How to turn a breech baby

Step 1... don't ask me!

Baby has been breech now since our 20 week scan. Not a problem we thought, she'll turn. Now at 38 weeks this is seeming increasingly unlikely. At full term only about 3% of babies are likely to still be breech. In our quest to encourage her to turn I have learnt a lot that I thought may be worth sharing. I have tried lots of things, clearly with no success. They all have varying success rates, many not proven but I figured we may as well try everything. I hope these are useful to someone...

My little sister

E has been a major part of our journey with baby. Right from when he was eating his dinner with Mr B and I read out the pregnancy test result. He has even chosen her name (more on that in the future!) and is constantly hugging and kissing my bump.

He's always asking 'what's baby doing', 'does baby want some juice', 'is baby OK mummy?'. Occasionally he will kick me when playing and when I tell him to be careful the answer is always 'it wasn't me it was baby' said with his trademark cheeky smile.

I, being an only child, always wanted to be able to have a brother or sister for E but part of me was always worried about him feeling left out and us not being able to devote as much attention to him. I guess this is what all parents go through when deciding to have a second baby. However, these past 8/9 months he has really taken to the idea and is very excited about getting his new little sister.

The shouts of 'baby get out' are becoming more often and he wants baby here now. We have tried to explain that she is not going to do much when she arrives - just cry, sleep and have cuddles. Despite this I do wonder whether he thinks she's going to come out a fully working playmate.

Since I started drafting this post we have had the ECV to try and move baby which was unforunately unsucessful. We now have to decide whether to go for an elective c-section or to attempt a 'natural' breech birth. Just re-reading this has actually reminded me what is important. The birth is such a small part of her overall story and that is what I need to focus on whilst I tie myself up in knots trying to make a decision which is best for all of us, as a family of four.

x

Easter...time for a break

The week before Easter was always going to be a momentous one for us. It was my last week at work before maternity leave and Mr B's first week in a new job. Thank god it was only a four day week!

We had a lovely long weekend kicking off with some much needed jobs around the house on Good Friday, and some baking on Saturday. Now this might not sound very impressive but it is VERY rare and E had started to think it was only possible to make cakes at Nan-nans house. E and I had a lovely time together mixing and making. We even produced some edible crispy cakes and biscuits!

On Saturday we ventured out of the house to see my parents and visit a vintage fair at the great, Great Central Railway which we are very lucky to have on our doorstep.

Sunday brought not only the Easter Bunny but also Nan-nans birthday so we packaged up some of the products of our labour and off we went to see the other side of the family. The annual Easter Egg hunt (which I have been taking part in since Mr B and I got together 13 years ago!) was as fruitful as always. It is not unheard of us to have Easter chocolate left at Christmas.

By Monday we wanted some time on our own so waited for the sun to come out playing in the garden and after a lovely lunch prepared by Mr B we took the short 5 minute drive to our local woods (Martinshaw Woods) to spot the bluebells. I love this time of year!

 

 

 

 

 

Finally we dropped E off at grandparents for a sleepover ready for our early scan at the hospital on Tuesday. Unfortunately baby girl is still breech so after chatting through things with the doctor we are booked in for a ECV next week. Fingers crossed we can get this little monkey moving!

I am linking up with Country Kids from Coombe Mill.

[ . . Wonderful Weeks . . ] There has been a few...

We have been so busy having wonderful weeks that I haven't actually been able to find the time to blog about them ;)

We have:

• Spoken to friends the other side of the world
• Visited Calke Abbey
• Seen lots of baby friends - E really is the sociable one!
• Enjoyed quite a few pub lunches
• Grabbed some bargains at the car boot sale
• Been to friend's houses for tea and cake and lots of inspiring chats
• Prepared to say goodbye to family for a few months as they go off on their travels
• Laughed at the outdoor theatre (which I couldn't recommend highly enough) 
• Celebrated E's 6 month birthday
• Learned how to sit up!

Most importantly I have really enjoyed being a Mum. It has suddenly dawned on me that with work (of some description!) pending I really should be grasping all these special days. Even if that means enjoying a day at home in our PJ's!

The next few weeks are also promising to be wonderful with holidays, exciting plans and hopefully some creativity.

x

6 months today

I still can't actually quite beleive it. E is 6 months today, the 2nd September.

It's crazy!

I feel we have come on leaps and bounds since his 16 week birthday. He is such a happy, playful little boy. He almost now doesn't even seem like a baby. He has the most amazing personality already. I am so proud of him every day. He makes me smile, laugh, be silly, and cry - in a good way these days!

To celebrate his 6 month birthday we were lucky enough to be invited to the opening of the Build-A-Bear Workshop store in Leicester. Obviously E is a little too young to appreciate everything the store has to offer - choosing a bear, stuffing it, and picking out an outfit but I sure enjoyed it. We were given a bear to say thank you for going, and as you can see below, E loves him already. Maybe for his 12 month birthday we can go and choose him some clothes.

Happy 6 month birthday my lovely little boy x

Does the doubt ever go away?

The doubt is setting in again. That I am not a natural mother.

I love E to bits and often find myself crying with how much I love him but this evening I have asked Mr B to take him for a walk so that I can have some time to myself. I feel bad. He has done nothing wrong, yes he has been a bit more whingey than normal these past few days but nothing to complain about. Certainly nothing compared to the 'old days'.

He is still smiling and playing, and being his usual charming, monkey self but for some reason I just needed a break.

I have tried to think about whether it's because I am tired? No. Have not been out of the house? No. Missing adult conversation? No. I don't know what it is but I know I needed it.

So rather than catching up on Twitter or Facebook which is what I normally tend to do when I catch a few minutes to myself (when E is asleep) I have decided to do something productive and actually write a blog post. I just don't seem to have had the words recently to write anything, and I haven't been making the time. If I am honest, I feel guilty about having time away from E.

Is this silly? I feel it shouldn't be silly, surely everyone is entitled to some time off but it's not like I am at work. Mr B is at work, 5 days a week, 9-5 and whilst he can't wait to see and play with E when he gets home in the evening, he is entitled to some time on his own too.

I just don't know what the balance is? When I mention to Mr B how I am feeling, he always jokes - well you go to work for me tomorrow and I'll go to the park etc. And to be completely honest I would love to swap for the day. To do something other than just be a Mum. It's not that he doesn't understand or isn't supportive. He couldn't be more supportive. If I arrange a day out at the weekend with a friend, he won't mind, and when you look back over the last few months it is me that has had more time with my friends, away from E than what he has (in my defence, I am just better at organising things than he is!).

I don't know what the solution is. In the next few months I will need to start doing some days of work in the week (who knows where that is coming from, but that is another post altogether) and that will give me time away. Then, I will probably be complaining about not seeing E enough, and focusing on all the things I am missing out on!

There really is no perfect solution is there? Am I over thinking things? Any advice? I can't be the only/first one to feel like this can I? If so, then I really am a crap Mum.

Treasury Tuesday....Wonderful Wood

This Tuesday I am taking part in Abby's (little red buttons) Treasury Tuesday. We all know that I love an alliteration and I also quite like Etsy :) If you haven't heard of Etsy then where have you been? But, seriously it is a great website for finding unique handmade items. It is an International site with the majority of sellers being in the US but you can search just in the UK, however it's not usually a problem as most ship to the UK for reasonable rates.

A treasury is simply a personally selected group of items, favourites so to speak. The theme for this weeks 'Treasury Tuesday' is Wood, you could probably tell that from the pictures below, and I have decided to pick items under £30 (the prices below are displayed in $). You'll notice that some are for me, some for the home and some unsurprisingly for E. I hope you like my selection. x

SALE Walnut Scallop Bir... Joannarutter $32.30	Blue Arrow - Wooden Tri... lucie0ellen $11.00	organic Camera - natura... littlesaplingt... $25.00	SCOOP & SORT Colors Wo... applenamos $22.00
White Wooden Bracelet bhmakes $33.20	CHARLOTTE-Huge Wooden H... BlondeChick $29.00	Wood Toy Train Set Natu... greenbeantoys $35.00	GEEK recycled-wood sign WilliamDohman $42.00
Deer in the Forest - Wo... peppersprouts $25.00	5-piece organic SAFARI ... smilingtreetoy... $48.00	natural Elephant Teethi... littlesaplingt... $12.00	10 pc LOVE Guest Book P... BellaPuzzlesTo... $45.00
Letter E Wall Wooden Ha... OldNewAgain $32.00	1960s carved antelope Lilsparlour $8.00	Midcentury Danish Moder... BadCatBoutique $28.00	UNFRAMED 8x10 Sweet Ele... petitcollage $15.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio. 

[ . . Wonderful Week . . ] Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside...

Since little E arrived we haven't ventured very far, in fact we hadn't been out of the Midlands together as a family but this week that all changed.

Mr B's best friend has fairly recently moved down to Kent so we invited ourselves to stay were invited down for a long weekend. I have been craving the sea for a while now. It is the only real place I feel free and love breathing in the fresh air, looking out on to the vast sparkling water and hearing the relaxing waves.

It certainly didn't disappoint, which is surprising really as I had been so excited all week leading up to it, even the 6 hour journey down there couldn't dampen my spirits.

Mr B and I were very excited about it being E's first time seeing the sea and we were keen to go for a paddle. The weather was certainly on our side so off to Whitstable beach we went, gritted our teeth as we walked over the stones and in to the freezing cold clear sea. E obviously didn't know what was going on but was fascinated with the water, constantly moving and sparkling in the sun.

The following day we headed off to the south coast. We walked along Camber Sands with E in the baby carrier kicking away in his sun hat.

It was perfect. In fact, the time together we spent on Camber Sands beach was lovely, hearing all the children play, enjoying a good cup of English tea discussing how we could do it more often. Move to the seaside? Not really an option these days. Have a seaside holiday every year? Is that really enough. Rent a holiday home for 3 months a year? Now we're talking :)

So, after coming back down from cloud nine we made the long journey back home smiling that we had had our first family seaside break. We really can't wait for the next one now.

I'd love to hear your recommendations for baby family places to visit. x

The Gallery: 3 Word Gallery - Four months today

...or 16 weeks depending on how you are counting :)

It has been far too long since I took part in Tara's Gallery on a Wednesday and this week I just couldn't resist due to the theme of 3 word's inspired by Simon Mayo's Radio 2 show. I used to always listen to that on my drive home from work...that certainly seems a long time ago!

Which moves me nicely on to my three words, E is four months today (or 16 weeks but that didn't sound as catchy!). The time has in one way flown and in another way, well it seems like a lifetime ago that he wasn't around. I, we, him have learnt so much in these precious few months. Here is a taster.

We started off by getting to know each other (1 day)

We have been making lots of friends, sometimes successfully (1 week)

There was a lot of crying and screaming in the first couple of months (2 weeks)

But we have received a lot of love and support in the real and virtual worlds (ongoing!)

Luckily there has been some sleeping too (6 weeks)

Along the way there has been lots of cuddles...

And lots of playing...

He loves his milk (14 weeks)

Which has led to this (14 weeks)

One thing is for sure, I certainly love my boy (15 weeks)

Happy 16 weeks! x

The Gallery: Chilled out - some of the time!

A great topic for this week's Gallery - Chilled out.

E has a great knack of being and looking pretty chilled out. In fact he looks pretty cool a lot of the time.
Funny that, he must take after his Dad!

Sorry this is so short and sweet, I used all my energy on last week's gallery post!

Why not look at the other entries for this week at Sticky Fingers. 

The Gallery: April - this year and last

April last year was all about freedom and exploring.

We had a wedding to attend and a hen do in Paris. It was also Mr B's 30th Birthday and to celebrate we went on a once in a lifetime holiday to Japan. It was amazing and I have been meaning to blog properly about it for a long time but words can never quite capture what a great experience it was. It is such a friendly country and we were made to feel extremely welcome wherever we went, even when they couldn't speak a word of English!

A fertility shrine - it obviously worked!

So this April was a little different.

It has been all about Elliott. About finding our feet and about family.

April is however for me always about blossom whether you are in the UK or exploring elsewhere...

Photo taken in the bluebell woods April 2011



I am very late (as aways) posting my entry for the Gallery but why not see what it is all about here.