Tooth at last!

You started teething quite early at about 15 weeks old and always had very hard gums but it wasn't until you were 7 months old that we finally had a breakthrough! I was feeding you an ice lolly as you had been upset and red cheeked all day and as i pulled it out of your mouth i felt it drag and sure enough when i looked in your mouth at long last you cut your first tooth!

Favorite Toys

Along with Baby Ted who has always been a firm favorite you loved hanging about in your pram with your legs hanging over your pram rattle happily playing away
Your favorite play gym toy was Mr Sunshine, im not sure why he is not on this picture, he is probably in your pram where you had him last

Lucky for you Nanna and Grandad have an extra large doorway in the living room which was perfect for your door bouncer, the only problem was every time Ziggy pushed past you she would send you into a spin!

When Nanna gave you your first doll you looked at us all confused as if we had given you a real baby and spent a long time studying its face. When you finally decided to have a closer look you picked her up and started sucking her head haha

First Holiday - Bridlington

When you were 6 months old me your Dad, Nan and Grandad booked a caravan at Bridlington for the week, we dropped onto some decent weather and had a really nice week although sleeping arrangements were a little tight. We had taken along a travel cot for you to sleep in but it was too wide to fit down the side of the bed in the big bedroom but me and Nanna went shopping and happened upon a longer thinner travel cot that worked a treat although you much prefered your comfy cot at home!

We took your favorite play gym with us along with a great big bag of toys and it was during this holiday you first rolled over all by yourself! You never did like being on your front though and belly flopped about like a paniced seal until someone put you back on your back again



You had your first sink bath in the caravan and really enjoyed it, splashing about and squealing. You was such a clever girl already and knew you musnt touch the taps!

On one of the days we stopped off to enjoy a cream bun and a cup of tea on the pier and you enjoyed having a little drink of your Dad's cup of tea

Spoon Food - Yummy!

Your very first attempt at spoon food i gave you a little tiny spoon tip of Chocolate Pudding when you were about 3.5 months old and you screwed your face up, chewed it a little then bubbled it down your chin so i gave it up as a bad job.

At 4 months old i made you a small bowl of mushy rusk to see how you liked it and you ate every last scrap and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Yum Yum!

Laughing!

At 3 and half months old you had laughing off to a tee!
Such a beautiful smile!

Your favorite games were peekaboo and and silly songs that invloved holding your hands and jigging you up and down

Bathtime

I will always remember the first time me and your Dad tried to bath you on our own, we had both previously sat like students and watched the proffesional (Nanna) show us how to do it and how to hold onto you and which bits to clean first and although we had taken it all in actually doing it was a different matter.

When Nanna did it you hardly batted an eyelid.. when me and your Dad had a go you screamed the house down and hated every single minute! I can only imagine you didnt feel very safe in my in-experienced hands and to be quite honest i didnt feel safe holding you!

After a few weeks though we had it down to a fine art and you started to really enjoy your baths!

Ziggy and Romeo were always hanging about when we bathed you because Ziggy is water mad! Crazy dog

Ziggy and Romeo

Towards the back end of my pregnancy we had an invasion of mice in our house! It was a nightmare, they were into everything.

One day i heard a racket in the living room and ran in to find Ziggy in your prematurely prepared moses basket and went mad thinking she was planning on using it as a bed but when i tried to push her out of it she was going frantic and when i managed to get past her i realised she had caught a mouse in there!!!

After that she was obsessed with your Mosses basket and it worried me that when you were born and sleeping in it we may have problems, on top of the normal problems we anticipated due to the pups feeling left out.

We decided it was best for Ziggy and Romeo to live with Nan & Grandad for a couple of weeks after bringing you home to give us a chance to settle in and them a chance to smell your clothes and get used to your scent before we introduced them.

When you was 3 weeks old and after a small introduction that went well we decided they could come home again and it didn't take Ziggy long to realise you were no threat, in fact you made a comfy warm pillow!

Visitors

After teatime and settling in Nanna and Grandad came round to visit, Nan had been shopping and bought you a few outfits and dresses in the right size and came in with a beaming smile dieing to show them off.

Soon after your Auntie Marie and co arrived followed by Auntie Shell and co. It was a bit of a mad house but i loved every minute, everyone fussing round you.

The first few days at home you had lots of visitors including Auntie Sylvia, Andrea and Jack; Dawn, Auntie Celia, Dave and Christine Tolson.

When you was 5 days old me and your Dad went for a shopping trip to Mothercare and your Nan babysat for you, we wanted to buy you everything! We didnt really end up with much but it was the fastest £80 i had ever spent.

At about 7 days old we took you out for the first time to the supermarket to get some baby milk. You slept the whole time but it was still amazing being out and about with you, i must have looked like the cat that got the cream!

When you were 12 days old your Grandad Marcus, Ollie and Uncle Mike came to stay for the weekend which was lovely. They were the perfect house guests and helped out all the time, it was lovely to see them and your Grandad Marcus was made up with you.

On the second day of thier visit we decided to go out to eat so Nanna and Grandad came to babysit. I hated leaving you but i wanted to give Nanna some time with you and it was nice to get out for a bit.

When we got back there was a big wet patch in the middle of the room on the carpet. Nanna had decided to bath you and had accidently pulled the plug out of the baby bath with her bracelet!

While they were here id been showing Ollie and your Grandad Marcus this great set in the Argos catalogue that i had already ear-marked to buy you when you got older which included a pram and a wardrobe and a babybath and other accesories. The morning after they left the doorbell rang with a big parcel, i thought your Dad had been spending again till i realised the box was addressed to you from Grandad Marcus and Ollie.

When we opened the wrapping it was the pram set! I couldnt believe it your first pram at 13 days old!

As you was still so tiny we couldnt resist putting you in and taking a picture of you in your own dolls pram!

As you can see you quite liked it!

Visitors Pics

Here are a few snaps i remembered to pic up during your many visitors visits..

Welcome Home!

That night was very strange, i woke up around 3am as i could hear a baby crying, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and sitting up i was a bit dazed when i remembered where i was and what had happened and realisation dawned that the little girl crying was you! I made a poor attempt at changing your nappy and gave you a bottle and we went back to sleep untill around 7am when i started clock watching because i knew your Dad could come in from 8am.
Your Dad had slept at Nannas in our old bed with the dogs and i couldnt wait to see him.
Your Dad and Grandad arrived at about 10:30am with the carseat but Grandad had to wait outside in the car because visiting hours were from 2pm but your Dad came in and helped me change and dress you in some clean clothes.

I was impatient to get you home or for them to let Grandad in, i felt really bad about him sitting out in the car all that time but he didnt mind at all, i went down to get him at 2pm and brought him up to meet you but he only got to have a little look before we were discharged and we wrapped you up and put you in your carseat for the trip home.

I had declined the offer of breakfast at the hospital because it smelt awful and by now was starving! When we got home Nan had cleaned everything and sat waiting for us was a gorgeous cheese sandwich and a cup of tea! Bliss!
You slept the whole way home and for about an hour in your carseat at home.

It was very strange settling in at home without midwives milling around and prodding, it was a lovely feeling to realise this was it now, me you and your dad, a proper family!

Its starting!

On the 10th of January after a full day out and about i was feeling tired and was relaxing in the living room watching some TV when i started getting backache and a few twinges. Your Dad suggested a take a bath and he rang your nan to tell her things may be starting, by 7pm the pains were much stronger and more regular.

We had a scruffy pad of paper and a pen and was using your dads watch to time the pains and the gaps inbetween.

Your poor Dad had work the following day so just incase this was a false alarm he had to go to bed and try to sleep at 10:30pm and Nanna volunteered to sit up with me and watch some TV. I knew that if this was it that Nanna and Daddy would be very tired by the end of it so after a natter and another cup of tea i told Nan to go home and get some sleep and that i would go up and do the same.

When i got upstairs your Dad had managed to get off to sleep and i tried to lay down but the pains were too strong and i had to sit on the edge of the bed jigging up and down.

I was a bit lonely sitting there on the edge of the bed watching out of the window and soon started to regret sending your Nan home.

By 3am the pains were coming much faster and more regular and i wasnt sure at what point to wake everyone so i rang the hospital and spoke to the midwives on shift, she told me to take some paracetamol as the pains were not long enough yet to head to the hospital.

The weather that night was unbeleivable, it was really windy and cold and the rain was coming down very hard pushed by the wind. I remember hearing a massive smash at about 5am and remembered that we had a window leaning against the fence in the back garden, or at least we had done up till then..

At 6.30am i shook your Dad awake to tell him it was deffinatly not a false alarm and that he better ring in work and tell them he would not be coming in, then we rang Nanna who had to take your Grandad to work so we got our things together while we waited for her to come back.

Dad had to carry the dogs through the back garden to your Nan's house because there was glass all over the back yard from the window.

We locked up the house grabbed the labour bag and decided to slowley walk round to the drive and wait for Nanna who arrived just as we got there. After taking one look at me and grabbing her handbag we set off.

The closer we got to the hospital the lighter the pains got, i couldnt believe it! I was worried we would get in there and they would laugh and send us home again.

We was shown into a lovely small room with a TV and a bed and the widwife examined me and found that i was already 4cm dilated which was a huge relief!

Nanna helped me get into my nighty and fluffy socks and the midwife brought me some gas and air which was horrible but it gave me something else to concentrate on and we settled in for a long day.

The pains were like nothing id ever felt in my life but i knew that each one was one closer to meeting you! After endless hours of panting and groaning and squirming on the bed the midwife examined me again and at about 4.30pm she could feel your head but my waters still hadnt broken so she decided to break them and see what happened. As soon as she did i felt the urge to push!

My mind was very blury as i was exhausted by this point and in allot of pain but i remember your Dad was holding my right hand and i was squeezing it so hard my arm was going numb, i kept hearing them all saying "keep pushing we could see the head then!" but i stopped believing them as they had said that loads of times already... I was getting upset and cross and just wanted it all to be over so i tucked my chin down and started giving it all my last bit of energy.

The minute you came out the pains stopped, the relief was amazing and i burst out crying straight away when the midwifes announced "its a girl!"

It was 6:05pm on the 11th january.

The assisting midwife on shift came and told us there was two very excited Aunts waiting outside that she was struggling to hold back any longer and the next thing is your Auntie Marie and Shell came bursting in, thrilled and excited to see you.

They cleaned you up and weighed and dressed you. You weighed 6lb 10oz, such a tiny little thing with a lovely breathy cry. I was so exhausted and weak i didnt dare hold you so your Dad held you close for me to see. You were all swaddled up in a blanket and all i could see was this little screwed up face and these big black eyes looking round the room.

I asked Nanna to feed you while your Dad helped me hobble to the shower and get cleaned up and put on my clean clothes and your Aunts had to leave.

The assistant midwife made us all a round of sweet tea and a great big plate of toast which i stuffed my face with as i was starving!

Feeling much better and leaving your dad cuddling you Nanna took me out in the wheelchair for a cig and i rang everyone on my list and sent out a text message to all my contacts telling them the great news!

At 8pm we had to be moved to the ward for the night and your Dad and Nan helped me get packed up and back in the wheelchair ready for the ride in the lift. This is where we had to say goodbye to your Dad and Nan and they had to go home and we were settled in on ward 2.

It was dark as the lights had already been turned out on our wing of the ward but i could still see you through the plastic cot side and moved you as close to my bed as possible so i could look at you as i fell to sleep but i was too amazed to sleep and a window had been left open a crack and i could hear the wind was still blowing a gail and howling through the window but sleep finally came and i was out like a light ....

Overdue!

Your initial due date was the 31st December which was later changed by the midwife to the 5th or January but we were all still convinced you would come during our New Years Party.
Just to be on the safe side your Dad and Nan and grandad all stayed sober with me incase we had any trips to the hospital that night but you didnt come.. i was a bit dissapointed i was so impatient to hold you i was desperate for you to make an appearance!
Those last 6 days were the longest days of my life....