Today Isabella and I are off on our travels again. We've been to quite a number of places now in her short time with us. South of France by car when she was only 5 months old. London at around 7 months of course by car and then Dublin on a plane only this month. Strangely enough short plane journeys up to now have been the most interesting and demanding. You can almost feel the tension from the other passengers around you as they lock onto a tiny baby. They were of course wrong she was pretty much good as gold apart from the landings, her ears must have started popping and she wouldn't take anymore milk as she'd only had some half an hour before for the take offs, so we had a bit of crying. That was the worst of it and it only lasted a few minutes. The passengers came off pretty unscathed or at least so I thought.
This time we are taking a wee 5 hour trip to Kent. Just me and Isabella as this is where Nanny and Grandad live and her cousins. As usual we will leave around 6pm as this is Isabella's bed time and travelling with a baby is always better if you can do it in their sleeping time, less stress all round. This of course is not always possible. We've just got to load the car up later with all the paraphernalia that a baby needs and trust me it's a lot. Then we're off.
So, no blogging for a few days as we get some well earned rest and relaxation in the beautiful land of Kent. I will be taking my camera so expect a few photos when I get back. Until then folks aurevoir.
Sunday 26 February 2012
Saturday 25 February 2012
Lethargy is it just me...
I have to say I won't be sad to see the end of February. It has been one of those months were everyone has had the blues, and everyone has been ill, and I've probably topped the blues chart this month.
I went to a social gathering last night with a group of ladies that I met at anti-natal yoga and the feeling amongst the group was that they had all felt rather tired, lethargic and unwell for the most of February. Little ones having anything and everything that was going around and the parents contracting equally horrible illnesses. It's nearly everyone you speak to. This seems unusual? Or is it just a parent thing that i've not been party to before?
I feel our inclement weather here up in the North of England does not help us in any way. We suffer more than most the gloom of winter. Topped with I suppose most of the people I know suffering from some sort of sleep deprivation in one way or another, which will inevitably lower your immune system and they do say, can lead to depression. This is a recipe for virus overload and just a general feeling of being down. I believe the syndrome has an appropriately named title - Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. How appropriate, as this is how I and many others have been feeling for quite some time now.
So, as the nights start to lighten and the end of February draws near, I really do hope we will all turn a corner and start to feel a lot more positive and well. I know I would love to. So, hurrah to March and Spring I can't wait. Only a few weeks until the 20th for the Vernal Equinox. My daffodils are already starting to poke their noses up things are already looking brighter.
I went to a social gathering last night with a group of ladies that I met at anti-natal yoga and the feeling amongst the group was that they had all felt rather tired, lethargic and unwell for the most of February. Little ones having anything and everything that was going around and the parents contracting equally horrible illnesses. It's nearly everyone you speak to. This seems unusual? Or is it just a parent thing that i've not been party to before?
I feel our inclement weather here up in the North of England does not help us in any way. We suffer more than most the gloom of winter. Topped with I suppose most of the people I know suffering from some sort of sleep deprivation in one way or another, which will inevitably lower your immune system and they do say, can lead to depression. This is a recipe for virus overload and just a general feeling of being down. I believe the syndrome has an appropriately named title - Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. How appropriate, as this is how I and many others have been feeling for quite some time now.
So, as the nights start to lighten and the end of February draws near, I really do hope we will all turn a corner and start to feel a lot more positive and well. I know I would love to. So, hurrah to March and Spring I can't wait. Only a few weeks until the 20th for the Vernal Equinox. My daffodils are already starting to poke their noses up things are already looking brighter.
Friday 24 February 2012
Baby Sensory Bouncer
We've been going to baby sensory since Issy was around 3 months old. From the very beginning she loved it. Okay to begin with she just lay there and stared at the ceiling but i'm sure she was listening. All the lights, sounds, smells, experiences and the lady that runs it, Tina, makes it just that little bit more special for the babies. Isabella as she has grown has certainly benefited from it, she now sits right in front of Tina for the starting song and jumps up and down, even though she's not quite 10 months and you would think jumping would be out of her reach yet, trust me it isn't when she's there. It's such a wonderful thing to see this little baby bouncing along to the music, you can't help but smile and so does everyone else, it really does make you laugh.
Today we had water as the theme, this is how it works you see, there's a theme to each week. I sometimes try and take some of this stuff home to do, but as you can imagine it just isn't the same. Issy sitting by the couch in the front room, me blowing a few bubbles at her, isn't quite the underwater experience we had at the class, still she doesn't seem to mind and I think I'm doing something amazing for her.
I fear we will have to stop going soon Issy really is getting too big for the class, in that I mean the attention span not her pant size. She is starting to be more interested in the baby on the floor next to her or the toy behind us than Tina and the activities which have been put on for her sole enjoyment. It was easy when she wasn't a crawler but you do spend most of your time, scurrying across the floor after a bottom for most of the time. This would be okay if I was a teenager but mum ain't no spring chicken and the springs in the back ain't what they used to be.
So, we continue on for some time yet with this the highlight of the week. It really is something that makes you feel good about yourself as a mum and that you are doing a positive thing for your child. I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone who has a small baby. It really brings them out of their shells.
I haven't been asked to write this by the way this is purely my point of view and Isabella's of course :)
Here's the link if you want to check it out:
http://www.babysensory.com/en/ClassDetails.aspx?id=35
Today we had water as the theme, this is how it works you see, there's a theme to each week. I sometimes try and take some of this stuff home to do, but as you can imagine it just isn't the same. Issy sitting by the couch in the front room, me blowing a few bubbles at her, isn't quite the underwater experience we had at the class, still she doesn't seem to mind and I think I'm doing something amazing for her.
I fear we will have to stop going soon Issy really is getting too big for the class, in that I mean the attention span not her pant size. She is starting to be more interested in the baby on the floor next to her or the toy behind us than Tina and the activities which have been put on for her sole enjoyment. It was easy when she wasn't a crawler but you do spend most of your time, scurrying across the floor after a bottom for most of the time. This would be okay if I was a teenager but mum ain't no spring chicken and the springs in the back ain't what they used to be.
So, we continue on for some time yet with this the highlight of the week. It really is something that makes you feel good about yourself as a mum and that you are doing a positive thing for your child. I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone who has a small baby. It really brings them out of their shells.
I haven't been asked to write this by the way this is purely my point of view and Isabella's of course :)
Here's the link if you want to check it out:
http://www.babysensory.com/en/ClassDetails.aspx?id=35
Thursday 23 February 2012
It's tough without the Grandparents
This is how life is. Sometimes we need something to spark a change in us. At one time I would never have contemplated a baby, it just wasn't for me too much to do. I wanted to go to University, then I wanted to taste living in London and then Brighton. I'd been travelling round the world. All these things took up time and these were things I felt like I needed to do. So time marched on.
It brings me to the present and as time marched on so did the health issues with my parents. So much so that now I have a wonderful child to show them, but show them I cannot. Some days I feel my father is here with me as Isabella stares up at his paintings on the wall. I feel she senses him near at least. My mother I'm not so sure about. Maybe I try not to think about her so much as this hurts too much. She wanted grandchildren so much. I remember one night when they'd been out she said to me " where did we go wrong" and she was talking about children. That made me feel so sad.
Well they have finally got one and I know they would think she was the most amazing thing on the planet. I know I do.
So, I am trying to make sure my partners parents are involved, even though they are such a long way away, down south. I feel it is important for Isabella to have at least one set of her Grandparents involved in her life. Even though it is at a distance.
The lack of family suport does make it more tough on me and my partner. We don't have that easy hand off to Grandparents like younger families do. The support of anyone other than us just doesn't exist. This is the tough part, you have to rely on one another so much. It does make you stronger as a couple, but it can be very hard at times.
So, think very carefully if you put off having children until later. It does have it's plus points, like having more money and being more level headed, and of course ready, but you do have a few things missing sometimes and they are quite important.
Tuesday 21 February 2012
Viruses do they ever go away
Just a quick one today or at least by my standards.
It must have been at least 2 weeks since Isabella got a virus, sore throat cough thing. Since then we've been to Dublin and back, but the Virus has stayed with us. I hear you say you probably shouldn't have gone to Dublin, but sometimes you can wait for a baby to be perfectly well and that just never happens so off we went. At the mid point stage she was seeming to get better so thought it was the tail end of it.
Isabella got the virus off my partner I think, or another baby you just never know how these things get spread. That's another thing, you can't stop going out either to clubs and friends, unless they've got something like the measles or chicken pox, because again you would never go out and that would just drive you potty. So, around the germs go like a merry go round.
Well the crux of it all is that we have been to the doctors a couple of times and finally got prescribed antibiotics because it just wasn't shifting and poor little Isabella hadn't eaten properly on and off for 2 weeks. We're coming to the end of the antibiotics and I think she if finally feeling better. Still a little off colour but good enough for us to finally venture out again. So we're off out this afternoon. Yippee. You can't imagine how good that feels.
Speak again soon and try not to worry too much if your little one catches something, it is inevitable and they do get over these things. As everyone tells me it just takes time.
It must have been at least 2 weeks since Isabella got a virus, sore throat cough thing. Since then we've been to Dublin and back, but the Virus has stayed with us. I hear you say you probably shouldn't have gone to Dublin, but sometimes you can wait for a baby to be perfectly well and that just never happens so off we went. At the mid point stage she was seeming to get better so thought it was the tail end of it.
Isabella got the virus off my partner I think, or another baby you just never know how these things get spread. That's another thing, you can't stop going out either to clubs and friends, unless they've got something like the measles or chicken pox, because again you would never go out and that would just drive you potty. So, around the germs go like a merry go round.
Well the crux of it all is that we have been to the doctors a couple of times and finally got prescribed antibiotics because it just wasn't shifting and poor little Isabella hadn't eaten properly on and off for 2 weeks. We're coming to the end of the antibiotics and I think she if finally feeling better. Still a little off colour but good enough for us to finally venture out again. So we're off out this afternoon. Yippee. You can't imagine how good that feels.
Speak again soon and try not to worry too much if your little one catches something, it is inevitable and they do get over these things. As everyone tells me it just takes time.
Sunday 19 February 2012
New Beginings
Hi everyone, this is my very first blog. I'm starting this as a memory to myself as to what goes on in my life and to give others a chance to see an older womans point of view on motherhood. I'm sure it's not that different to other peoples experiences but you never know.
I suppose the first thing to say is I'm now 42 and set out on my journey with Isabella my now 9 and a half month old I suppose at the age of 40. Here I am didn't know I was preganant in this picture but I should have as I've never had bossoms that big in my life before.
I think it might be my age but I don't really remember having any bad times when I was pregnant just not so good times. These were the not eating too well at the begining, but not having morning sickness, just not eating that much, which was a little worrying as I was carrying a child. Everyone told me not to worry that towards the end of the pregnancy I would start to pile on the pounds. Well I never did which was wonderful but did gain enough weight to keep me happy my child was safe.
Isabella by the way was born 6lb 6ounces at 1.11am on a Sunday morning. Again not much to write home about with the pregnancy except I never got to have any maternity leave prior to the birth as my waters broke the day before I was due to finish, Isabella came 2 weeks earlier than expected. My waters broke on the Thursday night just after I got home from work.
As usual I was doing a bit too much, moving some books out of the now nursery into another room but think I took a couple too many at once, I'm always doing too much. Anyway lets just say I'd been to the toilet not seconds before, sorry to be so crewd but this is about child birth and i'm sure you all watch one born every minute, everyone does seem to these days except me. Anyway, so I'd just been for a wee then went back into one of the bedrooms and thought oh that's a bit strange I think I've just had a wee. Well not having gone through any of this before I just carried on for a few minutes putting it out of my mind. It didn't seem that much after all and I thought if your're waters broke it was like a waterfall, or so that's what people said. So I carried on for at least another 10 minutes before it finally dawned on me that possibly my waters had broke.
Panic then set in a little bit, as I was on my own. The thought of oh no what if she comes when i'm on my own rushed through my head at this point along with another hundred oh no's. Well they needn't as it was Isabella didn't make her way into the world until another 2 days later. Fortunately my partner arrived home upon me saying I think my waters have broke. He then went into practical mode, right phone the midwife, so I did, and we discovered yes they had and at that point both of us started to try and stay calm but paniced a little at the same time. I hadn't even put my overnight bag together, I had bought everything but just didn't have it together. So I grabbed a few things and my partner grabbed a few more and off we went to the hospital. Me thinking they'd check me over and send me home. That of course didn't happen.
I spent the next day wondering what was going on. Contractions would start then they would stop. So on the Saturday morning they said they were going to induce me and induce me they did. We started at about 6pm that night and it only took until 1.11am on the Sunday morning for Isabella to appear. She was so beautiful, they had to do it quick as my blood pressure had dropped and they didn't want to take any chances so think it was probably a little worse than a slower delivery would have been but at least it was over quickly. Can't be doing with all that pallaver. Would like to say I only did it with gas and air but i'm afraid the pain was far too much for me to stand and someone who is usually so strong decided not to be a hero and just take some help for a change. So glad I did. Not everyones choice as I had paracetamol and then the Demerol.
The gas and air initially made me giddy felt like I was at a party, thought it was going to be a breeze, but boy was I wrong. I'd been to Antenatal Yoga before hand and had all the breathing techniques which I used but still I couldn't cope. The Midwife Denise had turned up the inducing juice so was bringing the contractions on hard and strong to get this over for me, but the result was that it was too much for me to bare. My partner was amazing did everything I asked and more. Was there every bounce on the birthing ball to help. Stroked my hair which was wonderful, then it wasn't so he stopped. You can never make your mind up when you're giving birth, one minute something is helping the next it is the most annoying thing on the planet. You just don't know what to do with yourself.
We had a tiny bit of trouble with madam before she finally decided she was going to put an appearance in. She'd turned as she was making her way out and had ended up back to back with me which I can assure you is not something you want. This could have ended up in an emergency C section but for the fantastic Midwife who managed to turn her for me while she was still inside.
So finally the moment came Isabella was poking her head out and the Midwife said I was allowed to push. Up to that point I'd had to hold back from pushing so as to not hurt Isabella but the contractions where so strong at this point it was so hard not to push. Finally, finally I was allowed to push, you can't imagine what a relief that was, even though it hurt and of course I can't describe how it hurt,. The little baby slipped her way out and cried like a good one. Crawled up to my breast and started suckling. Yes that was the happiest moment of my life and here she is my wonderful little girl.
I suppose the first thing to say is I'm now 42 and set out on my journey with Isabella my now 9 and a half month old I suppose at the age of 40. Here I am didn't know I was preganant in this picture but I should have as I've never had bossoms that big in my life before.
Isabella by the way was born 6lb 6ounces at 1.11am on a Sunday morning. Again not much to write home about with the pregnancy except I never got to have any maternity leave prior to the birth as my waters broke the day before I was due to finish, Isabella came 2 weeks earlier than expected. My waters broke on the Thursday night just after I got home from work.
As usual I was doing a bit too much, moving some books out of the now nursery into another room but think I took a couple too many at once, I'm always doing too much. Anyway lets just say I'd been to the toilet not seconds before, sorry to be so crewd but this is about child birth and i'm sure you all watch one born every minute, everyone does seem to these days except me. Anyway, so I'd just been for a wee then went back into one of the bedrooms and thought oh that's a bit strange I think I've just had a wee. Well not having gone through any of this before I just carried on for a few minutes putting it out of my mind. It didn't seem that much after all and I thought if your're waters broke it was like a waterfall, or so that's what people said. So I carried on for at least another 10 minutes before it finally dawned on me that possibly my waters had broke.
Panic then set in a little bit, as I was on my own. The thought of oh no what if she comes when i'm on my own rushed through my head at this point along with another hundred oh no's. Well they needn't as it was Isabella didn't make her way into the world until another 2 days later. Fortunately my partner arrived home upon me saying I think my waters have broke. He then went into practical mode, right phone the midwife, so I did, and we discovered yes they had and at that point both of us started to try and stay calm but paniced a little at the same time. I hadn't even put my overnight bag together, I had bought everything but just didn't have it together. So I grabbed a few things and my partner grabbed a few more and off we went to the hospital. Me thinking they'd check me over and send me home. That of course didn't happen.
I spent the next day wondering what was going on. Contractions would start then they would stop. So on the Saturday morning they said they were going to induce me and induce me they did. We started at about 6pm that night and it only took until 1.11am on the Sunday morning for Isabella to appear. She was so beautiful, they had to do it quick as my blood pressure had dropped and they didn't want to take any chances so think it was probably a little worse than a slower delivery would have been but at least it was over quickly. Can't be doing with all that pallaver. Would like to say I only did it with gas and air but i'm afraid the pain was far too much for me to stand and someone who is usually so strong decided not to be a hero and just take some help for a change. So glad I did. Not everyones choice as I had paracetamol and then the Demerol.
The gas and air initially made me giddy felt like I was at a party, thought it was going to be a breeze, but boy was I wrong. I'd been to Antenatal Yoga before hand and had all the breathing techniques which I used but still I couldn't cope. The Midwife Denise had turned up the inducing juice so was bringing the contractions on hard and strong to get this over for me, but the result was that it was too much for me to bare. My partner was amazing did everything I asked and more. Was there every bounce on the birthing ball to help. Stroked my hair which was wonderful, then it wasn't so he stopped. You can never make your mind up when you're giving birth, one minute something is helping the next it is the most annoying thing on the planet. You just don't know what to do with yourself.
We had a tiny bit of trouble with madam before she finally decided she was going to put an appearance in. She'd turned as she was making her way out and had ended up back to back with me which I can assure you is not something you want. This could have ended up in an emergency C section but for the fantastic Midwife who managed to turn her for me while she was still inside.
So finally the moment came Isabella was poking her head out and the Midwife said I was allowed to push. Up to that point I'd had to hold back from pushing so as to not hurt Isabella but the contractions where so strong at this point it was so hard not to push. Finally, finally I was allowed to push, you can't imagine what a relief that was, even though it hurt and of course I can't describe how it hurt,. The little baby slipped her way out and cried like a good one. Crawled up to my breast and started suckling. Yes that was the happiest moment of my life and here she is my wonderful little girl.
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