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MOTS has started a Santa List for Junior. There's a few things there just now just to get it going. Not holding out much hope for a new Beamer, but you never know.
I'm not posting the URL here, so if you would like it please email me or leave a comment asking for it.
Can you remember the formulae for calculating the area and circumference of a circle from the radius? Working it backwards? Did you ever think at school "this is a waste of time"?
Well, it is vital you know how to do this when looking at playpens. I kid you not!
How many pies?We're looking at a couple of options for playpens, one of which is this one. The alternative one has the diameter listed, but this one doesn't, jut that each side is approx 61 cms. So how big is it?
Well, there are two mathematical approaches that can be taken. One involves meat pies, the other some guy called Pythagoras. We opted for the pies.
What's the circumference? 6 sides of 61 cms is 366cm. Now a hexagon is almost circular, so given that the circumference of our "circle" is 366 cm...
So our radius is approx 58.25 cm, with our diameter being 116.5 cm.
Phewww...
OK, retired maths teachers, give us the Pythagoras route!
Why is it that when you have a baby the first thing they ask about in hospital is whether you've thought about contraception? Even at the six week review the doctor was at it. So after 24 hours of induced labour, a cut & shut, and 6 sleepless weeks do they honestly think there's any bedroom action going on?
Paging the men in white coats...
It is not uncommon for a woman to have an increased sex drive whilst pregnant, the hormones play havoc. Plus a pregnant woman can look extremely sexy, not to mention the lack of risk factor - the deed's already done, this is for pure fun.
Some women, that is. Some can go the other way. Let's just say I got plenty of rest, right from conception all the way through to after the birth. MOTS took some stick for this, mainly along the lines of "I'm still waiting for my Christmas luckies", given Junior was conceived early December.
At about 6 weeks (since birth) I was thrown a paper bag with a "present" in it. One box of 5 Durex Avanti condoms. I'm sure she was taking the piss. A couple of weeks later the time came to be gentle, to make sure the scar was OK to take something a bit more physical than lifting a kettle. So after a little struggle to open the security plastic wrapping from the outside of the box (it has been a while) I broke into the pack. As I pulled the strip of 5 condoms out, the anticipation was building, the first appeared, a diagonal label on it - "Christmas". Eh, what's going on, some promotional pack? The second also had one on, "New Year", followed by "Birthday", "Anniversary" and one blank one. What, how, eh?
Joker's droop!MOTS was taking the piss. She had carefully cut the outer plastic wrapper around the bottom of the box, opened it up, labelled the condoms, closed the box up, and carefully sellotaped the wrapper back to the box. Very neatly done, and in a spot where the plastic was already overlapped so as not to attract attention.
I almost laughed myself limp!
So that's the first eight weeks of Junior's life come to a close, and with it opens up a whole new chapter. And that chapter is sharp, comes with potential side effects, but is life saving.
What we're talking about is the infant immunisation programme.
We got the leaflet with details of the programme, the timetable it covers, what nasty diseases the immunisation programme fights etc. It reads like a Stephen King novel - shaking under the covers at night, unable to sleep, fear of all things corn.
Ebola virus...nasty
MMR. Causes autism. Apparently. Not having MMR causes a lack of defence against measles, mumps and rubella. No apparently about that. On the one hand we have an unproven link between MMR and autism, and a proven record on the diseases against which it protects. I'm no real gambling man, but I have to weigh up the unproven low risks of autism against the damaging and high risks of the three diseases. Sure, I'd like to see a choice whereby you can take the three without the combination, but that's not going to happen. So the stark choice is take it or don't take it. Simple as that.
Oh, and they aren't jabs here, but "jags". Where I grew up a Jag was a posh car not part of a disease prevention system!
For the record I'll post the current list of routine jabs in another post. In the meantime here's how the first one went:
Junior's crying time: < 5 minutes
Mum's crying time: < 1 minute
Junior consoled with: Waking around the doctors surgery with Daddy
Mum consoled with: Being told not to lose it as I was posting the time she cried
Bottles of beer daddy drank to drown out crying noises: Nil. Most dischuffed.
That went MUCH better than expected, I envisaged Junior howling the place down, MOTS in tears at how we'd taken him to be hurt. And this morning when I got the big smiles I did have the feeling that he wasn't going to be smiling at me if he knew what was coming. Which brought on BIG guilt trips. He's not 100%, a little more grouchy this afternoon than normal, but a few doses of Calpol might help there.
Just found out someone who MOTS knows has a little boy of 6 months. As the parents "don't believe in vaccines" the little 'un will not be having ANY of the routine vaccines at all, instead relying on the fact that he doesn't need them as he won't be going to daycare. WHAT? What about school, what about shopping, what about Alton Towers, what about breathing in the air that's shared with the rest of the world? I wouldn't be playing Russian Roulette like this, no way no how.
No doubt about it, it has got to be the most confusing purchase you will make as you prepare for your kids birth. What will it travel in, be it pram, buggy or car seat. Do you go for seperates and have a pram, then move onto a buggy, have car seat and then another in 9 months for when it outgrows its first...or do you go for a "Travel System". Like Transfomers these are in disguise! It's a pram, it's a buggy AND a car seat....my head hurts, lets go home...
We had our first trip looking at these wonders last weekend and by the end of it I was in a spinny place. Having cunningly asked the youngest looking girl to show me JUST how easy it was to use the Graco Turbo In Your Face I do Everything travel system she did just that. You unlock this, push here, press this button and fold. Then to change it into a pram untie this, move this over there, turn around 3 times and there you have it, a pram....oh aye, err thanks. That was in Toys 'R' Us, or Babys 'R' Us to be exact. It is the 1st time I have been in that shop in 25 years or so, it took Sarah 2 hours to drag me out. £$£$£$£$£$ is all I am saying. As she looked at travel systems I checked out the Pirates of the Caribean range, as she looked at cots I checked out train sets. Cool...if its a boy that is!
Anyway, we checked everything they had in the store out and came to a few decisions. We quite like the idea of an all in one travel system - a buggy/pram that trebles as a car seat. Just need to find one. We quite liked a Graco one but its early days and we decided we have months to decide. Besides, it may be worth waiting for the January sales. 2 seconds later we are in Mothercare looking at Quinnys! We eventually got home but a nagging worry was that the Graco travel system seemed quite bulky, would it fit in our Nissan Micra boot. 9am the next morning (Sunday, day of rest...yeah right) we are back at Toys R US and are wheeling the system out to see if it fits in the boot. Not a chance...not even close...
So that ruled out that travel system....nope....that ruled out the Micra. Within 4 hours we had been to Arnold Clark and ordered an Almera. Its got plenty of boot space and although we may not get the travel system we were looking at earlier it does increase our possibilities ten fold. We got a good deal too and spent less than I had thought which was ideal. Not that the money will be around long. Whilst in Toys R Us we picked a range of items we liked, have seen cots, cribs etc and to be honest I now have an A4 list of things we need. First I need to gut my computer room....sigh.
Seeing was believing at week 14 when I had the high of watching my child to be moving around in the womb. As it moonwalked up the womb and danced around the umbilical cord it hit home, I'm having a kid. This is real. Since then as Sarah has not really started to show properly (we are now around 18 weeks into the pregnancy) it really has been the calm after the storm. It sounds silly but you begin to think, was it real, was that really in there? Well hearing is believing in the 2nd trimester.
Sarah had a sonogram last Friday, I wish I had been able to be there. Unfortunately like Lee and also working in the same place work was chaotic. I received a call though last Friday to say that Sarah had heard the babys heart beating. Apparently it was an amazing experience and she was on a high. It was pumping normally i.e. FAST. She also had some blood samples taken in order to test for a number of possible conditions. Strangely we will not hear at all if nothing is wrong, only if they need us to come in to consider our options with regards to further tests should these ones show up anything. I would have thought a quick phone call on the answering machine letting us know alls ok would have been a nice touch. To be honest though I am not losing any sleep over the results. Why worry about something unless it happens.
Anyway, I was not to be outdone and decided I too would like to hear the baby. Ok, so I may not hear its heart beating, but surely by this stage I would be able to hear something inside the womb if I pressed my ear against it and listened carefully. One night last week as we lay in bed I turned the TV down (not off, it was a crucial moment in an ice hockey game I was watching) and had a listen. What a racket! There were rumbles, swishing sounds, plops..."Wow, I can hear so much movement!" I said to Sarah. She peered down at me..."You know we had a couple of currys tonight yeah??". "Oh...."
I quickly and silently brushed away the emotional embarrasment of having welled up at the sound of a Chicken Dopiaza digesting and decided to try the next evening. There was no mistaking this time (it was pasta this night), I heard my child moving about. Its actually quite easy to describe, go to your local pool and duck your head under water, then move around. Thats it. It was not simply the stomach digesting food, this was one hundred percent something alive moving in a confined space. As I pressed against different parts of the womb at times it felt like it was a millimetre away from me on the other side. I had visions of it pressing the womb back and shaking its wee fist as I was causing havoc in its living room.
And so I've found another way of being involved. Every night just before Sarah is about to sleep I nudge her and ask for a listen. Sometimes it's moving about furiously, other times just little movements as if its sleeping. What I am looking forward to next is Sarah feeling movement. It should be at some point over the next 4-5 weeks at most. Cant wait!
Small scratch. Small?We have the latest immunisation leaflet available, and had to wait for this as the health trust were in the process of changing it. This was due to a new introduction, which Junior will get but there is a catch-up for the under-2s who didn't get it. Thus proving the programme is dynamic. Even the tuberculosis jab is NOT standard any more. No more six pricks on the wrist followed by the big scar on the left arm. No siree, that's only for the "vulnerable" groups now. So what do we get and what don't we get? Full and current routine list below:
| When | Diseases | Vaccine |
|---|---|---|
| 2 months | Diptheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio and Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), Pneumococcal infection | DTaP/Hib and Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) |
| 3 months | Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) meningococcal C (MenC) | DTaP/IPV/Hib and MenC |
| 4 months | Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) meningococcal C (MenC), Pneumococcal infection | DTaP/IPV/Hib,MenC and PCV |
| ~ 12 months | Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and meningococcal C (MenC) | Hib/MenC |
| ~ 13 months | Measles, mumps and rubella (German Measles), Pneumococcal infection | MMR and PCV |
| 3 yrs 4 m - 5 yrs | Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio. Measles, mumps and rubella. | DTaP/IPV or dTaP/IPV and MMR |
| 13 yrs - 18 yrs | Tetanus, diphtheria and polio | Td/IPV |
According to the World Health Organization:
The two public health interventions that have had the greatest impact on the world's health are clean water and vaccines.
I've just had a couple of very precious days off work, with everything going Pete Tong at work days off are very difficult to get. But, two scheduled days off this week brought about mixed feelings.
With the hours that have been put in of late I have lost sight of the fact I actually have a family at home. Or indeed any sort of life outside the office. So you'd think that a couple of days off in the middle of the week would be very welcome.
Work is erratic, with rotas constantly changing, so planning anything is a big no-no as it's liable to go horribly wrong. Which did mean that the two days I had off in the middle of the week, which were "open to dicsussion", had nothing planned for them. So the two days were a bit ad-hoc, with no firm agenda for either day we made last minute arrangements to head off towards the big city.
Wednesday saw MOTS take Junior into her work for the first time, allowing Daddy to wander off and get some manly things (big heavy duty Rawlplugs for putting up the new Ikea lockable medicine cabinet in the bathroom). We've also got our Christmas presents sorted out for the grandmothers (I know, I know, don't go on about the previous post, please), and a spot of lunch in Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut, plenty of kids in & out, a lot of the nappy wearing age, and NO changing facilities. MOTS changed Junior at the top of the stairs on the floor outside the toilet area as there was more room. Poor effort. Junior was so well behaved, during his feed in the middle of Pizza Hut, the subsequent burping, and all the smiling that was going on. Some of that smiling was from the lady sat behind us, most of it was from the boy himself.
I can't believe just how much he's been smiling at the pair of us over the last couple of days. He's getting more and more generous with them, smiling for the sake of it now (even in his sleep), so what was an early but slow start is now picking up a little pace, which is fantastic.
There are sleep developments, too. It's a delicate situation at the moment but a good feed at bedtime is leading nicely to 7 or 8 hours before the next one. That's nearly a week of it now, only interrupted last night by a wet nappy that needed changing. Inevitably Junior realised, once awake, that a feed was needed, thus breaking the emerging pattern.
It's the smiles that have done it for me this week, especially as it is starting to bring out a little competitiveness in MOTS. Needless to say this is because I'm getting more smiles than she is! But, as I head back to work for my long weekends of 12 hour shifts I guess the balance will be restored shortly.
So the inevitable is happening, Christmas is coming around (AGAIN). And here's what I think to it all - FOR CHRIST'S SAKE GET IT OVER WITH.
As the years go by I get more and more of a Humbug, and with good reason. Christmas is sod all to do with the religious festival of the birth of Christ but a huge and extending period of time when it's OK to pay through the nose for everything "because it's Christmas".
My points being:
2005, September 24th. The Dome in Edinburgh started to erect their Christmas decorations at the front entrance. SEPTEMBER for crying out loud. I haven't looked yet this year, I have this built-in defence mechanism that stops me looking in that direction when I walk past.
Retailers - Gone are the days when Christmas stuff appeared after Hallowe'en, Displays now appear in September too. In the local supermarket is a big display of selection packs, many cases showing they are actually selling them. Only the other Saturday in Morrisons MOTS picked up some advent calendars, to me yelling at her "PUT THEM BAAAAAAAAAACK". But why? Because, if people buy them in September the shops will start putting them out in August.
On the intranet at work there's looming deadlines for ordering corporate Greetings cards.
Hotels, restaurants, bars, all charging inflated prices for food, with "non-refundable deposits", cramming you in, lowering the food standards, asking 15% extra for "service". Yeah, right... I know what "deposits" I'd be leaving.
I hate Christmas the festive period.
Leave a Coke out
for Santa, kids!!But will all that change now there's a reason to start enjoying the festive period Christmas again? I hope so, over the next few years Santa will be a major player (hmm, why does he wear red again, is that the marketing machine that is a global corporation by the name of Coca-Cola?). See, you can't get away from it, every turn, squeeze the cash, squeeze the cash, even when I try to look at it as a new dad, there's the corporate money machine squeezing every penny.
I can safely say I'm looking forward to this year with a fear like no other. With it being Junior's first the house will be full, with a revolving door. Food planning is starting just now, will it be M&S (not bloody likely after the poor quality of the last couple of years), the full monty (not bloody likely with a house full), going out (not bloody likely with the cost of it) or fish fingers and chips (not bloody likely unless it's haddock).
Stress like no other! So I am looking forward to Junior's first Christmas? Not bloody likely.
Anyway, my wish-list will appear here:
Essential worksI'm upgrading Moveable Type from 3.2 to 3.3 shortly, as recommended by SixApart.
As a result I expect some downtime on Wednesday 11th October while I do this, so will have a temporary page up while the site is unavailable and updates will be kept on there. During this time any directly linked pages will either have comments turned off or will be removed. I haven't looked at the upgrade too closely, but it doesn't look a complex one at all, so only a small outage expected.
[20061009]
Upgrade aborted at the weekend due to errors, will hold off trying again until sufficient time is available.
[20061010] Upgrade complete. Helps to have the right file permissions set, eh?
The first six week review? That implies there will be more, as in "the second six week review". But how can we have a second six week review when he'll never see six weeks again? It's just like trying to explain to a 31 year old that they are closer to forty than thirty. They'll see forty, but will never see thirty again, QED they are closer to forty.
So now we've done with the mathematical semantics, how's he done?
First off, Daddy: He's more than a little bit tired, going back to work straight after Junior arrived home, and then being on-call constantly, on site 6 or 7 days a week, up to 13 hours at a time. But, woe is me, I'll have a fantastic amount of time off shortly to make up for it.
Mummy: Brave face on everything, particularly when it comes to Daddy's time at work. Saying to the outside world that everything is fine when it's not, my time away is having a significant impact that is being hidden. She's getting used to me not being around as much as I should, but with the contract ending at the end of this month then I'll have all the time in the world to make amends.
Time flies...And finally, Baby: Ups and downs, particularly when it comes to sleep patterns. Those first couple of days in hospital were hard for him, having a distraught mother trying so hard not to wake the others up. Being home made an immediate difference, but then Daddy was on hand too, so he made the most of it. Four weeks in and the awake:asleep ratio starts to tip quite heavily. That old wives tale about "growing while they are asleep" is a load of old tosh. He's awake more at 4 weeks than at 3 weeks, but put on more weight than in week 4 than in week 3. Less sleep, more weight gain. How does that hold up to the theory?
So while we're on weight and growth, he's doing quite well on that front. He's got clothes that have been worn the once, not at all and is heading for staying that way unless we change him twice a day, and even a suit he had no chance of ever getting into because it was 3cm too small when he was born. Or he was 3cm too big, depending on how you look at the glass. As the weeks progress we've come to the conclusion that clothes sizes are utter mince. "0-3 months / up to 12lb". He's at 10lb at 5 weeks old, and increasing at a good few ounces a week, so this means by 8 weeks or so he'll be too big for those 03- months clothes, yet at the 50th percentile for weight (ie bang in the middle) does this mean he's too big or the clothes are too small? Safest way is to just not look at the labels at all, just wear stuff until he's too big for them. So I'm going in with a pair of scissors tonight to remove said labels.
First visit to see the doctor yesterday: All well. First jabs (jags in Scotland) in 2 weeks time. Hmm, that'll be an experience.
Mummy and Daddy have come to understand each other's tolerances a little better as time has marched on. And we seem to compliment each other quite well (your hair looks nice today dear). While I'm more inclined to let Junior be when he's clearly not unhappy but screaming, MOTS is more likely to give in and pick him up. That's the daytime, and it's quite the opposite at night, with me having little patience and MOTS being perfect with him. It's handy, because it means that when I get home I can take over until bedtime, but I still feel guilty about not being around for most of the "night shift". Which I'm poor at anyway.
Sleep - our first overnight 8 hour stretch between feeds at exactly 6 weeks old - WHOO-HOO, bring out the bunting, get dolled up, it's party time!
And finally.... father and son were having a bonding moment this week, and the boy was quite happy and content just looking up at me. MOTS made a comment about the look of "complete adoration and absolute trust on his face". And that was almost a "moment" of liquid spilling.
Health, wealth and happiness. Two out of three aint bad. Which reminds me, I need to check the lottery ticket, we could have all three!
Having summarised the 1st trimester I'll now try to touch on the main things that have happened in the past 4 or so weeks since we began the 2nd trimester. That will bring me bang up to date. So what's happened since the 2nd trimester arrived with its promise of new found energy for Sarah....
......I've ironed, cleaned, washed dishes, made beds, walked over to where she lay to change the TV channel for her and masaged her when ever the need arises. To quote Jim from the Royle family, "New Energy my arse"! She's still knackered and the beginnings of a sore back is not helping matters - 4am awakenings are not good. For me they are not great either as it normally means an "Are you awake?"......"ARE YOU AWAKE!!".... "What, am I late for School, whats going on.....Sarrrrrah!".
Perhaps its the bodies way of adapting to next year. Sarah was reading scary stats on the amount of crying a baby does in its 1st year, I dont even want to quote it. I replied "Yeah, but you have to remember that its the babies way of speaking to you pal, it cant talk". Sarah laughed, "I'll remind you of that when its 'talking' to you at 3am next April then shall I..." Point taken.
Anyway the main things that have happened in the past 4 weeks is that Sarahs trousers have begun to not fit. She realised this as whilst taking a seat at work there was the very distinguishable sound of a zip, well, unzipping. Having givne up on the top button at around wk 12, the zip then gave up the ghost around wk 13. And so we had our first trip to the shops for new clothes for Sarah. She needed trousers and decided on maternity ones, simple black ones with an expandable waist. The next day we walked to get the train only to find that she was perhaps a little hasty in going for the maternity range. With the crotch of the trousers sitting around about her knees it became obvious it was too soon for maternity wear! Back to the shops we went for normal trousers, just a size up. Even if it is for a matter of weeks it meant the kids on the train would stop with their "You cant touch this, it's Hammer time" chants.
Last word on clothing - M&S....why??? I take Sarah to the maternity section to look at the stylish clothing she will wear later in the pregnancy to cheer her up and right next to it, not 10 metres away is the "petite" section. Wonderful. May as well just set up a ring and bell and count down the 3 minute rounds each weekend.
The big difference between the 1st trimester and 2nd..so far...is the pace. This past few weeks seem to have been slower than the same period in the 1st. Saying that I cant believe its now 16-17weeks, but its slowed down just a little. Between work, weddings and holiday bookings I've actually been frustrated at not being able to give 100% of my time to thinking about junior, but I know that that quite simply cannot and should not be the case for 9 months.
Finally, up until now the difference in the way Sarah and I are coping with impending parenthood is something I am only now noticing. Sarah is looking up web sites to see what is happening with baby this week, I am not searching for the best book to tell me how to potty train our child. I have gone off like a hare to Sarahs tortoise. I have read countless books, read magazines, in fact I have studied every bid of literature I can find. Sarah seems more calm just wanting to take it one stage at a time. I like the fact we differ, it seems to be working. Perhaps the scariest thing about reading books was not reading about labour, what to do when its first born, or in fact anything to do with the while....whispering this...responsibility side of things...but rather the excercises Sarah is advised to do to help with the labour when the time comes. As I read Miriam Stoppards guide to pregnancy she advised the women (children look away now) to flex...well parts of the body that I did not even know existed. Thank god they are all Latin names as quite frankly I want to forget all about it.
So thats where I am at the moment, 16-17 weeks. The scan looks like a boy, Sarahs body is apparently shaping up as if its a girl and I couldn't care less either way as long as it comes out healthy.......more to come.
I'll try to summarise the rest of the 1st trimester as briefly as I can, it should not be too hard as it literally flew by. In fact it felt more like a fortnight rather than 12 weeks, but it did have one of those experiences I would bet any mother and father to be would say is a memory they'll treasure for good, the scan...
What an experience, it will stick with me forever. We have chosen to have our kid at St Johns in Livingston. We did not really have to think too long about it, its quite simply a case of logistics. Living in South Queensferry the thought of travelling for instance out of my work at rush hour, home, picking Sarah up then negotiating the bypass to get to the Royal, well it's just not going to happen.
So having finally got to the magical 14 week mark and hitting our scan date off we set. I picked Sarah up from her work and off we went safe in the knowledge that TOM TOM would get us there no problem. With its "turn lefts at the next exit" how could we go wrong. Yeah right. Our first time at the hospital, Livingston and its round abouts and me at the wheel, thats how. Anyone that has one of these navigation systems would you agree the tone changes slightly as Tim tells you off for missing that last turn off. "Turn around at the next opportunity....sigh". It's there man, listen carefully and you'll hear that subtle change.
Anyway, having finally got to the Hospital and been warned that that was once, twice and its a taxi being ordered on the big day and we found the x-ray dept. They say you pee more during pregnancy, Sarah was none too pleased that I was therefore not around when the nurse came to collect us having been caught short!
We went into this room and Sarah lay on the bed, the nurse then put the gel on her stomach and pressed down. Now Sarah was facing me with the screen alongside her. As the nurse found the spot she was watching my face rather than the screen itself. She said my eyes simply expanded and jaw dropped, then I started to grin like a cheshire cat. I could not take my eyes off of the screen. There was this little baby, not something indiscernable, this was a baby. It was moving about, pressing its head against the back of the womb, crawling with its legs up the front of the womb (my favourite move) and I watched as it pressed its fingers to its mouth. It's so hard to describe the feeling, its simply too much to take in at once. Sarahs reaction was similar, she looked like a spectator at Wimbledon though. Look at the screen, look at me, look at the screen etc.
Everything was normal with the baby, it was about 13 and half to 14 weeks old, once she finally managed to measure its head it was normal, the placenta was in the right place etc. Great news as alongside the happiness there was also relief that all was well. We were given three photos, one of which was clear as day. I think I must have spent around £25 texting the photo to everyone I could think of as we sat in the car outside the hospital, Sarah did likewise. Then it was off to both parents houses (soon to be Grandparents) to show the wee blighter off.
Without doubt the scan is a fantastic experience if everything is deemed ok. It will live with me for ever more and was without doubt what the 1st trimester had been all about getting to for us.
To summarise the 1st trimester I would say it was shock, excitement, nervousness, overawed, impatient and wonderment. That's a lot of emotions to work through. For Sarah she had all of this AND the physical changes to take on board. I would say the most used words in her vocabulary were "I'm tired" throughout that time. Although not physically sick she was nauseous a lot of the time - the tell tale sign being the Alpen Bar sitting at the side of her bed each night. If she felt ok over night I tended to scoff it for breakfast! But we got there in the end and then it was onwards to the 2nd trimester..
This weekend has been a weekend crammed full of "Baby's firsts", so here's a summary of what's gone on.
First wedding missed. Not strictly speaking a first, as it was the second, but it was the first we had contemplated going to that we actually missed.
First garden party. With missing Allan & Lynn's wedding the previous day we were round for afternoon nibbles and fizzy. Which was the first time some neighbours had actually seen him, and his first time in his sun tent.
Nothing but first!
First trip to Englandshire. We headed south to see his Great Great Auntie Liz (who lives in Scotland) but swung via Berwick upon Tweed, firmly in England! We have photographic evidence of the fact he was at the border in his album, for those with access. Alas there is no evidence he was ever in England, but we know he was, so that's all that matters.
First trip to the seaside. This lends itself quite nicely to images of piers, donkey rides, fat blokes with white hankies on their heads whilst basking in the sun on stripey deckchairs. Alas, this was not the case. We were in a very secluded, idyllic area where farmland meets woodland meets big tidal bay. And this was the first time he's seen sand and a distant glimpse of the sea (as the tide was out). The donkey will have to wait until he goes to Blackpool.
First time Daddy's taken him out in his BabyBjorn sling. Which is only on loan from Sandra, so doesn't count as being his. But it was Daddy's first shot, and I have to say it is really comfortable for us both. One of us fell asleep, the other, well, didn't.
First sale opportunity taken up. I'm not adversed to buying stuff ahead of being required and having items in storage for a while. Previously unreported, baby's first...train set was bought last week, a wooden Brio 42-piece "Flying Scotsman" set for ages 3+, complete with Flying Scotsman loco, coal wagon, 2 LNER carriages, track, up & over bridge, people, scenery, garage, level crossing and a couple of cars. And yes it's been out and tested. That was last weekend, however.
First sale opportunity missed. I'm not adversed to buying stuff ahead of being required and having items in storage for a while. So when it was in the paper that Vogue had a sale on in Edinburgh due to a store re-location the ears pricked up. They stock Stompa children's furniture, so I went along on opening day to grab a bargain on his first real bed, hopefully to get it "practically given away" and to shove it in the garage for a few years. So when I got there and saw the £1177 price tag had been dropped to £869 (or was it £829) it wasn't enough to tempt me. MOTS found it on the web at www.bedspricebeds.co.uk - RRP £799, their price £540.55. Some difference - cheaper and no need to find space in the garage. I'd like to know where Vogue get off charging WAY above RRP even with price reductions.
Even coming up for 6 weeks old he's got so many first time events this weekend. Time will come, and all too soon, when all this is just run of the mill stuff. But for now it's all new and exciting, and I'm loving every minute of it while I can.
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