Lucie’s first roadtrip

We’ve spent a lovely relaxing bank holiday weekend away in North Wales for Lucie’s first ever road trip.

We decided we didn’t want to venture too far for her first trip away but D wanted her to experience the seaside for the first time. So we opted for Llandudno in North Wales, which is only 90 minutes away from Manchester.

Lucie was very well behaved on the drive down – with a couple of decent feeds under her belt – she slept the whole way there. It’s quite different traveling with a tiny baby – traveling light takes on a whole new meaning. We did pack the pram in the boot but it never saw the light of day. Lucie is happiest on the move in our Coorie pouch sling – definitely the best purchase we’ve made since her arrival – and you can see people going past with prams thinking “why don’t we get one of those?”

We spent a bit more on getting a nice room with a seaview at the swish Cae Mor Hotel. Normally, we would have opted for a budget hotel, as its usually only a place to crash at the end of the day, but we wanted something special and calming for Lucie’s first trip away, and although she was a little bit surprised when she woke up in a different place (in a different country), the sound of the sea seemed to help lull her back to sleep.

Llandudno was heaving over the Bank Holiday weekend – this meant lots of ‘Nanna smiles’ and plenty more smiles from others walking past too as Lucie was snug in her sling. We walked along the promenade, stood by the seashore, walked out to the end of Llandudno’s famous pier and had dinner with a view of the sea back at the hotel. It was a relaxing day, well documented, and she seemed to enjoy it – even though she slept most of the time!

We rounded off the trip back on the next day with a visit to Rhuddlan Castle – her very first castle!

We had a great time away with her and learned a few new tricks too:

• Castle ruins have plenty of little nooks and crannies perfect for discreet public breastfeeding
• You can’t take too many spare changes of clothes
• Schedules mean nothing – you HAVE to be flexible
• While she’s this little there’s no need for a pram – she sleeps happily, feeds, and can be carried around with two hands free in the sling
• Distraction can be a very useful tool – Geoffrey the giraffe rattle chills her out almost instantaneously
• She’s quite fun to travel with.

We’re in the process of sorting out her very first passport – so her next trip could be a little further afield.

Lucie comes home

Lucie has her birth certificate and is now officially on the books.

The last two weeks have been a real rollercoaster.

There’s the ecstasy of Lucie’s arrival into the world followed by the sheer terror of getting home and realising that she’s a fragile little newborn baby that unfortunately doesn’t come with any operating instructions.

But I think we’re doing pretty well so far.

Jayne and Lucie we’re kept in at St Mary’s until Saturday when we all finally got to spend our first night at home. And it was a little tough to be honest. We still hadn’t got to grips with breastfeeding. I was completely terrified of picking her up thinking I’d break her. None of us really slept and a hungry little baby can do little more to communicate than cry.

Hats off to the community midwives. We had our first visit on Sunday and got some great advice along the way… by Tuesday we had a little routine going – She is feeding every three to four hours and now that Jayne and Lucie have found their preferred feeding technique, we’re all getting a better night’s sleep (still broken by the 3:30am feed though).

Lucie hasn’t been hard work at all so far. Her needs are pretty basic and as along as she’s been fed, changed and hugged she’s pretty easy going. And she’s does definitely take after her Daddy – she loves to sleep. Having said that her awake time is increasing and every day she interacts with us and her world a little more. The changes are very subtle but immensely joyful – even when it’s time to get up for her 3:30am feed.

We’re getting out and about more too. Lucie’s been back to the hospital for a scan, into Salford Uni to say hello, had a look at a few potential new houses, too the Trafford Centre twice for some shopping and lunch and into Manchester City Centre to get her birth certificate – so she’s now officially on the books.

Thanks to friends and family for the fantastic support we’ve been given and all the lovely gifts, cards and messages. We truly are very very blessed.

Week 37 – Introducing Lucie

Lucie Jean Langlands. Born 4:56am, 10/07/08.

I’m sat at home, by myself, with a half-eaten takeaway pizza… Not exactly how I pictured the first night I’d spend on this earth with my lovely daughter Lucie but I guess when I think about it, her arriving has been one unexpected surprise after another.

Let’s begin from the top.

Jayne has had fairly regular appointments with the diabetic midwives at St Mary’s Hospital since an abnormal blood sugar level was picked up around week 20. So Tuesday’s session was nothing out of the ordinary… that is until they came to testing her blood pressure.

High blood pressure (particularly in late pregnancy) is a common symptom of pre-eclampsia. That in itself can escalate to eclampsia (which can claim the life of both Mum and baby). So when Jayne called me ahead of our scheduled breastfeeding class at St Marys that evening to say she’d been admitted to the maternity ward for checking overnight – I knew that all our previous birth plans might have to change.

A sure fire way of dealing with pre-eclampsia is to induce labour. And at about 5am on Wednesday morning that’s what Jayne’s doctors decided to do. I’d gotten about four hours sleep when I got the call and rushed in expecting Jayne to be having contractions and what not but it just doesn’t work like that.

Inducement is a waiting game. After two doses of Prostin gel Jayne still wasn’t getting closer and we feared the worst – a C-section – but luckily the third did the trick, her waters were broken and she was hooked up with a line of oxytocin to escalate the contractions.

So it’s now about 6pm on Wednesday evening, and time to discuss pain management. Jayne was incredible and lasted without gas and air until this time. We tried that for about four hours until it quickly became clear that an epidural would not only block out the pain but assist in lowering her blood pressure as well. All the while little Lucie kept beating out a steady rhythm on the heart monitor oblivious.

We were all systems go at about 2am with Jayne fully dilated and ready to push. I’ll spare you the gory details but at about 4:56am (almost 24 hours after we’d started the labour inducement) I did saw the head come out and about forty-five seconds later little Lucie, covered in vermix, was skin to skin with her Mum and cheek to cheek with me.

That’s pretty amazing, and so was hanging out and getting to know each other in the delivery room but it’s really intensified since Jayne and Lucie were moved down to the maternity ward for observation overnight.

I’m quite involved in our breastfeeding attempts – I take Lucie to Jayne. We do a little skin to skin in the exchange – Jayne’s been quite amazing – quite chilled – quite natural.

We’ve had some quality Daddy-daughter time… not only am I designated nappy changer she also endures my silly made up songs with bewildered contentment. Proving popular today were “fresh nappy tonight” (sung to the tune of “I feel like chicken tonight” and the “go-to-sleep little Lucie” song which has a flexible melody depending on how sleepy she appears to be.

I knew how far gone I was when we tried to put her down at the end of visiting hours. We’d fed her, changed her and got her ready to sleep but she kicked off… she wanted some quality Mummy and Daddy time. Some hugs. Some kisses… Some “I don’t need this or that, I just need you” time. I was pretty much a blubbering mess towards the end of the day.

She’s so cool. So cute. So aware. The thought of looking away from her for a few seconds, let alone spend a night at home alone, with crappy takeaway pizza, away from my amazing wife and only a few photos to try and simulate my gorgeous daughter’s skin, her smell, her eyes, her touch… well it’s just fucking heartbreaking frankly.

This is how I feel at the end of the first, very-long day. Completely bowled over by the two of them. Completely and utterly in love with them. Completely and overwhelmingly lost without them here.

As Leonard Cohen says, “There ain’t no cure for love.

Week 36 – Birth Classes and gifts from afar

We’ve attended our first antenatal class as we edge ever closer to the big day.

I’ve got to admit I had no real idea what classes would be like. I had visions of couples practicing breathing techniques and watching horrible birthing videos but luckily our first antenatal class at St Mary’s Hospital was nothing like that.

Instead of the breathing practice there was plenty of group discussion about “pain management” and a few very tasteful illustrations showing the amazing twists and turns the baby takes on it’s way out into the world. We also took a tour of the delivery unit and we get to see the maternity ward tomorrow.

It was also a good chance to talk to other couples who are riding the same rollercoaster. I’m quite glad to find out that, rather than being the most neurotic Dad-to-be in living history, I’m actually coping OK – well, better than some of the others anyway. Jayne also seems to have fared much better than some of the other Mums who sounded completely fed up with being pregnant.

She’s not had a completely smooth ride though – she’s getting pretty chronic heartburn at nights, obligatory ankle swelling and strangely, hot ears.

Not long to go now… we get a more accurate update on baby’s due date at tomorrow’s 36 week scan.

The flat is also starting to fill up with loads of baby stuff – largely thanks to some very special gifts arriving from as far away as Australia. We’ve got socks, baby grows, rubber ducks, a pram, a moses basket, a car seat, cuddly toys, baby t-shirts, and a lovely knitted shawl and cardigan from my Aunt & Uncle in Oz. And that’s just the start of it!

We should have another update after tomorrow’s scan – and maybe even a new pic too!

Week 32 – The Final Countdown

We’ve just been for our 32 week scan and everything seems to be on target as we count down for D-Day (delivery day) in July.

Baby’s growth is smack bang in the middle of the recommended ranges and all being well we’ll finally get to meet each other in the flesh in 8 weeks time. The scan did detect some excess fluid in Bubs’ right kidney but we’re told this isn’t abnormal and usually corrects itself a few days after they are born – nevertheless bubs will be having a scan after 4 days to keep an eye on it.

The pic above is a side profile of bubs’ head from our Week 32 scan. I’m pretty happy that we have this as I’m told it’s quite difficult to get a good snap this late in the pregnancy.

Jayne is being closely monitored after being diagnosed with a form of gestational diabetes when she returned a slightly higher than normal blood sugar level in a recent glucose test (it’s quite common in pregnant women and easily managed through a low-GI diet). We’re actually getting the star treatment at St Marys as a result – we jumped the queues last time around and saw just about every staff member in the ward: the dietitian, the trainee dietitian, the diabetic midwife, the diabetologist, and the head obstetrician himself (who had a pretty similar bedside manner to TV’s House).

This also means that Jayne’s having to record her blood sugar levels a couple of times each day. I’d personally baulk at the idea of having to prick my finger three times a day but she has taken it in her stride. So far, her levels have been safely within the recommended ranges – we were doing pretty well on the food front anyway – eating lots of wholewheat-based food and getting in loads of fruit and veg – so managing the blood sugars has been a pretty painless task so far – the finger pricking withstanding!

Jayne’s blood pressure was also slightly up (probably a combination of the stress of work and our housing dilemna) so that one will also be monitored closely as we move closer towards the end of July. The indecision over names is probably causing her a little anxiety as well.

We’re pretty much agreed on boys names (I won’t tell you what they are just yet lest to say that ‘Spiderpig’ was sadly eliminated early on). But consensus on girls names is proving a bit harder to come by. Jayne’s quite keen on Amelia. I’m a big fan of Lucie. There are a few other options in the mix as well but we’ll wait and see. I won’t even bother starting on middle names…

June sees us getting ready our hospital bag, finalising our birth plan, and making ready our makeshift nursery. Antenatal classes kick off at the end of this month and our next scan is in week 36. We’re both getting quite excited now – it’s the final countdown! Da-na na na…

Week 27 – Alive and kicking!

We’ve celebrated reaching the third trimester of our pregnancy with a trip to the Reebok stadium where Bubs got to experience its first live football game – albeit in utero.

The little one appeared to be underwhelmed by all the strange new stimuli as Jayne reported absolutely no activity despite Bolton going a goal up over Sunderland in the crucial relegation battle at fortress Reebok. But we soon discovered where our little one’s allegiances lie when Bubs starting kicking vigorously in celebration at Bolton’s second goal (which has pretty much secured their top-flight status in the premier league).

In other news, we’ve booked in for our antenatal classes over three weeks at the end of June and we’ve also started stocking up, buying our first two packs of Pampers first-born nappies. We’ve also been lucky enough to have been donated a pram, Moses basket, babybjorn harness and some baby clothes – so little bubs shall want for nothing – except a proper nursery perhaps?

No interest in the flat just yet but we’ve been getting a few clicks on our facebook ad so hopefully our buyer is just around the corner.

Coming Soon: Week 28 – baby names!

Week 26 – Facing the future

A busy few weeks for the Langlands family. Not only did we get to see the face of our child for the first time at our 4d scan but bubs got to experience a whole range of new stimuli on our trip to Paris.

We’d heard all sorts of opinions on 4d scans when we revealed we’d be having one. Most people (us included) think that they’re a bit strange – the womb really should be off limits but having said that we’re really glad we went and had the scan and have such great footage of bubs pre-birth.

We’d invited Jayne’s folks along to share in the experience but I’ve got to say that the babybond clinic was not what I expected at all. It’s a completely non-medical environment – in fact it’s right next door to a pizza shop! Lots of dim lighting and new age sculptures. It put me off to be honest and the scan itself was so short that it seemed to be over before it began. It was great to see the baby on a big screen but we enjoyed it more when we took the DVD home and went through it frame by frame to pick out our favourite shots – that’s when the bonding happened.

Opinion is mixed so far on the pix. Some think it’s a boy. Some think it looks like D. Some think it looks like a plasticine baby. We’re tempted to go back and have another scan at week 30, when there should be a few more facial expressions. I think we’ll go with a different company though this time.

We then took off for Paris to meet up with Aussie mates Andy & Merilyn and Ann & Leigh. A&M have just spent a month touring around France with their four-month-old daughter, Tascha. We had a great time wandering around Paris, getting a good perspective not only on the first few months of life with a new baby but also what traveling with a little one could be like as well.

D even got to give the babybjorn harness a test run with the help of Miss Tascha. A&M are big on making sure Tascha has as much chance to interact as possible, and the harness puts her at the right height for just this – the normally reserved French couldn’t help a smile as they walked past and so many people would stop to fuss over her. She’s such a social baby and I think the harness has helped develop that a lot.

Inspired by A&M’s adventures, we’re thinking that a another trip to Paris in October/November with bubs might be a good test run for a longer-haul adventure sometime in 2009. We’ll see.

Bubs’ kicks have gotten pretty serious over the last few weeks. We’re playing Brian Eno’s Music for Airports at night to help chill the little one out and help it go to sleep. It seems to work so far – should we be worried our that child likes ambient music?

If we could only find some music to sort out Jayne’s snoring…

PS: Congrats to Louise & Adam on the birth of little Emily, and Simon & Leanne who are new parents too with another little girl, Grace. Could this be a sign of things to come?

Week 22 – Baby Training

We’ve had our first ‘hands-on’ baby training recently courtesy of a flying visit from Aussie mate Merilyn and her adorable four-month old Tascha.

Meryl, a fashion designer for Aussie label Tarocash, travels the world regularly on buying trips and Manchester’s Trafford Centre is a major UK stop on her list. But this is her first trip with baby-in-tow so she asked us to look after little Tascha for an hour while she got on with some shopping.

Basically we were thrown into the deep end… Saturday morning, peak shopping time, the Trafford Centre rammed to the rafters – with a fully-fed, freshly-changed, but slightly bemused little person to entertain and look after – ‘Scared’ doesn’t even come close!

It’s amazing how different people act when you have are wheeling around a cute baby in a pram. Normally navigating the streams of pedestrian traffic in the Trafford Centre is a nightmare (especially on a weekend) but the pram (and the baby) seemed to have this strange effect on people – they moved out of the way… all the while cooing at our precious cargo.

Tascha proved a real charm… we even managed to get a bit of shopping in ourselves (which is unheard of – we normally browse for hours, end up knackered and leave empty handed!). 45 minutes in and we were convinced we had this baby thing mastered… right up until the tears, that is.

I have never felt so hopeless and so useless in all my life.

One minute Tascha was smiles and joy. The next she was most certainly not. Real tears, real crying, really really not happy. Wizzing about in the pram had lost its novelty. Nothing seemed to work. I waited for Jayne’s dancing around with the baby theory to work its wonders and then after 5 minutes, pressed the big red emergency button.

We called Merilyn.

By the time she arrived, Tascha was sound asleep of course. “Oh sorry, I forgot to tell you. She does that right before going to sleep. She’ll be out for two hours now”.

And she was. Until, we rudely woke her up to head to the airport via a quick stop at West Didsbury. She was a joy to look after really and if that’s as tough as it gets I’ll take it! I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Plenty of activity in utero recently. There’s been more kicks flying about in Jayne’s belly of late than a Bruce Lee movie – it’s absolutely the strangest thing to feel this little person moving about underneath the skin (I bet Jayne would be able to expand on this in some detail!).

We get the chance to see what Bubs is up to in there soon. We’re off to babybond in two weeks with Grandma and Granddad to have our first 4D scan, where we’ll get to see baby’s face for the very first time – if only bubs stops moving for long enough, that is!

Stay tuned…

Scan Day – Week 20.0

…or “How I nearly wet myself in St Mary’s Hospital!”

So here we are at last, week 20 and today was our “anomaly scan”. We arrived in good time but they seemed to be a bit behind, unfortunately I had to wait for 40 minutes! Which is an extremely long time when you have a full bladder! I understand that you get a clearer picture of the baby with a full bladder but feeling that uncomfortable certainly doesn’t make the experience as enjoyable as it should be!

Anyway, we finally got into the examination room and off we go… the baby has grown so much in the last 7 weeks – it really is a small person now! It was an amazing experience – it was so nice to see our baby again. They took lots of measurements: head, arms, legs, tummy, brain, heart and many other bits!!  Once again the baby wouldn’t stay still and its little legs were moving around – I don’t think I’ve felt any kicks yet but I’m sure there will be plenty to come.

We have a new picture, though it’s a bit dark. We are going back for another scan at week 32, so hopefully we’ll get a new installment – though D is hoping that we can book in for a 4D scan before then – so we’ll have plenty of baby photos and maybe even a DVD!!!!

We didn’t find out if it is a boy or a girl though she did ask. D reckons it’s a girl as it has a very cute nose, though others have said – as it kept wriggling about it must be boy – so we’ll just have to wait and see!

After the scan, I met up with the midwife after another hour wait – it must have been one of those days. Thankfully, everything is going well. We then had a very nice lunch in Didsbury and headed to our abode for the evening – The Didsbury house hotel for some rest and relaxation (and to escape the flat while the renovations continue) before heading back to work tomorrow. Our friend Gabi has sorted out a room at the City Inn for tomorrow night, then we’re back to the construction site on the weekend.

WEEK 17.5 – THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS

At last the whole world knows that we are having a baby. We’ve known since December 1st but I wanted to make sure everything was OK before we shouted it from the rooftops. If D had it his way the blog would have started back then!!

So where do I start? Firstly it is a miracle that we are even in this situation – I have poly-cystic overies and the Doctors said that it was highly unlikely that we would be able to have children. So, i think we’d convinced ourselves that we’d have to explore alternative options.

Anyway, I felt a bit sick for a few days and someone jokingly said “oh, you could be pregnant” to which I replied “no way, it’s not possible” but we thought we should check it out… and one, two, three tests later, it was definitely two pink lines!!

So what next? I make D swear to secrecy – and he fails miserably – telling a work colleague on their Christmas works do!!

We were just about to set off for our Christmas break in Singapore and Australia, my parents had already set off so Jonny (my brother) was travelling with us. We planned to tell him when we got to Singapore but the receptionist at the Hotel did it for us! D had emailed ahead to inform them I was pregnant and we’d like to check in early. He was quite shocked especially after a long 12hour flight! but I think secretly excited about becoming an uncle. The downside was that D spent the whole time talking about babies – not quite sure it was the holiday Jonny was expecting!

Next stop, Australia, to meet our newest friends – new babies Tascha, Callum and Josh and of course all the old Sydney crew. We meet up at the Courthouse pub and between Jonny, D and myself we managed to create the illusion that we were all drinking – I was a bit gutted about going to Oz and not having a schooner of Coopers! We continued with the mascarade for another few days but once again D spilt the beans to our friends there (though I did reluctantly give him permission to do so!)

Next we head down to Warilla (where D grew up) to meet up with D’s family and my mum and dad. We rented this fabulous beach house, 30 seconds from the beach and two minutes walk to D’s folks place. Somehow we managed to continue with not drinking and or eating any seafood without raising too much suspicion – despite prawns being on the menu almost everyday!

We coped until Christmas day when we did ‘the big reveal’. We had bought each family a “plant a tree” christmas card from oxfam with ‘from little seeds big things grow’ on the front. We wrote a message in each card saying that it was great to be together in 2007 and that in 2008 we’d be having a baby, as you can imagine there were tears of joy all round.

So after weeks of talking openly about having a baby we returned to the UK and back to keeping it quiet again. I just wanted to have my first scan to make sure everything was OK. We went to St Mary’s Hospital on January 23rd and found out we were 13 weeks pregnant with a due date of July 30th, 2008 (our anniversary is July 31st!).

I’ve spent the past few weeks getting my head round letting everyone know – I don’t really know why its taken me so long to tell everyone but the word is now officially out!!

So there we have it – week 17 and five days and the whole world knows – and I have to say its quite nice!!