Looking forward to time off

After being on-call 24/7 since January (apart from a couple of days where I was at a friend’s wedding), it is so nice to have the prospect of a couple of weeks of being able to switch the phone off and just relax. I haven’t missed days off as much as I thought I would (perhaps losing the guilt of visit-free days has helped!) but I am looking forward to being able to completely relax. I’ve got a spa day planned, trips home to see my family and Spring Harvest coming up so should be a good couple of weeks.

Bump!

I definitely have a bump now! My waist seems to have disappeared (I’ve been told I may never get it back – oh well!) and has been replaced by a bit of a baby bump. I have to say I am loving my new shape, as is Michael who has commented that I’m more cuddly (the tone implied it was a compliment anyway!). Plus I think I’ve started to feel movement, which is also very exciting. At first, I wasn’t sure, but I’m getting more convinced that the occasional flutters that I am feeling are from baby Sprout having a wriggle.

New tap class

Our tap class has suddenly grown. Before the exam there were just three of us, and now seven ladies from the grade below have now joined our class so there are now ten of us in total which feels like a huge class compared with before. It is nice being part of a bigger group though – feels much more sociable. The new routines so far seem okay – I definitely feel more relaxed knowing that I’m not going to be doing an exam at the end of it all! Not sure how long I’ll keep going, but it’s good for now.

Irrational nervousness

The thought of having to chair a meeting always makes me quite nervous. Give me a pen and some paper and ask me to take minutes and I’m happy, but having to take control and lead the meeting is another matter. With church meetings, even being asked to lead opening devotions makes me nervous – I worry that I’ll say the wrong thing or something. I used to chair meetings of university societies without getting nervous. Everyone at church is lovely, tonight’s meeting (which it was my turn to chair) went ok, so why do I get so scared about it?

Census

Given that the census form is supposed to be a snapshot of the UK tonight, and the forms clearly indicate that it should be filled in today or shortly after, it seems strange that the website has allowed people to submit it online for the last few weeks. That said, I might have been tempted to fill my form in earlier too but it’s not that unusual for Michael to suddenly announce that a friend or colleague is staying overnight so thought it was best to wait! It’s a bit debatable whether the census is really all that accurate anyway.

Time check

It was a good job I called my mum for a chat. If I hadn’t, I’d have completely forgotten about the clocks going forward – which wouldn’t have been ideal when I’m down on the church rota for preparing communion and being vestry elder – turning up halfway through the service would have been a bit too late to be able to do either job! As it turned out, my clock radio did update automatically so I would have made it anyway, but just as well to have the reminder as well! I could have done without losing an hour’s sleep though!

Sunshine!

The last couple of days have been absolutely gorgeous – lovely warm sunshine, being able to put the washing out on the line and the feeling that Spring is definitely here! We even had the ice-cream van appearing outside the house this afternoon - that and the sunshine combined made it very difficult to sit and focus on doing paperwork this afternoon! If only the paperwork fairy had decided to pay me a visit, I could have gone and sat in the sun. Still at least my desk is next to the window and I did have a very productive afternoon.

Baby knits

My sister taught me how to knit when I was a little girl and I made a couple of knitted toys with her help, although my skills were pretty basic. I haven’t really done any knitting in years, but the baby has given me a good incentive to take it up again! It’s taken a little while to get to grips with it again but I’ve managed to make a pair of baby bootees (was quite relieved that they both ended up the same size!) and a pair of mitts – next step is to have a go at a hat.

Unexpected catch-up

One of the things that I miss about university days is having friends just pop in for a cuppa without having to arrange in days (or even weeks) in advance and knowing that you could usually do the same. Now we all lead such busy lives it is almost impossible to be so spontaneous so it was a lovely surprise this afternoon when one of my close friends called me just on the off-chance I would be home so she could pop in and say hello. We had a lovely afternoon catching up – all the better for being so unexpected!

Copy cat

I’ve generally found that allowing a cat to sleep on your bed means you end up with a tiny amount of space to sleep in and the cat stretches out across most of the bed. Since becoming pregnant, I seem to be developing a similar trait – Michael has started grumbling that I like to stretch out across most of the bed leaving him with very little space. He’s been quite tolerant of being left with only one pillow whilst I steal the rest to help me get comfy but my need for extra space is not going down so well!

Catching up with colleagues

A lovely afternoon spent catching up with a few of my former colleagues. I think everyone has now found new jobs – mostly back in the NHS, but at least we are all now employed one way or another! It was a good opportunity to say goodbye and good luck to Chanti who is emigrating to Australia to go and practice midwifery there. I also got to meet Katie’s six month old baby Sophie and have a lovely cuddle with her. It was good to see everyone again and catch up on all of the news from the last few months.

Where did the weekend go?

Weekends always seem to fly by so quickly. Two whole days of having Michael at home, the prospect of actually getting rid of a few more of the boxes which are still waiting to be unpacked or failing that, maybe getting a bit further on some of the DIY projects which need to be done. And then before you know it, it’s Sunday evening and somehow all of those jobs are still waiting to be done. But on the plus side, we’ve managed to spend some proper time together or caught up with friends or just relaxed. Maybe next week…

Sprouting

I seem to have sprouted over the last couple of days. Suddenly my clothes are starting to feel much tighter (have already discovered just how useful ‘bump bands’ are!), there are some clothes in my wardrobe which no longer fit me (and I suspect may well never fit again!) and I seem to have the beginnings of a bump to the extent that Michael commented that it was just as well we have already announced the news otherwise people might be starting to guess. I’m quite excited by this although suspect I look more podgy than pregnant at the moment!

A day in the life...

Spending the morning at a postnatal visit and getting to have lots of lovely cuddles with a very snuggly newborn baby, an afternoon meeting some other independent midwives as well as catching up with my colleagues, finally getting my website up and running and then an email from someone who wants to book my last available space – it’s been a good day. Then finishing it off with a bit of a date night with my fabulous hubby – going out for a Chinese (anywhere that does ‘all you can eat’ is good with me!) just made my good day even better.

Dealing with an emergency

Every year, I have to make sure I attend training on obstetric emergencies to keep my skills updated. Thankfully, the situations I’m trained to deal with are fairly uncommon but when they do happen, they can be very scary. I had my first experience of a true shoulder dystocia at a recent home birth. The 5 minutes it took to free the shoulder after the baby’s head was born and then the next 5 minutes spent resuscitating the baby felt like the longest 10 minute period ever. Thankfully all was well, but not an experience I would want to repeat.

Event envy

Michael’s job involves some pretty crazy hours and periods of sleep deprivation (a bit like mine really, but the periods of crazy hours and sleep deprivation are more intense and last longer) but sometimes he gets to go to some really interesting events. Last year, he worked on an event involving Take That and James Corden; he’s been to the BAFTAs and Brit Awards a couple of times and tonight he’s at an awards ceremony. Admittedly most of the time he’s working rather than actually being able to enjoy the event but it still sounds quite exciting all the same.

Blooming marvellous

The second trimester of pregnancy is supposed to be the time when women start “blooming” and looking at their best. Clearly this hasn’t quite kicked in yet for me as when I showed hubby a photo I was planning to use on my website, he commented that I shouldn’t use it as it was “about ten years old”. Except it was taken about three weeks ago. Admittedly it is a flattering photo and me dressed up with make-up is always going to look better than me first thing in the morning but does the make-up really take off ten years?!

Keeping track of birthdays

I’m generally fairly good at keeping track at when people’s birthdays are. In my family, I have to be – being part of a large family means that most months there are quite a few birthdays, and now that I’ve got into the habit of making birthday cards, I’m having to be even more organised. Once of the nice things about having more space in the house is being able to have all my craft stuff organised and easy to get to, plus having more table space to actually work on craft stuff as well. It makes life so much easier.

Time with the twins

It was lovely to be able to catch up with Michael’s cousin recently and see the twins again. I can’t believe that they are almost eight months old already. Seren is almost ready to start crawling and Siân has two teeth already and both of them are now smiling and cooing and laughing which is just lovely to see. It will be nice for them to have a cousin that will be fairly close in age. After having no children in Michael’s family for many years, it is about time for the next generation to be arriving on the scene!

Annual craft day

Each year we have a craft day at church which is organised by the local Methodist circuit. Previous years have been really good, but this year was quite disappointing in comparison. Maybe I just picked the wrong sessions. The morning session was origami – fine whilst the tutor was showing us how to make a box but not so good when she was trying to show us how to make a vase that she wasn’t sure how to make herself. The afternoon – craft miscellany - was a little bit better – we made a pyramid gift box which was useful at least.

Reflecting on today's news

Blue skies, daffodils, blossom on the trees, sunshine warm on my face – starting the day embracing the beautiful, serene side of Nature. Turn on the TV – buildings shaking, debris falling, houses and cars swept away by the sheer force of a tsunami, pavements torn apart by the force of an earthquake and suddenly I see just how frighteningly powerful a force Nature really is. The horror of the TV images is nothing in comparison to how terrifying the reality must be. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by earthquakes and tsunamis in recent weeks.

Introducing baby Ryan

Another addition to the family made his arrival in the early hours of this morning – my great-nephew Ryan Peter, weighing in at 6lb 8oz – another baby boy for my lovely niece Maria and her husband Chris. He gets his middle name in memory of my dad who absolutely doted on Ryan’s big brother Steven and would have been so proud to have another great-grandson. Haven’t seen my new great-nephew yet, but have seen lots of photos and am looking forward to having cuddles with him soon! Many congratulations to proud parents Maria and Chris and big brothers Luke and Steven!

Filling up the spaces

Another client has booked for maternity care and my available spaces until I go on maternity leave are now almost filled up – possibly just room for another one (depending on due dates) and then I will be completely fully booked which is fabulous. I still haven’t managed to get my website up and running yet (although the group website is up and registered on the IMUK website) – there’s less incentive to do it now that I’m pretty much fully booked but it still would be good to do it. I’ll try and finish it off at some point this month.

Nuchal scan

Had my nuchal scan this morning – all measurements were fine (although will take a week to get the blood results which will give final risk factors) and Sprout was being very, very wriggly on the scan (spent the whole of it moving about and waving its little arms and legs) which was lovely to see. I am amazed by how much more I can see – at the last couple of scans, Sprout was little more than a blurry shape with a heartbeat and now I can see fingers and arms and legs and make out some of the facial features!

Fabulous hubby!

It has been lovely having my hubby at home for an entire weekend (probably for the first time so far this year). Not only has it been great to actually spend some time together but he has also been completely wonderful and managed to transform the study from a room full of boxes and junk into a room that is actually usable. We have bookshelves and space for the desk to go up at one end. Unfortunately the radiator is broken at the moment so it is quite cold but at least some more of the boxes can be unpacked!

Another exam over

Phew, the tap exam is over and done with. The worst bit is sitting in the waiting room, listening to the tappers who are doing the exam before, waiting for the bell to ring signaling your turn. I have to try really hard to tune out the tap sounds from those doing the grade below as I then start remembering the routines from last time and then those are in my head when I start the exam which confuses me. Fortunately I didn’t start doing the wrong dances, and whilst I did make one or two mistakes, it was ok.

Every little helps?

I’m feeling the need to name and shame a local Tesco Express store (Cowley High Road, Uxbridge) for being one of the most badly managed shops I have ever come across. There is nearly always a huge queue at the checkout and only one person serving. The aisles are usually littered with empty and half-empty boxes with no sign of anyone actually restocking the shelves and usually there are boxes of items that should be kept refrigerated just lying on the floor as well. With the amount of profit Tesco makes, surely they can afford to adequately staff their stores?

Emerging from hibernation

The hint of Spring in the air seems to have done wonders for my energy levels (or is it just the fact that I’m nearing the end of the first trimester?) After what seems like weeks of coming home and spending the rest of the evening glued to the sofa wishing that the washing pile/ironing pile/dirty dishes pile would all just magically disappear of their own accord, I’ve actually woken up and realised that waiting for the arrival of the cleaning fairy is not going to get the house tidied. Hooray for productiveness and having a sparkly clean house again!

Impatient for Spring

The daffodils growing in the garden and the start of March have got me gearing up for spring a little too early. I’ve already made the mistake of thinking it was a good idea to swap my big thick winter coat for a slightly lighter jacket (stepping outside made me suddenly realise that the sunshine and daffodils have fooled me into thinking it wasn’t still really cold outside!) Must try and remember that the seasons aren’t under the control of my own wishing thinking and that British weather is unpredictable at the best of times (and usually slightly chilly too!)

My wonderful midwives

One of the many lovely things about being a midwife is being able to choose my own midwives now that I’m having a baby myself. I have complete faith in my two wonderful colleagues who have agreed to be my midwives – I know they have the same philosophy about labour and birth that I do and will completely support Michael and I throughout the pregnancy and beyond. They understand that I might be a midwife with all the knowledge that entails, but that as a pregnant woman, I still need reassurance and someone else to confirm what I already know.

Out in the open

So our news is now out in the open. I don’t think I quite anticipated the level of excitement it would generate at church (like many churches, we have a mostly ageing congregation and a new baby in the church is a fairly rare event!) – after telling a couple of people, the news spread quickly and within 5 minutes I was being pounced on, hugged and congratulated. Which is all rather lovely, but a little overwhelming. Another good thing about telling the news is no longer having to make up excuses about why I’m trying to reduce my church commitments!