More photos etc

Seems I always end up here rather than in bed! Guess it's the only quiet time of the day, though even evenings (and middle of the night!) are full of disruptions! But at least children are mostly asleep in the evening! :-) Anyway, I uploaded all these photos last night but was too late to add any words, so I'll try again now.

Clement had an appointment at the hospital this past Wednesday for some tests. This was the first of two, following on from his urine infection last month. So we had to be there at 9am. I had felt quite stressed about it for weeks now, but thankfully it all went well. And much to my relief, Clement didn't cry at all! phew! They had to catheterize him first (there on the children's ward). And then about an hour later the x-ray department were finally ready for me to take him down there. They gave me a lead coat to wear as well as collar on my neck! Guess I've never been near an x-ray machine - but it seemed odd to have all this protective gear on me, and my little baby lying 3 inches below this huge machine! Anyway, they injected some dye into his bladder and then were able to see the direction the urine went. And thankfully all was OK, no reflux or anything else abnormal to be seen. So thankfully, all looks good so far. But I think they'll still want to do a similar test, but injecting the dye into his veins next time. :-S And of course continuing antibiotics, at least until we see the consultant at a later date. Oh yes, and they also weighed Clement at hospital and he's now 16lb 4oz - at only 3 months! One heavy boy! :-)

And there's my 2 boys, with Clement already interested in Lego!

Abigail joining in the fun

Last Saturday afternoon we decided to go for a walk near Evanton. It was beautiful sunshine and we had a nice time. The above photo is the ruins of the old parish church of Kiltearn, where Thomas Hog was once minister.

view of the water and surrounding scenes

Abigail and her dear Daddy! :-)

Clement sleeping in the sling - and Benjamin was asleep in the pushchair! It was an enjoyable afternoon - even if after 2.5 (of the 3 miles) my knee gave out/twisted and I fell on the road! I was trying to get out of the way of a car (on single track road) and nearly fell flat! Thankfully I was able to protect Clement (who was in sling) and he didn't even fuss or complain! And the lady in the vehicle was very kind and offered to give me a lift back into the town (where our car was parked), which was a big relief! I felt quite sore at the time, and was glad to not have to walk back - at at least by morning I felt much better!

a bright little (or big!) Clement

Benjamin and Clement in matching trousers I made them! Though C has got rather baggy bottoms! LOL I tried to reduce the size of a larger pattern and it didn't quite work! So I guess he'll be wearing them as shorts next summer! :-) Though at the rate he's growing, they'll probably not fit him then!

Giggling, as he frequently does!

He loves Thomas the Tank Engine already! In fact, I first noticed it when he smiled at a poster of them when he was in hospital - at only 9 weeks!

After the hospital appointment on Wednesday, in the afternoon Abigail & Benjamin helped me make Blackcurrant Jam! The fruit came straight from our garden too! Peter has a bush out front that gets loaded with blackcurrants each summer.

and it turned out that having willing helpers when making jam is a real plus - young arms that are full of energy to do the constant stirring that is necessary for 30 minutes! :-D

looking at the colour of the juice on the spoon!

and the finished jars of jam - even if a bit tatty looking! :-) But taste is lovely!

Bed calls me - goodnight! :)

Just another week

Yep, that's my lovely little boy! :-D He's already 3 months old today! It's amazing how much a baby can grow in only 3 months, and all the things they can learn to do, so quickly. He still loves being on his "boppy" cushion, though is favourite activity is now to go *over* it, as you can see above, he's pushed himself over the cushion so he's hanging upside down a bit!

We've recently had a "heat wave" here in the UK! No, Americans wouldn't agree with the idea - but it's been hot! We often weren't able to get the temperature below 80F at night, even with all the windows open *and* the front & back doors too! So the above photo shows chubby Clement chilling out, with just a nappy on! He was able to keep cool with minimal clothing on, but poor Benjamin was always requiring layers of clothes on. Every time I tried to let him wear less, he scratched soo much that the clothes had to go back on to keep him from bleeding. :( So I'm glad that the cool weather has returned just now, as it means we're not pouring sweat at night!

My two boys, both looking at their mummy!

Abigail in the garden, enjoying the sunshine

Benjamin also enjoying the sunshine, even if rather unusually dressed! I have to say though, the 100% cotton tights we get from Cotton Comfort (eczema clothing people) have been such a help! They're loose fitting and cool, yet protect his legs/feet. But admittedly, people must wonder why the poor child is dressed like that - especially when it's hot!

Speaking of unusual clothing, here's Benjamin again, modeling his mitten sleepsuit that I made for him! I've finally managed to re-design the pattern how I want it - with full zip in the back (to keep him from getting his hands inside!) and now with closed mittens, which are essential when he's got a flare-up on his hands/arms and face (which we have at the moment).

Last week we finally saw the dermatologist at the hospital - having been waiting since March for a referral. It was reassuring that she was impressed with our care of him and keeping him from getting infected, as well as understanding of how eczema works and what needs to be done etc. But at the same time, that doesn't help us to sort out how to improve matters, or get any more sleep! So she didn't seem to add very much to what we already knew/were doing - apart from giving us more potent steroids (Eumovate). We've been using them for just over a week but not sure they're any better than the hydrocortisone. It seems it's the dermatology nurses who work with people to sort out long term management of eczema, but they were so behind on seeing people that we had to see the doctor first. So maybe if we can get in touch with one of the nurses they might be more useful!

The little smiler again! .. and in the background is the box from my new sewing machine! :-D I've treated myself to a brand new Brother Innovis 10A - a computerised sewing machine! It's lovely and sews very quickly too - and can go through many layers of fabrics with ease!

diving over the cushion again!

Little bookworm! He's getting quite good with his hands and can hold toys/books all by himself. Thomas is a favourite of his, already! ;-)

Just another photo, taken sometime last week.

Now, I must get myself to bed. Fairly busy day on Friday (today, though it's now early hours of Saturday as I type). We had our monthly homeschool meet up, which we always look forward to. And then we went to a lovely big park nearby, which I didn't know existed. It was huge and had lots of nice things to play on, though Benjamin was too nervous to do much (he's recently become rather scared of groups of people). Abigail had lots of fun anyway - apart from when she lost us for several minutes (having run off on her own to try everything out)! :-( There were just toooo many people there - I was scared too, as I couldn't see her anywhere. But thankfully I eventually spotted her, standing on her own looking for me! There was also a miniature railway, which they had a ride on - Benjamin liked that, of course! And then A & B both fell asleep in the car on the way home, meaning it was nearly 11pm before they got to bed tonight! So all a bit exhausted, I think. Goodnight. :)

Beach in Gairloch & videos of Clement

Last week Peter had to go to the dentist in Gairloch, and since it was a beautiful day (hot & sunny) we decided to pack a picnic and spend the afternoon at the beach there. Needless to say, Abigail was thrilled - she loves the seaside! Her & Benjamin both had so much fun playing in the sand and water. The water was very shallow quite a long way out, so they got to walk quite far into the sea. The water was lovely & clear - so you could see fish, crabs, starfish, and jellyfish etc.

Peter and the children, soon after we got down to the sand (we had our picnic up in the grass first, to avoid sand in our sandwiches! LOL)

I love this pic of the 3 of them together! :-) ... they were looking at what Abigail has in the photo below:

a starfish!

walking in the water, before they got totally wet!

Clement in the pushchair - not sure if he was sleeping then or unhappy (he's not very keen on being in a pushchair!).

a view of the sand and water

Clement on his tummy, wearing his new (to us) "Very Hungry Caterpillar" nappy! :-)

his face, since it wasn't visible in the photo above!

Clement being very pleased that his mummy finally got the box of baby toys out of the attic! (Yes, a bad mum - waiting until he was 10 weeks old to unpack the baby toys! [blush] Abigail & Benjamin were just so close together that I never got a chance to pack the toys up! ) Anyway, Grammie gave us this lovely "Boppy" cushion and arch before Abigail was born, and now Clement is the 3rd baby to enjoy it! I was amazed at how alert and in control of his hands he was - the first time he saw toys hanging in front of him! He just started swinging his hands and hitting the toys and showing great excitement.

Hanging out together! :-) Clement really enjoys the company of his big sister and brother.

11 weeks old (last Saturday)

On his tummy, chewing his arm. He seems to be really teething (already!) and wants to chew his hands/fingers all the time - getting a bit frustrated when he can't get them quite how he'd like them to be!

And now for some videos! Blogger has put them in reverse order (not to mention that I was trying to put them at the top of this post!). Anyway, the first one was taken today and the second one was taken on Saturday.

Talking to his daddy

World's youngest pianist! lol He was actually playing it a lot better before we got the camera out. But by the time we'd gone and found the camera he was getting rather tired - but he was really enjoying it at first and getting quite excited.

OK, better get some sleep, as it's nearly 1am.

a post of photos

Having only posted words last time (about Clement's time in hospital) I thought I'd do (nearly) photos only this time. Seems I've got about 2 weeks worth. Been trying to get back to normal-ish routine around the house, now that I'm feeling almost better and Clement is more settled too. He seemed loads happier today (having finished his 5 day course of antibiotics last night) but was a bit unsettled tonight, after taking his first dose of the semi-long-term antibiotics. I'm hoping they'll not upset his tummy too badly. Anyway, photos!


Clement after his bath, at 8 weeks old - a fat little boy!

Again at 8 weeks old, wearing his lovely pair of wool shorties that I bought him. I love how wool can be worn directly over a cloth nappy and doubles as both clothing and the waterproof cover! :-)

I took the above photo from the window upstairs, it shows a cute scene (in my opinion anyway! LOL) Abigail and Benjamin decided to hang their toys on the clothes line (using their slide to stand on so they could reach the line). Everything from Pooh, Kanga, Pilchard ... and even an umbrealla and a plastic chair got hung up!

Clement again (of course!) - 8.5 weeks old

Wearing a pair of woolies that I crocheted while we were on holiday last month! I used plain (undyed wool) to crochet and then "painted" them with Kool Aid afterwards.

a cute face! :-)

Abigail wearing a dress I made for her, a few days before Clement got ill. She'd been playing outside, hence the red face!

Abigail & Benjamin having a cuddle and playing in the pushchair - the evening Clement came home from hospital

Sitting up like a big boy, day after coming home

Playing a noisy song for Clement! :-)

Sitting in a car seat (in the kitchen!), watching mummy cook (I need to pack the car seat away until Clement actually is the right age for it - but for now it can be a useful seat for him! lol)

And concluding this post with the lovely smile above! :-) He's getting such a big boy, and does lots of moving about (kicking feet and waving arms), he had his hands in Benjamin's yoghurt twice this morning and nearly kicked my cup of juice off the table! He's always smiling at his brother & sister and looks as if he can hardly wait to be big enough to be playing with them.

Home from hospital!

Some of you might have heard that Clement was just in hospital. Just thought I would post an update to say how he is.

Only just home from hospital this afternoon, after spending 3 nights with him in the children's ward at the hospital. It was the first time I've ever been away from Abigail & Benjamin (overnight), so was a bit traumatic, but Peter looked after them wonderfully! And I was pleased to be able to stay with Clement the whole time. So, here's a recap on events (copied from something I wrote earlier)

Saturday he had a low temp (higher than he normally would be, but not an actual fever) but went up to about 38.4C (101.1F) around 10-11pm. We phoned NHS24, but they weren't much help. His temperature seemed to drop a degree or so, so we decided to just go to sleep for the night (as other children were already in bed etc and he seemed OKish). So, night seemed to go OK and Clement slept. The temp was still fairly up on Sunday but not any higher than the previous night (tho thermometers seemed to be giving conflicting readings). So we just went directly to the local out of hours that afternoon and got seen by a doctor there (one of the GPs from the clinic here). He assumed it might be just a virus (since there were no visible signs) but he thought he should be seen by a paediatrician, since they might be able to notice something he couldn't. So he phoned the children's ward to let them know we were coming and gave us a letter so we could go straight in and be seen immediately. The 2 doctors there said they needed to do blood & urine tests since he's such a young baby to have a high temp like that and no visible signs - they assuming it was likely to be a UTI. Clement's temp had gone up to 39C (102.2F) by then, but it's no wonder, as the ward there was sooooooo hot (often over 25C/80F in some rooms)! Anyway, I managed to catch a sample of his urine while holding him without a nappy on (a relief to get, since they said if I didn't get one quick enough they'd have to insert a needle into his bladder!). So next was to attempt to get a cannula into him to get blood samples and also so it would be there if IV was needed. However, the registrar tried to insert it in both hands and both feet and his arm, with no success! Afraid wee Clement and I were both crying together! :'-( (The doctors were asking me if I wanted to leave the room, but I would much prefer to cry *with* my baby than let my child cry alone!) Anyway, the registar finally gave up and got his (kind & capable!) consultant to come, and he got the cannula in the first time (in his ankle) - and allowed me to feed Clement while he did it, which helped to calm him down a bit. Anyway, urine came back that evening with preliminary results to say that there were lots of white blood cells (to indicate infection) so they decided to put him on IV antibiotics until further results came back to say which oral ones would work etc. So, me and Clement were admitted to the ward (thankfully in a private room, with bed and toilet/shower for myself!). Monday they did scan on his kidneys/liver/bladder to make sure nothing was abnormal. All looked OK, though furter tests on urine did prove a positive urine infection. He did have a temp spike to 40C (104F) on Monday and was still looking quite poorly. On Tuesday though (after 2 IV infusions of antibiotics) Clement was looking quite himself - back to lovely smiles! (just a bit of upset tummy from antibiotics, which have made him a bit more restless). I had hoped to get home yesterday but the results to say which antibiotics were suitable didn't come till late yesterday and they also wanted him to have another IV dose. So, at last, this morning we got discharged! He's gone home with oral antibiotics for 5 days (though he seems to hate the taste of them!) and then probably 4 months at least of prophylactic antibiotics while they do various tests (injecting dye into urinary system and another time to inject dye into his veins) and then to see the consultant about conclusions. Apparently it's not common for newborns to get urine infections, so they first assume that something might be not quite right inside (physically), so they do all this!

....and now I'm home sick! Vomitting at 2am last night and generally feeling very ill/weak. Don't know if it's a bug picked up from hospital or food poisoning (beginning to think it might be food poisoning, as I've not vomitted since - but still feeling sicky/weak) - in general, pretty rotten. Oh well - at least Clement seems to be well! :-D

Enjoying warm & sunny weather ... and now back to rain!

Just a bit of an update of pics here. I ought to be in bed (as always when I'm blogging!) but seems the only time I get quiet *and* two hands to type is in the wee hours of the night/morning! So, just a quick post and then maybe I can get a few hours of sleep before Benjamin wakes up again.

We've been having beautiful weather for about a week. It's been a bit more dull and damp the past 3 days or so, but before that (since about the middle of last week) it was lovely - actually hot! Several of the below photos show Clement in just a shirt & nappy - and we just don't get very many days in the year that allow that little of clothing! LOL But it has been fun while it lasted. Abigail and Benjamin spent nearly the entire day for several days in a row just playing outside. It means more space for them to play and a bit of quiet for me to get cooking/cleaning done inside!

Clement at nearly 7 weeks old - looks like he wanted to kick the camera!

Benjamin telling Clement the story of "The Three Bears" - it was soooo cute to see and listen to! And Clement is obviously enjoying it too! :-)

A really big laugh from a really big boy! He's so sweet!

Abigail peeking from behind their very big doll's house

Sharing their snacks with Pooh and Kanga, who occupied the doll's house that afternoon

A rainbow of colour on the washing line - I like photos of washing hanging out! ;-)

My big little boy - nearly 8 weeks old, already!

Not the best of photos, but it was the best I could get - seemed impossible to get all 3 of them to look at the camera at the same time and not have a silly look on their face! :-)

My bookworms! :-) Books are something they never get tired of looking at!

OK, off to sleep - I hope! Though sleep is quite unpredictable these days - but that's because of Benjamin rather than Clement. Clement actually slept for 7 hours straight the other night, which was quite impressive. He's been a bit restless in the evenings for the past couple of days, but he sleeps very well at night. On the other hand, Benjamin continues to wake at midnight and various other unwelcome hours in a fit of scratching, now that he's got eczema up and down all limbs and on his face! Often takes a good hour before he settles again, and it can be hard to keep him from scratching, as he's quite strong! Often a back rub and relaxing his legs/feet helps him get back to sleep more peacefully. We'd hoped to see someone in the dermatology dept at the hospital next week but the appt got cancelled (due to person going off sick permanantly) and they only let us know about 6 days before the date we expected to see them! Anyway, we've now got a new appointment for the first week in July. Doubt we'll get anywhere, but can always hope! OK, goodnight.