Adrienne

The Hodgkin's world is in mourning for Adrienne. Her family made the heartbreaking decision to take her off the ventilator yesterday. I can't imagine ever having to make that decision for anybody, let alone your child.

Adrienne fought long and hard and gave the Hodge everything she had and more, supported by her loving family and friends. Both Adrienne and her family, especially her mum Alison, are and always will be a huge inspiration to people all over the world.

There isn't anything to say to make this better. It isn't fair. The only thing to do is to give your loved ones an extra hug and be grateful for every day that we have.

Rach x

I am soooooooo tired. Babies are hard work.

I'm not getting dressed today. And maybe not tomorrow.

R x

Leyla Rose Khan arrived on the 12th September and weighed an impressive 9lb 1oz.

She has a lot of hair, which has not turned out ginger unfortunately, but she does have very pretty dark blue eyes for now. Apparently she has my chin (or chinS as my lovely husband pointed out!) and she has Arif's mouth. She's very cute and quite a good baby so far.



This is when she was fairly freshly squeezed:



We also think she looks very like my sister Nikki did as a baby. Not sure if that's a good thing or not... sorry Nik!

This is baby Nik and me:



The first few days were a bit stressful with the little madam not wanting to feed enough and ending up dehydrated and a bit jaundiced so we ended up back in hospital but that soon sorted itself out and she doesn't stop eating now. We also have a weird blood thing going on because my blood group is O+ and she's A, which means that my antibodies have started to break down her blood or something. It's called ABO incompatability. It will resolve itself in a month or so, but she'll be having a few blood tests just to keep an eye on her and we're giving her extra folic acid. She's just about to start screaming like a dinosaur for food so I'd better go!

Rach x

Full Moon?

Baby is due tomorrow! I'm not really feeling any different though. I keep getting Braxton Hicks but they're not painful so they don't really mean anything. I have read that more women go into labour when there's a full moon... and Friday is the full moon so maybe she'll decide to make an appearance then. I'm not sure if there's any truth in the full moon stuff but if the moon can affect the sea, maybe it does affect the water in your body and the baby is surrounded by amniotic fluid so who knows? Fingers crossed! I have a GP appointment on Friday too.

I'm soooo tired! Time for a nap I think.

Rach x

Prayers/good vibes/love for Adrienne

Just a quick request. I don't know if anybody still reads this blog but if you're out there, please pray for or send good vibes or love or whatever it is you do for Adrienne. She's not doing very well. See her blog here - http://adrienne95070.blogspot.com/

Adrienne has fought Hodgkin's for a long time now. She (and her family) are an inspiration to everyone out there who is fighting or who has fought this horrible disease. It's not fair that somebody should fight it for so much of their life and then have to go through what is happening now. So please, prayers/vibes/love to Adrienne.

Rach x

It's getting scary now; baby is due in less than a week, although something like 80% of babies are overdue so I'll not hold my breath. I think I've got everything ready - baby clothes are all washed and ironed (let's face it, that's the only time they're EVER going to meet the iron!), the cot and moses basket are in place, the pram is ready and waiting in the hallway. I've got loads of nappies (woo!) and baby toiletries and the baby's room is pretty and tidy. Shame the rest of the flat isn't tidy but I've read that newborns can't focus on things more than 20cm away so she won't care.

I feel huge though I don't seem to have got much bigger in the last week or two, which is nice. I can't turn myself over in bed without holding onto the headboard though! And I've given up trying to wash my feet. I normally just soak them clean in a nice warm bath, but tonight Arif actually washed them for me, which was sweet of him.

It's Ramadan so Arif is fasting at the moment, which means he gets up at 4am to eat before the fast starts at about 4.30am. Poor man then tries to get back to sleep, only to wake up again at 7.30am to go to work on the hot and sweaty tube. And there's no drinking allowed either, not even water. And it's summer so the days are long. He is allowed to eat at about 8pm. I don't know how people manage it. I'm obviously not fasting because I'm pregnant but I admit that I'm really glad I'm not. I do get up to make him breakfast at 4am... trying to be a good wifey! I try not to eat and drink too much in front of him, but I still feel a bit guilty. And as well as the lack of food, there's also a lot of tiredness to contend with. Getting up at 4am ruins a good night's sleep!

I'm not sure how things will go when the baby arrives. Ramadan lasts a month, so Arif will be fasting until about the 20th September. Hopefully I'll be okay at looking after the baby overnight so Arif can get enough sleep. I'm sure that fasting plus a newborn is not a good recipe for well rested parents!!!

Arif is asleep now. He fell asleep while I was watching The Tudors (for the historical stuff, obviously. I close my eyes at all the crude bits) but I'm achey and not tired enough to sleep yet. Maybe a warm bath will help. Good idea me. I'm off for a bath!

Night,

Rach x

Pretty things

I'm now 35 weeks and 4 days pregnant. Scarily, she's due in a month... it's come around so quickly. I'm sure these last weeks will drag though. Baby constantly has a foot in my ribs and her bottom sticking painfully out of my right side, though she does move to a more comfortable position (for me) when Arif asks her too. I think she's going to be a proper little daddy's girl. If I ask her to move, I just get kicked or ignored!

I've been meaning to post some pictures for ages. The first thing is the pram mum bought us. It's one that converts into a pushchair for when she's older and it folds up small enough for our flat. And my lovely sisters bought me (I mean, us) a beautiful changing bag, one that I couldn't justify buying myself.

Here goes:



If I've spoken to you recently, you might have picked up on the fact that I've become quite obsessed by nappies. Not nasty disposable ones, but proper cloth ones. The years of boiling terry squares for hours and stabbing your baby with nappy pins are long gone... now it's all about beautiful fitted nappies and easy washing. And it's far better for the environment, and better for baby's bottom. So I've got some disposables to start off with but I hope to use cloth nappies as soon as I can. I initially bought some very sensible Smart Nappies from Mothercare, but they're plain white and there's probably just enough to last for two days. So I really needed more because I plan to wash every other day but they'll take a while to dry and I thought that I may as well try some different makes too, to see what works best.

Here's my stash so far:


These are the actual nappies... four I got from a lady who makes them on a forum I visit (top left), a MotherEase one size (fits from birth to potty!), a Bambinex Teddy (pale pink at bottom left), a microfibre Little Lamb, a Nature Babies Diddy Diaper and a bamboo Little Lamb.

The four at the top left have a fleece outer layer so should be pretty waterproof unless baby is sitting on her bottom for ages. The rest will need a wrap, so I've got these:


My favourites are at the top left - they're Tiny Eco pink fleece with roses and were very cheap. The plain pink one is a Baby Beehinds one from ebay, the white ones are Little Lambs, the blue gingham is a Nature Babies and the one with pictures is a MotherEase Air Flow with ocean creatures!

I've also got some muslin squares and some prefolds, which you use like terry nappies. The muslins are apparently great for newborn poo (nice). You use a nappy nippa, which kind of grips the fabric from the outside, instead of pins and the same with the prefolds. It's sort of like origami. Then you put a wrap over the top. These are my muslins, prefolds and nappy nippa:



And last but not least, I have some more on the way. One bright red Itti Bitti D'lish, which doesn't need a wrap and has snap in extra bits for big wees, 2 Wonderoos birth to potty pockets, 2 Fuzzi Buns birth to potty pockets and 2 medium sized Fuzzi Buns. They were a great deal!!! Pockets are kind of cool cos you don't need a waterproof wrap and there's a sort of pocket in the back where you put as much or as little extra fabric for your baby's needs. Can't wait to get them!

Yes, I love nappies. But they're practical and cheap and pretty and I'll be saving the world one nappy at a time. That's how I justify it anyway.

Argh, got to go to work.

Rach x