Child Smiles

Encouraging Respect

2011-12-06T18:41:00.002Z

As PLB grows older I am trying to help him to learn respect for his and other people's belongings. Simple things like putting his toys away after playing with them, putting away one type of toy before playing with the next and putting his toys away carefully and gently (not throwing) are all part of this work.

I have however seen increasingly in myself the need for improvement in these areas - aren't children wonderful mirrors of ourselves! I have to watch myself that I don't just toss that soft toy into PLB's cot (crib), shove gently with my foot (can be seen as kicking) that chair into position, or drop his Duplo bricks into the box as PLB is watching "no throwing mummy!" - This is helping me to be more careful in how I handle our possessions in general even when not being watched by the toddler, especially while we temporarily live with friends this is important for all of us.

2 Years

2011-10-30T21:28:00.003Z

So PLB turned 2 on the 19th! Wow 2 years has just flown by. As you may have noticed I have very little time at the moment to blog - other things get priority - most other things!

We went to the zoo, I had made PLB a moving digger card (big hit and so simple), ordered a few books but they didn't arrive on time so he only got 1 present for his birthday from us - a magnetic book about diggers that we saw a few days before and bought on the spur of the moment - he enjoys looking at diggers. I even baked a cake and put carob frosting on it and 2 candles and brought a lighter with us to the zoo to do the cake and candles thing, we didn't get to the cake till we got back to the car as the place that we ate lunch was too windy. Then I discovered that the lighter didn't work so we tried asking a few passers-by if they had a lighter which nobody did so PLB didn't get his cake till we bought matches at a service station at about 7.30pm! - but we did get a couple of photos at least! But obviously by that time he just wanted to sleep so he took about two bites then asked for "mamma melk"!

I haven't taken PLB for his 2 year weigh/check up yet but will this Wednesday.

He is a very small child for his age - not very tall and very slim - just now growing out of 12-18 month clothes! This despite the fact that he loves his food. In fact he seems to like the healthiest foods the most - cooked carrots, fresh tomatoes, tofu, beans (kidney, butter, aduki etc.), peas, broccoli, mushroom, oranges, mangoes, pasta and raisins are all amongst his favourites in fact if you have any of the afore mentioned items on your plate when he finishes his he will be asking for yours!

Development wise he is definitely meeting all expectations (and exceeding).

Knows all colours (Norwegian) most (Italian and English) - by most I mean that I don't think he knows gold, silver, purple or brown in the last two languages but knows the rest - he shocked me by starting to tell me some colours just before he was 17 months

Can count to 12 in all three languages - English was slightly later for 11 and 12 - very amusing when he was counting in English for his Italian grandmother, got to 10, thought for a few seconds then said "undici, dodici" (sorry I'm not sure about the spelling of those - 11 & 12) Having multiple languages can certainly widen your vocabulary

Recognises several letters and is very interested in "reading" signs when out and about

Scribbles using the writing pencil grip and draws circles, lines and squiggles that look like letters also draws dots for rain/stars/eyes, draws a circle for "O"

Knows several shapes: circle, star, square, triangle (sometimes)

climbs stairs up and down very well sometimes using only one foot per step but that makes me nervous

Loves to play with duplo lego, his wooden trike and loves reading books

Should be potty training but I keep postponing till we have moved...

talks in sentences - can be embarrassing "uncle E----, have you done a poo?" Sorry little bro!

Sounds good right? Well yes, I am very grateful that PLB is healthy and happy etc. I am also aware that some of his milestones are somewhat unusual for his age - that is, they are premature, which presents an interesting dilemma... We are planning to homeschool, fine, that is great for any child that is not exactly average, as you can go at his/her pace. HoweverI don't believe in formal education before the age of 7 - children under 7 learn primarily through physical play and academics is lost on them and can even, hinder their development children in countries that delay school start till 7 have "caught up" by age 10 with those children that started school at 5 or even 4 - i.e. in 3 years they have learnt what it took some children 5 or 6 years to learn! - Enough of my rant on the subject.

My potential dilemma is that PLB may well be an early reader - he is already showing some reading readiness signs, and I have no intention of formally teaching him to read - that is sitting him down with teaching books/flashcards etc. for some time yet however I don't want to prevent him from learning (not that that seems possible - I have never "taught" him his numbers, letters etc. he just seems to pick it up), so I am going to have to perhaps read that book my mother passed on to me when she found out that I was pregnant "reading through play" (I have glanced at it and it seems good) and look for more info on "unschooling" but I think I will mostly just let PLB determine what he wants to get deeper into and when while at the same time ensuring that he has enough time outside and in active, physical play.

Time Changes

2011-03-28T13:25:00.002+01:00

The clocks officially went forward here in the UK yesterday morning at 1am, I had all the preceding week been trying to get PLB to bed somewhat earlier especially as the light mornings were causing him to wake up too early, this was so that when the clocks changed he would easily transition to the new time and hopefully sleep through the night (5.30am becoming 6.30am when he would wake for a feed-usually the only time he wakes and often not go back to sleep). I think that in theory the plan was a good one, unfortunately on Saturday morning PLB woke up at 4.30am with a fever and since then has slept and eaten little. I am sure that most children sleep more, - not less when unwell but PLB continues to prove that he is not most children when it comes to sleep. This morning after waking another disturbed night he awoke about 7.45am then he didn't go to sleep till around 12.20pm so I decided to re-start our (body) clocks at 1pm this afternoon. Hopefully PLB will comply somewhat despite being unwell. We usually have our dinner at 2pm so when PLB wakes up the food should be ready or nearly and we can eat at our "normal" time then I will give PLB his supper at 6pm (I don't usually eat in the evening) and bed at 7.30pm. Talking of time changes, I have had to restore our computer to a previous date due to major issues but I think it is ok now. I think he is going to wake up any minute by the look of things, better check the food!

Words, Words, Words

2011-01-30T22:52:00.003Z

PLB is growing up in a home with 3 languages so I have never expected him to be a particularly early speaker. I apparently said "hello" at 7 months, but PLB is a boy and boys generally speak later - but walk earlier (I didn't walk till 18 months but PLB did at 12 month and at 13 month he had his first pair of proper shoes). Any way PLB said a few words that I and RNG could understand before he was even a year: Tatt (Takk - Norwegian for thank you), Derdig (Ferdi - Norwegian for finished), tys (ett lys - Norwegian for a light) and te (tre - Norwegian for tree), however it wasn't until the 10th of January at nearly 15 months that PLB finally said something that others could understand: appelsin (Norwegian for orange). So since that day he ha averaged 1 new word per day, applesin is still the favourite but mat (Norwegian for food) is another popular word. PLB did manage to consistently say pappa (Norwegian for daddy) one day but has since gone off that word however he has decided to say "daddy" instead - not that RNG is ever called daddy by us but still!

I am grateful that PLB hasn't chosen words such as chips, sweets and burgers as his first food words instead so far he says "appelsin", "kiwi", "tofu" and "melk" (Norwegian for melk - referring both to breast milk and soya milk). Well at least PLB gives the impression that we eat healthily as a family.

PLB just about manages "grazie" as his token Italian word. I am constantly amazed by how much PLB understands especially since we rarely talk directly to him in English yet he clearly understands much of what we say when we talk together in English too.

PLB's 1st Birthday

2011-01-02T16:14:00.006Z

I never did get round to blogging about PLB's 1st birthday which was back on the 19th October (2010). We had a lovely day, RNG and I took PLB to the zoo (using some Tesco vouchers). Unfortunately PLB had a cold and didn't enjoy it as much as he would have otherwise perhaps. It was a cold day but dry until about 3 or 4pm when it started pouring with rain, so we hopped into the zoo bus, which amazingly, despite being an old double decker was able to accommodate ours and one other large pushchair un-folded- the driver removed the middle bar for the second pushchair to enter through the back!

PLB had been given a number of gifts by family and friends, so his cheap-skate parents gave him, a hat and mittens and plate and cutlery set - both of which we would have given him anyway.

I made him a card with a lion on it - we had to keep some kind of animal theme going. - Sorry haven't got round to photographing it but it was cute!

I also made PLB cupcakes, but as the first cake recipe I tried didn't turn out well at all it was rather a rush job so nothing fancy. Anyway PLB wasn't all that impressed.

Snow Suits

2010-11-28T20:54:00.002Z

Yesterday, over in my other blog I said that we are ready for snow - except for one thing... PLB doesn't have a winter all in one/snowsuit. So today we went into Guildford in search of something suitable for cold weather and (potentially) snow play.

The results:

Plenty are available in the 0-3month size (I suspect all stores order an abundance in this size as everyone seems to give new babies one PLB had 6!) The biggest that I was able to find was in the 9-12 month size which would possibly just about fit PLB (he is small for his age), however I would like something that will last him till around February/March. A few might have been available in 12-18 month size but seemed to be rather cool - wind/waterproof outer and very think fleecy fabric lining. And one that I saw (not in PLB's size) that looked warm enough was £80! I have been checking ebay but the prices they are going at for second hand is not much below their new price which always makes me feel cheated unless something really is new. So for now PLB can't play outside.

Highchair Walker

2010-11-08T20:44:00.002Z

Some time back PLB decided that his favourite occupation was to walk around holding onto my or RNG's hands. He would very sweetly crawl up to us, pull himself to standing and take hold of our hands and pull. One day when I was fed up with walking constantly he devised a new way of getting around:

This was back in mid September, he has since learnt to walk on his own a little, though he still likes to hold one or both of our hands.

I searched on youtube and it seems there are many babies that use their highchair as a walker.

If I'd Been Going Back to Work

2010-09-14T16:51:00.002+01:00

If I'd been going back to work (outside the home) after maternity leave... Today would be the day I would have started... and I would have had to phone in to cancel as the baby is sick. The poor little boy has a cold and every time he coughs he starts bawling - I think he probably has a sore throat. The proof that he is sick is that he is currently having a nap... the fourth one today!!!

Three Things

2010-08-12T22:24:00.003+01:00

When PLB was newborn he would suck on both his fists when he was hungry (or most of the time actually but especially when he was tiered), anyway this made it quite difficult to feed him as I literally would have to pin his arms down so he could latch on instead of sucking his fists. The easiest way to pin the arms back was to put them down straight so his whole body was straight. That is when RNG first commented that he looked like Rocket Man - as seen in the picture at the bottom.
PLB has slept in a "sleeping bag" since he was a couple of weeks old, it works really well as he can't kick his covers off and get cold and it is part of his evening routine and he knows that it means bed time - no matter where we are.
I love my Mamaway nursing tops - especially in light of the very large picture windows that people frequently walk past while I am nursing - I would feel like a prisoner in my own home if I had to use a cover or close the curtains for all of PLB's feeds. - I made a nursing cover but it is cumbersome and draws too much attention to what I'm doing not to mention that during the winter if I wore a regular top and used the nursing cover I would have to pull up my top or unbutton and get very cold in our very cold flat.

It's Never Too Early...

2010-08-11T10:48:00.003+01:00

To encourage your children in habits of helpfulness!

I already have my little boy well trained.

PLB investigating the vacuum cleaner

PLB sweeping - the dustpan and brush are by far his favourite toys at the moment.

PLB helping with the laundry.

I'm not promising anything but I will see about uploading some video of PLB helping me wash the floor while we were on holiday - it's hilarious.

I've finally sorted out my photos so I will be blogging more soon.

the Incredible Un-sleeping Child

2010-07-28T16:22:00.002+01:00

PLB has never been a big fan of daytime sleep. In fact I once spent 5 hours (I'm not making this up) trying to get him to go to sleep that included a couple of feeds and several nappy changes - this was during his one messy nappy an hour phase that lasted several months. PLB did finally accept some sort of routine in April (it all fell into place a few days after writing a complaining email to a friend - sorry E!) but he always seems to have something that upsets things. - By routine I mean time for getting up in the morning, time for naps and times for food and time for bed. I always feed him if he is hungry outside of regular food times.

Anyway we have recently had teething (3 through in the space of a few days - think we're done for a while now), a virus (miserable and a rash - but he did sleep 2-21/2 hours per day the last couple of days which is around twice his normal amount so he obviously was unwell.

So today he woke up an hour late (we all did), so he had breakfast late and a very late first nap that lasted only 1/2 hour. He has now been in his bed for his next nap for the past hour and a half (it is now 4.30pm) - he didn't need a clean nappy or food (well he does now) and he has been awake except half an hour since 8am.

Now I will get him up change his nappy, give him a feed and take him for a walk.

And NO he still DOES NOT regularly sleep through the night (it happens but then something interrupts the flow and we have to start again.

End of a Busy Period

2010-07-14T22:16:00.004+01:00

After we got back from Italy I had a very busy period of sorting things out at home (un-packing, washing, ironing, tidying etc.) and at the same time I knew we would need to start seriously baby-proofing* the flat as I realised the PLB would soon be crawling.

RNG kept saying that he thought it would be another couple of months, but I maintained that it would be within a couple of weeks - I was right! Two weeks ago on Thursday 8th July PLB finally crawled (forwards) for the first time, he had been very successfully moving round on his bottom and crawling backwards for some time but hadn't managed to coordinate the forward thing. Two days prior to that he decided that as he was about to master the "crawling thing" it was time to try to stand up so I watched one morning as PLB tried to pull himself up against the sofa and reflected that it would be only a few days before he would succeed - I was wrong - we went out for a short walk round the block then I put PLB on the floor and went to get something in the kitchen and returned seconds later to see him standing holding onto the sofa and looking very proud of himself. He then plopped down again and immediately decided to try to stand again - this time I got a photo!

We managed to get a cot from ebay (for £1) within a week of returning from our holiday - just in time!

PLB seems to be maturing in leaps and bounds now it really is amazing to watch.

Thankfully I had managed to finish most of the baby-proofing in time for the standing and crawling debuts so now I am basically at the end of a busy period, the flat is organised - except for one folder of papers to deal with and I am feeling much more relaxed. Below you can see how I have dealt with the exposed wires from my pc (which is still running ridiculously slowly so I'm still not using it really).

* By baby-proofing the flat I mean only the main room (sitting/bed/dining room) - putting socket covers on electrical outlets, moving the bookcase behind the sofa where it cannot be pulled down and moving dangerous things (paint, wood-chopping-axe etc.) to high cupboards or other places and moving safer things (fabrics and clothes) down from the high cupboards, other than that I have done little else at this stage. PLB is beginning to understand the word "nei" (no) and for example has started choosing to crawl somewhere else when his first choice (the cd player) is banned - he crawls towards the cd player then (quite often without me saying anything) he changes his direction and heads towards the window seat and the (allowed) briefcase.

Try, Try, Try Again

2010-06-19T19:30:00.003+01:00

For the past few days PLB has been desperately trying to pull himself into a sitting position whenever I lay him down for a nap (and a little in the evening too), I am not certain what he plans to do when he succeeds but I would guess that he will lie back down and try again till he masters the skill.

Unfortunately for me this means that for his own safety I now have to stay with him till he falls asleep. When we get back to the UK the travel cot will be retiring (he has outgrown it for sure) till perhaps we are blessed one day with a little brother or sister for PLB.

What To Do With 2- Dozen Nappy Pins

2010-05-26T22:05:00.006+01:00

I have been using washable nappies (diapers) for the past 4 months and have no intention of using disposables again except when absolutely necessary. I have in that time bought a number of different fancy shaped nappies to complement my stash of flat nappies, especially useful when out and about if there is no clean surface to fold/re-fold the nappy on, and it is useful when someone not so familiar with washables needs to change baby (never happened yet but still...)

I have the following nappies:

Motherease Sandies - good fit, easy to use but now PLB will soak one fairly quickly also sized so would need bigger size eventually (I have 3 of these), slow drying.

Motherease multi-sized - even with a booster these are far too thin - PLB will soak it in no time - great idea though and probably good for a newborn-ish and maybe older child who is potty training but in-case of accidents, slow drying (have one of these)

Motherease all-in-one - not bad, reasonable containment but again sized and would need larger size eventually (soon), very slow drying (have one of these)

Popolini all-in-one - very good containment (with gusset), removable booster means not as slow drying as could be, dry touch liner is very good too, unfortunately also sized (have one of these)

Nature Babies Diddy Diaper - good fit, will fit all the way to potty training and contains well - great for night time - I find the cotton is better for night use than the microfibre both are very slow drying (have one of each)

Do you notice a common theme?

Slow drying, slow drying, slow drying. I never planned for the fitted nappies to be my staple for a number of reasons - drying speed being one of them, needing multiple sizes is another, however they are useful for occassions when out.

So I realised that PLB will have outgrown all but 3 of these fitted nappies soon and we would be travelling and need to dry things quickly. The convenience of fitted nappies when travelling is undeniable however I really don't have the budget for constantly buying larger sizes. I think the Diddy Diaper (one of the cheapest on the market could be a good deal, but what about they drying time... I love terry squares as I can fold according to need and size (I have a small boy now but he will be bigger later and one day I might have a girl and each different requirement can be catered for with a different fold), even in the winter in our cold flat the nappies will dry over night and in warm weather they will dry in a few hours at most. I also found that the cheapest wraps (one-size fits all) on the market (nature babies) also seem to work the best for us.

This brings me to the title of the post- What to do with 2 dozen nappy pins - honestly I bought one pack assuming I'd use them and my grandmother bought me another then I bought a pack of 3 nappy nippas (Snappies) and have never used the pins so I have loads lying around. Then it struck me - "why not pre-fold the nappies for out and about and pin them?" that way I can un-pin them for washing and drying but they remain folded (at least nearly completely folded) and I can adjust my fold as PLB grows, or his needs change (I used to use the "poo-catcher" but now use the "boy-fold").

Step 1) Fold the nappy and add the liner if using:

Step 2) Pin layers together on outside of the nappy

Step 3) put inside the wrap

So far this has worked very well and I either remove the pin when I am putting the nappy on or taking it off (I don't want it to ruin the washing machine).

So there you have it: All the advantages of an all-in-one but none of the disadvantages and at a fraction of the price!

Travelling Again

2010-05-26T21:48:00.007+01:00

We are in Italy for 4 weeks again - probably the last long holiday for a very long time. After vowing to never use disposable nappies again, my husband convinced me for a 5 day trip a month ago to use some disposables and "have a real break". We only had a couple of minor leaks so it wasn't too bad.

I had planned to come to Italy for this holiday with washables but when it came to packing it started to look more and more unlikely - simply because the amount of space the washable nappies and their accompanying paraphanalia take up is many times more than that of disposables. For comparison see the below photo with my small nappy bucket (I have 2 and use this one for the over-flow from the big one if necessary), washable wipes, washing powder and nappy sanitiser (I rarely use sanitiser at home as not necessary with 60C wash unless very stained or baby sick, however we will be using the machine of relatives and I am not sure how comfortable they would be otherwise though they said they don't mind), and 12 day nappies, 3 night nappies, nappy wraps (covers) and some liners, all next to a small pack of disposable nappies, wipes and bags!

Well I was really umming and ahhing about it as we were struggling to get everything packed. Then I realised that there was no point in taking more nappies than the bucket (and travel wet bag) can hold as if they won't fit in the bucket I need to wash anyway so I removed a few. I have now got I think 8 or 9 day and 3 night nappies, I can always use disposables while out and about or if we run out before they are washed and dried - I am assuming the drying won't take long.

So in the end I did take the washables with me and I'm glad as I don't like PLB being in all that plastic in such warm weather, I did have to use disposables for a couple of days before leaving so that I wouldn't have to fly with loads of dirty nappies and will have to do so again before we fly to the South on Monday and repeat on the way back here to the North a couple of weeks later then one week after that back to the UK - 4 flights but still PLB won't be using them for much of the time.

Teeth

2010-05-18T10:54:00.006+01:00

This post has been a long time coming...

Some time back I reported that I thought PLB was teething. Indeed he was and towards the end of February when he was 18 weeks old (4 calendar months) his first two teeth appeared one day after the other.

This image was taken the week before

and this is what he has looked like since.

This brought with it an interesting question...

"How does one clean the teeth of a baby without them swallowing too much (baby) toothpaste?"

I still don't know the answer but I always tried to let him have lots of water so that the majority would run out... Then he learnt to drink efficiently and water rarely runs out now... Then the dentist said to brush his teeth without any toothpaste till he is 3 years old.

I have therefore opted to brush his teeth twice a day with no toothpaste and once a week or so with toothpaste. I think the dentist was going by my teeth being good so the "genes would be good" and the truth is that that visit was the first time I have ever had a cavity and needed a filling (age 33 years), however RNG's teeth are another story so I am reluctant to completely remove the toothpaste from the regime.

A Nice Day Out

2010-05-18T10:46:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was the 17th of May, which is the Norwegian National Day. RNG took the day off work to join me and PLB celebrating in London. We walked in the children's parade, listened to speeches, ate some homemade cake (and shop-bought baby biscuits for PLB) and had a lovely time.

Food Again

2010-03-27T22:04:00.002Z

On the subject of food again...

On Thursday, I had an appointment with a dietitian, RNG and I are planning to raise PLB as a vegan (I have been a vegan for 15 1/2 years and RNG is vegetarian though we eat vegan at home) and RNG felt a little anxious that we should be certain that we know all we need to know. So I had asked the doctor to refer us, - the doctor gave me the classic "well you chose as an adult but you are making that choice for PLB" speech (I didn't reply but thought something to the effect: and most people choose to give their children a diet high in carcinogens and trans-fats etc.)

Anyway the dietitian started by asking what I eat -starting with breakfast, so I told her and ran through a list of a few dinners that we had eaten recently. Basically she concluded that we have a healthy and varied vegan diet (I will find some suitable multi-vitamins for PLB as a supplement) and I know a fair bit about nutrition - especially the important things for a small vegan child (more fat and carbohydrates, less fibre and generally slightly more of the key vitamins and minerals). The dietitian was pleasantly supportive and reaffirmed that as long as I (the mother) am in tune with my child things will probably be fine.

The only thing that surprised me is that she said that as soon as PLB is 6 months I can give him "anything" (obviously watching salt and spice contents) - that is to say that I don't need to wait till 11 months or whatever to introduce gluten, soya or nut products (not whole nuts till 3 obviously). Apparently the latest research is suggesting there is no less risk of allergy by waiting and in some cases the allergy risk might be increased by waiting too long.

I admit that I am apprehensive in case PLB should have an allergy to any of the "big 3" mentioned before as our diet consists of a lot of pasta, bread, soya and nut products and would be very restricted if we had to exclude any of those things.

We Gave In

2010-03-21T21:02:00.003Z

Yes, we finally gave in and have started giving PLB some "bib boy food", On Friday (5 months exactly) he had his first official tastes of food - mango - because I knew he liked it and baby rice... I had no idea how thin that baby rice would be and decided to use half the recommended amount of milk in future to get a more porridgy texture. So I just put a loaded spoon on PLB's table mat and he promptly picked it up and put it straight on his eye brow... The second attempt made it into his mouth. He certainly knows what a spoon is for and what he is supposed to be doing. He enjoyed the mango too, unfortunately I kept the mango in the fridge after that and the moment the cold mango touched his tongue at the next meal he screwed his face up, shook his head and went and went urghhh! - Each time he did the same thing so I concluded that he wasn't keen on the cold mango.

On Friday night, PLB fell asleep at 6.45pm and slept through till 5.15am - I woke before him! - I checked he was breathing (obviously I was rather shocked) then after he woke and had a short feed he slept again till 7.45. I could hardly believe it, but I suspect it was a fluke as yesterday evening he woke ever 3 hours or so. And tonight... well he had been asleep since about 6.30pm and the phone just rang and disturbed him but he seems to have gone back to sleep - NOTE TO SELF: get a phone with an adjustable volume or this will keep happening!

My Growing Wonder

2010-02-26T09:15:00.003Z

PLB is changing every day and has new things to amaze me with continually, I am so grateful that I have the blessing of being home with him to see all his changes.

PLB is able to sit unsupported for a few seconds - or until he decides to lean over for something. I have been sitting behind him alot as he currently seems to dislike lying on the ground, though he does have a little bouncing seat he tends to drop his toys and I have to keep going over and giving them back to him which makes ironing, folding nappies, tidying up etc. very time-consuming, yesterday I found I could put several cusions around him and then he would sit and play with his toys for much longer. He did fall forwards a couple of times and backwards too - I added another cusion behind him after this photo was taken.

We are beginning to think about weaning, - no not actually starting yet we plan to wait till he is 6 months*. I am however looking at highchairs on ebay - I have a particular one in mind (want to be able to use it for many years), unfortunately they always seem to sell above my top amount, there is no rush however as I have a very cheap and simple highchair that I bought many years ago to seat friends children and a little girl that I used to look after. I also have some plastic bowls and cups and things in storage so I will find out which box they are most likely to be in then on Sunday if RNG is not working we will go to the storeroom. Once we have assessed our supplies I will keep an eye out for offers on things that we need. Food bowls and spoons etc. are one thing that we don't want to get second hand as we want to know that the utensils have not been used with pork, shell fish, blood foods and other unclean foods also PLB will be raised vegan so we are uncomfortable using plates for him at home that have been used for other foods.

* PLB is showing great interest in the food we are eating, when he sits on my or my husband's lap he watches with great interest, and even grabs at our hand....

Ummm... yesterday I admit that we gave him a piece of mango, he certainly knew what to do with it (definately swallowed - I change his nappy remember), I think we might go along the babyled weaning route. However that mango will remain a one off for now, breast milk is so vital at this stage and allergies are too big a risk.

Convenient?

2010-02-09T18:27:00.005Z

Convenient???? - Are disposable nappies (diapers) really more convenient than cloth?

Disposable:

Easy to put on even in the middle of the night when half asleep
If stock is running low just pop to the nearest shop/petrol station and you can get more
Slightly quicker to change if it doesn't leak (see below)
Pre-weaning breastfed baby poo shoots right up the child's back covering their clothes sometimes soaking through three layers meaning that you have to change an entire outfit and since you don't have a nappy wash to do you have to either soak in napisan or equivalent, wash out the worst by hand (this is what I was doing every day and sometimes several times per day) and then wash with regular laundry or you have to wash everything that will go with that clothing in a pre wash then at 60C (not all clothes tolerate this well)
Disposables take up so little space in the changing bag

Cloth:

You need to keep on top of your nappy washing and make sure that you have enough wraps (4 is NOT enough - I have recently placed an order to roughly double that quantity)
You are highly unlikely to ever have a leak other than if you haven't put the wrap on correctly and even if you accidentally left a little nappy poking out it will most likely only cause clothes to be slightly damp - much better than the alternative disposable option (see point 4 in the disposable section)
When you have little money to spare you don't need to worry about not being able to keep you baby in nappies (if you only have 4 wraps though you will be forced to wash every day and even then you may still end up running out of wraps and turning to disposables till the laundry has finished and at least one wrap has had a chance to dry).
A few fitted cloth nappies are great for those middle of the night or changing bag episodes - alternatively pre-folding flats is a good option they should keep their shape and they are much cheaper

I have done a little research and found that I am not the only one that has problems with leaky disposables (I know personally at least one other mother). I had so many of those experiences on our holiday (one particular 48 hour period required 7 complete changes of clothing) that I vowed I would never use disposables again...

Then I ran out of wraps (- things do occasionally escape the nappy and end up on the wrap - but never the clothes), so A couple of weeks ago we went to Bath for the day and I put PLB in disposables, smaller in the changing bag and I may not have had enough wraps... Well we arrived and I fed PLB in the car and he immediately filled the nappy (convenient timing) unfortunately the entire outfit needed changing. Back home he went into cloth again, a few days later ran out of wraps again (yes this is a bit of a theme) and did disposables only to discover when RNG picked PLB up that we would need to change his whole outfit, so then on Sunday I ran out of wraps again... Yes you guessed it we had to change his clothes (only underwear if I recall) before we had even left the house, then while visiting my uncle with PLB (the first time they'd met) we had an explosion again and this time had to change the entire outfit.

Where am I going with this you ask... I am wondering why I or anyone would ever think that disposables are a convenient choice (yes I have tried other brands with the same outcome)? I am looking forward to my extra wraps arriving, I never knew how much I would look forward to a delivery of wraps (and a few boosters for night and a few more shaped nappies and I am trying a couple of all-in-ones for the sake of other people who have less flat nappy changing experience).

Talking?

2010-01-20T14:42:00.004Z

PLB is a very clever baby and despite having three languages to contend with (Norwegian - me, Italian - his father and English - us both), he is already talking at 3 months of age* albeit only single words but they are still words.

So far PLB has said:

Nei - Norwegian for no - frequently says this to things he doesn't like
No - English for no - also in relation to thing that do not please him
Dai - Italian for "come on" or "hurry up" - yelled impatiently when he wants to feed an I am still fiddling with bra cups and stuff. Incidentally this word sounds very similar to the English word "die" but as the context is different I know that he is not saying that.
Ku - Norwegian word for cow - said in a squeeling voice upon seeing his musical cow toy
Poo - Enlish word - yes you know what it means - yelled upon doing one in his nappy

He also says: gleeeeee, agungungerrr and grrrrr in joyful tones but we don't know which language that is yet!

In other news, I think that PLB is going through a growth spurt as the last couple of days he has been unbelievably hungry and not sleeping so well. The night before it started he slept 61/2 hours whhich was 71/2 hours from his last feed.

*Just to clarify; this post is merely for fun I don't really believe my 3 month old is actually talking yet.

Teething?

2010-01-20T14:33:00.003Z

We suspect that PLB is teething, we have suspected it for some time but now I think all the signs are there (except a fever which I am thankful for):

Dribbling (has been doing this uncontrollably since 8 weeks - he also has an amazingly powerful kick I think we may have an Italian footballer in training!)
Chewing on his hands (again since 8 weeks though he only started really staring at them at 11 weeks and grabbing things to seriously play a few days ago (13 weeks)
Really gnawing on any hard object within reach - previously he would only ever suck on fingers or hands that got too close to his mouth now he has started gnawing them
Rosy flushed cheeks
A very red little bottom last night - I put some cream on it and it has almost entirely cleared up now and doesn't seem to have caused him any distress - I will try double rinsing his nappies for a while

I gather that the first tooth doesn't appear usually till at least 6 months though RNG had his first at 4 months and I know that babies can be over a year old when the first tooth appears, however often the signs of teething start long before the first tooth shows itself - oh joy!

Travelling With a Baby

2010-01-13T18:06:00.003Z

Well we made it back safely on Sunday evening around 7pm, despite predictions of heavy snow over night in Milan on the Saturday we had none and our flight was only 10 mins or so late in to Gatwick.

Travelling to and from Italy with the baby and staying for nearly 4 weeks was not too bad at all. PLB thoroughly enjoyed all the attention and we enjoyed having a break and seeing family and friends. below are a few notes about travelling with a baby:

Packing a spare bra if breastfeeding is a good idea (in case of leaks), packing a spare top as well would have been even better - lesson learned and noted - packed a spare top as well on way back but thankfully didn't need it. - Put it like this the lady standing washing her hands at the next sink to me in the airport gave me a very funny look when she saw me drying my top under the hand dryer!
The baby's nappy will most likely leak and you must try not to get stressed out because there is someone else waiting to use the changing facilities at the airport when you need to change his whole outfit
You may not be able to find disposable nappies that do not leak breastfed baby poo but in the mean time you will try everything to make them work - fastening them tighter, looser, higher at the back, switching from one brand to another, only to find that it works for a few times then leaks again. It is only when you admit that you are powerless and have lost control that you can start to move on!
Pampers cost 8.90 Euros in Italy - we thought it was just because it was an expensive shop, then found it the same in a supermarket. The supermarket own brand leaked the least.
Your changing bag zip will likely break the day before you travel away - make sure that you can find your voucher for a free Boots changing bag with the purchase of a pack of £5.99 nappies and you will save your sanity.
Having a basic routine for putting the baby to bed can really help the baby settle wherever he is - ours is change nappy and into night clothes & sleeping bag, say good night and have a prayer. Seriously one night PLB seemed so wide awake after the prayer that RNG said "he's too awake he won't go to sleep now" - I turned away to turn off the main light, turned back and he was sound asleep - no kidding!
Arranging to borrow a travel cot and pushchair is a great idea but travel cots are enormous in small rooms - we could only use one of the two single beds (leaving the pull-out bed, pushed under) when we had the travel cot open. Then we came across this brilliant mini travel cot (it took 17 google pages to find this link) - ok it will only be used till he is max 6 months, however we have used it every night on holiday after we bought it, it left space for two beds and was easy to take with us to a hotel and to friends for other nights away. We have used it in a restaurant and we can use it when we are away in the evenings at friends or church functions - plus it can contain all the changes of clothes and nappies etc that a baby needs for the night. Not an easy bag bag to carry according to RNG unless it is hung diagonally across your shoulder. - We will have to buy a bigger cot before our next trip to Italy in June or July but will save this for any future baby. We only used the pushchair a couple of times as I didn't like not being able to see PLB (it faced away) and it was easier to carry him in the sling most places but he is getting heavy now so I don't want to have to carry him all the time while away - our regular pushchair is enormous - great for the snow but useless for travel so while we were away we bought a new pushchair (yes actually brand new and ridiculously expensive and not from ebay) that can face towards me, lies flat, folds small-ish and I can fold it (and open it) with one hand - an essential requirement when I'll be getting on and off buses on my own and holding PLB in the other arm. - We had been given quite a bit of money in Euros for PLB so we used this but I will work out the exchange rate and "declare" it in the side bar along with a post about the other things we bought for him.
Italians REALLY DO love children - it is not just a myth AND whereas when we used the underground in London (only twice to be fair) with PLB strapped in the sling people just looked away, in Italy people on buses and the underground offered me (us) a seat (I only had to stand a couple of times for a few stops and chose to stand one or two other times when we were only going one or two stops).
Take as many bodysuits or vests for the baby as you can - in 24 hours we once got through 4 body suits and 3 the next 24 hours - see point # 3!
It may not be very easy to work out what non-biological is in a foreign language (even for a native) and you might prefer to take washing powder tablets or liquid that you already know (I had 4 samples with me but that didn't last long).
Finding disposable breastpads may not be very easy - they are expensive in a pharmacy 10 Eur for 50 and the other ones I found in a supermarket clearly made me smell funny when I had leaked as PLB kept refusing to feed when I had a very wet pad until I had washed myself - never happened before or since!
In Italy they sell very sweet bibs for babies but they all seem to fasten with a ribbon at the back which is not very convenient or simple to use. We were given 3 cute bibs which was very useful as PLB suddenly decided that sucking on his hands and dribbling were his favourite hobbies!
In Italy it is very hard to find changing facilities for baby while out - be warned if you go there - one day PLB did a poo at about midday while we were in a restaurant that didn't have suitable changing facilities, after we left we found a public toilet and were told we could use the disabled loo but there was no table - unfortunately as he had leaked (point # 3 again) we decided it was too much to change him in the freezing loo while RNG held him so he was in a dirty nappy for around 6 hours till we got back home! Another time we were in a restaurant that did have a changing table attached to the wall it was approximately shoulder height on me so I wonder how people shorter than me (which the average Italian woman is) would manage. We did change PLB on a few different trains - once on my lap and the other times on the seat.
Despite my fears of a screaming baby on the flight PLB fed and fell asleep for the whole flight both times - good boy!
It is great to travel with a tiny fairly portable baby - he is so alert and enjoyed seeing new things and especially meeting new people, however it is nice to be back and settling back into a more normal routine.

6hrs 50 mins!

2010-01-05T20:51:00.002Z

6 HOURS 50MINS... That's nearly 7 hours folks... Yes the day (well night following actually) PLB turned 8 weeks that is how long he slept for!

Unfortunately I am still waiting for a repeat 3 weeks on! However we do regularly get between 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 hours although he appears to have a slight cold so I don't expect too much at the moment. Also we have been in Italy with family for nearly 3 weeks so things are not as settled as normal. I breastfeed on demand/cue and that generally means a lot of feeds in the late afternoon and evening however for a reasonable sleep I consider it worthwhile. When we are out and about PLB will generally sleep due to the motion of any travel (walking, trains, busses or cars) so if that is in the late afternoon or evening his oportunities to feed are limited and we get shorter nights but longer breaks during the day while travelling.

We have been having a lovely time here and PLB has enjoyed being the centre of alot of attention and has shown a strong preference for his biggest cousin who is nearly 21 and like most Italians loves babies and children.

I have always heard how much Italians love children and I can attest to that fact myself now.

Anyway we will be back in the UK on Sunday evening so sometime next week I will do a proper catch up I hope. Tomorrow we are off to Florence to see friends for a couple of days so I am unlikely to blog again till we are back home.

I wish all a Happy New Year.

Updated Expenses

2009-12-08T10:40:00.008Z

As promised in my previous post I am updating my baby costs totals, I will not list in detail everything but give a basic run-down of what things are included in the totals that I am adding to:

Toys, - PLB has quite a selection of toys, most of which have been given to us by kind friends in addition we have bought:

3 board books - 1 about Daniel and the lions den £3.99 - new, and two others which have an RRP of £ each, but were being sold at £1 each or 2 for £1 - obviously I bought 2 for £1! We also were charmed by a stuffed toy rabbit for £10. The remaining toys: 2 sets of stacking cups, 2 teething rattles and two other toys - total £5.50 from various charity shops. We also bought some painted wooden letter spelling PLB's name at £1 each total £6.

Baby bath - new (I was going to get one through ebay, then a colleague offered to sell me her old one but PLB is now 7 weeks old and I am still waiting, so after 2 or 3 weeks we bought a baby bath new for £12.99), we also bought a fancy changing mat with a liner (we didn't like the others, but a liner is impractical with a little boy who regularly gets it wet, so I only use the liner after his bath so that it is warmer - I would use a regular hand towel otherwise) - £12.99

Nappies - towelling nappies and accessories: ca. £25 - HOWEVER the cheap pull up plastic pants are not very good - they were too large when he was tiny and now the wetness wicks through to his clothes, so we have not used them very much. In the new year I will be investing in some good quality wraps that popper or velcro at the sides (no pulling poo down the whole of his legs), I will try several types and review them here. - I had hoped to get a free sample pack from our council, however they have stopped the scheme.

We have been using disposable nappies most of the time since PLB was born, I guestimate our current total as being around £30 (including the very fancy eco-friendly pack we bought before he was born) - much of the time we have had money-off vouchers. BTW Pampers New baby is good with breastfed baby poo but Pampers Baby dry is rubbish - we will save that pack till PLB is weaning and we are out and about. I do as a rule use the washable wipes I made as they are far more effective than cotton wool (or disposable wipes). We have loads of free wipes which we use while out and about but when they are finished I will use the washables again (except when away for several days).

General toiletries, baby nail scissors, hairbrush, muslins, breast and maternity pads, etc: around £55

We have been blessed by many gifts of clothing, and have only really needed to fill in the gaps (socks, body suits cute little shoes that we couldn't resist etc.), although I did buy some 2 bundles of clothes from ebay: £14.48 incl. postage. Gap fillers incl. 2nd hand: £35 aprox.

Baby carrier £30.50 incl. postage - ebay

Baby changing bag £25 - fancy one with a cool bag attached - I fall for gadgets an innovations!

Baby coat hangers (definitely not a necessity, but very cute and helps use space wisely in PLB's cupboard): £5.60

Breast pump & milk storage bags - not essential but good to have: £36.98

Infant car seat and isofix base - new (ALWAYS buy a new car seat as even a minor accident at 10kmh can cause dangerous defects in a car seat that cannot be seen). £149.99

PLB's church outfit £30 (I have enough fabric for one in a larger size too, it was the poppers and buttons that brought up the price).

Baby bouncy seat - he is just beginning to enjoy this now: £9.99 from a charity shop

Night lights - we only have one bedside light so we didn't want to change that one to having a 15Watt bulb or something so I bought a small dusk-to-dawn light with a spare battery for £5.95 but this proved to be too little light for feeding and night-time necessities so I bought another one that can be dimmed or even fades off over 15 minutes (good for late night chats where there is a possibility of drifting off to sleep without turning off the light), this was £20

Documents and travel (Birth certificate X2, passport, ticket for upcoming travel), I'm afraid I can't remember how much it was to register PLB with the Italian authorities but the other costs total £87.85

Misc. Around £40 - includes bus tickets for baby related things and so on.

Baby expenses total for this post: £653.81

Now for the real expenses; I have found it extremely hard to find modest maternity or nursing clothes and though my wardrobe has traditionally been mostly second-hand this has been near impossible for pregnancy and nursing. As a side note I have found it increasingly difficult to find modest clothes in charity shops and I assume this is because the charity shops reflect the clothes in regular shops a few years ago and I know a few years ago it was rare to find modest clothes in regular shops, - I have commented on this before in this post.

My father got re-married in May and I needed a decent outfit for the wedding (I was 20 weeks then), eventually I found a top that would complement a maternity skirt I already had. However the top was from a company in the USA so I decided to get 2 more tops while I was about it. Unfortunately the shop doesn't regularly deal with international orders and the three tops came to around £55 but the shipping was around £50 (the total for the order in GBP ended up being £107.17). Obviously I was required to pay tax and duty on that, however the company I ordered from had declared the value incorrectly (declaring the total X3 for 3 tops!), so the initial tax and duty I was charged was in the region of £70. It took some time to get a refund from HMRC and now I can't remember (and can't be bothered to look up) what the end cost was.

I also have bought a number of nursing tops. - Yes I could have bought a nursing cover, indeed I did make one - tutorial to follow one day when I have time, however I prefer to not draw unnecessary attention to myself and what I am doing plus I don't like the fabric I used for it (I used what I had available). I will use the cover if I need to express milk during the day when the curtains are open or if I run out of nursing tops. The other issue with a nursing cover is that unless you have button down fronts (which I don't) you end up having to pull up your top exposing your waist to everyone behind and in our flat it could get quite cold. So I bought a nursing night shirt £12 (apparently 3/4 sleeved however I have NEVER met anyone who's arms were so long that they would be considered only 3/4 length in fact on me they come half way down my hands!), I then used the outline of the nightie to make and adapt another one with fabric I already ha but I bought some poppers for it £3.79.

2 bras £21 and 2 night bras £20 - I really need to get a couple more day bras as with one on and one in the wash I never have a spare - and trust me the way a certain little boy dribbles at times I need a spare or two!

I have bought one top in a sale £8 but I don't use it much as it buttons down the front with nothing under to cover me, so I only use it when I'll be around at home. I bought three more from Mamaway before PLB was born coming to a total of £66 including postage and I just bought another two (three was proving an issue with laundry and I wanted to have a couple more options this added another £56 to my nursing wear total. I have since discovered that Mamaway has a shop on ebay, but the prices are usually the same, however some private people sell used tops occassionally so that is worth checking out. Since RNG and I hope by God's grace to be able to have at least one more child the tops will be used quite a bit and I can always sell them on ebay afterwards if they aren't too worn out. I have been looking for suitable tops in charity shops to convert to nursing wear however there is virtually nothing that I would even consider modest in the first place. I have got a couple of old tops that I want to convert to nursing wear when I have time, however I am trying to thing how to expand the front appropriately (I am considerably larger in the bust now obviously), when I do figure it out I will do a tutorial. I am currently looking for cardigans in charity shops as it gets quite cold with only a t.shirt thickness on my top half and feeding with a jumper (sweater) is very difficult, unfortunately all the cardigans that I have seen lately are very very "old lady-ish". Total for maternity and nursing wear for this post: £293.79!

Tummy Time

2009-12-07T15:10:00.004Z

Tiny babies should sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of cot death, however it is apparently good for them to be given "tummy time" while awake to help them develop their neck and upper-back muscles. So I have been putting PLB on his front supported by a slim pillow under his chest (he can rest his arms and head on it if he likes) Normally I put a couple of brightly coloured objects in front of him (and a muslin under him as he is a "sicky baby", having gastric reflux). The other day I took down a wall hanging that my mother made for him and propped it up, - he thoroughly enjoyed looking at it. His little head bobbed about. Other things that can be used are a board book which will stand on it's own or printed black and white pictures - they really are fascinated by things with strong colour contrasts.

I currently have several topics that I want to blog about, some of which I have been asked about here is a brief list:

Nursing covers - I made my own before PLB was born and want to do a tutorial and a review
Converting regular clothes to nursing wear
I want to update the "baby costs" & maternity/nursingwear costs counters in the side bar as they are very out of date - my apologies - I will write a brief review of the main costs and if they have been worth it etc.
I want to review the early days and how useful (or not) my preparations were

Smiling

2009-11-27T12:46:00.005Z

Yesterday PLB smiled at me for the first time! - There have been a few false starts (that pesky wind!), but this was a very definite smile RNG was holding him and saw it too. Unfortunately PLB has still not smiled at his father but that will come soon I'm sure. Also PLB smiled again at 1.30 this morning when he thought it was morning and play time and was being very loud with his "talking". - I ask you - how can you get annoyed at a sweet little boy who smiles at you at 1.30am?

The evening before I went into labour I was up till 11pm trying to finish a very important sewing project (I managed to get it to a stage where it only required hand sewing and button holes to finish, then 4 hours of sleep later I went into labour - Yes I was tiered!)

Today I finished the project in time for Sabbath - hopefully PLB is now big enough for it - a special church outfit. Now it remains to be seen how long it will be before he throws up and I have to change it (sometimes I don't even manage to get his arms in his vest before he needs it to be changed - never mind having time to put a bib on).

When is Too Soon?

2009-11-23T09:08:00.002Z

When is "too soon"? This is a question that I have been confronted with a lot recently, below are a couple of examples.

On Friday, I met a lady who had just put her 12 day old baby on a routine of 4-hourly feeds. She was giving formula during the night so the baby would sleep longer. I don't know this lady's reasons or personal circumstances however I very much got the impression it was for the convenience of the adults. When is "too soon" to introduce a routine? At 3 weeks PLB started cluster feeding in the afternoon and then sleeping 3-5 hours from sometime between 9.30pm & 11pm, giving me a decent start to the night. At the same time RNG and I introduced a simple evening routine, of changing PLB into a sleep suit and sleeping bag, feeding him, saying good night and saying a prayer for him. As he gets older we will probably add a bath and story to the routine. I am trying to get PLB dressed fairly early in day clothes and spend some time "playing" with him when he is awake in the morning (which is for an increasing length of time now), that said it is 9.25am and he is still in his nightwear and asleep at the moment! I am wondering if I should be slightly stricter on keeping him awake during the day or allowing him to sleep so that I can get my stuff done when it is convenient for me?

When is "too soon" for a baby to enjoy a day out at an aquarium? One month? Well yesterday we went to London Sea Life Aquarium and when PLB woke up (and had been fed and changed) he was seemed to very much enjoy looking at the rippling lights in the tanks and the fish - I could see him following the moving fish with his eyes, oh and the grass in one of the tanks was fascinating too! PLB was awake a large part of the morning (till we were in the car on our way to London) and most of the afternoon and evening - I think he is making up for it with sleep now. It was really nice to see him looking so intently at the fish. The only down side was that you had to go all the way through to find a baby-change - we ended up changing him in his pram - twice and there is not one seat (definately not somewhere for older people to go with grandchildren if either will need to sit). I ended up sitting on some stairs to a staff area when I needed to feed him and I tried again when we found the "cinema" - also near the end. This is something that I have noticed - it is very difficult to find suitable places to (breast) feed a baby while out and about. - I am just talking about somewhere to sit as I am now able to feed modestly assuming I am wearing one of my nursing tops. - a side note - I HIGHLY recommend Mamaway for modest nursing wear - they actually have some tops with modest necklines and it is easy to feed discreetly wearing them - you might want to add a scarf or muslin if you have a fussy baby that is liable to come off unexpectedly or when new, also I use a scarf or muslin for other peoples comfort - if they realise that I am feeding the baby they may feel uncomfortable if they think there is a possibility of seeing something private.

Clever Baby

2009-11-03T21:39:00.003Z

This is a picture that represents a lot of what happens around here these days, father and son (or mother and son) cuddling peacefully.

Now for a little motherly boasting:

A dear friend gave us a wonderful gift of a baby gymini, which so far has only been appreciated by our bundle for it's music, however the hanging toys can be removed, so two of them have been hung on the car seat handle, which proved popular. Then the other day we started hanging the monkey and giraffe from the cot bars and this seemed to really attract the attention of our precious little bundle (PLB), he started really looking at these two toys and "talking" to them. At 11 days old imagine my surprise as I saw our little reaching out and swatting at his monkey. To prove this I have a photo below of PLB batting at his giraffe. I was under the impression that babies don't usually start doing this till around 7-8 weeks - so obviously our baby is VERY advanced for his age!

Hei Min Baby

2009-10-28T18:48:00.003Z

Hei, min baby, hei... (Hello my baby, hello), this is how I greeted our little baby boy when he was handed to me last Monday morning at 10:45am.

Our precious bundle is doing very well,he weighed in at 3410g (7lb 8oz). RNG and I knew that parenthood was going to be difficult but very rewarding and this has proved to be so.

For those who are interested, the birth story is below (nothing icky in it)
I had awoken at 3am, and thought maybe I needed the loo, then by the time the sensation returned the 3rd time (at about 6 min intervals), I realised that I was definitely having contractions. At that early stage things were definitely manageable and I woke RNG up to let him know what was going on, so he got up and shaved and got himself ready for what was to come. At about 4am I phoned the hospital as the contractions were by then about 4 mins apart. When we arrived at the hospital 45 mins later, I was only 2 cm dilated, so I was admitted to the antenatal ward, I was given the option to go home but chose to stay.

Around 7.30am I was admitted to the delivery suite, I had hoped to use the birthing pool but was told that I was too far on and by the time they had filled it it would be too late to be effective. I was however in a "home-from-home" room which is a little more "homely" than the otherwise stark delivery rooms, there is a sofa and one is encouraged to move around and be active. Neither of us used the sofa except to deposit our jackets and stuff and by this point I was ready to be very non-mobile. I was able to stay in a semi-upright position kneeling on the bed, facing the bed head, this was the most comfortable position for me.

I had planned not to use pain relief unless I felt I really needed to - for example if I had had a very long labour I might have considered an epidural so that I could rest, however I didn't get to that point. To be perfectly honest (as I hadn't planned to use anything), I quite literally didn't even think about pain relief. This is not to say that it wasn't the most unbelievably painful experience ever and more than one can imagine before hand, I simply didn't even think of the option of pain relief.

The biggest relief was when I heard our son crying for the first time, then he was passed up to me and as I said my first words to him were, "hei min baby, hei". The sweet little thing was squinting at me from the corners of his eyes and didn't seem to know what to make of it all.

My dear husband RNG was able to cut the baby's cord after it stopped pulsating, this was I believe a very special way for him to be active in the baby's birth. RNG had been with me the whole way through and was wonderfully supportive, When I told him to move his arms or not rub my back or whatever he did exactly what I asked and he was constantly checking if there was anything he could do to make things more comfortable for example giving me water or fruit juice to drink.

After our precious son was born, he stayed with me "skin to skin", and was ready to feed after about an hour. After I was taken care of, RNG and I were left alone with our little boy for a couple of hours to get to know each other a bit. After that I was transferred to the post-natal ward. I had hoped to leave the same day but the paediatrician was very busy and the little boy hadn't had another proper feed and the midwives recommended that we stay over night so that I could have any help I needed with feeding if there were still problems. So baby and I stayed over night.

Over all I would say that my delivery and care was absolutely excellent and I can't fault the hospital. I would also say that next time (yes by God's grace if possible RNG and I hope there will be a next time), I would like a home birth.

We do have a name (well 3 actually) for the baby, but I don't want to publish too many details about him on my blog, this includes facial photos, so I still need to decide what to call the baby on my blogs and I will need to take photos other than of his face if I want to put any on the blog. For those of you who know me personally I will be putting photos on Facebook when I have time and I will email some to people without Facebook as time allows.

Now it is time for me to go and feed the little one and later to give him his first bath. I expect that I will not have a lot of time to blog over the next few weeks so please be patient with me.

Still Waiting....

2009-10-14T09:31:00.002+01:00

Well despite RNG's absolute faith that the baby would arrive on the due date (which was Friday) or at the very latest Saturday morning, the baby has still not arrived or even hinted at appearing any time soon. Any way everything important is ready and I am just trying to keep the flat in a presentable state - dishes and clothes washed, things tidy and so on. I still have a few small sewing projects that I would like to work on so if the baby continues to take it's time that is ok.

Last week I started to notice a numbness or tingling in my hands especially upon waking in the mornings, then on Thursday I noticed a bruise-like bulge on each of my wrists and I knew what it was - carpal tunnel syndrome - quite common in pregnancy and should disappear shortly after the birth so nothing to worry about. This does however make some household tasks more difficult and I am trying not to spend too much time on the computer.

Another thing is that RNG has had a horrible cold for the past week and a half and I appear to have got it now. I had so little energy and felt so rotten yesterday that I was terrified that if I went into labour I would struggle to cope. I had an extra 4-5 hours sleep during the day and I seem to feel a lot better today, so I am hoping that I will be ok when the time comes.

Ready!

2009-10-06T17:06:00.005+01:00

I meant to post this yesterday but I didn't have the energy when I finally had enough time...

This was yesterday's morning's work:

6 Burp cloths and 10 washable wipes, I made an additional 10 or 15 in the afternoon along with the bread and the dinner. I used old t-shirts that were beyond wearing but clean and nice and soft.

I also cleaned the top of the kitchen cabinets and did some laundry.

Today I made a few small things to go in the freezer and did the ironing. One thing I really don't want is to go into the hospital with a back-log of things to do.

I don't have any more essential jobs to do so if the baby comes now it is OK. If the baby doesn't come for another 21/2 weeks that's OK too as I still have plenty of things that I would like to do first. However I really am looking forward to holding our little one in my arms so I would rather it was sooner than later. RNG is still convinced that the baby will arrive on the 9th (it's due date) or 10th at the latest - because then it is perfect!

Preparing For Baby

2009-10-02T12:43:00.006+01:00

Until you are pregnant you really don't know what it will be like. In fact some people find that one pregnancy can be completely different from another.

There are some small things that have surprised me about being pregnant, for example, I knew that I would get tiered and that some of my everyday tasks would be more difficult but I didn't know which tasks would be easier or more difficult and why. One job that I find very difficult and tiring now at the end of my pregnancy is washing the dishes, the thing is that I need to stand so far back because my bump is in the way that I then have to lean forward with my shoulders hunched over meaning that within five minutes I have incredible pain between my shoulder blades and in my mid-upper back. RNG does sometimes help with the main meal dishes, however the majority of washing up needs to be done long before he comes home as I like to have the kitchen fairly clean and I will often need several of my bowls and pots throughout the day.

I am currently trying to stock the freezer. We only have a small freezer and it is near full now, though there is not much in there. As it is fairly small I have tried to focus on small meals for myself when RNG goes back to work - he will probably take a week off when the baby is born, and we can eat either very simple food that uses cupboard ingredients or RNG may cook (one advantage of being married to a chef!) I have the ingredients available in the cupboards and fridge for several very simple but nutritious meals that take from 5-15 minutes to prepare - I think (hope) that is realistic for a new mum. In the freezer I have several single portions of pasta sauces etc for meals on my own at lunch when RNG isn't around and for the evenings I have frozen 2 double portions of leek & potato soup (and 1 single portion - for a lunch for me), a huge batch of about 20 waffles for breakfasts or snacks, some bread - though that won't last long - I will if I am still around on Sunday need to bake some more bread, but today I also made some bread rolls which can defrost quite quickly and be eaten with soup for example. I have frozen one 2-portion lasagna and one 2-portion desert, 2-4 portions - (depending on what other food will be eaten with it) of potato wedges, a 2-portion curry one 2-portion stew then there are some frozen vegetables and other small odds and ends. I hope to have some time to freeze a batch of pancakes (crepes) and some filling and a few dipping sauces/spreads like hummus for snacks and to eat on bread. That is about all that will still fit in the freezer. Looking at my list I think there are about 5 - 6 meals ready for an evening and that is it, Maybe by rearranging a bit more I could make the space for a few other small things, like a filling for a (vegan) quiche - I have some shop-bought puff-pastry, I might even be able to make and freeze (don't know how well it would freeze yet), a (vegan) omelet mix - I already have an omelet stuffing prepared in the freezer. My goal is to not have to think to much or prepare too much food once the baby is born - for about the first 3 weeks, - longer if possible, we shall see how that goes! This morning I made some granola for some simple tasty breakfasts over the next few weeks. I have some vague menu ideas, but perhaps this afternoon I could write them down on paper (again less thinking), - I obviously wont put days next to the menus as I don't know when the baby will be born and how long we have before then, for now I am making more complex/time-consuming/freezable on the days remaining. We currently have a surplus of fresh vegetables so I will try to use some of these up in the time remaining.

I don't know if I have under-prepared, over-prepared or prepared just enough, I suppose time will tell, at least I will be able to learn from my experiences for next time (God-willing).

A Bit Worried

2009-09-30T07:59:00.005+01:00

On Monday morning I woke up to find that the baby was lying sideways, so far the baby has been head down - from what I can tell since our 21 week scan - all my notes since then confirm this, so it was a bit of a shock. I am currently 38+5, but thankfully I have an appointment with my midwife this afternoon, - I have been worried that I might go into labour before the appointment and end up having to have a cesarean. I don't know if the midwife will suggest having an ECV. The baby's bottom is still higher than the head but the head is not in my pelvis. I have no idea why the baby has decided to turn like this, RNG worries that it means something is wrong and the baby needed to find a more comfortable position. RNG also doesn't like the sound of an ECV - his words were "I don't want anyone hurting our baby" - I have tried to point out that it is more likely to hurt me than the baby, but he still doesn't like the idea.

The strange thing is that I didn't realise how blessed I was that the baby was lying head down - it was far more comfortable - now it feels quite uncomfortable when the little one decides to kick and I feel that the baby is much more vulnerable like this.

I will try to update this blog after my appointment to say what the midwife says.

Edited to add:

When the midwife felt the baby, she said that the head is exactly where it is supposed to be in my pelvis 4/5 descent - it may be that as the baby has moved down it simply feels strange. - Basically (my words), - I was being paranoid and worrying for nothing. I am very happy though.

Tiny Flat, Tiny Baby...

2009-09-29T17:20:00.003+01:00

I have mentioned before on my other blog and I suspect on this one too that my husband (RNG) and I live in a very small apartment, in fact it has just one room - plus a kitchen, bathroom and hallway, no I don't mean one bedroom, I mean one room that we eat, sleep and live in.

Well that does make for rather crowded conditions sometimes, and we have had to rent a store room to store all our excess stuff while we try to sell the flat. We do occasionally need to retrieve things from the store room, however much of what we need day-to-day is in our little flat. So how are we going to fit a baby in as well?

I mentioned some time back that I had re-arranged the furniture somewhat and below you will see a summary of the practical solutions that we have come up with for fitting a baby into our tiny apartment. Just a warning first - if you don't wish to know the gender of the baby, then please do not read this post as I will be commenting and showing various gender-specific photos.

Below you see a cupboard where I have removed the doors and replaced them with a curtain, - this I did for a couple of reasons:

To allow the heat from the radiator to come into the room - the cupboard has been built over half a radiator!
To allow me easy access to the contents - this will be the baby's cupboard - I will change the baby here where it is warm near the radiator - I wouldn't be able to do this with doors that open outwards. Also all the baby's clothes and enough changing this for a day or two can be kept here.
The doors were not well fitted and very difficult to open and close

This is the contents of the cupboard at the moment - some of the baby's clothes are hanging, and some are folded in the baskets below. There is a basket of toys - which will probably stay near his cradle (crib) later on, there is the bouncing chair and changing mat. - I will probably keep the bouncing chair out later on too.

Below you can see 3 hangers that I have hung with complete outfits to save time (and mental energy) later on - the underwear, romper suits/dungarees and socks and booties are all together.

This is what is currently in front of the cupboard - the pram - covered with a sheet to protect it from dust - later on the chassis will be kept in the communal hallway and I will only bring in the carrycot.

Below is the crib next to our sofa/bed - the nappy bucket is underneath at the moment but I will put that in the bathroom when he is born. Behind the cradle are stored a play mat and play gym - both gifts.

Here you see the bookcase.

In our bathroom cabinet there is one shelf full of nappies (diapers) and covers, wipes etc.

Hanging on the door you see an old broken (ripped at one of the zips) hanging wash (sponge) bag, I use this to store various cleaning cloths, cotton buds for cleaning and other such things.

As you could see from the cupboard our little boy has an abundance of clothes, both for the next 3 months and even for much of the 3 months beyond that - most of it has been gifts or bought second hand.

We have one slight mystery... When I got to church last Sabbath, hubby and I were the first to arrive and upon opening the cupboard there I found a gift with my name (first and last) clearly noted on it, however there was no indication of who the gift was from. When we got home we opened the parcel to find a very sweet yellow knitted cardigan, bonnet and socks... - yellow of course being a unisex colour, however the socks and bonnet both have bows and lace on them and the cardigan is buttoned on the "girl" side... Very strange I thought everyone knew that we were expecting a boy, not only that, but surely if you don't know what someone is expecting you give them something really neutral or check first. The thing is we don't even know who this kind gift is from. I will try to find out, I just hope the person doesn't feel too embarrassed when they find out that we are going to have a boy! - See below.

Stranger still is my grandmother's lovely hand-knitted gift for our baby - my grandmother knew it would be a boy before she started making this. The photo below doesn't do the lilac-mauve colour justice but it is a very girly colour and style, - yes it is striped with white and blue but still...

I guess that we will have to try for a girl next time as we already have some very nice girl things!

Why I NEED Modest Nursing Tops

2009-09-21T14:02:00.003+01:00

I live in a ground floor apartment... Where other's routinely walk past our HUGE picture windows - like a little while ago while eating my lunch at the computer I looked up and saw a neighbour painting a wall belonging the basement flat below - this was right outside my window!

I don't want to spend my entire time behind closed curtains, I don't particularly want to put up net curtains, however I know that when I and baby are first getting used to nursing, there will be some very in-discreet moments. My sofa (where I will probably spend most of my time feeding) is directly facing the windows. I would obviously be as discreet as possible, and I guess I might try and use a scarf or blanket while getting the baby to latch-on, however I have no prior experience and I fear that just as baby is getting ready, I will loose "control" of the blanket/scarf or whatever and then my rather lecherous neighbour (not the wall-painting one but the one that takes his rubbish (garbage) out in his dressing gown and shorts), will just come past!

I have bought a few discreet tops - I managed to source - IN the UK, however I suspect in the beginning it may not be that easy to remain modest. - I would welcome input from other mothers concerning this, especially if you have lived in a similar situation.

Sorry for a bit of a ramble there, I just needed to let it all hang out now so that I don't have to later on!

Finally Home From Work

2009-09-14T14:03:00.004+01:00

Wow finally i am at home, Friday was my last day at work and I certainly need not only the rest but also the time to get things done before the baby arrives.

Despite the fact that one of my colleagues is convinced that I will be bored with 4 whole weeks at home before the baby arrives (not taking into account the possibility that it might arrive early or late), I suspect that I have far more to do than I could possibly do with several months.

This morning I did two loads of baby laundry and now the "hand-wash" is in the machine - yes I could do this by hand obviously, however I will save some time this way. That completes the baby washing with the exception of any things that we still need to get or that we will be given - the remaining things will be put in with the rest of our laundry as they come along. I had originally planned to wait till this week to do all the laundry, but I am glad that I realised there would be too much and started doing a load or two every Sunday a few weeks ago.

This morning I made a little "fitted" sheet for the baby's crib and I will make one more, then I will use the nightie that I bought as a template to make myself another one as I will probably need more than one. I also hope to have some time to make some nice little baby outfits.

The flat is not over-whelmingly untidy, but still needs some work to make it more comfortable.My hospital bags are semi-packed, that is there are still a few things missing - nursing bras for example (will get measured next week and buy 2-3 then), however if the baby arrived early we would be ok.

Breastfeeding

2009-08-18T21:06:00.003+01:00

I have been pleasantly surprised that in the area I live in the midwives and medical professionals are all very supportive of breastfeeding.

I have read so many things on various blogs that I was worried what it would be like here especially as I see many more people bottle feeding babies in this country than in Sweden. In fact in Sweden during the 10 years that I lived there I only ever once saw someone (a non-Swedish native) bottle-feeding. I have only ever had one friend (here in the UK) who formula-fed and I have known a few people who for various reasons expressed milk for their children.

It is pretty much assumed in this area that you will nurse you child.

I have received a couple of things in the post from a formula company and I have returned them asking to be removed from their mailing list - I suspect that it was from signing up to some baby club. I know for a fact that I have not requested any mail from formula companies and I have stated on everything that I do not wish my details to be passed on to other companies.

So today I opened my emails and there was an email saying something to the effect "Welcome and thank you for signing up to SMA (formula company) baby club". I was furious, - to "unsubscribe" you need to first log in and enter all your details (i.e. subscribe)! So I sent an email back to the company, - see below:

Please REMOVE my email address and my home address from your database, I do not know how you got my details but I certainly DID NOT consent to subscribing to anything relating to a baby formula company unless the intent of what I signed up for was "hidden".

IF I was to discover that I was one of the less than 2% of women who physically cannot breastfeed I would then consider my options regarding formula, however I can assure you that due to your company's methods of obtaining personal details I would absolutely not use any SMA products.

If I receive further communications from your company I will report you for inappropriate advertising methods.

I mentioned it to my mother (who is quite a breastfeeding advocate) and she suggested reporting it to Baby Milk Action. I may well do this - I will wait and see if I get a response first probably.

Oh yes, obviously I intend to breastfeed my child exclusively the first 6 months (till I start weaning) and then continue for... well I don't know how long yet but I don't see any reason to stop particularly soon after that.

Reality

2009-07-29T22:08:00.004+01:00

Reality has just started to sink in... - Not the reality of "a tiny bundle of joy" or of "I will be going through labour in 2-3 months", no, I mean reality of "we live in a tiny one-roomed apartment and already rent storage space for all the things we own but don't need on a day-to-day basis"!

This evening, RNG and I were talking about where we are going to put the crib and we started having to re-arrange our entire room in our minds to fit the baby in. The most practical place for the baby in the beginning is obviously on my side of the bed for night feeds, however that would mean moving the bookcase. The only other place for the bookcase to go is where the pc desk and spare folding table currently are. The pc desk can be moved sideways, and the folding table can be put where the main table is and the main table dismantled and put in storage. - Yes it is complicated!

Then I started thinking about where we are going to put the baby's clothes and nappies (diapers) etc. Clothes can go in the hallway and nappies will have to go in the bathroom but that means making space in one of the cupboards that is already very full.

That led me to thinking about the temperature of the flat. In the cooler months (baby is due in October) it can be as low as 12C (53.6F) when we wake up in the morning and that is when the electric heater that is on timer but has been on already for 2 hours! The bathroom is even colder. A small fan heater would heat the bathroom very quickly to an acceptable temperature and will probably be needed to give a boost along with the main electric heater. All this costs money to run (we have communal heating but with only one radiator for the whole flat, with high ceilings and the radiator being half inside a cupboard yes it is unbelievable but true) in addition to what we already pay for the communal heating and general maintenance the electricity during the winter months can be very steep.

I do have another few ideas - the curtains have a basic lining but it is not a thermal lining, so assuming we are still here I will need to buy thermal lining and line the curtains with that. I may hang some thick blankets on the wall - especially the one next to where the baby will sleep and maybe get some kind of screen to protect from the draft.

I suppose I have been in denial until this point, hoping that we would have sold the flat and moved before the baby is born at this point even if we do sell in the next couple of weeks it is unlikely that all the legal stuff will be sorted by the time the baby arrives.

I guess that a lot of the questions regarding how we are going to fit everything in will be answered with time, and experimentation.

The First Count Down

2009-07-27T19:17:00.006+01:00

As I have mentioned before, I will not be going back to working outside of the home after having our baby, I will however still officially be "employed" for some time as I will take maternity leave.

The logistics of us being able to afford for me to stay home (or work and pay childcare) are still very unclear as RNG still does not have a permanent job and is relying on agency Thankfully RNG does manage to work most days although the past 3 Sundays he has turned down work due to other commitments, the only day he never works is obviously the Sabbath. However as things currently stand with our monthly bills that MUST be paid we cannot get by on much less than 2 full pays. Obviously we have several thoughts on the matter and there will be some things that will cost less when I am not working - for example food - more time to prepare from scratch, menu-plan etc. and travel, I do believe however that God will provide a way.

In the mean time I am counting down the days of work left - 27 1/2! - I have quite a few holiday days that I will be taking between now and 11th Sept. I have a very long list of things I want to get done before then so that I can really make the most of the time before the baby is born to rest and get into a routine, prepare food for freezing etc.

Yesterday we visited my dear grandmother and had a lovely afternoon. My grandmother has very kindly knitted a very sweet matinee jacket - she does know the gender of the baby, so I was slightly surprised by her choice of colours - however it will be OK and if we ever have a child of the other gender it will be just right. My grandmother had also dug out some old clothes that belonged to some of her children and even one of her grandchildren.

An Update

2009-07-20T20:28:00.004+01:00

Wow, I can't believe that it has been nearly a month since I last wrote anything on this blog.

I need to update the baby costs total some time soon - I will probably do it at the weekend as I will need to find all the receipts etc.

The baby seems to be growing very well and is extremely active these days. I find it quite funny when the baby kicks sometimes, and sometimes it can startle me somewhat. Also the kicks are becoming very strong. I just find it amazing that there is another little human being inside me and I feel very blessed.

The Sunday before last RNG and I went to the store room (as we are trying to sell the flat we have boxed up a lot of stuff that we don't need all the time), and we got out of storage 2 of my sewing patterns for baby things, and some stretchy baby fabrics to make all-in-ones, body suits etc. for the baby. I will definitely update with pictures as and when projects are finished. - The patterns are multi-sized so I trace them onto pattern paper in the various sizes that I want to use before cutting the traced images out so that I can use all the different sizes while keeping the original in it's original condition. My other option would be to buy multiple patterns and cut out individual sizes - an option that I am not prepared to spend on.

From the store room we also retrieved a box of baby clothes that I had bought in sales over various years but never got round to giving to friends - babies had perhaps grown more quickly or something. Any way there were a number of nice items for our little one.

We have decided on a car seat - we will get an "infant carrier" to start with that is for 0-13kg, so on Friday I will order it.

Other than that there is not much to say at the moment, I am becoming more tiered again but it's not as bad yet as in the beginning. My last day of work will be the 11th September and I am looking forward to spending some time doing some serious nesting.

Thoughts on Car Seats

2009-06-26T14:03:00.004+01:00

Let me start this post by saying that my parents trained my brothers and me to always use a seat belt in a vehicle with a seat belt therefore regardless of whether I am in a taxi, car, or bus, - if there is a seat belt I will use it even if no one else does. - I won't even go into the important safety reasons for always using a seat belt - if you need information about this, please look into this yourself and check your own governments recommendations

Obviously with our little baby on the way (and the law in this land being such) we will want and need a suitable child restraint for our baby in the car. By far the safest way for a child under 4 years to travel is rear-facing. In this country most rear-facing seats are only of the "infant carrier" variety and only suitable till somewhere between 9 & 12 months. It is possible however to get ones that are suitable from 9 months to 4 years (or 18kg), and although these are rare and sometimes considerably more expensive, the life of my child cannot be valued by money. There are a couple of seats available that are suitable from birth to 18kg (around 4 years) and this may be a more over-all economical solution as buying the one seat would probably be cheaper than 2 separate seats for that age range - Car seats are about the only product one should NEVER buy second-hand - if it has been in even a mild crash the safety could be seriously compromised.

Points for me to consider are:

Is it possible to use the seat with Isofix (LATCH in USA) - which our car has installed and minimises the risk of incorrect installation?
If it uses Isofix - can it be used in a car that doesn't have Isofix - using the 3-point belt - important if travelling without our car or if using taxis etc - we only have one car so if there is an emergency and I need to go somewhere without RNG I need to be able to use the seat in another car. - Would I need to have a second car-seat for non-compatible cars?
Is it worth getting one seat to last all the way through - what if we have a second child before the first one has turned 4 (we hope this will be the case) - we would need a second car seat anyway - is it better to buy a 0-9 months and and a 9months - 4 years one as separate seats? - What if we had 3 children under 4 (it does happen) - would all three rear-facing seats fit?
What is going to be the most economical option and most suitable for our circumstances in the long run?

I currently have several options which I am considering and I will discuss with RNG.

On a similar note, children over 4 years of age should still use a 5-point harness seat that is properly tethered to the car - please see this video. I haven't seen any seats using such seat belts in the UK - but I have a few years to research this and I am sure it is possible to find or import.

It's True!

2009-06-24T06:49:00.002+01:00

It's true, - your skin really is more sensitive while pregnant - especially to the sun. - I have very strange skin - I don't burn and I don't tan either. By this I mean the very most I have ever had of either is slight redness (very slight) that fades by the end of the day) and my "tan" has never been noticeable unless you compare unexposed areas with "tanned" areas of my skin, in fact people have often commented that I look like I haven't had any sun at all, therefore I tend not to bother too much with suncream etc and most of my body stays covered anyway.

Well yesterday RNG and I went to the beach, we had an absolutely lovely day, but for the first time in my life I got sunburnt. - my lower legs and lower arms. My arms are slightly sore, but my legs are quite painful. This morning it took me several minutes to stand up as the pressure on the skin of my legs was very strong! I used some Aloe Vera (straight from the plant) last night and this morning.

Next time I hear a warning that your body is more sensitive to [name the thing], I will pay more attention and take precautions.

Adapting Regular Clothes for Maternity Wear

2009-06-21T21:51:00.006+01:00

In my very first post on this blog I wrote that I would be adapting my regular clothes for maternity wear. Well so far I have only done one project - I just finished it today but I am very pleased with how it turned out.

I had a skirt that a friend had given me a few years ago but it was starting to show signs of age that I hadn't got around to fixing - the side button was missing and there was a rip in the hem that although I had mended was not very tidy looking and the hem itself was coming loose. It was a skirt that I would regularly wear to work and even after I became pregnant with the help of a large safety pin I was still able to wear it for some time. Well I decided that this was the perfect candidate for some maternity adaption.

The first photo was taken when I was about 12 weeks or something - the skirt and the navy t-shirt - to use for the tummy-inset.

Last Sunday I started by measuring the section to be cut into the skirt.

I cut the bottom part of the t-shirt off - I may be able to use the top part under another top that would otherwise be too low cut.

I then hit my first problem - I wanted to use the bottom end to encase the elastic - however I would need to un-pick the seam as it was too narrow. The problem was that I discovered that my seam ripper had been put into storage - it would take far too long to do without it, so I had to buy a new one (which happened to be easier to use as it has a longer handle).

So today I un-picked the seam and measured for the casing of the elastic - I then sewed the channel (keeping the elastic free inside it to save the step of threading the elastic through).

I then sewed the panel in place, took up the hem - it was a little wonky the first time around so I had to un-pick and re-do one section.

I then replaced the missing button and put in two new buttons on the inside for the button hole elastic to allow the panel to be expanded or reduced.

After ironing it was finished! I am very pleased with how it turned out and how comfortable it feels - I will be wearing it tomorrow.

I'll Stuff Envelopes For That!

2009-06-14T08:50:00.001+01:00

I have been doing some calculations on what my net income after work-related expenses have been subtracted would be if I was to go out to work after having the baby.*

Using information about registered childcare in my area I looked at day nurseries and childminders. I have no intention of disclosing how much I earn, - suffice it to say it is a very decent amount for someone who is doing office administration - about the best I would get in the area.

This is a break down of how I worked things out: In the UK I would be entitled to £243/month tax-free childcare vouchers, so based on my current income I deducted the tax-exempt amount and worked out my net pay based on my taxed income plus my non-taxed income. Next I deducted my tithe and the cost of my bus pass. Then I used the three cheapest child-care options available in my area:

The cheapest childminder - one space available at present (who knows if she would still have that available in a year or so, but I don't care as this was just for the purpose of calculations).
The next cheapest option was a local day nursery for a posh private school just down the road.
The next cheapest option after that was another childminder with a space free (I seem to recall that she wouldn't do the long hours that I would need but again it was just for calculations).

So the results are as follows:
Option 1 gave me a net income (after tithe, bus and childcare expenses) of: £7035.52, which based on my current working hours would give me the equivalent of £135.30 per week or £3.76 per hour.

Option 2 gave me a net income (after tithe, bus and childcare expenses) of: £3510.52, which based on my current working hours would give me the equivalent of £67.51 per week or £1.88 per hour.

Option 3 gave me a net income (after tithe, bus and childcare expenses) of: £2100.52, which based on my current working hours would give me the equivalent of £40.39 per week or £1.12 per hour.

Bear in mind that while I would only be doing paid work 36 hour per week, my son would be in the care of a stranger (whose values, beliefs, discipline and abilities would be different from my own), for at least 50-60 hours per week - the lesser number of hours would be if RNG could pick him up at 5pm!

Seriously for £1.12 per hour or even £3.76 I would stuff envelopes at home and be with my child, get the food made and house cleaned around the paid work and be much happier and still have time to spend with my husband when I wasn't utterly exhausted.

It may be that in the future I will start a small home business, but should that business get so busy that I couldn't fit it around nap times/quiet times then I would start to delegate away my paid work. For me the most important work that I have after spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to look after my family, home and needy people in my community. For a season at the moment till I go on maternity leave I have to put the home after my work commitments which does make me sad and very frustrated at times, however thankfully that time will be coming to an end soon.

Our financial circumstances have not changed yet, RNG is still working through an agency which means that some months are leaner than others, however I am confident that my husband will find a suitable permanent job before I become a permanent housewife. In the mean time we need to focus on selling our flat to buy somewhere bigger and more appropriate, and paying off the car-loan so that we have more net income each month. I know that God will provide a way as I know that me coming home permanently is the right move for our family and what God wants us to do.

*This is not even an option, I will be staying home with this and any other children we may have and eventually homeschooling. However out of curiosity, I wanted to know how much I would have to pay a stranger to raise my child and what I would be earning the equivalent of if I did so.

Buying Things

2009-06-12T19:56:00.006+01:00

I forgot to update the "baby expenses" total after my last post, so I will do that after I have finished this post as I have more to add from this post too.

So we picked up the pushchair yesterday - £160 through eBay. Obviously we could have found a much cheaper pushchair however we were looking for a particular Swedish brand and found a very nice one that is practically new - really it has hardly been used. The seller threw in some bedding for the carrycot - These pushchairs with all the accessories that we got cost £500-£600 new this one is less than 6 months old and was only used (mainly indoors) for about 3 months! One of the things that is good about this pushchair is that you can add a toddler seat over the pram part or pushchair part or attach a roller board behind - if we are blessed with another child when our first little one is still young - since it is a good solid pushchair it should last at least 2-3 children.

I wandered over to the fabric shop near my work during my lunch break yesterday to browse, - they had a "sale" sign in the window, - turns out they are closing down at the end of the month - everything must go! Anyway I found some nice brushed cotton (flannel) with a cute print and some more to use as a matching backing if I use it for a quilt or burp cloths... I haven't yet decided what to use it for, watch this space.

Add £6 for fabric.

I also popped into the charity shop and the 50p bin was almost empty, however I did find two very sweet little sleep suits which I also bought add £1.

Also I bought some more antenatal vitamins (90 day pack) - I have bought these before too so add £12.75 X 2 for last time and this time (can't remember the price of the first lot I bought).

Today I got a call from the fabric shop to let me know that a baby clothes pattern that I had ordered had arrived - another £5.25.

Total baby expenses for this post: £197!

Below you see a photo of me taken in Stockholm at Skansen a few weeks ago - I was 20 weeks pregnant - I am now 23 and I am becoming more limited in my clothing options.

Nesting?

2009-06-09T20:35:00.003+01:00

I think I/we have begun nesting.

My brother's girlfriend offered us the crib they had for their little one - I think it is the size for just the first few months, any way we said yes please. So for several weeks RNG has been saying that we must organise to visit my brother sometime next month to see them and pick up the crib. I admit that I had found this quite amusing and pointed out that the baby isn't due until mid October, next month gives us about 3 months - if the baby is born THAT early, he wont be leaving the hospital for a while anyway!

So RNG is definitely nesting... Me? Well it has started too... I bought some fleece fabric with little diggers and dump-trucks on it, that will make a lovely jacket - probably for next winter, when he is a little bigger - £3.90. I also found that a charity shop near my work place has a big laundry-style basket absolutely full of baby clothes for 50p each. The only drawback is that there is nowhere to lay the stuff out to see what is in there, so my tactic was to look through the clothes on top and stick my hand deep into the pile and pull out random clothes from lower down. Any way I bought just 2 little things (£1.00 total), I will go back perhaps every 2-3 weeks to see what else they might have, however I will leave buying clothes till as late as possible as I am sure that we will be given some for the smallest sizes at least.

Since quite early on I have been keeping my eye on eBay for a good pushchair - I know this isn't an essential, but it is very useful to have. Anyway I knew exactly which brand I wanted, - it is a Swedish brand that I have used while working with children over there and I know it is very good quality and will last several children. I had a mental list of the features I was looking for and I was hoping to buy one that was a new-ish model. Last week I saw a nice one with all that I wanted, no reserve and not a ridiculous distance away (the majority that I have seen have been in the Midlands, Yorkshire or Scotland). So I placed a bid. After a few days we were out-bid, we placed a slightly higher bid, but it got to the point where we didn't want to go higher considering that we would still have to travel about 1.5 hours each way to get it. So on Monday morning RNG left early for work so I had breakfast on my own, in front of the pc and I saw a pram with the same features (my only issue being that it is black - practical, but warm in summer and not that nice a colour for a baby - I will need to find ways of brightening it up), PLUS it is just a short 1/2 hour trip from here. There was only the option to "buy it now", so I phoned RNG and he said to buy it. - On Thursday we will pick it up. The pushchair includes a carrycot, so even if we don't get the crib on time, the baby WILL have somewhere to sleep! The cost is slightly higher than I would have liked, but still less than virtually all new pushchairs suitable for newborns - £160. Now we just have to figure out where we are going to store all these things that we are accumulating for the baby!

The Final Scan

2009-05-31T08:10:00.006+01:00

Mum (if you happen to ever read this), and anyone else opposed to finding out the gender of our baby before it is born is advised to look away now and return another day to another post.

For the rest of you, I will ramble a little now about the scan we had on Friday, - for 2 reasons, - firstly to use use up some space so the people mentioned above don't have their "surprise" spoiled and secondly because there is a fair bit to tell.

We arrived with good time before our appointment at 09.40 and were called in on time. The baby was wide awake and kicking around but the sonographer managed to get most of the measurements and details that he needed, the heart is fine, the limbs, the bladder, abdomen etc. Unfortunately the baby was laying with it's head in my pelvis, facing towards my back this made it difficult to get accurate measurements of the head or to see the face (to check for cleft palate). The sonographer tried wiggling and poking at the baby to encourage it to move around. The baby just kicked me some more and stayed put. The sonographer tried pushing the baby, I tried poking it, we tried talking to it, nothing would make it turn around - it was being very camera-shy. In the end the sonographer looked to see if there was another slot later in the day or next week, however everything was fully booked, so he suggested that I go for a walk, have something to drink and eat some chocolate (I have not eaten chocolate since before the baby was even conceived as I don't believe it is healthy for a growing baby - or anyone for that matter). Any way for "medical purposes" I ate some chocolate, drank nearly 750ml of water and we went for a brisk walk, I also called my manager to let her know that I would be a bit later in to work. Anyway after half an hour we went back in (the sonographer squeezed us in between others). Well the baby HAD NOT MOVED, - more poking ensued and the baby just ignored us. So I was sent for another walk and told to jump around etc. The baby STILL HAD NOT MOVED, so I was sent for another walk and the sonographer would try to talk to his colleague - it was midday by this point and I called my manager and asked if I could take the day as holiday since I still wasn't finished, - she said that was fine. So having done plenty of jumping and stretching etc at the forth attempt, the baby was STILL lying in the wrong position, in fact I suspect that had we been able to see it's face we would have seen it poking it's tongue out at us! The senior sonographer came in and poked at it some more (my stomach was quite sore after the ordeal) and she managed to just about get it to move enough to take final measurements and to see that it does not have cleft palate. We have one arm photo, one leg photo, one decent profile of the face and one very scary face photo - we can't quite figure out what we are looking at. We also have about 20 photos for my maternity file of the back, heart, and neck! By the way each time you go for a scan you have the option of getting copies of the photos it is £7 per session - I didn't add that to my baby costs list before, so I will now for this and last time £14 so far - plus parking, which hopefully was only £2. We tried to avoid paying parking by parking at the local supermarket - we did some shopping there anyway, however we realised that we would have to move the car when we reached the 3rd walk - you can only park there for 3 hours for free after that they will send you a £70 fine. - We were there for 3 hours 20 minutes - I really pray that we don't have to pay the fine - I will keep the food receipts just in case and hope they will be lenient.

OK without further ado, we are having a BOY!!!!! - Well what did you expect in our families? Clearly he is a very stubborn little boy!

Now I can start sewing cute baby boy clothes - because anyone who has ever looked for cute boy clothes, knows that they are very rare or cost a lot to buy. As a celebration I bought some little iron-on patches to put on to clothes that I make or plain things that we are given/buy. Another £4.60 for the 6-pack and £1.30 for the 2-pack. £5.90 total plus parking and scan photos total to add £21.90.

Cute or what?

Little Differences

2009-05-28T16:56:00.003+01:00

I have never been outside of Western Europe, however one could spend a lifetime exploring the different countries and cultures just here. My parents are from two different countries and cultures (Mother: English, Baptist Father: Norwegian, Atheist), so I grew up with two different cultures around me. I am English/Norwegian and married to an Italian (both of us are Seventh Day Adventist Christians), so our child will have 3 cultures behind him/her.

In each country and each religion there are differences in how one "should" raise a child and what the general "norm" for living is.

One of the most noticeable cultural differences for me as a pregnant woman these past few weeks has been attitudes to finding out the gender of the baby.

In Britain people generally ask the question (very cautiously) "are you going to find out what it is?" Then when I state that yes we are, at least 50% of people express how they wouldn't/didn't want to know their own baby's gender.

In Italy people invariably asked "male or female?" - I wont attempt to write that in Italian as I'm sure I'd spell it wrong. - I suspect that part of the desire to know has to do with the language - what to call a baby depends on it's gender boy = bambino, girl = bambina.

In Sweden I was asked "Do you know the sex?" - short and sweet.

Yes we will be finding out what it is (if it will cooperate with us), - tomorrow we will have the final scan (assuming there are no complications later on), and we would like to know what the baby is.

Why? - Several reasons:

My hands are just itching to get stitching - I am desperate to sew little girl clothes or little boy clothes - not just boring generics. - Of course the reality is that I have had no time for sewing anything even for myself yet!
RNG has a habit of referring to the baby as he - and would very much like a son, me too. It would be good to be prepared mentally in the event that it is a girl. This is not to say that we wouldn't both be absolutely over-the-moon with a little girl. - Honestly it would be a nice change for our family. - My husband was one of 3 boys and only 1 girl in the family, he now has 4 nephews. I am the only girl in my family with 3 brothers and I now have 1 nephew - there is an overwhelming majority of males in the rest of our family - I have no biological female cousins but 5 male ones and I can't even remember how many uncles RNG has. The truth is that it looks unlikely but it would be wonderful to have a little girl.
Despite the most common comment I receive in Britain being "but you'll spoil the surprise", - I don't think it diminishes the surprise at all - the baby's features - it's hair and eye colour will all be "surprises" along with it's unique personality, - do I really need another surprise?

Holidaying While Pregnant

2009-05-28T09:03:00.005+01:00

We are safely back from our holiday, I admit that I was very nervous about flying while pregnant this time around, however everything has been fine.

On Tuesday we flew back from Sweden to Italy, and two interesting baby-related things happened.

The first was the most exciting; RNG has been able to feel the baby's "fluttering movements" for a week or two but none of the baby's kicks have been firm enough when he had his hand on my tummy for him to feel. However while in the air on Tuesday the baby was kicking quite firmly and I asked RNG to put his hand on my tummy, at this point the baby usually stops kicking, however suddenly it gave a very firm kick, that RNG could really feel - we were both excited!

The second thing that happened was that we had a fair bit of bad turbulence in the last part of the flight (this was our holiday's 3rd flight). This didn't seem to bother the baby, however when we were coming in to land we also had turbulence, and suddenly the baby's movements changed from it's normal sort to something completely different. The movements were so different it was alarming, plus it seemed to be kicking at a kidney or something. It seemed to be clear that the baby didn't like the combination of the descent and the turbulence or something, later the movements returned to normal again. It was so clear that the baby didn't like what was going on. Everything has been normal since then too thankfully.

Later RNG commented on the event saying, "we already made our first mistake with the baby", - how true, - I am sure it will forgive us, however it was sad. The amazing thing is that I was 20 1/2 weeks and I can already tell that the baby has it's own little personality and it's own likes and dislikes. - In fact even from the very first day I felt it moving at 15 weeks I've been able to learn little things about this unique person growing inside me. The longer I am pregnant, the more I see how wrong abortion is. That is to say that I always have had very strong opinions on the subject, however the very fact that I am learning about the development of the baby, stage by stage and seeing it myself, makes me even more against it. I am still at a stage in pregnancy (and will be till 24 weeks) where in this country, women can still get an abortion. - At 8 weeks I had my first scan and saw my baby's heart beating, at 15 weeks I felt the first movements, I can't imagine that anyone could believe that a child who is moving around "can't feel pain" or that it would be better off dead than alive. I have no intention of going further into discussion regarding this subject - if I ever do it will be on my main blog. I understand that people's reasons for making such a drastic choice can be very diverse and complicated, I am not standing in judgement of anyone, I am simply stating that as a pregnant woman I cannot understand the choice.

Last Foreign Holiday Before Baby

2009-05-16T20:23:00.004+01:00

We are currently on holiday in Italy, we will on Thursday fly to Sweden for a few days, then we will fly back to Italy over night and then back to the UK. - That is a lot of flying. Anyway although these are all short flights, I would prefer to be careful than take risks so I bought flight socks - those things are certainly expensive £12.71 for two pairs! I am now adding this to the total for baby expenses.

The Never-ending Search

2009-04-27T22:14:00.004+01:00

The search appears to never end; I have spent a lot of time as an adult woman looking for modest clothing for myself for everyday use, swimwear, and a wedding dress. Now that I am pregnant it is even more of a challenge, I have managed to find a few items at reasonable cost (as I have mentioned before), however with my father getting married at the end of May I have found it quite a challenge to find something suitable to wear. In the end I have decided to use the skirt that I bought for £6.99 (£11.94 including postage), however I will need a new top for it - I have worn it a few times and the tops I have been using will be too small (as in they will probably ride up), plus they aren't very wedding-like. After much searching I have found a top online that will work well I hope. The only issue is that it is at a store in the USA, so I am not sure how quickly it will arrive. I have also ordered a couple more tops while I am about it as I am beginning to think that the nice long tops that I ordered a few months back, although they have some room to grow, I suspect in a couple of months I will reach the limit and they will begin to stretch out of shape, so I would rather get a few proper maternity tops so all my clothes will last longer. Once I get my bank statement (with their exchange rate on it) and I know how much the import duty and tax is, I will blog the cost of these three tops - it is far more than I wanted to pay (the shipping is a third of the cost), however I haven't seen anything even remotely modest in shops in this country.

The next frontier in modest clothing will come with the need for modest nursing tops - I am still looking into my options there, however so far I have found a couple in the UK and a few more tops/dresses that I like in other countries - all for reasonable amounts - so I am more hopeful on that front.

It's There!

2009-04-24T18:23:00.004+01:00

Today I had another antenatal appointment and the midwife listened for the baby's heartbeat - she was trying all round the middle of my tummy and just kept picking up my heartbeat, so I told her that yesterday morning I got the impression that it was sitting on my bladder, so she tried in that region - and there it was!

The other news is that last Sabbath (at 15 weeks + 1 day), I felt the baby move for the first time! At first I wasn't sure, then I felt it a couple more times later in the day. In fact the 3rd time I was resting on the sofa and I felt some movement, so I poked my tummy in the same region, - a few seconds later - I got the same movement back, - so I poked again, - and it kept responding! I have felt the baby move a few times since then on most days. It is just incredible that there is a little life inside my womb and that it is separate and independent from me.

Was It Planned?

2009-04-15T19:08:00.003+01:00

"Was it planned?" So far we have only received this comment once - from my mother obviously.

What married Christians say to such a (rude and personal) question?

"Well... God says he knows the plans He has for us!" (This implies that it was an accident - but we believe that "God meant it to be..." - No! That's not what I want to suggest)

"None of your business!" (Again this implies that we'd rather not talk about it, but that it was probably not planned)

"Yes absolutely" (This suggests an arrogant belief that one can become pregnant immediately, just because one wants to, or that one can ABSOLUTELY prevent pregnancy if one so desires, I don't subscribe to this belief as I know far too many people who can't have children, who try for many years, or who accidentally have children when doing everything possible to avoid it - in fact I know all these extremes within my own family. This is not to say that the use - or lack of birth-control cannot influence these matters, however we as humans do not have absolute control, no matter how hard we try).

"This is a much longed for and prayed for blessing" (This was my answer, but I am still not happy with it, as it still leaves the question somewhat open in people's minds)

We have been allowing God to time the appearance of children in our life and we believe that He knows best the timing, and even if we should have children... Theoretically I believe that God will give us the right number of children, but while still awaiting our first I am in a different situation than I would be if we were still in our tiny one-roomed flat and expecting our 3rd, 4th or 5th child - this is where planning comes in. Truly I believe that God has allowed us to wait this long for a reason (and indeed allowed us to suffer some serious heart-break when I had a miscarriage with the first pregnancy). Also I trust that He will not allow us to be in circumstances that would be impossible to raise our precious children in, so I have faith that we will sell our flat and get a new bigger home at the right time and that God will give us the right number of children.

Welcome

2009-04-06T13:49:00.004+01:00

Welcome to my baby blog.

Here I will post most of my baby/family related stuff.

A bit of background:

I am 32 years old and have been married for 1 year and 4 months (and a few days - yes we are still counting). I am currently 13 weeks pregnant with our first child, the due date is 9th October 2009, this baby has been longed for and prayed for throughout our marriage.

My husband and I are over-joyed to be expecting a child and I suspect that I will be blogging a lot about baby stuff over the next 6 months (or next few years). As I know that not everyone who reads my regular blog is likely to be interested in my baby-blabber I decided to start a new blog to have an outlet for this side of things.

One of the things that I intend to blog about here is baby/child-related expenses (watch the running total on the right-hand bar), - we are all told that it is so expensive to have children and I will be testing that theory here by declaring pretty much everything related to the "cost of children". I admit that I am biased and will be doing my best to prove that it is possible to have a budget-baby. I know for a fact there are people who spend less than we are likely to spend, however this is about my baby not theirs and I wish to show that it is possible to be reasonably frugal when bringing a child into this world. Of course with this being my first child I might find that my ideologies are totally un-realistic, - in which case I will blog that too.

So to start with here is a little break-down of my maternity wear situation so far (and yes I am already showing and no it is not twins).

While I was off sick from work at about 10 weeks I was able to spend some time considering my maternity wardrobe (potential) needs and I discovered eBay and bought a maternity dress through there (£0.99 + £3.00 postage = total £3.99) and I bought a nice linen skirt from Blooming Marvellous that was reduced from £36.99 to £6.99 (the postage cost £4.95 on top bringing the total to £11.94). As soon as I found out I was pregnant I bought a maternity skirt from a charity shop (the only maternity wear I have ever seen in a charity shop in 16 years of charity shopping) - I didn't dare wait in case it got sold £3.50.
I have bought a "bra-extender" which is basically a piece of bra elastic with hooks and eyes on it that can be used to extend the width of a bra (not the cup obviously but it has bought me some time) - I don't want to buy too many different sizes but to wait till I am at my maximum pre-birth size or as close as I can comfortably get before buying maternity bras (obviously I am only using the non-wired type of bra for this purpose) (cost: £3.20). I have also bought some "button-hole" elastic (3m total: £1.60) for possible adaption projects if I find nice clothes in larger sizes (fantastic tutorial here) or for making my own.
I will also very busy adapting my current clothing for maternity wear, but that is another post.

Total for this post: £24.23