Category Archives: daily

Honestly, I’m A Little Freaked Out

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I bought actual baby things this week.  Not just some clothes, but a nappy bin and a ‘breast feeding starter kit’ (pump, bottles, things like that).

I mean, obviously, I know I am having a baby.  Its either that or a very long lasting bout of stomach rumbles and kicks!  But somehow ordering things from the Tommy Tippee website sort of brought it all home.

I have a feeling I may hyperventilate when we actually purchase the cot and the buggy.  It just makes it so real.

There will be a baby.  Who will use these things.  And others.  For the next 18ish years.

And I’m the mummy!

Okay, freak out over.  Bring on the baby!

I Think We May Have Picked A Cot…

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This one.

I still want to look closer at Mamas and Papas and Mothercare, but that Ikea one is very sturdy and the price is right!

We are also going to buy one of their changing mats and double sided tape it to the top of the bureau we already have, rather than buy a changing table, which we really don’t have room for.  People keep telling me to change the baby on the floor, but just not an option with my bad knee and Simon’s bad back.

We also bought some glassware in Ikea.  Gotta love 6 pint glasses for £ 3.61!

People and My Bump

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I may name a book that.

Anyway, it is interesting to see the different looks you get when people see you are pregnant.

Little old ladies smile indulgently.

So do little old men.

Young working type women look a bit horrified.  But not as horrified as their male counter parts.  You can almost see them counting the condoms in their wallets.

Young mothers look knowing.  Young fathers don’t seem to notice!

It makes walking down the street at City Centre quite an adventure! 🙂

Ouch! Must Learn How to Walk…

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so I was coming home from work tonight and tripped over a curb.  I appear to have landed on my right knee, arm and breast, as those are what hurt.  I apparently did not land on my bump, as it doesn’t hurt.  I think the baby just got shook up a bit, as it has been kicking me since I got home and sat down.

I have really skinned the hell out of my knee, including blood.  And it really really hurts badly.

I do remember thinking, as I felt myself fall ‘PROTECT YOUR BUMP’.

So mummy instincts kick in from the very start.

Mostly I just scared myself.  It was really scary.  And could have used some liniment for my pride as three people saw me fall and said ‘are you okay…OMG you’re pregnant, are you sure you’re okay?!?!’

There, just got kicked again.  Maybe the baby will be a thrill ride seeker. 🙂

Letter to My Baby – Gestational Age 23 Weeks.

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Dear Baby

So, here was are at 23 weeks.  Your Pops Burt said to me on Sunday that he liked the counting by weeks thing, rather than by months.  But if someone prefers it, I am nearly 6 months.  5.75 months to be exact.  The third trimester is in sight.

This week mummy’s boss agreed to let her 4 days a week starting this week.  And even just the idea of it has taken a huge weight off mummy’s shoulders.  5 days a week is just making mummy tired and cranky.  Those Fridays off will be a blessing for all concerned.

And so my years leave is in sight as well.  I am so looking forward to having a whole year to spend with you, just me and you and daddy.  We’re going have such fun!

Since you are a summer baby, we’ll be going to the Botanical Gardens which are just a bit of a walk away.  And we’ll go sit on the lawn at City Hall, if we don’t feel like going all the way to the Gardens.  I imagine we’ll stroll down by the river as well.  It will be very nice.

You now have skin (who knew you didn’t have skin before?!?!) and some people say you are beginning to think.  I can’t imagine what you have to think about in there. Stocks and Bonds? The current economic crisis?  Anyway, in another week you are fairly viable outside of mummy, but please stay in there until you’re completely done.  Thanks!

Overall mummy doesn’t feel too awful!  She’s tired.  And has to go to the loo every 2 minutes.  But other than that she feels pretty good.  Ready to meet you for sure!

Mummy and Daddy made the first major purchasing decision this weekend, when we pick out your Pram.  Since we don’t have a car, you’ll be in that pram quite a bit, I think.  Unless I do follow through with the whole sling idea.  Anyway, its pretty high tech and wicked cool looking, so I think you’ll like it!

23 weeks down, 17 to go.

Love

Mummy

On Advocating for Yourself

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Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows at least three things about me: –

  1. I’m a depressive
  2. I’m knocked up
  3. I have diabetes

Its this third one that is the subject today.

You see, I belong to Diabetes UK.  Its the one and only charity that Simon and I give money to on a yearly basis, in the form of my membership fee.

Diabetes UK has been around for 75 years and has been instrumental in some major advances in diabetes care world wide.  This includes research for a cure, for better treatment and for advocacy with the NHS and World Health Organization for better diabetes care.

Every two months I get their magazine, as a ‘perk’ of my membership.  And almost every month it pisses me off.

Not because of their articles, those are quite good.  Because of the letters page.  Of the 20 or so letters that they publish every other month, at least 5 of them are from people who are bitching about their level of diabetes care.  And this pisses me off.  Not because they aren’t getting better care (although I find some levels of care at some NHS Trusts to be appalling) but because they just accept this horrible level of care.

The one thing I have learned in my 2.5 years of being a diabetic and my nearly 20 years of being a depressive is that you must speak up. If you are not satisfied with the answers you get from a medical professional, ask again.  Keep asking until you understand.  Keep asking until you get the treatment you are entitled to.

When I went for my Glucose Tolerance Test it was a nurse who said to me ‘you have diabetes’ after only looking at my blood results.  I was angry. It was not her place to tell me, or to tell me so bluntly and it was certainly not her place to tell me in the middle of the treatment room (nothing but fabric wall between me and the world) and after only one set of tests were back.  And so, I complained to my GP when I saw her for my official diagnosis.  My GP agreed with me, that was completely inappropriate and promised me she’d speak to the Nursing Sister in charge of the treatment room.  And she did.  And that nurse has never treated me again (although she’s still around).

If you don’t speak up, nothing will change.  If you don’t ask questions, you’ll never get answers.

So, please, I beg you, be your own advocate. In your health.  In your job. In your life.  And especially for your children.

Thank you.

I Have Noticed

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now that I am definitely pregnant and not just fat, that everyone assumes this is my first baby.  Not bad for a 40 year old to look like she’s on her first baby!  Which, of course, I am.

Went to test drive prams today.  We are 99.9% sure we are buying this one.  In black.  Simon’s a bit shocked at the sticker price, but that’s what they cost!  Its very maneuverable, easy to collapse and bring back up and looks kind cool!!  We are being given a Maxi Cosi car seat, from a friend of mine at work, and that slots right into the base along with the carrycot (for 0 – 6 months) and the regular seat (6 months to 2.5 years).

So that’s one huge baby equipment decision made.  Now we just need some nursery furniture. Oh, and a baby. 🙂

This is A Rant…

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I’m warning you now.

So I belong to Mumsnet.  Its exactly what it says on the tin, a network of Mums, on the internet, in the UK.

They are obsessed with protecting their true identities, to the point that yesterday, when a regular poster posted a thread asking for help/advice because she had a 40C fever and was alone with her kids and then disappeared, and some other posters played Sherlock Holmes and tracked her down, yet more posters were appalled that her real name and location were *anywhere* on the ‘net.

Listen up people.  Your information is already out there.  Places you haven’t even thought about have it.  There is no privacy any more.

Deal with it.  I am not saying you should post your name address and phone number and ask people to stop by, but do not think that just because you haven’t done that that there isn’t 10000 different ways to find the information.

Its out there.

I Am Really Annoyed

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I am tired.  I have been saying how tired I am and how I can’t wait for the baby to be here.

To which my supposed friends keep laughing at because ‘just wait until the baby is here.’

I am not stupid.  I know I will be even more tired when the baby is here.

HOWEVER, I will…

  1. Not be going to work for about a year
  2. Not be having to get up at any particular time, except when the baby gets me up
  3. Be able to rest during the day, provided the baby naps
  4. Be able to ignore parts of the house, like having to hang my work clothes to dry.  I won’t have any dirty work clothes!
  5. Even if the baby doesn’t nap, at least be able to sit on the sofa with it and veg in front of the TV, at least until its old enough to need a bit more interaction!!

This is not my first experience with a newborn, okay?  It maybe my first baby, but I’ve been around other small babies.  And yes, I know it is different when it is your own.

So will everyone please stop treating me like an idiot?

Kthxbai.