Birth story with SPD for Baby 2

POSTED BY IR

I had my baby girl in January and had actually written the birth story down at the time while it was still fresh. Then I sent it to the other ladies and felt a lot lighter in my mind. So I recommend writing out the birth story to everyone soon after you've had your baby. I wish I had done it with my first as that was a very traumatic birth for me and I feel it would've helped me with my post baby blues.

This birth, thankfully, was not traumatic. Although the pregnancy was. I developed severe SPD which many people are not aware of. I'll need a whole other post to explain that so watch this space. But in short, I had a surge of hormone which softened my ligaments and caused excruciating pain in my pelvis which prevented me from moving my legs. SPD can affect people at different levels so don't worry if you've been diagnosed. But for me, it was going to be a challenge to give birth if I couldn't move my legs so I knew I would be needing the epidural to numb any pain. I also had the option of being induced due to the pain. I did opt for this when I reached 39 + 4 days. So here goes my birth story. Look away if your squeamish as I don't hold back.

Friday the induction started 11am. I had intense contractions by end of day that I had the pessary removed to stop baby getting distressed.

Saturday was rest day. They make you rest for 24hrs so that the baby doesn't get upset. I was still getting some contractions every 5 mins which got me to 2cm dilated. But they died off.

Sunday I had prostin gel inserted at 8am. Some contractions started. Not regular but by 3pm docs sent me to delivery suite to get waters broken and get things moving.

In the delivery suite, the Midwife managed to break waters and contractions started. They were still not regular enough. I then had the midwife changeover. It was a very experienced midwife with a student who was excellent. They said I was not getting enough contractions and I would need to be put on syntocin drip to get things going. I requested an epidural first as the drip can get things going quickly and is more painful as you can't build up your contractions. The Anaesthetist came and was very thorough and very serious. He talked me through all the risks and this made me very nervous. 

So I was now linked up to epidural, to the drip AND given intravenous fluids. It seemed so medicated but I was happy I was getting somewhere.

I managed to go to the toilet once with the epidural, but the second time my legs were numb. I couldn't walk so catheter it was. So now bladder was empty, but I kept getting pains. So I was feeling contractions. The Epidural was topped up a few times to keep contractions at bay.

What they do with the syntocin drip is up the quantity going in very slowly so baby doesn't get distressed with too many contractions. But at some point when it was increased a little further, the baby became distressed. My birth partners were asleep at the time and I felt something was not right as I could feel a contraction that wouldn't pass. The babies feet were in my ribs n pushing up n I was trying to push them down. Midwife jumped up n looked at monitor. I started squirming from the pain and the Midwife woke my husband and calmly asked him to press emergency button. This happened with first baby so I knew what was coming. The room instantly filled with 2 doctors and about 10 midwives. All talking at once. I was really calm at this point as I knew there was absolutely nothing I could do. If I'd panicked, the baby would be more distressed so I just waited.  It's lack of control. My life was literally in their hands. 

I was told to lie on my side n I just waited for baby's heartbeat to pick up. Which it did thank God. They decreased the drip n left the room to us again. But this meant I wouldn't sleep. I was exhausted. But kept panicking thinking the baby would be in distress. So I had eyes wide open.

At some point my midwives went for their break. I think it was 3am ish on Monday morning so by now and another midwife came. She was very thorough and literally never took her eyes off the monitor. While she was there my contractions picked up and the epidural was wearing off.  The contractions were really strong and she wanted to examine me. She was sure I was fully dilated.
My midwives had come back by now and the contractions were in full force. I couldn't breathe through them. They decided to stop the epidural completely and said it would be better I felt all contractions now and that I knew when to push. My SPD was not a problem at this point. The epidural had numbed my legs and I was concentrating more on contractions than the SPD. 

As I hadn't felt any contractions with my first labour, I became nervous and unsure if I could do it,  but I had no choice as the epidural had stopped working anyway. But at least it had got me to fully dilated so I'd had some rest.

So they checked and I was fully dilated but they were going to give me 1 hr so baby could come further down and then I'd push. After 10 mins my controlled breathing through contractions changed their tune. My sister and midwife kept asking if I was pushing. But I didn't think I was. But the breathing becomes a groaning type sound. And I started crying and saying I couldn't do it. So they offered me gas and air to get through the rest of the hour. Big mistake. I'd taken it with number 1 and was fine but this time I think I took too much too soon. During one of the contractions I felt baby come down and with it came lots of air. So I shouted baby's coming down! And the release of air made me laugh. Not normal laugh. I started cackling loudly. My eyes closed I was slapping my thighs and clapping my hands with laughter. That gas n air is magical. I took one more puff for the next contraction and they took it off me! As it wore off, which is does quickly, I couldn't stop apologising and was devastated as I had lost complete control. The midwives were very normal about it!

So all is serious again with next painful contraction and then they think I'm ready to push. The Midwife says it can take an hour sometimes and sometimes less. So with next contraction they asked me to do my first practise push. Much to everyone's surprise, the midwife sees the head! It took me 4 pushes in 5 mins and the baby was out!! Always amazing. Always extraordinary. They told us it was a girl and it was the best feeling and I was glad I hadn't found out in the scans.  

So midwife informed me I had no blood loss unlike the first labour and only a small tear which would heal itself without stitches. They finished their paperwork and I was left to hold baby n given my toast. I felt good, as last time the haemorrhage meant that I was out of it. So it felt amazing to watch what was going on. The baby was checked and weighed. Then these midwives were finishing their shift and next one came. By the time next one came, I was feeling sick. So she injected me with anti-sickness. But I was now feeling pretty dazed and out of it. The midwife kept saying it was tiredness. And she was in and out the room. As I kept coming round I was telling my husband to do something as I felt I was losing blood again. He told the midwife. She was checking n said yes lots of blood loss but I'd had anti blood loss injection too so she said it's cos I have full bladder so it's making me bleed more. I went to the loo but I couldn't wee so catheter again and I had a very full bladder! While she was there she decided to check my tear. She was taken aback as it wasn't a small tear at all. And after a second opinion they said they needed to stitch it. But because of my SPD they might need to take me into theatre to give me a spinal block rather than a local anaesthetic as I couldn't spread legs wide enough. Luckily I said I'd try in delivery room first and the midwife was an expert stitcher n she managed it. So once stitched, the bleeding stopped and I was sent to the ward to spend my night.

I'd had a great experience in the ward and delivery suite. I had compared it to the first time and it was a total opposite experience. This time, I asked more questions, and wasn't afraid to ask for help when needed. I was well researched in induction and SPD which helped lots. And most importantly, post labour, I rested very well. I wasn't in a hurry to move. I knew I'd get better and needed time to heal and this meant that any post natal blues were more controlled as I didn't tire myself out too much. 

Tales from the Children’s Centre

POSTED BY HA

Going from midwife care for nine months back to regular GP care is quite the crash back down to earth. During the last trimester of my pregnancy, I was in hospital quite a lot due to high blood pressure, and the midwives were always so amazing; from giving me sandwiches to hugs, I don’t know how I would've survived without them. The hole left in my post-pregnancy life by them has been kind of filled by health visitors…

Emphasis on the words “kind of.”

It just so happens that every appointment with a health visitor at our local Children’s Centre has involved some sort of bizarre, blog-worthy experience. Today, I shall share two of those with you.

The Breastfeeding Police

Let’s start with the very first appointment we had. In we walked (me, my husband and Baby K) and as we were settling down in the waiting room, out of nowhere a woman appeared in front of my face. I kid you not, it was if she had materialised out of thin air. Then this happened:

Woman: Hi there! Are you bottle feeding or breast feeding?

Me: Erm, bottle.

Woman: WHAT? Why???

Me: Erm, well—

Woman: Did you have any problems?

Me: Well, yes.

Woman: What? What was the problem? (At this point, she actually had a hand on her hip and a very stern look on her face)

Me: Hang on… Who are you???

Woman: (pulls out her badge and introduces herself as a “breastfeeding support someone”) Its VERY important that you speak to someone about this. What exactly is the problem?

Me:  Well… I've already discussed this with midwives and my GP…

Woman: (shakes her head in disappointment, totally ignoring what I've said) Your baby is probably used to the bottle by now, what a shame. There are things you could try. Was she latching properly?

Me: That wasn't the problem. And I’m not really comfortable discussing this in a waiting room full of strangers, WITH a stranger. Thank-you but please leave us alone.

(I’m probably remembering myself answering in a more confident and firm way than I actually did).

So harsh are the Breastfeeding Police that they almost make you feel like formula is poison. And almost always, they assume you could have tried harder to make it happen. Please. Take your condescending crap somewhere else.. Yes, we all know what the World Health Organization says, and “Breast is Best” and “Human Milk for Humans” and whatever other slogan you've come up with. Sometimes, however, there is no choice but to resort to formula. 

And when that happens, no woman should be made to feel any more guilty about it than she probably already does. We’re all doing the best we can.

An example of such guilt-mongering: 

Where do I even start with how smug and RUDE this is?! There couldn't possibly be anything more offensive to bottle-feeding mothers, could there? Oh wait, wait...

Yeah. These photos are real.


The Woman Hater

Moving onto our most recent appointment. Have you ever encountered women that hate women? I'm not talking about explicit hatred; I'm talking about the women that make constant unnecessary and snarky comments about you (or other women) to your face and especially if there is a third-party male present too.

We encountered one such health visitor just the other day. There I was, making sure I had my notes in order and holding a sleeping baby in my arms, when she called us in. Naturally, husband dearest picked up the baby bag as his hands were free. No-one cared or batted an eyelid; why would they?

Except the woman-hating health visitor that is. 

"Oh my! How strange to see a MAN holding a HANDBAG! Well, that is very strange indeed!"

She said this loudly, followed by awkward smiles from the husband and I.

First of all lady, its a baby bag, not a clutch that I could have stuffed under my arm and managed with. Secondly, it probably weighs much heavier than the baby itself. And thirdly, mind your own business!!

She then asked if this was my first baby (and continued to refer to her as a "he" throughout the meeting, no matter how many times I corrected her). I said yes and she said "I can tell from the way you're holding him."

Right. 

The cherry on the icing, however, was when just a few minutes into the meeting, she decided she knew everything about us and declared "I can tell you're the anxious one here. Your husband is much more calm and relaxed but you're the anxious one."

And I promise you, I was actually extremely relaxed and not even anxious about anything at all till she said that.

More tales from the Children Centre to follow in future blog posts, no doubt. Till then... Peace and love to all, especially you bottle-bashing, women-haters out there!

We have a new addition to the babies in the group!

POSTED BY SK

This has been a brilliant year for our group of friends we have had 3 new additions in the group! IR kicked of the year with the first baby our gorgeous Z, then HA had beautiful baby K and now JN gave birth to an adorable baby boy this week! After 6 beautiful little girls in the group we now have the first boy! All the babies are super special to me in the group but this baby and I have been super close in the last 9 months!

JN decided to get pregnant when we went to Dubai so when we came back, I remember her taking the first pregnancy test for this baby and it was a negative and she was a little bit upset.... I said to her don't worry there's always next month!

However during the course of the next few weeks she started to feel changes in her body which indicated she was pregnant and I kept forcing her to re-take the pregnancy test.

One evening I was round their house and we had a couple of other friends there who eventually left, at the same time, I was also getting up to leave when JN and her husband broke the news that they are pregnant! 

During her pregnancy JN decided to wait till her first scan and then she wanted to break the news to all family and friends and boy it was tough keeping the news hidden from the rest of the friends!

The highlights of JN's pregnancy for me were planning the baby shower, feeling the baby kick for the first time and going to one of the baby's scans.

Then last Friday me and JN had our final date night where we watched a movie and chilled out even JN's husband gave us alone time because, we both knew deep down that was probably the last time we would be alone together just sitting and relaxing. Although baby was not due for another week and we thought she may go over her due date little did we know baby was coming quicker than we thought!

 JN gave birth on Sunday to a beautiful little boy it wasn't an easy birth but I'll let JN give you all the details!

Yesterday I met our gorgeous little nephew for the first time yesterday and said welcome to the gang! Now I know when me and JN have date night again we will have a little addition who will be chilling with us!

Congrats once again JN you will make an awesome Mum just like the rest of the Mum's in the group!

SK

The Joys of Mums While On Maternity Leave

POSTED BY JN

There's no home like your mother's home...

So im 38 weeks and 3 days preggers and yesterday was day 1 of my maternity and i promise my mother i will spend the week with her before the inlaws arrive in a week.

Monday morning - Day 1-  I finally get to sleep in as the husband FINALLY sees some sense in taking a bus to the station which means I don't have to get up at 7:50am and waddle outta the home with my big fat belly. Then at 9am i get a knock on the door and its my mum on her morning walk wanting to say hi. I invite her in and she first makes me boiled milk with crushed almonds, butter and sugar and 2 toasts. We then sit and have a catch up and suprise suprise she tells me the TV and skirting boards have dust and gets up and decides to clean them for me. I do tell her not to but mums OCD doesnt wanna hear it so i let her get on with it... Then she tells me to spend the week with her so i tell her ill get changed and come over.

I get to mums and i get the exclusive grandad arm comfy arm chair and a foot stool to put my feet up.... So comfy that i cant even explain! Then strict orders from mon that I must not move! I tell Mum... "im pregnant not disabled! But mum says nooo she knows best so i let it be.

And then it starts...

1pm - Roast chicken, Pilau rice with meat curry... Then 3:30pm tea time - big fat cuppa chai with buttered scones and chocolate biscuits and black forest gatuex... Then 5:30pm some snack time - hot runny halwa - then 7pm - spring roll and a meat somosa with chaat... Then 8:30pm supper time - meat curry and one chapatti... By the time i got home at 9:30pm what can say... Being over the edge is a understatement!! Did i have an uncomfortable night or what!! Vowed never again!!

Day 2 - breakfast at mums - 1 boiled egg, 2 buttered croissants, a slice of almond cake and 2 Viennese swirl biscuits with stove boiled tea. Lunch - cornflour chapatti with freshly crushed chillis and melted butter with daal. Tea time - cuppa coffee and some biscuits to dunk. Then knocked back a litre of pinapple juice in the hope it will bring on labour and not even a twinge! Then finally supper with boiled rice, daal, salad and popadoms!

Day 3 - 2 toasts with a glass of pineapple juice for breakfast and then a macdonalds fillet-o-fish meal with a coke and a hot apple pie.

By this time I'm on my hands and knees and I plead  to my mother "please mum PLEASE gimme a break from food!!"

Mothers hey... Ill call her a FEEDER but theres no love and care like that from your mother...

8 Things No-one Tells You About Having a C-Section

POSTED BY HA

Coming up is an important milestone for me, which will mark three months to the date that I went through two life-changing events: 1) on 16 July 2014 I was blessed with a daughter, Baby K; and 2) I had a cesarean.

I have to differentiate between the two things and treat them as if they are entirely unconnected, because my feelings towards both are completely opposite. Baby K finally entering the world was the most exciting, emotional and overwhelmingly happy moment of my life so far (as I’m sure any mother will say of their child’s birth), but on the other end of the spectrum, going through a c-section was the most scary, painful and overwhelmingly shocking experience of my life so far.

I have wanted to write about the latter for a while now, because no-one talks about cesarean births in the way that they talk about natural births, do they? We hear in graphic detail about contractions, tearing, who took what pain relief, etc. I attended three antenatal classes and left feeling so well-prepared and positive about going into labour, but not once were cesareans discussed, even though according to the NCT approximately a quarter of births are by c-section. It may not sound like a lot, but to put this into context, the NHS Maternity Statistics covering 671,000 births for 2012–13 showed over 75,000 were by c-section. So we’re talking about a whopping 75,000 women that year that I would be willing to bet money felt as surprised at how little they knew about what they would subsequently go through, as did I.

But it’s not just the women that go through it that need to know; it’s everyone else they may interact with as well, because I have heard some real, tactless gems in the past few months. My favourite is this: on my way home from the hospital, I had walked to the car with great difficulty just four days post surgery, only to discover I had completely forgotten how to strap in Baby K’s car seat (and no one else knew either!). So there I was, clutching on the seat to keep it steady during the drive, in pain from walking a distance more than the ensuite bathroom and with high blood pressure, gritting my teeth every time we went over a speed bump, when a close friend called to say congratulations. She then told me I was lucky, at least I didn't go through the pain of natural labour, and had the baby taken out for me with no fuss.

So, here are a few things I’d like to share with anyone else that might also think a cesarean is easy, and that I wish I had known too. Mostly, this post is for all those out there that have been through this too, as a sort of *virtual-high-five-sister* (please note some of it is pretty graphic, so if you’re pregnant, easily scared or simply don’t want to know, turn away now):

1. You feel everything:

Unless you are rushed to surgery in an extreme emergency, you will not be under general anaesthetic. You will most likely be given an epidural (an injection into the back that numbs the lower half of the body), and while that means you don’t feel any pain, you can feel everything else that happens during the operation. The sensation of being “unzipped” when they cut into you, the stretchy, pulling feeling when they open you up to take the baby out, and the feeling of the baby’s limbs travelling out of your body… everything.

You don’t just lie there as if you are on a massage table in a spa while all the “hard work” is done for you. The operation theatre is cold (I shivered throughout the operation. And I mean the teeth-violently-clattering type shivering), and not for one second do you switch off or forget that half of you is currently cut wide open.

2. You will need a LOT of pain killers:

Until the effects of the epidural wore off, I enjoyed some indescribable time with Baby K. We stayed in a small recovery ward, skin-to-skin and it was the most precious and emotional time. And then the epidural wore off.

Nothing, no blog post, could ever describe the pain. I still don’t know if it was the pain of post surgery or the uterus contractions every woman gets post partum (when your uterus begins “shrinking” back to its normal size) but I cried. I told my midwife I was going to pass out with pain. She gave me paracetamol and told me to try and relax. I did. It didn’t work, and I insisted they do something, anything, and eventually they gave me the maximum dose of morphine that they could, intravenously.

And a few hours later when the morphine wore off, I went through it all over again. I just couldn’t understand what was happening. The c-section was over, Baby K was out. Why was I in even more pain than before? FYI, I had also gone through 16 hours of contractions before the operation. But this was something else.

BUT here’s the thing: if I had known that this might happen, or if I knew that there would be a lot of pain coming, I would have coped much better. I would have been mentally prepared, and as only you can know your own pain threshold, I would have asked for pain relief earlier or possibly even in advance. My pain threshold is so low and I just kept thinking, it’ll get better, but it just got worse. And if I had known that, I would have insisted on the morphine straight away.

3. You have layers of stitches:

Around eight days post-partum, I had my third home visit from my midwife. I asked her (rather naively, in retrospect) why I felt so much pressing pain in my wound. She put her hand on mine and told me it was time to know what exactly the operation had involved; it would be difficult to hear, but she assured me that I would feel much better being in the know afterwards. She was right.

Contrary to the idea that a c-section involves one horizontal cut, baby out, and you’re closed back up and that’s it, you’re actually cut and stitched up layer-by-layer. There is skin, tissue, and muscle before you even get to the uterus! I understand the number of layers can differ, but in my case (and in most) there were SEVEN layers of stitches!

As my kind midwife informed me, having a tumour or appendix removed would be less painful. A caesarean is major surgery. Again, had I understood its magnitude from day one, perhaps I wouldn’t have been so hard on myself for still being in pain only eight days later!

4. Even laughter hurts:

Any activity that involves engaging your abdominal muscles is quite painful for a good few weeks. Mostly, this can be managed by minimising such things like getting up, walking, bending over, etc. But what always caught me off-guard was the pain I felt doing something so natural such as laughing! Similarly, how do you stop yourself from sneezing or coughing—both equally painful?

Later, I read somewhere that if you hold a pillow against your abdomen when sneezing, coughing, laughing, whatever, it hurts less. This means I should’ve kept a cushion/pillow handy at all times (maybe one that could double up as a baby feeding pillow), but once again, I just had no idea.

5. You still experience post-partum bleeding:

Despite not giving birth naturally, women that go through caesareans are often surprised to find they have to go through the same post-partum experiences as those that do. This includes post-partum bleeding and a noticeable need for pelvic floor exercises (no need to elaborate on either, I think!)

6. You might put on a lot of weight during your post-partum period:

I wrote “might” because I’m not sure if this is true for everyone, but was certainly true for me. I put on a lot of weight during recovery—more than I did throughout the entire pregnancy. The reason is simple: you need to eat a healthy diet of 1,800–2,000 calories whilst recovering from this major operation, and at the same time, you can just about walk to the bathroom and back (i.e. you’re eating more than ever and not burning any of it in away).

It wasn’t until I was three weeks post-surgery that I was able to manage slow and short walks of about 10–15 minutes. Now, almost three months on, I still cannot imagine being able to do any type of exercise other than walking.

This is not to say I haven’t tried… just two weeks post-partum I went to Westfield (shopping centre). And more recently, I ran through my local supermarket in a rush. Both times, I suffered for days afterwards.

This point probably links the most with the next one.

7. You are more likely to experience the baby blues:

Everyone, to some extent, goes through a dip in emotions at some point post-partum. Looking back, however, I can now see and acknowledge that I went through more than a few dips and was most likely slightly depressed. In fact, research has shown that women who have a caesarean have a six-fold increased risk of developing postnatal depression. After nine months of waiting for your baby to arrive, and looking forward to being “yourself” again, you suddenly find yourself feeling worse than ever before.

For me, the moment I realised I wasn’t feeling quite right was when feelings of guilt kept creeping into my mind. Yes, guilt. Can you believe I found myself feeling guilty for not giving birth naturally? Of course, I knew that it was not my fault; the c-section likely saved both mine and Baby K’s lives. But I could not help but feel like it made me less of a mother for not having given birth the way nature had intended. Though she was fine, thank God, I felt as though I had somehow failed my daughter.

Luckily, I was well aware of the signs and symptoms of post natal depression, having witnessed a friend go through it just a few months previously. I recognised pretty quickly that was I was feeling/thinking wasn’t true and kept telling myself it would pass (as did my husband) which is why I think I did not slip into it fully.

Emotional support is crucial. If you already know exactly what to expect and are fully prepared, but have no emotional support, you will struggle. On the other hand, even if you have no idea what to expect (like me) but have a good support network around you, you will be ok… eventually! So make sure you don’t hesitate to reach out to your loved ones, your partner, your friends, whoever you want; most likely they want to help but don’t know how! By turning to them yourself, they’ll be relieved that you’ve done so and will step up.

Finally, I want to say something every woman that has had a c-section told me, and whether or not I believe it, I have repeated it to myself like a mantra every single day: you will feel better, one day, you WILL feel better. (Here’s hoping).

We Are Back!

POSTED BY IR

Drumroll please! The girls are back in town. Suffice to say we are a lazy bunch when it comes to blogging. It's not like we have nothing to say. But alas...we are back and I think this is something we all need for our wellbeing. HA was the original lady who gave birth to the beingus blog. So thank you  HA. 

We have been very busy since the last blog post back in 2011 I think!

SK has qualified as an Accountant! Please post about those sleepless nights SK!
NR is working full-time while juggling two beautiful daughters. I would love to hear about how she manages all this.
SSL won't stop travelling. Road trips are her middle name. She will no doubt be posting about driving through Europe with a toddler and a husband!
JN is pregnant and is literally about to pop so watch this space as she will have many stories to tell.
NK changed her first name??? Yep! But she's still NK to us. She's also pregnant and very apt at describing the intricacies of pregnancy in her unusual way. So we all hope to hear more about that.
HA had a beautiful baby girl not so long ago. I won't tell you more as she has already started her post,  and as she described it, she found it extremely therapeutic.
IR that's me. The current admin of beingus. I also had a baby girl at the beginning of this year. I wrote my labour story while it was still fresh in my head. So I shall post that soon too.

I hope you all enjoy are catch ups and daily grinds as much as we enjoy writing them! 

THE PLAN

Posted By IR

This is probably one of the things that ticks me off the most. If I've ever said this to anyone, please forgive me for being a complete dog.

I hate it when random people tell me I should be planning my next baby now. Worse still...that I should have had my next one by now. Or even worse....that I need a boy next. Just ssshhhh will you people. I'll plan my next baby when I want.

My daughter is turning two this month....so i'll wait another year or more to start planning no 2. So what! I want to enjoy my time with her. I want to work. I want to concentrate on myself. I want 'me time'.

Please read NR's post on 'Me Time' and you'll understand why I dont want to rush! That Blog post is enough to make anyone stop, think and sit in the bath before there's no bloody time!!!

But i'll tell you what makes me go doolally; when my husband, who knows, and is happy about the plan of waiting, decides to push my psycho button. I was telling him how before daughter, I made 4 roti's instead of the now 5. (I promise this conversation sounded interesting to me at the time....but for those of you who aren't married yet....this is as exciting as breakfast gets when you're married). So he says:

..... 'so love, ain't it 'bout time we made 6 roti's instead of 5?'

YOU WHAT! YOU KNOW 'THE PLAN'! WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT? AND I MAKE THE ROTI, NOT WE! HE KNOW'S THE BLOODY PLAN!

If you thought the above was me being psycho, you're wrong. I then got the margerine knife and stabbed his toast....with force.....

I dont think he'll forget 'The Plan' now.......

'Me' Time

POSTED BY NR

Time: 2pm 

Location: My Car

Situation: Little One (a.k.a Tiny Terror) FINALLY asleep in her car seat. I am parked right in front of my house. Will need to collect her big sis in an hour.

Quite simply I need to get out of the car as I mindlessly do many times a day, go around to the back of the car, open door, unbuckle car seat, pick her up, hug "ssh there there, sleepy sleepy, it's okay", lock car, down the path to the front door, unlock door, into the house put her down on the sofa, try to take coat off without waking her, cover her with blanky, gently turn away...."MAMA...waaaaa"....

Nope! Can't face it, not today, not right now. 

SO instead I lean further back into my car seat close my eyes and take in the silence. 

A potential hour to myself, one whole hour to do whatever I please...well as much as can be done when one is confined to their car. 

Where to begin, look in bag...receipts...baby wipes...old tissues....aha my MAC palette...phone...

Group e-mail to friends:

NR: IR and HA I just want to say I don't know how you do it all and so well. 

HA: What u talking abt woman ur the one who has two babies, a hubby, a house to look after, in laws and own family nearby to keep on top of, PLUS u just helped ur sister with her new baby AND u help ur mum with lots, plus school run, plus cooking and last but not least, u manage to look like a hot mama while ur at all of it!!!
HA: By the way I washed and ironed all of hubby's white dress shirts yest, about 6 in total, only for him to tell me this morning he wants to wear a blue one. Its like something out of a sitcom. Its almost 12 hours later and I still can't believe it!
NR: Lol see you do everything so well, I can't even iron a shirt.
But I am sitting in the car applying a bright new lipgloss and about to repaint nails. Haha. Baby sleeping in the back. 
Half an hour left, enough time to draft my well overdue 'being us' blog and as HA managed to sum up my life so far there's not much left to write...except that the hot mama bit is debatable.
Oh shoot old lady from across the road has been staring at me probably wondering why I still haven't left my car. She normally comes over whenever I get out and has a LONG chat about people today,sentences begin "no offence" all the while offending me of course. Time to drive to the other end of my road. After all it is still 'ME' Time and I'll take it any way I can get it!!!!

Missing Broody Gene?

POST BY SK

So I went to see my cousin yesterday who had a baby boy. He's gorgeous and tiny and has so much jet black hair!

But I didn't feel broody at all! All my sisters went to see the baby too and they came back broody as hell!

So is there something wrong with me?

Could be because the baby just cried and cried whilst I was there and all I was thinking was thank god that's not me on that bed! Also when I got to hospital, my cousin (bless her) was crying and said "I haven't slept for two days, he doesn't stop crying, I just wanna go home..." So I was trying to console her and make the baby stop crying. At the same time, I was like Thank God Thank God Thank God lol!

So am I missing the broody gene?!

Welcome To The Play-Doh Mansion

POSTED BY IR

Play-doh:

1. It's rubbed into my beige carpet.

2. It's been plonked into my hot cuppa tea!

3. All the different colours have been mixed together and it now looks like a heap of poo.

4. It's stuck in little one's hair.

5. It's stuck to my work trousers which I noticed while kids went into assembly. So I scraped it off and it's left a dirty mark.

6. There's lots of little pieces under my dining table...I'm leaving them there for a few days so it dries up and it's easier to Hoover. Hoping MIL (mother in law) doesn't see it and think I'm gandi (dirty!).

If you want a play-doh mansion of your own, this is how you can make play-doh:

1 cup plain flour
1 cup water
2 tblsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
2tblsp oil
food colouring

Mix the dry ingrdients in a saucepan then add water, mix until smooth, add food colouring (i do this last so the spoons don't stain) then add the oil, & cook on medium heat, keep stiring til dough leaves sides. I mix in food colouring to different pieces of play-doh.

To store, I put each colour (I'd they stay separate) into a food bag and it stores in the fridge for AGES!

If you've already got a play-doh mansion up and running please feel free to add to the list of mansion mishaps! 

Why Some Women Should Be Exempt From Fasting

POST BY IR

It all started in Ramadan when I forgot to put a nappy on my 1 ½ yr old daughter and she ended up tasting the contents of her nappy. Bad times! Fasting, married life, a toddler, lack of sleep are not a good mix. Did I learn my lesson?….NO!

So I decided to not waste this Autumn/Winter and to use the shorter days to make up many of my missed fasts. Day 1 was difficult but luckily I didn’t interact with any humans apart from my daughter and husband. By the end of Day 1, I felt so proud of myself for fasting when others were not. So on we went to Day 2. Day 2 was a human interaction day with my in laws. All was going well. The fast was easy.

As I sat there in a room full of people, holding my sister in law’s baby, I sat thinking how natural and at home I felt with my in laws. A lovely feeling right? So anyway, this baby in my lap then pulled the brooch that was holding my hijaab in place. This was dangerous as I didn’t want the pin to go into his eye…..how sensible I sound.

That’s when it happened. My mind went blank. I forgot the name for ‘brooch’???? So I shouted across the room to my poor husband to pick up his nephew; “Husband, take the baby because my bra’s fallen down!”
MY BRA….MY BRA????? Why bra???? I didn’t know what had happened til I saw my Husband’s face looking down at me shocked and i’m stumbling with my words. “I mean…I mean…ummm….badge…my badge is falling down….hmmm”.

I’ll never forget the name for brooch again. Eyes down, cheeks red, bra intact…..I said my goodbyes and decided to take a few days break from my fasts.