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Published: December 2nd 2011
Howdy partners, what have I missed? Okay that’s enough about you, back to me, #mediawhore that I am….
So, firstly apologies to my legions of subscribers (Hi Mum!) as I had inadvertently made these blogs private which meant you needed to have a user name and password to view them… my bad, it’s sorted now and we’re back in the public domain, world domination to follow…
Now on to the main even, since my last blog we’ve had another……. GIRL (of course we did, I’ve always thought if I have one, three or eight children they will all be beautiful blonde bombshells that means I never sleep a wink after their 15
th birthday party and so far I’ve been proved right……) so little Ella June Mudie was born at 12:38 on the 15
th of September weighing a healthy 7lbs 1oz. She was 22 days early and as usual there had to be drama when Fiona is involved…
Let me take you back to the 8
th of September, it’s a lovely morning and I head off to work at 7am as usual, leaving Fiona and Lois sleeping at home. I get to work and get on with my day,
ball pool fun
Fiona got in there too...there’s a real buzz about me as I’m finishing at lunchtime for a boozy lunch with a couple of work colleagues before catching a 3pm train to Edinburgh for my 6pm flight to Brussels where I’m going to stay with my mate Big Chris for a couple of nights.
Chris moved to Brussels for work in August and he’s just moved into his own flat this week, I knew I wouldn’t get a chance to visit once the baby was born (due in five weeks) so decided to go this weekend. Fiona was having a difficult pregnancy sickness and back-pain wise but no complications or bleeding like with Lois so I was comfortable with my decision to go, I also checked out emergency flights home and there were four a day from three airports within 30 miles of Brussels so if I needed to get home I could be so within four hours.
So back to that Friday, I’m in back-to-back meetings from 08:30 – 11:30 but at about 9am I’m interrupted by one of the girls in my team and asked to come out to take a telephone call, outside the meeting she tells me Fiona has
phoned a couple of times and sounds a bit anxious, I phone her immediately and she tells me she’s had a bleed and is going to hospital in an ambulance… I meet her at the hospital and the doctors put us at ease, it’s a light bleed and after a scan it doesn’t look like Fiona’s having the same placental abruption that she encountered with Lois, complete relief that both mother and baby are safe and well then the bad news, Fiona has to stay in hospital now until the birth – which was a planned section at 39 weeks, meaning 28 days away!
We were shocked by this, we’ve got a two and a half year old, she can’t got without seeing her Mum for four weeks and then the penny drops, I’m not getting to Brussels, not today, not tomorrow, not ever, bad times all round.
To cut a long story short Fiona had another couple of light bleeds and the doctors decided to perform a planned section at 37 weeks so Fiona was only in hospital for a week (which I’m sure felt like a lifetime for her) before we had a lovely, straightforward birth
Lois and aunty Liz
At Jamie's 1st birthday party of Ella just after midday on the 15
th.
The birth was an incredible experience, we were ready from 10am but one thing led to another and we were taken through to the delivery room around noon, there were 11 people in the surgery room, and it was a hive of activity, the radio was on and people were going about their business without a care in the world, Fiona was getting prepped and talked through the procedure and I was chatting to all the doctors/nurses/students in attendance, I was selling the virtues of the Law Firm where I work but think stopped short at passing out business cards..
So the procedure starts and it’s weird as I’m sitting at the top of the bed at Fiona’s head and we’re chatting away quite the thing while out of the corner of my eye I can see her getting cut open and flesh and intestines rolled and clipped out of the way, this goes on for maybe five minutes before we’re told the baby is ready to be removed, do we want to see it? We say yes and the screen is dropped to show what can only be described
Lois and Grandma
at Jamie's 1st birthday party as a gaping chasm in my wife’s midriff.
The next thing we see/hear is the baby’s head popping out and I’m told I can touch her as she’s coming out (Fiona can’t reach) I put my hand towards her and she grabs my finger and squeezes tight, incredible, she’s pulled out and placed on Fiona’s chest so she can have a quick cuddle before being taken away to be cleaned up, weighed and checked out.
The “tidy-up” part seemed to take forever, from Fiona being prepped to Ella being on her chest took about 15 minutes in total, the post birth surgery took about 45 minutes which left me holding Ella while we discussed names, we had a shortlist of two and quickly decided on Ella, we were back on the ward and had visitors that evening before checking ourselves our the next day (four days earlier than advised it should be said) as Fiona just wanted to get home.
Ella is now 11 weeks old and thriving, she seems huge compared to Lois, she’s suffering a bit with colic but is starting to sleep well through the night, last night we got 5 hours then 3
hours solid sleep with only an hour of feeding inbetween.
And as for my wee angel Lois, we’ll she’s still an angel but not really so wee, from being nearly 6 weeks early and dropping down to less than 5 pounds after birth she’s mahoosive, at last measurement she was 3’ 3” tall and almost the height of her granny, she was always a fair bit smaller than her friends born around the same time but now towers over all of them, she’s bright, clever and constantly on the go, she still sleeps for Scotland and truly is wonderful little girl, my only complaint is around her fussy eating but we’re working on that.
Fiona is enjoying yet another year off her work, Lois is loving play-group where she’s in three afternoons a week rising to four after Christmas.
We’ve got our Christmas tree up already and Lois is super excited, she’s written her letter to Santa and has asked for a pink Cinderella bike, she’s been very good so I expect she might get what she’s asked for…
I’ve just finished my first Movember and am clean shaven for the first time in 30 odd
days, five guys (named Mo) in my workplace took part and we raised £900 for mens health charities so it’s all good, I have to admit I’m glad it’s over as the novelty wore off somewhere around the 18
th of November but it was for a good cause so I’ll more than likely take part again next year. I was rocking the standard 80’s mouser but going to try for a “walrus” in future attempts.
The weather is unseasonably mild in Scotland, saying that we had our first dose of frost overnight but generally it’s been about 7-10 degrees, which is incredible considering on this day (2
nd December) last year we were under about two feet of snow and the country had pretty much been driven to a halt. I bought a snow shovel this year so fully expect that we will not get snow now for the rest of my natural life.
We had a great summer holiday this year in Southern France and across into Northern Spain, I'll add a blog about that too with some photo's.
And finally, as ever, Dundee United are still the World’s greatest football team, stay cool – shed rule.
I hope all my regular listeners are well and that you all have a wonderful Chistmas/Hunnukah/Ramadan or just December, whatever floats your boat.
Until the next time, take care of yourselves, and each other.
Love and hugs,
Family Mudpie. (current count = 4).
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John Ireland
non-member comment
Merry Christmas
Love the photos All the best for Christmas and the New Year We will be thinking of you in our 30 degrees + days whilst you are in the cold Again all the best