Category Archives: Adam

Letter To My Son – Adam – 6 Months Old

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Dear Adam

My goodness, 6 months already?  Mummy is amazed at how fast it has flown by.

And you are developing like crazy.  You can sit up from leaning back against Mummy and do a sort of tummy crunch motion for lying flat on your back: –

And you can sit up if someone puts you into position:

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You have shown no new interest in rolling over, however.  You keep looking at me, when I place you on your tummy, and it seems you are saying ‘Look, I’ve done that already.  Can we move on now?’

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You’ve started sitting in your high chair and joining Daddy and I for dinner.

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Mummy even started you on solid food this past week!

But the very best thing? Is you’ve slept straight through until 7 for 3 days in a row now!  Of course, that will probably change. And change again.  And again….

Next week, on the 16th, is your MRI.  Mummy and Daddy are a little worried, since they have to put you under a general anaesthesia so you’ll be very still during it.  But Mummy is sure you’ll be fine.  Really.

Then just  few days later we get on an airplane!

First we will be in London with your Aunt, Uncle and baby Cousin.

Then we get on another airplane and off we go to California for 10 whole days!  Mummy is so excited!  And Aunt B told me she cannot wait to get her hands on you!!!  Mummy and Daddy hope they’ll be allowed to bring you home. 🙂

Oh and Daddy and I both swear you’ve said ‘Hi!’

But we’re probably delusional.

Love

Mummy

Changes

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So obviously, my life has changed since having Adam.  I’ve mentioned this before.

But I have been thinking about physical changes lately.

Some of them are small, like the fact that my hands seem to get waterlogged a lot quicker these days.  One round of washing  up and my palms are all wrinkled.  I used to soak in the bathtub for hours and barely be wrinkled.

Or the fact that I get hangnails, which I never used to get.  I think that’s because I use that alcohol rub stuff after nappy changes, since there is no sink in his room.  Could be the reason for the wrinkly hands too, I guess.

Of course, some of them are big.  I have a very long scar just above my pubic bone, for example.  But I like that scar.  It brought my son into the world.

My hips hurt more than they used to.  Also due to my son.

Of course, all of these things are due to my son.

And I revel in every one of them.

Its a Sham! A Sham with Yams!! A Yam Sham!

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You will only get that title if you are a Buffy fan.

Happy Thanksgiving.

And to anyone worrying, like my mother, that I won’t have a turkey today since I couldn’t get one at Sainsbury’s on Tuesday?  I’ll get one today at Marks & Spencer.

In other news, as Adam was eating his first bottle of the day (slept until 6!!!) I explained Thanksgiving to him.

I am not sure he got all the nuances.

Adam and Mummy’s Next Big Adventure!

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So today I put Adam into his Bjorn, grabbed my sholley and my shopping bags and headed for the big Sainsbury’s.  Its a huge supermarket about 15 minutes away by bus.  Well, if you catch the right bus.  If you catch the wrong bus you go all the way through East Belfast and it takes more like 1/2 an hour.  I managed to catch the right bus both coming and going.

The only entertaining thing about our adventure was the little old ladies who kept looking at him in his Bjorn sort of like this:

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Slings and Bjorns are not very common in Belfast.

It was fun.  And Adam was facing out so I could see his little head going back in forth looking at all the bright lights and pretty packages.

So we did the shopping for the next 4 days.

Including Thanksgiving dinner.  Well, except for the turkey.  Apparently they only have turkey joints of any kind around Christmas.

But don’t they know I’m an American and need my Thanksgiving turkey?!?! 🙂

Although Adam is Feeling Much Better

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I decided I didn’t have enough spoons for the supermarket today.  So today we stayed home.  We played, he napped, I cleaned a bathroom, we played some more.

Let me say that again…he napped.  As in was put in his cot and stayed in his cot.  For a whole half an hour this morning and so far a whole hour this afternoon.  Its a miracle.

Granted, he fell asleep in my arms first, but one step at a time, okay?  The fact is that he is not only napping, which he fights like he’s going to miss something vitally important, but napping somewhere other than my arms or his pram.  He’s in his room.  With the door closed.  In his cot.

Well, the baby monitor just flickered (it has a visual indicator of noise along with being able to hear), so he might be waking up.  But he slept.  For a whole hour.  In his room.  With the door closed.  In his cot.

And there’s only been that one flicker.  So he could have just been breathing hard.  So he’s still asleep.  In his room.

Nope, awake!  But a whole hour! In his room! In his cot!!

Get The Baby Book Out – Adam’s First Ear Infection!

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So he has been coughing for a few days.  And then on Thursday I noticed he was batting at his ear.  So off to the GP on Friday morning.

Yup, slight ear infection, but much more concerned about the dry croupy cough.  So he has Amoxocillian.  Which smells vile and, I imagine, tastes worse based on his reaction.

I also set a new ‘mummy must change her clothes record’ on Friday.  You see, if he just does a bit of spit or saliva on my shoulder, I don’t bother to change.  But on Friday we had: –

  1. A pooh that went all the way up his back and when I was twisting him to get it all, rubbed it onto my shirt.  New shirt.
  2. A major spit up.  Not really a vomit, but enough that I felt damp. New shirt.
  3. Another major spit up. New shirt.
  4. Vomit.  Major major vomit.  Like a whole bottles worth. On me, himself, the sofa and the floor. Gave up on shirts, put on my PJs.
  5. Major major vomit 2.  New PJs.

Simon was home for that last one.  He kindly got me a towel. 🙂

He’s been much better today, all smiles and not batting at his ear as much, so I do believe he is feeling better.

And now, my most recommended baby accoutrement:  The Eezimed Baby Syringe.

Another Day, Another Trip to Children’s Hospital…

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So when Adam had his 4 month appointment and his jabs, the health visitor flagged up that she thought he might have Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip – DDH.

From the GP’s reaction when she checked him, I could tell she didn’t agree, but since the HV had said so, she had to write the referral letter.  She also told me it was not at all urgent and when I suggested we wait until he had to be at Children’s Hospital anyway for his Paediatric Surgery consult for his lump, she said that was a fine idea.

Well that appointment was Monday.

So our gallant heroes, Mummy, Daddy and Adam, got a taxi about 930.  The surgical appointment wasn’t until 2pm, but since last time he needed XRays it took 4 hours we figured we’d do that, have lunch at the hospital and then go to his appointment and come home.

It was absolutely bucketing down out.  And, since it never rains in Belfast (someone really needs to come up with a sarcasm font, BTW), traffic was one big snarl.  It took us about 20 minutes to do a trip that normally takes about 5 minutes.  6 if you don’t hit the lights right.

We arrived at A&E and I handed over the GP’s letter.  The very nice receptionist said she didn’t think we needed triage, checked with the triage nurse who agreed, and sent us straight up to XRay.  We checked in there and sat down to wait.  There were about 5 children there with their parents, so we figured it would be a long wait.

10 minutes later we are called.  They weren’t doing an XRay, they were doing an ultrasound.  They do the ultrasound and sent us on our way.  It was about 11 so we headed home!

Got home, had lunch, fed the boy.  Headed back to the hospital at 130, since it was still bucketing down and we figured it would take another 20 minutes to get across town.  Of course this time it took 5 and we were early for our appointment.

Actually saw the consultant at exactly 2pm.  Turned out 2pm is his first appointment in the afternoon.  Lucky us!

He felt The Lump, listened to it with his stethoscope (which no one had ever done before) and agreed that there was nothing he could tell us until after the MRI.  Simon did ask what next steps might be, but the consultant really didn’t want to say until he saw the MRI.

I confirmed with him that there should be no problem taking Adam to the States for Christmas just a few days after the MRI and he couldn’t think of any reason why there would be.  Even with his MRI appointment being at 2pm, he shouldn’t need to stay overnight.  He said he’d see us in 2 months and sent us on our way.

So, once again, we wait.  MRI on 16th December.  Next surgical consult on 18th January.  And then we find out what, if anything, they are going to do about this lump on our son’s side.

In other news, wow 2 new commentors!

To answer Lisa’s question, I have no idea if my hit count includes the RSS feed.  I forget I have an RSS feed, since I never use them myself.  I will have to ask tech support, AKA my brother.

Keep commenting, people! I promise to keep writing! 🙂

Sorry For The Lack Of Updates

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Its not so much that I have nothing to say as I am too tired to say it coherently or the way that I want to.

As Adam gets older, he needs more interaction, of course! He still is able to play by himself quite a bit, in his chair and in his bumbo.  And he has what Simon calls the disco saucer, which is an activity centre thing.  But he still takes up quite a bit of time and energy, of course!

So my writing is suffering.

And so, to my 10 regular readers, I apologize.

I will try to do better in the future!

Yesterday I Woke Up With Very Few Spoons

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What that means.

It actually started at about 330am when either I was awoken by Adam needing me or I woke Adam because I moaned in pain in my sleep.  My upper arms and my thighs hurt with every move.  I was having the worst Fibro flare I’ve had since having my son.

Lucky for me Adam settled back down after about a half an hour of playing ‘find me my dummy mummy’ and slept until 630.  That extra 2.5 hours helped a lot.

When Simon woke up for work at 7 I told him how much pain I was in.  Well, he could see it, as I limped around the flat and groaned as I reached for the peanut butter for breakfast.  He offered to stay home but it was really important to me to be able to take care of my son no matter what.  So Simon did bits of help (the most important being getting a coffee cup down for me!) and then headed off to work.

Adam and I had no plans yesterday, although I was hoping to walk up to the park.  Instead we stayed home.  He spent a lot more time in his bouncy chair than he normally would, but other than that, it was a normal day.  Right up to and including his 230 ‘I’m exhausted but I don’t want to sleep’ crank which can only be soothed by walking him around and singing silly songs to him until he’s so tired he falls asleep.

By around lunchtime I was feeling somewhat better, although I still couldn’t lift my arms over my head.  And I was exhausted.  I did ring Simon at one point and ask if he could even come home an hour early, it would help, but if he couldn’t, I’d continue to manage.

And manage I did.  My son was fed, dry, warm and happy.  Maybe he didn’t get as many snuggles as usual, but he still got tummy time on Mummy and Daddy’s bed while Mummy got dressed.  Maybe Mummy didn’t spend as much time  bouncing him on her knee as she usual does (he loves that) but she did sit next to him while he was in his chair and talked to him and tickled him.

When I got pregnant my family’s major concern was how I would cope with my mental health issues.  Mentally, I’ve been fine.  Oh sure, I’ve had sad days, who doesn’t?  And I’ve had some major anxiety and panic attacks.  But none of these have affected taking care of my son.

And yesterday I proved my Fibro doesn’t either.

Letter to My Son – Adam – 5 Months Old

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Dear Adam

Here we are at 5 months.  The time has just flown by and I can’t believe you’re almost half a year old already.

So many developmental changes this past month!  The big one was you rolling over from your tummy to your back.  Surprised the heck out of both of us.  One second you were happily having tummy time on Mummy and Daddy’s bed.  The next you were on your back!  The look on your face was priceless, until you started to cry.  Unfortunately Daddy missed it.  He was indisposed at the time.  Poor Daddy.

Luckily, you’ve done it several times since then:

The other major thing that happened this month was you receiving your US Passport and Statement of Consular Birth Abroad.  These two things tell the world that you are indeed a US Citizen, from birth, no matter that you were not born on US soil.

You are in fact a tri-citizen, entitled to a UK, US and Irish passport.  Daddy and I will let you decide if you need an Irish passport when you are older.  With the UK and the US ones you are set!

Because you got your US Passport in a timely manner we are going to California for Christmas.  Your Grandma and Pops

Adam and Grandma Adam and Pops.

will be there along with your Uncle J, Aunt B and Cousins R & S.  Your other Pops might be there as well!

Other milestones Daddy and I have noticed this month include: –

  • You are trying to sit up.
  • You are beginning to be interested in what Daddy and I are eating.
  • You are starting to be able to put your pacifier into your mouth as well as take it out
  • You like to blow raspberries:

  • You can roll half way over from your back to your side.
  • You are, in general, becoming much more aware of the world around you.

This coming week is the appointment with the Paediatric Surgeon about the lump on your side.  Daddy and I are pretty sure they are going to say ‘well, we won’t be able to tell you anything until we see the MRI’, which you will be having 16th December.

No official weigh and measure this month my son.  But I would bet you’ve gained at least a pound and around an inch.

Growing fast!

Love

Mummy