Ron

We nearly lost this beautiful little bundle of fur this week. On Wednesday night I noticed that Ron wasn't looking well. His coat wasn't well groomed and his third eyelid was visible. When he walked, his back legs seemed stiff. Alarm bells started ringing in my head because that is how Harry was when he started displaying symptoms of chronic renal failure. An appointment was made with our excellent local vet the next day and the news wasn't good. His creatinine level was 500 (normal is 100) and his white blood cell count was raised. One kidney was enlarged. The vet suspected a kidney infection and kept Ron in overnight on an IV drip. He intended to scan Ron's kidneys this morning and prepared us for the possibility of putting him down if the kidney damage was extensive.


I worried myself into a soggy mess overnight until we heard back from the vet at lunchtime. The news was thankfully good. His creatinine level had gone down to 300 overnight and the ultrasound showed no kidney damage at all - only the presence of a single kidney stone which could well have been the cause of all the trouble. The vet can't yet rule out the possibility of a kidney infection or another cause, but we have every reason to be optimistic. Ron will remain on an IV at the vet's office through the weekend and the vet will discuss with an expert whether the kidney stone should be removed. Obviously, that can't happen now as he is too weak. We're going to the vet's office tomorrow to give Ron a big cuddle. My poor little Ron - I can't believe how close we came to losing him, and all because of a little kidney stone. I shudder to think what would have happened if his illness had coincided with the baby being born. Phil and I would have been running round like headless chickens. Would we have noticed Ron getting sicker and sicker? I sincerely hope so, but it makes me feel sick to think about it.

Get well soon, beautiful Ron. Xinx is lost without you.

Relieved!

Baby O is finally head-down. I had my midwife appointment yesterday and she thought he was head-down and engaged but suspected he had got his legs into an odd position. Given his history of being a twisty turny little monkey, she sent me for a scan this morning to confirm. He is indeed head-down and engaged and in the optimum position for labour. The big painful lump on the side of my bump that I thought was a head is in fact his knee. I really should have twigged that he had engaged because I've been finding it incredibly difficult to walk since Sunday. On Saturday I was fine, and on Sunday I was hobbling around like a little old lady. I can't put into words how relieved I am. In the last week or so I've been reading up on caesarean births in an effort to prepare myself and learning of the hospital stay, recovery time and physical limitations was very alarming. I've never been separated from Michael and being away from him for 4 nights, and then not being able to lift him, would be horrible. The midwife also tried to estimate Baby O's birth weight and she believes that he will be about the same weight as Michael was (4+kg). The words she used were "this will not be a small baby". I was very glad to hear that because Gleghorn babies are not supposed to be small.

Now that my major worries have been dealt with, I can get on with enjoying the last few weeks of it being just me and Michael at home during the day. He's recently started doing the most adorable thing to get my attention. He'll gently cup my face in his hands and turn it to look at him. Who could resist that? Considering all the wiles a toddler can employ to get attention, I consider myself very blessed. He is obsessed with tractors at the moment and wants me to sing the theme tune to "Little Red Tractor" all.the.time. If he can be holding a toy tractor whilst I am singing it then so much better. Janny, my doula, bought him a Duplo tractor last week and he adores it. My mum has also bought him one for his birthday so he is a very lucky boy indeed.

Bird of the day

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Blue-footed Booby.

Nesting?!?

I haven't been sleeping at all well for the last few nights. The usual pregnancy complaints are responsible. Therefore, I was quite surprised to get out of bed this morning and have some energy - I got a desperate urge to wash all the internal doors. Must be nesting - in my rational mind I would leave the doors to their own devices. I ignored the urge as there are more important things to be done. I cooked a fry-up, sorted through all my drawers in the bedroom and am tidying away Baby O's mountain of clothes. When Michael wakes from his nap I'm going to sort through his clothes and put all the ones he's grown out of into storage. Baby O can pinch some of his drawer space. Phil vacuumed and tidied the living room so it is gleaming. I have a lovely leg of lamb in the fridge so will cook a Sunday roast when I have a moment. When I was pregnant with Michael I only got a very brief nesting urge (all of one afternoon if I remember correctly, when I felt the need to wash all the windows) so I'd better take advantage whilst I'm in the mood.

Before I forget, I'd like to memorialise something funny that Michael did on Thursday. His favourite book in the entire world is "The Gruffalo's Child". This book came with us on a day out recently and got forgotten about in his nappy bag. We retrieved it on Wednesday night and Michael spent most of Thursday attempting to make me read it to him by bashing me on the shoulder with it. I'm not such a fan of this book because I have read it *so* many times. When Michael went through a phase of being reluctant to eat we would need to read constantly to him before he would even contemplate opening his mouth. Meal times would take in excess of an hour and as a consequence I would feel quite resentful - I wasn't feeding him pig slops after all, it was good food. My opinion of "The Gruffalo's Child" got mixed up with these feelings of resentment. Anyway, back to the story. Michael eventually convinced me to read the book to him and after I had finished, he turned to me and said "Well done!" I was very taken aback because he has never said that before. I said "Thank you" and then Phil and I collapsed laughing. It is quite amusing to be jollied along by a 1 year old. Obviously I made more of a Herculean labour of reading the book than I realised...

General update

I know - another inexcusably long gap between entries. There have been plenty of times when I've thought "I must blog that" only to be distracted by something. I guess I'll update on the pregnancy first. I've mentioned previously that I'd be given a couple of growth scans and I had them at 31 and 33 weeks. The first gave the baby a predicted weight at term of between 9 and 10lbs. The second gave a predicted weight of 7lbs. So basically they have no clue, but he probably won't be significantly larger than his brother. On that point there is no reason why the birth shouldn't be straightforward and avoid the need for a ventouse. I was tested 3 times for gestational diabetes and after the third negative result the midwife has finally given up on the idea that Michael's size was due to uncontrolled gestational diabetes. Only one issue remains with Baby O and that is that he is still lying transverse in the womb, He was transverse at the 20 week scan and has remained in that position almost constantly ever since. He's rapidly running out of room and needs to turn by the time I have my next midwife appointment in 2 weeks. A transverse baby can't be born naturally so if he doesn't turn there are only a couple of options. Firstly, a scheduled c-section. Scheduled because if I were to go into labour naturally there is a risk of the cord being compressed because the head is not blocking the birth canal. Secondly, a consultant could attempt to manually turn the baby (called a external cephalic version). This has a high success rate with transverse babies but is not without risk. In my case the risk is increased because the placenta is at the front. The doctors need to be on standy to perform an emergency c-section when this procedure is performed. Due to the risks, I doubt that I would agree to this if suggested. At the 31 week scan we got a good look at Baby O's face - he really is a beautiful baby. He was blinking, sticking his tongue out and waving his arms around. I've never had a scan so late on before so we were mesmerised (well, as Phil was trying to keep Michael from wrecking the place, he was mesmerised when he had a moment to look at the screen). We didn't get to see his face at the 33 week scan because he had his arms crossed over his face. No doubt fed up of being peered at - don't blame him!

Michael is doing very well. He is a book addict and expects to be read at least 10 stories a day. We have a pretty big selection and some of the Baby Einstein books have been a real success. He can recognise most letters of the alphabet and even read 'BBC' off a page I was reading. He knows the numbers 1 - 10 and can often point them out when he sees them. He's a happy little chap and rarely tantrums unless he is tired or we are trying to take a particularly fabulous new toy from him (like the phone receiver he ran off with yesterday and did something weird to). He has a good vocabulary now despite having a slow start. The most wonderful thing is that he is very loving and I am greeted in the morning with a big smile and he often blows me a kiss. It makes my heart melt and makes everything worthwhile. Even now, I find myself periodically peeking into his room when he sleeps to remind myself that he's real, and our little boy. I can't wait to find out what Baby O's personality will be like.

I've been trying to prepare Michael in a very simple fashion for the arrival of his little brother. It started with me saying:

Me: Michael, there is a baby in Mama's tummy.
Michael (hopefully): Book?
Me (somewhat deflated): No... baby...

I then bought the book "There's a House Inside My Mummy" which attempts to explain the subject to toddlers. He loves the book but I'm not sure what impact it has had. I always end the story by saying that Baby O is in Mama's tummy, and by putting his hand on my tummy. I put his hand on my tummy when Baby O is moving around too. He was quite startled on the last occasion and gave the area a vague stroke before wandering off in search of his juice cup. Basically, I think he's completely clueless but at least I can say I've tried. I was only a few months older than him when my sister was born and I still remember the resentment I felt when I was forced to wait for attention whilst my mum attended to her. Both my mum and dad are younger siblings and I don't think they could really appreciate what it feels like to be the oldest. Phil is the youngest in his family so between us we should be able to empathise with our children in this respect.

I'm trying to think if there is any other news to relay. I don't know if I mentioned that Phil was promoted to Technical Support Manager back in April? We're all very proud of him. I've told him not to turn into a corporate drone ;-)

I think that will do for now because I need to go and get Michael some lunch. I'll try to post more regularly from now on.

Thought provoking Times article

Great evil took place in that cellar | Alice Miles - Times Online

I totally agree. It is so easy to overlook those every day tragedies that are in our power to change.

In honour of April Fool's Day

The Top 10 Historical Hoaxers - Times Online

Start the day with a chortle.