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!