Jessica is here!

Baby Jessica Charlotte decided that she wanted to choose her own birthday rather than wait for the induction and arrived on 6th September at 08.50, weighing in at 5lb 10oz. She had her first heart op at eight hours old to enlarge her atrial septum and reposition her pulmonary veins and is currently on PICU, recovering well from the first op and awaiting a second op which will take place early next week. She is such a beautiful baby and we love her so very much already. We will be posting regular updates on her blog which is at http://jessica-thejourney.blogspot.com/

Elephant feet

Having got through the summer and most of the third trimester without feeling too uncomfortable (although it probably helped that August was somewhat cooler than average) or getting puffy feet, I thought I was going to be lucky enough to avoid getting swollen ankles at all in the last trimester. In the last twenty-four hours though, it seems that my ankles have been replaced with those of an albino elephant which, as you can imagine, is not the most attractive look in the world. It’s another indication that it is time to take things easy and put my feet up.

Catching up on card making

I enjoy making my own cards for birthdays and other occasions and often try and do these in batches as most months I have a quite a few cards to send out (due to having such a large family!) With Jessica’s arrival getting more and more imminent, I have been trying to get as many cards done as possible and so have been spending most of today surrounded by coloured paper, peel-offs and glue. It’s been a productive day though and I now have a large batch of finished cards ready to send off for various birthdays and other events.

September is here!

I can’t believe that September is here already. This is the month when Jessica will make her arrival and I just pray that we will have the miracle that we are hoping for and she will be able to have surgery and get through it. It surprises me how many people seem to think that I can’t wait for this pregnancy to be over and assume I must be very uncomfortable by now – I have loved being pregnant and feeling Jessica move and whilst part of me is excited at the thought of meeting her, it is also very scary.

New minister

Had our welcome service for our new minister at church this evening. We have been without a minister for just over a year which on the one hand has been good as it has really helped us to pull together as a church family and it has been quite interesting having a variety of preachers on a Sunday morning. Still, it will be good to finally have our own minister again. It’s also provided an incentive to get some of those publicity jobs done that I have been sitting on for a while (Jessica’s imminent arrival also providing another incentive!)

My wonderful chiropractor

Thank goodness my wonderful chiropractor managed to fit me in this morning – by the time I went to bed last night, I could hardly walk – made me realise just how disabling SPD can be when it really flares up. Thankfully a good night’s sleep eased things a little and my lovely chiropractor managed to work her magic so that walking has become reasonably comfortable again and I’m back to walking like Jemima Puddleduck, which is an improvement on the very uncomfortable shuffling that I was having to do before seeing her. Mental note – really must take things a bit easier!

Nesting

I suspect my nesting instinct has started to kick in as I was seized with an overwhelming urge to unpack half the boxes in the spare room, most of which have been there for nearly a year. The spare room looks much better but I think I have overdone things a bit as all that moving things about has really caused the SPD to flare up and walking has become quite painful as a result - I am walking like a little old lady! Must try and remember to take things easy, meanwhile think a trip to the chiropractor is needed!

Road Show

Went to see Road Show at the Menier Chocolate Factory with the in-laws last night. It was a really good show, very typical Sondheim with its complex ensemble numbers and clever lyrics. The cast were all excellent and scene changes were a delight to watch, everything was very slick and beautifully choreographed. I had been warned to bring a cushion though as the seating isn't very comfortable. Even with the cushion, I spent the last 20 minutes of this 95 minute one act show focusing more on trying to get comfortable rather than on the performances which was a shame.

Goodbye, Uncle John

It was my Uncle John’s funeral yesterday and so I travelled down to be with my family and say my goodbyes to him. Whilst it was a sad occasion, it was nice to be able to see so many of my cousins and some of my aunties and uncles whom I don’t see very often at all. It is just a shame that we rarely see each other except at these kind of occasions although given that there are so many of us (we worked out that there are thirty-eight of us first cousins in total), that isn’t too surprising.

Return of the SPD

I’ve been quite lucky with regards to the SPD throughout most of this pregnancy – considering it was diagnosed quite early on, I’ve really not had too many problems with it, probably thanks to giving up tap, seeing my chiropractor regularly and avoiding the things which are likely to exacerbate the problem – long walks tend to trigger it. It flared up a little recently but Monday’s trip to the chiropractor soon sorted it out. Unfortunately, I skidded on a greasy floor when out for Michael’s birthday meal which has really caused it to flare up again and makes walking particularly uncomfortable.