Four months since the last entry and how the world has changed!
On 11 December 2008 HB and I were blessed with the arrival of our precious daughter, Elizabeth Jane. All through I had referred to Blobby as a he – little did I know she was a Blobbette!
So here is how it all unfolded.
My blood pressure was quite high so I was having regular hospital checkups and monitoring. On Monday, 8/12, it was decided that I should see a consultant on the Wednesday to see whether I needed BP medication etc. So I was packed off home again.
At home my nesting instinct was manifesting in a weird way, I had to get my house in order and by that I meant that I needed to get my will done, now, immediately and if I didn’t do it something terrible would happen. Tick that one off the list.
Now it’s probably easiest just to go to a time log:
Tuesday 9/12
4.30 pm: Bending down to take the washing out and felt a small spurt. Ooops I thought, must work on the pelvic floor exercises. Hang on a sec, that’s no wee spurt, the Hoover Dam had opened up and as I am standing there looking I start laughing as I realize that my waters had broken in the utility room – tiled floors – no beige carpet, phew HB will be happy!
6.00pm We arrive at the hospital as directed. Thought we were very calm getting to the hospital, seem swe weren’t as calm as we thought – we triggered a neighbourhood watch meeting as we left the house with the front door open!
7.00pm Time to get monitored. I’m not in labour but, surprise surprise my Blood Pressure is up. We wait for a few hours and then the Doctor says I’m to stay in hospital to monitor the BP. I’m a bit upset and HB has tpo leave.
11.30pm Moved to a room. Having little contractions (although I don’t know if there is any such thing as little!)
Overnight: No sleep
Wednesday 10/12
9.00 Consulatnt visits. I’m still not in labour. I’m told if I’ve not gone into labour 24 hours after the waters have broken then I need to be induced because of the risk of infection. They say I can go home and need to come back if labour kicks in or at 4.30.
10.00 leave hospital with HB. Now what do I do?
1.00pm I go grocery shopping with HB, shuffling around Tescos,still dripping somewhat.
3.00pm getting quite crampy but I get my head down for an hour.
4.00 pm ring the hospital – come in at 6.00they tell me. Okey doke!
5.30 pm – here we go again, this time make sure the doors closed.
6.00pm - arrive at hospital, more monitoring.
7.00pm – Time to kick off the induction with a pessary – not very pleasant , ouch in fact! And now the waiting.
10.00pm – Still not in labour, and HB is sent home. Definitely getting contractions though
Thursday 11/12
1.00am – OMG – contractions are supposed to come and go. These don’t! There is no relief, no time to get my breath back. I don’t know how long I can take this. Am I really such a wuss? I call a midwife – she wasn’t very sympathetic, “labour hurts you now dear” I have a tens machine going on but it is doing nothing but annoy me. The midwife suggest pethadine and after much discussion and agreement on an anti vomit drug too I agree to that.
2.00 am The pethidine helps a lot! Now I am getting bigger contractions and some respite in between . I am moved to a labour room.
Till 6.00am – all very blurry, painful and alone.
7.00am – Call HB, time to get back to the hospital
8.00am – still not moving along quickly enough. Get put onto an oxytocin drip and a saline drip. It seems I got a bit dehydrated during the night. Now I get to play on the gas and air. Cool, it seems to work a bit
Midday – The gas and air and tens machine are losing their effect. They are now merely distractions for the contractions, and not very good ones at that. I’m exhausted. Epidural is suggested and after talking it over with HB and the anethatist (sp?) I agree it’s the best option at this point (it seems there is still quite a way to go!)
1.30pm Epidural goes in. Works – almost. It seems there is a ‘window’ where I can feel EVERYTHING!!!
3.00pm Epidural is finally working – what relief. I get dozy
5.00pm I’m dilating well and truly now.
6.00pm Another window has opened up, but that’s ok. It’s time to ‘push’ so feeling the contractions is good.
So away we go pushing. It seems I’m not a screamer or grunter. HB is encouraging, urging me to ‘do it for Australia!’
7.00pm Still pushing
7.15pm Doctor comes and determines that help is needed now. It’s salad tongs time (aka forceps)
7.30pm Doctor is amused by songs playing from our iPod. Disconcerting to have your legs in the air, doctor between them saying ‘wow amazing’ (referring to William Shatners version on Common People)
7.38pm One final push and an overwhelming sense of release. Our baby is whipped pit and put straight on my stomach. HB looks over and tells me ‘we’ve got a little girl’ – A girl – are you sure? Yep, a beautiful gorgeous perfect little girl.
I can’t believe we made it. We are so proud and grateful. And that is where this blog ends, soon it will be time to start writing about Elizabeth’s adventures but right now – I’ve got my hands full!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, December 1, 2008
Are we there yet?
Two and a half weeks to go till the due date!!! OMG.
Suddenly it's all become a little harder- moving around, doing things just requires so much more effort. My blood pressure continues to be very erratic but it least the elevations aren't constant. I think we have everything now (probably too much to be honest). The pram arrives tomorrow so I've got some practice time on that. I'm still to master the baby carrier although Nellie assures me that once mastered it becomes second nature.
I've been quite teary the last few days - guess the hormones are going into overdrive. I'm really missing my Mum and Dad even though both have been gone for many years, not to mention my Nan. Dad never got to see any of us married off let alone have kids, Mum got to see her first three grandchildren. Had my MIL and FIL up for the last few days, they are lovely but there is still a void whre my parents should be. I hope they are watching from somewhere!
There is so much anticipation, which is bringing with it so much self doubt. Everyone tells you that you that you will manage but again it doesn't stop the negative thoughts arising - the 'what ifs?' What if I can't cope, what if it drives a wedge in mine and HBs relationship. I've been to my first Bumps and Babes session. I sat wide eyed watching these women with their babies (6-22 weeks) so confident and at ease with the little creatures wondering if that will ever be me! But like a true Gemini there is the other side of me that spends time imagining how wonderful everything is going to be, watching Blobby grow up, totally different family holidays, seeing Blobby with HB (my favourite daydream is imagining HB's face when he holds Blobby for the first time!)
Last week I had a very nice day of indulgence. In the morning i went to the spa and had a facial and makeup put on. In the afternoon HB had arranged for a photographer to come to the house to take some shots of my belly. We'd tried but the result weren't very good (a combination of the subject - me, and HB's skills a s a photographer!) Should get the results this week. It was important to me to capture this - I've loved being pregnant and I wanted to memorialise it while I could - it won't happen again!
I've also been going to the pool to do some stretching in the water - it's amazing how much the water helps - it's the only place you can move around and be totally comfortable. I just hope the blood pressure behaves itself so that I can labour in water.
So - will Blobby be early, late or on time? I can't help but think it will be slightly early, but hopefully only slightly! I've got Christmas to arrange. And I can't even contemplate him being late - that will really mess up all of the planning! But really, there is only one thing I can be 100% sure of, and that is I have absolutely no control over when Blobby will choose to make an appearance so worrying about messing up plans, is a waste of a worry!
Suddenly it's all become a little harder- moving around, doing things just requires so much more effort. My blood pressure continues to be very erratic but it least the elevations aren't constant. I think we have everything now (probably too much to be honest). The pram arrives tomorrow so I've got some practice time on that. I'm still to master the baby carrier although Nellie assures me that once mastered it becomes second nature.
I've been quite teary the last few days - guess the hormones are going into overdrive. I'm really missing my Mum and Dad even though both have been gone for many years, not to mention my Nan. Dad never got to see any of us married off let alone have kids, Mum got to see her first three grandchildren. Had my MIL and FIL up for the last few days, they are lovely but there is still a void whre my parents should be. I hope they are watching from somewhere!
There is so much anticipation, which is bringing with it so much self doubt. Everyone tells you that you that you will manage but again it doesn't stop the negative thoughts arising - the 'what ifs?' What if I can't cope, what if it drives a wedge in mine and HBs relationship. I've been to my first Bumps and Babes session. I sat wide eyed watching these women with their babies (6-22 weeks) so confident and at ease with the little creatures wondering if that will ever be me! But like a true Gemini there is the other side of me that spends time imagining how wonderful everything is going to be, watching Blobby grow up, totally different family holidays, seeing Blobby with HB (my favourite daydream is imagining HB's face when he holds Blobby for the first time!)
Last week I had a very nice day of indulgence. In the morning i went to the spa and had a facial and makeup put on. In the afternoon HB had arranged for a photographer to come to the house to take some shots of my belly. We'd tried but the result weren't very good (a combination of the subject - me, and HB's skills a s a photographer!) Should get the results this week. It was important to me to capture this - I've loved being pregnant and I wanted to memorialise it while I could - it won't happen again!
I've also been going to the pool to do some stretching in the water - it's amazing how much the water helps - it's the only place you can move around and be totally comfortable. I just hope the blood pressure behaves itself so that I can labour in water.
So - will Blobby be early, late or on time? I can't help but think it will be slightly early, but hopefully only slightly! I've got Christmas to arrange. And I can't even contemplate him being late - that will really mess up all of the planning! But really, there is only one thing I can be 100% sure of, and that is I have absolutely no control over when Blobby will choose to make an appearance so worrying about messing up plans, is a waste of a worry!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
6 weeks to go
So much has been going on in the last few weeks and reality is finally dawning. Next month we're having a baby - AAAARGGHHHHHH!!
We've been going to the National Childbirth Turst Ante Natal classes. They've been great but really underlined how little I know. We've gone through the stages of labour, pain relief (very important!), bonding with the baby, interventions, breatsfeeding, how to change nappies - all sorts of things. There are another five couples on the course all from the local area and all are very nice. Today is our last session after which we're all off to the pub!
My idea of delivery has changed so much over the last few months, knowledge really is power amd I was very ignorant beforehand. I still am to a great extent but I really feel we are in a better place to make informed decisons now than what we were a few months ago.
So what would be the perfect delivery for us?? We'd start with a tens machine at home for pain relief when labour kicks in and then ideally end up having a water birth using gas and air for pain relief. Now that's in a perfect world. The one thing we have learned is that ANYTHING can happen and you've got to go with the flow and be prepared to change. Being too set in what you want can lead to bad birth experiences if it all doesn't go according to your meticulous planning, and lets face it, a million things could affect how things play out.
I've had to go to hospital for monitoring and assessment a couple of times now - my age is starting to impact I think. I've had a couple of pretty high blood pressure readings and other early signs of pre-eclampsia so its time to take things easy.
I finish up work on Monday which will be both a relief and a worry. I've got a great team handling things and everything will be OK, I just feel a bit guilty about some of them not only having to carry on with their own jobs but take on my responsibilities too. We've been planning it for a while although it still feels like I'm leaving everyone in the lurch, but some things are simply more important.
Poor HB has had to put up with me being a miserable cow over the last week or so. Things turned quite uncomfortable for me over the weekend - particularly as Blobby decided to use my bladder as a trampoline which made walking and standing up very difficult. Add some constipation and wind to that and I wasn't exactly a joy to be around. Note to self - must try harder not to provide HB with an ongoing list of niggles, it just comes across as whinging and he will be having doubts that I am going to be able handle the really big pain (I don't have trouble handling pain, I just talk about it). Having said that, he took to bed with man flu (had a headache and was feeling funny) this week so I was able to nurse him like all good wives do - I wouldn't have it any other way!
We've been going to the National Childbirth Turst Ante Natal classes. They've been great but really underlined how little I know. We've gone through the stages of labour, pain relief (very important!), bonding with the baby, interventions, breatsfeeding, how to change nappies - all sorts of things. There are another five couples on the course all from the local area and all are very nice. Today is our last session after which we're all off to the pub!
My idea of delivery has changed so much over the last few months, knowledge really is power amd I was very ignorant beforehand. I still am to a great extent but I really feel we are in a better place to make informed decisons now than what we were a few months ago.
So what would be the perfect delivery for us?? We'd start with a tens machine at home for pain relief when labour kicks in and then ideally end up having a water birth using gas and air for pain relief. Now that's in a perfect world. The one thing we have learned is that ANYTHING can happen and you've got to go with the flow and be prepared to change. Being too set in what you want can lead to bad birth experiences if it all doesn't go according to your meticulous planning, and lets face it, a million things could affect how things play out.
I've had to go to hospital for monitoring and assessment a couple of times now - my age is starting to impact I think. I've had a couple of pretty high blood pressure readings and other early signs of pre-eclampsia so its time to take things easy.
I finish up work on Monday which will be both a relief and a worry. I've got a great team handling things and everything will be OK, I just feel a bit guilty about some of them not only having to carry on with their own jobs but take on my responsibilities too. We've been planning it for a while although it still feels like I'm leaving everyone in the lurch, but some things are simply more important.
Poor HB has had to put up with me being a miserable cow over the last week or so. Things turned quite uncomfortable for me over the weekend - particularly as Blobby decided to use my bladder as a trampoline which made walking and standing up very difficult. Add some constipation and wind to that and I wasn't exactly a joy to be around. Note to self - must try harder not to provide HB with an ongoing list of niggles, it just comes across as whinging and he will be having doubts that I am going to be able handle the really big pain (I don't have trouble handling pain, I just talk about it). Having said that, he took to bed with man flu (had a headache and was feeling funny) this week so I was able to nurse him like all good wives do - I wouldn't have it any other way!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Time is whizzing by!
Where has the year gone????
I can't believe we are in October, I don't know where the year has gone. This long awaited pregnancy will be over before I know it!
Everything is going really well. All my tests have been good with the best news being - no diabetes! With the family history of gestational and 'regular' diabetes I would have put money on developing that but all is clear.
It seems Blobby is going to be a tall one, just like his dad! Currently measuring at the high end of the scale - I hope that doesn't translate into painful delivery!
We've started to pull together odds and ends. Going shopping for prams has been quite funny. Our first visit to a department store and I thought there had been a tear in the time space continuum and we'd ended up on some alien planet or distant land. Did not understand a single word the sales assistant was saying - we were really underprepared! We've managed to master the jargon and concepts now so the big purchases will be happening soon. Every time we go looking at prams etc, HB is like a kid in a candy store with the toys and has bought something 'really cool' each time we've been there.
I was away at a conference this week. It's amazing how being obviously pregnant enables people who you've never met before to suddenly have something in common with you and something to talk about. I've got to say though, some comments were a bit disconcerting, especially the women who, in response to asking about my due date, responded 'so it can happen anytime then!' Terrifying - so much to do at work, so much to get ready for Christmas and for Blobby. We've finally started to realise perhaps I should be carrying the Labour Ward telephone number with me, and maybe it's not too early to get the hospital bag ready!
I can't believe we are in October, I don't know where the year has gone. This long awaited pregnancy will be over before I know it!
Everything is going really well. All my tests have been good with the best news being - no diabetes! With the family history of gestational and 'regular' diabetes I would have put money on developing that but all is clear.
It seems Blobby is going to be a tall one, just like his dad! Currently measuring at the high end of the scale - I hope that doesn't translate into painful delivery!
We've started to pull together odds and ends. Going shopping for prams has been quite funny. Our first visit to a department store and I thought there had been a tear in the time space continuum and we'd ended up on some alien planet or distant land. Did not understand a single word the sales assistant was saying - we were really underprepared! We've managed to master the jargon and concepts now so the big purchases will be happening soon. Every time we go looking at prams etc, HB is like a kid in a candy store with the toys and has bought something 'really cool' each time we've been there.
I was away at a conference this week. It's amazing how being obviously pregnant enables people who you've never met before to suddenly have something in common with you and something to talk about. I've got to say though, some comments were a bit disconcerting, especially the women who, in response to asking about my due date, responded 'so it can happen anytime then!' Terrifying - so much to do at work, so much to get ready for Christmas and for Blobby. We've finally started to realise perhaps I should be carrying the Labour Ward telephone number with me, and maybe it's not too early to get the hospital bag ready!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
25 weeks - I look preggers!
Well the pot belly is really starting to show now. I look pregnant and with Blobby jumping around so much I very definitely feel pregnant! I'm really enjoying this middle trimester although I've been suffering a little bit with wind - belching enough to fill the goodyear blimp!!! Nice.
I've registered with the local Doctors so I'm feeling that everything is on track now. All tests are good. I'll have the glucose tolerance test for diabetes in a couple of weeks.
I read some articles in the newspapers here that really got me riled up. A woman is suing the NHS because she was on their waiting list for IVF for six years and when her turn came she was 'shocked' to learn that her eggs were too old. Now she been 'denied the right' to have her own genetic child and been 'forced' to have a baby using a donor egg. Her son was born last week, and although she 'loves him' she, and I quote, "can't help but feel bitter I have been cheated out of" having a genetic baby. I was flabbergasted. Blobby is wanted and loved and will be ours totally! He is not genetically related to me - so what??? He wouldn't be growing without me & there's no risk of the issues associated with me being old, such as down syndrome. He'll come into the world and he will have our unconditional love. And we will tell him how he came about from the earliest opportunity so he will know how much he was wanted and how very grateful we are. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've registered with the local Doctors so I'm feeling that everything is on track now. All tests are good. I'll have the glucose tolerance test for diabetes in a couple of weeks.
I read some articles in the newspapers here that really got me riled up. A woman is suing the NHS because she was on their waiting list for IVF for six years and when her turn came she was 'shocked' to learn that her eggs were too old. Now she been 'denied the right' to have her own genetic child and been 'forced' to have a baby using a donor egg. Her son was born last week, and although she 'loves him' she, and I quote, "can't help but feel bitter I have been cheated out of" having a genetic baby. I was flabbergasted. Blobby is wanted and loved and will be ours totally! He is not genetically related to me - so what??? He wouldn't be growing without me & there's no risk of the issues associated with me being old, such as down syndrome. He'll come into the world and he will have our unconditional love. And we will tell him how he came about from the earliest opportunity so he will know how much he was wanted and how very grateful we are. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Blobby gets active
Well I can finally feel him!!!.I'd been having twinges and things and wasn't sure whether it was Blobby or not, but when it comes, there's no mistaking it. Blobby has been playing fun and games with HB, he'd go all active and then when HB would feel, it was 'radio silence' Looks like a baby is never too early to play hide and seek! HB finally felt a little flutter so now he knows I'm not making it up!
We had our wedding anniversary too - a little bit different from past anniversaries (The Ivy in London, New Forest, France, Cabo San Lucas, The Grand Canyon and Vegas and Puerta Vallarta) This time we were both at work and then we were getting ready for the delivery of our furniture. HB surprised me by breaking our rule of 'no Blobby purchases until the third trimester' by producing an eight piece baby ensemble. He also gave me a t-shirt that says "Does my Bump look big in this?" Cool!
All of our furniture is moved in now and we are starting to feel more settled. We're really happy in our new house, it has such a nice feel to it. My favourite things are the dining room, our sofa and our bed (soooooooooo comfortable!)
Visitors on the weekend (Dom, Craig & Samuel) Our first toddler in the house and I think it all went very well (every bit of experience helps I guess) I thought I would makes things nice and safe for Samuel by going out to buy some stair gates so I went to the nearest 'Mothercare' shop. Closest thing I've had to a panic attack!! It was all too much for me, so much stuff, I turned and ran out without buying a thing. Guess I'm not quite ready for that yet, at least without support anyway!
Had another Ultrasound last week and all is very well. Everything is OK and Blobby was jumping around. Photos weren't as good though this time around but he sure looked great up on the screen. Potential for a ceasarian - the placenta is lying low so we'll keep an eye on that. No big deal though as it may also move upwards as Blobby develops. Finally getting to register with local doctors and midwife so we can start properly planning. Scary - I'm 22 and a half weeks pregnant - who'd have though eh?
We had our wedding anniversary too - a little bit different from past anniversaries (The Ivy in London, New Forest, France, Cabo San Lucas, The Grand Canyon and Vegas and Puerta Vallarta) This time we were both at work and then we were getting ready for the delivery of our furniture. HB surprised me by breaking our rule of 'no Blobby purchases until the third trimester' by producing an eight piece baby ensemble. He also gave me a t-shirt that says "Does my Bump look big in this?" Cool!
All of our furniture is moved in now and we are starting to feel more settled. We're really happy in our new house, it has such a nice feel to it. My favourite things are the dining room, our sofa and our bed (soooooooooo comfortable!)
Visitors on the weekend (Dom, Craig & Samuel) Our first toddler in the house and I think it all went very well (every bit of experience helps I guess) I thought I would makes things nice and safe for Samuel by going out to buy some stair gates so I went to the nearest 'Mothercare' shop. Closest thing I've had to a panic attack!! It was all too much for me, so much stuff, I turned and ran out without buying a thing. Guess I'm not quite ready for that yet, at least without support anyway!
Had another Ultrasound last week and all is very well. Everything is OK and Blobby was jumping around. Photos weren't as good though this time around but he sure looked great up on the screen. Potential for a ceasarian - the placenta is lying low so we'll keep an eye on that. No big deal though as it may also move upwards as Blobby develops. Finally getting to register with local doctors and midwife so we can start properly planning. Scary - I'm 22 and a half weeks pregnant - who'd have though eh?
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Catching up to July 30th
So it’s been a little while since my last blog - but what a couple of weeks!!! This is a bunch of stuff I wrote while I was without internet access. More updates to come.
A flying trip to the US - there and back for four days. Trip was uneventful but a bit of shopping done while I was there. I managed to lose a new pair of sunglasses within one day of purchase. HB had prepared the shopping list, including specifying that I need “1 x pr maternity jeans; 1 x pr maternity work trousers” Quite funny really. All who hadn’t seen me for a few weeks in the States commented that I looked really well and pregnancy suited me (it would want to - I waited long enough for it!!!!!)
Arrived back in the UK on July 25, what a great day! We completed the purchase of our house at 10.00am. At last we could start getting on with our lives. Next step - picking up Rosie! We collected her from quarantine and went straight to a park. we were a bit worried she would have lost a lot of her discipline (plus the fact that she hadn’t been able to run free in a park in the US for three years) five minutes out of jail and she was back to her old self, we were so happy! It was tome for her now to be reunited with HB’s mum and dad, (also known as Rosie’s grandparents). With the moving and everything to organise, keeping her with us would have been even more unsettling for her, so we headed off to Hungerford where we met Ma and Pa and went for a nice pub meal in the country. Rosie was really and truly back to her old self, playing catch with a ball and then stretching out on the grass under the table as we ate; her doggy smile was back!
Then it was back to Windsor for us and packing up the flat. Saturday morning we hired a truck and headed off with our boxes to our new home (we did manage to have a non-airconditioned truck on what was the hottest day of the year to date!) It was so exciting arriving. I was a bit apprehensive, I’d only been in the house twice and was nervous that it wouldn’t live up to my memory of it. It was hard for us both not to go running from room to room like kids on Christmas day, we tried desperately hard to be grown up about it and failed miserably - big grins were in abundant supply!
We’d decided that we’d just unpack our boxes to the garage and then head back to Windsor to take the truck back - our first night in the house would be on Sunday. By the time we got back it was 7.00 so fish and chips in order. We were up at first light to get back because all we wanted to do was get on with it!
Sunday was spent shopping and cleaning - not much to clean really but just part of making the house our own. The kitchen was much nicer and bigger than we remembered which was a bonus. Of course our first night in the house would not have been complete without a bottle of bubbly, once again we rolled of the Veuve Cliquot to celebrate a momentous occasion in our life together.
Monday was the start of a truly manic week. Brian the painter arrived at 7.30 (7am every day since). We were having the whole house repainted internally. The hard part was arranging the painter round the other things that were organized (carpet laying, telephone techs etc) Brian has been decorating houes since Adam was a boy, he sure has some stories!
All of the neighbours have been dropping in, everyone is SO friendly!!! Anything we need just give a holler.
One downside is lack of internet connectivity - it is like having our arms and legs cut off. I’m working from my smartphone and then ducking into the nearest town when I need to send of documents. A real pain but fingers crossed all will be resolved by the beginning of next week. It took us a few days but we finally got the phones sorted out, what BT couldn’t/wouldn’t fix, a terrific local couple (Paul and Wendy) fixed and tidied for us.
HB’s main priority was making sure he could run his speaker cables under the carpet so Thursday night was spent on our hands and knees on the concrete floor taping the cable down. The boards that the carpet tacks to were already down, if I pricked my hand once I must have done it ten times, but is was worth it as now the carpet is laid over the cables and HB will be a happy chappy!
The garden is going to be awesome. It’s pretty overgrown at the moment, lets face it, who wants to spend time in the garden weeding and doing maintenance when they are selling the house and have another thousand things to think about. But Guy, the previous owner was kind enough to leave us with a bunch of local contacts so we have already arranged for someone to come in and get on top of the grass, weeds and overgrown trees & plants. That will mean when we do finally start playing/working in the garden we will be improving it rather than just trying to get on top of it.
Only a few more rooms to do insofar as painting and carpeting, its like a new house! Watching it transform has been exciting, all the time I can’t help thinking what a fantastic place for Blobby to grow up in! I think back to when HB and I moved into our first home together in Haslemere. Weeks spent doing DIY - ugh (it’s the only time we ever really fight is when we do DIY!) There is no way we would have got through so much in our first week if we were doing this ourselves. We really are very fortunate to be in a position to do it this way (thank you stock options!)
A flying trip to the US - there and back for four days. Trip was uneventful but a bit of shopping done while I was there. I managed to lose a new pair of sunglasses within one day of purchase. HB had prepared the shopping list, including specifying that I need “1 x pr maternity jeans; 1 x pr maternity work trousers” Quite funny really. All who hadn’t seen me for a few weeks in the States commented that I looked really well and pregnancy suited me (it would want to - I waited long enough for it!!!!!)
Arrived back in the UK on July 25, what a great day! We completed the purchase of our house at 10.00am. At last we could start getting on with our lives. Next step - picking up Rosie! We collected her from quarantine and went straight to a park. we were a bit worried she would have lost a lot of her discipline (plus the fact that she hadn’t been able to run free in a park in the US for three years) five minutes out of jail and she was back to her old self, we were so happy! It was tome for her now to be reunited with HB’s mum and dad, (also known as Rosie’s grandparents). With the moving and everything to organise, keeping her with us would have been even more unsettling for her, so we headed off to Hungerford where we met Ma and Pa and went for a nice pub meal in the country. Rosie was really and truly back to her old self, playing catch with a ball and then stretching out on the grass under the table as we ate; her doggy smile was back!
Then it was back to Windsor for us and packing up the flat. Saturday morning we hired a truck and headed off with our boxes to our new home (we did manage to have a non-airconditioned truck on what was the hottest day of the year to date!) It was so exciting arriving. I was a bit apprehensive, I’d only been in the house twice and was nervous that it wouldn’t live up to my memory of it. It was hard for us both not to go running from room to room like kids on Christmas day, we tried desperately hard to be grown up about it and failed miserably - big grins were in abundant supply!
We’d decided that we’d just unpack our boxes to the garage and then head back to Windsor to take the truck back - our first night in the house would be on Sunday. By the time we got back it was 7.00 so fish and chips in order. We were up at first light to get back because all we wanted to do was get on with it!
Sunday was spent shopping and cleaning - not much to clean really but just part of making the house our own. The kitchen was much nicer and bigger than we remembered which was a bonus. Of course our first night in the house would not have been complete without a bottle of bubbly, once again we rolled of the Veuve Cliquot to celebrate a momentous occasion in our life together.
Monday was the start of a truly manic week. Brian the painter arrived at 7.30 (7am every day since). We were having the whole house repainted internally. The hard part was arranging the painter round the other things that were organized (carpet laying, telephone techs etc) Brian has been decorating houes since Adam was a boy, he sure has some stories!
All of the neighbours have been dropping in, everyone is SO friendly!!! Anything we need just give a holler.
One downside is lack of internet connectivity - it is like having our arms and legs cut off. I’m working from my smartphone and then ducking into the nearest town when I need to send of documents. A real pain but fingers crossed all will be resolved by the beginning of next week. It took us a few days but we finally got the phones sorted out, what BT couldn’t/wouldn’t fix, a terrific local couple (Paul and Wendy) fixed and tidied for us.
HB’s main priority was making sure he could run his speaker cables under the carpet so Thursday night was spent on our hands and knees on the concrete floor taping the cable down. The boards that the carpet tacks to were already down, if I pricked my hand once I must have done it ten times, but is was worth it as now the carpet is laid over the cables and HB will be a happy chappy!
The garden is going to be awesome. It’s pretty overgrown at the moment, lets face it, who wants to spend time in the garden weeding and doing maintenance when they are selling the house and have another thousand things to think about. But Guy, the previous owner was kind enough to leave us with a bunch of local contacts so we have already arranged for someone to come in and get on top of the grass, weeds and overgrown trees & plants. That will mean when we do finally start playing/working in the garden we will be improving it rather than just trying to get on top of it.
Only a few more rooms to do insofar as painting and carpeting, its like a new house! Watching it transform has been exciting, all the time I can’t help thinking what a fantastic place for Blobby to grow up in! I think back to when HB and I moved into our first home together in Haslemere. Weeks spent doing DIY - ugh (it’s the only time we ever really fight is when we do DIY!) There is no way we would have got through so much in our first week if we were doing this ourselves. We really are very fortunate to be in a position to do it this way (thank you stock options!)
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