2010

It's hard to believe that 2010 is almost over. I was pregnant for most of the year! I was pregnant during our trip to Dorset and Cornwall, during the choppy boat ride (where I wasn't seasick either) and during the long tough walk up the cliff path from Whitsand Bay.

We had a great Christmas. E enjoyed himself. He has turned out not to be very materialistic, which I'm glad about. Our modus operandi is to give him an occasional toy year round... usually something small from the charity (thrift) shop. This year we decided to get him a larger bounty, partly because of the new baby, but also because he's older and starting to cotton on about the whole Christmas thing.

There are still two unopened presents under the tree. And, in fact, he opened another present yesterday and one on Boxing Day. He was just too wrapped up (pun intended) in playing with things. And, to be honest, I'm glad he didn't go all gimme-gimme-mode. He's pleased with the small things... magnetic letters from his aunt/uncle were a bit hit, and he got... very into playing with them, as you can see...

"O is for orange!"

For a breakfast appetizer, he'd had a chocolate coin, as you can probably tell. Another big hit was the flashlight Granddad sent from California. He only begrudgingly looked at the camera and immediately went back to playing after this photo was snapped.


Baby C was still sleepy.

Christmas lunch. B outdid himself, cooked duck, stuffing, roasted veg, gravy... it was amazing! The juice box E has is guava... a special treat for him.


Baby Callie had to come watch him open another present.

And then she had to play with him.


She doesn't have a lot of manual dexterity right now so B and E had to do the building...



Out of time for now. Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas.

I've had my thimbleful of Bailey's and we've watched Christmas movies.

Most everything is peaceful and we're now hoping for a few hours' unbroken sleep. I hope you have a good holiday, wherever and whoever you are.

Just...

...gearing up for Christmas and spending time settling in as a new family of four. E helped decorate the tree the day before C was born.

C doesn't quite fit into 0-3 month old clothes....

(In comparison - here she is in a newborn-sized sleepsuit... fits perfectly!)

E went to his playgroup's Christmas party today with B, saw Santa Claus, and was entertained by a performing magician. It's snowing here, enough for it to settle some. More expected overnight. B and I may order a pizza in... a rare treat! We're in bed these days at some unholy hour... 9 or so, so evenings seem short and adult-only-time slightly crimped, but it's all worth it.

It Began...

On Tuesday, really. Lots of Braxton Hicks (even more than usual) and a few mild contractions. Wednesday I stayed in all day and they progressed. We had spicy curry that night and halfway through dinner, I got a serious contraction.

Still not thinking "this is it!" I went to bed just in case and tried to sleep until around 8:30, when I gave up. B dropped a line to our list of contacts giving them a heads up and I spent the rest of the evening coping with increasing pain. I may have dozed off for about 10 minutes once or twice, but around 1am the contractions got real serious. Around 3-4am, E's granny heroically took a cab across London. At 5am B and I got to the hospital. By this time contractions were every 3-5 minutes and that trite old advice about taking two paracetemol (Tylenol)? yeah that stuff doesn't touch that kind of pain.

At about 5:15am I was examined by a triage midwife who proclaimed me to be 4cm dilated. She gave me a pitying look. She thought I was a wuss. Little did she know....

The hospital this time was mercifully unbusy, although it had apparently undergone a baby boom in the earlier hours of the night, so we got lucky. B and I were shown a room and I, casting aside the shreds of my dignity, dove for the laughing gas/gas-and-air nozzle and began huffing.

From then on, everything was a blur. I remember the pain getting worse and asking about epidural options. At this point I think everyone thought things were going to drag out much, much longer. They hadn't even sent us a proper midwife yet. Fortunately B is a good communicator and stuck his head out the door to inform them that things were going faster than expected.

I vaguely remember gulping down the laughing gas and yelling my head off. At one point I got all Exorcist and remember involuntarily "absolutely bellowing" (as B put it), I reckon this was right before I dilated to 10cm (WITHIN THE HOUR THANK-YOU-VERY-MUCH unbelieving triage nurse) and they had to hustle a midwife in. C was born in about 2.5 pushes. I'll spare you the rest of the gory details since I doubt any actual doulas read this blog.

So there you have it. I probably forgot a few details like poor B's bruised hands - seriously the guy was an absolute star throughout and gentlemanly enough to stay at my top half during the bloody parts.

As for recovery, they say that going all-natural (well, I WAS off my head on the laughing gas but that stuff doesn't stay in your system or affect you long) means one gets back on their feet quicker, but I've still got after-effects which makes bed look very attractive. Fortunately, the midwives here still do home visits - got one today and they'll be back again for more baby checks/heel prick tests etc.

I'll end this now since a certain Miss is beginning to stir.

Obligatory drunken gnome photo (big brother was sorting coins in the background):

"How About Now?"

Yep.

And holy mackerel, what they say about second babies tending to come faster is true.

Callie Margaret was born around 7am this morning. She's doing great and is perfect. Callie is short for Calliope (pronounced Ka-LYE-o-pee), the Greek muse of epic poetry. 8lb 7ounces, same as her brother, but 1 day early.


I feel like a truck ran over me but fortunately was able to take a 6 hour discharge from the hospital instead of staying overnight.

Birth story to come eventually.

"Have You Popped Yet?"

No.

Very Snow

Well, B made it into work after all for his last day before paternity leave. Last night (Weds night) a whole lot of snow settled, so we were both really glad he could stay home today!

E looked out the window on Tuesday and said in surprise and excitment: "Oh! Very snow!" He was happy to kick around in it today but has been slightly sick so didn't last long.

Just in comparison, here's our garden on Wednesday...

...and here's our front walk today:


It'll be down in the mid 20's overnight and might not get above freezing tomorrow but there's no more heavy snow forecast. As for another type of forecast... nothing yet. I walked around the local mall today and had some spicy food though.

E has been chattering away lately and is in a funny stage where he's learning how to use pronouns. Sometimes he gets it right: "Nooo-ooo, I'M not stinky...." and other times he's so off it makes us laugh. "Oh!! Help you?!" is one he uses when he needs help. Sometimes I'll ask if he wants me to do something ("Should we go sit on the bed and read a book?") and he goes "YES! I will!" and runs off immediately. Favorite phrases include "Dadden wants a cuggle." or "Dadden wants to go in the kitchen!" which is often amusing. Sometimes after sneezing he says brightly, "Oh! You sneezed! Ha-ha. Bless me."

Two good ones B just remembered: "Drop it, the cee-real. Make mess. Wery messy now." and "Oh! Meelk! Fannnn-TASTIC!"

In other news, I wrapped my first Christmas present (for B) yesterday. There's lots of festive food being sold in the supermarkets etc... but somehow it's... different over here. Did you know that the eggnog in the UK is alcoholic? It's not even called eggnog, it's some weird brand name. I had some last year and it has a huge kick. Bleh. I might make my own non-alcoholic version if I have the energy, but I've still got to bake a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie and I think those take priority.

I am looking forward to a nice (small) glass of post-pregnancy Bailey's, however.