It just gets better and better

What can I say - look at the smile! How cute is she? We've had a great week - coffee group went off well and Grace was up for four hours before I realised and popped her down for a sleep! She was happy playing with the other babies though a couple of times she relieved them of HER toys hehe.

We had swimming on Monday - we'd missed a few classes with her being sick, so she was excited to get back in the water. Lots of splashing and going under - with just a few splutters. We played a game where we passed the babies around in a circle to each other under the water - Grace loved it, and was so happy to be in a new pair of arms each time! However, a few of the other babies had meltdowns - cos they were away from Mummy. I'm glad she is so confident and independent.

We are really working on sleeping now - tried the experiment of tying her dummy to her sleep sack last night so she could find it if she woke up and that seemed to work well. So, when she wakes up chatting or yelling we are just leaving her to self settle. She cries so rarely that if we do hear her actually crying we know something is needed, but otherwise we leave her and just listen on the monitor.

So all good - getting lots of open mouthed wet kisses, lots of smiles and a lot of playing. She is eating like a wee horse, and loving most things - and I have noticed she is definately getting heavier! It's all really really lovely right now...the little personality starting to shine through. I think she is going to be a very independent little Miss!

Seven Months...

Wow. On the downward slope to a year already! And Grace is today exactly 71 years and 5 months younger than my Dad. Hehe...

It has been a really really long week. Rupes has been in Australia for a week (back tomorrow), Grace has been unwell, up often during the nights, not sleeping much during the day, not eating much no matter what array of tempting goodies I lay out before her. The weather has either been cold...or if not cold then raining. New carpet was laid in the lounge on Tuesday - I have only just finished getting everything back into place. I couldn't go to the office so have been snatching time at home to get some work done - often at night when I am most tired.

What a whiner! I look at what I have just written and although it's all true, I want to slap myself. How dare I whine about being tired and Grace being sick and keeping me up? It's funny how quickly you can forget the years of infertility and the absolute joy of holding your baby for the first time and start to focus on the hard aspects. Let's face it - infertile or not, any new mother is going to be tired. Add in a sick baby, an absent husband, and you have a recipe for a worn out Mum!

So. Enough whining already - let me tell you about what a wonderful wee girl Grace is turning out to be! First off, she sits up easily now and has even figured out how to belly flop forward when she has had enough - or when the dog walks past and Grace wants to chase. She loves to stand up too - holding onto your hands, or standing on your lap laughing as you "pretend" to let go of her. Rolling everywhere. Getting stuck against couches, walls and trying to figure out how to reverse. She's absolutely fascinated with Katie (the dog) and if Katie walks past when Grace is feeding it's all over Rover - pun intended. Katie lets her have the odd pat and stroke but only when I am there - otherwise she stays out of reach.

Grace is pretty much all better now, over her virus, appetite is building, and it's back to full throttle. I treasure the first cuddles after she wakes up but they don't last too long before she is pushing at me to let me GET DOWN AND PLAY MUM! I literally have to strap her into her reclining seat for her to have any quiet time at all - otherwise, she is in full on play mode. Dad and I noticed yesterday that she is starting to use her knees and feet more to push off, so crawling might not be too far away. She laughs often, loves her jolly jumper still - and quite likes using the jolly jumper as a swing - her wee legs come up and she just kind of hangs in mid air. Very cute. She's taking a real interest in books - looking at the pictures, touching them - she was looking at a cookbook yesterday and I think she was a bit disappointed the pictures weren't for real. Sleeping wise, she is on the improve after a few unsettled nights - back into her sleeping sack and being strapped into bed which doesn't always work - I found her on her tummy this morning!

Motherhood. It's wonderful. And sometimes I just need to remind myself that despite the tough days, the poo explosions, the lack of sleep...it's the thing that I wanted for so long. And I'm still ever so grateful for her :-)

In a rash move I am hosting our coffee group (which I don't really attend) this week. Hopefully I'll have a bit of time to do some cooking and baking. The girls are nice - they really are - but most are way younger than me, and I really don't have time to do coffee mornings every week. So I shall host once, to be polite, then quietly ease myself out of the picture.

And that's it for me for this week - Grace has just woken up and is making the most delightful cooing noises - she has a toy stuffed dog she sleeps with and he gets cuddled and sucked and talked to! Very cute!

Hospital Visit

We had a really good beginning to the week - Grace went to daycare on Monday and Tuesday as it was month end for me and busy at work. Then we had breakfast with our admin team on Wednesday - Grace had a fab time and got lots of cuddles! On Thursday we went swimming and had a good time too - but on Thursday night she woke at 9 and took some time to settle - in the end I moved upstairs and it honestly felt like I was up every 15 minutes. She was running a temperature, and in the morning we decided Rupert would work from home while I went to the office. Later in the morning he took her temperature and it was normal - so took her into daycare and brought the car to me, only for daycare to then call and tell me she had a high temperature again and needed taking home.

She was very unhappy! Took her home and gave her some milk, then popped her into bed. She slept for a couple of hours then woke up with a really high temperature, vomited, and was just really unwell so off we went up to the nearest medical clinic - who were concerned about her panting and laboured breathing and sent us off to Starship - the children's hospital in the city. So...we get to Starship, get assigned a cot, get checked out and thankfully they sent us home a couple of hours later - just a virus, and she had it pretty badly. So, home we came and since then she has been improving slowly, still running a temperature and off her food a little but this evening she is a lot cooler and took quite a bit of milk.

Scary stuff. I am so glad she is ok - this motherhood (and fatherhood) thing is hard work and worrying at times! But oh so rewarding - and one benefit was having her weighed and she is now a whole 9 kilos! Despite all of this we are still getting smiles and cuddles and giggles...so lovely!

Update...

It's been a very busy couple of weeks! Rupert got home from Aussie, much to my relief, it was so good to have him back. Then his parents came up last weekend from the South Island - was lovely to see them and for them to meet Grace for the first time. Beryl spoiled Grace with some lovely clothes, including a gorgeous red anorak I can't wait to see her in later. We mainly had quiet time at home as I was coming down with a cold, but did have a lovely lunch in Devonport and Grace was great, and very well behaved!

After that the cold really hit me - as did a day or two of nausea and vomiting. Rupes was a star, coming home from work early on the Monday when I really couldn't stop being sick long enough to look after wee Grace, and he slept upstairs with Grace during the week so I could get a bit of extra sleep. Feeling better now, but still have an annoying cough.

We also went to our first swim class - so much fun, Grace was a natural and loved the water, going under quite a few times and enjoying the singing and floating and seeing the other babies. She is such a sociable wee thing (at this stage anyway) and was quite fascinated with touching the hair and face of Marshall (who lives next door and is 2 years older).

Rupes is away again this weekend, but only till late on Monday, so it's not too bad. Grace and I have been having lots of quiet snuggles, but she has discovered that if she bangs one thing against another she makes NOISE! And yes, she loves that :-) The jolly jumper is definately the favourite activity at the moment, and she is almost sitting up on her own. Daytime naps are now few and far between - and often very short - but she usually sleeps through the night till 5 or 5.30am. So...my work is cut out for me keeping a very active baby amused, safe, and fed - she is now on three solid meals a day plus formula. So far we don't seem to have given her anything she doesn't like which is good news!

Right. That's the update. A busy week at work ahead for me with month end so Grace is going into daycare for an extra day on Monday - and then things should ease off a little for us. Fingers crossed!