Too cute for words and we love her to bits. We've now established a feeding pattern where every 2 hours she has a feed, followed by a nappy change and then another feed. It seems to work and she's more settled at night now - giving us some extra needed sleep.

Saying goodbye to old friends.

I had to say goodbye to my nipple piercing this week. I've only had it for a couple of years and it was a symbolic piercing that Wendy and I had done in London before she left for Baku. Instead of being blood brothers we were booby sisters. I'm sad to see it go but at the moment my boobs have another grand function to perform in feeding our new baby Emily.

So I duly removed my piercing, placed it next to my alter of worship (the television in our bedroom) and I said goodbye.

The boob fairy visited that night and left me with a couple of "things" that now resemble something from a porn film! Holy cow! I thought I was going to be able to get to sleep on my sides, front and back - but it's not to be! These boobies are too huge to even sleep with. I shall be calling in for some reinforcements :)

Day 2 in the New Baby House

Got some more pics http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Emily/week%201/?action=view&slideshow=true

Day 1 in the Baby Sister Household.

We had a bit of a scare on Tuesday evening when the doctor appeared at our door at 7pm, saying she came back to check Emily as her heart rate was low. This obviously scared us a lot, and the Doctor indicated that she was still concerned from her previous check that afternoon. The Doctor called the paediatrician and had a chat, whilst we were realing from shock not knowing what to do or say. Finally the doctor came off the phone and said the paediatrician was happy with Emily's heart rate and didn't think it was anything to be concerned about. The Doctor then went onto admit that she normally doesn't do these visits and it wasn't her "area" - we weren't feeling very confident with her. She then told us another doctor would come to visit Emily the next morning - in the meantime we were left to ponder what was going on, was there something wrong - needless to say I didn't sleep much that night as I constantly watched Emily to make sure she was breathing and that her fingers and toes were pink. I cried - I was scared.

The next day Dr Baxter arrived and checked Emily's heart rate - it was about 130 which was normal. He confirmed that heart rates ranged from 100-190 at this early stage and it wasn't anything to worry about. We were so relieved, and also relieved to hear from Lucy our midwife that Dr Baxter was very knowledgeable.

Glad to say we both slept more soundly last night - even though it was interrupted with lots of feeds and changing dirty nappies. But we were happy to see Emily feeding better and looking more awake than on her first day.

We did it!
Phew tired but happy - meet Emily who was born at 5.21 am weighing a massive 8lb 6oz.

The Postman Always Ring Twice!

pah humbugs he did this morning, once at 7.55 am and the next time at 9.15 am - trouble was it was me who was running down the stairs to get to the door in time. Why is it that during the week they are never here until after 10 am but at the weekend its always so bleeding early when they arrive? Most disgruntled person today. It's Drews 35th Birthday today, and we are supposed to be going out for a meal with a few friends tonight. I also have a Tae Kwon Do grading at 3.30 this afternoon and I can't remember my previous patterns - on top of this I've had a broken nights sleep, I snoozed from about 8 till 9 pm last night, then had a proper sleep from 11 till 4 am and then again I was awake for a couple of hours so I had to potter around and move to the spare room so I could read my book for a while in order to get to sleep again.

Pah - I'm looking forward to doing very little on Sunday!

Strange Shapes - this may be the last photo you see of my large belly. Emily thinks she's a contortionist!


Can you see the 2 bumps?

Baby Shower

Boozing Babes from the party - http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Pamper%20Party/?action=view&slideshow=true

No Sharks allowed!
Last night Drew decided to test out the birthing pool
here are the photos - http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Pool/?action=view&slideshow=true

It takes up more space than we thought - but the size is perfect just for me to lie in - but excuse the photo of me in the pool with the girl who looks like Wednesday from the Adams family - she was having a grumpy looking day!

How to max out on chocolate

Rich Chocolate Mousse (serves 4)

Ingredients
175g plain chocolate - coarsely chopped or grated
3 tbsp water
15g unsalted butter
3 yolks from medium eggs
225ml double cream
1 tbsp vanilla caster sugar
50g chocolate flakes to decorate

1. Put chocolate and water in a bowl and microwave on Defrost for 1-2 mins, until the mixture melts. Remove bowl and add butter. Stir until melted and cool for 5 minutes. Stir in egg yolks one at a time. Leave to cool for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile whip the cream and sugar together until soft peaks form. Reserve one third and fold the reamining whipped cream into chocolate mixture.

3. Divide into individual serving bowls. Chill until set. Decorate with reserved cream and chocolate flakes

10 Things I Miss

1. Sleeping soundly for a full night
2. Sleeping on my front or back
3. Being able to walk (any distance and any speed)
4. Being Flexible
5. Being able to wax my legs
6. Enjoying chocolate
7. Drinking beer
8. Pate and soft cheeses
9. My figure
10. Drew

Larking around with the bits from the birthing pool and home delivery kit from the Midwife.

I've just had a midwife round to have a quick check-up (everything was fine - this time no protein in urine - which is good), and to have a chat about home birth. Well it's a bit of a shock to hear that if there are no midwives available that we have no option but to go to hospital, but then again saying that that would only be a very rare occurrence. Phew. The last thing I want to do is to go into hospital, last time I felt I was totally ignored and they were there just to do a job quickly. Even though I had a straight forward delivery with Phoebe, 12 hours no stitches etc, I still felt I didn't get what I wanted and that was ultimately the use of the birthing pool.

So today we are ordering our pool and I hope there are no delays in the postal service!

Talking about pools with my friend just yesterday and I was shocked to find that when she was in labour they allowed her into the birthing pool when she was only a few centimeters dilated! From the books I've been reading they advise not to get into the pool until you are about 5cm otherwise the pool will slow labour, and this is what happened to her!

I think we are pretty much prepared. Not only is the baby 4/5 engaged but thankfully Drew has a first aid certificate so not only will he be able to deal with any emergency we would also have 2 midwives around and Lisa for support. I know what to expect in labour, I know my rights, I know my pain relief too - surprising to find out that I can get meptid on prescription from the doctors if I feel I really need this for labour - well 'spose its better to have than not. But then again would I be more tempted to use it knowing it's around? I know that sometimes I give in too easily but I really think that only applies to chocolate!

Well here goes, only 3 and a bit weeks left to go.

Lets Make Some Honey!

Took Phoebe to Cambridge Uni Botanical Gardens as there was a Fairy Workshop, well when Isay work shop it consisted of a tent in the grounds of the gardens, and some worksheds used to house some events such as painting potion bottles and making potions. It was a good day out and didn't cost too much either, which makes a change.

Here's some pictures of my little busy bee.

http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Fairyland/?action=view&slideshow=true

Then we stopped at Pizza Hut to george ourselves stupid - eww I never want to see a pizza again.

CONGRATULATIONS

Karen & Andy

On the birth on their first son Scott Lewis

24th August, 5.59pm

Many thanks to people who have told me about Kiddicare.com who have a shop/warehouse in Peterborough. Drew, Phoebe and I spend Saturday afternoon there choosing our re-usable nappies, sterlisier and some other little supplies. It was quite funny watching Drew choose baby items, well rather heart warming than funny. His careful consideration over which steriliser to buy, discussions on which nappy offer was better value for money and baby wipes. I have to say even though it's a small store it's got everything you could possibly need at much cheaper prices than the high street shops. We bought our nappy system, which contains everything you need from birth to potty, for a mere £160 - but considering how much you spend on disposable nappies over a 3 year period, this price is such a saving - must also say that buying it in store was cheaper than buying it online! So Double Bargain!

Once we got home and opened the nappy-sack I have to say that the nappy folding instructions were somewhat more complicated than we had anticipated, you have to fold it one way for a newborn or girl, another way for a boy, and yet again another way for diarohea. mmm nice!

I'm sure we will get the hang of it fairly quickly.

Well today I might have finally given up the battle to carry on working till a week before my due date. I didn't sleep well last night and moving in bed causes so much groing and belly pain that it's near impossible to sleep at all. I had to give in and go home after lunchtoday, and after a 2 hour nap I felt a whole lot better. I was hoping to keep my annual leave for use either after my maternity leave finished or getting paid for the holidays instead. I still cant make up my mind - I might just end up using my annual leave for the days when I just can't face the office. After seeing the midwife yesterday I'm also concerned about swelling feet, protein in urine and the regularity of the braxton hicks, as the midwife advised that having so many braxton hicks was my bodies way of telling me to slow down. We shall see.

Anyway we've been busy this weekend doing a little gardening - as my tomato patch is now of monster proportions - I hope to get a good crop this year. As for the other seedlings well I have a few chilli pepper plants, a small crop of carrots and courgettes. Not bad but still disappointing considering how many seeds I've actually planted. Never mind I still have dreams of having the garden totally overhauled and redesigned next year where I could have a couple of veg boxes to play with instead. Maybe I should still put my name on the list for an allotment? Lisa will laugh at me for this as she's gonna say "yeah right" like I will have the time to do this along with a new baby. I'm glad I've chosen Lisa to be our extra birthing companion. I now feel totlly confident that I've done the right thing in choosing a home birth with a birthing pool. Lisa has some knowledge with aromatherapy oils, and I've done some research on using homeopathic medicines for labour - all that combined with my loving partner Drew this may even be the happiest birth I could wish for.

Lst note I've published some photos of our holiday in Strathconon! http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Strathconon2006/?action=view&slideshow=true

All I can say is it didn't wipe out enough of the little blood suckers http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/4799243.stm

At last all the video clips are online! Just click on the links on the previous posting

At last I've returned to the land of the living (after having 10 hours sleep!) . I want to say a special thanks to Do and Lorna helping me get from Inverness to Lauder so I could pick up Drews car, and to my brother David and his partner Julie for acting as standby in case I needed a lift from Edinburgh to Lauder. It's been a stressful time with flights being cancelled left right and centre - but at the end of the day maybe it worked out for the best as I was able to get Drew's car back home otherwise he would have been forced to make another trip to his brothers house to collect it!
Anyway on a lighter note I won a fab prize 2 weeks ago of a free Premier Plus 4D scan - we'd been deliberating over the last few months whether we could afford one, and this was just a wonderful gift. So yesterday we travelled to Trumpington to have the scan and it was amazing, I bubbled like I always do at these things, but it was such a surprise to see her face. Thankfully flumpy was in good form and was wide awake showing us her finger sucking skills, yawning and sticking out her tongue. Drew swears he saw her flicking us the "bird". I've managed to get all the photos and 1 cine film clip on line yesterday and today i'm going to try to get the other 2 video clips so you can all see our little cutie.

sorry for short post but here are some 4d baby pics
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Baby/?action=view&slideshow=true

and here is a short cine clip
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Baby/?action=view&current=BABYHENDERSON.flv&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch17

DVD clip 1
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Baby/?action=view&current=test.flv&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1

DVD clip 2
http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k3/chenderson99/Baby/?action=view&current=largevid.flv&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1