Ramblings and Rants

Friday, May 25, 2012

Long Pause

so...well...yep, haven't blogged for a while
just the usual excuse - been busy
with uni
preparing for baby
having a baby
and the usual stuff (eg trying to get Norton to stop chewing EVERYTHING)

sun lounging, toy destroying, poop machine - in action!

Could we get any pinker than this?

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Norton arrives

Meet Norton - our latest arrival to the family!

We've been discussing this for a couple of years whether to get a puppy or not -and now that my maternity leave is not too far off we decided that this would be the best time to get one if we were going to do it. The Dude did some research and we found that the Whippet was probably the best breed for us - being a quiet, loving dog that has been breed for health more than "fashionable" looks. They sounded like an ideal family pet for us. We found a few local breeders and visited two sets of puppies before picking Norton. And he is very sweet. Now I'd like to point out that yes a puppy may be hard work and before people launch into telling us how mad we are for doing this - just keep your trap shut for a second. Not all dogs are the same. They have very different natures and purposes depedning on what breed they are. We have chosen this type of breed because of their nature and intelligence. And the fact that they will suit our lifestyle. OK? I'm a bit fed up of people telling us how "mad" we are in doing this so I had to have a little rant about that. We're a middle aged couple with two kids (third on the way), and luckily the Dude is at home during the day most of the week, I'm also on maternity leave for 9 months (budget willing) and hence there will always be people at home. And when I return to work Norton will only be left alone for a couple of hours for a max of 2 days per week and even then that will be infrequent due to the Dudes shift patterns. Oh and I only work 9miles away so popping home at lunch time is not a problem either.

Can you tell pregnancy hormones are getting on my nerves?

Oh and as for B-Baby - well nothing new to report on that front except that the consultants we saw at Addenbrooks don't seem to be too concerneced over the kidney situation. And anyway they tell us that maybe at the next scan (due 14th Feb - how romantic) may tell them a bit more but from what they see its not that too abnormal. Though they did play down the DS markers and still say the "golf-ball" they said it was less likely connected with Downs Syndrome. Does that make me feel any better - no not really. I guess after loosing a previous baby at 20 weeks into the pregnancy that I will never get over that fear, I will always have trust issues with hospitals.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Saturday, November 26, 2011

worrying times

I know I haven't blogged in ages but well life is busy. In the end I decided to carry on with the masters course and now I'm fully submerged in books and lectures that I have little time for anything else. Though I have discovered that by not eating fruit that my morning sickness has almost disappeared - very odd but there you go. I now live for decaff coffee and minty flavoured things - thank god for mint chewing gum, mint sweets and after 8 mints.

But I blog with a heavy heart today as our 20 week scan didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked. After discovering a "golf ball" (calcium deposit) in the babys heart and renal pelvis dilation we were told of the increased chance of downs syndrome this baby would have. After having an excellent result from the test at 16 weeks that said our chances were 1 in 10,000. This news was a total shock and left me feeling devastated. Those of you who know me will know that 13 years ago I suffered a missed-miscarriage at 20 weeks when the little girl I was carrying died. All they could tell me at the time was that the placenta had stopped functioning and that my little girl looked like she had signs of downs but could not confirm it. She also had major problems with her heart.

So here I am again facing an uncertain future and its left me reeling. A further scan a week later revealed that the renal pelvis dilation was not as bad as first seen in the original scan. Though what was seen was still a shock to us. The right kidney displays some anomalies that indicate there could be two renal tubes but at this stage the baby is still too small to get a good look. They again looked at the baby's heart and still the golf ball was there. A very distressing day as it was a lot of info to take in - but from what the consultant said this hugely increases the chance of downs in this baby. Still thats a 1 in 3000 chance. But these are just statistics and don't mean anything now. What is left is the fact that these two anomalies are soft markers for downs syndrome and I'm struggling to come to terms with that.

I've decided to speak to the consultant about having an amio - and I know this carries a 1 in 100 chance of miscarriage but I have heard that decreases the later in the pregnancy you have the procedure performed. I'll be considering this carefully as I'd rather know now than spend the next 18 weeks constantly worried. At least I can prepare myself in some form - I don't know.

Anyway that's it for just now

Friday, September 02, 2011

Apologies

wow its been a long time and this is going to be a short blog. So to catch up here it is in brief form:

1) moved house

2) still emptying boxes

3) went on holiday with my girls (got tanned)

4) got seriously pissed off with being mistreated by Ryan air - they suck and I wont be flying again with them

5) holy cow I'm pregnant

6) panic

7) morning sickness - got anti sickness pills again

8) partner calms down

9) panic - me

10) start to tell everyone I'm pregnant

11) put blinds up in house

12) bought a soda stream because I'm nostalgic and remember my gran having one

13) morning sickness is going away - so this is an odd pregnancy, from previous experience (3 pregnancies) I've been horrendously sick with them all and through the whole 9 months

14) panic about pregnancy

15) what will be will be

16) well there goes my study :(

17) do I buy another car and will it be a bus or a cool sexy sporty number?

I'll blog soon I promise - oh and Happy Birthday Uncle M!