7 Quick Takes: the probably completely random edition

(Well, hosted this week at Camp Patton, for reasons described below.)

1.

Firstly, it's been quite a month for babies in the blogworld I inhabit.

First Brianna Heldt took a bunch of her eldest kids to watch her have baby Alice Therese in the hospital.

Then after a week of baby trying to come, our own Josephine Alice arrived (can I just say, Brianna, we've had the middle name Alice, after HRH Alice Cooper, picked out for a good long while, so not copying!) and is now 2 and a half weeks old:

Baby Josephine with 2nd & 3rdSister

Josephine kind of pushed in at 38 weeks gestation and pinched Hallie Lord's son Charlie's spot - he was overdue and driving her crazy and now he's a week old can you believe it? And THOSE CHEEKS!!!

Finally, last but certainly not least, Jennifer Fulwiler's baby Joseph arrived with a delivery which sounded scary in itself and after the birth resulted in Jen being in one hospital intensive care unit and her baby in another. Learning of this, with my post-pregnancy hormones and my own new little girl sharing the same saint name as Joseph, I burst into floods of tears. I cannot imagine what Jen and her family were/are going through. Prayers, people!

2.

And - breathe.

As the 3Sisters have had over two weeks holiday from school and pre-school for the Easter break, and my husband has been on paternity leave, we've all had chance to get to know the baby and pitch in together helping out. With other kids to look after, fights to break up, groceries to buy, meals to cook, lots of laundry to do, visitors to host and so on it's not really been a traditional babymoon, but I'm sad in a way that it's ending. It will be good for all of us to get back into a routine, and I need to do more for myself, but being in a little happy but very sleep-deprived bubble has been kind of nice. I love my family and our family time.

3.

Our priest, Kathryn, came to visit baby Josephine last week bearing an orchid, a baby blanket and sweets for the Sisters, and to say prayers of thanksgiving for the new baby & our family which was great in itself! What was even better, especially given my hankering after more family time, was that we discussed my return to my ministerial and other responsibilities and agreed that I remain on maternity leave until September. Whereas with 3rdSister, I continued my study, training and voluntary work without hardly taking a breath, toting her to study sessions in the car-seat and writing assignments during her afternoon nap, things seem to have shifted now and as a family we feel we'd benefit from that extra time. So until 3rdSister is in pre-school 2 and a half days a week, and 4thSister tries out a little daycare, I'm going to be doing full-time parenting, and some extra-curricular reading and writing, with no pressure. (Apart from any work I do for our family's software company, of course, from which I'm technically on maternity leave until December....)

4.

After reading & reviewing Karen Le Billon's French Kids Eat Everything, and managing to throw together some words of Sarah Reinhard's Catholic Mother's Companion to Pregnancy, I decided to persevere with non-fiction reading (which I don't tend to like to do for pleasure!) and try and produce some reviews. This is my first lot to plough through:


You can't see brilliantly from the photo, but there are two relationship/marriage guidance books there,  plus 'Desperate: Hope for the Mom who Needs to Breathe' by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson, 'Quiet' by Susan Cain which appeals to the introvert within, and 'Style, Sex and Substance' which I have been waiting to read for ever, and finally purchased, given that I hardly went out and spent any money during late pregnancy so can splurge now!

5.

I also read 'Gone Girl' after Elizabeth Esther put something on Facebook about it, and perhaps I don't like reading fiction anymore, either, but I just found its presentation of humanity as too dark and nasty. I enjoyed what the author did plotwise, and using the character's different viewpoints to confound the reader, but the subject matter was just awful and I would not recommend another to read it, despite its bestseller status.

6.

I DID thoroughly enjoy Rachael Lucas' 'Sealed with a Kiss', a sort of romantic comedy of errors set on the beautiful Scottish island of Bute, which shot up the Amazon download charts last week. I'd had this on my Kindle the minute it was released, having followed Rachael on Twitter since we both commented on a storyline on The Archers (a BBC radio soap opera on farming we have in the UK, which doesn't explain it well for overseas readers and will be reductionist for those of you in the UK!) way back when. So I was very happy for her success, glad I'd got in first before it became an overnight sensation and loved reading the novel on my Kindle during nightfeeds! It's currently at a very low price and very much worth a download!

7.

Finally, another thing that has kept me going through nightfeeds this past week has been the run up to the Broadway opening of Matilda the Musical. Our family is obsessed with this show - I took 1st and 2ndSister to see it in London last year - and I've been wondering how it will be received in the US. The build-up on Facebook & Twitter has been quite exciting, so interspersed with checking in on how the new babies in Take 1 are doing, my smartphone's been in high demand in the wee hours. The reviews are now in, and it seems that US critics think exactly the same as UK ones - this is a very special, amazing, family musical. All that remains now is families to flock there in droves to make it as much a success as it's been in London. I highly recommend it!

* with thanks to Grace at Camp Patton for hosting this week - head over there now and read a whole load of other Quick Takes!

Meal Planning Monday: the We Have a Baby edition

It's amazing we're eating at all, to be honest. The last couple of weeks, everything went to complete pot as I was in a) 'false' (but still painful) labour for an entire week, then b) I finally had the baby & an extended hospital stay due to a Caesarean section. (It was a complete novelty getting 3 meals made for me in hospital  and although the quality was only average I ate everything offered, as I was trying to establish breastfeeding and recover well from the op.) I know the 3Sisters had a couple of dinners at grandparents, and I have no idea what really happened with the kitchen/freezer situation back home in my absence! All I do know is my husband kept things running and it was good to have meal plans for the last 2 weeks, as well plenty of spare frozen food in case the situation changed. As I've said before, one of the best things about meal planning is the ability to deviate from it and swap things around, all the while having an existing structure.

I'm still a bit groggy due to sleep deprivation, but using the Tesco Android app on my phone (no I've not been sponsored!) helped organise the next couple of weeks menus in advance, and I hope to get fresh stuff from Abel & Cole again on Thursday, after pausing delivery, because face it, we've been eating a lot of processed rubbish along with our usual fruit, yogurt & cereal intake. So the next week should hold:

Meat Free Monday: Wholewheat pasta in tomato sauce with parmesan cheese

Tuesday: Pizza Hut 'Two for Tuesday' two-for-one offer, including fizzy pop! because it is baby Josephine's birthday, 2 weeks old today (oh, sorry, what was I saying about healthy eating?!)

Wednesday: Sausages, mashed potato, Yorkshire puddings, gravy & green beans

Thursday: Roast Chicken Salad with a big white bloomer loaf & lots of fresh salad from the veg box!

Fishy Friday: Fishfingers, oven chips & frozen peas (& salad!)

Family Saturday: Wholewheat pasta with pesto sauce & leftover chicken

Sunday: It will be 2ndSister's First Communion on Sunday, so during the afternoon we will attempt our first meal out as a family of six! 

Oh, and if anyone is interested - this is 4thSister Josephine Alice, 6lb 11oz at birth, born 26 March:

7 Quick Takes: Giving Thanks (for babies!) edition

1.

First of all, I give thanks for Jen's buddy Hallie Lord finally going into labour x days overdue with baby number 6. I happened to be up doing a night feed, so even though things seemed to kick off at a sensible hour of the day in the USA, in the UK I was able to learn about developments from Twitter, & offer up prayers. I'm a little disappointed there's no live home birth live tweet system in operation, but quite understand other things take priority....(Jennifer Fulwiler! What are you thinking not keeping us informed every second minute!!!)

2.

And now let's give thanks for our own little bundle of joy, 4thChild/4thSister Josephine Alice, our teeniest so far at 6lb 11oz, who arrived early (38+3) like my last two have (Hallie must have been going insane being overdue) after a week of prodomal labour and my waters breaking, but nothing at all happening cervix-wise (TMI for some of you, sorry!). Due to 2 previous C-Sections and carrying Group B Strep the midwives & obstetricians were keen to a) get baby out fairly soon, and b) avoid induction by synthetic hormones, as it would possibly cause damage to my uterus/existing scar tissue. So although I would have been happy to labour, rather than have the caesarean I'd booked in for, we opted for the C-Section for safety's sake - and to be honest, after a week of getting no sleep from contractions that kept me awake even though I wasn't dilating at all, my body was possibly too exhausted to perform another VBAC this time. Anyway, welcome, baby Josephine!:

Just my cup of tea :-)

3.

About the surgery itself, I offer up huge thanks. I was petrified for a short time, tearfully thinking about the existing 3Sisters and my time on this earth (yes, things like this go through my mind every pregnancy, I guess I'm only human, Lord, being unable to wholly trust.) But as I sat with open hands, having the spinal anaesthetic administered, the crazy-busy room became a little haven of peace. God was there, He had gifted all the hospital staff with the skills they needed to make things go smoothly, and had even provided me with a team of 3 geeky anaesthetists who used me as a test subject in a side-project they were doing about blood pressure during surgery and kept me calm (ish.)

4.

I also give thanks that this was birth number four, and C-Section number three, and I had enough previous experience of hospitals and post-operative life to know how to take care of Josephine and I. For example: take whatever food and drink was offered, keep putting baby to the breast even though my milk wasn't in and she was clearly frustrated, and ask for assistance wherever necessary. On a ward with three other bays, separated only by curtains, having to listen to the problems two first-time mums were having caring for their babies and themselves (who would refuse food?! even hospital food?! when in recovery?!!), beating themselves up with their feeding struggles, I felt by Day 3 I could happily go insane. If I had to hear the woman in the bay next to me moan to medical staff about how she desperately missed her 'other half' again I may not have been responsible for my actions ('cause I never missed mine or my THREE EXISTING CHILDREN. Meh.) Happily, I am going to write a satire about it, and we'll retire from the proceeds. (More gratefulness.)

separated only by curtains...

5.

I also give thanks that I've been able to sit and feed and cuddle the other kids a bit, and eat and drink and try and achieve general wellness, as my husband takes time off work and looks after the other three. He has been an absolute hero during the past ten days, and I've told him so [in between the sleep deprived snarking and hormonal explosions :-) ]

6.

We've also used our support network of family and friends to ensure that - pretty much in rotation - the 3Sisters get to visit other people and do other stuff, maybe with Daddy, or just hang at home. They aren't having the wildest Easter holidays in the world, but they've done cinema, McDonalds and the park. All without me taking them!

7.

And finally, I give thanks that we're able to have kids at all. I may never finish my post in progress on faith and fertility, but I've mentioned before that as a couple we have 'fertility issues' and medical experts did not expect us to conceive even one child without assistance. We pretty much left it up to destiny (which I later learned to recognise as God) and have been blessed with four daughters. I also believe that He is working hard in the lives of those friends of mine who have been trying for years to have children, even when they have stopped believing so. It's been difficult thinking about them at this time. Posting joyfully about Joeybaba on Facebook & Twitter is all well and good, but I know there are at least a couple of people who will feel sad when they learn of 4thSister's arrival (and, because they are human, perhaps jealous, angry or bitter), just like I was in the days prior to social media when I saw mums with their babies when out shopping and felt like I'd been punched in the gut because it wasn't me. It's so hard to hold onto hope when desperate to have a baby, and I give thanks for anyone who can help these people right now, and provide them with the love, support & healing that they need. Amen.

* with thanks to Jen Fulwiler @ ConversionDiary.com for hosting - head over there now and read a whole load of other Quick Takes!