I cant believe that it all happened almost two weeks ago

You all know that I was expecting to have the baby on the 22nd December...

Well the baby thought differently and my waters broke on the morning of 16th December.

I woke up at 3.30 am to go to the toilet and lets just say that it didnt feel like a wee ;o)  So I woke James up telling him that I thought that my waters had broken.  He said ok lets see what happens.

So I told James that yes my waters had broken and I called Broomfield Hospital to let them know and they said to come straight in...

...so I had a shower and then we made our way to the hospital.

I went to the maternity emergency entrance (it has elevators taking you as close as you can be to the labour ward), and buzzed them to tell them that I had arrived...

...they were even waiting for me and showed me into a side room as soon as I had arrived.  They did a check that my waters had broken and yes they had...

I was then set up with a fetal monitor just to make sure that she wasnt in any distress etc.
I then had loads of different people come in and were introducing themselves
and were explaining exactly what was going to happen.

At around 9am I was taken into the operating theatre and James put on his scrubs and was told to wait outside, while they got me prepared.

James was eventually told to come in and he asked me if I was ok and I said that I was...

...it was then go time ;o)

I didnt actually feel what they were doing but then all of a sudden I heard a crying sound and James said "she has just been born"...

...James then went over with the midwife where they checked her over and cleaned her.

Evie was born at 9.42 am and weighed 5 pounds ;o).

They then bought Evie over so I could see her before James took her out to the recovery room while I was being stitched up.

I got discharged the next day so I was well pleased that I only had to spend one night in hospital.

Because Evie was so small one of the stipulations of being allowed home was that we fed her every three hours and that the midwife came to visit every day.  I was more than happy with the midwife coming every day as it meant that I could ask her anything that I had a query with.

fast forward to 22nd December (the day I was supposed to have the c-section - ironic or what?)

I woke up that morning and turned over in bed and noticed what I can only describe as "gushing" I ran into the bathroom and blood was running down my legs.  I yelled to James and he came running up the stairs to help me.

I laid on the bed so he could see where the blood was coming from, it was from my wound!

The blood had stopped again while I was lying down so James went and made me a cup of tea.  I sat up to drink my tea and the bleeding started again...

...James dialled 999 and was told that it wasnt really serious so a triage nurse would call back to tell us (or rather him) how to stop the bleeding.

About five minutes later James looks out of the window and says that there is an ambulance outside!

So he lets the paramedics in and they come up to assess how bad I am, and I get dressed so they can take me to A&E, James stayed at home with Evie until his parents could get here to look after her.

Off I went in the ambulance (luckily the lights and sirens werent going), when we got tp Broomfield they even kept me on the trolley rather than putting me into a wheelchair...

...I got taken into a side room and I explained about the c-section and they said that they had paged the gynecologist but he was in surgery...

...the person never did come down to see me and in the end I was seen by a consultant who is A&E based and he said that I had blood pooled under the stitches and that was what was oozing out.

He squeezed the blood out and put some dressing on (which was taped on sanitary towels)..

I was well pleased that I didnt have to stay in hospital again as with it being so close to Christmas then there was (in my mind anyway) a distinct possibility that I may have been kept in.

twenty second of December it is

I went to see the consultant today (or rather the registrar)...

...and as the baby still hasnt turned (they did another scan using a mobile scanner) they have now booked me in for a c-section.

I have been given a whole load of stuff to read through...

...one thing was even telling me how I should wash myself...

...its a good job they gave that to me as I have been doing it wrong for all of these years ;o)).

I must be getting BIG

Yesterday James looked at me and said "I reckon that the baby is going to be 8 lbs + because you are enormous" being 37 weeks pregnant Im not taking offence at that remark unlike some people that I know ;o).

I was in Starbucks yesterday and today and was told again how HUGE I am looking ;o)

People are even pulling in the spare chairs by their tables so that I can get passed ok!

seeing the anesthetist

We went to see the anesthetist yesterday, and typically I had just started eating a nutri-grain bar when I was called in!

We went into the consulting room and I was asked how the pregnancy was going, and I said that it was ok but that I have carpal tunnel syndrome (just in case it made any difference to the anesthesia needed).  He just said that it was very common in pregnancy.

I was then asked why I was having a planned c-section, and I told him about the littlun being footling breech, we were then asked if it had been booked and we said that we were seeing the consultant next week and she would tell us what was happening.

I was then asked about any previous anesthetics that I had so I mentioned my VSD closure and that I had had local anesthetics before, and if I had any allergies?  Only the very odd bout of hayfever.

I was then asked to sit on the bed so that he could examine my spine (to make sure that my back wasnt all weird or something hee hee it wasnt).

We were then showed a photo album of the procedure and was pleased to see that the couple involved didnt look traumatized (although thinking about it they wouldnt want to go putting people off now would they).

Then we were told that we would have a final scan on the day of the operation and if the baby had turned then we could either still have it done or I could just go home and wait for her to come in her own time.

Interestingly my Mum said that I was breech and that they turned me but then turned again and at the last minute I turned back again, I am quite reassured that I have always been stubborn ;o)

We were looking in the onsite Marks & Spencer and I saw this sign.

Im not overly bothered because I dont like flowers but I can imagine some people kicking up a right fuss!

preparing myself

I went and saw the midwife yesterday, my appointment was for 3pm but didnt get seen until 3.45 :o(

Anyhow I told her about the baby being footling breech, and she asked me if the consultant knew exactly how the baby was lying.  I said that she new that she is breech but not about her being footling as as well.

I was then told (as she was listening to the babys heartbeat) to prepare myself for a c-section my reaction was "but I have just bought a TENS machine".

So I have now been booked to see an anesthetist this afternoon and see the consultant next week (which I had already booked a couple of weeks ago).

testing the TENS machine

nse On Friday I finally got around to testing my TENS machine...

...James was going to test it for me first (my philosophy is why have a dog and bark yourself ;o)), but ended up doing it myself anyway!

So after having my shower I unpacked the TENS machine and read up on how to connect it up etc.

It says that you can test it on your forearm prior to using it in labour...

...so I connected the wires to two of the electrodes and placed them on my arm.
I then switched on the machine and started it on its lowest setting and I could definitely feel a slight pulsating so I hit the boost button (to use when the contraction starts) and the pulsating intensified...

I then tried it on the other setting and that had a more intense pulsating but I didnt check what the boost button did...

Anyhow the machine comes with extra batteries but I think that we will bring some extras with us anyway.

LOL the other day someone said that if you dont think that the TENS machine is helping with the contractions to try having one without using the machine.

which one should I eat first

Today I was finally able to open my advent calendars ;o)

So my next dilemma is (or rather was because I took an executive decision)  should I eat my chocolate first or the babies one?

Well I decided to eat the babies one first and then ate my one after ;o)

naps now included

My daytime schedule now includes an afternoon nap ;o)

It probably wont be too long until there is a morning one too ;o)

and he was worried that I was going to get hooked onto the home shopping channels

When I was about to start my Maternity Leave (I cant believe that I have only been off since last week) James said to me "I dont want to see that you are ordering stuff from this channel" (LOL James current favourite tv channel ;o)).

So I told him that he had no worries, especially when I can get on to the internet and I can order stuff from the likes of Amazon anyway ;o).

Todays quest has been internet shopping - and it is so much easier than getting tiered out traipsing around the shops on the High Street!

Now that I know that I am having to go through labour I have ordered myself a tens machine...

...and I have also ordered myself a couple more breastfeeding tops and another pair of maternity trousers (as I am currently alternating between James jogging bottoms and a pair of maternity jeans)

the miserable bits

We had another NCT class on Friday, and because a couple of the couples had dos to go for the lady running the classes decided that we should cover the miserable bits...

...oh what joy ;o)

So we started off with the things that can prolong labour...

I suppose that its good to be prepared for every scenario!

Then it was what will bring on labour (this is something very handy to know when I just want her to pop out) ;o)

Then came the thing that was too close to home...

...postnatal depression, one group had to say what the symptoms were and our group had to say how to help someone suffering with it.

I must admit that I was very close to just sitting out the time in the toilets as I still get far too emotional over it all, but I held back the tears and added a few bits...

We then finished with massages ;o)

First it was my turn to be massaged (I must say the baby certainly likes it when we do that) and then the lady taking the class handed us out tennis balls or octopusses, we got a tennis ball first of all and it was really good and far better than the octopus (when we finally swapped).

Then it was my turn to massage James (LOL I just hope that he doesnt expect us to swap roles like that at the time ;o)), he seemed to enjoy it too and could see why I would prefer the tennis ball ;o).

Anyhow on Saturday morning we bought a couple of tennis balls and one of them has gone into my hospital bag.

Today in Chelmsford they are switching on the Christmas lights and part of the fun is having your photo taken with Peppa Pig...

...there were three stages of queues...

the first queue was outside and then there were two queues inside before you got to do the photo!

I can see us doing this next year ;o)

hisnia or hernia

Yesterday I had an appointment with the consultant...

We got there about 20 minutes early for our 9am appointment.

The nurse called us in just after 9am and did my bloodpressure etc before the consultant graced us with her presence!

She then had the cheek to say that we had got there early bearing in mind that she didnt come into see us until 9.15 - I felt like saying to her "how comes you came in so late to see us if you were here to see that we had arrived early" but I bit my tongue as I dont want my notes to be labelled with "do not give this woman any pain relief under ANY circumstances" ;o).  I know that is something that I would consider doing if someone had aggravated me!

I told her about the tingling and numbness that I have recently had in the tips of my fingers and she said that it was Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and it should go after I have delivered the baby.

I remember the first time I had heard of CTS it was in the mid 90's and my boss joked with me that it wasnt a "fear of tunnels" ;o)

I was then asked to get up on the bed so she could have a listen of the babys heartbeat...

...so I lifted up my top and she took one look and said that the baby looked big (when I queried if she meant abnormally big she said that it was the bigger side of normal) and that she wanted to do a scan!  She then asked if I had a hernia (as instead of having an outie I have a little bump under my belly button instead)

So we booked a scan for 3.20 that afternoon, it also meant that James would be home with me for the whole day too ;o)

It was back to the hospital that afternoon...

...we got there early again and this time managed to get seen early too ;o)

The Sonographer said that the baby is footling breech, and she did all of the measurements to see if the baby was indeed big.

The lady doing the scan then pointed out that the baby has hair ;o)  She then looked at James and said to me she has more hair than her Dad ;o)  But she did say that the head looked a little on the small size!

She then said that boys hair genes come from the Mothers side - so that is a bit of a relief if we ever have a boy ;o)

When we asked if the baby would have James Tefal Head otherwise known as tefalheadacitus she couldnt or rather wouldnt confirm it or deny it!

The scan was finally done and we had to wait for the print out of the results...

...they showed us a chart of the babys progression and everything seemed to follow at the correct rate of growth from the earlier scans ;o)

Im glad that it went well and at least we got to see the baby again ;o)

the sock drawer abyss

James is always moaning that my sock drawer wont shut properly because it is crammed with socks!

So this morning I decided to have a clear out of all of the socks that are now unwearable (ie ones with holes or are threadbare).

I managed to clear out about a third of them, I also found a whole load of tights and stockings or rather pantyhose to my US friends ;o)

I will go through those another day I think...

...hee hee now Im going to have a look at replacing all of the socks that I threw out ;o)

its a good job that I had set my alarm

Today is my first day of not working ;o)

Its not officially my Maternity Leave yet as I have two weeks annual leave yet to take ;o)

Anyhow I went to bed last night and left my alarm clock on as usual...

My alarm clock went off this morning and James was still in bed so I shook him awake yelling that he has overslept (there is no use being subtle about these things ;o)).

He wouldnt have been late for work as he has loads of time built in before he leaves in the morning ;o).

So James left for work at his normal time and I eventually got up having a nice leisurely breakfast of crumpets with marmalade.

I then turned my sights to bagging up the videos that we have accumulated over the years...

...I have left all of James one stacked up in a wall formation so that he can decide what he wants to keep and what he is happy to get rid of ;o).

I wouldnt want to get rid of any of his treasured videos such as the one of Hulk Hogan winning Wrestlemania or something ;o)

a bit like jetlag

It was my last day at work on Friday and I had a great day...

My bosses even took me out for a goodbye lunch (they said that it was to make sure that I actually was going to leave ;o)).

The guys who work next door to us even laid on tea and cakes for us as a goodbye for me ;o).  They told us that they used to have "cake Wednesday", they werent kidding either...

...as they had nice cups, a teapot and some proper cake forks ;o)

One of my bosses asked me how I was with sleep deprivation?  I said that I didnt know but my only real experience has been when I have had jetlag and he said to me that it is a bit like jetlag...

...I am absolutely useless when I havent had enough sleep, so hopefully my adrenaline will kick in - well it better had!

tissues a plenty

Its my last day at work today before I start my Maternity Leave ;o)

On my way around to our office I made sure that I picked up a supply of tissues from the kitchen as I am bound to start blubbing ;o)

I had to use the first tissue when I saw that my desk had been decorated ;o)

I have so far managed to restrain myself from opening anything ;o)

Time for a new coat me thinks

Last night on my way home from work there was a lady on the train and she decided to share with the carriage that the temperature in Chelmsford was 7 degrees Celsius (yes I know to my friends in cold countries that that temperature is a walk in the park but bear with me) and in Malaysia (where she is from) it is 37 degrees Celsius.

I think weatherwise I would prefer to be in Malaysia at the moment ;o)

So last night I dug my big coat out to see if on the offchance that it would still fit me?  The answer to that is a big fat no!

I could do up my coat as far as my boobs but nothing further down than that :o(

I have heard that I will double in size during the last four weeks and as it is going to be during December then it does make sense to splash the cash and buy a Maternity Coat.

Anyhow I have a 10% off voucher that is good until Sunday in Mothercare so I will see what they have in store otherwise I will order something online.

In Metro today I saw that the new presenter of Countdown will be Nick Hewer I think that he will be really good and will be something to watch with littlun to get her brain working from an early age ;o)

positions breathing and pain

Last night saw our second NCT class...

Each couple had to write down their names, their due date and something they liked doing together...

...I had gone into the toilet before joining the group so James wrote the stuff down for us ;o)

We were the first couple to say anything and James had wrote down that we liked watching cookery tv shows (although we dont do any of the cooking we just like watching them).

LOL all of the other couples had put down eating out and socialising (so at least we were different ;o)).

The lady taking the class then  put down on the floor a whole load of cards showing different positions to be in during labour (I have to admit some of them were really strange).

Last week we were told to bring some cushions with us so that we could practice some of these, so we chose three positions that involved him holding me which seemed to work.

We then moved on to breathing techniques which essentially involved breathing in and exhaling very slowly during the contractions, and the different ways to visualise them...

...the way I am going to visualise is the coffee caffetier (you breath in and pull the plunger up and when you breath out you push it back down again) this worked fr better for me than imagining colours or feathers.

Next was pain relief - we had to split into groups of two couples and were given four sheets of paper each with a different method of pain relief on, and had to write down a maximum of four things (good or bad) that you knew about that method...

...I heard a few not very nice stories about pethidine but as they say everybody is different...

We then finished off with relaxation techniques and that involved James rubbing my back while I breathed through the contractions (I did enjoy the back rubbing I must say).

We were told to practice these techniques ;o)

one for mummy and one for baby

On Thursday lunchtime I went out and bought my Advent Calendar (chocolate of course ;o))...

I told James when I got back and he said that I should buy one for the baby too (what a fabulous idea ;o)), so I said that it would mean me eating two chocolates a day (I mean I am not likely to object to that am I?) ;o).

He then said that he meant that I buy one for her and to keep it for her so she can see what they were like when she was born...

So that evening on our way home I bought two more advent calendars...

...a milky bar one for Mummy to eat for the baby (so she knows what they taste like) and a Pepper Pig one to save ;o)

third time lucky

On Monday night we went to our first NCT class.

I had decided that the NHS parentcraft class was lacking and decided to go to some other classes where we would learn some more things.

LOL one of the questions that the lady taking the class asked was "where will your partner be in the middle of the night?" because statistically you are more likely to go into labour in the middle of the night!

I had to really bite my tongue not to say "downstairs eating cereal" I mean I dont want them knowing what complete nutters we are...

...well not yet anyway ;o)

Yesterday I wasnt in work because I had a Cardiologist appointment...

...we got there in plenty of time and James was going to come in with me.

So we got there and I was signed in, and I get called about 5 minutes later, so we both got up and the lady told me that I was having my bloodpressure taken, so James went back and sat down.

So I got back after having my bloodpressure taken and sat down and then I got called again so we both got up and I was told that I was having an ECG so James went and sat down again!

I went in and had to remove my t-shirt and bra and she put the electrodes on and she said "thats an impressive scar how did you get that" now surely the fact that I had come for an ECG it would be fairly obvious that I had open heart surgery of some sort, but thinking about it she was trying to relax me ;o)

So I told her about the operation and stuff, and then I went back to the waiting room.

And the next time I would be called it will be to see the actual Doctor!

So a couple of minutes later finally get called and me and James go in...

She asked me about my operation and what aftercare I have received etc, and then wanted to have a listen.

So I sat on the bed and she had a listen and said it sounded ok and there were no murmurs but my heart was beating really fast.

She then said that when some people have been in hospital a lot when they were children they panic at having to go to hospital again...

...this set me off crying (it was a mixture of the memories and all of the hormones flying about at the moment), anyway she gave me a hug.

I was then told that as far as she is concerned that there should be no problem with me having a natural childbirth!  Yikes that means that I will have to go through labour.

But I do have to go back for another Echocardiogram in 11 months time because they couldnt see my heart very well where everything has been pushed up.

Im not sure what answer i would have preferred but I dont do pain too well!

where...

I have been thinking about the urban legend that if your waters break in Marks & Spencer then your baby gets free shopping for life.

So this has set me thinking what is the best deal that I can do for my baby...

LOL I did ask the manager in Starbucks if the baby would get free coffees for life if my waters broke in there?  She laughed and said "it didnt bear thinking about" but they would be able to deliver me once the store had closed ;o)

I am now weighing up the pros and cons of different shops and what I feel they could offer me before taking up loitering in a particular store...

...I know for sure that I will be staying away from the likes of Poundland or any charity shops (just in case)!

If it wasnt such a trek to the local Hotel Chocolat then I would surely take up residence in there ;o)  So I may just have to lower my sights and go to Thorntons and my local one does have a cafe so it wouldnt look so obvious what I was doing ;o)

Those of you wanting to see the video of me waddling ;o)

is that a waddle

That is what my boss asked me this morning ;o)

LOL I will have to watch out if ducklings start to follow me ;o)

I will get James to video motion picture me so that I can see how I look ;o)

not as nice as the gingerbread latte

Christmas has officially started as the Christmas drinks are out in Starbucks ;o)

So I had to try the new praline mocha skinny and decaff (thank you very much) all I can say is thank goodness for decaff coffee ;o)...

...the drink is ok but I much prefer the gingerbread latte or the toffee nut latte...

...so the praline mocha is going on the "if Starbucks ever runs out of gingerbread, toffee nut syrup or eggnog" reserves list.

all of the right ticks

Yesterday I left work at lunchtime as I had an appointment to see the midwife.

She told me that I had all of the right ticks in relation to the bloodtests I had a couple of weeks ago ;o)

My glucose levels and my blood count were all within the normal ranges ;o)

Christmas food for Halloween

I went into M&S at lunchtime for some lunch and saw that they have their Christmas food out now....

Surely the start date for selling Christmas food should be after Halloween!

And I know that I am encouraging them by buying the stuff but I just couldnt help myself...

...besides I had to buy the Christmas pudding smoothie in view of my quest to increase my calcium levels ;o)

Happy Halloween everyone ;o)

bump touching

I have read of lots of instances of pregnant women having their bumps touched by complete strangers.

Well this hasnt happened to me (yet)...

...but I was in Starbucks this weekend and two of the nice (actually the are all nice) baristas touched my bump (which I didnt mind) ;o)

I will have to wait to see if it starts happening on a regular basis.

the red cup is out of the bag

Yesterday morning I was walking past Starbucks at Liverpool Street Station and saw this A-board (hee hee they put the wrong side out on display)...

the question is when the drinks are finally out on Thursday do I go for my favourite gingerbread latte or should I try the new praline mocha?

decisions decisions decisions...

...who am I kidding Im going to have to try the new one ;o)

registering for WBN 2012

Last year James was chosen to be a giver for World Book Night...

The book he gave out was Agent Zigzag.  I have still to read it and am going to do so when I start my Maternity Leave ;o)

...so this year I decided to register too thus doubling our chances of being picked ;o)

You have to give a choice of three books that you would  like to give out and I have gone for these...

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Someone Like You by Roald Dahl

The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

So hopefully I will be chosen ;o).

My UK based friends should register too if you fancy giving out some books.

There is US World Book Night too which will be on the same day as ours but the registration wont be until December.

its all getting a bit too real

My replacement started yesterday...

...I am now teaching her everything that I do!

LOL somebody was winding me up yesterday saying that I cant leave until she knows everything...

...so I said I can teach her real quick when I need to ;o)

flu jab

Yesterday morning I went for my flu jab...

I walked into the Doctors Surgery and told the receptionist that I had an appointment at 08.22 for my flu jab, and she said to walk down to the nurses office.

I walked down there and saw that there was one lady having her jab done so I went to sit down and a nurse in the other room called me in...

...she asked me if I had had the vaccination before and I said no she then asked me why I was having it done and I said that it was because I am pregnant, she then said that "being pregnant you should be used to being prodded and poked by now" ;o)

She then asked me if I had any allergies and I said no she then asked if I could eat chicken & eggs?  I can eat chicken & eggs so I am ok but what if I was a vegetarian or a vegan?

As I come out from having my injection I saw a queue of 80 old people snaking around the surgery, the front of the queue wasnt where I had come from but was toward the doctors rooms.

Oooohhh how I would have loved to take a pop shot at a few of them...

...dont worry I didnt but I was mighty tempted ;o)

Following littluns love of music I made sure that I watched both Dancing With The Stars and Strictly Come Dancing and surprisingly enough she boogied to two songs on DWTS but absolutely nothing on SCD...

...she clearly prefers the American version!

Talking of Strictly I had a dream last night that Jason walked out on the show in disgust after being in the bottom two :o(  I cant remember try as I might who he was at the bottom with.

Very strange...

leaning against the luggage rack

Yesterday we had overhead wire problems...

...I knew that the trains were going to be bad when I checked nxea journey planner following the alert that I received errrr alerting me to these, as half on the trains were starting halfway down the trainline thus avoiding where the overhead wire problems and us lowly passengers too.

I already knew that the two trains that I normally catch were starting at Shenfield so decided to get on the first train that was going my way...

I got to Liverpool Street Station and saw that there was an intercity train going to Norwich and as I was walking down the platform trying to find an empty seat I saw that the train was now standing room only so so I got on at the end carriage and stood leaning on the luggage rack (it wasnt too bad to be honest).

Hee hee I was in the quiet carriage and flouted the rules by not only listening to my MP3 player but I was also sending text messages ;o)

tolerating glucose

Today I had to go for a glucose tolerance test, the test was booked for 9am this morning by the midwife when I went to see her last week.

In the leaflet I received with the bloodtest paperwork it said that you have to fast for 12 hours before the test (no food or drink other than water), which was fair enough.  But when I was told that I then had to wait another two hours before I could eat anything I was doing my pieces...

...LOL I think my exact words to the midwife was "I will be eating anything that moves by then" ;o)  She told me to bring a sandwich with me and a book to stave off the boredom.

When I was cooking my dinner last night I did two sausages extra so I could have them in a sandwich for after the test.

Anyway 9pm came last night and I dutifully stuck to just drinking water...

...James was winding me up by asking if I wanted him to do me a full English breakfast the next morning as I was having a lie in!  I told him to stop being so cruel ;o)

This morning I got up half an hour before we were supposed to leave (to stop the temptation for me to eat) .

I got to the hospital about 15 minutes before I had to have the test so I found where I had to go and then plonked myself down and did some people watching.

Then about five minutes before I went to the toilet (knowing that I wasnt supposed to move for two whole hours I thought I will go again now.

The bloodtest wasnt carried out in the normal bloodtest area but in a special place for appointments, there were two other women who were pregnant like me and another one who had a six week old little boy (she must have been intolerant as she had to be restested after the birth).

Plus there were countless old people who wouldnt stop their incessant inane nattering :o(

I had the first bloodtest ok then was given a lemon drink to drink then had to sit back in the waiting area for two hours not being allowed to move even an inch...

About half an hour before I was due to be rebled (cant think of a better term) one of the women started to feel faint (she had her husband with her) so the technician did the rebleed for her about 20 minutes earlier than he should have done...

...the other pregnant lady was complaining that two hours was far too long to have to wait.

I then had my rebleed and promptly ate my sausage sandwich and also had a banana before I even left the waiting room ;o)

and I am about to have my first cup of tea of the day ;o)

bigger portions

As you may remember last week I was whinging and whining about the touchpad on the new laptop...

...well today I am using a proper mouse ;o)

James always gets me to get his portions of chips for him from the takeaway (quite why he wont go in there himself I dont know) anyway yesterday I went and got him some fish & chips and he was saying how he had got a far bigger portion than he gets normally and did the woman say as she was serving me that "there were some extra chips for the baby" ;o)

Today James wanted some more chips (from a different chip shop) and I was watching the lady serving me and she was definitely putting more chips in the portion ;o)  LOL she even asked me how many weeks I had left to go and how I was feeling ;o)

Perhaps this was all down to me wearing a proper maternity top as opposed to the XL t-shirts I normally wear ;o)

scents of the past

I was walking back down the stairs at work after one of my many toilet visits…

…and I could smell geranium oil and I was transported back to working in Chelmsford.

I used to work with one lady and she was very much into aromatherapy and had a wooden box full of different oils and one of them was geranium which would remind me of Turkish Delight, and everytime she got that smell out it would drive me into a frenzy (Im not kidding either)

Hee hee it got to the point where she could only get that smell out just before lunchtime so that I could get myself  some Turkish Delight otherwise I would be whinging and whining about it…;o)

So…

…at lunchtime I went and bought myself some Turkish Delight ;o)

twisting in my tummy

I was watching Dancing With the Stars this morning the theme was "the year that most influenced" (just incase my US friends let slip who has gone out since ;o))

Chubby Checker had a guest appearance and he was singing Lets Twist Again..

...littlun liked it because she was moving around loads (and I swear that she was doing the dance moves too ;o))

I was distraught at the thought of Carson Kressley being in jeopardy  and was well pleased when Tom said that he was safe ;o)

upping my calcium levels

Every week I get an e-mail from Babycentre telling me how littlun is doing...

...James gets his e-mail two days before I get mine as he hasnt updated the due date on his profile...

With that in mind yesterday he e-mailed me a snippet saying that littlun is needing lots of calcium and if I dont get enough then what is needed will get nicked from my bones!

I dont actually like the taste of milk so my first thought was to buy flavoured milk but James pointed out that I shouldnt get anything with too much added sugar...

...so I have bought some yoghurt smoothies - the one that I am drinking as I blog is a vanilla bean & maple syrup one ;o)

pastrying myself out

I was so hungry this morning when I got in (despite eating a bowl of Golden Grahams first thing this morning) that I ate my chocolate Brioche and have now just gone out to buy myself a maple pecan plait ;o)

getting to grips

On Thursday morning we had decided (or rather James had sweet talked me into it) on going to Upminster so that he could look around the charity shops...

...knowing how much I hate charity shops he said that I could sit in Costa while he looked around the shops, but no he conveniently couldnt remember where the place was and because it was so cold outside I decided to go in the places with him.

When we eventually only had two shops left to go in he then finally saw the sign for the coffee shop...

...and I found us a table for two and got myself a deaff skinny latte and a bag of mini muffins as I was getting hungry.

I forgot to mention that before we were going to leave for Upminster James tried to switch on the PC and the screen was just flashing (like when the monitor has been switched on but the PC is still off) and nothing happened he had even tried all of these settings that he knows of and still nothing happened...

...yes our PC had finally given up the ghost

So we had to buy a laptop (we were thinking about getting something for when I start my maternity leave and this forced us to do something sooner rather than later).

So please excuse the swearing as I am getting to grips with not having an effing mouse ;o)  And please also excuse if any thing doesnt read right as the blooming touchpad is jumping all over the place!

Now for something completely different

Last night we were sitting there eating our dinner and James lifted up my t-shirt and I saw him dangling a piece of asparagus by my bellybutton he then said "she doesnt want it at the moment" and promptly shoved it
tip first into my bellybutton "in case she changes her mind"  I tried to tell him that she doesnt get he food that way and he said that he "thought that she would grab the food like one of those skelenton moneyboxes do" yes he uses the actual word skelenton.  I will have to make sure that she doesnt pick up any of his ungood English ;o)

shrinking spaces

James had the step ladder out the other day to put some stuff in the loft after clearing out our spare room...

...normally I can get past the step ladder easily enough but when I tried to I couldnt get past!  If I thought that James could be arsed to do it then I would have sworn that he is purposely moving doorframes etc just to annoy me ;o)

I know that my bump is getting big but I didnt think that it was that big yet ;o)

I would rather take my chances...

I was looking in the Argos catalogue yesterday for electric breast pumps (as I certainly dont intend to do it manually) and I saw that the cheapest ones start at nearly £90.00 blimey Im certainly not paying that for one...

...I would rather take my chances on the farming equipment that James was hoping to get hold of!

While I was looking in the catalogue I found us a cheap travel system and even better than that we got £30.00 off too ;o)  We went instore to buy the item (which we had reserved online) James paid for it and gave me the receipt while I sat down (knowing that what we were buying would be instantly recognisable) and sure enough a couple of minutes later we saw one of the assistants struggling with our massive box (not quite sure how I managed it to be packaged).

I gave the lady the receipt and she found the product code (to make sure that we werent going to make off with someonelses buggy) and asked if we wanted to use a trolley James said yes please if its not too much trouble.

Then a bloke (who seemed to be just people watching) asked if we would like him to carry it back to the car for us, again James said yes please, and the bloke hoisted it on to his shoulder and carried it (like it weighed nothing at all) back to the car.  James got him to leave it by the car and then he struggled to get it onto the back seat.

I had meanwhile looked in the Mothercare catalogue to see if they were any cheaper on the electric breast pumps and sure enough I found one for £50.00 (LOL I probably would have said that this one was too expensive had I not seen how much they were in Argos).

While we were in there we looked at loads of other bits too including a highchair and a baby bath.

I went to use the toilet while I was in store and was well impressed that there was a potty in every cubicle...

...how good is that ;o)

clearing out the spare room

Today is the start (or rather Friday at 4pm was) of our two weeks off of work ;o)

We have got off to a good start this morning by clearing out the spare room (it has been used for all of our junk for the most part).

We went out to Tesco this afternoon for a bit of fresh air and while we were in there we bought some baby stuff...

a steriliser, bottles and some dummies and even better the steriliser had one third off too ;o)  Although I am intending to breastfeed the bottles and steriliser are just for emergency.

On our way down to Tesco James casually asked if I thought that Old MacDonalds Farm allowed you to milk the animals?  I said yes Im pretty sure that they would let you milk a cow (as kiddies like getting hands on with the animals) then he said a few minutes later "its not going to be that much different is it? and they might have some spare equipment!"

I screamed back at him that its totally different...

I was flabbergasted! ;o)

bread pudding

This weekend in Chelmsford there is an Autumn Food & Wine Fayre...

...it is nothing exciting just five stalls selling overpriced food and drink.

One of the stalls was for Costco James got all excited because he thought that this meant that one would be opening in Chelmsford...

...when he asked the lady manning (or should that be womanning) the stall she said no the nearest one is at Lakeside Retail Park, James was disappointed to say the least - it would be interesting to know how many people didnt sign up simply because there wasnt one opening nearby...

...and will she tell the powers that be?

Anyway I did buy something from the food fayre...

...some corn bread - which wasnt made with cornmeal (as in American stylee) but bread with sweetcorn in (so that was yet another disappointment), and I did buy a piece of bread pudding and that was nice.

withdrawn or not withdrawn?

I went to Sainsburys last night to get a few bits of shopping to tide us or rather me over until the weekend...

There was only three things that I needed to get...

...clementines (because I had ran out), spinach and some sort of fruit for dessert to have tonight.

I bought some strawberries and two bags of spinach but had completely forgotten the clementines and only realised when I was getting my stuff ready last night!  Isnt that just typical?

So this morning I popped into Tesco to get a replacement for the clementines, I ended up getting a packet of ready prepared watermelon and I also picked up a croissant.

So I queued up at the self service tills (as they were the only thing that was available first thing) and scanned the watermelon then I touched bakery products on the screen found the croissant touched that I was then asked how many so I keyed in 1 and the screen said that the product had been withdrawn!

So I tried again and again it said that the croissant had been withdrawn...

...I REALLY fancied a croissant what was I going to do now?

So I called over the staff member who was watching the self service tills and he could see the distress on my face and he put in his ID and then keyed in the code for a croissant...

...phew a pregnant meltdown was averted ;o)

echocardiogram & first kicks

Me & James were sitting there last night watching Hells Kitchen USA LOL I think that Gordon Ramsay was in a mid screaming session ;o) I had my hand on my bump and I felt some kicking I grabbed hold of James hand and he felt it too - it was on the left hand side of my tummy ;o)

James likes to lie with his head on my lap, so if I want to "train" littlun to "accidentally" kick James in the head I am going to have to get him lie on the otherside (as he tends to be on the right hand side) and with his head up higher.

For some unknown reason James isnt too keen on this! ;o)

This morning I had to go for an echocardiogram the consultant referred me to see a Cardiologist who wanted me to go for this test first...

It went well and the lady doing the test said that she couldnt see anything of concern so that was a relief ;o)  But she did say that pregnancy pushes everything up so you cant get a good look at the heart.

When I was able to see the screen (I first had to lie on my left hand side and could only see the wall) I couldnt actually see anything but I did get to hear my heart beat so I know that I am still breathing - when I told James this he said " I wonder how many times she has heard that" ;o)

I havent felt anymore kicks or extra bumps but she is still moving about ;o)

it was a definite body part

I was lying in bed this morning on my side and I turned over so that I could sit up to drink the cup of tea that James had brought me up.  I felt my bump like I normally do and I felt another bump too ;o)

I took James hand so he could feel it too and I gave it a little stroke to see if it would move but it didnt.  I then sat up and gave my bump another feel and the extra bump had gone.

I havent felt any proper kicks yet but this was so much better ;o)

I have been watching Jamies Kitchen Australia and was well surprised to see George on there (not as one of the students but as a chef to give guidance) from Masterchef Australia - he looked a lot younger than what he does now and he had hair too!

I am watching too many crime shows

I had a dream last night that I was bleeding...

...and I had used some luminol and was looking at it under a fluorescent light ;o)

Then I woke up...

Was it worth potentially missing the train for

I got to the train station last night and out of the corner of my eye I saw someone handing out goodies...

I was umming and ahhing as to if it was worth missing the 16.14 for (as it is I catch it by the skin of my teeth) then I though I can always get the 16.17...

so I went and saw what was being given out...

...it was a Friij Raspberry Doughnut Milkshake ;o)

As it happened I managed to catch the earlier train and the bloke sitting next to me had a milkshake too ;o)

It tasted ok but I dont think that I would shell out any hard cash for it...

Making teas but not carrying them back

I went to make the drinks at 11am this morning, and everyone (apart from me because I am on herbal teas) still had full cold cups of tea from where the milk that my colleague had used had gone manky.

Why anyone didn’t go to remake them I don’t know…

…oh well back to this post now ;o)

My colleagues took their cups out (so that I didnt have to carry the heavy tray).  LOL ironically its my mug that is the heaviest of the lot ;o)

One of my colleagues said “I don’t think that you should be making the tea anymore" (and I fully agreed) thinking that he would then offer to make them…

…but no he said “after you have made the teas come and tell me and I will carry the tray back” well its half a result anyway ;o)

condensed parentcraft

Yesterday me and James went to the Parentcraft class at Broomfield Hospital...

We were quite surprised that all of the women (and their significant others) attending were all in their thirties or forties, we were half expecting a load of teenagers to be there...

...all of the women were far more pregnant than I am (by between eight and 12 weeks) and even the midwife commented that she didnt understand why they had put me in with this class when I was bound to forget about what was said when the time came.  I did say that it was because "people dont have babies around Christmas" but I think it went over her head.

The midwife running it was really nice and explained things in detail, but she kept on getting interrupted by people asking questions.

We had to start by breaking up from our pairs and talking to someone else for a few minutes and then introducing them to the group and saying three things about them...

...I was talking to this lady but we were just chatting about general things and forget to ask each other anything about ourselves - so we just picked up on what each others partners were saying ;o)

We then had to say why we had come to the class and as usual you had the odd bloke saying that "she made me come".  You had the usual "what to expect" "fear of the unknown" "when is it time to come in" etc

We then went through labour and when it starts and what happens...

...most of us were first time Mums apart from one lady who already has an eight year old - so with everything she was saying she was turning to that lady and saying "of course that wont be happening with you"  She only had a five hour labour last time but that still seems long enough for me!

Then we broke off for lunch...

...me and James rushed off to get something to eat from the Marks & Spencer and because it was nice we went and ate our stuff outside ;o)

We then went back and we got a tour of the delivery suite because it was quiet (that sounds so much nicer than a labour ward ;o))   It was very nice in there and all of the equipment was hidden away behind cupboard doors.  LOL they even have gas and air on hand in the bathroom ;o)  How cool is that?

We then went back and spoke about the afterbirth.

And then she said about the checks that are done on the baby afterwards and how that if you have had a straightforward birth then you can go home four hours later!

When my Mum had me she had to stay in for 10 days...

we then had a lucky dip bag of items where we all had to pull out an item - I ended up with a kiwi suction thing (James kept on sticking it on his leg and walked out of the class with suction rings on his calf - honestly I cant take him anywhere) and James had an aerosol can of water (to cool Mum down in the throws of labour), LOL I can see him trying to save some money by using a washing up liquid bottle to just squirt at me ;o).

She then went through the reasons why we had gone to the class (to make sure everything was covered) and quizzed us on the signs of labour.

I must say that I am getting more apprehensive about it all now.

But it really cant be that bad if my Mum went through it four times.

All in all the course could have done with lasting longer than four hours...

...they used to run for eight weeks!

decaff skinny creme brulee macchiato

I had just got off of the train and was passing the Starbucks in Liverpool Street Station, and I saw that their A-board was advertising a new drink...

a Creme Brulee Macchiato, remembering how nice their Creme Brulee latte was from a few years ago (still dont know why they only did that drink for one year)...

...so with eager anticipation I popped into the Starbucks on Houndsditch and ordered my drink...

...LOL I even threw caution to the wind and ordered it in their biggest size ;o)  I normally order a new drink in the small size if it is something that is an unknown entity.

I must say that I wasnt disappointed ;o)  It is lovely, and LOL my brain is telling me that its good for littlun as it is extra calcium ;o)

good vs evil

That is how Donald Trump described the finale of the US Celebrity Apprentice between Trace Adkins who was "good" against Piers Morgan who was "evil".

I was watching it and I thought well this is bound to be a bit of a whitewash with a statement like that coming from Donald Trump himself.

I watched Piers throughout the series and I didnt think that he was "evil" ruthless? yes and I wouldnt have put it past him to sell his own granny if that would have won him a task, but then you dont become a journalist or a tabloid editor by being "nice".

Being British I totally got Piers' sense of humour and his "aggression", but he didnt go down at all well with his American fellow celebrities and when Donald asked them if they preferred Trace or Piers they all said Trace because he was nicer (LOL none of them mentioned his sexy Southern accent ;o)).

James thought that he wasnt liked simply because he was British but I think it was mainly down to cultural differences.

Surprisingly enough Piers won but then he did raise loads more money for charity, and that was the purpose of the show.

If you watched that series what did you think of Piers?  I know that for my US friends I am a couple of years out of date...

...but still ;o)

I just made it through the closing doors

I got to Chelmsford train station this morning and saw that the train that I was in time to catch was running late.

I went upto the platform and got to the rough area where the doors would open, we waited for the train to arrive...

...when it did turn up it was the next train and I was in completely the wrong place plus I was near to where the first class compartment was too :o(

So I got on the train and it became apparent that I wasnt going to get a seat so I got off of the train just as the doors were closing (LOL a complete reversal as people normally get on through the closing doors ;o)).

I waited probably no more than six minutes for the next train to arrive for it to be half empty, so I had a nice comfy journey ;o)

functionality over beauty

Since becoming pregnant my boobs have ballooned...

...yesterday I decided that it was time to have a bra fitting done, I was going into Mothercare anyway to pick up an order I placed online (incidentally it still hasnt come in yet and the delivery date was supposed to be Friday), so I got it done in there and I knew that they wouldnt be as busy as they are in Marks & Spencer.

So armed with my new bra size I went to have a look in M&S at their non wired bras.  All I could find were horrible granny ones that my Mum would wear (no offence Mum ;o)).

So I thought ok I will have a look in Sainsburys tomorrow while doing the food shopping, again they had a very small selection and what they had were hideous.

As we were going back into town I conceded to look in Mothercare at what they had...

...at least they had a decent selection, but again the bras just aint nice looking so I went for four that look like this.

This morning I put on a top that is flowing and James had the cheek to say that it didnt so much make me look pregnant but a bit overweight!  Still the doctors have confirmed that he should be back to eating solids by the beginning of October ;o)

something James said

I am always seeking reassurance from James that I still look pregnant rather than fat, and yesterday (before we left to see the consultant) he said that I "would be hard pressed to convince someone that I wasnt pregnant" ;o)

Yesterday afternoon I was on the phone to a broker that I am chatty with and he asked me how the pregnancy was going?  Now I hadnt actually told him that I was pregnant so he must have asked one of my work colleagues or I am looking pregnant ;o)

hiccuping on the train

I have had two short days to go with my short week ;o)

Yesterday afternoon was having my completing scan after littlun was being particularly stubborn ;o)

And this morning was seeing the consultant.

The scan went really well although the sonographer found three fibroids the biggest of which is five centimetres - five centimetres is frikking huge!  Luckily they are not in a dodgy place so all should be well ;o)

The consultants appointment went well too (James got to hear the babys heartbeat ;o)) she explained to us about the fibroids in more detail and is referring me to see a Cardiologist (LOL I was hoping to be seen there and then) oh well at least that means another short day ;o)

The train was just pulling into Liverpool Street and I started hiccuping the lady sitting opposite me on the train was laughing at me ;o)

walking in the rain

Yesterday afternoon after finishing our lunch me and James went for a walk.  The clouds were really grey as we left the house so we took a golf umbrella with us and sure enough halfway there there was a downpour.

We walked down to the Chelmer Village Retail Park mainly so that we or rather James could look at the yummy things being sold in T K Maxx.  The last time we went in there was when I was looking for a formal dress for our cruise back in October and they had lots of yummy things (being just before Christmas).

However going in August there were only a few bits and they didnt even have a customer bathroom that I could see.

So we then went into Costa (as I was absolutely desperate by then) and we walked in and there was a fairly long queue for people waiting to be served.  James went and got a seat and I stood in line about three minutes later James came over (he must have seen the pained expression on my face) and said that he would get the drinks so that I could go to the toilet, do you know that when I came back the queue hadnt moved at all.  I think that he eventually got served about 10 minutes later.

He came over with our drinks he had got me what I had wanted but ended up only having a black coffee himself (in the belief that he would get our drinks quicker) so I let him have some of my decaff latte so his wouldnt taste so bitter.

After Costas we then went into Hobbycraft so that I could have a look at the stuff for making cards.

We then made our way home and luckily the rained held off until we got back ;o)

the doors were locked

I walked upto the building where I work this morning and there was a lady stood outside (my first thought was I hope she doesnt want me to let her in).

I got my fob out and she said that they werent working, so I tried my one and sure enough it wouldnt let me in *sigh*.

So I walked around to Pret a Manger (first making sure that they had a restroom) before ordering myself a decaf coffee.  I got my coffee and took it upstairs and made sure I sat by the toilet.

I eventually finished my coffee and made use of their facilities and by this time I knew that the building management team would be there.

I then walked back around to my building and was soon hit with the realisation that we still couldnt get in by the crowd of people stood outside.

Not wishing to stand up I found somewhere to sit down...

...I would have put my MP3 player on to occupy myself but there was a burglar alarm going off and it was far too windy to be able to read Metro too, so I just sat there people watching.

The building manager then turned up with a key but she couldnt get it to work in the lock she then went around to a side door and she couldnt get that one opened either, she then said that a security person were on their way.

We waited some more...

The office manager lady then turned up with a security person (a youngish bloke with a rucksack) and they again tried the main front door and again it wouldnt open...

...they then darted off to the side and about three or four minutes later the front doors were opened from the inside, so we all rushed in.

By this time I was again in need of the toilet so I ummed and ahhed about whether to chance using the elevator, as the doors opened my mind was made up and I darted in (thank goodness that the floor that I wanted was the first one it was going to stop at ;o)).

brain fog

Last night I went into the kitchen to turn the oven on so it could be warming up before putting my dinner in.

James went into the kitchen 10 minutes later to put the stuff in the oven only to find that I hadnt turned it on!

LOL I had managed to put the empty bag from the spinach and the spring onions (or scallions to my mates across the pond) into the recycling, but didnt do the main thing that I went into the kitchen for ;o)

the weirdos have descended

This weekend is the V Festival and Chelmsford is over run with festival goers...

I had even considered having Friday off as a days holiday as I was convinced that as I would be travelling when the cheap train tickets are still in force that I wouldnt be able to get a seat.  I was all ready to thrust my bump into someones face so that I could have their seat, I need not had worried as I got a seat in the very first carriage, I happened to be sitting with a few French Foreign Exchange Students though!

Here is a photo of a festival goer on his way to Chelmsford...

now back to the French kids...

...as we were passing the Olympic Stadium I heard a voice (from further down the carriage) shout out that on the left is the Olympic Stadium and then she translated it into French too, the kids that I were sitting with just vaguely looked up form their smart phones to have a glance out of the window.

We pulled into Chelmsford and a few obvious looking festival goers got off of the train, Im guessing that loads more were going to arrive later in the evening.

We normally go into town early on Saturday morning so managed to avoid the influx of people

Following on from buying maternity trousers the other week I bought a few tops yesterday, and will have to look to buy a few more online.

You really would think that more shops would sell maternity stuff!

reading to the bump

On the weekly update that I received from Babycentre yesterday it said that the baby can hear everything that is being said now ;o)

It also suggested reading the same book to the bump every day and to continue reading the same one after littlun has been born to see if she responds ;o)

So I had a looksie last night at the four Little Miss Books that James bought me a few years ago, and I saw that  one of them was Little Miss Stubborn (I cant think why he would have bought that for me ;o)).

So I read Little Miss Stubborn to her ;o)

It reminds me of when Brother #2 and my Sister were little and I was reading Mr Chatterbox to them and my Brother thought I was making it up when I said that he talked all day and all night ;o).

I am letting getting James to chose a book that he can read to her too ;o)

Christmas chocolates and £2 off

The other day I got a club update from Hotel Chocolat, in there was a £2 off voucher to use towards one of their special selections...

...so I used it towards my Christmas Box ;o)

thick hair

I went to the hairdressers yesterday to have my roots coloured in...

...I was sitting by their pc and saw that my details were on the screen.  Luckily they hadnt written anything horrible about me such as "she should try brushing her hair sometimes" ;o)

While my hairdresser was cutting my hair afterwards she told me that my hair had gotten thicker and that it was one of the pregnancy side effects.

Now my hair is normally thick so it makes me wonder if it is now more like a broom ;o)

stubborn like Mum

Yesterday we went for our 20 week scan...

We go to the hospital well early on account of James thinking that our appointment was 15 minutes earlier.

Anyhow our appointment time came and went and we were still sitting in the waiting area, finally we were still sitting and waiting 15 minutes past our time and we were the last people sitting there and I went to the receptionist to ask (if we had been forgotten about) and she said that there were three sonographers working that day and the person in front of us had a naughty baby.

We eventually got called in and I laid on the couch and she started to run her probe over my tummy and we could see the baby (interestingly enough she had left the screen on above where I was lying - the last time they had it turned off until they detected the heartbeat).  LOL the baby was covering the eyes with the hands playing peek a boo ;o)

Then the sonographer started doing all of her checks and then asked if we wanted to know what we are having?  We both said "oh yes please" and she said that it looks like a girl (as there are no dangly bits) ;o)  Yay were having a girl - James did say that he was hoping for a monkey (perhaps he will get his wish next time ;o)).

She managed to do all of the checks apart from the ones on the heart, so after lots of prodding I was eventually told to have a walk and a jump around for 20 minutes to see if we could get her to move a bit.

So we went for a walk around the hospital with me doing a few jumps (just for good measure) and went back to the ultrasound waiting room, we get called back in and she still hasnt moved (she is definitely stubborn like me ;o)).

On our way home we popped into Tesco to get some bits for our lunch and I bought our very first pink outfit ;o)

giving in to the elevator

Walking up the stairs at work has gradually been getting harder and harder (with me having to take rest stops)...

...well this morning I decided to just give in and use the elevator ;o)

so that is my daily exercise over & done with now...

did I feel something

According to babycentre I should start feeling littlun move...

I think that I can feel something but wonder if it is all in my imagination?

In Starbucks today we saw a sign for a new Summer frappuccino a banoffee creme...

...when it came to getting a second drink (our first drink was a hot one each) James decided he wanted to try the new one, so I got us a tall one to share.  When I looked at the receipt (while waiting for my drink to be made) I saw that I was billed for a caramel creme frappuccino and a banana.

I was eagerly watching the barista who was making the drinks to see how they were going to make the banoffee creme...

...wouldnt you know it I was watching the wrong blooming person because before I could say "blimey o'reilly" I was asked if we wanted whipped cream on the frappuccino, so I asked James (as it was going to be his drink) and he said no.

The drink itself was nice and I could even detect gobules of banana ;o)

While we were sitting in Starbucks there were a couple sitting at a table next to us, I could see that they were looking through travel brochures and James said to me (after glancing over at them) I think they are going somewhere in France as it says on the front cover on one of the brochures "al a carte" ;o)

a fan of my own

The recent nice weather has left me getting hot at work...

...we have a pedalstall fan that we had on and osculating, the only problem was that my colleagues in the middle of the office were getting cold!

So I have my very own desk fan and now everyone is happy(ish).

maternity shopping time

A few weeks ago I bought a couple of pairs of trousers for work (2 sizes too big) as I didnt want to buy anything maternity until I was errrrrr more pregnant.

Anyhow the trousers that I bought are now getting tight so I thought rather than buying bigger trousers I would just buy some maternity ones.

The only local shop to buy anything like this from is Mothercare so I went in there yesterday morning, found the maternity clothes (made them unlock the changing room) and bought these trousers these jeans and I couldnt resist this t-shirt ;o)

I even ended up joining my very first Mother & Baby club ;o)

half a pork belly sandwich

I had myself all psyched up for having half a lamb sandwich for my lunch...

...I got down to the shop an saw that they didnt have lamb written on the blackboard on the back, so I thought ok if they havent got lamb I will have sausage instead.

So I get to the front of the queue and the owner says to me "we havent got lamb today" so I said "ok I will have a sausage sandwich instead".  Then he said to me "we have in new pork belly" so I decided to go for half a pork belly sandwich (and the best bit is it still sounds greedy) and I have some pork crackling on the top too ;o)

a throw back to the 80's

I was sitting (with my eyes closed) on the train this morning.

The train pulled in to Shenfield Station I opened my eyes and saw a lady (must have been in her early to mid 20's) and she was wearing a mint green jacket and she had her cuffs folded so you could see the lining.

I think that she must have been watching too much Miami Vice ;o)

tiny heartbeat

After having the previous week off and despite having a cold I valiantly dragged myself in to work - making sure that I was sniffling and snuffling loud enough to gain some sympathy ;o)

On Tuesday I had an appointment to see the midwife anyway and decided that as I was still feeling poorly (a great word used by Mummys everywhere ;o)) I would have the day off sick.

So James managed to leave an hour early so he could give me a lift down to the doctors surgery (I was prepared to walk but wasnt going to turn down the offer of a lift), so I went into the doctors surgery and James went off to sort out his prescription.

I arrived got called in by the midwife (I told her that I had a cold hoping that she could suggest a miracle cure but she couldnt suggest anything other than taking hot honey & lemon), then she said "lets have a listen to the babys heartbeat" so I went with her into a little room and I laid down on the bed and she switched on her devise and rolled it over my tummy and yes we could hear a heartbeat ;o).

I told James about this after and he said that he had wished that he had come in with me now - perhaps he can have a listen next time ;o)

On Wednesday & Thursday I was still feeling poorly so had those days off sick too...

...then Thursday afternoon large globs of sleep started building up in my eyes - I showed James when he got home from work and said that it was conjunctivitis!  Great as if I wasnt already feeling bad enough!

So I texted my boss so he at least knew that I wouldnt be in on the Friday either.

So Thursday evening was spent bathing my eyes in cooled boiling water to remove the build up of gunk...

...I then went to bed expecting to wake up not being able to open my eyes...

...and sure enough I woke up needing the toilet (on one of my many wee visits) and couldnt open  my eyes (I managed to feel my way into the bathroom) did my business and sat on the edge of the bath for a while until I could see a little bit of light through my "willed open" eyes and and made my way back to bed.

Then I woke up at 3 am and this time I woke James up and he sorted out the cotton wool wipes and the water for  me.

By the time that James was leaving for work my eyes were fused shut again so I had to clean them AGAIN.

Luckily after that my eyes were just watering.

I rang the midwife to make sure that there was no risk to the baby and she said that there wasnt but she couldnt suggest any treatment and said that I should see the doctor.

So I rang the doctors and got an appointment for 11am I got in there and was seen on time and the doctor said "you have conjunctivitis" and prescribed me some penicillin eye drops (she assured me that they wont effect the baby), I went into Boots handed over my prescription (hoping to be able to tick the pregnancy box on the back) but she never said a word (apart from your eyes look very sore).

Anyway my eyes are looking a lot better now ;o)

a few days in Kessingland

Last week me & James spent a few days in Kessingland in Suffolk, his Mum & Dad booked a place big enough for us, them, James brother his wife and their two kiddies...

...it went ok and luckily there were no murders ;o)

We went there on the Saturday and came back on the Tuesday (leaving the other to come back on the Friday).

We mainly did stuff on the beach (so the kiddies would be amused), and it was good fun ;o)

Although on Wednesday I started to feel grotty and now have a cold (which I cant take anything for!) still I see the midwife on Tuesday so hopefully she will be able to recommend something if I am still no better.

I saw an advert on tv that Next were having a half price sale, so I decided to have a look at the baby stuff (its so much nicer when you are looking for stuff that is actually for you ;o)) I would have waited until nearer the time but thought "well it is on sale" so I ended up buying a few bits in the "new baby" size ;o)