A high drama of new youth, parenthood and smelly nappies

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Posts from March 2006

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05:45pm Thursday, 30th March 2006

pineapple? check

curry? check

driving over cobbles? check

sex? none of your business

baby? not yet

oh why are we waiting….

11:02am Wednesday, 29th March 2006

well. bairn decided it was going to feign entry yesterday with some contractions although has since decided the scottish climate isn’t nearly as snug as his current surrounds. cole even cooked a nice chilli especially.

perhaps with the sun shining today bairn might decide to deign us with their presence! at least cole sincerely hopes so as he doesn’t think he will be able to handle the guilt of bringing a child into this world on march 30th, the same day responsible for such auditory terrorists as norah jones, tracy chapman, celine dion and mc hammer. the horror…

03:45pm Tuesday, 28th March 2006

2 days late and still no sign. peta had an appointment with the midwife today as some rather suddenly swollen feet and hands were causing concern (apparently a sign of high blood pressure which is potentially dangerous for mother and bairn) but all was okay. in fact, blood pressure and babies heart beat were “text-book” to quote the lovely pat (our midwife).

going to start on some old wives’ techniques to see if we can speed things along. drove along a cobbled street today, curries tonight and will try pineapple tomorrow…

10:16pm Sunday, 26th March 2006

still not here!!

bairn has decided it is far too warm and snug in peta’s belly so shan’t be joining us in the outside world for the immediate future. harrumph!

11:44am Saturday, 25th March 2006

‘twas the day before due date and all through our dwelling,our bairn wasn’t stirring, despite the huge swelling,the nappies were poised and the crib was bare,the labour bag packed and the birth plan prepared,the booties, the blankets, the babygrows primed,the quick route to hospital hastily timed,the ‘music to squeeze to’ ceedee composed,the mother to be makes sure she’s suitably dozed,the father in waiting, awaiting a signthat unlike its parents, bairn’ll (for once) be on time…

07:28pm Wednesday, 22nd March 2006

right. new poll done. what hair (if there is any that is) do you think bairn will emerge with? peta was dark at birth (her nickname was bogbrush) whilst cole popped out looking like an old man (for evidence see the new snaps on the left).

04:39pm Wednesday, 22nd March 2006

well, the results are pretty unanimous with over 70% of you thinking bairn will be a boy, although cole is sure the blue tinge to the blog might have had a subliminal effect on you impressionable lot! we shall wait to see if you are right but in the meantime will try to get a new poll on the go before bairn pops out.

a couple of huge thank you’s – to oma for a lovely snug, home-made baby nomade and to jo for a frankly quite marvellous funky cow hand-puppet. bairn salutes you both!

08:17am Wednesday, 22nd March 2006

well, time is slipping and we thought we were almost there yesterday when peta had a wee turn whilst on a meander through edinburgh. however, it now seems more likely that it was the excessive amount of peckhams chocolate cake she had been eating!

having invested in the reusable nappies cole decided he would try to maintain the ethos by getting some eco-friendly disposables (rather than the tesco value ones that he had previously been eyeing up!), just for the short-term as we get used to new arrival and its various emissions…

cole had the last of his dads2b groups in livingston on monday evening (boo hoo). this week, partners could attend so peta came along and the group talked about baby safety and sterilising bottles, etc, which we didn’t have a clue about beforehand! met some really nice couples too. neil and linzi, a lovely couple from linlithgow, gave us a lift to livingston and popped back to ours for a cup of tea and a chat afters. hopefully will keep in touch and look forward to the proposed reunion and seeing all the blokes with their respective bairns.

cole start’s his new job on april 1st, although unless bairn is feeling especially lazy he will probably be on paternity leave when the switch happens. this could be interesting in terms of his current workload as it’s like every day is his last day at work.

little else to report. we watched the latest harry potter film last night which was very good. my how those kids have grown!

03:05pm Sunday, 19th March 2006

what a lazy weekend. friday night we had a final farewell to freedom at our local, the bonsyde, with ryan, shelley and sandy. had a lovely evening involving some nice bar snacks, beers (half a guinness for peta), pool, hangman and darts.

we had a nice quiet saturday of armchair rugby, crosswords, sleep and chocolate eclairs (mmmmmm). peta is getting very tired a lot and not adverse to a long afternoon nap as her body prepare’s itself for the big push.

sunday has been very much more of the same, although we have managed to venture out of the house! after a nice fry-up and moving the chickens we popped out to get some chicken feed but the shop was shut, went to the tip to drop off some rubbish and ended up with some wood for the fire from a chap who had being doing some spring pruning.

bairn is now scarily just a week away, the countdown in single figures. my how the time has flown since last july! shouldn’t be long now….

09:30pm Thursday, 16th March 2006

what a great day. our yummy nappies arrived (thanks again moomin) and they are SOOOO cute. they have had their obligatory pre-wash and are most cute and fluffy.

plus, drumroll…… dr henley has been offered (and has accepted) a new job, nay, a new career! after a successful interview yesterday it is horizons new for cole. quite a gamble as it entails a departure from archaeology plus it means cole is sacrificing a remaining year on his fta job for a six month casual post but it’s a first-footing towards the hallowed halls of webdom. hussah!

back to bairn, peta had midwife appointment today. heartbeat is nice and strong and the baby is just in the right position, although it doesn’t like being poked and prodded as it kicked the midwife – naughty bairn!

08:03pm Wednesday, 15th March 2006

well, cole’s job interview went well. should hear tomorrow. a bit scary that he could have a completely new career in 24 hours!

also scary that within a week or so we could also have a completely new family member. peta has been quite busy at home cooking and freezing food for when she gets back, preparing the labour/maternity bag for l’hôpital, making up some ceedees to listen to amidst the chaos of birth and washing all the baby clothes in non-bio to make sure they are kiddy-skin friendly.

nappies should be arriving tomorrow although think we’ll be using disposables in the short-term whilst we get used to bairn and it’s nuances.

cole has been having wee panics about his frivolous spending. decided against two mcdonalds milkshakes last night upon realising that they equate to a whopping thirty-five disposable nappies – that’s a lot of poop!

07:56am Tuesday, 14th March 2006

well, last night was the last of the dads2b groups cole has been going to, dealing with post-natal depression (in both men and women), why babies might cry and ways of dealing with crying babies. for example, did you know that a babies’ cry is biologically designed to raise your adrenalin levels to provoke a response? anyway, the group has been fantastic and any expectant fathers out there, i would definitely find out if a similar thing is going on in your area.

hoping to have a reunion after all the people in the group have had their children to exchange their experiences and to see how useful these past few weeks have been. personally, it has just been great (and very reassuring) to meet with other men in the same situation going through exactly the same doubts, fears (and, sometimes, ignorance).

for those that are interested/curious, the mysterious surprise on sunday was a trip into edinburgh to see hibs v celtic. not the best result (celtic won 2-1), but a game that had everything – goals, disallowed goals, offsides, penalties, a sending off and pizza and sauce! thanks again ryan for a grand day out!

08:14am Sunday, 12th March 2006

well, awoke early this morning (kind of the norm at the moment, maybe crazy parenting hormones kicking in early) and a lovely, lovely layer of powdery snow is lying deep and crisp and even. hussah!

saying that cole is supposed to be heading into edinbrrrrr today for a magically mysterious surprise so fingers crossed the trains are working (who normally only need a mild drizzle to cancel a service)

12:53pm Saturday, 11th March 2006

to the left you will see the frankly marvellous sock monkey (called jules) which peta has hand crafted for bairn.

cole had a go at making one although it is so hideous that if it should ever escape from the bag to which it has been banished it would give any who gazed upon it nightmares! oh dear, best leave the handicrafts to peta!

07:23pm Thursday, 9th March 2006

peta had one of her last midwife appointments today and all is good. bairn is engaged and pushing a lot (cue much discomfort)!

s/he is measuring a week bigger than expected (1_cm/week apparently) so could be here earlier than anticipated. this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise given that cole was born two weeks early (although has been pretty much late for everything since).

peta plans to write some letters with her time off work, starting with kate murchie who sent a lovely card the other day, although finding time away from the tacky mags is proving quite a challenge!

on the paternal front cole has an interview for a new job next week which, if succesful, could see him move into that most elusive of fields: paid web-scribing. it is only a casual position for six months, so a bit of a gamble, but there is the possibility that it might be extended. fingers crossed and here’s hoping all goes well at interview.

stay tuned…

10:52pm Wednesday, 8th March 2006

well it’s all seeming quite real now. peta finished work for six months yesterday and only 18 days to go….

we have pretty much everything in place but eagerly awaiting arrival of the real nappies. thought we’d save a few landfill sites and a few pennies whilst we were at it by going down the reusables road, and apparently it is good for bonding with bairn in this age of swift convenience and disposables. thanks to fiona (moomin) for helping get these – it’s one of the best presents ever and we can use it for baby #2!

thanks to an abundance of generous family and friends we seem to have everything a 21^st century bairn could ask for (and more). it has a bigger wardrobe than mum and dad combined, and all in blue so here’s hoping for a suitably gendered arrival.

the crib is in place, the blankets poised, the maternity bag not quite packed and the dad almost calm, aided by the fantastic dads2b classes that have been going on in Livingston. After a Monday evening covering baby handling, bathing and clothing i have every confidence that bairn will be well dressed, clean and dropped on only the seldomest of occasions!

so, with only a couple of weeks to go we’ve been giving much thought to the dreaded pecking order – whom to tell and who to get to tell whom when bairn deigns us with their presence! anyone else confused? makes it oh so simple when everyone lives in another country! well, so you all know the immediate point of contact will be with our parents, then our siblings. we’ll probably ask them to let other family members know as time away from baby will just be too much! will try to work out the next phase for friends before bairn pops out…