2012

So as 2012 draws to a close the internet is full of blogs and forum threads with people giving a round up of the year, as I am rather unoriginal I thought that I would join in :)

Sat here thinking about 2012 I am struggling to think of the year much.

Clearly the best part of the year was the birth of our gorgeous boy, Will, and seeing how wonderful my two little people are together. It has been hard but so worth it.

The year started with me being pregnant and hating it, I never get those people who *love* being pregnant. People often ask me when I'll have another but seriously NO, I can not do pregnancy again haha

Work was shite and someone I had stuck up for in the office turned out to be an utter, utter bitch but karma seems to have played its part there. Not really dreading going back either. (OK ask me if I am in 3 weeks!) Although I am kind of assuming that I am going back to my half arsed floater role but we shall see.

Then March and April were the next stages of Olivia's operations. She always does so well with her operations, I am very proud of her :) I hope Will follows in his sisters footprints on that point.

Then came the gorgeous boy. It was fabulous having our boy with us finally. The birth was quick and I can look back and smile at the labour, although at the time I was in complete shock and struggled a bit. The 7 months since the birth have been a whirlwind. It has been lovely but hard. People repeatedly told me that 2 is easier than 1. I never quite got the logic behind that comment and it isn't bloody true at the baby stage. Yes, maybe when he is old enough so play with O but fark me breastfeeding a baby and trying to entertain a toddler is hard work. Hopefully I'm doing an OK job at it!

This round up post is rubbish really. I have had so many up and down days lately that there isn't really much to post, I plan to remedy this in 2013! More focus on family and happier times. Even if it will be a manic life come February and I am in work full time *Sooooooooooooooooob*

So yes, 2012 operations, baby, struggles with ups and downs haha

2013 more operations but happier me 

Knowsley Safari Park

It was August Bank Holiday Monday and it was dull and we hadn’t made any plans.  Olivia is a child that needs to be out of the house all of the time or she will go insane (this is why we have to walk for hours and I am losing weight quickly).

 

Tom came up with the bright idea of jumping in the car and shooting over to Knowsley Safari Park to go and have a nosey at the animals.  Quick mad dash to pack sandwiches and get the bag ready and off we went. 

 

As we got to the Knowsley Express Way the heavens well and truly opened.  There was a minute of talking about going home as we weren't sure what it would be like in a downpour.  We carried on driving and there was a queue of people to go in so we decided to go for it and we were so glad that we did.

 

The rain didn’t stop but it turned into normal rain rather than the monsoon we had driven through.  The only animals that weren’t playing were the tigers who were clearly smart animals and were were sleeping in their house, ask Olivia she will tell you about the sleeping tigers.

 

I remember I went to the safari park when I was a child but don’t really remember much about it.  As an adult I loved it!

 

Save for the tigers the other animals were all within sight for Olivia to have a look at.  I have to admit that for the first 15 – 20 minutes she was more fascinated by the grass, rain, puddles and her reflection in the window haha.

 

But she soon started to enjoy it when there were birds walking between cars, the lions were right by the side of the road that you could probably have stroked them if you were stupid enough to dare to try it and the monkies were playing on the cars. 

 

I thought Tom would have taken us through the monkey safe zone to protect his car but he took his aerial off and we got close and personal with a monkey.  They were very well behaved but that was probably because they were trying to warm up using the engines so not wanting to destroy their heat providers.  Friends went not long after us on a sunny day and had their wipers broken so maybe the wet weather is a good time to go!

 

After we had driven around we got to other attractions, I don’t remember them being their when I was a child.  Thankfully the rain had stopped at this point so we got to keep dry.  We had lunch and we have a fabulous pic of Will looking very surprised at something, I think he was excited that he might actually be getting some real food, hard luck dude.

 

We then went to the bat house which made me freak out a bit, I didn’t like it and Olivia wouldn’t go in without me as she wanted both Mummy and Daddy that day. 

 

We then went to look at the Meer cats which Olivia loved.  One was stood at the top of a tree and Tom was explaining to her that he was  the look out and that if he saw danger then he would shout to the other Meer cats, she was clearly listening with great interest as she keeps telling us that the Meer cats shout :)   Tom also got his car insurance through Compare the Market so we got a Meer Cat that arrived a couple of days later, perfect!

 

Tom then took Olivia on the choochoo train yaaaay.  Olivia loves trains so she was loving this adventure with her Daddy.  Will and I waited at the platform for them although will was asleep so just missed it all.

 

After their return from the train ride we went on the hunt for a ‘raffe for Olivia.  Following the foot prints we made our way over to the giraffe house and Olivia loved it, even though it did smell which was something I did know about giraffes.  After watching them for a while we walked up to see the elephants.

 

Then it was time to go home, booo.  It really was a fabulous day out and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.  We can’t wait to go back when Will is old enough to join in and I can play on the train too :)

 

Click me to find out more.

 

 

Updatearama

It has been a few weeks since I last updated this and what a fun few weeks it has been.

There has been a trip to Knowsley Safari park which I think deserves a post of it’s own as it was so much fun and Olivia is still talking about the monkey that sat on Daddy’s car, he was a cheeky monkey apparently

There has also been a trip to the new Museum of Liverpool which was fun.  We spent the day with my mum, Mum in law and Nephew.  The museum was fab from what I saw.  We arrived just as the Little Liverpool play session was starting.  Olivia and Cameron seemed to like that a lot and spent most of the time fishing.  I missed most of the museum as Will has hungry so we went off to have a feed. 
We met up with the gang again to watch them play with the building blocks of the three graces, well Cameron and other children were playing with the blocks whilst Olivia was just bouncing on the crash mats. 
It will be good to go back when Will is older so that I can have a good look around as well.  I also want to take Liv to the World Museum to show her the dinosaurs RrrRaAAarRR hehe

After the fun of the museum we went for a Ferry ride which Olivia loved, especially when she went upstairs to watch the water properly.  Will on the other hand did not like the ferry.  Every time the engines were going he screamed his little head off.  As the ferry pulled into a stop, was stopped and pulled away with the quiet engines he was happy, however that was only about 10 minutes of the hour trip, sorry other passengers!  He did have a cheer up when grandma wrapped him in her cardi and took him for a walk.

Will has also been for his first over night stay at Alder Hey.  The plan is the same as it was with Olivia in that they are happy that he is able to see at present, so it is a case of eye drops each day and we go back in November when he is older so that they can do the reaction tests with him to see how well he can see and then look at when / if they will remove the cataracts.  He was such a star and although he is quite a cry baby at home he was a star in hospital and just cooed and slept.

It was also my birthday at the weekend and oh my goodness was I spoilt rotten.  I was all for ignoring it and pretending it wasn’t happening due to a mix of not wanting to leave my twenties and the fact I feel like a hag at the moment but I am sooooo very glad my gorgeous hubby wouldn’t let me ignore it as it was such a brilliant day.  He also bought he a shiny new laptop (which I am using at present!)  My old one is a wreck so it was a truly awesome gift.   I think I have eaten enough cake and sweeties to give me diabetes It was brilliant time and Olivia is still singing Happy Birthday Mummy xx

On a final note as it is Wednesday and I knew I had to step on the scales this morning, I was dreading it due to the cake and sweets mentioned above but I have actually lost 2lb!   Breastfeeding really is awesome and also the walking for hours is obviously very helpful.  So today I am 12 stone 2.5lb so still over weight but without actually trying (yes, still lazy fecker) I am getting there.  I really need to get some healthy but tasty ideas for meals especially as the colder whether coming in. 

I was sure that there was more I wanted to say but I have forgotten and my gorgeous boy is waking from his half hour nap so time to go and play.

Weight Loss Wednesday–Kick me up the arse please

I clearly jinxed myself by saying I was cruising along on the weight loss because the 3rd week running I am 12 stone 4 1/2 lb.

This means one thing, I am going to have to put some effort into this which is rubbish!

I am a lazy sod who needs a kick up the bum.  I need to be fit and healthy for my family, this should be the only motivation I need but I am just crap at resisting a snack or two.  I keep saying I won't buy them but then I have the days when I feel sad my morning walk rakes me into the shop and I manage to spend £8 on unhealthy sugary nonsense just so I can come home and an e numbered pick me up.  I ultimately feel crap again an hour later with added guilt

Vicious circle of a snack fiend!

I think I need to put photos of my babies on the biscuit tin and fridge and some fat photos.  I did shift the trick or treat tub to stop hiding cake :)

A – Z of me

A-Z About Me

I read an A-Z About Me on Beauty Swot so thought I would steal it.

A - Age – 29 – for the next 2 weeks anyway!

B - Best holiday – Orlando.  We went for our honeymoon and I still dream about all the amazing things we did.  I can’t wait for the children to be old enough to appreciate it so we can go back.

C - Chores you hate – All of them!!

D - Dogs – Both of my parents are blind so I grew up guide dogs and love all dogs.

E - Essential start to your day – I don’t really have one.  I am sometimes proud of myself if I can string words together in the morning. 

F - Favourite colour – Yellow – it is just so cheery.

G - Gold or silver – White gold.

H - Height – 5ft 2 or 5ft 3 depending on who measures me so I must be 5ft 2 and a good bit.

 
I - Instruments you play – Tambourine.  Tom even bought me one for my birthday once :)

J - Job title – Legal Secretary althoguh I am a qualified Legal Executive.

K - Kids – 2 - a girl called Olivia and a boy called Will

L - Live – Liverpool

M - Mother's name – Sue

 
N - Nickname – Don’t have any just shortened versions of Gemma.

O - Overnight hospital stays – 3 for myself  that I remember there were some as a baby that I obviously don’t.  Plenty with Olivia and about to increase the number with Will.

P - Pet Peeves – Rudeness, bullying and inconsiderate people.

Q - Quote from a film – Gonna need a bigger boat – Jaws.

R - Right or left handed – Right

S - Siblings – Nope, just me

T - Time you wake up – I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 13 week old so any time between 4am and 8am

U - Underwear – Yes I do wear it – haha me too.

V - Vegetable you hate – Peppers and I hate the fact that I hate them!!

W - What makes you run late – Dancing to the radio instead of getting ready and the children or the inability to crawl out of bed.

X - X-rays you've had – A couple as I was a rather accident prone child. 

Y - Yummy food you make – I am a crap cook but the fat class shepards pie is quite nice.

Z - Zoo animal – Tigers LOVE THEM!

So that is me :)

Weight Loss Wednesday

There is no change in my weight which is rather a good thing seeing as I had cake on Friday, HUGE amounts on Saturday, a little more on Sunday, then some on Monday and then the last yesterday.

End of August and early September are full of birthdays for the Scholes family so there was a fab garden party on Saturday in teh glorious sunshine :)

 

I will do a real post one day but I am far too tired (probably due to excessive cake eating or the fact #1 didn’t go to sleep until 3am and then #2 had a couple of feeds between 3 and 6 when #1 got up zzzzz)

Weight Loss Wednesday–Lucky Cruiser

Wednesday again, time to get weighed!  I am now 12 stone 4 1/2 lb.  So a 1 1/2 loss.  I am just cruising on this weight loss malarkey without making an effort.  Which I know is very lucky for me and clearly can not last.

                               
I've been naughty with cakes and Tangfastics, they were all for medicinal purposes because of wonky hormones making me feel like a bag of crap ATM. But that is a post of it's own maybe.

I have downloaded some of the podcasts from NHS choices.  Couch to 5k which I will have to do in the park and also the strength and flexibility which apparently I can do indoors or outdoors but I would require shoulder height railings or bar.  This may be difficult indoors or out I can't think were there are any.
I

think I will do the strength one this afternoon to kick things off and try and keep it up.

So that is it on the weight loss front for this week and fingers crossed the cruising continues :)

Weight Loss Wednesday – Eat Less Move More

Here we are another Wednesday.  I have made a conscious effort to eat better this week and I am going to carry this on.  I stood on the scales again today and was rewarded for my half arsed efforts. 

The full on dieting hasn’t hit yet as I still need to buy a sports bra, sadly my shopping partner is useless and shopping with a baby is hard work when it comes to changing rooms.  Without a good bra I fear I am a health and safety hazard.

As I said I got the scales out this morning and stepped on to find that I am 12 stone 6, which according to the NHS puts me in the obese category for my height,  12 stone will put me at the high end of over weight so that is the first goal.  Apparently I should be under 10 stone, 10 stone being the very top end of healthy weight.  I am not sure that I will ever get there but getting out of the obese range would be a nice boost. Linky to NHS chart 

Before I was pregnant I was on a weight loss kick then and the goal when I started that was to get under 13 stone so after having Will my starting point is much better than my previous goal.

A little bit after giving birth I also checked my weight and was 13 stone 11.  Will is now 11 weeks so it must have been 9 or 10 weeks ago I got weighed so even without much of an effort I am getting there.

I went on a lovely long walk today up to the retail park and around all the shops in the retail park in the fabulous sunshine so there was my move more.  Sadly my lame ass willpower meant I treated myself to a Strawberry Milkshake (surely strawberry makes it one of my five a day?)
                               
I noticed on the cup it says sip and enjoy,  How ridiculous, you can not sip a milkshake, you have to guzzle it down and get an ice cream headache :)

I have also recorded Hairy Dieters as like them I love pies and comfort food and adding to much naughtiness so we shall see if that gives me any inspiration.

Well I am signing off as I have lots to do and not very much time left to do it.

TTFN

Patch

Hopefully attached to this blog is my gorgeous patch :)

Tuesday we went to Alder Hey for another examination under anaesthetic. We had a clinic appointment at 9am before we had to get to day ward at 11.30. I had telephoned to query the 9 am appointment as we had never needed to go to clinic before being admitted but no no we HAD to be there. I asked for a later appointment, firstly to decrease the gap between appointments and secondly I knew it was going to be impossible to get there for 9 but we were told it had to be 9.

We got there 25 minutes late and was told off by the receptionist, whoops. It would only have been 10 minutes but the buses were being buses so obviously not running to time.

So we wait patiently only to then be asked why we were there. Argh, I was right and should have pressed it with the secretary.

As we were there anyway they dud an eye test for Olivia and she can see brilliantly. Not sure how it compares to other children but compared to what I could see she was leaving me for dust! I could see a grey smudge and Olivia was telling me, no it's a duck :)

Her left eye is doing all the work atm so we're back to patching to try and get the right eye going.

We then had just under 2 hours to pass so we decided to go and invade central admissions as they have a softplay area. We walked into the waiting room, that is shared with cardio, it was completely empty! Olivia had loads of fun with the whole place just for her and The Man!

The Man is a life-size statue of Batman, it's awesome :)

Over an hour there and she then wanted to go outside so my mum talk her for a walk whilst o sat on reception with a glazed look on my face!

Eventually got to K1 and had a play, acted perfectly for the male nurse and eventually off to theatre. All is looking great so we get a break from the big doctors and only have to go for eye tests yay.

Fingers crossed the patching improves things even more! It is also fab that we don't have the boring plain plaster patches, we have glittery patterned ones!

So here's to a few months off for Olivia YAY!!

Will starts his turn on 4th September. At least August is clear :)

Diet Postponed due to stress and illness

Well I was going to start the diet today but I was ever so lucky and caught the sickness bug last week so still have naughty treats in the house.

Also feeling stressed at the moment. The house seems to be a moneypit with everything leaking / falling apart / being broken by stupid teenagers. We will one day manage to leave this house!

I'm also super tired with hospital trips, broken sleep for Will (although he is awesome at sleeping and eating fast!), broken sleep with stressy crap and running around with a fabulous active 2 year old. Roll on next Wednesday when I might be able to have a rest :)

So yes excuses excuses but I just can't start today.

Weight Loss Wednesday: Fly Diet and Fried Eggs

Last week I said that I was going to dedicate Wednesdays to weight loss . Hopefully this will keep me focused and I will get rid of my jelly belly!

I'm not normally one for faddy diets but yesterday I did partake in the fly diet. There was a HUUUUUUGE fat fly in the kitchen and when I went in there to make lunch it kept buzzing at me so I would run away like the wimp that I am. This meant that I couldn't get to the fridge to prepare lunch. After a while I attempted to manup and went in flailing my arms about to scare it off haha

I have decided that as next Wednesday is 1^st August that might be a good date to start.

This means I have a whole week to get my fill of cake and chocolate as I will have to cut down A LOT.

Today I am having a fried egg butty with loads of brown sauce and thick Warburton white toastie bread, delicious! I bought a packet of McVities caramel chocolate digestives which are just gorgeous. I also bought a multipack of crisps to make crisp butties with my warbbies loaf.

As well as having a week to have my fill of naughtiness I also have a week to get myself sorted. Healthy meal ideas, unwrap Jillian Michaels DVD (maybe that is a bit much to dive into it will be painful!) and dig out some gym type clothes. I must also find a sports bra with these post baby boobs or I will do some damage. I also have to move the pumpkin trick or treat tub that is in a cupboard as that is were I hide treats.

I'm not sure what my target is but I guess I will decide that next week, once I have stood on my shiny new scales. I will also measure myself as last time I went on a diet I got quite disheartened as I didn't feel like I was losing weight as the numbers on the scales just weren't dropping, but I did go down a dress size so I was doing well even if I didn't think I was doing well. The numbers were all I could think of so let's have more numbers to focus on.

Here's to a week of pigging out and possibly pizza at the weekend if the hubby agrees :)

Sunshine and Steam Trains

There was a time when going to a party on a Saturday meant killer heels and cocktails but not anymore!

Saturday the heels were swapped for trainers and wellies. The cocktails exchanged for fizzy pop and partying until 3 or 4 was switched from am to pm :)

The gorgeous B turned 2 this week so everyone packed their bags and headed off to party in a field in sunny Shropshire.

There was cake a plenty and lots of exploring around the site as Nich's parents are currently building a house so it was a fun adventure :)

I lost Will for a while as he was passed around which was kind of nice as I got to play with Olivia :) thanks all !

When I was given my dude back we sat on a blanket outside enjoying the lovely weather.

I'm looking forward to next year!

The Sunday we went to Grandna's house to enjoy more sunshine.

I abandoned Will with Grandad and me, Liv,Grandma and Cam headed off to Victoria Park to play on the steam trains. It was fab, wish I had my camera! Liv loves trains so was in her element.

This week we are hospital/ doctor free so I am sorting out the todo list trying to get it down. I was rather productive today so fingers crossed for a repeat tomorrow :)

Muddy Puddles

Friday!  Hooray!

I had ordered a wardrobe for the childerbeasts and it was being delivered today so fully expected to be stuck in the house all day but amazingly it arrived at 9.30 meaning that we had the full day to go out and play!

I quickly chucked Olivia in the bath and had an early lunch and off we went.  I only thought of going to the park for a bit but it turned into a mammoth trip out around Garston. 

We went to the playground and played for sooo long on everything there.  Olivia insisted that I got to play today as well and made me sit on the roundabout, I only lasted a few minutes as roundabouts make me feel really ill!  She also pushed me on the big swings which was lovely with the sun on my face, sitting down with a 2 year old pushing with all her might for a really gentle sway, bliss.

We then went to have a run around on the grass and splashing through all the muddy puddles.  I got some evil looks off a couple of mum’s who were sat on a bench as one of their daughters copied us and she screamed at her to stop.  Her daughter also had wellies on!  Where is the fun in putting wellies on your child, taking them to a park on a sunny day after weeks of rain and not letting them jump in puddles? come on!


We then went to sit on the bridge and waited for the trains to pass and both waved to them with lots of giggles from Olivia.  We then went to the shop and counted the buses and vans as we went.

I didn’t have my phone or watch so I had no idea how long we were playing. We got home nearly 3 hours later!  Olivia unsurprisingly has passed out on the chair.  I should have taken advantage of the sleep but expected Will to wake for a feed but the fresh air has obviously knocked him out as well.

It has been an awesome day today and we have a fab weekend ahead with Ben’s birthday tomorrow and then a trip to Grandma’s house and a visit to some mini trains hopefully.

I love maternity leave!! 

Udderly Exhausting

Will went for his first set of jabs today which wasn't has horrible as I thought it might be. He was a brave boy and I was a brave mummy. I cried when Olivia had hers!

He was also weighed. Everyone keeps telling me how big he is and he is a complete milk monster. He was following the 50th centile for a few weeks but has now dropped to 25th. How? Just how?!

The boy feeds every 2- 3 hours from about 4 am until 4pm then about every hour or so until 9 / 10 then a good stretch of sleep. So in the evening I feel like I just feed, how on earth did he drop down? Ah well no doubt he'll be up again and everywhere over the next few months.

I had forgotten how tiring feeding can be, even with the good stretches of sleep I get I still feel tired.

He is a happy chappy who has been giving us lots of smiles lately so it's all worth it :) (hopefully there is a picture!)

P.S. I was also told if I bottle fed I would be able to do every 4 hours, I smiled and walked away, wasn't that restrained of me? Leave me and my choice to breast feed alone grr

Weight Loss Wednesday

Last week I purchased a set of scales for 2 reasons. Firstly to see how much Will weighed as he is huge and secondly to scare myself onto losing the weight I put on in pregnancy.

I've been eating really badly since Will was born. Secret stashes of cake and eating entire bags of haribo on the bus home from town (ok only once but I did feel guilty!)

So yes scaring myself into getting motivated to lose weight, it kind of back fired. I got in the scales and I'm almost back to pre birth weight without trying so I celebrated with crisps haha

I initially said I was going to give myself until my 30th birthday before I start behaving myself. I felt great after giving birth so decided I would weight until after the 6 week check up and at 8 weeks I'm still waiting for this!

I have decided to at least prepare to lose weight. I am awesome at procrastinating ;)

I am currently looking for healthy and tasty recipes in place of cake.

I am also going to dust off the 30 day shred DVD by that Jillian person. I bought it in an attempt to lose weight to help with TTC but didn't get chance to try it as I was already pregnant!

At point I will be sorting my health out and post here in some hope of motivation. I'll do a weigh in and so on each Wednesday simply because weight loss Wednesday has a nice ring to it :)

So for now this is my notice if intention and I have to start this game on or before 12th September!

Right off to stuff my face before I'm not allowed xx

Magic Sofa

What is it about a sofa that gives a person the ability to sleep when they're not well?

Yesterday Olivia came down with a cold that came from nowhere! Full on snot fest, hacking cough and wheezing. This has obviously meant very little sleep for anyone, except Will who can sleep through anything except the smell of my tea being ready.

She has managed to sleep for about 40 minutes after each dose of calpol but as you can only give it every 4 hours that's not a lot. I thought we had calprofen to get more sleep but no, boo. (note to self - finish the ice cream to make it the medicine tub so I can keep check of what we have!)

Will had a feed at 6 and Olivia's moans turned into full on wails so I gave up and brought her downstairs for cuddles as she can't have calpol until 8. I popped her on the sofa so I could go and sort myself out and she passed out. She is still coughing but is sleeping. (I have so jinxed it by blogging this haven't I?)

I'm not sure what to do with myself now. I don't want to make any noise so no TV or cleaning (hahahahaha cleaning). I wish The Sims was still installed on the PC as not played it in ages! I might hunt for the disk later and get Tom to install it. Maybe I should go finish the ice cream...

Friday Thirteenth

Yesterday was Friday 13th and was the first day I had felt brave enough to go further than village or park with my 2.

Olivia has an obsession with trains at the moment so on Monday I took her on the train to see how I would manage with her and the new pram. We went all the way to hunts cross and back again. This trip is one stop to the end of the line, couple of minutes break and back one stop. Olivia loved it!

Yesterday we got the train to town. Fab trip there but lift was broken at the station so a few station staff helped (thanks Mersey Travel!). Was supposed to meet my mum at station but she was super late. We finally met and headed to the shops but after 20 minutes or so she felt sick and went home.

Crap, crap, crap! My first trip out, town is busy, I need to feed William but don't have books to entertain Olivia, then Olivia will need food but where am I going to go for small lunch that I haven't got to carry a tray? Oh oh oh panic! Friday 13th has got me!

But as the saying goes, keep calm and carry on! I headed off to Mothercare to feed Will and try to figure out what I'm doing. At that point I realised that Olivia was being a star. She sat so patiently whilst Will fed, she walked wonderfully without complaint and jumped on the board for a break, we played on the Thomas ride (without making it go hah) and had a treat of a lunch at Pizza Hut were she sat and ate wonderfully.

We then went to get the bus home were she had a 3 second melt down as she wanted to get the train but then sat on my knee and promptly passed out :) (it was at this point I felt extremely jealous as I was tired and I just had to watch my babies sleep!)

So in your face Friday 13th. I may not have been able to buy anything on my shopping list but I managed town on my own without a tantrum or losing a child woohoo :)

Tom took me into town today were I crossed 1 thing off my list but with it being a sunny (shock!) Saturday it was heaving we just had a stroll around and sandwiches on a bench :)

This post is pointless really but I guess when I decide to do it again this post will remind me I can do it.

Our Cataract Journey Part 2

So for the past 2 years we have spent a fair amount of time at Alder Hey with Olivia for her cataract treatment and the big ops are all done for her now and we will have a couple more visits and then probably a squint operation and then it all settles down. She has been fabulous through it all and it truly is amazing what medical advances can do.

As I write this blog I am sat on the bus with William, who is fast asleep and looking so relaxed. I am feeling sick at the thought of seeing the doctor. I'm not sure why I feel like this. I know the procedure we've been through it with Olivia and lived with it myself but today I am feeling like sticking my head in the sand and singing a merry tune.

Well I shall pause this for now as the bus is almost at the hospital.

...............

Well the curse of N1 and my placid children hits again heh. He was great with Julie (so is Olivia) but when it came to the doctors cried a lot. It was odd as Will generally isn't a crier unless it's the evening on random days and when he needs a nappy change.

I have a feeling Olivia may have warned him what was to come!

Well because of the crying they couldn't get a decent look so they're going to put him under anaesthetic to have a decent look to see what is going on in his baby blues. That will be end of August or beginning of September.

So fingers crossed Will takes it all in his stride like Olivia did :)

Now for a 2 week break from Alder Hey before it's time to go back again :)

July!

The time is just zooming by and it will be Christmas before we know it :)

The house is slowly falling apart around us which is a pain in the arse (not to mention the pocket!) but it is giving me the kick I need to get this place sorted.

DIY is rather hard and setting time aside to do it is pants when I would rather be in the park but needs must. I am going to walk around the house making a list of everything that needs doing and start ticking them off (or hoping someone takes pity and helps us out)

Being a growed up does have some amazingly boring aspects to it.

My little childerbeasts are doing great. Olivia still loves her brother too much but Will is growing fast so it won't be long until he has some ability to protect himself :)

We're back to Alder Hey next week for Will, not liking the anxious feeling but I guess it is all part and parcel of being a parent. Fingers crossed the doc can get a better idea of what is going on and we can get some plans in place. I am sure I will feel better when I know what is going on.

This post was somewhat pointless but I do like to babble :)

Total 180

So the last post was all about hope and crossed fingers for our trip to Alder Hey with William. Unfortunately the boy has inherited my broken eyes :(

Because he was so little and was in the newborn sleepy mode they couldn't really assess his eyes other than to say yes he has cataracts.

We go back in a couple of weeks to see what is what.

The hope I had with the red / orange reflex was pointless really. It is positive that there is one there as light is hitting the back of the eye but the colour doesn't mean that much it is how bright the reflex is and Will's is dull :(

I managed to hold it together whilst with the doctor but went to get a drink in the canteen and just couldn't hold the tears in. The good thing about tears in a hospital are that people leave you be as you see it fairly regularly.

So with hormones being everywhere I keep swinging from super over happy about my lovely family then from last weeks positive hope to joining David Cameron with the U turns and feeling so guilty and quite frankly sorry for myself.

I keep having moments were I keep thinking he can't see at all as he doesn't seem to focus or react to bright light. I have to give myself a mental slap to get out of the funk. He is only a month today so not quite at the focus stage and I've not been shining lights in his eyes for him to react.

There is no point in thinking of the whatifs yet I just want to stay oblivious until we go back in a few weeks.

Olivia seems to be doing well :). the little monkey won't let them near her to check properly so she's being put to sleep end of July so that everything can be checked fully.

So for now it is a case of stop being a miserable cow as things can be so much worse and they are for some of our friends. Although I can't seem to find the energy to be the upbeat smiley person I normally am I will be making the effort not to waste the energy on moping (and it is hard work being a moaner I have no idea how some people live their lives as miserable sods I would be shattered!)

Now where did I put those biscuits...

Eye Eye

So tomorrow is a trip to Alder Hey to have a nosey at Olivia's eyes after her operations.

I am a little concerned about her left eye but she seems to be doing so well so hoping it is all positive news.

I am also crossing my fingers that they look at William's eyes. Last time I was there with Liv the doctor said to bring new baby in and make sure the referral was done. I got the referral sorted and had a letter from the hospital to say they had received the info and would arrange an appointment but I really can't wait for an appointment to be sorted I need to know NOW!

With Olivia the doctor who did the newborn checks said she couldn't see the red reflex so straight away we knew something was wrong. We stayed on hospital to see a specialist who confirmed cataracts so waiting for a referral to Alder Hey wasn't horrible in a not knowing way.

This time with Will there is hope. The doc that did the newborn checks was totally over thinking things (in my completely untrained / looking for any sign of hope opinion )

With the red reflex he said that he could see it but it looked orangey. I wasn't sure what to make of this, although it had to be positive as he could see it! I then googled orange red reflex, as I was doing this I was nervous as the saying "google is your friend" doesn't always apply when looking at problems like this, but it seems positive as although called a red reflex it can be orange.

He did say he couldn't see the retina or the disc and I have no idea what that means but he wasn't an eye specialist so this is where the over thinking comes into it. I did google this but couldn't make head nor tail of it in relation to the family history.

The doc did finish by saying if it was a standard newborn check he would have sent us home saying everything was OK. He then added a disclaimer of sorts by saying that we shouldn't take anything from that and that we should see the specialist. He did want his boss to check Will over but they said no so I am assuming that because he could see the red reflex there was no point in looking again.

So I have spent 3 1/2 weeks just hoping and hoping and trying to stay positive. I keep looking at him wondering if he is seeing things but that doesn't mean a great deal as Olivia would look around and she had cataracts!

There are children who go through much harder things than this and their parents have so much to cope with but I really don't want to go through the same operations and weekly trips to Alder Hey with Will.

I want to take the children swimming! We missed out with Liv because of the ops and drops and then when we could go swimming I was back in work full time and we just never seemed to have time before more drops then ops. Without drops we can go splash in the pool!

So firstly I hope my lovely Olivia gets a woo things are going well kind of appointment and secondly pleeeease look at Will and let things be good.

I feel there may be a restless night ahead (and probably cramp from all the finger crossing!)

Please be a good day tomorrow x

William George Scholes 20.05.12

William George Scholes

Baby number 2 was on the way! The first few months of 2012 saw babies making early appearances so I spent a lot of time praying my baby would break that pattern due to trying to get Olivia's operations sorted.

So I was due on 10th May that date came and went and I was getting rather annoyed at how good my wishing had worked out.

Midwife came to see me on 17th May and said things weren't looking promising. I was sent to hospital on 18th for monitoring and a scan. They told me nothing was going to happen and wanted to book an induction for the Monday. I didn't want that do pushed it back to Thursday and made more plans to get me through to Thursday.

On Saturday Tom bought me a pizza for my tea to cheer me up so I ate that whilst sorting photos on my computer. My laptop did its usual trick of shutting down when I dare to do anything other than play on t'interweb so I got in a huff and went to bed complaining about my piece of crap laptop and belly ache the pizza had given me. (I still need to sort those photos out...)

I had felt a few twinges and told Tom there may be hope that I might not have to be induced nothing imminent but they felt promising.

When I lay down these little twinges felt stronger but didn't think much of it. An hour and a half later I was still awake as I kept thinking of them so decided to go down stairs for paracetamol so I could go to sleep.

That was about midnight and as I settled down to sleep I realised that the twinges were actually fairly uncomfortable and closer than I thought. I got my little contraction app on and they were every 10 minutes so I decided to get up so Tom could try and get some sleep.

I decided to get a bath as it's what they tell you to do and also I decided my hair was a little too greasy to have a baby heh.

As I climbed into the bath I realised that the twinges were now every 6 minutes and decided that yes I probably was in labour. Whilst sat in the bath I decided I would wait until at least 6 or 7 am before I called anyone.

I managed to get to 3am before waking Tom up to help with the TENS (aah slight relief) I had call his mobile as he couldn't hear me shouting and I could hear Liv stiring..

He called his folks and they headed down from Southport to collect Olivia. At this point I had a little panic that I was waking everyone up too early. Tom decided to add to the number of awake people and called my mum to get her to come to our house for our Tesco delivery.

So the in laws were here getting Liv ready, my mum prepped to get my food and my contractions every 2 1/2 - 3 minutes it was time to get to hospital. As Olivia took so long to arrive there was a part of me thinking it was too soon and they would send me home.

We arrive at hospital to the surprise of the midwives as I had telephoned the hospital earlier to put them on notice but the message hadn't been passed on and they were busy as lots of babies had decided to arrive.

The midwife we initially saw was lovely but I can not remember her name. She went through history, the events of the past couple of hours and read my birth plan.

She had done the standard chat about we'll check you over you may have to go home if not in actual labour. By the time she had the info from me that she needed she said there was no need to check me over as I was clearly in labour as I was having double contractions.

At about 6.00ish maybe? I asked her to check me over as the control freak in me needed to know how far along I was. I was 6cm to which there was great mix of emotions. Yaaay I was a good way along but boooo there must be a few hours to go yet, in my head it was 1cm an hour but clearly not.

The MW left us to it and I got Tom to rearrange the room haha. They have brilliant height windows ledges in the hospital to lean on during contractions but the bed was under the window. He sorted it for me and I felt easier for a bit.

MW popped her head in and made a joke that I was doing great and at this rate I might not even make it to the pool, I so did not have a sense of humour at that point and demanded drugs and lots of them. She chuckled said I would be fine and vanished.

I kept walking and leaning on windows and shouting at the bloody birthing ball which kept getting in my way but decided I wasn't coping and told Tom he had to push the button to get me the drugs, he lovingly ignored me and not long after the helpers came to get me to move me to the pool. At this moment I had the urge to push so the walk there was a little uncomfortable, especially without my lovely gas & air in my hand.

I got into the pool and freaked out as it was so bloody hot. I love hot baths but fark me whoever ran the pool had made it booooiling. We had a new MW at this point called Jo who stuck her hand in and had to agree and ran the cold water whilst I am stood there wanting to get out haha

I calmed down enough (and the water cooled enough) for me to kneel down but I was still being a bit of a loon saying I didn't know what to do and I wanted to push but was I allowed to push? Heh. With Olivia because there was issues we had a few people there and it seemed busy and people told me when to push or breathe. Jo just kept telling me to go with my body but I didn't know what I was doing! I may have also made comments about a magic sieve...

Very suddenly my brain engaged, I shut my whining and knew what I had to do and I was off. He bloody flew out. I read my notes and spoke to MW about the birth. She said my waters went just as I got in the pool and he arrived 11 minutes after that!

He arrived at 7.44 am weighing 8lb 8oz :)

Then there were lots of cuddles and cooing and being totally in love.

So he is almost 3 weeks old and he has been a dream. He fed great from the start and has just been so easy going, probably because I had a bit of an idea what I was doing this time around.

Poor boy has had a cold and sleeping on his back for a long time stuffed his little nose up so we have had a few 4am cuddles but he just chills on my shoulder.

Fingers crossed he stays so relaxed :)

I will add some photos if I ever turn my laptop back on.

Rubbish Blogger

So here we go again, I keep saying that I am going to blog then just never seem to get around to it.

Since I blogged last time so much has happened.

I have has my 20 week scan which was brilliant as baby was living in my hip so getting all the measurements that were needed wasn't too easy, at one point I was holding on to the bed for dear life as she was tipping it further and further back with tom on standby to grab my ankles :)

Then after that we had Christmas which was lovely. Olivia understood it much more this year and although loved the lights on the tree she pretty much left it alone, doubt that will happen again.

Then January to March went by in a mixture of my body slowly falling apart and work being pretty pants with morale being super low and bosses being bastards, although as maternity leave grew closer I cared less and less and it was nice think I was escaping for 10 months.

March and April were filled with lots of trips to Alder Hey for the next stage of Olivia's operations. She now has artificial lenses in her eyes.

The first eye she was babbling away happily and the second eye has been a little more tricky. She had a bit of an infection and it's still not right but we go back next week to get it checked out.

Then we get to May. Pretty quiet month really, well until 20th May when my beautiful baby boy William made his entrance to the world. I am going to do a separate post with the whole birth story.

He is now 17 days old and it has been a lovely few weeks. He has caught his Dad's cold so is struggling a little but hopefully it will clear soon.

Olivia is dealing great with Will. There have been a few moments of jealously and upset but that is to be expected. At the moment she loves to help out which is lovely but at wash time and nappy time can get a little messy :)

She is super cute when he sneezes as she says bless you Will :) this is one of the few times she uses his name, other then that he is baby or George, George is his middle name but it comes from Peppa Pig hehe

So life is sailing by nicely and fingers crossed that it lasts. Though I am alone with 2 on Friday so I may start with a break down then, especially as it a forecast heavy rain :/

Now let's see if I can actually keep up with blogging.