Sleep rant

I know that I'm not the only person in the world to have trouble sleeping, but to be honest with you that is not really the issue with me.
I am a fussy sleeper, and I don't mean that I must sleep with the window open or something like that; I mean that would be easy to resolve. My list of musts before being able to sleep is ridiculous in my opinion!!
I think the only way I could back this up is if I go ahead and share this list with you.
We're gonna get the bulletpoints out!!

• I have to be on the left side of the bed with my head facing outwards instead of towards my partner.
• My right foot must be snuggled into the sole of my left.
• The covers must cover my feet and be tucked under them, but also covering my head and wrapped around my right arm and over my ear so it feels blocked.
• There cannot be any noise; rain, wind, birds, anything!!!
• Also no lights. This is odd considering I wouldn't sleep in the dark at all until into my teenage years.
• My hair must be up in a low pony tail and quite tight, but cannot be touching my back. This is the one reason alone why I'm considering chopping my hair to shoulder length, but it requires a lot of maintenance when it's shorter and I'm not down for that.
• Clothes are kept to a minimum or I just end up taking them off anyway, small shorts are about the most I can deal with.
• I CANNOT BE TOUCHED. I'd love to fall asleep being cuddled by Mark but it just doesn't work :(

I need to know that I'm not the only fussy sleeper, let me know what you must do before you're able to sleep at night.
Also if there is anyone who has any tips on how to break these habits that would be great, I really want to be able to sleep in a different position and without the duvet on my head!

See you soon xx

My Labour Story

My daughter is now 18 months and I have decided that it is time to write my labour story before it becomes a distant memory.

Monday 7th October 2013 I woke knowing that I was 10 days overdue and scheduled to be induced later that day. However that's not all, I was getting cramps, they kept waking me up and I hadn't quite clicked onto the fact that I was in very early labour!! The previous night I had also had some pressure down there but it didn't turn out to be anything much, I just rocked side to side in the living room watching The X Factor.

So lets get back to Monday, my appointment was at 6:00pm and throughout the day I noticed these 'cramps' getting more regular, stronger even, but I just kept on making sure I had everything packed. Every ten minutes the cramps would come, last a few seconds and then go, finally I realised I was having contractions! They may have been small but they had started, finally, after so many days of just wishing my baby was here and well.

Hours later we got to the hospital, I just went in for my normal appointment time as I had done a significant amount of reading and knew they wouldn't have suggested for me to come in any sooner as the cramps were not strong enough yet, although they were really starting to hurt.

So we waited, and we waited... and we waited. Over an hour and a half later a midwife had decided it was my turn to be seen, she put the weird belt thing around my belly and attached the heartbeat monitor to it to keep an eye on baby and she gave me this pressy thing that I had to click whenever I felt a movement just in case the machine missed it. I was hooked up to this for a good hour or so, she tried to listen to my belly with a plastic horn looking object, but my partner started laughing which started me off. The midwife looked less than impressed, believe me!!

It was around this point that they told me they couldn't induce me because I had already starting contracting on my own and they also told me that Mark would have to leave soon as we were in a public room. This was the worst thing anyone could have said, first of all I wasn't being induced so I had no idea how long I was going to be waiting for my baby to decide that she's ready to pop out, but now I had to stay in the hospital, alone, all night. I was so scared, I was in pain from the stronger contractions and I just wanted someone I loved to comfort me. I cried enough tears for all the babies in the hospital that night, especially because just after he left and got in a taxi they were able to move me to a private room. I was furious, scared, upset and alone. This was going to be a looooooong night!!

The pain just kept getting stronger and stronger, nothing would ease it. I tried bouncing, walking, lying down, kneeling up and the painkillers they had on offer. That anti-sickness injection might I add, made me throw up like crazy and also super dizzy, but the pain was slowly easing off so I didn't mind so much.

Tuesday 8th October 2013 and still no baby. Call me naive but I was in the frame of mind that Monday I go in and be induced, and Tuesday I would be holding my child. I spend the majority of the day lying in bed, the contractions had slowed down mid afternoon and I didn't know what was going on. At about 6:30 the midwife decided it was time to monitor the baby's movements by putting that belt on me again. I was told if the number goes low to press the red button which gets their attention. The number monitored the beats and it went from over 100 to about 60 so I pressed the button and the midwife said that I need to have my waters broken as soon as and that they were rushing to get a bed ready for me. I was alone at this point and Mark was on his way in.

By the time he arrived at the hospital I was in a different ward with a different midwife having my water broken. Having my waters broken, in case you wondered, didn't hurt at all, I didn't even feel it if I'm completely honest, although I know a lot of people say that it was very uncomfortable, sometimes even painful for them. As soon as she finished Mark was in the room and I have to say that calmed my nerves a bit, although I was really starting to get nervous! At 8:00pm I was in established labour, hooked up to oxytocin to help speed the process along, and getting high off the gas and air. Personally for me, as a pain relief it didn't work, but having something to bite down on during the contractions helped. I tried my hardest to not have any other pain relief but by 10:00pm it just got too much for me and I asked for the pethadine. Some say that it just makes them groggy, but it really took the edge off for me, for half an hour anyway.

Having to drink so much was taking its toll on my bladder, which got quite annoying as I had to drag the oxytocin machine with me every time I needed the loo.

After many ramblings about complete nonsense I had really started to get that 'need-to-poop' feeling, the pressure is so strong, you do definitely know when you are ready to push, if can let them examine you then that is fantastic, however there was no way I could hold that baby in anymore!! I started pushing at midnight, and after 41 minutes of focussed pushing, very quietly I must say, the most beautiful child was finally here. Wednesday 9th October 2013 We finally got to meet our baby, a baby girl, and instantly all the pain went away. Weighing 6lb 10oz, every tiny little part of her was as perfect as I could have imagined.

That's not the end though... I got a second degree tear so I needed stitching up, other than the needle going in to numb the area I didn't feel a thing, the next week or so I drank so much water that I only felt sore for about two days as the swelling went down.

About my Baby #1

I realise that I've not told you very much about my daughter so I have decided to tell you a little about her every now and again.
You may have guessed by now that her name is Emily, this isn't after anyone, we just decided on Emily for a girl a while before we had her mainly because it was the only name me and Mark could agree on!!
Although her due date was September 27th, she decided to keeps us waiting for 12 days finally making an appearance on October 9th. I tried practically all the suggested methods to speed it up but she was having none of it!! I may write a seperate post about that.
Her hair was a dark blonde colour but, as many babies do, she lost that hair and is now growing as a lovely blonde/ginger colour. It is growing well but is quite fair so it doesn't look as if there is a lot of it.

Emily just loves to watch TV, no matter what is on her attention is usually in its direction. Her favourite shows are Peppa Pig and everything that is shown on Disney Junior. As soon as the next show is on she point's to the TV making a noise we believe is 'what's that?' although she knows that Mickey Mouse is about to start.
When she wants a certain show on she will throw her toys onto one of us until we get the message, she normally does this first thing in the morning and in all honesty it is often the pigs who wins!! We have quite a collection of piggies, just can't seem to stop buying them!!

 Look out for #2 soon
xxx

Look, it's me

It just occurred to me that all you have to know what I look like is that poxy little blog picture, so hey, here's me.
Psssst, I cut my own hair, I just put the fringe in just before I took the picture.
I almost always wear my glasses, unless I plan on wearing sunglasses, I can't be dealing with all the swapping!!

See you soon
xxx

Unplanned Post

I have already scheduled a couple of posts and this was not in the line-up but we've had a busy day and I thought I'd tell you all about it.

First of all I was rudely awoken by Mark leaping onto the bed whilst I was mid dream about freaking out in a Chemistry exam, so in all fairness it was quietly appreciated!! Em was patiently waiting for us in her cot, she tends to play in there before wanting our attention and the smiles we get when we open her bedroom door are worth getting out of bed for!

We had a little play date planned at our house so when Hannah and baby Charlie I was kind of expecting Emily to carry on playing as it wasn't the first time she had met them. However, she went nuts, Charlie picked up her beloved Peppa Pig and she started wailing and climbing all over me. I thought it was just people in general that she was having a problem with recently but to be honest she just doesn't like little people. It's shocking really, you'd think that a child would love to be around children that are the same size but nope, Emily loved Hannah though. It's obvious that she likes you when she starts piling all of her things on you, and you can't put it down or she will grab your hand and make sure you take it!!
After Emily had eaten she had decided that it was only fair to give Charlie a chance, after all he did bring that noisy red bus which was lots of fun! They were chasing each other through the play tunnel and sometimes taking it in turns. Unfortunately though this all happened about 10 minutes before Emily was due to have her nap and I couldn't postpone it, she was grumpy enough already.

Everyone left and it was just me and Em for two hours before daddy got home. It was too nice a day to be sitting inside so I made a start on trying to rid the garden of stinging nettles, although I stung my finger and it's really bugging me right now!! I left the backdoor open so Emily could come out when she wanted... She chose to stay inside and watch TV and occasionally crawled to the door to stare at me before trying to shut me out!! She threw her empty squash bottle to me which was a 'fill it now mummy' kind of move, so I gave up on the garden and came in to play.
And that was our day!

Oh, one other thing, I think it's pretty big but I'll let you judge that... Emily has worked out how to get down the stairs!! She had sussed up a long time ago and after her nap today I thought I'd let her give it a shot and she did it!!! At bedtime she even decided to show her daddy her new skill! :D
She's so amazing :D

See you soon
xxx

Let's Have a Chat

Hey everyone,

I keep writing posts and then deleting them because I don't think they're any good.

I had written about what I put in Emily's winter changing bag, but low and behold, as I was thinking about making it public I realised it's no longer actually winter... although someone wants to tell the weather, and maybe get me a blanket!

Another post I started was a ranty post about TV shows, well, more the weekly wait to get the next installment. I binge watched the first 4 and a half seasons of Pretty Little Liars and am now just waiting, for each Wednesday, because I'm in the UK and have to wait an extra day after it's been aired elsewhere :(

Although I can't quite remember what else I had started to write, let me assure you that there was a few. I feel that if I had a chosen theme or topic to this blog then it would be easier for me to update it, but I don't want to limit it.

If there is anyone out there who wants me to write about something then let me know, I'll do what I can.

So do any of you have something to rant about? Tell me about your day, how you're doing or whatever you want. I'll reply if I can.

Let's do this again sometime :)
xxx

A Quick Hello

Hey everyone,

I have decided that it's time to start blogging again, however I have deleted all my previous blog posts because, well, I don't want to do the whole '10 things' list as it wasn't personal enough to be considered as a blog.

Although I shall do the normal introductory post as anyone who comes across this may want to know a little more about who's behind it.

So my name is Abbie, I'm a 21 year old mum to my beautiful Emily. Life has changed so much since she came along and I can't imagine doing anything better with my life than spending it making memories with her.
This blog probably isn't going to be overly consistant but I will make an effort to keep it up to date for anyone interested in what happens in my day to day life.

My posts are probably mainly going to be about my daughter but I may throw in the odd 'recent purchases' or rant about a TV show where I have to wait a week for the next installment.

Emily is 16 months at the moment, yes I say her age in months, and is on the verge of walking. I've had to remove a shelving unit from the living room of my house as she seems to think it's a game to climb all over it and get stuck. She'll climb anything given the chance!!