Bottom of the list

I was getting the darlings ready this morning… got them dressed, washed, teeth brushed, hair brushed and there was me still standing there in my nightie! I said to Oliver ‘my turn now!’ and it made me think that I’m always last… bottom of the list!

Obviously this isn’t a sudden revelation! Yesterday, I made omelettes for lunch. Hubby and the darlings sat at the table devouring them (they were very popular!), when they’d finished I cleared everything away, cleaned hands and faces (the kids, not hubby!) and finally sat down to eat my lunch! Another example of me being last.

Now I might sound like I’m moaning about being bottom of the list of priorities but I’m not, because it’s MY list of priorities. I really don’t mind being last. I had 33 years of doing whatever I wanted so now it’s time to put others – namely my children – first.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a martyr and I’m FAR from the perfect mum! I occasionally do things just for myself too. I’m having my hair cut and highlighted on Thursday afternoon and I can’t bloody wait! Two whole hours to myself, to read a magazine and have a cup of tea in peace!

Silent sunday

My baby in hospital

I feel like I’ve been neglecting my blog this week but I’ve had a pretty traumatic few days. It all started on Thursday evening. The darlings went to bed at 7pm as they usually do but at about 8.30 I heard Lydia crying so went up to see her. As soon as I opened the bedroom door, the smell of sick hit me! It was everywhere!!! She was sat up in her cot looking all forlorn! After a massive clean up operation (I was nearly sick myself!) she went back to sleep only to wake up a couple more times in the night to be sick again.

I didn’t go to work on Friday as she was still throwing up and just wanted to cuddle and sleep. This carried on all day Friday, throughout the night and Saturday too… my poor baby was being sick about every 2-3 hours, sometimes more often. It was just water though as she wasn’t eating anything so I was making sure she drank lots. It was awful to see her like that but I wasn’t overly worried as I’ve been through sickness bugs with Oliver and thought she would start getting better soon. Anyway, she had a nap in her cot on Saturday afternoon, and when she woke up, I went up and she had just been sick again but it was a horrible greeny browny colour. I shit myself then!!! I rang my mum in tears (hubby was out watching footie!) she told me to ring NHS direct which I did and spoke to a very nice nurse who told me to take her to A&E to get her checked over. Hubby arrived back home and was really worried when he saw me crying and how much worse she’d got. Oliver was crying too because I was upset so it was all a bit traumatic!

We dropped Oliver off at my mum and dad’s then went to A&E which luckily is just round the corner from where we live. It was heaving in there! We had to wait for what felt like an eternity(but was probably about 1 hour) to be seen by the triage nurse. Lydia was just laying there in my arms and by now had been sick a couple more times which looked like it had blood in it. Anyway, the triage nurse sent us to see the out of hours GP who works from the A&E department as there was a 3+ hour wait to see an A&E doctor! The GP checked her over and said she wanted a pediatrician to look at her as she was concerned about her being dehydrated. Unfortunately, there are no pediatricians at our hospital so we drove to another hospital which is about 10 minutes drive away. We were seen quite quickly there and the doctor was also concerned about her being dehydrated so decided to admit her to the children’s observation ward.

My poorly baby on the children’s observation ward.

By now I think it was about 11pm but I’d totally lost track of time by then! The nurse on the ward told us that they were filling up fast with babies of a similar age being admitted with a sickness bug.

After quite a long wait for the ward doctor to arrive, Lydia was examined again, and while he was there she was sick again, this time there was definitely some blood there. It was just the most awful thing seeing her like that and I just wished it was me rather than her. The doctor explained that her food pipe had a small tear in it from the constant retching and she was slightly dehydrated. The plan of action was to give her some anti sickness medicine and to try and get her to drink some Dioralyte (it’s a sachet of powder that is mixed with water and helps replace salts and water lost by the body when you have sickness or diarrhoea). If she wouldn’t drink it they would have to put her on a drip to give her fluids intravenously. They also wanted to take some blood from her to check that it wasn’t anything else causing her to be ill.

So she had the anti sickness medicine and a really big drink of the Dioralyte (after I put some dilute orange into the water as she didn’t like the taste of it on it’s own!) then the part I was dreading… to put a cannula into her hand. To be honest she took it all in her stride and only cried a little but she was so tired and weak by then that she probably couldn’t be bothered to cry. They took the blood samples, then put a splint and bandage round her little arm in case they needed to give her some fluids intravenously. 

By now it was 2am and the nurses got my fold up bed ready and we both got our heads down for some sleep. Lydia was out like a light, she was so exhausted. I was surprised at how well I slept too! She woke a few times for a drink but thankfully no more sick! We woke at 8am and she sat up in her cot and seemed much better, she even had a little play with one of the toys in her room.

Feeling better the next morning!

She was still sleepy and soon nodded off again so I went to get some breakfast! She woke up while I was eating my toast and pointed at it so I gave her a tiny piece which she had a little nibble of. The doctor came round a while later and was really pleased with how much better she was and said we could go home! So her cannula was taken out (she cried much more than when it was put in!) and hubby came to take us home.

It was so lovely to get home and see Oliver, I missed him so much! Lydia slept most of the afternoon, then woke up just in time for tea and even ate a little bit.

So all in all it was a traumatic weekend that I don’t ever want to repeat again! I’ve never ever been as worried about either of my children as I was whilst sat in that A&E waiting room. It’s only today that she has finally seemed more like her normal self and has been really smiley and chatty. I’m so grateful to all the doctors and nurses who looked after her, they are all truly amazing people.

The joys of the playgym

It snowed a bit this morning. So while I was at work I was trying to think of something to do with the darlings to get us all out of the house this afternoon. There was by no means inches of snow but it was freezing and I didn’t fancy going out in the cold today.

Anyway, I decided to go to a playgym, soft play or whatever you want to call it! So after a quick lunch (quiche with salad today) off we popped to Fizzy Lizards. We go to quite a few different playgym’s in the area but this is one of my favourites. It’s located in a huge complex called Cathedral House which also includes a coffee shop, book shop, conference facilities and 2100 seat auditorium!

Anyway, the playgym is really light and bright, having floor to ceiling windows along the full length one wall. It’s really spacious which is a big plus for me as I tend to feel a little claustrophobic in some playgyms when all the tables are tightly packed together and there are no open spaces! The cafe is brilliant too, with a really good choice of food for both adults and children… paninis, jacket potatoes, baguettes, kids meals… all yummy stuff! It also has a fab outdoor play area which is lovely when the weather permits! The only negative about the place (in my humble opinion) is it’s quite pricey. £3.50 each for entry and the food is a bit expensive too. So by the time I’ve paid for them both, bought drinks, snacks, a coffee for me, I’ve spent well over £10…. I don’t mean to sound tight because I’m not (well not much!) but I’m just comparing it to other playgyms we visit that are cheaper.

The darlings love it too! The actual playgym bit is quite small which is great for their age group as Oliver feels confident to go in by himself and Lydia can even manage to do a bit of climbing (with my help). There’s a lovely baby section too that is great for the really young ones. I must admit that I love going in too! It’s such a great workout! I’m sure I burn loads of calories climbing round after the darlings.

So what do you think about playgyms? Personally I love them and wish they’d been around when I was a kid! I do however think there’s pro’s and con’s to these places. I’m a firm believer in getting the darlings out in the fresh air and enjoying as much time as possible outdoors so I would never go to a playgym when it’s nice weather, we prefer to go to the park or playground. We had a brilliant time this afternoon though and the darlings were both tired out and fast asleep by 7pm and I’ll be in bed very soon too!

An Average Day

Today was a very average day. Work this morning was nice and busy, I’ve recently taken on a bit more responsibility in my role and I’m just getting to grips with it but really enjoying the new challenge. When I got home, hubby was collecting Oliver from playgroup so I got changed out of my work clothes and had a quick tidy round (is there any point? No. But I’m a bit of a tidy freak!) before they all arrived home.

I then made lunch for the darlings and me. They had bagels followed by fromage frais and strawberries and I had chunky veg soup. Yum! I had a quick hoover round the living room, sorted out the washing, then spent the next couple of hours playing with the darlings. About 4pm we went to my parents house for tea (chicken hotpot and Yorkshire puds!) came home at 6pm, bathed the darlings and they were both in bed asleep by 7pm!

This afternoon’s masterpiece!

So now it’s time for me to relax and chill out. Hubby is at work till 10pm so I’m going to watch some telly, have a shower, straighten my hair and have an early night with my book!