Bit of dyeing fun

When we found out I was pregnant we bought a load of white sleepsuits.  Partly because they were a load cheaper than patterned ones and partly because I planned to dye them.  Then Rosemary turned up early.

Now I get some time between feeds I have started to dye them.

Plain suit for reference:


Attempted "bullseye" style (needs to be a bigger item)




Scrunched up, randomly banded, and soaked in dye:




Rolled top to bottom then dyed magenta with blue and blue with magenta:


Rainbow!



I didn't quite make the dyes strong enough so this batch came out a little pastel.  The second batch on the line is most definitely stronger.

TTFN

Sleep

I'm going to be sharing a lot of Rosemary photos on here, mainly because it keeps the whole family up to date and partly because, well, she's cute!

She's been doing the typical baby habits of eating, sleeping, and making waste.  I love taking sleeping baby photos, the milk coma look is fantastic!

One with Dad:
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 She curls up tight when I pull the cover off in the morning.  Taking after Mum.
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Various milk-induced comas.  Grandad Harrison can relate to these; warm, well-fed, and comfy.








If you look on her at the right time, you can even catch Zonked (capital Z definitely earned!)

Sometimes Mum is caught with the camera and given a Look:



We do have wakeful times too, but I'm usually too distracted saying hello.  This time, the VHC came to say hello:



She had her first shampoo experience last week, what a lot of hair!
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She also got to try Mummy's knitting.  Socks!


Turns out she's as good at wriggling socks off as she is hats.  This is why we tend to keep her in sleep suits; anything else requires much redressing.


Daddy quote of the day: (after Rosemary has spit up) I don't understand how you manage to get it so far and so fast...and so quietly! 

Skills, Dad, skills.

TTFN

One month already?

One month old, with toys and carry cot for scale:



Don't ask how many photos have blurred limbs!

She's five weeks today and nearly 11lb!  10lb 10oz at weigh in.  I can believe it, my arms are starting to notice.

Happy little bug!  She's also sleeping without me right next to her, so I am getting some housework in every so often.

My crafting mojo is slowly returning, along with my energy.  We're at 3hrs between night feeds at the moment, so I am actually achieving sleep!

Anyhoo, not much to report, still adjusting to motherhood.  I shall leave you with a cute milk-induced sleepy Rosemary and her cute toes.

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TTFN

Rolling and sleeping

Everyone tells you "sleep when baby sleeps".  I have been doing my best, we definitely enjoy our lie-ins.  Rosemary has an alert time from 5:30 to 7am, and then it's zonk until 1pm-ish.  But after that she has a really alert time, so we get up and then go back to be between 8 and 10pm, Mummy's energy levels depending.

I know that isn't long, but when you're being woken every 1.5-3hrs for food and most likely having to sit up to burp and maybe get up to change a nappy, 6-8hrs of full consciousness is quite enough.  Rosemary naps during that time, but Mummy takes the time to get things done and refuel.

But we don't always leave the bed.  Sometimes we have wakey time on the bed and play.  Rosemary likes the unevenness, it allows her to practice rolling.



I'm managing to get to my PC a bit more, so I can actually edit photos and videos.  Although sometimes this is done while keeping myself pressed against the desk so little bod can doze:



We do have a carry cot, she spent her first week sleeping in it, and can still sleep in it:


But Mum is just too comforting.  I get longer breaks if I either wear or carry her.  Not that I mind, unless I'm dealing with the dishwasher or washing machine; bending is tricky while wearing a baby, squatting is better but requires better muscle than I currently have.

On Thursday we had our first evening out.  We went to Happy Hookers and had many snuggles and met many new faces and heard familiar voices.  This did require a trip in the car seat and as it was a breezy evening, lots of blankets were used.  Think Rosemary was worried she might be eaten by blanket!



I didn't get a huge amount of crochet done, so much newness requires lots of brainfood and so Mum was in demand.  But I did get to socialise and enjoy company and silliness.  Going again tomorrow, assuming it's on.

Bathtime is becoming fun.  We had a bit of a poonami on Monday, so we cleaned Rosemary as much as possible and then she joined me in the bath.  It's lovely.  She gets to wriggle and explore this water thing and then Dad dries her off while Mum finishes bathing. 

Anyway, a little lady has awoken and requires food.

TTFN.

She's here!

Over the last six weeks life has been just a tad hectic.

I got to 35weeks pregnant and then things started going a little weird.  Baby and I had an episode of tachycardia (elevated heart rate), a week later baby hadn't moved for hours and my blood pressure was up, we got emergency plane'd to Glasgow.  A week after that I had had chest pain and was emergency helicopter'd to Glasgow in case I had a clot.  The week after that my blood pressure was up again, but I was due to go off island to the flat we'd booked anyway.

Monday the 23rd May was gorgeous!  Sunshine, light breeze, smooth seas.  My parents had rented an estate car and we packed it full.  Baby things, my things, big bags, the works.  I was expecting to stay anything from two to four weeks, so I had packed clothes and entertainment and all sorts really.

We had a lovely sail across to Oban on the Clansman, I was feeling pretty big and had swollen feet, so I spent most of the journey trying to unswell and having a rest.  Then we drove from Oban to Glasgow.  Gorgeous views, gorgeous weather, lovely!  We arrived in Glasgow and met the landlady and settled into the flat.  The bed was a bit low, but the frame was solid enough I could sit on it to get out.

The next day I was booked into the day unit for 2pm to do a check on me and baby.  Two hours later, the tests were back and it was decided that my body had had enough and time to induce baby.  I spent the night in the hospital and then the fun began!  Wednesday afternoon was a little tablet to "get things started", by Thursday morning I was definitely ready.  Five and a half hours of pains, then 15 minutes of pushing, and we had our baby!

She spent about an hour or so on my chest and then was transferred to a cot so I could change beds and be moved to the maternity unit...


Once at the unit, Daddy got a cuddle:


The first few days didn't go so wonderfully.  I was on a blood pressure medication that messed with her blood sugars and my milk was taking the usual time, so we had to supplement with formula.  But we were finally released on the Monday.   Jo had a meeting the following Friday and as we had the flat prebooked, we spent the rest of the week there.  It gave the grandparents time to visit, the grandmas were very happy to meet Rosemary and have a good natter.

Thursday evening, Grandma Bennett helped us do Rosemary's second ever bath:


She didn't scream or grizzle, we were petrified!  But all went well, and she was clean and happy.


Saturday the 4th June, we headed home.  The trip through the airport was snoozed through:


She woke up towards the end of the flight, demanding food, but completely unphased by the loud plane or the changing pressures.  The pilot and co-pilot were great, they did a slow ascent and descent that allowed Rosemary to adjust her ears.  I also got the baby liferaft and instructions, bit unnerving when your baby is nine days old.

Not the best view, but we came home to gorgeous weather!


She then proceeded to scream down the Tiree airport and all the way home, until she got fed.

That afternoon, she claimed the bed!


Yep, we have a crib, but she spends the bulk of the night cuddled up to Mum.  It wasn't worth the screaming hissies and sleep deprivation.  Plus, the angle of the bed helps avoid huge spit-ups.  We still get spit-up, just not huge ones.

It's rather interesting trying to use your laptop when a baby is sleeping on your chest/stomach; you can end up with unexpected limbs "assisting":


We've been to register her birth at the council office.  I wore her in my wrap and as we don't have a summer hat for her yet, we did the knotted hanky trick:


Rosemary has a thing about hats, she refuses to keep them on!


We also learned that you MUST pack a change of outfit as well as nappy changing kit, when going out.  Fortunately it was a hot day, so I put her nappy-only in my wrap after nipping into the public loo and using the changing table.


I'm still trying to reconcile that this is 50% my DNA and 50% Jo's.  That we are responsible for this tiny, helpless, human.  But, oh boy is she cute!  I'll leave you with this photo of her stunned face:



TTFN

Erm...?

Last week I was due to fly to Glasgow.  Nothing new there.  What WAS new was the weather I woke up to!



Erm...  April...snow?  Funnily enough, the morning plane was cancelled (no visible airstrip), but the evening plane was delayed enough that I got to fly.  But not before I got these photos:





The airport staff had somehow managed to clear the runways.  After living here for over four years, you forget about things like snow ploughs, we just don't need them.  But apparently they keep something that can do the job, just in case.

And just to really confuse, I took this photo of Mummy song thrush and her babies the day before:


Today is bright, but windy.  Perfect laundry weather!

TTFN

Lots of new

New house, new camera, new beach, lots of new.

New house:

Yep, we moved.  Hynish View has been sold and so we have moved to one of the school houses.  It's huge, centrally heated, and has stairs.  And a lovely set of gardens with hedges!  I can now hang out my laundry without everyone who passes by seeing what colour our underthings are.

In the hedge near the laundry poles we have a nesting birdy.  She's a song thrush and has at least three little peepers to raise:



I check on her (from a distance) when I hang out laundry and she doesn't seem fazed by it all.

I've got my own room!  No longer am I camping in the living room, I now have my own room to make a mess in.  I have treated myself to a shoe organiser thing to hold all my wool fibre for needle felting:



and I also treated myself to a painting by Grom that I collected after we moved and now lives above my desk.  On the left is Grom's lighthouse, on the right is a mixed media that I got for my 30th from Blue Beyond.



Somewhere, I have a framed painting from when I went to Paris with my parents; that will go in the middle when I find it.  It's very nice to actually be able to hang things here.  So long as we neatly fill the holes before we leave, it's allowed.

I'm working on something new for the babby.  It involves some sticks:


and needle felted bits:


It will be a mobile of sheep, but I need to make the heads and feet which is waiting for my urge to felt to come back.  Baby is waking me up at all hours and making it hard to sleep because of limited positions, so my energy levels are a little low.  It's lovely, and weird, to feel and watch your belly moving about, but Silly AM is not a time I wish to be awake.  Still, it's good practice.  Baby will be here in less than ten weeks.  Yes, we are down to single digits!  I have two washes to do and all the baby-related laundry will be done.

My little oak sapling has some lovely green buds this year:


I was worried it might not revive after last year's rather lack-lustre weather, but it's doing fine and has a sunny, yet sheltered, spot in the new garden.

and we have a new beach to roam!




The route we found to it takes us to the top of dunes, but I have been assured there's another route.

So, yes, new, new, new!

TTFN