Center Parcs has given us a festive feeling…

We have just returned from another really lovely break at Center Parcs.

This time, we wanted to experience the Winter Wonderland they do each year, as the first part of our build-up to Christmas.

We had booked plenty of lovely Christmassy activities for Lilly to do, including Christmas pottery painting, a Santa and Snowman hunt and a Frosty the Snowman art session which involved lots of glitter and Christmas stickers!

Lilly enjoying the 'Frosty the Snowman' art session

The weather at Whinfell Forest (Cumbria) was fabulous for the whole week – it only rained the day we left. The rest of the time it was crisp and sunny – perfect.

We were very excited to hear that there was going to be a fireworks display on the second night at 5.30pm – conveniently timed before the girls’ bedtimes, which is usually about 6.30pm. It is only this year that Lilly has recovered from her total and utter terror of fireworks - in fact on November 5th Lilly actually ventured out into the neightbourhood with daddy to admire the fireworks… even the really loud ones! But this was her first proper display.

We had such a tiring day on the Tuesday – starting with pottery painting in the morning. Lilly chose to paint a snowman, a stocking and a Father Christmas shaped ornament for the tree. Technically there should have been a lot of red and white involved… but I think Lilly considered white a little bit too boring to paint much of – so snowman ended up with a red face and Santa’s beard is a very attractive mix of purple and green! But they do look rather lovely all the same – and once again I was so impressed with how delicate and detailed she can be when she tries!

In the afternoon we’d gone swimming – which can be a bit of a military procedure with two little ones at the best of times. Everytime we have taken Isla swimming (on all our three previous visits to Center Parcs with her) she has hated it, where Lilly has always loved it. I think Isla has found it a bit of an overwhelming, noisy and hot experience. And at first when we took her in she was upset again and grizzly. So I sat with her in the baby pool and she sat on the edge with her feet in, playing happily with a bucket and a watering can for a while. Once she had acclimatised to the environment we tried taking her into the big pool – and this time, she actually seemed to quite like it! In fact, after a little while, she was giggling! It was a major breakthrough!

Lilly’s favourite thing about the pool as always was going round the ‘rapids’ and dodging the water sprays (she calls the big one Mr Sprayer and the little one Mrs Sprayer!) She also liked swimming outside – which was rather cold, I must say!

After the swimming we were all exhausted so decided to get a bite to eat in the village square instead of going home for tea and coming out again for the fireworks. It was a great plan (although an expensive one) – I was way too knackered to cook after all that exercise – and the timing was just perfect as the fireworks display started not long after we finished eating.

The display was brilliant - and all set to Christmas music. Watching Lilly’s face was the best thing for me - she was totally in awe of what she was seeing. Isla even tolerated the first few fireworks but once they started getting noisier she got upset and Tony took her back to the lodge. As Lilly and I walked home afterwards in the dark she was talking ten to the dozen about what she’d seen and what a “fantabulous” day she’d had. Such a wonderful thing.

Isla is chuffed after doing a slide all by herself for the very first time!

During the week we did plenty of walking and took in all the soft play areas Whinfell has to offer. Isla climbed up and slid down a slide all by herself for the very first time – and was pleased as punch with herself as a result! It then meant that she got a little bit overconfident and wanted to follow Lilly into the ‘big girls” area of the soft play – which meant that I once again found myself six months preggers and flying down numerous ‘tunnel slides’ and crawling through too-tight spaces to rescue a child who was stuck!

We also took part in the Santa and Snowman hunt which involved following a trail to find a series of Christmas related questions which we had to answer (some of them quite hard: name all of Santa’s reindeers being one of them… we *may* have had to google this…) At the end an elf gave Lilly a little prize for taking part and all the entries were entered into a draw… which we only won! We had a phonecall later on to tell us that Lilly had won a teddy making session and we took her up to the Time Out Clubhouse where she chose a tiger toy, was helped to stuff it and then picked an outfit to dress it in. Being totally mad on soft toys this couldn’t have been better for Lilly!

Lilly cuddles up with 'Amelia', the tiger she stuffed herself after winning the Santa and Snowman Hunt

There were, of course, some stressful moments – Isla is at that stage where she only wants to walk and refuses to go in her pushchair. The only problem being, she doesn’t neccessarily want to walk in the same direction as everyone else and is rather prone to falling! Lilly moaned a lot because we didn’t get her a bike, and is possibly the world’s slowest dawdler at the best of times. And Isla was a little bit scared of the jet planes and Chinook which were practicing their flying overhead… although I loved them, I must say. Hubby wasn’t very happy because the nearest place to park the car while unloading was a fair trek from our lodge. But all in all I would say this trip has to go down in my memory as our best trip to Center Parcs yet – and we’ve now been seven times (Elveden twice, Sherwood once, Whinfell four times)!

But of course the main event of the whole week was saved for the afternoon of our last full day – a trip to see Father Christmas. Wewere all really impressed with it… Father Christmas was very authentic and really lovely – it melted our hearts to see Lilly so happily chatting away to him while so obviously in awe! She asked him for a surprise – and he promised her he had “just the thing in mind” for her, before asking her what Isla would like – “erm, I think a baby toy” Lilly suggested. She was also very eager to tell Father Christmas that she had made a snowglobe with his picture in it at the art workshop. And Father Christmas asked the girls to leave out a carrot for Rudolph on Christmas Eve. Then he gave the girls a gift each – a cuddly horse for Isla and a cuddly cow for Lilly. This AMAZED Lilly as she had been asking for a cuddly cow a few weeks ago – and Isla goes crazy for horses. So it just goes to show: He knows, you know.

Meeting Santa's reindeers

Our other holiday highlights included:

• Isla saying “wack wacks” to all the ducks - first time she’s done this
• Isla’s giggling when she, Lilly and I all went down a ‘tunnel slide’ together
• Isla giggling as we went round the rapids and Lilly’s hysterics at being splashed by “mrs sprayer” as we went
• Lilly’s insistence that she kept seeing a badger “I saw a badger! He was climbing a tree!!” and later, “I saw another badger, on the roof of that house!”
• Discovering a ‘secret’ play area that we never knew was there before – it’s above Cafe Rouge, for anyone who wonders…

So yes, we’re still big Center Parcs fans. And no, this isn’t a sponsored post! And it is so strange to think the next time we visit, there will be three children… yikes! And that this could potentially be the last time we’ll be visiting in term time… ouch!!

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25 weeks pregnant…

Today I am 25 weeks pregnant exactly – that means only 16 weeks, 3 days to go, maximum!

I am feeling ok. Tired, but nothing to complain about really. I’m ok in the day, mainly, but am shattered by the evening and always falling asleep on the sofa. Hard to tell really how much of that is pregnancy, and how much is working and having two children!

Last week I went for a gestational diabetes test. Despite the two previous pregnancies, this was a first for me. I was told to have it because of family history – although it has never been flagged up before. It was a very simple process, in fact, I was quite looking forward to it as I got to visit the hospital’s relatively posh antenatal day unit, and spend two hours relaxing and reading a book – bit of a treat that! Basically, I had to fast from midnight the night before, go in at 8.30am to have a blood test, drink half a pint of sugary stuff and then relax for two hours before having another blood test. As expected the results came back normal. I don’t know how gestational diabetes works but if I hadn’t had it the past two times I would’ve been surprised to get it now. And it would’ve meant cutting back on the amount of sweets and chocolate I ate… total disaster!

While I was in the unit I had the third attempt at the 20 week scan, where the registrar and consultant tried again to look at this illusive ‘outlet pipe’ in baby’s heart. Can you believe that for the third time there she was, lying on her tummy curled up into the tightest ball you ever saw? The consultant reassured me that he doesn’t suspect any abnormality, but he simply cannot see what he needs to see when she is stubbornly in that position. So it will be attempt number four in four weeks from now!

All I can hope is that this baby is not as stubborn once she is actually born!

 

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Second attempt at a 20 week scan…

Turns out baby number three is the most uncooperative baby so far when it comes to scanning!

We went back to the hospital today in the hope that baby would be less inclined to stay curled up in a tight ball so that the sonographer could finish off where she had to leave off two weeks ago.

This time we had to take Isla with us, although Lilly was at nursery – Isla lasted all of 30 seconds before she got upset and started crying, so Tony had to take her back out to the waiting room.

The sonographer did manage to get a look at some of the things she couldn’t see last time – the kidneys, cord, and some parts of the heart, but unfortunately as baby was stubbornly lying on her tummy and refusing to move regardless of any change of position, she still couldn’t see the top of the heart and the “out pipe” (whatever that is). So the upshot is that in two weeks time, at 24 weeks, a consultant will try again to get a glimpse of this illusive child!

I am booked in for a gestational diabetes test then anyway, so at least it doesn’t mean an additional trip to the hospital.

We had one 20 week scan with Lilly, two with Isla, so I suppose it makes sense that the third child will take three attempts!

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A little epiphany

Here we are now at nearly 22 weeks pregnant. Baby number three – our surprise baby – is on her way, and making her presence felt through regular kicks!

As you know the pregnancy was totally unexpected and, for the first few weeks after we found out, all we did was worry about how we would manage with childcare costs and maternity leave and finances and space in our house. A little while later Tony was made redundant and we were totally rearranging our lives once again.

And for these first 21 weeks, although we have come to terms with the unexpected pregnancy, stopped worrying about how we’ll cope and started looking forward to her arrival, I’ve still felt painfully aware of the fact that we are somewhat reluctant third time parents. It is a really strange and guilt-inducing feeling when the last two were so much planned for and anticipated.

But today I had a bit of a moment of clarity. This baby really is a blessing – a gift from God. Because we would never have been brave enough to make a concious decision to do this. We used to say we wanted three or four children, but after two we felt like that was enough hard work, thank you, and decided to settle at that.

But in a few years time, perhaps when it was too late, would we would have regretted only having two, when really we wanted more?

Now we know for sure, we will never have those regrets. Because we know we’ll never regret having this baby, having this little person in our life who we will love just as much as our last two little blessings, from the moment we set eyes on her in the hospital and for the rest of our lives. When we watch our third daughter start school or get married, or have children of her own we will feel unbelievably thankful that God/fate/something out there made that decision for us and gave us this ultimate gift of another daughter.

To be having a third baby is AMAZING. I just cannot wait to see her growing up and giggling with her two big sisters the way Lilly and Isla are starting to play and laugh together now that Isla is getting bigger. Will there ever be a second when I look at my youngest daughter and think she wasn’t worth all that extra hard work, didn’t totally deserve any lifestyle changes we had to make or financial sacrifices? Of course not. She’ll be worth all that, and more.

I don’t know if this post makes sense. But I suppose the thing is: I think I just fell in love with my unborn baby.

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20 week scan… and the big reveal…

Baby no.3 is…. ANOTHER GIRL!!

We had our 20 week scan this week and were excited to find out whether our new family member was going to be pink or blue… after two previous girlies it was no big surprise to hear the sonographer say: “looks like a girl to me!”.

Most friends and family had guessed it would be a girl, and Tony and I also suspected that maybe the girlie genes would be at work yet again.

Now we are left with an issue as we think we have run out of girls names that we could possibly agree on… and will probably spend the next five months dismissing each other’s suggestions! (So far he has said no to my brilliant ideas which have included Jasmine, Daisy and Poppy – and an all time favourite, Lorna, and I wasn’t overly impressed with his suggestions of Tia or Leah).

Other than that the scan went fine, up until the point when little madame decided enough was enough and curled up into a tight ball – despite asking me to walk around and tipping me up one way and than another on the bed the baby would not be moved so the sonographer has asked us to come back in a few weeks so she can finish off with the measurements she didn’t manage to take.

It was just lovely, as always, to see this little person on the screen. We saw really clear hands and feet – at one point the baby was pointing with both hands, and we also saw a very clear shot of two little baby feet side by side. The sonographer also commented that she kept stroking herself on the head – her biggest sister is a big fan of stroking her face to help her get to sleep too.

After the scan it was time to share the good news with everyone and I had to give the news to a colleague in work, whose little girl is due in a couple of weeks, that she wouldn’t be getting a bumper back of baby girl clothes from me after all!

Lilly was very excited to find out if she was getting a brother or a sister – she had really wanted it to be a brother and to call it Daniel, after her best friend, but she was much more diplomatic than you’d expect from a three year old and, although she was slightly disappointed, she soon warmed to the idea. Now she has been saying: “I like girls the best, girls are the best, aren’t they mum?” And she wants to call the baby Olivia.

So, there we go – a third girl! Wow.

 

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17 weeks pregnant

Here we are already, at 17 weeks pregnant!

First time it took aaages to get this far. Second time it was quicker. This time it feels like I’ve gone from pregnancy test to 17 weeks in record time!

And soon it will be 20 weeks and scan time. And then we will be half way there. And then before we know where we are, it’ll be 30 weeks… then Christmas… then Lilly’s birthday… then OH MY GOD WE’RE HAVING A BABY!!!

Anyway… *ahem*

I am definitely starting to feel pregnant now! Unlike the last two times I am still in my normal trousers up to this point, and, thanks to Weight Watchers, they are two sizes smaller than they were when I was pregnant with the other two. But I am now starting to feel that my belly is getting bigger, and realising that the dreaded maternity clothes will have to be unleashed soon. Having only recently re-discovered the joy of clothes, thanks to said weight loss, it is a bit disheartening to browse the racks of uninspiring tent like garments that pass for maternity clothes, but then again I had a little nose at Next online today and they seem to offer a slightly less depressing range, so that has cheered me up a bit.

More excitingly though, I have started feeling those first little flutters of baby movement in the last couple of days! A little later than I felt them with Isla but still just as lovely! I intend to make the most of every last kick and wiggle I feel this time as I know this will be the last time I will experience such a lovely feeling. And I am very much looking forward to seeing this little bubba on the screen again in three weeks time, when hopefully we will find out whether it is a he or a she. Finding out Isla was a girl was such a lovely moment, and it really cemented the bond I felt with this little life growing inside me, and I am sure it will be the same with this one.

Talking of brother or sister, Lilly has now officially been told that a baby is on the way – her reaction was very positive, although probably slightly underwhelmed! But since then she has talked about the baby a few times and said that she is going to help me and give the baby her bottle and so on. And she was very mature about the possibility that it might not be a boy, which is what she really wants. “It’s ok if it is a girl, but it’s ok if it’s a boy too!” Yesterday we were trying out the car seats in the car and explaining to Lilly about when there will be two babies in with her and she was singing: “Baby boy! Baby boy! Baby boy! Baby boy!”

And, being that bit older this time, the questions have started: “How does the baby get out?” “How did it get in there?” The basic answer to these questions, as we all know, is that God put it there, it started off as a little seed, and that the doctors at the hospital will get it out, by methods we are yet to go in to. And, of course, the reason why we are having another baby brother or sister in the first place, is because God decided that Lilly deserved one, because she was Such A Good Big Sister. So, that’s that sorted… for the time being.

And I am starting to feel more human, sickness wise. I can even drink tea or coffee first thing in the morning… it’s brilliant! But I am feeling tired and realising that I probably can’t do as much lifting as I would like to think I can.

So, all good, and everything proceeding at a frighteningly quick pace. 20 week scan, here we come!

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Haribo has grown!

Today we had our ’12′ week scan at the hospital and got to see how much little Haribo has grown since we had our first peek three weeks ago.

And there he or she was, flipping and stretching and sticking his or her bum up to the screen for us to see, clear as day!

The sonographer confirmed the 13 weeks gestation, which means the due date is indeed February 13, as the private scan had suggested. Add on the 11 days overdue that I expect to achieve again and that makes the realistic arrival time about Feb 24.

Seeing the baby on the screen was just lovely. It’s hard to believe how much he/she has grown since the last scan just a few weeks ago. Then, the baby was just a gummibear shape with a heartbeat (hence the Haribo nickname!). This time you could clearly see arms, legs, hands, eyes, nose, and a mouth opening and closing.

Maybe the amazing rate of growth explains why I am feeling so crap! Continuous nausea all day, worse in the morning and evenings, and lots of foods that make me feel ill. Apart from cheese and nutella on toast, of course, which I genuinely enjoyed for lunch yesterday! I’m also quite big on anything dairy at the moment, too. And in the mornings I wake up thirsty but the thought of pretty much any kind of drink, even water, makes me feel ill. Tea and coffee can occasionally be tolerated, but never first thing in the morning.

Before the scan I had my booking appointment with a lovely midwife. None of the information was new, obviously, but she was really friendly and nice. I explained my worry about having had a colonoscopy (as part of my regular post-cancer checkups) when I was 5 weeks pregnant and didn’t know it, but she said “what’s done is done” and that pethidine (which they use to sedate you during the procedure) won’t have affected the baby. So that’s a relief.

Hubby and I have debated the triple / quad test. But we have decided, like last time, not to go with it. It’s so unreliable and even if we came back high risk we wouldn’t want to risk invasive tests.

So, there we are, this is really happening! And this week I will have to start telling the world… starting with work!

 

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27 weeks 1 day

Well, it’s been a little while since I updated this. I am now 27 weeks pregnant, and bump has grown quite a bit. I seem to remember last time there was a bit of a growth spurt from about 24 weeks on, and that has certainly been the case again this time.

This bubba is a very, very active one… she always seems to be awake and moving around! It’s not so much kicking, it’s more moving and wiggling that I feel, although plenty of kicks too! The Midwife told me at my last appointment that they don’t worry about the baby’s position until about 34 weeks, which is good as I don’t think our little bean has any intention of settling down just yet!

Aside from all the lovely movements (which I am trying to make the very most of, as feeling the baby move is so magical and something you ‘miss’ after they’re born) I am feeling good. I haven’t been excessively tired the last week or so, although I can definitely feel myself getting a bit ‘slower’.

I also bought a little outfit for the baby a few days ago – a very cute Peter Rabit outfit for 0-3 months. She won’t really need it, as we have tonnes of baby clothes from when Lilly was that age, but it was nice to treat her to something new, and to visualise her in it. We still haven’t bought much baby stuff, mainly just bottles, bottle warmer, and ordered some free sample reusable nappies. We need to dig out all our stuff and work out what we need to buy – hopefully not much. We have our eye on a Mamas and Papas Sola pram/pushchair, and I’d also like to buy a decent sling… need to do some research into that one, as we never had one with Lilly.

Lilly is doing fine, still seems excited about her “baby stister” and talks a lot about the baby in mummy’s tummy. And we have (hopefully) had a bit of a breakthrough with the Big Girl’s Bed – she has been sleeping in there for the last three nights!!! It wasn’t painless though, I won’t lie – I had to sleep on the floor with her the first night, and she still woke up three times crying. But she didn’t ask to go back in her cot, so it was a kind of result. Second and third nights, she woke up only once, not as upset as on the first night, and was relatively easy to settle back in her bed with a story and some reassurance – and didn’t need me to stay with her. Tonight is night four – so we will just wait and see!

On the potty front, Lilly is now happily sitting on the toilet at every nappy change… in nursery. We are still a bit slack with things at our end, but vowing to get better. She never actually goes to the toilet in nursery, but I’m sure that’s just a matter of time. Need to dig out the sticker incentives and get on with things at home, I think. Semi-cracking the Big Bed thing gives us a bit of a push too, i think. Our little girl is growing up!

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22 weeks pregnant

Well, here we are… 22 weeks pregnant… time is really rushing by!

We had our re-scan on Thursday after the first 20 week scan failed to pick up the baby’s stomach. I’m pleased to say, this time, everything was absolutely fine and baby had a nice full tummy which enabled the sonographer to measure everything she needed to. I also asked her to double check that it is a girl… she had a little look then said: “I’m pretty sure those are girlie bits…” well, they looked that way to me!

Afterwards, Tony and I went out for a bit of lunch and in the nightime we had a rare meal out at the local Indian while Tony’s mum babysat. We were back by 10 but came home and watched a programme on TV called One Born Every Minute, which is a fly on the wall documentary about a maternity hospital in Southampton. Obviously I ended up in tears at the story of one lady who had a c-section and her baby was whisked away to ICU straight away as his bowels had developed outside his body… poor little mite.

That same morning I had also had a midwife appointment at the local GPs. She listened to the heartbeat (and said: “I would’ve known that was a girl, from the heartbeat” – to be fair she said that last time, when she didn’t know, and was right!) She also did that farcical tape measure thing and pronounced that it was 23 cm which is “right”. Personally I just cannot believe measuring a persons belly tells you much about the size of the baby inside, so I take all that with many pinches of salt!

In terms of how I’m feeling – not too bad, tired mainly. I do have the odd achey feelings down there, and was thinking yesterday that my boobs are feeling a bit tender again. Baby is kicking loads, which is lovely, at all times of the day and night. You can actually see my bump moving when she’s going for it!

We were also excited to find out this week that some of our close friends are also expecting a baby – Lilly’s godfather and his wife. They are due at the beginning of August, so there will only be a month or two between our children, which will be really lovely. We were the first of all our friends to have a baby, and still don’t have any friends living close by who do (except my NCT friends). So this will be really nice, and we’re really chuffed for them.

It does feel like time is marching on… it’s nearly March… then we’ve only got April and then we’re into May, which will be finishing work and almost time for our little girl to arrive!

I have just been looking back at my blog from when I was roughly at this stage with Lilly. We had just been working out our childcare / return to work options. This time we have made our decisions a little earlier. We know just how tight money was last time when on leave, and this will probably only be worse because of the expense of two children, and Lilly staying one day in nursery.

So, we’ve decided that I’ll be having another six months off, returning in January, full time. However, I’ll use leave to make the return to full time a little bit more gradually, probably spread over about three months. Lilly and the new baby will work their way from two to three to four days a week in nursery. However, if Tony stays doing the shifts he is doing now, these will only be short days, maybe even half days for the baby for a bit. Tony’s mum will have them both one day a week, as she does with Lilly now. She is talking about retiring perhaps next year (although I’ll believe it when I see it!) and maybe if she does she might take them for an extra day or half day. Luckily, Lilly will get 15 hours free nursery from Jan 1 2011, which is one day after her third birthday! And that will certainly ease the burden financially, although obviously what we’re paying out on childcare will go up quite a bit.

Luckily, we’re very happy with the nursery Lilly goes to, and as far as they go, it’s a reasonable price. So, number two is already all booked up and although that feels a little weird at such an early stage, it’s good to have a plan (even if we end up adapting it slightly, like last time).

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20 week scan… it’s a……

GIRL!!

 

The sonographer said she was confident to tell us what it was after only about ten seconds of scanning – before I could even make out the shape of a baby even!!

I cried when she told us, I just felt so happy and emotional. I honestly was convinced it was a boy, and have been all along! I would’ve also cried with happiness if it had been a boy, I really did not mind… I think just knowing what you’re having makes you feel an even stronger bond, and makes you really realise who this new little life might be!

I’m also really excited about Lilly having a little sister. I just hope they get on well together and have a good close relationship that hopefully will be lifelong. I hope the 2 and a half year age gap will make that more likely – either that or they’ll fight like cat and dog (or both, I suppose!!)

The scan itself was very clear, really really brilliant. We saw hands, feet, legs, arms, lots of ribs…. and even at one point a full face-on image of the baby – you could make out her eyes, nose, mouth, chin… incredible!

The sonographer said all was ok, everything looks as it should and baby is measuring spot on. However, she wasn’t able to scan the stomach as it was empty. She said it can take up to seven hours for a baby in the womb to fill its tummy, so there was no point in her sending us back out to the waiting room until later. She has booked us in in two weeks time for an additional scan to double check alls ok. I was completely reassured that it was nothing abnormal, nothing to worry about, buy hubby is a real worrier so has been worrying about this ever since. But, at least we get to see little bubba again in two weeks time!!!

When I picked Lilly up from nursery, I said to her: “Lilly, do you want a little sister?” she said “I want a story!” So safe to say she was underwhelmed with the news so far!!!!

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