was surreal. I jumped up, and saw this black car's front end in the back of my Honda Civic. And an articulated ASDA truck opposite my car. Fantastic...
It was a good job we weren't in the car - I had just thought 5 minutes before to nip to the shops as I wanted to get some shopping done before the long weekend! I could have been loading G into the car when that car ploughed into ours!!
Anyway, to cut the long story short, after calling the police, ambulance and insurance company, getting a replacement car organised (which apparently D had not included into our policy!), the wedding dress was delivered to N by Jodie, and we drove to the Fordwich Arms in our Honda, which was deemed driveable on Thursday afternoon and then deemed un-roadworthy on Friday morning. We got given a VW Passat as a replacement car. Although my first impression of it was 'huge car, how will I park it?!', I've decided that I quite like it now. It's got a fabulously huge boot (the buggy fits really really well in it) and it drives beautifully on the motorway. Granted, I only did the motorway run on Friday when we went to Bluewater (just me and G! that's another blog entry), but that run was really brilliant. It's a diesel car which given the current price hike in petrol/diesel means that it's costing us £1.31 per litre, but it's great.
We'll apparently get our Honda back next week... oh well, it's good whilst it lasted.
love
34 years 361 day old p x
So, I was in the living room, sitting on the sofa with G, when I saw and heard the car move and crash. It was surreal. I jumped up, and saw this black car's front end in the back of my Honda Civic. And an articulated ASDA truck opposite my car. Fantastic...
It was a good job we weren't in the car - I had just thought 5 minutes before to nip to the shops as I wanted to get some shopping done before the long weekend! I could have been loading G into the car when that car ploughed into ours!!
Anyway, to cut the long story short, after calling the police, ambulance and insurance company, getting a replacement car organised (which apparently D had not included into our policy!), the wedding dress was delivered to N by Jodie, and we drove to the Fordwich Arms in our Honda, which was deemed driveable on Thursday afternoon and then deemed un-roadworthy on Friday morning. We got given a VW Passat as a replacement car. Although my first impression of it was 'huge car, how will I park it?!', I've decided that I quite like it now. It's got a fabulously huge boot (the buggy fits really really well in it) and it drives beautifully on the motorway. Granted, I only did the motorway run on Friday when we went to Bluewater (just me and G! that's another blog entry), but that run was really brilliant. It's a diesel car which given the current price hike in petrol/diesel means that it's costing us £1.31 per litre, but it's great.
We'll apparently get our Honda back next week... oh well, it's good whilst it lasted.
love
34 years 361 day old p x
Monday 7 July 2008
BCG...
G was BCG-ed this morning at 9am, and it went well. Having said that, as usual, I was paranoid mummy, and daddy did really well by remembering to calpol baby (baby paracetomol) so that the pain may be lessened. Not sure if it does work but it does make us as parents feel better! G was ever so brave again, didn't cry. In fact, he cried alittle only because of the way he was being held (his left arm had to be still as the needle was going in).
There's a tiny little red mark where the needle went in and they say a scab should form and fall off over the course of a month or so. Let's hope he'll be fine by the time we fly!
The TB nurse was going on about how it was actually ok if we had his vaccinations in the same week as his BCG as all the other injections are inactive. I was thinking, sure that might be the case, but surely his little body won't take too kindly towards 5 major infections and 1 live one?!
oh well. Ok, G's turned himself again and is stuck.
Gotta go!
p x
There's a tiny little red mark where the needle went in and they say a scab should form and fall off over the course of a month or so. Let's hope he'll be fine by the time we fly!
The TB nurse was going on about how it was actually ok if we had his vaccinations in the same week as his BCG as all the other injections are inactive. I was thinking, sure that might be the case, but surely his little body won't take too kindly towards 5 major infections and 1 live one?!
oh well. Ok, G's turned himself again and is stuck.
Gotta go!
p x
Thursday 26 June 2008
The baby has flipped...
at 18 weeks (and 1 day!)..!! hehe. another milestone.
G had been trying for ages now to turn onto his front - he'd try for what seems forever to flip onto his front but gets nowhere (about half way really - so onto his side). We'd been pushing him gently on his back and he'd then turn over, feel really pleased with himself, and then get tired quite easily.
Anyway, Tuesday morning (after G's big day with daddy!), I left him on his playgym on his back as usual, and when I came back literally 2 minutes later (to a strangely silent baby), I found him on his front, quite happily looking around and grabbing things! OMG. I was so pleased....had to ring daddy immediately to tell him!! hehe
And since Tuesday (it's Thursday now), everytime we put him on his back, he's turning and flipping onto his front! And he does it really fast now! Very impressed...
I think we might have to think about weaning him soon - perhaps not yet, but perhaps a good idea to get some baby rice and equipment ready. He's been eating alot more (draining his 120ml of Aptamil once a day) and I think it's time to increase his milk intake. He's still being breastfed and I have all intentions of still breastfeeding him till at least 6 months, but I guess since he's being more active, he'll need more food and calories. Maybe by the time we get to sg, he'll be able to have porridge!
Chris and Natty are getting married tomorrow - how exciting.. and baby G's got a bling outfit, including a diamante cravat!! hahaha. Will try and post some pics.
And G's going to have a 2nd cousin in October - a baby girl. yay!
P and G xx
G had been trying for ages now to turn onto his front - he'd try for what seems forever to flip onto his front but gets nowhere (about half way really - so onto his side). We'd been pushing him gently on his back and he'd then turn over, feel really pleased with himself, and then get tired quite easily.
Anyway, Tuesday morning (after G's big day with daddy!), I left him on his playgym on his back as usual, and when I came back literally 2 minutes later (to a strangely silent baby), I found him on his front, quite happily looking around and grabbing things! OMG. I was so pleased....had to ring daddy immediately to tell him!! hehe
And since Tuesday (it's Thursday now), everytime we put him on his back, he's turning and flipping onto his front! And he does it really fast now! Very impressed...
I think we might have to think about weaning him soon - perhaps not yet, but perhaps a good idea to get some baby rice and equipment ready. He's been eating alot more (draining his 120ml of Aptamil once a day) and I think it's time to increase his milk intake. He's still being breastfed and I have all intentions of still breastfeeding him till at least 6 months, but I guess since he's being more active, he'll need more food and calories. Maybe by the time we get to sg, he'll be able to have porridge!
Chris and Natty are getting married tomorrow - how exciting.. and baby G's got a bling outfit, including a diamante cravat!! hahaha. Will try and post some pics.
And G's going to have a 2nd cousin in October - a baby girl. yay!
P and G xx
Wednesday 18 June 2008
3rd round of immunisations and latest weigh in!
G is 17 weeks this week, but I'll be writing about what happened last week...
his immunisations was due last Wed and we went with some trepidation as this time, he was due to have 3 injections (the previous rounds were 2!!!). Baby G was soooo brave, as he was smiling and giggling when Daddy sat him on his knee and held him real tight. Nurse Wendy was really nice too (she's always nice) and did the injections real fast
But it was still very traumatising to watch him smile one second and his face turning into a grimace the next and tears starting to flood in the next!! :( My heart was breaking when that happened...but baby G was soo brave, and only whimpered and cried for literally 30 seconds. Again, we calpol-ed him (yay!) and I saved a boob for him to suckle on and he was fine after the 3 jabs (2 in one thigh!!). :) He literally forgot about it by the time we were out of the surgery, which is great. haha.
The next day, we went in for his monthly weigh in and measurement, and the results are.........*drum roll*...
Weight: 6.68kg (14 pounds 11 oz) - 50%ile
Length: 66.5 cm - nearly 98%ile (?!)
Head circumference: 42cm - 50%ile
So everything spot on and as per normal. Here, they're not too concerned where baby's plotting on the growth charts, as long as he's more or less following his projected percentile. So if G was always on the 50th percentile, then he should really be around there every time he's weighed, if that makes sense. I'm really happy that his weight's on the average as this chart's based on formula-fed babies, and he's mostly breast fed. Last night was the first night in days that he took a whole bottle of formula (120ml) and even that was less than what's 'recommended' for his age (210!), so it looks like he's growing and thriving on mostly breast milk.
Speaking of growing and thriving - saw this programme on tv the other night, "Britain's Biggest Babies"...OMG, it was most ridiculous to see these really obese babies, and many (if not all) of these mothers are obese themselves! There was one woman who claimed that she loved fish when she was pregnant - turned out that she was gorging on fish and chips!! I know it's fish, but no matter how good the quality of fish is, if you coat it with batter...and accompany it with chips, then surely the goodness is all wiped out!? There was another woman who claimed that her baby girl at 14 months "loved chips"...excuse me, but how does a baby learn to 'love chips'... surely she would have learned it through her parents providing that as a meal?! On tv, they were showing the toddler sat in her high chair, with a big plate of shop-bought chips (so, not even oven-baked chips at home). It was enough to make me sick.
Lastly there was a 3 year old boy who was so obese, he had to use an adult size swim ring in the pool - and his mother thought it was hilarious. And after the swim, she fed him rubbish food again.
I don't get these parents - surely it's one thing to feed yourself junk food, but to feed your child the same, especially when they are too young to make a decision for themselves? The occasional junk food is fine, I think (esp since if you forbid it, it becomes the desired forbidden food!), but to have it practically every day, that I think is tantamount to child abuse.
P
his immunisations was due last Wed and we went with some trepidation as this time, he was due to have 3 injections (the previous rounds were 2!!!). Baby G was soooo brave, as he was smiling and giggling when Daddy sat him on his knee and held him real tight. Nurse Wendy was really nice too (she's always nice) and did the injections real fast
But it was still very traumatising to watch him smile one second and his face turning into a grimace the next and tears starting to flood in the next!! :( My heart was breaking when that happened...but baby G was soo brave, and only whimpered and cried for literally 30 seconds. Again, we calpol-ed him (yay!) and I saved a boob for him to suckle on and he was fine after the 3 jabs (2 in one thigh!!). :) He literally forgot about it by the time we were out of the surgery, which is great. haha.
The next day, we went in for his monthly weigh in and measurement, and the results are.........*drum roll*...
Weight: 6.68kg (14 pounds 11 oz) - 50%ile
Length: 66.5 cm - nearly 98%ile (?!)
Head circumference: 42cm - 50%ile
So everything spot on and as per normal. Here, they're not too concerned where baby's plotting on the growth charts, as long as he's more or less following his projected percentile. So if G was always on the 50th percentile, then he should really be around there every time he's weighed, if that makes sense. I'm really happy that his weight's on the average as this chart's based on formula-fed babies, and he's mostly breast fed. Last night was the first night in days that he took a whole bottle of formula (120ml) and even that was less than what's 'recommended' for his age (210!), so it looks like he's growing and thriving on mostly breast milk.
Speaking of growing and thriving - saw this programme on tv the other night, "Britain's Biggest Babies"...OMG, it was most ridiculous to see these really obese babies, and many (if not all) of these mothers are obese themselves! There was one woman who claimed that she loved fish when she was pregnant - turned out that she was gorging on fish and chips!! I know it's fish, but no matter how good the quality of fish is, if you coat it with batter...and accompany it with chips, then surely the goodness is all wiped out!? There was another woman who claimed that her baby girl at 14 months "loved chips"...excuse me, but how does a baby learn to 'love chips'... surely she would have learned it through her parents providing that as a meal?! On tv, they were showing the toddler sat in her high chair, with a big plate of shop-bought chips (so, not even oven-baked chips at home). It was enough to make me sick.
Lastly there was a 3 year old boy who was so obese, he had to use an adult size swim ring in the pool - and his mother thought it was hilarious. And after the swim, she fed him rubbish food again.
I don't get these parents - surely it's one thing to feed yourself junk food, but to feed your child the same, especially when they are too young to make a decision for themselves? The occasional junk food is fine, I think (esp since if you forbid it, it becomes the desired forbidden food!), but to have it practically every day, that I think is tantamount to child abuse.
P
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Daddy's home alone with G!
Following on from the previous post, D was home alone with G, from about 8am, to about 9pm. And I think, he's finally realised/understood, how difficult it can be. Very 'fun' and great to be with the baby, but it's a full on job (having said that I'm typing this at 4.40pm, and G's having a nap.. - long may it continue..well, at least till I finish this!).
I rang a few times (10am, 1pm, 6pm, 7.30pm) and thankfully, he wasn't screaming except for the last time at about 9pm, which was when he was due a feed and D thought that I could feed him (and I would have liked to) but the train came in at 9.10pm, so I was too late (when G wants his food, he WANTS his food NOW!)... (people have wondered where he gets his impatience from... dum de dum de dum...haha).
They were very active during the day - they 'sunbathed' in the garden (great pic of G on the sunlounger, and on the picnic mat...!), they went for a walk (great video), lots of giggles (all on vid), and even to G's first football match (D runs his office's football team and they had a game that evening)! I would love to be that active with G but am nervous about lugging baby around every where I go. When I'm alone, we try to do one activity a day. Some days (like today) we just stay at home). We weren't supposed to be home today, but our date to Whitstable beach with Shelley and Sophia got postponed.
D will be home alone again on the 23rd of June with G... Let's hope it'll be just as fun! Ironically, because I'd expressed milk a few days before, G had a whole day of just breastmilk, which is great!
We have his 3rd round of immunisations tomorrow - wish us luck! Must remember to calpol him before we go. We then have our weigh-in on thursday. I can't wait to see how tall and how heavy he is. He's definitely put on weight. Tried weighing him by carrying him and then minusing my weight, and it looked like he's now about 6.5-7kg! which is great. We'll get the official reading on Thursday.
ok - will sign off now.
P x
I rang a few times (10am, 1pm, 6pm, 7.30pm) and thankfully, he wasn't screaming except for the last time at about 9pm, which was when he was due a feed and D thought that I could feed him (and I would have liked to) but the train came in at 9.10pm, so I was too late (when G wants his food, he WANTS his food NOW!)... (people have wondered where he gets his impatience from... dum de dum de dum...haha).
They were very active during the day - they 'sunbathed' in the garden (great pic of G on the sunlounger, and on the picnic mat...!), they went for a walk (great video), lots of giggles (all on vid), and even to G's first football match (D runs his office's football team and they had a game that evening)! I would love to be that active with G but am nervous about lugging baby around every where I go. When I'm alone, we try to do one activity a day. Some days (like today) we just stay at home). We weren't supposed to be home today, but our date to Whitstable beach with Shelley and Sophia got postponed.
D will be home alone again on the 23rd of June with G... Let's hope it'll be just as fun! Ironically, because I'd expressed milk a few days before, G had a whole day of just breastmilk, which is great!
We have his 3rd round of immunisations tomorrow - wish us luck! Must remember to calpol him before we go. We then have our weigh-in on thursday. I can't wait to see how tall and how heavy he is. He's definitely put on weight. Tried weighing him by carrying him and then minusing my weight, and it looked like he's now about 6.5-7kg! which is great. We'll get the official reading on Thursday.
ok - will sign off now.
P x
Monday 2 June 2008
Breast Mastitis
Something else wrong with mummy?!?!
yup... last tuesday, I went to London to do some rather lucrative work with another institution...and left daddy with G (that's another post!). Anyway, left home at 8am, got back at 9pm and brought my expresser with me. As part of the meeting plans, I'd also asked for a 'private room'. Rather embarrassing since I didn't even know these people! But hey, they provided, and I expressed and transported back from London 2 bags full of milk hahah.
When I woke up that morning, my left breast felt rather tender - I didn't think anything of it. But by the time I got back that night, it was hurting like mad. Turns out it was mastitis. I had to have a bath about 2am, as it was just intolerably painful. Both boobs were also leaking and feeding G was a nightmare - but we continued to let him feed.
The next day, I trooped off to the doctors who gave me antibiotics and some ibuprofen (just as well, for my wrist too!). It's feeling alot better now, thank God!!
On a more positive note, G's still sleeping through the night, going down on average about 9pm (sometimes earlier, sometimes later), and waking up on average about 4/5am. Which is great! :) He feeds at 4/5am, and then goes back down till 7/8am. He hangs out with daddy for an hour or so and then gets handed over. It's alot more manageable... and we've got a routine where he has 2 naps a day (sometimes he goes for 3).
On weekends, it gets abit knocked out of sync because we do things like shopping, and have lunches/dinners (or like this past weekend, 2 BBQs and a dinner!). By about bath time, he's just about had enough activity and wants to come home. And amazingly enough, he does know what home is, as by the time we come through the door, he's smiling again! Makes me slightly worried about our flight to sg this aug - what if he's upset he's not at home for 2 whole weeks?!? OMG. Oh well, not going to think about it till closer the date. Hopefully by then he's used to being out and about, he'll be fine!!fingers crossed very very tightly.
We've got his 3rd round of immunisations next Wed... they come round real quick!! and this time, it won't be pleasant at all as he'll have 3 shots. Tune in next week!
This May/June's turning into a wet wipe out. It's been raining more or less continuously for the last week or so... I'm getting depressed. I think Summer's come and gone... remember, the 10 days or so in April!!? Think that was it!
p x
yup... last tuesday, I went to London to do some rather lucrative work with another institution...and left daddy with G (that's another post!). Anyway, left home at 8am, got back at 9pm and brought my expresser with me. As part of the meeting plans, I'd also asked for a 'private room'. Rather embarrassing since I didn't even know these people! But hey, they provided, and I expressed and transported back from London 2 bags full of milk hahah.
When I woke up that morning, my left breast felt rather tender - I didn't think anything of it. But by the time I got back that night, it was hurting like mad. Turns out it was mastitis. I had to have a bath about 2am, as it was just intolerably painful. Both boobs were also leaking and feeding G was a nightmare - but we continued to let him feed.
The next day, I trooped off to the doctors who gave me antibiotics and some ibuprofen (just as well, for my wrist too!). It's feeling alot better now, thank God!!
On a more positive note, G's still sleeping through the night, going down on average about 9pm (sometimes earlier, sometimes later), and waking up on average about 4/5am. Which is great! :) He feeds at 4/5am, and then goes back down till 7/8am. He hangs out with daddy for an hour or so and then gets handed over. It's alot more manageable... and we've got a routine where he has 2 naps a day (sometimes he goes for 3).
On weekends, it gets abit knocked out of sync because we do things like shopping, and have lunches/dinners (or like this past weekend, 2 BBQs and a dinner!). By about bath time, he's just about had enough activity and wants to come home. And amazingly enough, he does know what home is, as by the time we come through the door, he's smiling again! Makes me slightly worried about our flight to sg this aug - what if he's upset he's not at home for 2 whole weeks?!? OMG. Oh well, not going to think about it till closer the date. Hopefully by then he's used to being out and about, he'll be fine!!fingers crossed very very tightly.
We've got his 3rd round of immunisations next Wed... they come round real quick!! and this time, it won't be pleasant at all as he'll have 3 shots. Tune in next week!
This May/June's turning into a wet wipe out. It's been raining more or less continuously for the last week or so... I'm getting depressed. I think Summer's come and gone... remember, the 10 days or so in April!!? Think that was it!
p x
Thursday 22 May 2008
De Quervains syndrome
WHAT?! what is that? and why are we even discussing this!?
I've been diagnosed with this syndrome this afternoon. After a few days of an aching wrist/tendon and a dodgy thumb, I went back to the doctors and got sent on to seek physiotherapy for my swollen wrist/thumb. I thought I'd slept on it awkwardly, at first, and so left it for a day, but it didn't get better. I went to to doctor and saw a dodgy one, who told me to take parecetomol and perhaps splint it. I decided to back to see Dr again today (2 days later) because it's getting worse and more painful. This time, Dr Molony gave me a list of physiotherapists whom he'd recommend (esp after I told him I had private health insurance!), and I rang one of them, and made an appointment for this afternoon (result!).
Anyway, so I went to St Lawrence Sports and Physiotherapy Clinic and saw Oli. And Oli told me that I have De Quervains syndrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeQuervain's_syndrome. He's really spot on as it sounds like I really do have this syndrome, with a swollen tendon near my wrist and thumb. Several factors have contributed to this, including the fact that I've just been pregnant (we release Elastin during pregnancy and after that, whilst breastfeeding, which basically makes us more flexible), the fact that I'm doing alot more carrying (baby, car seat, lots more stuff!), and the fact that I'm double-jointed or hypermobile http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=563§ionId=1
oh dear...it's all sounding more and more ominous. So, he used some ultrasound treatment on me for 3 minutes, and some light therapy for a minute or so. It did feel better, but hey, it could have been a placebo effect! My wrist is hurting again. :(
I gotta go back for another treatment next week, and hopefully the wrist guard will be ordered and waiting for me then. Wonder how long this will take to treat. He didn't say anything... According to some of those websites, it said it should take 1 year... a year?!?!
let's hope the pain subsides... *fingers crossed*
p x
I've been diagnosed with this syndrome this afternoon. After a few days of an aching wrist/tendon and a dodgy thumb, I went back to the doctors and got sent on to seek physiotherapy for my swollen wrist/thumb. I thought I'd slept on it awkwardly, at first, and so left it for a day, but it didn't get better. I went to to doctor and saw a dodgy one, who told me to take parecetomol and perhaps splint it. I decided to back to see Dr again today (2 days later) because it's getting worse and more painful. This time, Dr Molony gave me a list of physiotherapists whom he'd recommend (esp after I told him I had private health insurance!), and I rang one of them, and made an appointment for this afternoon (result!).
Anyway, so I went to St Lawrence Sports and Physiotherapy Clinic and saw Oli. And Oli told me that I have De Quervains syndrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeQuervain's_syndrome. He's really spot on as it sounds like I really do have this syndrome, with a swollen tendon near my wrist and thumb. Several factors have contributed to this, including the fact that I've just been pregnant (we release Elastin during pregnancy and after that, whilst breastfeeding, which basically makes us more flexible), the fact that I'm doing alot more carrying (baby, car seat, lots more stuff!), and the fact that I'm double-jointed or hypermobile http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=563§ionId=1
oh dear...it's all sounding more and more ominous. So, he used some ultrasound treatment on me for 3 minutes, and some light therapy for a minute or so. It did feel better, but hey, it could have been a placebo effect! My wrist is hurting again. :(
I gotta go back for another treatment next week, and hopefully the wrist guard will be ordered and waiting for me then. Wonder how long this will take to treat. He didn't say anything... According to some of those websites, it said it should take 1 year... a year?!?!
let's hope the pain subsides... *fingers crossed*
p x
Sleeping through...for a week now! :)
Baby G's been sleeping till at least 4.30am most nights! yay!! :) never thought I'd ever think 4.30/5am is a good target to aim for... but such is motherhood in the early months! After the last blog post, I didn't think we'd talk about him sleeping through ... but he has. for the last week or so, he's been going down about 9-11pm, and going through till 4.30/5. There was one night when he went from about 8.30pm (!?) and another time he hit 6am! wow wow wow. Let's hope he continues with this, and somehow it didn't matter whether he was fed Aptamil, or breast milk or a combination of both!
Speaking of which, a couple of nights ago, he had a hungry night and ate something like 300ml in total (of both breast milk and Aptamil). It was frightening to watch, and we even had to 'break open' the carton of Aptamil, because we didn't have enough boiled water (on standby) nor anymore breast milk (in boob or expressed!).. that's like a pint of milk isn't it?! in a little body like his?! I don't get where it all went. We thought it meant that he'd go till at least 6 or 7am... but no, he still woke up at about 5. Oh well, mustn't complain.
ok, will be blogging about something else in the next post...
p x
Speaking of which, a couple of nights ago, he had a hungry night and ate something like 300ml in total (of both breast milk and Aptamil). It was frightening to watch, and we even had to 'break open' the carton of Aptamil, because we didn't have enough boiled water (on standby) nor anymore breast milk (in boob or expressed!).. that's like a pint of milk isn't it?! in a little body like his?! I don't get where it all went. We thought it meant that he'd go till at least 6 or 7am... but no, he still woke up at about 5. Oh well, mustn't complain.
ok, will be blogging about something else in the next post...
p x
Friday 16 May 2008
2nd round of immunisations and weigh in!
We've survived his 2nd round of immunisations which was on wed 14th May. Again, he couldn't believe that we were subjecting him to the pain and the stress (frankly, neither could I!)...and after the 2nd injection (the meningitis one), the nurse admitted that it was probably going to be hurt more because it was a stingy one! (now she tells us!). I was in tears and so was my poor bubba... and daddy had to hold him tight. Thankfully, we calpol-ed him before and I also 'saved' a boob for him so that he could suckle and comfort himself. By the time we left the surgery, we think he forgot about it.
However, since that day (it's friday now), he's been grizzly and slightly tetchy. We think it's a slight reaction to the injections - afterall, we are exposing them to minute versions of these deadly diseases! poor little mites and their little bodies, fighting away! :(
The next round will be a month from now and that time, it'll be 3 injections - ahhh!!! and then he'll have to be subjected to a BCG too (coz I'm from a part of the world that still gives their babies routine BCGs, so bubba has to be the same as all his little friends there. hmmph).
On a cheerier note, he was weighed and measured yesterday, and he's spot on 13 pounds (5.9 kg) and measuring 63.5cm, which is great. That puts him on the 50%ile for his weight, and 91st for his height.
And even better, he slept through for the first time last night!! It's probably a fluke as he's tired himself out from all the crying he did 2 hours before that..(for 2 hours!), but he last fed about 8pm where we gave him 100ml of Aptamil, and he had his bath, and changed into his sleepsuit. He fell asleep at about 10pm and didn't wake till 5.30am for a feed! yay!! let's hope he remembers to do this tonight too and the next.
I expressed some milk last night to save up for when I go to London for the day in a couple of weeks. Have to remember to buy the bags to save them in soon!
ok - gotta go find out where to invest the 250 quid the government's kindly given us for his future...!
P x
However, since that day (it's friday now), he's been grizzly and slightly tetchy. We think it's a slight reaction to the injections - afterall, we are exposing them to minute versions of these deadly diseases! poor little mites and their little bodies, fighting away! :(
The next round will be a month from now and that time, it'll be 3 injections - ahhh!!! and then he'll have to be subjected to a BCG too (coz I'm from a part of the world that still gives their babies routine BCGs, so bubba has to be the same as all his little friends there. hmmph).
On a cheerier note, he was weighed and measured yesterday, and he's spot on 13 pounds (5.9 kg) and measuring 63.5cm, which is great. That puts him on the 50%ile for his weight, and 91st for his height.
And even better, he slept through for the first time last night!! It's probably a fluke as he's tired himself out from all the crying he did 2 hours before that..(for 2 hours!), but he last fed about 8pm where we gave him 100ml of Aptamil, and he had his bath, and changed into his sleepsuit. He fell asleep at about 10pm and didn't wake till 5.30am for a feed! yay!! let's hope he remembers to do this tonight too and the next.
I expressed some milk last night to save up for when I go to London for the day in a couple of weeks. Have to remember to buy the bags to save them in soon!
ok - gotta go find out where to invest the 250 quid the government's kindly given us for his future...!
P x
Tuesday 13 May 2008
12 weeks already..
Wow - I remember when I blogged about our 12 week scan, and now we've come through to the other side, with a 12 week old baby! :)
sometimes I feel that time has indeed flown past (I remember distinctly counting the number of days to our due date, and now he's already 3 months old and getting ready for his 2nd round of immunisations! sob!!)... other times, I feel that time's really creeping past, only in that every morning I wake up and it's the same thing of feeding, changing, playing, sleeping, and the cycle continues. It's a constant challenge to think of things to do and yet I find that every day, I don't 'achieve' anything! Reading books is a challenge in itself as I can't quite hold the book and breastfeed at the same time (however, in recent weeks I have managed to read a couple of books - mostly when he's asleep though). Doing stuff on the computer is not quite possible unless D's around or G's really sleeping otherwise, it's a random check for emails and then a few hours of thinking of a reply and then finding the time to reply...! Lunch is a quick 10 min microwave job (that's heating, eating scalding hot food and removing plate to kitchen sink!)...
and the husband thinks that I spend all day watching the Jeremy Kyle show... hmph. (he's just read this and denies he's ever accused me of that!! hmph).
G's 2nd round of immunisations is scheduled for tomorrow... if he's well. I think he is, but he's had a bit of a dry cough and a bogey nose and I'm not sure if it's hayfever, a cold, or a combination of that with a paranoid mother. If he's declared well by the doctor, the jabs will go ahead...otherwise, we'll have to reschedule it for next week. Eeks. Half of me wants it to be over and done with, the other half of me doesn't want him to ever go through with it!
We've booked our flights home to sg!! :) yay... grandad's so excited... and we're excited to go and show G off to everyone...hehe, and get loads of cuddles and pressies...hehe...We'll be leaving on Aug 19th, on the A380... D's so excited...I hope it'll be a good flight for G.
ok - gotta go get some shut eye and relaxation before the next feed...
P x
sometimes I feel that time has indeed flown past (I remember distinctly counting the number of days to our due date, and now he's already 3 months old and getting ready for his 2nd round of immunisations! sob!!)... other times, I feel that time's really creeping past, only in that every morning I wake up and it's the same thing of feeding, changing, playing, sleeping, and the cycle continues. It's a constant challenge to think of things to do and yet I find that every day, I don't 'achieve' anything! Reading books is a challenge in itself as I can't quite hold the book and breastfeed at the same time (however, in recent weeks I have managed to read a couple of books - mostly when he's asleep though). Doing stuff on the computer is not quite possible unless D's around or G's really sleeping otherwise, it's a random check for emails and then a few hours of thinking of a reply and then finding the time to reply...! Lunch is a quick 10 min microwave job (that's heating, eating scalding hot food and removing plate to kitchen sink!)...
and the husband thinks that I spend all day watching the Jeremy Kyle show... hmph. (he's just read this and denies he's ever accused me of that!! hmph).
G's 2nd round of immunisations is scheduled for tomorrow... if he's well. I think he is, but he's had a bit of a dry cough and a bogey nose and I'm not sure if it's hayfever, a cold, or a combination of that with a paranoid mother. If he's declared well by the doctor, the jabs will go ahead...otherwise, we'll have to reschedule it for next week. Eeks. Half of me wants it to be over and done with, the other half of me doesn't want him to ever go through with it!
We've booked our flights home to sg!! :) yay... grandad's so excited... and we're excited to go and show G off to everyone...hehe, and get loads of cuddles and pressies...hehe...We'll be leaving on Aug 19th, on the A380... D's so excited...I hope it'll be a good flight for G.
ok - gotta go get some shut eye and relaxation before the next feed...
P x
Monday 28 April 2008
more cutie pics!
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some more photos of the little one! he's 10 weeks old today (how quick time flies!)...and very active and responsive. Giggles for no rhyme or reason (which is good, compared I suppose to being grumpy and crying!!) and smiles very broadly...
Love
p x
Monday 21 April 2008
1st Immunisations
G had his first immunisations last wednesday (16th April) and I think I was more traumatised than he was! well, incorrect - he was unaware of it, till the needle went in, at which time he freaked so badly, he ran out of scream. That's right...his mouth opened so wide for a scream, but no sound came out. then he recovered and screamed real loud. But then, only for a min, and we comforted him and he whimpered for a while and settled after 5 minutes. He did very well actually, falling asleep right after that, for the next 2-3 hours.
Mummy on the other hand was most traumatised for the best part of the week, and when it was time to go into the nurse's room, was freaking out. After the doctor administered the injections (1 on each thigh!), the nurse actually patted me on the shoulder and said 'it's all over, mummy, it's ok'...! hmph.
On a better note, we went for a photoshoot at Olan Mills Photography in Mothercare on the weekend and G did very well - check these pics out!!
oh, and we've put in an offer on a 4-bed detached house...?!!? are we mad, in this economic climate!!?!?!
p xx
Monday 31 March 2008
Latest statistics
George is 6 weeks old today (31st March) and we've just measured him. He's clocking in at 61cm (which puts him at the 98% percentile?!) and his head circumference is 38/40 cm (which puts him at 50%). It sounds like if this continues, he'll be really tall, like his dad!! how exciting.
ok - gotta go sleep now.
night night!
p x
ok - gotta go sleep now.
night night!
p x
Spot George...!
We had a gathering of our NCT (http://www.nct.org/) antenatal classmates at our house yesterday - and it was a lot of fun. We invited our teacher along too as she'd not seen all the babies since we ended classes in mid-Dec (earliest baby was born 30th Dec) and G was the latest on 18th Feb.
There was alot of laughter, alot of food (we've got enough to feed us for the next week!), and crying (from babies, honest!). Here's a classic picture...:). The babies were placed in chronological age order, so from left (Ella Louise Kennett the oldest, Thomas Samuel Guest, Sienna Olivia Langiano, Oliver John Fleming, Pheobe Rose May Rowan, and George). Typical, my son decides to sleep through it all. He woke up about 10 minutes after all the photos were taken... hmph.
ok - going to brave it and wake the babe up...! Time for a nappy change and a feed! Such is life.
p x
Friday 28 March 2008
He's smiling!!
I think this is such a cute picture... actually, no these are 2 very cute pictures...:)
The one of the right, taken about 3 weeks old (7th March), the one on the left, about 5 weeks old (25th March)! :)
p x
some cute photos!
Hi!
Taking the opportunity of a quiet moment (G's asleep...!), I thought I'd upload some photos which I think are quite cute (well, they all are cute - but to upload all I think would be rather too much!).
I do wonder what G was thinking in the last picture... perhaps he was rather upset about being removed from his warm and cosy habitat of the last 9 months...!!!
ok - he's twitching now...gotta go!
P x
Wednesday 26 March 2008
Baby is 36 days old!
Happy Man Yue for last saturday!!
Haven't had time to update the blog - looking after baby is really, a full-time 24 hour job. The only time off I get is when he's sleeping or not crying - right now, he's sitting in his little bouncing chair and that's keeping him occupied for a little while. Ordinarily I'd be rushing around doing the laundry (I've taken it out of the machine, just not hung it up yet!), and sterilising bottles etc, but thought my blog needed some attention!
We had him baptised when he was 4 weeks old, on 15th March 2008 (saturday). Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31958&page=3&l=a7b84&id=575881955. Colin and Audra came over to the UK and made a little holiday before stopping at ours for 5 days for the baptism and for them to see the baby. Audra apparently cried/teared when she left our house for the airport - she was that attached to the G-master. So... Georgie Porgie made his first girl cry!! :)
There have been many near scares and frights... I still wake up in the night wondering if he's breathing and poking him to see if he moves. When we go out for an extended period of time, and he ends up sleeping in the buggy or the car, I worry that he's not eating enough. But, thankfully, at yesterday's health visitor's check, he's put on 1 pound and 1 oz and that brings him to a grand weight of 9 pounds 2 oz!! I'm really pleased. According to the measurements and growth charts, he's at 25% - but I think that's fine, as long as he's growing and developing. His height however is at 91%! We reckon that he's got a slim build (from both me and Dan - Dan's tall but he's not chunky)!
I get to drive from next week (6 weeks). I can't wait to have my independence and freedom again. But first, I'll need to master the collapsing of the buggy!
Till then...
Love
P and G (5 weeks 2 days!) xx
Haven't had time to update the blog - looking after baby is really, a full-time 24 hour job. The only time off I get is when he's sleeping or not crying - right now, he's sitting in his little bouncing chair and that's keeping him occupied for a little while. Ordinarily I'd be rushing around doing the laundry (I've taken it out of the machine, just not hung it up yet!), and sterilising bottles etc, but thought my blog needed some attention!
We had him baptised when he was 4 weeks old, on 15th March 2008 (saturday). Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31958&page=3&l=a7b84&id=575881955. Colin and Audra came over to the UK and made a little holiday before stopping at ours for 5 days for the baptism and for them to see the baby. Audra apparently cried/teared when she left our house for the airport - she was that attached to the G-master. So... Georgie Porgie made his first girl cry!! :)
There have been many near scares and frights... I still wake up in the night wondering if he's breathing and poking him to see if he moves. When we go out for an extended period of time, and he ends up sleeping in the buggy or the car, I worry that he's not eating enough. But, thankfully, at yesterday's health visitor's check, he's put on 1 pound and 1 oz and that brings him to a grand weight of 9 pounds 2 oz!! I'm really pleased. According to the measurements and growth charts, he's at 25% - but I think that's fine, as long as he's growing and developing. His height however is at 91%! We reckon that he's got a slim build (from both me and Dan - Dan's tall but he's not chunky)!
I get to drive from next week (6 weeks). I can't wait to have my independence and freedom again. But first, I'll need to master the collapsing of the buggy!
Till then...
Love
P and G (5 weeks 2 days!) xx
Tuesday 4 March 2008
George is 15 days old...
We are home from the hospital and George is 15 days old!! :) I can't believe how time has just flown past. Have not had time to update the blog (apologies) since we only got back from the hospital last weekend (23rd Feb) and George was born on the 18th. Let me start from the very beginning...
18th Feb 2008
We woke up at about 4.30am and started to get ready to go to the hospital. It's quite surreal to actually know the birthdate of your child before he's even born - and I think we were extremely lucky and blessed not to have had any emergencies before so that we actually made it to the date arranged by the consultant! We got to QEQM hospital (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, in Margate - home of Tracey Emin!) at 7am and when we walked in, the midwife said that we were going to be the first c-section of the day! That was shock no. 1! We went in thinking that we were going to be second since apparently there was another woman booked in for a c-section and she was diabetic, and so we assumed (and we were told!) that she'd go first. Plus I had the added 'complications'. Oh well, maybe Mr Belgaumkar wanted to sort the complicated case out first!
So, we went into a room where we sort of got ready - I changed into my hospital gown (started to feel nervous about it) and Dan was given his hospital clothes to change into, including a hair net thing, and special wellie/boots to wear! Then all the people who were going to be in the operating theatre trooped in one by one to introduce themselves and tell me what was going to happen - which was really nice, because it helped me identify with them. Midwife, Aneastetists, Surgeons, their assistants, operating theatre staff...
9am - I walked to the theatre - I started to get really nervous at this stage but they were really nice and very gentle with the spinal. The feeling was really weird - it felt like I was having pins and needles but not really. Felt all warm and fuzzy too. By 0917, they started the first incision and by 0925, George Noah Kai was born. :) and I only knew that because the music we had chosen (Hallelujah - by Rufus Wainwright) was playing at that moment, and the anaestatist started to let the green curtain screen down and said to put on my glasses and lifted my back up so that I could see George emerging from my womb!
His umbilical cord was cut and he immediately let out a huge yowl (something which we are trying to get accustomed to at the moment!)!! He was then taken to the respiratair where he was checked through and given an APGAR score of 9 at 1 min and 10 at 5 min! :) His daddy went straight over to the machine and took photos of him and the midwife then brought George over to be placed on my chest for a little while whilst they sewed me up. I didn't feel a thing (of course, it hurt like mad afterwards!)... it was such an experience.
George weighed in at 8 pounds 1 oz (3.650 kg), and 50 cm long. His head circumference was 35cm (which is spot on average) and everything's fine. Within the hour, (by10am) I was wheeled out into recovery where Dan and George were both waiting for me and George was placed on me for his first breastfed moment - he latched on very well and very quickly, and we will be posting pictures up here soon.
We spent the next couple of nights at QEQM and were discharged on Wed evening (we thought he might have jaundice - but the blood tests said he was fine - rather on the high end but still ok) and went on to stay 3 more nights at Kent and Canterbury Birth Centre. This was a preferred option as it meant that Dan could stay with us in the room (it was almost as if we were in a private hospital!) and we could get help with breast feeding - which was invaluable.
As all new mothers are, I was constantly fretting over him. Was he feeding enough, was he feeding too much? Was he sleeping enough, was he sleeping too much? Was he pooing enough, was he pooing too much? What is the perfect poo? Has he wee-ed? How do we know he's wee-ed? and so on...
We survived the few days at hospital and made it home on saturday night. We've now been home for 10 days now and we've had our sleepless days and nights but it's all been worth it. He is the most perfect and cutest baby ever (of course, we are biased!)...
Dan's gone back to work as of yesterday and I had my first day alone with him then. It was scary - not having an extra pair of hands to rely on is incredibly daunting... but we survived it. Today has been extremely good so far (fingers crossed) and hopefully we'll survive again till Dan arrives home at 6pm!
Lots of love
P and G xx
15 days old!
18th Feb 2008
We woke up at about 4.30am and started to get ready to go to the hospital. It's quite surreal to actually know the birthdate of your child before he's even born - and I think we were extremely lucky and blessed not to have had any emergencies before so that we actually made it to the date arranged by the consultant! We got to QEQM hospital (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, in Margate - home of Tracey Emin!) at 7am and when we walked in, the midwife said that we were going to be the first c-section of the day! That was shock no. 1! We went in thinking that we were going to be second since apparently there was another woman booked in for a c-section and she was diabetic, and so we assumed (and we were told!) that she'd go first. Plus I had the added 'complications'. Oh well, maybe Mr Belgaumkar wanted to sort the complicated case out first!
So, we went into a room where we sort of got ready - I changed into my hospital gown (started to feel nervous about it) and Dan was given his hospital clothes to change into, including a hair net thing, and special wellie/boots to wear! Then all the people who were going to be in the operating theatre trooped in one by one to introduce themselves and tell me what was going to happen - which was really nice, because it helped me identify with them. Midwife, Aneastetists, Surgeons, their assistants, operating theatre staff...
9am - I walked to the theatre - I started to get really nervous at this stage but they were really nice and very gentle with the spinal. The feeling was really weird - it felt like I was having pins and needles but not really. Felt all warm and fuzzy too. By 0917, they started the first incision and by 0925, George Noah Kai was born. :) and I only knew that because the music we had chosen (Hallelujah - by Rufus Wainwright) was playing at that moment, and the anaestatist started to let the green curtain screen down and said to put on my glasses and lifted my back up so that I could see George emerging from my womb!
His umbilical cord was cut and he immediately let out a huge yowl (something which we are trying to get accustomed to at the moment!)!! He was then taken to the respiratair where he was checked through and given an APGAR score of 9 at 1 min and 10 at 5 min! :) His daddy went straight over to the machine and took photos of him and the midwife then brought George over to be placed on my chest for a little while whilst they sewed me up. I didn't feel a thing (of course, it hurt like mad afterwards!)... it was such an experience.
George weighed in at 8 pounds 1 oz (3.650 kg), and 50 cm long. His head circumference was 35cm (which is spot on average) and everything's fine. Within the hour, (by10am) I was wheeled out into recovery where Dan and George were both waiting for me and George was placed on me for his first breastfed moment - he latched on very well and very quickly, and we will be posting pictures up here soon.
We spent the next couple of nights at QEQM and were discharged on Wed evening (we thought he might have jaundice - but the blood tests said he was fine - rather on the high end but still ok) and went on to stay 3 more nights at Kent and Canterbury Birth Centre. This was a preferred option as it meant that Dan could stay with us in the room (it was almost as if we were in a private hospital!) and we could get help with breast feeding - which was invaluable.
As all new mothers are, I was constantly fretting over him. Was he feeding enough, was he feeding too much? Was he sleeping enough, was he sleeping too much? Was he pooing enough, was he pooing too much? What is the perfect poo? Has he wee-ed? How do we know he's wee-ed? and so on...
We survived the few days at hospital and made it home on saturday night. We've now been home for 10 days now and we've had our sleepless days and nights but it's all been worth it. He is the most perfect and cutest baby ever (of course, we are biased!)...
Dan's gone back to work as of yesterday and I had my first day alone with him then. It was scary - not having an extra pair of hands to rely on is incredibly daunting... but we survived it. Today has been extremely good so far (fingers crossed) and hopefully we'll survive again till Dan arrives home at 6pm!
Lots of love
P and G xx
15 days old!
Thursday 14 February 2008
The countdown begins...
Happy Valentine's Day! :)
it's T-4 days to go for the arrival of the blue pea. I'm anxious, nervous, worried, excited, happy... as you can imagine - all sorts of feelings are going through my head at the moment - and undoubtedly, D's head too. The nursery is all prepared, we've got a Baby Beginnings book to record everything about the pregnancy and the pending birth (and the following months), I've had the car cleaned and vacuumed at the car wash (well worth the £12!), our cleaners came this afternoon to clean the house and all in all, everything seems to be happening that should be happening! But... I'm still worried.
Worried about the operation, about the baby when he comes out (will he be perfect, cute, crying, hungry, colour of his eyes?!), about the sewing up and the scar, about breastfeeding, about walking after the operation (and the subsequent bleeds and nasty things which they don't tell you about until it's too late!), about coming home and managing with the baby....and well...everything else really! Worried about doing the chores around the house even! Worried about whether we have enough baby gear (from nappies, to baby grows!)...
People have always called me a worrywart - I guess this is the epitome of it eh?
We had a pre-clerking session at QEQM hospital yesterday (13th Feb) which is a session one has with a midwife who will take about 5 ml of blood to check for iron levels and where she also explains and discusses everything that will or can happen during the caesarean section. The name of that midwife was Denise and she was really nice. The whole thing took over an hour but we didn't feel that we had to rush or anything (even though she was running an hour late already!).
She informed us that we needed to be at the hospital on monday for 7am (as opposed to 7.30) and that if everything went as planned, we'd be going in at about 10.30/11am. There are two planned caesareans that day, and the first lady will go in at 8.30am (as she's diabetic, she needs to go first, which is fair enough!). All going well, we will be next (assuming there are no emergencies along the way for other women) and that will take us up till about 1pm or so. We then get taken into the recovery room for a couple of hours and if everything goes well, we get moved to our room/ward. I'm hoping for a private room and chances are we'll get it - I hope anyway. They might take pity on the fact that I have placenta praevia and would have had a more traumatic experience and so give me the single room!
She then said that on the 2nd day (tuesday), they will help me out of bed and we'll have my first shower - I'm panicking about that because of the wound and the dressing/bandage! But they seem to know what they are talking about ... and if the doctors check both me and baby out and think that we are ok, we can then be discharged! I'm surprised that they think we'll be out on the 2nd day but it has been done. We then have the option of either coming straight home, or going to the midwife-led Birthing Centre at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. We have been thinking of doing that, but we're not quite sure about that now, only because their beds are the regular ones as opposed to the beds that can be controlled and moved about. Ordinarily that might not make a difference to a woman who has just given birth, but with a c-section, it would be better to be able to have a bed that can be moved with the control buttons.
Because the K&C is 10 minutes from our house as opposed to the QEQM being 30-40 minutes away, the K&C is an attractive alternative. We'll see what happens.
ok - gotta go have dinner now.
Love
P and the blue pea
38+3 weeks
it's T-4 days to go for the arrival of the blue pea. I'm anxious, nervous, worried, excited, happy... as you can imagine - all sorts of feelings are going through my head at the moment - and undoubtedly, D's head too. The nursery is all prepared, we've got a Baby Beginnings book to record everything about the pregnancy and the pending birth (and the following months), I've had the car cleaned and vacuumed at the car wash (well worth the £12!), our cleaners came this afternoon to clean the house and all in all, everything seems to be happening that should be happening! But... I'm still worried.
Worried about the operation, about the baby when he comes out (will he be perfect, cute, crying, hungry, colour of his eyes?!), about the sewing up and the scar, about breastfeeding, about walking after the operation (and the subsequent bleeds and nasty things which they don't tell you about until it's too late!), about coming home and managing with the baby....and well...everything else really! Worried about doing the chores around the house even! Worried about whether we have enough baby gear (from nappies, to baby grows!)...
People have always called me a worrywart - I guess this is the epitome of it eh?
We had a pre-clerking session at QEQM hospital yesterday (13th Feb) which is a session one has with a midwife who will take about 5 ml of blood to check for iron levels and where she also explains and discusses everything that will or can happen during the caesarean section. The name of that midwife was Denise and she was really nice. The whole thing took over an hour but we didn't feel that we had to rush or anything (even though she was running an hour late already!).
She informed us that we needed to be at the hospital on monday for 7am (as opposed to 7.30) and that if everything went as planned, we'd be going in at about 10.30/11am. There are two planned caesareans that day, and the first lady will go in at 8.30am (as she's diabetic, she needs to go first, which is fair enough!). All going well, we will be next (assuming there are no emergencies along the way for other women) and that will take us up till about 1pm or so. We then get taken into the recovery room for a couple of hours and if everything goes well, we get moved to our room/ward. I'm hoping for a private room and chances are we'll get it - I hope anyway. They might take pity on the fact that I have placenta praevia and would have had a more traumatic experience and so give me the single room!
She then said that on the 2nd day (tuesday), they will help me out of bed and we'll have my first shower - I'm panicking about that because of the wound and the dressing/bandage! But they seem to know what they are talking about ... and if the doctors check both me and baby out and think that we are ok, we can then be discharged! I'm surprised that they think we'll be out on the 2nd day but it has been done. We then have the option of either coming straight home, or going to the midwife-led Birthing Centre at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. We have been thinking of doing that, but we're not quite sure about that now, only because their beds are the regular ones as opposed to the beds that can be controlled and moved about. Ordinarily that might not make a difference to a woman who has just given birth, but with a c-section, it would be better to be able to have a bed that can be moved with the control buttons.
Because the K&C is 10 minutes from our house as opposed to the QEQM being 30-40 minutes away, the K&C is an attractive alternative. We'll see what happens.
ok - gotta go have dinner now.
Love
P and the blue pea
38+3 weeks
Wednesday 30 January 2008
A fab appointment with the consultant
The appointment we had yesterday was completely different from the one we experienced two weeks ago... ! which was a relief. :)
Our appointment was scheduled for 3.30pm and just as I was checking in at the reception, I heard my name being called out by the sonographer! I was surprised that they were actually 'on time'! Anyways, both D and I walked into the ultrasound room and explained that we didn't think we should be having an internal scan due to what we were advised the last time we were admitted. She went and fetched the senior sonographer and we proceeded with a normal ultrasound. Baby was measuring spot on again for his age (36 weeks) and the placenta was still in situ, ie hasn't moved. The sonographer went to get the consultant to take a look (the right consultant!) and he confirmed that the placenta was right lateral and posterior, and covers the internal os - ie, we definitely have to have a caesarean. I suppose even though everyone knew this for the last 8 weeks or so, it was the final confirmation at 36 weeks that will set things in motion, like booking the caesarean section and so on.
We asked if he could do the surgery and he agreed. And so we are booked in for the 18th of February 2008! :) It's kinda weird knowing the actual date that baby will be born, but it's nice too. We are now hoping and willing for baby to stay put till the 18th and that there are no complications that will arise from the c-section. We don't know what time the section will take place as it'll depend on their schedule and other potential emergencies with other women, but I hope we don't have to wait too long as I'll have to start my fast from the midnight the night before!!
We then had a very long talk with the midwife whose job was to talk us through the whole procedure and Lesley (that's her name) was extremely competent, patient and kind. I imagine when all this is over, we will send them a really nice thank you card and maybe some flowers! She answered all our questions without making us feel or think that we were being silly - and that means alot to me/us.
I'll have to revise my birthplan slightly, but that's fine.
All in all, a very positive experience and am pleased that we've not chosen the 'wrong' hospital, doctors or nurses to help us with this birth.
Pam and the pea
36+2 weeks!
Our appointment was scheduled for 3.30pm and just as I was checking in at the reception, I heard my name being called out by the sonographer! I was surprised that they were actually 'on time'! Anyways, both D and I walked into the ultrasound room and explained that we didn't think we should be having an internal scan due to what we were advised the last time we were admitted. She went and fetched the senior sonographer and we proceeded with a normal ultrasound. Baby was measuring spot on again for his age (36 weeks) and the placenta was still in situ, ie hasn't moved. The sonographer went to get the consultant to take a look (the right consultant!) and he confirmed that the placenta was right lateral and posterior, and covers the internal os - ie, we definitely have to have a caesarean. I suppose even though everyone knew this for the last 8 weeks or so, it was the final confirmation at 36 weeks that will set things in motion, like booking the caesarean section and so on.
We asked if he could do the surgery and he agreed. And so we are booked in for the 18th of February 2008! :) It's kinda weird knowing the actual date that baby will be born, but it's nice too. We are now hoping and willing for baby to stay put till the 18th and that there are no complications that will arise from the c-section. We don't know what time the section will take place as it'll depend on their schedule and other potential emergencies with other women, but I hope we don't have to wait too long as I'll have to start my fast from the midnight the night before!!
We then had a very long talk with the midwife whose job was to talk us through the whole procedure and Lesley (that's her name) was extremely competent, patient and kind. I imagine when all this is over, we will send them a really nice thank you card and maybe some flowers! She answered all our questions without making us feel or think that we were being silly - and that means alot to me/us.
I'll have to revise my birthplan slightly, but that's fine.
All in all, a very positive experience and am pleased that we've not chosen the 'wrong' hospital, doctors or nurses to help us with this birth.
Pam and the pea
36+2 weeks!
Sunday 27 January 2008
Daddy's new toy...
I got D a new bike...as part of his 'well done Dad' present...! :) Well, some people have said that men tend to get their wives presents (usually jewellery, like eternity rings!) when they've had their first baby (and I guess, subsequent babies as well) and so I thought I'd get the daddy a present!
We got D a new........ bicycle! :) and it looks like this! But it's the 20" one, not the 16" one. He's so excited about it he's now out (at6pm, in the dark) riding around the woods behind our house. Bless...!
We did also try on some eternity rings at the jewellers - absolutely fell in love with this one http://www.beaverbrooks.co.uk/index.cfm?event=catalogue.showProduct&productID=1173 but at 2,000 over quid, it's alot of money (and about 8 bicycles?!?!) We might get something when we go to sg in the summer..!
Love
P and the pea x
36 weeks tomorrow!
Friday 25 January 2008
amazing small-mindedness...
I read something in the blog mrbrown.com and it completely pushed my rather low-blood pressure upwards and skywards!
He's a Singaporean blogger who apparently has alot of clout amongst Singaporean readers (and has also attracted some sort of international attention due to various run-ins with the local government). One of his recent posts was on the public transport system, specifically the tube/MRT. Basically the complaint was about how the trains appeared to be more crowded and yet the number of trains that are put on the tracks appear to be less. Hence, increased crowdedness, unhappy population etc.
One of his readers had the audacity to post this in the comments page:
"As if trains aren't crowded enough and to make things worse...
1) Parents nowadays simply refuse to fold up their prams/strollers when entering trains..."
WTF is he on about? How can he think that if parents fold up their prams/strollers, it will make it easier because oh of course, we'd not only be carrying the child, but also the pram, and the shopping and the bags..! I'm sure it's not even a case of not thinking his argument through, but more likely a case of small-mindedness and the quickness to allocate blame onto other people/situations. And I'm not even protesting this because I'm a parent-to-be (well, maybe a tiny bit) but because of the sheer stupidity of his comment!
It's made me feel rather anxious and defensive the next time we (as 3!) go visit Singapore in the summer. I'd imagine that baby will be in a Baby Bjorn type body-carrier as his daddy already loves carrying Vic around in that - but we will also be bringing his buggy to push him about - or maybe we'll just bring the car seat. In a child-unfriendly place, it must be quite daunting for parents to try and maunovere public transport and spaces!
It's made me more appreciative also of the child-friendliess (in comparison!) of the UK environment. Most cafes/restaurants and department stores have baby changing rooms and some even have a rocking chair for breastfeeding mums. All buses have areas where one can leave the prams parked (some don't even need it to be folded). People make space for baby prams - it's not seen as a nuisance, more as a necessity and part of life and so is quite acccepted really! And many restaurants now have baby high chairs or some sort of seat for baby to take a seat, with the parents at the same table.
Plus of course, the positive attitude of employers towards pregnant women, and women on maternity leave. Sure, the UK might still be lagging behind that of Europe and Scandinavia, but it's definitely way ahead of Asia and the US/N.America! At the moment, according to government law, we are entitled to 9 months of maternity leave which can go up to 1 year (I think it's 1 year). Of the 9 months, it depends on how the employer calculates it, but most employers will pay full-pay for a certain portion of the time, and then perhaps half-pay with statutory maternity pay (SMP) for the rest of the time. At the moment, SMP is roughly 100 pounds per week or so, so it's not going to make anyone rich but it allows the person to tide over, I'd imagine.
I opted for the package where we get 8 weeks of full-pay, and then 16 weeks of half pay with SMP and then the rest of the time of SMP only. Hopefully I won't have too many weeks of that since I'm hoping to get back to work for September 2008.
There's also child tax credits and childcare vouchers - which will come in handy when we put the pea in nursery. It basically does not tax you for the amount of money that you pay to the nursery. So if the nursery bill comes up to 400 pounds per month, the government will not tax that 400 pounds, so in fact, it's tax free.
For sure, if we are to have another baby, we'll definitely have it in Europe as compared to in Asia!!!
P and the blue pea
35+4
Edited on 28th Jan2008: turns out that there's a significant minority of Singaporeans out there who actually think that parents with small children should not be allowed on the trains with their buggies (I've since been slated twice for even thinking of doing that). Amazing. Civilised society I think not! *sniff*
He's a Singaporean blogger who apparently has alot of clout amongst Singaporean readers (and has also attracted some sort of international attention due to various run-ins with the local government). One of his recent posts was on the public transport system, specifically the tube/MRT. Basically the complaint was about how the trains appeared to be more crowded and yet the number of trains that are put on the tracks appear to be less. Hence, increased crowdedness, unhappy population etc.
One of his readers had the audacity to post this in the comments page:
"As if trains aren't crowded enough and to make things worse...
1) Parents nowadays simply refuse to fold up their prams/strollers when entering trains..."
WTF is he on about? How can he think that if parents fold up their prams/strollers, it will make it easier because oh of course, we'd not only be carrying the child, but also the pram, and the shopping and the bags..! I'm sure it's not even a case of not thinking his argument through, but more likely a case of small-mindedness and the quickness to allocate blame onto other people/situations. And I'm not even protesting this because I'm a parent-to-be (well, maybe a tiny bit) but because of the sheer stupidity of his comment!
It's made me feel rather anxious and defensive the next time we (as 3!) go visit Singapore in the summer. I'd imagine that baby will be in a Baby Bjorn type body-carrier as his daddy already loves carrying Vic around in that - but we will also be bringing his buggy to push him about - or maybe we'll just bring the car seat. In a child-unfriendly place, it must be quite daunting for parents to try and maunovere public transport and spaces!
It's made me more appreciative also of the child-friendliess (in comparison!) of the UK environment. Most cafes/restaurants and department stores have baby changing rooms and some even have a rocking chair for breastfeeding mums. All buses have areas where one can leave the prams parked (some don't even need it to be folded). People make space for baby prams - it's not seen as a nuisance, more as a necessity and part of life and so is quite acccepted really! And many restaurants now have baby high chairs or some sort of seat for baby to take a seat, with the parents at the same table.
Plus of course, the positive attitude of employers towards pregnant women, and women on maternity leave. Sure, the UK might still be lagging behind that of Europe and Scandinavia, but it's definitely way ahead of Asia and the US/N.America! At the moment, according to government law, we are entitled to 9 months of maternity leave which can go up to 1 year (I think it's 1 year). Of the 9 months, it depends on how the employer calculates it, but most employers will pay full-pay for a certain portion of the time, and then perhaps half-pay with statutory maternity pay (SMP) for the rest of the time. At the moment, SMP is roughly 100 pounds per week or so, so it's not going to make anyone rich but it allows the person to tide over, I'd imagine.
I opted for the package where we get 8 weeks of full-pay, and then 16 weeks of half pay with SMP and then the rest of the time of SMP only. Hopefully I won't have too many weeks of that since I'm hoping to get back to work for September 2008.
There's also child tax credits and childcare vouchers - which will come in handy when we put the pea in nursery. It basically does not tax you for the amount of money that you pay to the nursery. So if the nursery bill comes up to 400 pounds per month, the government will not tax that 400 pounds, so in fact, it's tax free.
For sure, if we are to have another baby, we'll definitely have it in Europe as compared to in Asia!!!
P and the blue pea
35+4
Edited on 28th Jan2008: turns out that there's a significant minority of Singaporeans out there who actually think that parents with small children should not be allowed on the trains with their buggies (I've since been slated twice for even thinking of doing that). Amazing. Civilised society I think not! *sniff*
Wednesday 16 January 2008
The anti-climatic consultant's app
So, we had our consultant's appointment scheduled for Tuesday, 15th Jan at 2.20pm. We turned up, with very high hopes that we'd get a possible birth-date for the blue pea, and possibly the opportunity to discuss birth plans, how a typical c-section goes and what we need to know. None of that happened.
For one, we didn't even get to see the consultant we were booked in to see. We saw one of his minions.... who was possibly one of the worst doctors I've ever met (and that's saying alot).
We got to the hospital on time - waited at reception to be told what to go and what to do (I'd never been for a consult at this hospital before!). The receptionist ignored me (she was doing something else, but hey, she could have acknowledged my presence?!). The husband then turned up and she then paid attention. hmph. She asked my name and obviously since my married surname doesn't quite relate to the colour of my skin, she asked then to confirm my details (never had to do that before?!). She asked if I'd brought a wee sample with me - no I did not. She then went into this long spiel as to why we need to bring a sample everytime we have an ante-natal visit. But, we weren't going to see the midwife - we had an appointment with the consultant! I didn't know we had to bring a wee sample anyway! Oh well. So she gave me a bottle to wee in and told me where to go and wait.
We saw a midwife and all she did was take my blood pressure, and tested the wee - both of which were fine. Then we got told where to wait to see the consultant. I was still very bouyant about the whole meeting thinking that we'd be able to speak to him finally.
Whilst waiting our turn, I saw this man who looked like a doctor walking around with my hospital notes (I knew for sure that they were my notes because of various things I had filed in them). He walked around for about 20 minutes and kept popping his head into various consultant rooms. He finally called my name and I realised with a sinking heart that he was going to take this particular appointment. I should have been more assertive and asked why I wasn't going to see Mr Bel, but I didn't.
Anyway, during that consult, amongst other things, he suggested that I should be admitted there and then (!? 4 weeks before my c-section?!), I will have a very high chance of being knocked out with General Anaesthetic and therefore D won't be allowed in with me into the theatre (?!) and when we asked why, he said it's because I'll be bleeding. However, when I asked more, he admitted that I wouldn't be bleeding anymore than any other woman undergoing the same procedure - since my placenta was posterior and not anterior (ie, they won't have to cut through the placenta to get to the baby). He also suggested that we will have an internal scan in 2 weeks time (?! strange since I'm not supposed to have an internal anything due to the risk of bleeding) and that we'll then decide when to have the c-section at that meeting. Oh, and the final thing he said was, that the blue pea can come out safely as of now (34 weeks) since he'll be very viable, and therefore, he's not too concerned if we did the c-section at weeks 37 or 38 or 39. I said, yes I understand what you are saying but shouldn't we try and keep the baby in there for a longer period so that he has the opportunity to put on some weight and fat and basically be more 'normal'...? He said, "we're not concerned about baby's weight from now". And I thought, what a load of toss! It can't be right since so many publications, both lay and medical say that the bigger the baby, or the closer to term the baby is, the safer the baby is, plus his chances of developing illnesses as he grows up are lessened! (e.g. heart defaults, etc).
If this didn't concern a major operation, I would have liked so dearly to punch him in the face and given him a piece of my mind!
Thankfully though, when we left the room, Mr Bel, the consultant that I was supposed to see was about and I went to say hello to him and tell him about the consult that I'd just had! Told him about how his colleague was trying to scare me into staying in hospital from then - he completely contradicted his colleague there and then and said that I didn't have to stay at all (not from yesterday at least!) and that this was something that I probably would have had to do say 10-15 years ago, when medicine wasn't so advanced, when not all families had cars etcetc. And to drive home the point, he asked jokingly whether I could file and type letters because his office was in a mess, and if I was to stay for the next 4 weeks I could make myself useful by helping him tidy up his office. I retorted and said that actually, my own office needed tidying up and I needed a secretary to do that for me! So, there's that.
The good news is, I get to see Mr Bel (I am so going to kick up a fuss if it's this other person - heck as long as it's not this person, I don't care who I see) in 2 weeks time and hopefully it'll be a good consult then. I also have fortnightly appointments with the midwife now, so it looks like I will be seeing a medical person every week from now on, which is good.
grr - I was not impressed... I hope we'll do better next appointment!
On a separate note - re friend from NCT, it turns out that she had spent a very long time in labour at the birthing unit (as opposed to consultant-led hospital) and they then transferred her to the consultant-led hospital when her labour wasn't progressing. She was there for about an hour, when the baby's heartbeat suddenly plummetted and they then decided to have an emergency c-section. And that was when the baby was stillborn. It's soooo sad. Not sure what one can say under such circumstances... that they should have gone to the consultant-led unit from the start? That they should have been transferred earlier? That they should have had a caesarean earlier?
Pam and the blue pea
34+2 weeks
For one, we didn't even get to see the consultant we were booked in to see. We saw one of his minions.... who was possibly one of the worst doctors I've ever met (and that's saying alot).
We got to the hospital on time - waited at reception to be told what to go and what to do (I'd never been for a consult at this hospital before!). The receptionist ignored me (she was doing something else, but hey, she could have acknowledged my presence?!). The husband then turned up and she then paid attention. hmph. She asked my name and obviously since my married surname doesn't quite relate to the colour of my skin, she asked then to confirm my details (never had to do that before?!). She asked if I'd brought a wee sample with me - no I did not. She then went into this long spiel as to why we need to bring a sample everytime we have an ante-natal visit. But, we weren't going to see the midwife - we had an appointment with the consultant! I didn't know we had to bring a wee sample anyway! Oh well. So she gave me a bottle to wee in and told me where to go and wait.
We saw a midwife and all she did was take my blood pressure, and tested the wee - both of which were fine. Then we got told where to wait to see the consultant. I was still very bouyant about the whole meeting thinking that we'd be able to speak to him finally.
Whilst waiting our turn, I saw this man who looked like a doctor walking around with my hospital notes (I knew for sure that they were my notes because of various things I had filed in them). He walked around for about 20 minutes and kept popping his head into various consultant rooms. He finally called my name and I realised with a sinking heart that he was going to take this particular appointment. I should have been more assertive and asked why I wasn't going to see Mr Bel, but I didn't.
Anyway, during that consult, amongst other things, he suggested that I should be admitted there and then (!? 4 weeks before my c-section?!), I will have a very high chance of being knocked out with General Anaesthetic and therefore D won't be allowed in with me into the theatre (?!) and when we asked why, he said it's because I'll be bleeding. However, when I asked more, he admitted that I wouldn't be bleeding anymore than any other woman undergoing the same procedure - since my placenta was posterior and not anterior (ie, they won't have to cut through the placenta to get to the baby). He also suggested that we will have an internal scan in 2 weeks time (?! strange since I'm not supposed to have an internal anything due to the risk of bleeding) and that we'll then decide when to have the c-section at that meeting. Oh, and the final thing he said was, that the blue pea can come out safely as of now (34 weeks) since he'll be very viable, and therefore, he's not too concerned if we did the c-section at weeks 37 or 38 or 39. I said, yes I understand what you are saying but shouldn't we try and keep the baby in there for a longer period so that he has the opportunity to put on some weight and fat and basically be more 'normal'...? He said, "we're not concerned about baby's weight from now". And I thought, what a load of toss! It can't be right since so many publications, both lay and medical say that the bigger the baby, or the closer to term the baby is, the safer the baby is, plus his chances of developing illnesses as he grows up are lessened! (e.g. heart defaults, etc).
If this didn't concern a major operation, I would have liked so dearly to punch him in the face and given him a piece of my mind!
Thankfully though, when we left the room, Mr Bel, the consultant that I was supposed to see was about and I went to say hello to him and tell him about the consult that I'd just had! Told him about how his colleague was trying to scare me into staying in hospital from then - he completely contradicted his colleague there and then and said that I didn't have to stay at all (not from yesterday at least!) and that this was something that I probably would have had to do say 10-15 years ago, when medicine wasn't so advanced, when not all families had cars etcetc. And to drive home the point, he asked jokingly whether I could file and type letters because his office was in a mess, and if I was to stay for the next 4 weeks I could make myself useful by helping him tidy up his office. I retorted and said that actually, my own office needed tidying up and I needed a secretary to do that for me! So, there's that.
The good news is, I get to see Mr Bel (I am so going to kick up a fuss if it's this other person - heck as long as it's not this person, I don't care who I see) in 2 weeks time and hopefully it'll be a good consult then. I also have fortnightly appointments with the midwife now, so it looks like I will be seeing a medical person every week from now on, which is good.
grr - I was not impressed... I hope we'll do better next appointment!
On a separate note - re friend from NCT, it turns out that she had spent a very long time in labour at the birthing unit (as opposed to consultant-led hospital) and they then transferred her to the consultant-led hospital when her labour wasn't progressing. She was there for about an hour, when the baby's heartbeat suddenly plummetted and they then decided to have an emergency c-section. And that was when the baby was stillborn. It's soooo sad. Not sure what one can say under such circumstances... that they should have gone to the consultant-led unit from the start? That they should have been transferred earlier? That they should have had a caesarean earlier?
Pam and the blue pea
34+2 weeks
Monday 14 January 2008
The scan at 33 weeks
The scan took place last week and it's been confirmed, the placenta is firmly centred over the cervix - it's so centred, if you didn't know better, you would have thought it was deliberately placed there! so, that's it then. All minute hope that we could have a normal vaginal birth have now been dashed - which is fine. Annoys me slightly though, that people still come up to me and say 'there's still hope'. I'm not ignorant, I've read up, and asked the right questions - I wish people would just accept it! I have!!
We have our first consultant's appointment tomorrow afternoon. We'll see what he says then - and hopefully we'll get a date! it's going to be so weird, having a birth date for baby before it actually happens!!
Rachel from work had her baby in early January, about 3/4 weeks before she was actually due - it was an emergency c-section coz the baby was breech and I suppose she went into early labour. I hope baby pea stays in there longer.
Also, had some sad news from one of the girls from NCT - she had an emergency c-section (not sure why) but she was late anyway, and the baby boy was still born. Will update when we get more details. Feel so bad about it - we will be keeping her and her family in our prayers.
Love
P and the pea
34 weeks exactly today!!
We have our first consultant's appointment tomorrow afternoon. We'll see what he says then - and hopefully we'll get a date! it's going to be so weird, having a birth date for baby before it actually happens!!
Rachel from work had her baby in early January, about 3/4 weeks before she was actually due - it was an emergency c-section coz the baby was breech and I suppose she went into early labour. I hope baby pea stays in there longer.
Also, had some sad news from one of the girls from NCT - she had an emergency c-section (not sure why) but she was late anyway, and the baby boy was still born. Will update when we get more details. Feel so bad about it - we will be keeping her and her family in our prayers.
Love
P and the pea
34 weeks exactly today!!
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