She's 1!!!!

I can't believe it, but it has been a whole year! And I'll be saying the same thing until she turns 18...

Some fab photos

Daughter R is a budding photographer and takes great photos of her sister A. Here is a sample...

EEEEk!

Eeeek! for so many reasons. Ok, so I am really having to curb my desire to buy yarn. I sit and look at patterns, and yarn, and just want to gobble it all up. 15 year old R has said she actually wants me to knit her something, Owls, which can be found on Ravelry or here and I just want to get started. But of, course, I have several other things that I shuold be doing/finishing, and I also want to do some summery stuff, work with cotton and bamboo and linen for a while as long as the weather inspires me.

Eeeek! also because of the ongoing election stuff. Of course, my personal Eeeek! does not have to do with wanting GB out, or thinking they should all hurry up, or being dismayed at the fact that it is taking a while to sort out any coalition. My Eeeek! is with the pathetic media coverage. I am sick of people saying GB should get out, when there is as yet nobody in a position to replace him. I am sick of reporters giving us all their interpretations rather than the NEWS. Why isn't it called OPINIONS rather than NEWS anymore? I am sick of people assuming that Nick Clegg is giving his party away whatever he chooses. And I am sick of news that isn't news, but just fillers because there really isn't that much to report at the moment. Maybe if we lived in a country that trusted its leaders a bit more, the leaders would meet our higher standards, instead of living in a country where we automatically criticize, and so bring everybody down to the lower standard of trying to keep us happy. Or maybe I just need to drink more gin.

I am rather comforted by the fact that politicians are talking to each other, having to negotiate, and taking the time to try to make the right decision. It may be the only thing I am optimistic about, and I know it won't last long. :-o

And now for a happy Eeeek! I have finished a few things. Been inspired by the weather to make things in cotton for the baby. And here they are.

The photo isn't that good. It actually looks really sweet, if a bit 1970's which I like. ;-) It is the Ruffle hat, crocheted in Sirdar Calico.

And this a cardy that I started before baby was born, thinking I had plenty of time. Fogot about it for a while, and then realized that she is nearly 7 months old and I had better finish it. Left off the pockets, as I cannot for the life of me fathom why babies need pockets. And left off the flowers I was going to crochet, as she has a habit of grabbing things on her clothes and eating them. Why go to the bother of flowers that are only going to get sucked. :-)  And the buttons are a boring brown, because they were in my sewing box and didn't cost me a penny. A practical garment that can get messy without me caring too much. All in all a nice cotton cardy for sunny weather. So come on sunny weather.

And since waiting around for sunny weather may take longer than waiting for a coalition government, here is a little warm bonnet, although only in acrylic, that I have made up. It doesn't fit very well, but I like the stitch, called Peacock stitch in the crochet book I have. I think I will have to play around with it a bit, and see if I can come up with a nice pattern. I keep thinking I would like to write up patterns for some of the things I crochet, but I never get around to it. I shall try to do it as I make another summer halter top for M, in some Louisa Harding cotton that I have from a trip to Shipston last year. Hey Martine, comment please on the name of that lovely shop?!


Happy Eeeeek day!

So what did you get in your Easter basket?

Oh Well...

So Easter Monday was interesting. Baby A has been quite ill, scaring me with how hard she was finding it to breathe. Finally went to A and E on Monday and she was admitted to Whythenshawe hospital. Little tangent, we went to A and E at Trafford General, but Trafford General don't have a children's ward anymore, so we got to go in an ambulance to Whythenshawe, which was way too busy and full. Aren't the people who decide where we should all go for medical care a bunch of pillocks?

Anyway, I reckon she was already on the mend when we went to the hospital - great thing hindsight, eh?! And we may as well have been at home for the amount of attention we got. You arrive, nobody tells you anything, you have to go out and get that cot they said they were getting 2 hours ago, you have to go out to find out when she is getting her IV antibiotics, you have to go out to ask why the oxygen isn't actually turned on when she has been sitting there in an oxygen mask for 2 hours, you have to go out to find out where the registrar is that you were told was coming. He came, at half past midnight. And you have no idea where food is... Thank goodness for the little woman called Wendy, who brought me fruit, a hospital gown to sleep in, toiletries, and went in search of nurses when none could be found.

I don't blame any individuals. I think the nurses and doctors and everybody does work hard for the most part. It cannot be easy working with ill children. But the system is set up in such a way as to make it virtually impossible to provide anything more than basic and/or emergency care. I really don't think we needed to be in hospital, but at least that option was there for us. I was a worried parent. A had been ill for a week, and every time we thought she was getting better, things changed. They reckon it was bronchiolitis. One of those things I have never heard of, but now when you mention it to people, everybody knows somebody who has had it.

All other things on hold for the moment. I read other people's blogs, and wish I could write more, cuz I used to be really good at writing. But now the living seems to get in the way. I get angry that others seem to have so much time to do so much and actually blog about it, while I just hope to get a shower a couple of times a week, and maybe get some knitting and crocheting time in. I think I have forgotten how much time babies take. But then again, so do they all.

Off to wash some dishes, some pants and me, while hoping the babe stays asleep for another half hour, as I climb over all the shoes, laundry baskets, old post, bags, toys, nappies, and musical instruments that accumulate on every horizontal surface.

Is this a new habit?

I am wondering if Haiku is going to become a habit. I am just using it to remember moments I enjoy, and want to keep in my head. So I guess they won't all be sentimental, or beautiful, or lyrical. Like this one...

That's a big sausage
as she reaches with both hands
for Big Sister's lunch

It was rather funny.

Le baby socks

 

This may be just another excuse to post a photo of my lovely baby girl, but there are socks to discuss. I used the last of my Lorna's Laces Fandango sock club yarn from Get Knitted. Of course, as you can tell, I ran out and finished off with some dark blue leftovers. C calls these The Blue Footed Booby-sucker Socks. :-)

   

                                  

THE HAT BABY!

So Martine said that we were going to have to take the baby out every day so she could wear all of the hats that people were making for her. She was right! Here is a short baby hat fashion show.

This one was made by Martine in wool matching a newborn cardigan. Fat baby has outgrown the cardi, but now has a big enough head for the hat. 

This one was crocheted by big sister R. I am not sure if it is supposed to be a teddy, or some animal, but the ears are tres cute.

 Here is another made by Martine. This one was felted, after A grew out of her first felted one, which started life out as a bowl.

 Sometimes we turn it inside out to get more purple, which you can't really see in this photo. But it does look like a great baby felted flapper hat.

 

This one was also knitted by Martine...

 

...though this photo is cuter, you just can't see the hat as well...

...and this one is brilliant because of the face!

Then there is the Wooly Wormhead made by Cat...

...which is pretty fabhatulous!

Believe it or not, the baby smiled IN BETWEEN each of these photos! And this is just a partial selection of the fat hat baby's collection!

Saturday again!

Haven't really slept for about 3 days now. It's a combination of niggly baby, back pain, too much caffeine, and teenagers getting phone calls at 4 in the morning. But having said that, I am not feeling too bad. Yet. :-) I got a haircut on Wednesday, although the only reason I actually got the haircut I have been wanting for about a year now is because I mentioned it to my friend Caroline, and she made the appointment for me.  So here we are, baby and haircut...

 

I've got 3 or 4 books on the go. I am getting a bit carried away with my reading challenge and am trying to read everything at once. I think I will have a book free day today and concentrate on knitting and kids. M is taking me out to the Cupcakery as a treat today, so perhaps I will slow down a bit. Have been really busy with the kids, although Baby A doesn't really like it, so need to slow down a bit. And maybe I will get some work done on the Boy Hat for Al. 

ps the baby is wearing a cardigan made by Audrey.  When I grow up, I want to knit like her. :-)

Resolutions

My New Years resolutions are to read more books (women unbound) and to knit more garments. But since I am typing this with one hand with a baby in my arms, I wonder how I shall do either of these? :-)

Merry Christmas Baby!

The Birth Story

I have tried to make this more articulate and interesting, and I can't be bothered really, so will just post this for anybody who cares. There will at some point be a part 2, which is about how hard it is to get out of hospital once you go in!

Started this on the 8th of November 2009

I guess I had better get around to writing this up before I forget everything. It didn't go as planned, I guess, but it was a quite nice birth, and having her here is worth it all. I felt better the second she was born, and all of the misery of the past few months seems really far away and trivial.

I had a few contractions on the 15th around teatime. They were different from Braxton-Hicks contractions so I reckoned I would be going into labour in the next few days. And I did. Friday the 16th, teatime again I started with a few contractions. I talked to a friend on the phone, and said I thought something was happening, and so it was. M got a lift to Guides, and I went to bed before she got home. I thought that if I was going to go into labour, I should get a bit of rest. Good thing too.

By about 2 am, the contractions were getting too strong to sleep through. I went downstairs, got a few things ready in the living room, pillows, oil burners, music player, etc. Then I settled down to watch a DVD of Charade, one of my all time favourite films, with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant.  The contractions were coming about every 5-6 minutes, but weren't all that strong. I wanted to leave it as long as possible before calling the midwife.

I lay on the sofa, with a timer in my hand for the next couple of hours. It was about 4-4:30 when I got Al up and we called the midwife out. I was getting excited, but really wanted it to be over.  I hadn't really done any preparation for labour, and as I had been so miserable while pregnant was just looking forward to not be pregnant anymore, and having a baby to cuddle!

The midwife was called Lynn, but I had not met her before. She was quite nice and seemed excited to be doing a home birth. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be. She monitored my blood pressure for a while, which was quite high. I imagine that was due to anxiety on my part. Now that I think about it, I imagine that has a lot to do with not having had any midwife or medical support for having a home birth. And generally, I had been so busy with regular home life, that I didn't get a chance to find my confidence when I came to labour again. Either that, or having done it so many times, I didn't feel the need to focus on labour this time. :-)

In any case, she tested my urine, which had a trace of protein and we agreed to call an ambulance to take me into hospital. To be honest, I was fine with that at the time. Neither Al nor I had ever been in an ambulance before, and we sort of treated it like a fun thing to do. As we waited for the ambulance to arrive, he woke the kids, and ran around packing a bag for me, "What should I pack?" "Lots of knickers! CDs! And my Ginger Ale!"  All of the important stuff that you need when having a baby. At this point I was only about 2 cm dilated.

We arrived at the hospital at about 6:30. It had been a nice calm drive, in spite of me telling the driver to go fast and hit all speed bumps!  I was laying on my side on the trolley and had some really strong contractions on the way. I kept expecting things to get started really quickly at any moment.

We were shown intoa delivery room, which was pretty horrible to be honest. I am pretty sure it was last docorated in the '80s and there was paint peeling from the walls. We had a midwife called Denise who was really not engaging with us at all. She tried to take my blood, which hurt like hell, more than the contractions, and then gave up. I had told her that I have difficult veins, but she stuck the needle in my wrist and hoped for the best. We were a bit disappointed with her so were relieved a few minutes later when she introduced us to Julie, who was just coming on duty. So Denise's attitude was understandable, since she was at the end of a long night shift, and wasn't going to see us through, but it would have been nice to know that when we first met.
Julie was lovely. She managed to take my blood with no problems. They were checking for pre-eclampsia. By this time, my blood pressure had gone down, and Julie said that I would probably be able to go home and still have a home birth. I reckoned I wouldn't have time, and that is how it turned out.

We stayed in the delivery room, listening to music, Afro-Celt Sound System, and me drinking my Ginger Ale. Contractions were still coming every 5 minutes and were strong enough to be uncomfortable, but not painful. I was just impatient and wanted my body to get on with it!!!!

At about half past 8 they said they were sending me up to the ante-natal ward as I was still only 2 cm dilated. I remember thinking that was a waste of time, but up we went, walking and pausing to have contractions in the hall and to chat with other midwives. Jacquie was one of them and Al remembers her saying, "We'll be seeing you back down here soon!" It was really quite a friendly atmosphere. They reckoned my blood results would come back soon, and everything would be fine, and they would send me back home for a home birth.

We got into the ante natal room at about 8:50. It was really really tiny. I am glad we didn't have to stay there long. It was hot and stuffy and we couldn't figure out how to open the windows, and there wasn't a working CD player. I had to walk out into the hall to use the toilet, which was quite painful by this time. We had a student midwife whose name I forget. I think we were there for about 15-20 minutes when I was asking for gas and air as things were quite painful. The contractions were getting stronger, but not closer together. I kept hanging onto Al, who was being wonderfully supportive, holding me up, feeding me ginger ale, etc.  I kept saying I wasn't coping, and that I wanted to take a break for half an hour...if only!?  At one point I said, " I can't cope any more!" and he pointed out that when I had said that when giving birth to M, she was born about 20 minutes later. He said, "We'll have a baby by 10 o'clock."  It was about 10 past 9 at this time.

When I started asking for the gas an air, the student midwife came and felt my tummy for a couple of contractions, and then went to get the staff midwife. I can't remember her name, but she was rather pretty, and very short. Funny the things that stick in your mind. She examined me (at my request) and said I was about 5cm dilated. I pointed out that  once I get to 5-6 cm, I go fast. So they called downstairs, and Julie came up with a wheelchair to take me back down to the delivery suite. I really don't understand why any hospital thinks it a good idea to have to transport women in labour! The ride in the wheelchair was the worst part of the whole thing, bumping into and out of the lift, having to sit when I wanted to stand. But we made it back downstairs as quickly as possible.

She took us back to the same room we had just left, and the cleaner was in there saying "I haven't finished!"  But I said, "It's ok, it's my mess. This is my room!" So off she went and things really got started then. It was about 9:15. I was standing up leaning on the bed, which was cranked really high. I remember thinking I didn't want to give birth standing up as I had with M because the floor was so unpleasant. Julie was in and out of the room. I was only focused on Al at this point so everything else is a bit blurry. He put Fat Boy Slim on the CD player :-) and was holding me up, and helping me with the gas an air, and telling me it wasn't going to be long. My waters still hadn't gone, but I think there was a bit of leakage.

I remember climbing up on the bed when the midwife went out of the room for a minute, and when she came back in I was nearly ready to push. The head of the bed was lifted up and I was leaning over that holding the gas and air. It is amazing how with every birth I have just naturally wanted to be in a different position. Very soon, I had the urge to push, and she told me to just go with it. The baby was crowning and I remember Julie saying she was going to burst the amniotic sac. I didn't realize at the time that there was meconium in the waters. She called for another midwife, and when she saw the meconium, she called for the paediatric resus team. I only had another couple of contractions, and pushed her out all the way. I really was quick, and is hard to remember the details. What I remember is that I felt OK, that I was glad she was arriving, that Al was beign great, that I wasn't feeling coerced by the midwife. And even though the details are getting foggy, I think that positive feeling is the most important thing, even though I can't really remember on what it is based.

I think A was a face presentation, as she has lots of bruising on her face, and I remember Julie saying that her chin is out now. I remember just wanting it to be over. The urge to push is so strong, and I just wanted to keep pushing even when I wasn't contracting. But I managed to stop myself and breath a bit as I didn't want to damage my cervix. But still it only took about 3 contractions worth of pushing for her to be born.

Because of the meconium, they cut the chord straight away, and took her over to the medical table to check her out. Of course, I didn't see any of this as I was facing the other way, but Al says she flopped onto the bed face up. Julie said she was a bit floppy and a bit shocked. She didn't cry, but they soon realized that she was fine, that she hadn't breathed in any meconium, so they cancelled the call for the paediatric resus people. All I remember was saying, " I want her!" over and over as I turned around to lay on the bed. They brought her to me very quickly, and covered us up. She nursed pretty soon. I delivered the placenta with no  injections, although there was some left behind which the midwife removed eventually. (And a bit which came out a few days later with no problems!) 

And then we were left to be with each other. Al and A and I had over an hour on our own in the delivery room. A nursed for a of of this time. And Al and I just took the time to look at her. :-)

Just baby stuff

Too tired to do anything other than post some more photos. Thanks for all the comments. I will get back to you someday. :-) Although in the photos, you should note the lovely handmade cardigan by Martine, and the blanket made by me. Shame you can't see the socks, made by Tish.
And if anybody can explain to me why my photos are never arranged in posts as they are when I am composing, then appreciation will be forthcoming.

She's Here!

17-10-09 9.46 am weighing 8lbs 1oz

The Big Belly

Here is the big belly.

And here are the baby clothes drying on the washing line. Don't they look lovely?