On holiday!

Just thought I'd pop on and update this once again! :) We're actually on holiday just now - in Yorkshire (England). We arrived on Saturday last week and hope to be here for 2 weeks in total. Not a very "well in advance" planned holiday - but I hadn't wanted to book/plan anything until after the baby was born. And since Peter gets hayfever in the summer - we needed to get away soon if we were going to be able to go away while it was mild weather. So, here we are! :) I did lots of internet searching and found a lovely farm cottage (converted stables) on a 135 acre working farm. It's lovely to wake up to the sound of sheep & lambs up at our bedroom window! The children are quite enjoying the scenes around us too - tractors, goats, horses, cows etc. It's nice and peaceful. And although it seems we're in the middle of nowhere - we've actually got wireless internet here, so I can blog while I'm away.

Life continues to be busy (esp with Benjamin's eczema, which seems to only get worse) - and wee Clement has started being a bit more demanding the past week (screaming if he's put down and wanting to be held or worn in the sling most of the day). Thankfully he does sleep very well at nights - usually only waking once at most for a feed! So I guess I shouldn't complain. But the fact of having to watch Benjamin so closely night & day means I still don't feel very rested even though Clement sleeps at night.

I've got lots of photos here - like 15 in total! The first 5-7 are from before we went on holiday, and then the rest are from yesterday & today.

Please excuse the grumpy/tired looking face above! lol I'm wearing Clement in my new Papoozle - an absolutely fab sling - made in Scotland by Tots Bots (cloth nappy company). He's spent a good part of some days in it - and it's soooo comfortable! (every mother should have one! :-D) Baby is held so close to you that you can move about and do anything.

Clement at 3 weeks old

3.5 weeks old - showing keen interest in his big brother! :) He gets very excited when he sees Benjamin or Abigail coming to speak to him.

Almost 4 weeks old - Clement & Abigail all ready for bed the night before going on holiday! :-D

wearing a cute nightie which Abigail also wore as a baby! (from Grammie in Texas)

Benjamin looking cute in Mummy's sunglasses! Since everything was dark while he wore them, he started telling everything goodnight "Goodnight Magpies, goodnight cows, goodnight houses ...." the list was very extensive and went on for a long time!

Today we went to York! The above photo is of The Merchant's Hall - which is over 700 years old!

I thought Sarah ;-) would have liked this shop - so we got this photo especially for her, with Abigail in front.

Peter, Abigail & Benjamin on the ancient York walls

Getting in the pushchair again after having a picnic lunch

Anyone who knows about UK roads will know about Pelican crossings, Toucan crossing, and Puffin crossings - well, here's a new one - Goose crossings! :-D LOL Anyway, this goose was crossing the road right in the city centre of York.

And a park across the road was *full* of geese and goslings - they were sooo cute!

We then went to the National Railway Museum there in York - which is huge and lots of fun for train loving children. And seems Clement is starting early! He had a ride in the back of the puchchair while A & B ran around the museum and I unzipped part of the hood so he could see out. And he looked very interested in what he was able to see (mainly the ceilings and lights) but he seemed to enjoy it and was awake the whole time too.

Looking around and making sounds

Looking rather observant for only being a month old yesterday.

Benjamin next to the rather large wheels

Well, it's nearly 1am - so really must get some sleep while everyone else is. Guess I just wanted a bit of quiet on my own, which is very rare these days. But need sleep too! I'll finish this off and post it tomorrow I think.

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!

Benjamin is 2!

My little boy is now 2 years old! Benjamin's birthday was on Wednesday, but haven't managed to upload photos before now. I only just posted a long blog (i.e. lots of words!) on Monday, so this will be almost entirely photos.


Coming downstairs in the morning - he thought balloons were the best part and had to be told that the presents were meant to be opened! :-)

Opening his first present! I think Abigail's hair features in quite a few of these photos! LOL

Cars and trucks are his *favourite*

A big wooden Bertie the Bus!

"oooh, there are more presents to see!"

Benjamin's "Bob the Builder cake" - he was verrrry excited when he saw it! And he's had lots of fun with the minature machines afterwards!

Bus/van shaped sandwiches

Birthday lunch

Just before lighting the candles

So, that's all the pics from Benjamin's birthday. I think he really enjoyed the day and he is quite convinced that he's a big boy now! :-) I was carrying him down the stairs the other night and gave him a cuddle and told him he was mummy's little boy (not thinking anything of what I was saying!) but he quickly objected and said "Benjamin is a *big* boy"!

And part of being a big boy, as of 2 weeks ago, Benjamin is now fully weaned (as in, he no longer has his "drink from mummy" to go to sleep at night). So, bedtime routine includes getting into his pyjamas & sleeping bag (after being covered in some sort of cream for his eczema) and then mummy & Benjamin lie on mummy's bed (as Abigail can be too noisy/distracting for him to fall asleep in the same room). He *has* to lay his head on a certain pillow which has a Thomas the Tank Engine pillowcase, and he must cuddle his favourite stuffed Winnie the Pooh. Most nights he's asleep within 5 minutes. He usually asks mummy to be quiet (i.e. no singing), and he makes sure my head is on my *own* pillow, and usually doesn't want anyone touching him when he actually closes his eyes to fall asleep! :-) He likes a few cuddles, but eventually wants hands off while he goes to sleep - a bit of personal space, I guess! lol Anyway, occasionally at bedtime Benjamin is a total chatterbox and will talk for *ages* about anything and everything - complicated thought patterns too! It's quite fun to listen to him talk!

Today we had the monthly homeschool get together. The children enjoyed it, as usual. However, they must have been rather tired out, as both fell asleep in the car on the way home - and remained asleep when they were carried in the house! Here's what they looked like:

OK, off to bed!

A bit of an update

Thought I'd better post at least something, as it's nearly a month since I last updated. Apologies to anyone who I owe an email to - I know there are lots of emails I've not replied to lately. But life seems quite busy lately.

Part of what's kept me busy the past month was trying to get through a driving test. Unfortunately that didn't happen! :-( I'd hoped to pass the practical part of the driving test before the baby arrived, but I took the test twice in the past month and didn't pass either time. I had several lessons as well (the first instructor not being very helpful or encouraging) and the 2nd one (thanks to the recommendation from my friend Sharon!) was great and helped me loads in just the 2 lessons I had from him the week before last. I managed to successfully (with correct speed/gears/observations etc) do both a reverse around the corner (which I failed in my first test) and a parallel parking (my most feared "skill"). However, just after that, I got "seriously faulted" (i.e. failed) because I approached a blind junction in 2nd gear (instead of 1st) and the nose of the car was too far forward into the junction. The road is very narrow with the house walls right up next to your car, and the "give way" lines faintly painted on the road - some junctions being "give way" for traffic the other way etc, so slightly confusing really. Anyway, I still felt quite annoyed that I'd messed up on something that ought to be so easy. But there's no slack with UK driving tests. So, just have to put it behind me for now. There's no way I wanted to take a test any later in my pregnancy (having done the 2nd one at 36 weeks!). So maybe some other time I'll try again. But at nearly 60 pounds for each try, it could be an expensive experiment!

There's me at 36 weeks! (self-portrait of sorts, so no face included! lol) I had a scan on Friday last week (36w 2d) and the baby was measuring 37w 1d, so should mean a healthy sized baby. Everything was just perfect (position of placenta, amount of fluid, baby's size etc), so consultant was happy and signed his approval of my plans for home birth. That was really the reason for the scan this far along, to make sure placenta especially was in good position. Seen my community midwives today and baby has started to drop into place, so that's good too. :) They'll be bringing round the "home birth kit" (all their gear) next week. I'm sure I had everything here the previous times when I was only around 37 weeks (which I'll be this Wednesday), but they're not delivering the stuff (or going on call) until I'm 38w 1d - so just hope baby doesn't decide to come anytime before then!

Here's Benjamin and Abigail playing in a box together. I think they were pretending it was a boat.

Oh yes, was going to say that we learned the other day that Benjamin has a very good memory! Abigail has quite an amazing memory for insignificant things and remembers them in great detail. But we hadn't realised Benjamin did too - until last Friday when we were at the hospital for my scan. We were in the waiting area where there's a table of toys/books for children and Benjamin started to get upset and said "it's missing - it's missing" (or something like that). We asked him what was missing, assuming he meant his favourite Pooh bear (or the plastic bunch of bananas he'd brought along for Pooh!) which were in the pushchair, but he replied saying "the fish is missing!" It was *then* that I realised what he was talking about! When we were at the hospital before (for my 12 week scan in *September*) there was a large stuffed fish. Something from a Disney film I think, and about 2-3 feet long. He remembered it! He'd only ever been there *once*, and 6 months ago at that! Obviously being such a big stuffed toy it made quite an impression on him - but still, to think something he saw briefly when he was 18 months old, he still remembered!

Benjamin lying in the baby's bed! He doesn't quite fit like he used to! lol

Benjamin wearing a special suit of clothing I made for him (minus the wet bib, which was to help keep his neck dry while he had a nasty cold that made him dribble a lot!). I managed to find a pattern from USA (which I could buy, download & print) for a sleepsuit which goes up to size 4y (the one he's wearing being 3y) and I modified it to have the opening in the back instead of front, and put a zip in. So, this is my version of a secure eczema day suit! :-) He manages to get his hands into *anything*, even the mitten suits that the speciality companies sell for 30 pounds each! I got him some sleepsuits from Verbaudet (a French company) which have poppers on the back and back flap (which I sewed up), but they only go up to 3y (which he's nearly outgrown already), and they have a seam across the foot (which is right where his worst eczema is), so aren't ideal. So, I'm hoping to have a major sewing session in the next week or so and get him several of these made so he'll have some clothes to wear (around the house at least!). I have approx 42 metres of fabric being shipped to me this week (no, not all of them are for Benjamin!). But I happened to be looking on eBay for some cotton jersey fabric to make him some clothes, and it happened that the very day I looked, a lady (who I bought fabric from last May!) had just listed 13 auctions, each with about 6 metres of fabric. All cute cotton fabrics (cord, jersey, sweatshirt fleece, canvas) with lovely children's prints, for both boys & girls! And they're all a discontinued line of fabric from USA which has bright print on a white background, meaning it can be dyed to any colour! (The one he's wearing above was made from that fabric). Best of all, when the auctions ended on Thursday last week, there was hardly any interest and I got the fabric for next to nothing! So I was very excited to say the least - and best of all, nice boy prints to make clothes for Benjamin - at the very time when I was most in need of finding suitable fabric!

Anyway, sorry for the long ramble about fabric! However, if you knew the stress of dealing with an almost 2yo boy with rather severe eczema, you might understand! :-) Sometimes I'm not really sure what to do with him! I think my last blog was after we'd first taken him to the doctors and he was on his first course of steroids. Anyway, the eczema just about cleared up while he was on the hydrocortisone - but 2 days after the 10 day course of it, the eczema was back, and worse than before! We took him to the doctors again, this time seeing a different GP - but again, he just said to have another course of the same. He did give us different cream & stuff for the bath (both for moisturising). Again, the eczema cleared up quite nicely while taking the steroids, but 2 days later, it returned and even worse than the last time. I am very wary of putting them on him again - it seems that doctors really aren't coming up with any solutions for it, and at least in Benjamin's case, the resulting eczema is worse than before steroids. Plus, they can thin the skin, so aren't a good idea to be using all the time. Where to go from here, I really don't know. So far, what seems to actually give Benjamin the most relief is Beelief Botanics Emoliex First Formula ( http://www.beeliefbotanics.com/proddetail.php?prod=emoliexfirstformula_50ml&cat=7 ) which is all natural. I can't say it's actually clearing the eczema up, but it makes him feel a *lot* better! It has lovely cooling properties (from the lavender). When he wakes up in the night miserable and scratching, he is soothed back to sleep by me applying the above cream. You can tell it relieves the itching and cools his skin, but I just don't know how to keep the eczema better under control. We bought some Propolis repair cream from the same company the other day, so I'm trying that on him too. At the moment he's got inflamed skin on both feet, behind both knees, his neck (front & back), and all around his face. I'm just trying to "manage" it at the moment, watching him all the time, trying to keep him cool, in secure cotton clothes to cover most of the skin etc. But it also means I'm not getting much sleep - he was awake for a period of time twice last night - quite miserable. I hate to see him in such discomfort, but I feel that continuing the steroids is just making him worse, so guess we just have to see how things go over the next days/weeks.

One last photo of the children, which was actually meant to be above with the other similar pic.

Must get to bed, though I think I hear Benjamin stirring - so might not get to sleep for a while yet. Oh well - such is life for a mother, I guess.