Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday

Baggie

A little belatedly but ‘Happy Birthday’ to my first born.  Yes, Éowyn celebrated her second birthday last Sunday, although in true style she celebrated it all weekend and hence no updates!

As my family are still primarily based in the West Midlands and since Nanny Fran is still unable to drive, we headed to West Bromwich so that Éowyn could see her Nanny and Auntie Liz.  We also took this opportunity to introduce Amélie to her Great-Grandma and to the husband of her namesake, her Great-Great Uncle Albert.  Both enjoyed extended cuddles with Amélie but Éowyn was a little subdued, although she did have excuses.  At Great-Grandma’s nursing home I think it is a little overwhelming to enter the common room and I think it freaked her out a little and hung onto Daddy’s leg for protection.  While on the way to Great-Great Uncle Albert’s she fell asleep and so we had to wake her and I don’t think that anyone is at their best when they have just been woken up.

We were only at Nanny Fran’s for a little over 24 hours but I think that Éowyn completely wore out her Nanny Fran.  Éowyn was so excited all along the motorway and couldn’t wait to get out of the car when we arrived at West Bromwich.  She bounded into the house said ‘hello’ then headed for the toy corner and made herself at home.  Nanny Fran was a star and looked after Amélie overnight so that we could have a (fairly) uninterrupted night’s sleep to try and put some hours back into the sleep bank.

We headed back home Saturday afternoon and while my 3 girls snoozed I managed to listen to another fine performance of West Bromwich Albion battling back from a two goal deficit at half time to draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford!  The first time in Premier League history that Manchester United have let a 2-0 score slip at home in the Premier League (although they did let a 3-1 score slip to Chelsea in 2000).  Amélie only knows West Bromwich Albion as a top 6 Premier League team.  Boing Boing!  (It can’t last can it?)

Sunday, (Éowyn’s birthday) we headed the couple of hundred metres up the road to Lucinda’s parents for Sunday roast with Lucinda’s immediate family and the girls’ cousins.  Éowyn loves to play with her cousins including poor Finley who will soon feel left out as the only boy in the group.  In fact he is the only great-grandchild of Granddad Badger (Lucinda’s granddad), outnumbered 10 to 1.  However, if we take into account the second cousins then the ratio becomes a little more respectable 11 to 2, still the Cathrall family name is reliant on only two males to carry the name forward.  I know the feeling.  My Grandfather Bagnall had five sons, who between them have had 5 girls and me.  It is probably the reason that I am interested in my family history but I think my girls are going to have to keep their surname for this branch of the Bagnall line to carry into the future.

I will leave the update there as this post is a little belated and as I am now back at work you will have to tune in next week to fine out how that is going.

Peace and love

Baggie

Nanny Fran and her Grand-daughters
Sisters!
Bagnall Hug!
High-Five!
Make a wish
Bagnall girls on da Sofa
Great-Grandma
Great-Great Uncle Albert
Auntie Carol
Birthday present
God gave Rock ‘n’ Roll to you
Rubber Ducky you’re so fine
Having fun at my party!
Can I open them?
My cousins are helping me get into my presents!
Make a wish, 2!
Close up
Snoozing!

To sleep: perchance to dream

Baggie

Ay, there’s the rub! The updates have been non-existent for the last couple of days partly due to spending a bit more time together as a family, partly because we haven’t done too much that is worthy of an update and partly due to lack of sleep caused by a little one that has been crying throughout the night.  Last night, in fact was the first night that both Lucinda and I got a full (ish) night’s sleep.  We have been told that her current crying is probably due to the antibiotics that Lucinda is taking and that when the course has finished (which is today) then to see if there is a change in Amélie’s crying pattern.  We have been carrying on with the Colief and Infacol though and hope that it has helped to a certain extent and fingers crossed when the antibiotics have worked their magic things may calm down.  They have to, I am back to work next week!

So what have we been doing the past few days?  Nothing hugely exciting it has to be said.  Adjusting as a family, trips to see Nanny and Granddad and a myriad of those little jobs around the house including repairing the shower pump! (I am sure that houses react to the amount of attention you bestow.  The more attention you give the more little (and big) things go wrong or need replacing, and it is not just that you notice them, as per the shower pump example.  It is relatively new (although out of warranty) but decided to choose this week to go wrong.)  Yes, while Lucinda was having a shower and myself and Éowyn were sitting on the sofa we noticed a dripping coming from the ceiling.  The shower pump had sprung a leak.  It was a good job that I was off and my basic plumbing skills now mean that it has all been isolated and just waiting for a spare part to fix it.

We have had a steady stream of visitors, mainly friends as most of the family saw Amélie in her first week.  Amélie, apart from the crying, is growing well.  The Health Visitor came today (as we have been discharged by midwifery care) and performed a hearing test (she passed with flying colours) and weighed her.  She is now 3.9kgs (8lbs 9.5oz) so putting on weight at a good rate (above her birth weight in two weeks) sitting in the 75th centile.  The Health Visitor was also enamoured with Éowyn (who wouldn’t be).  For she was very chatty and busy (drawing and pretending to go shopping) while the Health Visitor was there.  Éowyn also insisted on doing her flash cards (16 different words she now recognises) and the Health Visitor was amazed (especially since Éowyn is not even two yet!)  She said she couldn’t wait to go back to the office and tell her colleagues.  Which was nice.

Éowyn has also been settling in to the idea that Amélie is not going anywhere.  We did have a couple of nights of a little resistance when we put her to bed.  She was finding it hard to understand that Amélie was going to spend the night in mommy and daddy’s room and she wasn’t, touch wood, that has now gone.  She also seemed a little subdued for a week but again that seems to have passed.  All the time though she has been wonderful around Amélie.  She will help you when you are changing Amélie, she will try to calm her when she is crying and she enjoys holding her, except when she starts crying and then Éowyn will look at you with eyes that say ‘Please daddy, she is too noisy!’  I think that Lucinda is dreading the day I go back to work!  As since I was not the winner of £113,019,926 on Friday’s Euromillions then it is to work that I must return, but before that there is a small matter of Éowyn’s second birthday on Sunday.

So I will leave you now and give Lucinda a break and expect at least one more update before I return to work.

Peace and love

Baggie

The Bagnall Quartet
Éowyn asleep in Amélie’s cot
Gee up Neddy!
Jo and Amélie
Alice and Amélie
Jack and Amélie
Sarah and Amélie
Jack and Lau Lau
Just reading

Back home!

Baggie

So our six hour discharge period may have lasted a little over 26 hours but just before 16:30 (BST) on Wednesday 29th September 2010 Amélie Iris Bagnall left hospital into an inclement autumnal afternoon replete with leaden sky and nondescript rain and began her journey home.  She endured her first M25 traffic jam and arrived in Stanwell Moor at around 17:00.

The day had been one of frustration and anticipation.  Anticipation of being discharged and frustration at the time it all took.  After a very straightforward birth and Amélie being Lucinda’s second child we were told that we were on a standard six hour discharge.  We were delighted and built our hopes up that we would be home that very evening.  However, due to the busy nature of St. Peters yesterday (one baby had to be delivered in triage because there were no beds on the labour ward) we were effectively neglected for that entire six hour period and were unable to find anyone that could let us home.  Lucinda, readied herself for a night in hospital but with the glimmer of hope that they would be discharged around lunchtime.

By lunchtime Amélie had had all her neonatal checks, and had been give a clean bill of health.  She was given her BCG and all looked good.  So we phoned Lucinda’s parents and said that it would be nice that when we are discharged that they pop round to our house so that Éowyn would welcome Amélie into her house rather than come into her house and find a strange noisy thing taking up her floorspace.  Lunchtime came and went.  The list of couples waiting for discharge was getting longer and longer.  Apparently, the ward was having an inspection and so the senior nurse and midwife who would sign the release papers and ready the paperwork for social services and our G.P. were otherwise engaged.  Frustratingly, instead of just telling this from the onset we were told ‘another 15 minutes‘, ‘another 30 mins‘, ‘soon‘.  If they had have been honest with us and said that it might be mid to late afternoon, we would have asked Nanny and Granddad to have brought Éowyn to the hospital to meet her little sister, instead it is now Amélie’s second night and she still hasn’t met her big sister.   That will be in tomorrow’s update!

So as I sit here and type this post, Amélie is nursing next door.  She has hardly slept today this is partly due to her being very nosy and curious but mainly because she is suffering from wind.  Fortunately we had anticipated this and bought some Infacol.  That was a lesson learnt from Éowyn, however it is amazing how much you forget (or repress) and now we have all that learning again.  The major difference between Amélie and Éowyn was that due to Éowyn’s condition she spend the first few days in St. Peters I.C.U.  Therefore we never got her dressed for the first time, or put her first nappy on or spent this amount of time with her, alone.  It has not harmed Éowyn in any way (although it might do if ever she reads this in the future!) but had maybe not prepared us for the lack of attention we received after the birth.  Lack of attention is probably a little strong but obviously when there is no concerns everyone is a little more relaxed.  Don’t misunderstand me, I would much rather this than going home with your wife on an ante-natal ward with no baby and your little one in an incubator struggling to breathe.

Tomorrow is a big day for Amélie, she will receive a visit from the midwife, but more importantly will meet her big sister and Nanny and Granddad (we are unsure how that is going to go down with Éowyn) .  It is possible that her cousins will pop by as I know that they are excited about the new family member.

Before the obligatory photos, just a word of thanks for all the text messages and facebook messages we have received.  Also a big Happy Birthday to my sister Elizabeth, sorry that Amélie’s card is late but she didn’t get a chance to go down the shops until yesterday!

Until tomorrow

Peace and Love

Baggie

Mommy and Amélie
Amélie Iris
Asleep on Mommy
Amélie and Daddy
Give your daddy a kiss
Close up