Tuesday 31 October 2006

Happy Halloween!

So Rosemary was up at 5.30am after 'sleeping through'. We came upstairs at 6am-ish and she went to sleep in her bouncy chair until about 7.30am. She then had half an hour of chattering with me (and loads of gorgeous smiles and giggles). I then changed her and put her day clothes on (and she had a naked wriggle while I let the dog out and then fed him) and that was followed by more chattering and singing, a littlish feed, then some calmer chattering until she fell asleep just before 9am.

And woke up at about 10.15am. She spent some time with her dad while I had a quick shower, then we went off to postnatal class. Today's class was on resuscitation, which is a scary but obviously very useful topic. Got given some nappies, too. One of the mums had brought in some nappies that her boy had grown out of, specifically for the mum of the 7-week-old baby. The 7-week-old baby is now bigger than Rosemary, though, having had a huge growth spurt (he looked pretty darned tiny last week). So Rosemary got them. I didn't really do much talking. Talked a bit to a mum of a 9-week-old girl - who's probably about the same size as Rosemary - at the end and obviously talked to the mum who gave me the nappies. But other than that it was mostly just nodding and saying hello. It's the last week next week. Although, I didn't go to the first few weeks, so might go along to the first few weeks of the next round and maybe meet some brand new mums. I overheard some of the mums swapping mobile numbers and arranging to meet up later in the week. Ah well. I should really be proactive. Maybe if I go to the first few weeks of the next round, I'll do better. Or maybe not. Or maybe I should wait until Rosemary's at school before I expect to make friends with other mums!

Came pretty much straight home after class, via the Co-op, and Rosemary sat in her chair for a bit, while I ate my lunch, but got hungry while I was eating it, so I fed her at the same time. She spent an hour or so nodding off, then waking up and being alert, then nodding off... Had her nappy changed as it was quite damp, though no pooh. I have a feeling she's getting into a one-huge-poop-a-day habit, which is not going to be good for the washing machine!

I finally got her to go properly to sleep by sitting next to her, rocking the chair every minute or so. I think it's important that she has a decent chunk of sleep in the day, as it helps her to sleep at night. But she can sometimes find it difficult to stay asleep - or to fall into a deep enough sleep, more to the point. So, if I need to rock her chair or take her for a long walk to help her get that chunk of deep sleep I will. It's not always necessary, she does it on her own too. So, she went to sleep properly at about 3.30pm.

Workwise, I responded to emails in the morning while she slept, sent out invoices in the afternoon while she went between dozing and being alert and happy and then made a start on some PowerPoints while she slept in the afternoon/early evening.

She woke up again at 7pm. Had a feed and a nappy change - and got her bed clothes on, as it was dark. Then had a little bit of time with daddy and then played in her chair with me for a while - mostly just chattering and giggling. Had another feed at about 8.45pm and fell asleep in her chair at around 9.10pm.

I carried her up and put her in her crib at about 9.40pm and she didn't wake up then, nor until 2.30am. She woke up then and had a decent feed and went back to sleep in her crib at about 3am, not to wake up until 6am.

Monday 30 October 2006

Rosemary woke up at 6am and we came downstairs. She had a little feed and then went back to sleep in her chair until 8am, while I had some tea and breakfast (of birthday cake!) and caught up on the Internet. We then had lots of chattering and then Rosemary and I took Wesley to the park. This is what I'd been wanting to do for ages, but hadn't been able to because Rosemary didn't like the carrier. Now she does like it, hopefully we'll be able to make it a much more regular thing, as I've really missed walking Wesley.

I have to say, though, he didn't really make it pleasant! He was pulling very hard and the poor thing got very confused (and quite scared, it seemed) when I tried to get him to stop and sit whenever he pulled. I'm afraid I gave in and let him pull a bit near the end, just so we could get to the park. He was great in the park, with the lead extended - always coming back when I called him. He's just not very good walking along the road. He was better on the way back, though, probably because he was tired out.

Rosemary was great and seemed to really enjoy herself. She was looking around a lot and happily gurgling away. She particularly liked the park, I think, as she really likes trees. Then we came home and spent some time singing and reading and playing in her chair (with me on the sofa). She dropped off at about 10.30am, but woke up again within a few minutes.

She spent the next couple of hours giggling, snacking, nodding off and waking up after anything from 5 to 15 minutes. Watching her, it reminded me of nodding off on a train/bus and then waking when your head lolls onto your shoulder and you think 'Have I missed my stop?' (not that her head was lolling as such - but the way she kind of jumped awake. Anyway, she finally got off to a proper sleep at about 12.30, with a bit of help from me giving the chair some extra bounce (i.e. not just relying on the automatic vibrations).

And she slept until about 3pm, during which time she was transferred to her buggy, pushed into town and sat in Bar Nine while we had a birthday lunch. She woke up just after lunch and was quite happy and chatty, but then did get to the point where she wanted food, so we had to go and have pudding (hot chocolate and chocolate cake for me and a coffee for Chris) in Costa Coffee while I fed her. We then wandered round town some more, looking for birthday presents for me, though not really succeeding. She got quite upset in the second-hand DVD/games shop, so Chris stayed to do the Somerfield shopping and I walked her home. She actually cheered up on the walk, perhaps because I was giving her my full attention and also because of the movement. We had a nice chat all the way home and then she got more food.
The phone hardly stopped after we got home, with people phoning to say happy birthday to me. This was very nice, but it got to the point where I really needed to actually be talking to Rosemary, rather than just making funny faces at her and bouncing her chair, so I was relieved when no-one phoned after Granny's call. Chris was busy cleaning the kitchen up and making dinner, so Rosemary and I sat in the living room and chattered and read books and sang songs. I tried to watch The Da Vinci Code, but eventually gave up, because I just wasn't interested.

Emma and Holli popped in about 8.30pm (I think) with some birthday presents and a batch of Holli's delicious Chocolate Brownie and were pleased that Rosemary was awake and alert. Emma commented that she still can't get used to seeing Chris and me with a baby, even though she's here once a week. Interesting, because I find it difficult to remember a time when didn't have a baby, she's so much my world these days. Chris also commented yesterday that he's amazed it's only 3 months (almost) since Rosemary was born, as it seems a lot longer.

I gave up on The Da Vinci Code at 9.30pm and went up and put Rosemary in her bedclothes and then got into bed to give her her last feeds and try putting her down. She settled into proper sleep at about 11pm and slept through until... 5.30am. That's six and a half hours. And I'd pretty much call it sleeping through, as we did end up getting up at 6am. I fed her in bed and tried putting her back in her crib. She might have settled after another snack, perhaps, but she was sounding very phlegmy (seems to be the thing in the mornings) and unsettled, so I brought her up here instead... (to be continued in Tuesday entry!)

Sunday 29 October 2006

So, Rosemary was up at about 7am new time (GMT). She had a naked wriggle (have nicked this term from Clare (ratbiter) on the Babyworld August Club) on her changing mat. She only had a really damp nappy. In fact, so was the one the night before, after her big 5.5 hours of sleep. This is a good thing (unless she is showing signs of constipation, of course, which she isn't), because it indicates that a lot more of the breastmilk is being absorbed and used. Don't know if that means I'm making better milk or she's just getting better at absorbing it, but it could mean she puts on weight a bit quicker.

Anyway, she had a wriggle about and chat with Nappy Monster, then we came upstairs to have a feed while I looked at things on the Internet and drank my tea. We then had a little sing along with some songs that came free with an old issue of Mother and Baby Magazine. It's all action rhymes, which are supposed to be really good for babies/young children. Obviously, she's too young to actually do the actions herself yet, but she seems to enjoy the music and watching me do them. It does seem that she enjoys songs more if they have actions with them - stimulates more senses I suppose. Anyway, we sung If you're happy and you know it, The wheels on the bus, Row, row, row your boat and The Grand Old Duke of York. And we also did a bit of nonsense gurgling and cooing!

Then she had a 10-minute feed and looked ready to drop off, so I put her down in her chair and she fell asleep, at about 8.15am (GMT). I'm getting quite good at sensing when to put her down in the day time, and so avoid her only ever falling asleep on me/attached to the boob. She's still falling asleep while feeding at night time, though. I think that might be more to do with the fact that it's difficult for me to see when her eyes start drooping, plus I'm usually half asleep myself, so not as reactive as in the day. I also think that the vibrations on the chair really help lull her to sleep when she's ready for it, whereas she has nothing like that in her crib.

I think she's really going to need to move out from her crib soon. She likes sleeping with her arms stretched out to the sides and she is frequently waking herself up by hitting them on the sides of the crib. She will usually go back to sleep but, I think if she's a bit hungry, she'll stay awake instead and ask for food. Which may be why she seems to be going 3 to 3.5 hours in her crib, but slept a full 6 hours last night in bed. She did have her arms fully flung out to her sides - so much so that I was almost falling out of bed! Of course, the other possibility is that she would have slept 6 hours regardless, because she was making up for not having slept much on Thursday (she seems to sleep a lot the day after she has trouble sleeping during the day - making up for lost sleep, I imagine). Or it could be more to do with the comfort of being next to me/us, rather than the space to stretch out.

I think we'll see how she does over the next couple of nights in the crib, before drawing any kind of conclusions. If it is the space that she needs, though, I think I'll buy a travel cot from Asda (apparently they have them for £25, which are good quality) and use that as an interim measure, between now and when she's ready to move into her own room. I think we could fit a cot in our room, but it would be quite difficult and lead to obstacle courses for getting into and out of bed, so a travel cot would give her the extra space, without taking all of ours. It's quite possible that she'd be fine going in her own room now, but I don't want to do that until she's 6 months, because of the higher risk of SIDS. I know it's just a question of reducing risk factors and that there's no definitive cause of SIDS, and no absolute guarantees even with doing everything that is recommened. But I'd still prefer to follow the guidelines as much as possible in this instance. Plus, I'm not ready for her to be in another room! Not sure I'll be ready at 6 months, but we'll see. I feel like I won't be ready until she wants to go off to university, at the moment, but obviously there will have to come a time when she goes in her own room.

Anyway, she slept until 9am, then had some chatting, a change and some food and went back to sleep at 10.40am. She then, if I recall correctly, slept until about 1.30pm. Her Granny, Grandad and Auntie Eva were already here by that point, having arrived (to have a day-before-my-birthday day with me) at about 12.30. She then had fun chatting with and playing with them and watched me open my presents. She got changed by Eva and then by Granny (the latter change requiring a change of clothes, as it involved a rather huge explodey pooh). And she had a feed while they were there. They left at about 4pm, as Granny and Auntie Eva had to get the last bus home.

She then had a bit of a nap, while I lazed about watching TV and Chris sat at the computer. Then we spent the evening in the living room too, watching TV and chatting away to her and reading her her new book about a Granny with a bright red motorbike and sidecar.

We had a bath together at about 9pm, then retired to the bedroom, where the lights went down and I fed her, while watching One Hour Photo. She went down in her crib at about 10.15pm and stayed asleep until 3.40 am, then fed for half an hour, but wouldn't go down in her crib (at least, not quickly enough for my liking!), so came in with us and slept until 6am.

28 October 2006

Rosemary woke at 3.30am (5.5 hours sleep!) and had a good feed. Went back down at 4am and slept through to 7.30am. She had half a feed and then a nappy change. She had a half hour or naked wriggling on her changing mat and chatting to nappy monster, then got fed up and had the rest of her feed (i.e. other side!) and fell asleep. Slept in her chair until 10.30am, so another hour and a half approximately. Then had more food and some chattering in her chair.

Then we went into town. We used the carrier again and I was able to put the library books in the rucksack, as well as the nappy-changing bits, because only needed one change of clothes and a couple of nappies. We went to library and met Eva on the way. She got hungry at the library, so fed her in the children's library and she fell fast asleep, listening to her Aunite Eva reading a story. Aw. As she seemed to be fast asleep, I decided to try putting her in the carrier facing me. Managed to get it on, and she was lying (or hanging really, I suppose!) with her head resting on my chest. Aw.

Eva picked out some books for her - I specified board books with bright colours and big pictures, as these are what seem to attract her attention the most. Then we left and met up with Holli, who Eva was going to spend some time with. Nipped into WH Smith and got the Independent, because of the Madame Bovary free DVD, then Rosemary woke up. Then popped into Somerfield to pick up some things for lunch. Rosemary seemed to be happy enough facing me, instead of facing out. She was staring up at me lots and giving me quite a few smiles. But when we started walking home, she got a bit upset. She was just shouting at first, but by the time we got to the Fountain, she was really screaming, poor thing. I think it was more to do with the fact that she fell asleep before finishing her feed (only had one side) and so she was hungry - rather than being upset because she was facing inwards. Though I could be wrong, of course.

Fed her some more when we got home. She had a few smallish (5-10 minutes) feeds, while I had my lunch and then she was dropping off so I put her in her chair and she fell asleep at about 2.45pm.

And woke at 8.15pm - 5.5 hours sleep in the day! Fortunately, she did still sleep at night. She wasn't keen to go in her crib, though, so came in with us. Went to sleep at 10.30pm and slept through to 4.30am (old time), so 6 hours straight! She then had a good feed until 5am (still old time), then woke up at 8am (old time - 7am new time). That actually adds up to about 'normal' (14-16 hours a day), but I think it was the large chunks that surprised me.

Friday 27 October 2006

Rosemary woke at 2.30 am and fed for half an hour, then went straight back to sleep in her crib. She then slept until about 6am. We had a big feed and then she went and sat in her chair and had a little play with Chris, before falling asleep, while I had my shower and made sure the nappy bag had plenty of nappies, nappy sacks, wipes and three changes of clothes (just in case!).

I then did a few computer bits and bobs, dried my hair, put some make-up (blimey, haven't managed that since Sadie's wedding!) on and made sure I had everything I needed, before getting Rosemary changed, topped and tailed (1) and dressed and giving her another quick feed to settle her for the walk to the train station.

I decided I would try her in her baby carrier facing forwards, as she likes being carried facing forwards by me and sitting on my lap facing forwards when we're in a cafe. And she loved it! So I transferred everything from the changing bag into my rucksack, stuck a hat, some mittens, some booties and a muslin square in my handbag and a blanket in the rucksack and off we went at about 9am.

The train wasn't due until 10am, but I wanted plenty of time to get something to eat and buy the ticket. Lots of people came up to say hello to her and marvel at her cuteness. The guy in the C-op and the ticket man both had little conversations with her. Had to feed her on the station while waiting for the train. As she was facing forwards we couldn't do it with her in the carrier, so she had to come out, then I just carried her onto the train in my arms.

On the train, we bumped into Tamsin, who was in the lower sixth when I was in the upper sixth, and who has a 6-month old little girl herself. The train was absolutely packed and Tamsin insisted I go sit in First Class. I finished feeding Rosemary there, but then moved back out into the corridor when I was done, as I felt awkward in there. I had Rosemary back in her carrier and, although there was a fold-down seat available we stood the rest of the way, so I could jiggle her up and down and keep her happy.

When we got to Reading, I got my make-up mirror out of my handbag and put it in my pocket, so that I could use it to look at her face! I couldn't tell whether she was sleeping or not, otherwise. Quite handy, really, and sometimes she would recognise me in the mirror and smile, which was nice.

We wandered up to the shopping centre where we were meeting people and were quite early, so we then went outside for a bit, as it was very warm in the centre. Then we went back in at around 11.30 and found Claire and Evie. Evie was in her pram as she had not wanted to go in her carrier, but fortunately Claire had managed to get one of the low buses that you can take a buggy on unfolded.

Shortly after that, Amanda and Arthur arrived, with Amanda's eldest, Emily, who was lovely, calm and well-behaved little girl. We then went and sat in a cafe to wait for the others. We picked a spot that seemed quite could, although it later turned out to be incredibly inconvenient for the cafe staff as they had to get us to move buggies and ourselves every time they needed to go and clear the upstairs tables.

Next to arrive were Nicci and Janae, with Nicci's eldest, Javan. He was also really well-behaved and very quiet. Javan and Emily took to each other really well, with the slightly older Emily 'looking after' Javan. So cute.

Jules and Em then arrived together (having come up on the train from Southampton) with Marco and George in their slings. I have to say that slings looked to be much less hassle than Rosemary's baby carrier. They also looked a lot cooler, not that I normally worry about looks and fashion!

We then all sat around in the Cafe Giardino (think that's what it was called) for a few hours, chatting away, drinking coffee and having lunch. And feeding our babies intermittently (or practically constantly in Rosemary's case) and running off to change them now and then. The first time I changed Rosemary, I did it on the floor of the cafe's loo, but then someone discovered that the large Boots opposite had a proper changing room, so we used that afterwards. Poor Amanda had a half-hour period where she had to change both of hers twice, it seemed!

Anyway, we had a lovely time meeting some of the other mums and babies that we know from the August Antenatal Club and hopefully we'll get to do it again. I found it a lot easier to talk to them than to the local mums, probably because I know them already, albeit virtually.

We walked back to the station with Jules and Em - all three of us carrying our babies, rather than with buggies, we must have looked quite unusual! While waiting for the train, a young man came and chatted Rosemary up. Apparently she reminded him of his niece, who was now one year old. He spent about five minutes cooing and chatting to her, and kept apologising to/thanking me. It is interesting, actually, how Rosemary seems to elicit as much ooing and ahing from blokes as from women.

The train was packed again, so we stood up again. I was offered seats, actually, but decided to stay standing as Rosemary seemed to like that more than sitting down. If I'd needed to feed her, of course, I would have accepted. Fed her in Swindon, though, as we had a 40-minute wait. And had to change her on the floor if the loo in Swindon station, as they didn't seem to have any changing facilities. Again, stood up on the next train.

We got home at about 5.30, by which time Rosemary was hungry again, so I fed her. I was convinced that she'd want to go to sleep early, so tried putting her down a few times, to no avail. She fed quite a lot and we had a half hour or so of her being very lively and chatting to me. She then went to sleep at 10pm, after a final big feed. (I'm wondering if I'm producing more filling milk around 10pm and that's why she's waiting until then?)

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(1) Topping and tailing: I do this every morning and every evening, in case you're interested. If you don't know, this basically means washing face (including eyes, mouth, behind ears, back of neck, etc.) and bottom (i.e. what you do when changing nappy, but with a bit more water). I'm probably not going to remember to mention it every time. We only bath her once or twice a week as it can dry up the skin to do it too much, if the baby is prone to dry skin, which she seems to be. I'm more likely to mention a bath, as it's quite special, but I still might not always remember. However, just want you to know that Rosemary is kept clean, just in case you were wondering!

Thursday 26 October

Rosemary woke up at 2.30am for a feed (so 4.5 hours after going to sleep, which is a fair chunk of sleep). She fed for about 25 minutes, but didn't want to settle in her crib, so came into bed and slept fine there. I tried putting her back in her crib at 5.45 when I woke up, but she was ready for a bit of a feed and to be moved up into her bouncy chair, as she was snuffly by then. So we came upstairs and she fed for about 10 minutes then went to sleep in her chair.

And slept until 8.30. Had a nappy change and got into day clothes. Very wet nappy but nothing else. She made up for that later, though. She had a kick about on the changing mat and chattered to Nappy Monster. We had a nice play and chatter in the bouncy chair, then, for quite a while. And she had the music on while I nipped downstairs to get a cuppa and some breakfast. I was only gone for maybe three minutes and she was fine - happy and laughing with the music and sucking away at her fists. She does seem to be able to stay content on her own for longer these days - not that I leave her for very long at all, of course; too neurotic for that, even though plenty of other mums happily leave their babies on their mats while they go around hoovering the house and so on. I'm only just able to leave her alone for a few minutes to make tea or go to the loo. Up until now I've always taken her along or handed her over to Chris. I think it may stem from her having spent her first week and a half in SCBU, where I couldn't be with her every second and where I know for a fact babies were left crying at times.

Anyway, went off on a bit of a tangent there, sorry. After having a play and chatter in her chair, she wanted another feed and then dropped off to sleep (in her chair, not on the breast, which she's managing to do more and more these days). Unfortunately, that was only half an hour before we had to leave to go to see the health visitor. I got her in her buggy and all the way to the surgery without waking her, but she woke up when we went into the waiting room (probably the change of temperature - it's very hot in there). She was quite distraught at having to get undressed and be weighed when she was only half awake and screamed most of the time, though she did get distracted a bit by Jane.

She's now gone over 9lb - by half an ounce (4.1kg in new money). That means she put on 8oz in 2 weeks, which is twice as much as she put on the two weeks before. She's sticking on the 0.4th centile, but is going up at a fairly normal rate, it seems and the health visitor isn't worried. We don't have to go back now for 3 weeks, instead of 2 weeks, so that shows she's not worried. She also thought Rosemary was looking really well and could hear that she's 'talking', even through her screaming.

I was going to give her a feed in the waiting room to calm her down, but she calmed down herself through the change of scenery. Then she got upset in the Co-Op, but calmed down again outside. Then got upset again just before we got home. So I brought her straight upstairs and fed her. She had a feed from one side then a play and chatter with Chris and then a feed from the other side and then went to sleep (at about 1.30pm). Again, she hadn't quite dropped off when I put her down, but she dropped off in her chair (which is good).

And slept until 6.30pm! Wish you would go that long at night more often. Had a nappy change, which she was not happy about, but then had a good long feed, which she was happy about. Another nappy change shortly after and got her into her bed clothes at about 7pm. Then she played with Chris for a bit while I cleaned up the kitchen a bit and started making my dinner. Though she got hungry again so Chris had to finish my dinner for me.

Had dinner at the computer while feeding her, then decamped to the bedroom to watch TV feed and play until she went to sleep at about 11pm. And I went pretty much straight to sleep after her!

Wednesday 25 October

Woke at 4am for a feed, which took about 10 minutes (just one side) and she then went straight back to sleep.

Then woke at 5.30 am and we got up and came upstairs. Had to change nappy and put day clothes on immediately before feeding, because she had leaked (wet, not dirty) all the way through. We had a good feed and some mummy-daughter time smiling and laughing and singing nonsense songs. Then a little bit more of a feed (more a snack, really!) and she went back to sleep in her bouncy chair (with the vibrations turned on - they really help her stay settled in the mornings).

I then did some work while she slept and she woke up again at 10am. Fed her and changed her (twice) then had a bit of a play in the chair then dome more on the bed. Then we went into town, where we met Grandad in Costa Coffee and saw a mum and baby from Parliament Street. Gave Grandad photos to take to Great-Granny-Goddard when he goes down to visit on Friday/Saturday. She will be very happy (thank you Grandma and Grandpa for sending them down!) as she doesn't have any photos of Rosemary. I also gave them both CDs of Rosemary pictures and pictures of our wedding, which we're hoping they'll be able to watch on their DVD players. (If anyone else wants some, let me know. Though might be best to wait and find out if they work!)

We went to Superdrug to get some cotton wool - not on offer, unfortunately, but we picked up nappies, nappy bags and fragrance-free wipes from there last week on special offer, so not too bothered. Also went to Somerfield to pick up a few bits and bobs - dog food, ice lolly juice and some lunch.

Then we came home. Rosemary had a little snooze on the way home, but woke up when we got home and had some more food, some play time and a nappy change. She then fell asleep at about 2.15pm.

And woke up at about 4pm. Had a feed, then a play on her chair with us. Then she read a book with daddy and abother with me. Then more feeding and a nappy change. Then we decamped to the bedroom, where we played with some of her cuddly toys. She's so interested in nappy monster these days - the blue cuddly toy that sits next to her changing mat - that I wanted to see if she'd have a similar reaction to others, but she didn't really. She did see them and do a little chattering, but nothing compared to how she 'interacts' with nappy monster.

Chris changed her nappy and put her in her bed clothes, while I made my dinner. Then we went back upstairs for a bit while I ate my dinner - so that I could eat and feed her at the same time and catch up on some of my internet reading. Then back downstairs for a bit.

Fell asleep at 8pm, but woke up again at 8.30pm. We then did the lights down thing with some lying next to me or on my legs while I watched TV quietly and also some small feeds (again, still nowhere near like the evening binging she used to do) to try to wind her down properly ready for proper sleep. Eva popped in for about 10 minutes at about 9.45. She'd been to the cinema with her friend Jasmine after work, had dinner at Papa's house and then wanted to fit in a little visit to Rosemary, as she doesn't get to see her very often because of her new job. Unfortunately (for Eva) Rosemary was feeding at the time and dropping off to sleep. She did open her eyes a couple of times, but not really to focus properly. I suggested to Eva that she could come and stay the night one evening if she wanted to spend more time with Rosemary. Of course, we don't have a spare room and bed anymore, so that would involve sleeping on the sofa, which wouldn't be much fun and probably not ideal, if she had to go to work the next day.

Anyway, Rosemary got to sleep and went down in her crib pretty much at 10pm. Which does seem to be her preferred time to go to bed properly. Maybe because I often want to go to sleep at about 10pm myself.

Tuesday 24 October 2006

Woke at 4.30am for a feed. Back to sleep in crib.

Woke at 6am. Had feed. Back to sleep in bouncy chair up in office. (So I can work and because she tends not to be able to sleep very well early in the morning when lying flat in her crib, as she's too mucousy and wakes herself up with trying to breathe through her nose. Poor thing.)

Woke up at about 9am. Changed nappy and put day clothes on (navy leggings and her brown African top - probably my favourite clothes). Then had a good feed then another nappy change and had to cange tights and vest too as a bit of leakage, but fortunately there wasn't enough time for it to leak through to the outer clothes.

Left the house at 10.30 to go to class. Nipped into shop to get a croissant and bottle of coke for me and had a couple of circuits of the park as we were early (wonder or wonders!). Got to class dead on time, but spent five minutes outside talking to Mama, so was late, though the first half hour is just chatting anyway, so that wasn't a problem.

I talked more today. Talked to the two mums who I 'know'. Smiled and said 'hello' to the mum I always seem to see walking round town and to her husband/partner who had come along today. Talked to another couple of mums when I had to change Rosemary, as well, including one who I had met on my first week, but who had been on holiday. And a new mum turned up, whose baby is a week younger than Rosemary, and she sat next to me and I talked to her quite a lot. So I feel a bit more socially adept today. Everyone was marvelling at the cuteness that is Rosemary. Which was quite nice. I think some of them were a bit envious of her slimness.

Usually, Rosemary is grizzly when we get to class and needs feeding immediately, but this time she was very happy and content. She sat on my knee for a while chattering to me and to the women next to me (though mostly to me), then she spent some time on the mat under the play gym, which she enjoyed for about 10 minutes. Then she came back on my lap for a while. She didn't need feeding until we'd been there about 45 minutes or so. She had one side, then relaxed and chattered a bit and then the other side and dropped off to sleep for a bit, but not properly as she woke when she filled her nappy.

The topic this week was play and baby signing. We had a discussion about play and what toys/types of play our babies like and then we had a presentation about baby signing and learnt a few signs. It's something I've read about before and really wanted to do, so I was very interested and it confirmed for me that I really want to do it. I'm not sure whether to just buy a DVD and/or book and do it at home, or try to go to classes. Or maybe a combination of both. The lady who gave the presentation said her classes are full up until Christmas, but she should have some spaces afterwards and might be doing an extra class. There might be some other classes in Gloucester, though, apparently.

We came straight home after class, where Rosemary had a bit more of a chatter and then a feed and dropped off to sleep at 3pm. But she woke up 15 minutes later. She then had a bit more feed and a cuddle with me and then I put her in her bouncy chair as her eyes were drooping, rather than waiting until she was fast asleep. She fell asleep at about 4pm.

She then woke at ... 8pm. Had a feed from one side. Got changed into bed clothes and then had another feed from the other side. She then hung out in the bedroom with me while I watched Seinfeld and then Silent Witness. We had lots of fun playing and chatting and singing, interspersed with some feedingm though nowhere near the evening binging of old.

Chris was in and out and coming in and playing with her throughout the evening. (I think he was working downstairs, but it's akways possible he was just lloking at the Internet!)
It's lovely to see that she's recognising his voice and face so much now. She's really smiling for him and enjoying her time with her daddy.

She went to sleep at about 11.30 and so did I.

Video post

Monday 23 October 2006

Woke at midnight. Fed for half an hour. Went back to sleep in crib.
Woke at 3am. Fed for half an hour. Went back to sleep in crib.
Woke at 5.30am. Fed for half an hour. Would not settle in crib (too phlegmy), so changed nappy and went upstairs to office at 6am.
Fed a little more then needed changing. Changed into day clothes.
Spent about an hour chattering with me, then fed a little bit and fell asleep at about 8am.
Woke at about 12 noon. Had a good long feed for about 45 minutes. Changed nappy.
Spent half an hour chattering and playing with Chris while I had a shower. Another nappy change.
Spent some time chattering with me then had a small feed for about 15 minutes. Showing signs of tiredness so went into town with buggy. Wide awake most of the time and would not take her eyes off me. Lots of smiles and a bit of chattering. Quite happy, though.
Fell asleep on way home but woke when got home.
Tried giving a little feed and put in chair to settle. Wide awake again, though, and very chattery. Had good chatter with Chris. Then we took some video of her chattering and giggling with me.
Had some more food, then a nappy change at 4.30pm. In chair for a bit, but not sleeping. Starting to get grizzly, which means she's definitely tired. More feeding.
Dropped off at 5.15pm and put down in her crib.
She was up again by 5.25pm.
There followed a feeding frenzy and no sleep, with moments of playfulness and chattering in between. She fell asleep a few times and woke up shortly after being put in her crib.
Finally went to sleep at about midnight, in bed with me and was put in her crib at 2am, where she stayed asleep.

15-22 October

This is Tasha posting. (Actually, from now on, why don't we all assume it's me posting and, if Chris does post, he can say so?)

So Rosemary's having a snooze in her crib at the moment. She may wake any moment, as she doesn't much like sleeping in there unless it's night-time. That said, it is almost dark, so maybe she thinks it's night-time. She's not in her night clothes or anything yet, though, and it's not really her bedtime, so... we'll see.... The point is that I'll grabe the opportunity, and Chris' laptop, to try to do a little update of this blog.

For myself, I'm finding everything slotting into place much better, now. Rosemary seems to have a definite pattern, though it does still vary a fair bit. But I think I'm also getting better at sensing when she's going to sleep for a while, when she's going to need a good long play, when she's only going to be able to fall asleep if walking round and round and round and round the town centre. And I'm getting better at taking advantage of naps or moments of contentedness to do something like put a load of washing in, empty the dishwasher, sort out the pile of junk mail... and so on... And using the longer periods of sleep for working.

I'm also getting good at doing bits and bobs with Rosemary in one arm. I get to interact with her (e.g. talk to her, jiggle her about, sing to her, count, etc. etc.) while getting a bit of tidying done. Yes, it might mean walking up and down the stairs five times in as many minutes to put washing away, but that's fine. Multi-tasking - I'm finally starting to understand what this whole women-as-multi-taskers thing is.

I think the reason it's taken so long for me to get to grips with what most women seem to fall into within a few minutes of leaving the delivery suite is that I have Chris here all the time. I'm not left at home, the one person responsible for baby, house, shopping, cooking, etc. etc. I have a husband who is generally pretty happy to do many of these things and did pretty much all of them for a good few months toward the end of my pregnancy and the first few weeks after Rosemary's birth. So, when you don't actually need to learn how to do everything one-handed it takes a while to get to grips with it. [Hopefully I won't get so good at it that Chris will stop doing anything! Can't see that happening, really, though.]

Anyway, you didn't come here to read about my small steps up the rope ladder of motherhood. You came to hear all about the cuteness that is Rosemary. What did we do this week?

Rosemary decided to have her Thursday on Tuesday this week. She didn't sleep pretty much at all on Tuesday, until the night-time. We went to Post-Natal Class in the morning and were on time for the first time ever. This week the topic was Baby Massage. We just watched, as Rosemary had had a feed when we got there, and it's best not to massage on a full stomach. I'd also forgotten to take olive oil with us, but we could have borrowed it from someone else. We got a handout with the massage strokes on it to take home - a very badly photocopied handout, though - but I haven't tried it yet. Mostly because of the whole not doing it until an hour after a feed. Rosemary tends to fall asleep after a feed and, when she doesn't, it's usually because she's in a bingy period (usually the evening) and is feeding every 45 minutes or so. Next week I'm going to try to make a concerted effort to fit in at least one go at baby massage.

Despite turning up early, I didn't really talk to any of the other mums, apart from saying hello to the woman I was sat next to and to someone I met at MOBS ages ago (whose name I can't remember - aaargh!). So turning up early doesn't make any difference. I'm just not cut out for making new friends.

Rosemary napped a bit (maybe 10 minutes in total) at the class, then we went into town to pick up bits and bobs from the shop. She was awake most of that time, napped a bit on the way home, woke up when we got home and didn't properly go to sleep until 11pm. Just a few catnaps here and there. But she slept well and in her crib. Went back to sleep after waking at 4am, as I recall. Then slept in her bouncy chair in the morning after a change and feed. Allowing me to get a lot of work done. Chris and I then went into town and had coffee in Costa Coffee, where Rosemary slept. She slept most of the way round town, but woke up in Somerfield and cried lots and lots until we stopped at the Vic, so I could feed her (outside under the canvas - not inside the smoky pub, of course). So she did lots of sleeping on Wednesday.

On Thursday, we went to Bumps and Babes up at Parliament Street Family Centre. Right at the top of Bisley Old Road (a good way past our old house). Rosemary had a feed at about 6am, then went back to sleep in her bouncy chair, while I got a bit of work done. My plan was to leave at 8.15 as I figured it would probably take about 45 minutes to get up there. So I woke her at about 7.45 to change her nappy and put day clothes on her. But she then got quite upset (she has a tendency to scream the house down - well, not quite - when she's being changed when she's not properly awake yet) so I had to give her a little feed to settle her, but then she decided to poop while I did this, so I had to change her again, only the poop had leaked out, so I had to put a complete change of clothes on her. We finally left the house at 8.50 - 10 minutes before the group was due to start. Ah well. I was right, it took exactly 45 minutes. But it didn't seem to matter that we were late. It was more of a drop-in thing, rather than a class. (Oh, incidentally, I was very impressed that I managed to walk up the hill without getting out of breath, or having much trouble at all - am getting fitter with all this walking and buggy pushing.)

When I got there, there were a bunch of mums outside - though they were mums of toddlers (there was a toddler group going on next door). One of the mums was someone I used to know years ago when still at school (she wasn't at our school, but went to a lot of the same parties). So I had a quick chat with her, but it was raining so I went inside quite quickly. There were 4 mums and 4 babies in the Bumps and Babies room. Two pairs essentially. Two of the babies were about 6 months, one was 4 weeks and one was 7 weeks. They were perfectly polite and one of them made me a cup of tea, which was nice, but I didn't really get any major conversation going. But then Sandy and Joseph turned up. I know them (ish) from Tuesdays and it was their first time, too. And Sandy's a lot better at making conversation than me, so there was actually a fair bit of chatting that went on. I did find them friendlier than the Tuesday lot, generally, and I think that's because most of them lived on the estate at the top of town and people tend to be better at being friendly when they live on estates (from my experience living on an estate as a child, anyway!). (Rather than middle-class cliqueyness, which seems to be the order of business on Tuesdays.)

Sandy mentioned that she goes to an NCT class on a Friday morning and she said she'd bring a leaflet in next Tuesday for me. She said it's nice because the classes are always small, which means you get close to the other mums and get quite friendly. So that could be good.

Rosemary came close to rolling over while she was lying on the mat up at Parliament Street. And she's come close a couple of times since, at home. I think it's probably going to happen quite soon. She's holding her head up really well, now, too. It still lolls a bit when she's sleepy, but other than that she's pretty much holding it up all the time. She's laughing and giggling loads, too. And chattering away.

On Thursday evening, Mama came round to visit Rosemary. She had worked out that Rosemary tends to have one of her alert babbly times in the evening, so came round with some more books and had a nice time chatting away to Rosemary and singing some nursery rhymes to her. Rosemary and I then went round to Papa's flat, to take back his rucksack and so that I could weigh myself. Rosemary had a nice little visit with her Granddad, smiling and giggling away. She had to have her nappy changed twice while we were there and also had a little feed.

She didn't get to sleep until midnight Thursday night, but she slept reasonably well and, again, slept for a good while in her chair in the morning. She's tending to have a half hour or so of awake time chattering away with her mum first thing after her morning feed and change then a good long sleep (varying from two hours to five (!) depending on how tired she is, perhaps) in the morning, then another awake period around lunchtime. Then, sometimes she'll sleep for a couple of hours in the afternoon and sometimes she won't. We tend to go out then, unless we've already been out in the morning (i.e. to a Mum and Baby group of some kind - why do they all seem to be in the morning?!), as that often helps her get to sleep. We always go outside for a walk in the pram at least once a day.

Friday morning, at about 8.20am, the phone rang. I was quite surprised that someone would be phoning that early, because everyone seems to assume that we'll be fast asleep until midday because we have a new baby. It was Chris' cousin Grahame (not absolutely certain I spelt that right - sorry!) calling from New Zealand to congratulate us on Rosemary's arrival. It's not often we get a call from the other side of the world (well, I think that was probably the first), so that was exciting. Chris had a good chat with Grahame and spoke to his two children as well (there is a third one on the way, due on Christmas Day - how one earth do people manage with three?!).

Rosemary slept a decent amount on Friday. A few hours in the morning, a few hours in the afternoon, and asleep by 11pm, after a nice evening downstairs. On Saturday, we all went into town in the afternoon. The plan was to go to the Farmer's Market and meet up with Eva for lunch. It started to tip it down with rain as we walked in, so we went to the Angel Cafe (Organic Tapas Bar, though it doesn't really have a full range of tapas) and I had tortilla and salad and Chris had a Croque Monsieur (which, hello, is French, not Spanish!) and Eva just had a lemonade. Rosemary, unsurprisingly, had lots of milk from her mum. I read the paper and ate my lunch one-handed. I did have to ask Chris to turn the pages for me, but other than that I managed!

When we'd finished, we went off to the market, only to find it was all being packed away and we'd missed it. Oh well, we'll try again next week. Rosemary was needing to sleep but not really settling, so Chris went off to Somerfield, while I did a circuit of town with Eva and her friend, Jasmine, to try to get Rosemary off to sleep. She did go off to sleep, but woke up as soon as we walked into WH Smith. Chris and I had given ourselves permission to treat ourselves (maximum about £10 each), so I bought a couple of books. The Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy and Starter for 10. Unfortunately, Chris couldn't find anything for himself, so I could a treat, and he didn't. He did get some things out of the library, though. Rosemary and I already had library books, so I spent the time in the library walking round and round the shelves in circles to keep Rosemary asleep. I do seem to do a lot of walking round and round in circles pushing a buggy. I quite enjoy it, though. Even when it's outside in the pouring rain. It's certainly an improvement on sitting at my desk for the vast majority of the day and night.

Rosemary went to sleep at 10pm last night, slept until 2am, had a fairly quick feed (15 minutes on each side) and went straight back to sleep until 6am, when we got up and went down to the living room. After a longish feed (about 45 minutes) interrupted by a change, she then slept until 1pm, with a 15-minute feed about half way through that time. (During that time I did lots of washing, put the dishwasher on, and sorted through a bunch of washing and a bunch of post.) She then had a good long alert time, downstairs with her mum and dad and a visit from her aunty Eva. We (Rosemary and I) then walked to the shop with Eva (who was walking to the bus stop to get the last bus home) in the pouring rain, to buy tea and a few other bits and bobs. Rosemary was quite interested (as she usually is) in the trees and plants going past that she could see (probably very warped) through her rain cover. She really loves going under trees. We're going to take her to Stratford Park when the weather is clement enough, because we think she'll love it there. At the shop, though, she got upset while waiting in the queue. She really doesn't like being stationary in her buggy. The second we got outside (back into the pouring rain) she fell asleep. She slept all the way home and then for about 15 minutes at home.

Then we came upstairs and she had a bit of a chatter with me and then a feed and fell asleep. She went down in her crib and stayed down until about 7.30pm (so a couple of hours), when she had a feed a top and tail and nappy change and got changed into her bed clothes. She then had a cuddle with me for a bit and another, slightly longer, feed and feel asleep again. She's back in her crib now and looking like she might well stay asleep for a while. Neurotic mother that I am, I took her temperature to check she wasn't ill, because it seems she's sleeping a lot. But, adding it up, she's slept a perfectly reasonable amount. Just at slightly different times. Hopefully, she's not going to wake up at midnight and want to get up for the day!

I'm going to try to update this more than once a week if I can. I tend to forget a lot of things apart from the more eventful stuff (e.g. going to mums and babies group, seeing friends or relatives, etc.) and what's happened recently. I'm thinking people reading this are probably wanting to know things like how she's sleeping and eating and, of course, any momentous milestones (like when she rolls over). Oh... Chris is convinced that she said her first word to him yesterday morning. He said 'Hi' to her and she said 'Hi' back. She didn't repeat it, though. I'm convinced she's been saying 'Hello' to me lots. Pretty sure neither of us is right and we're just hearing words in her random sounds. But, anyway, should mention that!

So, yes, I'll try to update more often, if I can. Or at least keep a note of things like sleep and feeding and what she did each day. If there's anything in particular you want me to keep a note about or update about, you should be able to leave a comment to this post (I think I've set it up so you can) - if you can't, email or phone instead to let me know.

A picture post

Rosemary has recently found her hands and is sucking at them at every opportunity.



They sometimes even get in the way of her feeding, though she's fast to complain when she realises she wants something that gives out milk.

She also smiles and giggles loads now.



And, like many babies of a young age, she also sleeps a lot.



If you click on any of the photos above, you will be taken to Flickr, where you can see more in these themes! Or you can just click here and go directly to the whole Rosemary set.

8-14 October 2006

This is Tasha posting.

We had quite a full week.

Don't remember what we did on Monday.

On Tuesday we went to post-natal group and learned all about weaning. As usual (well, it happened the same the week before which is the only time we've been so far), I didn't manage to get there until 11.30, so only caught the talk and not the whole chatting to other mums thing. Which may well be a subconscious thing, as I'm not really good at talking to strangers - though I'm a lot better at talking to strangers now that I have a Rosemary to talk about! The health visitors were quite happy for people to be weaning at 4 months or so, despite the WHO's advice not to start until 6 months. I've been reading a bit around the subject and am inclined to do something along the lines of baby-led weaning. It seems to make a fair bit of sense, anyway. That said, we might just end up going the more traditional route of pureeing vegetables one at at time and gradually introducing other things. I have read that you shouldn't introduce dairy until one year, however, the health visitors suggested only leaving it until six months if there was an intolerance/allergy in the household. They seemed to be suggesting that introducing vegetables and fruit before six months was fine, but to leave the potentially problematic items until six months. Rosemary does seem to be showing an interest in food already, to a small extent.

On Wednesday we went to see the physiotherapist, who was happy with Rosemary and doesn't want to see her again until she (Rosemary) is walking. On Wednesday night Rosemary would not settle in her crib at all and ended up sleeping the whole night in with us. However, she did settle in her bouncy chair on Thursday morning about 5.30 am and that meant I got to get a decent amount of work done - she slept for about 3 and a half hours.

On Thursday we went to Costa Coffee in the morning to have coffee (well, hot chocolate and chocolate cake, actually) with Sasha and Nicky. We managed to get there pretty much on time - 10.15am - so we obviously can manage it when we want to. Of course, that was helped by Chris playing with Rosemary while I had a shower and, more to the point, Rosemary not crying for her mummy (otherwise known as crying for milk) while I did so. She was ready for a feed shortly after we got to Costa Coffee and spent the majority of the time feeding, though not all. Rosemary was very interested in Sasha and had a little cuddle with her, until she was ready to burp when I got her back. We also got to try out Costa Coffee's Baby Changing facilities, which were very good and were in the handicapped toilet, rather than the ladies, so allowing dad's to change babies there too, which is good. Nicky is expecting her third baby in 5 months, so we talked a bit about scans and stuff like that. It was nice to talk to some people I know already about baby things, rather than trying to talk to new people!

We actually went into town again later on Thursday, because I had a couple of things to post and our local post office is shut on a Thursday afternoon. After her first sleep in her bouncy chair, Rosemary hardly slept at all throughout Thursday (apparently taking after her father who apparently used to stay awake all day on a Thursday when he was a baby). She had maybe a couple of half hour naps in the buggy and dozed for 10 minutes here and there. She then fed for a large chunk of the evening, with little breaks sat in her bouncy chair, lying on her playmat or sat on Chris' lap. She went to sleep, in her crib, at about 10pm though, and slept through until 5.30am.

She then fed and then slept through until 7am and then had a quick snack and slept through until 8.30am, while I was upstairs doing some work and she stayed in her crib - Chris was in the room at the time. She had lots of alert time in her chair, alternating between amusing herself and being amused by me, while I got some work done.

She had three changes of clothes in the morning. She was damp when she got up first thing, then she did a huge poo while feeding that managed to escape the nappy and then she was sick all over her top so had to change that. I'd had her in her lovely dungarees to start with (after she came out of her bed clothes) and ended up taking her to the health visitor in the exact same clothes as she'd worn the last time we were there.

We went off to the surgery to get weighed by the health visitor at midday. She has only gone up to 8 lb 4.5 oz, which is just a 4 oz gain in 2 weeks. The health visitor didn't seem too concerned, though. It does mean she's on the lowest centile, but that's unadjusted for her prematurity, so she'd be higher if it was adjusted. She's gaining weight, rather than losing it, anyway, which is a good thing. As the health visitor pointed out, too, there could have been 3 oz in the huge poo she did Friday morning, anyway! As long as she has plenty of wet nappies and some dirty ones and is developmentally OK, then it's not too worrying that her weight gain is quite slow.

On Friday evening we went for another walk into town, this time with Chris. This was lovely, because she hasn't really been out with him like that for a while as he's been so horribly busy with work. She spent almost the entire walk in watching him and smiling up at him, which was so lovely. When we went into Blockbusters, though, she got quite unhappy. I took her outside, where she seemed happier, but after a while she got upset again. We think it was probably because it was early evening and she's used to feeding quite a bit at that time (according to the paedeatrician, that's when the milk is at its weakest, so it's quite common for babies to feed a lot in the late afternoon/early evening) so was wanting some food. She also needed her nappy changed. When we got home she quietened down and had her nappy changed and fairly big feed. She then spent lots of time with her dad while we watched A Knight's Tale. She was sat on his lap for quite a while, giggling and chattering away and then she was in her chair interacting really happily with him. It's lovely to watch them together when she's in a happy mood. It's so frequent that Chris ends up with her when she's unhappy because I need him to hold her while I do something like have a shower or grab a bite to eat. And quite often the timing is all wrong and she gets upset because she needs feeding.

She didn't get to sleep until about midnight last night, but she was in her crib again. She woke up at about 3.30am and fed until 4am, then slept through until about 7.30 am. She came upstairs with me so that I could get some invoices sent out, but she didn't really go back to sleep. She was in her chair, but not content for very long without some full-on interaction from me. Which is unusual, though will probably get more usual as she gets older, of course. It was clear that she wanted and needed some sleep but wasn't settling down at all, so I took her into town around midday. I walked round and round without going into any shops until I was confident she really was sleeping deeply, then did the little bit of shopping that was needed. She's still asleep now, so has been asleep for about four hours. She's probably going to wake up shortly, or so the milk machine is telling me!

Hopefully we'll have another pleasant evening together in the living room with a happy cheerful baby. I got Chris some nice (presumably) sausages from the farmers market to go with his jacket potato and salad. We had jacket potato and salad last night, which was delicious. All the salad vegetables (though unfortunately not the potatoes) came from the organic market stall and were really tasty. Rosemary's timing wasn't quite right, so my potato was luke warm by the time I got to eat it, but it was really nice, nevertheless

[I'm not sure whether I/we will be updating this weekly, daily or what. It may be some of both. However often if it, it will almost exclusively be ramble about Rosemary, her sleeping habits, her feeding habits and, of course, her pooing habits. If none of this interests you, you should really go read some other blog!]

Introduction

Mummy and Daddy Clark = Tasha Goddard and Chris Clark and we are Mummy and Daddy to Rosemary Alice Goddard Clark who is 10 weeks today. Rosemary was born on 5 August 2006 at 4.09am, weighing 7lb 1oz.

Here we all are when Rosemary was only a few weeks old:







This is Tasha writing (and that's me in the picture above). We have set up this blog to post details about how and what Rosemary is doing. The main purpose is for Grandma and Grandpa (and other relatives and friends who don't live close enough to see her very often) to have somewhere to go to see photos and videos of Rosemary and get an update of what she's been up to. However, there's always a chance either one of us will blather on about other things too. We might, for example, talk about the logistics of working from home with a small baby and that could end up with us going off on various non-Rosemary-related tangents. Apologies in advance for the tangents.

The next post will be about what happened over the last week in Rosemary's world (and ours).