17 days old

Well, I'd been thinking that I only blogged the other day...but I've just realised that it's been nearly 2 weeks since I last posted here! :-O The days never have enough hours to get everything done...so guess the days are just passing quicker than ever! Clement is now 17 days old, which almost seems hard to believe.

There were three in the bed and the little one said... :-)

My 3 little darlings all in mummy & daddy's bed, first thing in the morning! I love this photo of my dear children! I thought it was so cute of them all together. Taken when Clement was 9 days old.

Mummy and her 2 boys, when Clement was 9 days old! Benjamin was desperate to hold his baby brother (something that he wants to do alll day long - which means I really need an extra set of eyes to make sure Clement is safe!

Looking very calm and sleepy, at 12 days old.

2 weeks old (not the greatest of photos, but the best I managed to get of him that day). He weighed in at 9lb 10oz at the middle of last week, and although he's not been officially weighed this week, he's well over 10lb on our (postal!) scale at home - and he'll get weighed by the health visitor next week.

Taken this evening (17 days old) wearing some lovely wool trousers ("longies", as they're called!), which means they can go straight over a cloth nappy and are the waterproof layer instead of a wrap or "plastic pants"!

Isn't he soooo cute??! :-) (of course I would think so!) Not sure if it's a proper smile yet, but he keeps giving the impression that he knows what's going on and often responds to us talking to him with smiles and nearly cooing!

Well, afraid this post is nearly all photos - as might become more common, with me having less time to think up lots of words to say! I'm rather sleep-deprived at the moment, and don't feel my brain is up to much! As it happens, it's *not* the newborn that is making me lose sleep...but his 2yo brother, who is still struggling with eczema and middle of the night desperate scratching. :( Thankfully Clement has been sleeping very well at night - not even aware of him causing me to wake in the night - he just gets taken into bed for a feed at some point...probably while I'm still asleep! LOL Anyway, I could probably think of more to say, but I'm too tired to think. So, goodnight! :)

5 days old

Well, Clement is already 5 days old today! Thought I'd try to post up a few (or maybe more than a few!) photos from the past few days. :) I was beginning to think he was going to be a very fussy baby - especially after yesterday when it was 5pm before I was able to put him down for more than 5 minutes without him crying! I ended up wearing him in a sling for a few hours in the afternoon so that I could get some laundry, dishes, and general tidying up done! He just slept peacefully the whole time he was in there - clearly enjoying it (as you'll see in a couple of photos below). Thankfully he was very content in the evening and again most of today. So perhaps he's adjusting to life outside the womb! :-) He always stops crying whenever he's being fed - but when I've fed him for the best part of 2 hours, I know he's had plenty to eat and there's no way he's still hungry! So I think it's his tummy that's feeling a bit unsettled/wind and it makes him want to feed.

The midwife weighed Clement on day 3 and he'd lost 7oz (which is perfectly normal/acceptable) though I was a bit surprised. However, today (day 5) when he was weighed again...he's now *above* his birth weight - a healthy 9lbs! Soooo, a weight gain of 9 ounces in only 2 days! Quite impressive really! :-)

OK, so here are photos....and then I *must* get some sleep - maybe! ;-)

2 days old (trying on a pair of wool trousers, which were toooo small!)

Close up of face - 2 days old

Looking such a big boy at 3 days old!

Sleeping peacefully in the sling - 3 days old

Close up of the happy baby! :-) Baby wearing really does have its benefits! ;-)

Out of the sling and wrapped up in a swaddle blanket - a very peaceful little boy! (3 days old)

Not a very clear photo, but shows how big he is! (4 days old)

My favourite photo so far! :-) He'd been sleeping on the couch and woke up to have a good look at everything. Benjamin got very excited when he saw him so wide awake and said "Look! Clement is looking around at Benjy!"

And can't forget to include some photos of my other lovely children! :-) This photo (and the 2 below) were taken about a week before Clement was born. We had absolutely lovely weather - you'd hardly know it could be Scotland! ;-) It was not only sunny but warm too - and at the beginning of April! The children even got to have a picnic outside on the front porch!

Benjamin looking a bit hot from the sun

Running in the square out front

OK, off to bed I *must* go!

Introducing....

Clement James! Born at home, on the 11th of April at 2:12pm - weighing 8lb 14oz, and 22.5 inches long.

Getting dressed for the first time - his first nappy (an xs Motherease Sandy's - for any cloth nappy/diaper fans out there! though it's on the largest popper setting, as he's a big boy!)

With nappy wrap on top (small Motherease Airflow)

And all dressed at last - I think this sleepsuit is a size 0-3m - and doesn't look like he'll fit it for long! Must dig out the larger baby clothes, as I can't seem him fitting into newborn sized things (like Benjamin did)...and certainly not "early baby" size like Abigail wore for weeks! :-D

So, my lovely baby boy is here at last! After a very long & tiring labour, I must say! I had various contractions and signs of labour since Monday this week - with two nights of contractions which kept me from sleeping. We even had the midwives out on Thursday morning thinking something was surely happening, but the contractions vanished! Then last night I had very painful contractions every 10 minutes the entire night...which means I had no sleep! However, I still felt nothing was happening this morning and nearly felt like giving up on the idea of having the baby at home. However, when the midwife came out at 9am today she said she wasn't leaving...she felt I *was* in labour! So, in the end we had 3 midwives out when Clement was actually born. It was a very long struggle, but eventually he was born this afternoon. I think a very big head was part of the problem - and prevented labour from getting properly established - also made for a difficult delivery! But thankfully, I got there in the end. I did resort to using "gas & air" for about 45 mintues (soon before he was born) just to help me relax, as I was sooo exhausted. So, natural home birth with no complications - just long and tiring! :) But certainly worth it - we have a lovely little boy, who has fed like a pro from the start, and is very happy and content.

Abigail & Benjamin are very pleased with a new baby brother. Abigail asked "Do we get to keep him tomorrow too" and at one point Benjamin said "Mummy got Baby Clement from a shop" ....tho when asked where Clement came from, he did say "came out of mummy's tummy"! :-)

OK, must try to get some rest! :)

40 weeks pregnant ... maybe!

Well, here's me at 40 weeks pregnant:

... that is, if the 12 week dating scan was correct to give me the 1st of April as my due date! My original due date (according to my dates) was the 7th of April - and with previous pregnancies, the scan only changed my dates by 1-2 days, so I did find it odd when they moved me a week ahead. Sooo, since baby isn't here yet....I think I'll just consider the scan wrong, and that I'm not due yet! ;-) Whatever the case, I'm big and uncomfortable! Don't feel I can hardly do anything, though I'm trying to stay as active & normal as can be - as don't want to sit around and make things take any longer than necessary. But it's not very easy getting in or out of bed...or even sleeping for that matter - especially when a 2yo little boy is in the already small double bed! ;-) LOL Oh well, guess I just need to take my mind off it and maybe something will happen - hopefully soon while Sarah is still here!

Still battling eczema with Benjamin! :-'( We keep taking him to the GP (seen 4 different ones so far) but not getting anywhere really. He last went on Monday this week, and I was pleased at least that this doctor (tho only filling in this week for someone, so not likely to see him again), but he actually thought steroids were *not* a good idea and likely to only make him worse. Most doctors just love to prescribe steroids for eczema, but Benjamin's skin problems have only gotten worse since using prescription meds/creams/emollients etc! The doctor *is* going to try and get us referred to a dermatologist, so maybe we'll get more help there, though I doubt it (can you tell I don't have much faith in doctors?! LOL) Oh yes, one main reason we took him again to the doctors was because of a nasty rash on his back. He's had it for over 2.5 weeks now and it's very itchy - started on the top of his back but soon spread to cover his whole back. It behaves rather differently to the eczema on the rest of him, and doesn't respond to the emollients at all (unlike the eczema). One of my midwives was sure it was a form of eczema; a previous doctor thought it looked viral; and the doctor on Monday said maybe it was some form of infected eczema, so prescribed fucidic acid cream (antibiotic). Don't think it's doing anything though. Soooo, last night I tried a handful of porridge oats tied in an odd sock (instead of Aveeno Bath Oil), and I also rubbed the sock all over his skin to let the "oat glug" get on his skin and I was very impressed with how much better he looked when he got out of the bath. Usually his eczema is quite red, but it was rather calm...and he never tried scratching while in the bath or being dressed (unusual for him!), so I think it must have made him feel better. Early days though, as I often think something is good at first and then it quits working. But I'm going to keep trying it - even outside the bath - and see if it helps. In the mornings I'm applying a Propolis cream, then later in the morning a Urea cream (not natural, but on prescription), I use his Beeswax emolliex cream at odd times during the day (same company as makes the Propolis one), and then at bedtime he gets a thick coating of Epaderm on areas with eczema. (Not that I'm overly keen on the Epaderm, which is more paraffin stuff....and worst of all SLS!) Anyway, just have to keep trying anything I can think of to stay sane - but it's all stressful and time consuming to look after his skin. And poor Benjamin feels depressed about it too - he refers to his feet as "poor, poor feet" or "sad feet" :-( And he's loosing a lot of sleep over it, as lately we've been up 1-2 hours in a night with him itching.

Here's Benjamin wearing more clothes that I made for him (sleepsuit made into a "secure eczema daysuit"! LOL) Only problem is...my sewing machine doesn't seem to like sewing knit fabric!! :-S Anyone reading this have *any* ideas??? Everytime I try to sew something from knit fabric, the seams just burst with very little stress on them. Guessing I just don't know what I'm doing (having been someone who always liked to use ordinary cotton that didn't have a stretch to it!). So I've got piles of fabric to make clothes for him, but if they're going to burst at the seams, they'll be little use! I've got correct needles for the fabric - but maybe I'm meant to be doing a special stitch?

A cute smile - even if he's got a rather oily face from creams! :-)

Abigail playing dress-up - she came up with this combination all on her own!

Benjamin playing in the back garden yesterday. We've got lovely mild weather at the moment. They had soooo much fun playing outside and not feeling cold! Was a bit breezy (and Benjamin likes his head covered!) but was so mild.

Playing in the gravel - which I find is soooo much less messy than either dirt or sand! :-D They were making mounds of gravel (which I think were cakes) and decorating them with grass etc. Benjamin looks sooo funny in this pic!

OK, guess I'll end this post here. Getting a very sore back sitting upright to type. Maybe I'll go do some crocheting before bed...though really I ought to be putting away the 4+ loads of clean clothes!