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)