Project 52 - 8/52

Hooray! It's the big week! I finally have two little people to take pictures of. Judah Francis Green arrived last Tuesday (has it really been a week already?!). Trying to manage two children and get my camera out lots has been a challenge, so my photos are not necessarily the best moments of the week! Yesterday I actually sent Thomas back to the car so I could take some pictures at Canterbury Cathedral. I think I got some good shots of Noah for this week.

So here he is! His nose is just like Noah's but I think that's where the similarity ends. Everyone else thinks they are identical!

On Friday the sun came out! Having been indoors all week I just had to get out! We went down to the Coastal Park in Folkestone. Noah and Thomas always have to go the 'adventure route'! Noah always folds the brim of his wooly hat down, hence the funny peaked look!

I shall write soon about how exactly Judah arrived and all about life with two so far!

Bx

Project 52 - 6+7/52

Somehow I lost a week here! I was sure I was up to date! Never mind. Instead you have a double whammy!

My apologies the last weeks photos are just iPhone photos and you have to click the link to see them!

The first one is of Noah. We are having some real struggles getting his sleeping pattern right at the moment. It disrupts bedtime so much if he has a nap, but if he doesn't sleep we get this!\

http://www.flickr.com/photos/116824065@N05/12572035125/lightbox/

Secondly this is a picture of my bump. Baby has finally turned round so it's no longer back to back (and has hopefully stayed that way) resulting in some funky looking bumps!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beingmummygreen/12572041695/in/set-72157640677384495

For this week I again just have Noah. This photo was taken as part of my first assignment for my photography course. I had to go out and shoot photos entirely using the manual setting. It's been tricky to find a day to go out when it wasn't raining, but today it was beautiful and we headed out to find some puddles to play in! I feel very out of my depth with the photography course. Please feel free to peruse my flickr page to see my submissions for the assignment.

I love this photo of Noah and Thomas. Noah is really getting into holding hands now and quite often comes up to me and slips his little hand in mine. Of course there are many many times we want him to hold our hand to be safe and he wont! He really loved having a good splash in the floods and despite all the waterproofs managed to soak his trousers and socks as well!

Hopefully there will be a new baby to show next week!

Bx

Right now I'm loving.......001

I am an excellent online window shopper. I fill my baskets with things I have no money to buy but would love. I have wish lists on websites that are pages long!

I am also really good at pinterest. I can pin things all day long. I am pretty good at picking out pins that are actually doable (some things are look amazing but realistically you need some special talents to achieve). Actually doing them is something else though!

So I have decided to share with you the things I'm loving right now. I will try to  make this a regular post. Then maybe you can benefit from my 'special talents'!

These boys tees from Vertbudet. It's so hard to find boys tees that don't have really cheesy logos and sayings on them, and these are 3 for £9! Bargain!!

This shirt from Modcloth. Am starting to think about post pregnancy clothes, actually that's a lie, I am obsessed with what I will be able to wear! I am so so very sick of the three tops that still fit me. Then there is the consideration of being able to get my boobs out for feeding this kid! So I am all about button up tops right now!  

This camera strap cover from Etsy. As I have just enrolled in a photography course my camera will be out with me lots more. The current strap that came with the camera is so uncomfortable and this looks amazing and will make it much more comfortable! I am also all about chevrons!

These swaddle blankets from Aiden and Anais. I love the look of a baby all snuggled up in a blanket. It is supposed to be great for helping babies feel secure and safe. I can't say I have tried and tested this method with Noah as the week after he was born it was scorching hot so he was just in a nappy the whole time we didn't wrap him up at all! Obviously this time it's much colder so I want to get involved in swaddling. These look amazing and I have it on good authority that they are really useful way after they need to be swaddled. I would actually have ordered these but I like the pink ones so am waiting to find out what we have!

This sweatshirt by Beau Loves from Archies Boutique. Would dress Noah in this entire collection but can't actually afford one piece!`

This gold striped wall. I have been wanting to do this in our bedroom for ages but the prospect of painting it is quite daunting! Right now though I really have the decorating bug. I don't know if it's nesting or just from watching The Great Interior Design Challenge on BBC 2 but I have ideas for so many of our rooms! 

So that's what I'm into this week. I have a child free day on Tuesday so maybe I'll head out and grab some frog tape and gold paint!

Bx

Home Birth/Hospital Birth

Since I found out I was pregnant I've been trying to decide where to have this baby!

My labour with Noah was good, he was back to back but it was 8 hours start to finish with about 50 minutes pushing. Nothing to shabby about that. The contractions were not what I expected, as he was back to back the pain was completely in my spine so it took a while for me to realise I was in labour. The spurts of amniotic fluid gushing down my leg with each contraction gave it away though! I had wanted a water birth. Our hospital has this amazing Midwifery Led Unit, with huge pools and massive individual rooms with en-suits. I went into one of the huge rooms, got my gas and air going, got on all fours and..........couldn't move! The pain in my back and bum was so much that I felt I could not move from that position at all. The midwife filled the pool for me but I just couldn't move and ended up going without. I loved being in the MLU. After Noah was born I was pretty much left to it, they came in to check I was feeding Noah alright (my mother will tell you I wasn't at all and the midwife wasn't much help, but I wasn't worries and it all turned out fine!) and I didn't really see them again. With a little stubbornness on my part, they let me go home that evening.

Everything was exactly as I would have liked it and I think this is what has made my decision so hard this time round. I know if this baby is born later in the day, or just having a midwife with a different mentality, I was likely to be told to stay overnight. If everything goes fine there is no way I want to go without my bed and without Thomas! Then there's the fact that everyone says having a home birth is "amazing"! However, I still really wanted to have a water birth and the idea of having a pool at home seemed like such a faff!

There is one other factor that really has been the hardest to overcome. I am not usually so certain and unchanging in feeling about things like this, but I guess childbirth is enough to create strong feelings in me! At our doctors surgery there are two midwives who are part of a wider team of 8. At the beginning of my pregnancy I had some issues and ended up speaking to the same midwife every time. She was unhelpful and made me feel stressed out by the situation. It was only after I had my first actual appointment, with the other midwife, I found out there was a very simple solution to my problem that the other midwife never considered. I have managed to see the lovely midwife the whole way through my pregnancy except once recently. I went in for my appointment and discovered I was seeing the other one. Yet again she left me feeling confused, stressed, bad about myself and angry! The big problem is that if I have a home birth she may be the one on call. I had to decide whether I was willing to risk a 1 in 8 chance of her being the one at my birth, a time when I want to feel relaxed and in control.

It was this birth story on the Gas and Air Blog, that convinced me to go for the home birth. I have reserved a birthing pool and am picturing candles, music, meditation podcasts, dim lighting and complete calm! Obviously I have a 1 in 8 chance that I will have the opposite but that is a risk I am willing to take!

So the midwife is coming to my house on Thursday to write our birth plan and do all the paperwork for a home birth. My blood pressure has been a little high so as long as that is ok on Thursday we are good to go!

Oh, and it had better be soon!!!!

Bx