Moog's meanderings

Baby boy born 24th July 2007, 11.42am
6lb 10oz (that’s bang on 3 kilos)

arrived on Tuesday morning – needless to say I didn’t make it to my meeting in London……!

Has it really been a week? Wow..

Well, things have been pretty wet here in the Midlands. Luckily in Birmingham we didn’t have it too badly. The allotment was pretty much under water on Friday – the stream at the back had burst it’s banks – but by Saturday afternoon had drained off quite a bit. The lettuce seedlings seem to have enjoyed the extra hydration!! Our mange tout peas are over now, but we enjoyed them while they lasted! We currently have quite a lot of petit pois (yum!) and the french beans are just starting. Over the past few days we’ve accumulated about enough for me to have for supper tonight (hubby’s away). The runner beans are just about starting too – yesterday there were two ready for picking! So by the end of the week I suspect we’ll be inundated. Hooray!

Mum and Dad came over last week for a couple of days and Tuesday was Mum’s birthday. The original idea had been for Mum and I to go to the cinema to see La Vie en Rose, but it didn’t even last 3 weeks in the cinema so as no longer showing. We did go out for a lovely meal on Tuesday evening though – hubby was home, and we were joined by my brother & his wife and grandad. It was the kind of place that does really good quality food and doesn’t feel the need to give you enormous portions, so you enjoy it and manage to finish it without feeling stuffed. Well, I might have had I not been quite so pregnant – my stomach is seriously fighting for space so I still didn’t manage to finish mine, but there we are. With husbands and brothers there is always a helping hand (mouth) waiting!

Thursday was really busy – phone calls, Breastfeeding class and a teleconference. Pregnancy Yoga was really nice – only three of us there (presumably because it had been such a lovely warm day). I do find it relaxing. The weather was lovely when I went in at about 7.25pm, but by the time I left at 9ish, the rain was coming down. It didn’t stop until mid way through Saturday morning. yuk.

We had a friend from Uni staying with us Friday to Saturday. It was lovely to see him and catch up. ) We spent the rest of Saturday tidying up the Nursery. It’s looking a lot better now – usable even? I still have some files and things that need putting into the attic (something for later today). At least they’re down off the high shelf now so I can get on with it. Apparently I am not supposed to be up ladders and things..! Yesterday we went out for lunch with some friends. She’s also pregnant and due a few weeks after me. The blokes seem fairly happy with the idea of impending fatherhood and it was nice to all get together and have a chinwag. I suspect that the next time there will be 6 of us!

London tomorrow (am I mad?). The last meeting before Munchkin arrives hopefully. There’s one in the second week of August and after that none until into September. I have a scan and consultant appointment on Friday. In the mean time I have been having the weekly midwife appointments and everything is fine and apparently as it should be. I can’t help thinking that I have been blessed through this whole thing. Considering the Lupus and all the possible complications, I have had a surprisingly good pregnancy (even compared to people who are considered to be completely ‘normal’ in that context). I am looking forward to meeting Munchkin now, although still can’t imagine what it’ll be like for us being 3!! Oh, and once it’s over I won’t miss the heartburn either….

Well, here I am in London again. I have a meeting shortly. I have been hanging around in a coffee shop nearby for a good hour or so because of my foggy brain. I booked my advance tickets on Friday for today (hurrah – I have a lovely cheap 1st class seat reserved for getting home again this afternoon). However, when I did the booking I apparently wasn’t really thinking so it wasn’t until afterwards that it dawned on me that I would be arriving in London as if for a 1030 meeting rather than the 1130 that I actually have. So I could have had an extra hour in bed.
The time hasn’t been wasted though – I have been proofing a paper hubby has written for a conference and which he’s going to be reviewing with his PhD supervisor on Friday. I expect I’ll pay for my early rising by the end of the day though…

..well mine is! She’s a complete maniac! I am not sure whether it’s to do with the fact that the weather is so horrid and wet. I have the door propped open so that she can get in and out (yes, still no catflap) in spite of the weather, and she keeps going out in it (strange animal – I thought that cats hated the wet?). Ok, let me rephrase. She keeps going out, then racing in as though she’s being chased by a monster, spraying water and leaving footprints as she goes (and skidding on the laminate floor). I guess she has a lot of energy to get rid of? It makes me tired just watching her bounce and race around! Fantastic entertainment though!!! )

Today I have been making gluten free sausage rolls. They seem to have worked out ok! I used this recipe… I have actually tried it once before but didn’t have minced veal so used minced pork instead – they also worked out pretty well although for some reason the pastry seems to be better this time around (it puffed up more which was nice, but unfortunately this meant the rolls split!).

On Monday I went off to London for an evening meeting (and dinner, of course!). Useful and interesting, but with lots of work resulting. I am part of a small team looking at a particular aspect of what we’ve been working on so that we can all discuss at the main meeting in September. It still remains to be seen whether I will be attending any meetings in September, what with the whole pending baby mullarky, but hey. After staying overnight and getting an early train back to Brum in time for antenatal class at 9.30am, I was pretty knackered (having only had about 5 hours of not particularly comfy sleep).

The weekend was lovely. Parents-in-law stayed with us from Thursday evening, and the blokes did some plumbing on Friday. This meant that I was able to spend the day baby shopping with mum-in-law, which was very nice. I am now pretty happy that we have everything we need for the early stages. The problem is that it still needs sorting. I haven’t even packed the hospital bag yet. Probably something that needs moving to the top of my ‘to do’ list if I’m honest.

The weather on Saturday was lovely and we went off to a family do in Tamworth to celebrate the recent wedding of a relative of hubby’s. We know her quite well as they are the same age and have kept in pretty close touch over the years, and it was lovely to see her and meet the bloke concerned!! It was also nice to chat with that part of the family that’s a little distant and therefore we see very rarely. In the evening we had a lovely supper (outside in the garden!!) to celebrate mum-in-law’s special birthday which happened last week. )

Can’t really remember the rest of last week.. apparently that’s due to my ‘pregnant brain’. Might have something to do with how shattered I feel too – perhaps going swimming this morning and standing up all afternoon wasn’t such a good idea? I am thinking that a nice warm fluffy bath is the way to spend the evening…

Why does going to meetings always result in having actions?

Yesterday turned out to be quite a nice day after all, so we capitalised on it and spent most of the day at the allotment. Unfortunately this means that neither the sorting out of the nursery or the jumbo crossword got completed. However, the allotment is looking rather better than it was thanks to both of us spending some time weeding and hoeing (well, I spent about an hour doing that and the rest of the time attempting the samurai sudoku from Saturday’s Times).

Today I thought I’d make the most of a bit of fine sunshine by washing a load of sheets and hanging them out to dry, but have just had to run outside and pull them in as the rain just appeared from nowhere. It’s quite heavy and appears to be pretty persistent. Ah well, I suppose I’ll have to find somewhere among the junk to hang them in the house…

Tomorrow is our first antenatal class (nhs not nct!). Should be interesting (and hopefully educational?).. I am hoping that these will help us to finish forming the infamous ‘birth plan’. We already have some good ideas what’s going on it (and notes), so hopefully this will answer outstanding questions and give another perspective on some stuff we’ve already thought about.