Breastfeeding morning

Today I was lucky enought to take part in a breastfeeding info session for the teenage expectant mum group at the hospital. A lovely lady came to explain in a very visual way what is in breast milk and how it differs from formular feed. She was not forceful in any was and simply gave the information allowing the women to make informed descisions in the future weeks.

Having breastfed for many years now I hope to go on and do further training in the is area in the future, after my degree. it is always inspiring to watch somebody make such a simple thing enjoyable to talk about. I picked up lots of tips and even some reassurance about how much C is feeding at the moment...lots! So a good morning.

a loved his pressies, Lego from grandparents and even a sling shot catapult from auntie and uncle. We went out for tea and my sister had kindly made lots of beautiful cakes for everyone. Archie even managed a quick cricket game with some other children there, which he loves.

Last day of clinic for me tomorrow then it's back to longer shifts on the ward next week. We are off to a wedding on Saturday too which is always nice to look forward too.

Steiner school

Parents evening this evening was different to say the least. I always dreaded this at the old school, as it usually meant a negative five mins of how we should be doing more and how poorly L compared to lots of her peers. Depressing. Tonight....wow, I KNOW that her teacher cares, she really does. She is passionate about her small class and listens to them and the parents.

l is doing sooo well, she loves school and is progressing beautifully. Yet she fights with her brother too much but I'm reassured now that it is normal for her to be difficult at the nine/ten year change. It will pass. We talked both alone with the teacher and in a group of class parents, together, chatting to benefit the class. Why don't state schools do this? It is so nice and reassuring to hear other peoples concerns and joys and ank any questions we want to.

Archies birthday tomorrow, we are going to have buttermilk pancakes for brekkie and then go out for tea after I've finished work. In a rush on my was home today I stopped at a lovely toy shop and bought him some kingdom Lego, a lovely soft frog cuddly, some schleich moose figures for the growing collection! Some ham a beads and a new pack of old maid, his favourite game and another wooden game.

I can't believe he will be.seven! He is a lovely boy, and o funny! He loves to climb and run and ride. Swing from his rope swing and climb on the fence to wave goodbye. He loves acing wood and hunting for bugs, playing with Nelson and building dens.
He flips on the trampoline and loves to entertain and dance, breaking on the floor! He loves dinosaurs and dragons and knights and cowboys. He loves playing with friends and going to the park. He loves going to grandad mims and having beans on toast and going to nanny at whiteways to play with flo! Little Archie, we love you!

First graze

Little c took a bump in the garden today, on dads watch!, and has a proper graze! Today was far too nice to work but my day in clinic went by quickly enough really, I did a few glucose tolerance tests, where blood is taken before a sugary drink then more blood two hours later to monitor how effectively the patient is stabilising glucose levels. My success rate so far at getting blood has been 100%, which I'm so pleased about as in my first year I really found it hard and didn't think I'd ever feel confident with it.

Tomorrow will be much the same I think, but I'm enjoying meeting lots of different patients and the faster turn around of this placement.

A will be 7 on Wednesday, I'm working and really unsure what to plan. As he is not at school yet it's hard for him to socialize, even thug we have a large family, they are mostly girls. Will have to see if Kal fancies a friend over for him. May have to ask my mum to bake a cake as it's not likely that I'll have time.I need to buy him a pressie too, wishing we had ordered stilts last week as he'd have loved them.

Kal made a nice shepherds pie for tea, devoured by the kids in no time which is always nice to see. I'm a bit bored by food at the moment and need to come up with some fresh ideas soon!

We are off to a local ish volkeswagon festival on Friday after school, camping overnight too. Both of the bigger children have developed a love of vw recently, and spot them a mile off, so were off to have a look at them and enjoy some live music and festival food. Good preparation for camp bestial in July....can't wait for that. Need to get on with a medieval costume for everyone though. The to do list really is endless at the moment!

Shops and sunshine

Saturday ended up being a shopping day, with the girls, a friend and her daughter. I'm trying to limit Ls shopping trips as she was becoming very materialistic and wanting lots before starting her new school, and I don't think her friends spend much time in shops at this age either. She had a voucher for accessorise for her birthday from my sister, which she enjoyed immensely, eventually choosing a pretty scarf.

Litle c got new shoes, her first pair, as until now She has only worn the little leather soft shoes, and mostly home made ones. But they are red and very grown up, and were only £8 in the sale too. I also bought fabric for a scarf for me,and a new chair cover for our ikea poang.

We had a nice lunch at pizza hut, chosen by the girls. It got a bit late so we bought fish and chips home for the boys supper. They had been outside all afternoon and had a great time without us.

Sunday my sister called to ask me to join her as she was looking around a steiner kindergarten for my niece. I went with A and C and we had a lovely time there. The hall is set up in a kindi way, with lovely wooden tables and toys and soft cozy corners to snuggle in. I think she will be sending her there next term, and I'll be considering it for c, my god!, when she is 2 or 3.

This afternoon we went to a holy communion celebration and then played in the garden with aunties and cousins before going for a local ice-cream in the boiling sunshine. I don't think the weather will last but today it was lovely!
I managed to sew the beginning of a lining for the bell tent, it looks good! The garden is in chaos though,logs and chairs scattered, rugs pulled out from the tent and ropes hanging from the trees by A. Our pet tortoises have had great fun today as we let them stretch their legs in a large border, they really can walk quickly when they want to.

K is at work tonight so I'm going to read a bit of uni stuff then get an early night before tomorrows clinic.

All good fun

Fire, food, family time

Today was lovely, we pottered around this morning, eating cakes from the local wi market before picking L just before lunch to go to a nearby farm, owned by a family from school, and celebrate st johns feast.

Being new to all things steiner it was nice to be part of it and I enjoyed watching the kids having such a good time with their new friends. They are settling in so well.

The bonfire was lit and they all threw on their wishes and sung songs together. L had been pracising at school so was able to join in. A is so desperate to start now, the pressure of paying for the both of them is there but we are both completely sure it is right for them, and us and the future.

We popped out for a child free dinner tonight, it was only quick but very tasty and a nice hour or so away from the house alone. We are going tv free now, the kids have not seen any for over six months so it seems fair that we keep it off in the evenings too. More time to study and knit I hope!

Gosh iPad auto correct, the last post is dreadful! Mistakes and words missing, I must make more effort and read through posts before posting. I need to add pictures too, I know!

Well working in the clinic and on maternity assessment is great. I'm finding my feet and have a better understanding of what's what and who does what! The patients today were more varied, diabetic suffers, morbidly obese expectant mums and those coming to discuss scans with the consultants etc.
I maninly meet the mums, welcome them to room and do basic bp and urine checks, palpate uterus for position of fetes and listen to the heart beat with a sonic aid Doppler.
I then hand the patient over to the consultant and listen in to the advice and discussionthey have. I've enjoyed working under my own direction more this week, and feeling more like a qualified midwife, I have a lot to learn but feel that I'm getting there.

The women who work there are all lovely, very grounded and great at their jobs. I'm enjoying it lots. Little C looked so pleased to see me tonight, the big 2 were both at friends for tea so there was lots of time for her. We shared a lovely bath, then A came home and jumped in too!
I can't believe he will be seven next week, and another cake to make and tea party to plan.
The big 2 are going for a sleepover with close friends tomorrow night so we're going out for tea then getting a film. Lovely!

School are celebrating feast of st. John tomorrow, with a bonfire and picnic lunch, I hope it stays dry fr us all.

Rain rain...

Go way, enough is enough! although we all enJoyed a rainy walk wih the cousins this yesterday evening. We were soaked, but they all laughed and played uncontrollably!

Ive started working in the antenatal clinic today, it's so interesting and the day flew by. Teenage mumssubstance workers and substance misuse mums came for antenatal care ad ongoing spport. I managed to successfully take at least 4 lots of bloods, and feel confident in this skill now! Hopefully I'll be able to get everything sighpner off. The midwives working there with the consultants are all lovely and I home to leard lots.

L had a friend home after school. They played on the trampoline and in the tent.


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School water day

The rain held off and the sun even shone at times! A great day was had by everyone, A who is nearly seven, really enjoyed himself. Being with other children is great for him at the moment as he does not start school until September and is too old for kindy now. he was on the lake all day, kayaking and peddling! He flourished with the independence given, and came home wanting more. The girls enjoyed themselves too, as did cal who managed to cause a laugh in the parents v's upper school double canoe race, his team veered off to the side of the lake with no control and lost spectacularly!

We will defiantly go again, it's a lovely farm and there is even a camping field !

A hearty tea was needed, so we all devoured sausages, mash and veg with home made gravy, followed by strawberries and cream, yum! cal is working tonight so it's dairy milk and an early night for me. Lots of crafty things on the boil, I'll post a list of my to finish/start soon. May get me back on track. I love knitting but need to get faster if it's ever going to be as enjoyable as sewing.

Busting bosoms but it's over.

My last shift on scbu is now completed, everything signed off and done. I have enjoyed today, even though it was a long 13 hours I feel much more comfortable handling neonates and giving feeds, taking obs etc.mi know my way around and who is who so that will help in my practice too.
Kal has made a lovely shepherds pie too, he can cope when he tries! The kids all seem to have had a good day and by doing the extra hours I have tomorrow off. Baby is going to nannies while we don our wet suites, not sure mine will fit me yet, and head off to a water park with school for fun and wet frolics! Rafting and kayaking I think, I hope it's sunny.

Baby c is so pleased to have her boobs back, she has drunk me dry and fallen asleep. Now I'm having a lovely drunken sleepy cuddle. I've missed her today, and hearing her sob from outside when I got home makes me sad.

Three days off, love it, I'm no worker really!

Ok so a bit more about being a student midwife.

Maybe a day on delivery suit. an average day.

During the three year programme 40 personal deliveries must be obtained, as well as a load of other competencies such as care postnatally and antenatally, high and low risk etc. I have around 25 deliveries now. Mostly from within a main unit, a few birth unit, one home birth and of course catching my own last daughter at home in our bedroom in a pool on a sunny morning.

Her birth was just magical, and so worth taking a year out of my study for as I learned so much about choices and had the support of great midwives myself.

On delivery suit it is different. For the majority of out lessons focus on low risk, holistic and hands off midwifery. This is not usually the practice in hospitals. So the gap between theory and practice can be large, and it's easy to get scared and Forget midwifery is a skill and just become a doctors assistant.

The training is comprehensive though, and I am mostly enjoying it. I wish we could have more inspirational speakers at uni though, women who advocate home birth and spiritual midwifery.

I want to be a crunchy lentil eating sort of midwife, but that is a while off and for now it's obstetrics I have to understand.

We work with designated mentors for each placement of around 3 months. Sometimes there are study days in-between hospital shifts, other times it's blocks of study. But most midwives now do 12 hour days, which is hard with a baby who loves boob and cuddles and being carried about on your back all day! But we manage. Kal needs a manory gland!

We have handover and take over the care of a woman. Usually only one. As I have got more experienced I am able to work independently some of the time, taking obs, monitoring fettle
heart etc, which is nice. I get to talk to the women lots, they seem to really open up to students and I notice much more chatter when the midwife is not present.

I can now attempt to interpret vaginal dilatation and assess position of the baby. This took some learning! Note taking is a vital skill that I hope to develop further this year.

Gosh, it's bedtime here and nobodies ready, big girl is clanging on the piano, the boy is chasing the baby with a Lego boat and as usual she wants boob! Will add to this later maybe.
The tumble dryer is beeping, and I have a new issue of Juno to read too. And a long day shift tomorrow.

Just remembered I got a parking ticket today to, bloody £30! could do without that.

some people...

Just can't be nice! Having worked with a terrible mentor last week who completely destroyed what little confidence I had gained on this very short placement, by constantly testing me and intimidating me I was distraught today to once again be put with her.

I know I should say something, call the people at the placement office and explain but I don't have the strenghth to argue. It will ultimately bite me on the ass in the future if I complain so as it's for a short time only I'll carry on and say nothing.

This unit is very different from delivery suit and the wards. I HATE the place with a passion anyway and have never been so bored and unfulfilled. She makes it even worse. Expecting me to remember how to use equipment having never been shown, how to handle and monitor babies when she glares at me in anticipation of a wrong move. Most mentors are up for a bit of a laugh, make you feel relaxed enough to ask questions etc. She makes me want to cry for gods sake.

Anyway, a shift tomorrow and that's it, back to caring for women and well babes as I prefer. I don't care that she'll not sign paperwork for me, I can get it done elsewhere I'm sure...biatch!!

Baby has been good today and has slept enough for me to enjoy a peaceful, bath after work, with a cuppa!
Easy tea tonight, chicken kievs with mash and veg, then brownies for the big girl. She moves to guides soon and can't wait for the summer camp. We watched the older children at her school
In a midsummer nights dream, it was fantastic! We were both amazed and L can't wait to be old enough to join in. The difference in her is incredible, she loves school so much now.

Money well spent in my book.....and it keeps me on the program too and an extra wage would certainly help pay for it all

Sunshine, rain, campfires, pimms, bell and bunting

Our lovely friends visited this weekend with their two children. School friend and best man of cal's, our children have grown up together, all be it not close by but regular visitors.

Saturday was gorgeous, so a morning at the farmers market with burgers and cupcakes was a real treat. The buskers were out galore and lots of tasty things to buy too. Our friends love to go there when they're here so a sunny day made it even more enjoyable.

after lunch we packed up some beers and blankets and walked across the village playing field and beyond in to a lovely field, full of wild life and flowers. So close to home but it feels a million miles away. We made a campfire and the kids all collected wood. Then toasted marshmallows and devoured them squashed between chocolate digestives....lush!!

The kids were amazed to find a nest of tiny voles under a piece of old tin, cute enough to make your ovaries twitch!! Too much beer and pimms later we headed home. Cal lit the fire pit ad we sat out till midnight under the stars. It was a really nice day.





Sunday was a different day and it pissed down all day! I made a beef hot pot then we went to the pub for an hour, and made the mistake of giving the kids coke....madness for the following hour!! What an effect it had on all of them, they turned ferral! So we headed home for tea before saying goodbye.

back at work on early tomorrow so an early night needed I think..

Half term fun..

Most of the school holidays at the childrens new school are out of sync with main school hols,this is proving to be fantastic as we can enjoy visiting places that are not swapmed with other kids! And hopefully benefit from cheaper hols too in the future.
After a very stressful shift yesterday, with a different mentor, today was a much deserved family day. We decided to head off to legoland Windsor. Bogof vouchers on the side of kellogs reduced the cost for our family to £81...WTF? I think theme parks have massively raised their admission costs, the vouchers don't make enough difference. It's to bloody expensive to have a day out like this often.

We bought sandwiches from the local bakery to take, a treats and still cheaper than buying food in there. Some cakes and bottled water and we were ready. Cal, who has always suffered with knee problems/pain, once again managed to bang said problem knee on his own tow bar . barely able to drive yet alone walk he staggered in to pay for fuel. It may not sound funny but as he manages to injure himself so frequently we have to laugh at him.

Drugged up on panadol and ibuprofen he struggled on. The rain came and went, but the park was very quiet so we were able to go on most of the rides, several times and the kids had a great day.
Dream feeding little c now, she is such a cute and funny baby, with the determination of a teen.

Garden fun

Finally the runner beans seeds that I carefully planted weeks ago and nurtured in the kitchen before taking outside to climatise are in the ground. Having been abandoned at the side of the house for many weeks, I hope they survive and offer a good crop too!

Its half term now, the kids have been to play with their village friends today, and have plans to meet others tomorrow. The latter part of the week, I hope, will be peaceful play and craft at home. We have over indulged them for many years, lavish trips, memberships to childrens parks and too many treats. Adopting a more waldorf way of thinking and living has impacted things massively. We have been tv free for six months, no computers or electronics for the kids either. They are a lot calmer now, it's amazing really. A enjoys playing outside more than ever and his speech has developed too.

I would love to be greener and eat less meat/ sugar, that's the plan for this year. I am surprised at how adaptable they have been so I'm sure it will be possible.

My fabric and yarn stash is growing, I keep buying bits here and there, often bargains from charity shops, but finding the time to craft is hard. For now it can all look pretty in the craft room, ready for another day! The pencil case and purse I made for L's birthday were a success though, and she was so pleased to have handmade gifts. her aunties had also made lots of little treats for her, and a few silver charms for her bracelets completed her gifts.

Tomorrow I hope to add some pics to this blog, I take hundreds every month, but have to work out how to add them via my iPad!

How exciting.....

A blog viewer from Germany! This was supposed to be a journal of or everyday lives, something to look back on, Not really for strangers to read. I don't take time over the posts or post pretty pics or useful ideas yet but getting this 'hit' inspires me to try harder.

I assume the midwifery element to my page probably brought it up in the search, so I will try to talk about that side of life more too.

The celebrations today were altered by the weather, after days of glorious sunshine the heavens opened...all day. A change of venue was needed, not wanting 10plus children trashing the house,so we hired the village hall for a couple of hours and it all went well.

We cooked hotdogs on the cadac BBQ, had ice cream 99's, and the cake, clad with an icing bell tent, as requested. Mother in law even managed not to ask if I'd made it, for the first year ever.

I have an early shift back on nicu tomorrow, it's half term for L so cal has all three with no meals prepared for him. He will be fine of course but I like to be prepared. Three shifts then two uni days this week, roll on the weekend.

Iwould rather be taking the kids away in the bell tent for half term, but midwifery students only get five weeks a year, and only two are at the same time as the kids so it's hard.
We had a good time at centerparcs earlier in the year so i can't complain really. and it's not forever. assignments are mounting though, and I have revision galore.

But for now I'll dream feed the smallest girl to sleep and enjoy a cuppa with the latest 'practising midwife mag', midwifery in newzealand sounds fantastic.

Birthdays and questions

Birthday for L today, a garden party planned but it's raining. Lots. The lovely tent and bunting are flapping in the wind so it looks like we will postpone for now. Inlaws coming this afternoon so we will have a tea party inside with them instead.

A has just charged in with the usual....the house is awake, and dad, horses have really thick willies don't you know dad? They really do. Even the baby is laughing!

So it's American pancakes with maple syrup and cream for breakfast then presents. 10 years have flown by, 10 years of being parents, my god! Lots of excitement this morning.

And more time has passed......

Well June is now here. Birthday month for us, big girl turning 10 this weekend, and the lad will be 7 at the end of the month.

This week I have been working on nicu/scbu unit. I looked forward to this placement, having visited there briefly in the past. But a few shifts in and it's proving hard. Sick babies make me sad, and they are so very poorly in there. I can't believe how few visits the little things have from their parents. It must be a scary place for them, I like to think I would be there 24/7 if it were my baby. The twin I'm caring for has not had a visitor at all during her three week stay. She is tiny, fragile and may not live. Her mother is young herself and has not returned since giving birth over 3months early. I hope she goes to a loving family, she deserves to. Poor tiny girl.

My baby is huge now. She is 15 months and becoming a cheeky chimp, just like her siblings!

She squeals with delight as she plays with them, she runs and climbs. Loves to bounce on the trampoline and generally behaves like a five year old. She will not be fed or put to bed, everything is on her terms, she is very spirited and I fear is getting to spoiled by us all. Having four people doting on her and giving her exactly what she wants at all times could be creating trouble....we will see. But she is adorable with it, so funny and cuddly. She says hello and waves goodbye.

We are well in to planning the party this Sunday, family all invited so about 10 adults and 12 children in total. Hubby is on the BBQ doing hotdogs, burgers and coleslaw in buns.
Then we have an ice-cream shack with 99's and sauces. Lots of games and races. Pics to follow.