BBC Ten Pieces Prom – taking kids to the proms

August 17, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

There are some experiences in life that just blow your kids minds. That’s exactly how I would describe taking my children to the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Ten Pieces Prom. I have never seen such a look of wonder on their faces and found the whole experience quite emotional if I’m honest.

Let me backtrack a bit in my tale…

BBC Proms

Firstly. The Proms.

If you’re British you know about the BBC Proms. They’re an institution and rightly so. It’s likely that people are most familiar with the world famous Last Night of the Proms, but musically that’s just scratching the surface. The Proms actually go on over eight weeks and include daily classical concerts – with most taking place at the Royal Albert Hall in London’s Kensington.

The thing that always amazes me is how varied the Proms programme is. There really is something there to suit all different classical music tastes. From world music to famous tunes that you hear regularly. And hundreds of different pieces in-between. I’m lucky enough to have been to the Proms once before and I’ve always known that it was an experience that I want to share with my kids.

Proms for Kids

When it comes to getting children involved in the Proms there is a whole schedule for families. In the BBC’s own words:

There are regular matinees for all the family to enjoy, with tickets half-price for all young people aged 18 and under. Or for families looking to delve deeper into the music, the Proms Family series offers the perfect introduction to the classical Proms. Whether you play an instrument or sing, whether you are a complete novice or an aspiring virtuoso, come and join in the fun at our family-friendly workshops.

As part of this family programme we were lucky enough to be invited along to the second of the two Ten Prices Prom (Prom 20) and also the accompanying Proms Children’s Press Conference, held at the neighbouring Imperial College Union.

BBC Ten Pieces

The BBC Ten Pieces project has the aim of opening up the world of classical music to 7 – 14 year olds across the UK. To educate and inspire them to develop their own creative response to the music. The initiative was launched in 2014 and has so far reached over four million people across the UK. The project provides an amazing set of teaching resources for this age group, all based around ten pieces of classical music.

They are currently on the third list of Ten Pieces which forms the central core of the programme, with teaching resources arranged either by piece or via other theme. These ten pieces were then included in the Ten Pieces Prom, as ten musical spells to help bring the Firebird back home to the Royal Albert Hall.

BBC Ten Pieces Prom

The Prom itself was a beautiful musical story which not only introduced the audience to the ten pieces, but brought them all together with the firebird story and also dance and poetry. It really was a showcase of the arts, and an amazing way of introducing children to more than just music.

With children’s television’s Naomi Wilkinson as the musical spell-caster, we also had the on stage delights of Shakespearean actor Paapa Essiedu (as composer Joseph Bologne) and the magical Josie Lawrence (as eccentric music bird spotter Molly Finch).

The three of them took the audience on a musical journey to find the Firebird and bring him back home.

With pieces as varied as Aaron Copland’s Rodeo Hoe-Down and Kerry Andrew’s No Place Like the Ten Pieces list really does give children a huge variety of music to help inspire them. I particularly loved Kerry’s vocal composition – full of human observation and humour.

Brave New Voices

Another inspiring part of the Prom for me was the performance of the poem Home by Brave New Voices. Brave New Voices is English PEN’s ongoing outreach programme for young people from refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds.

The group created this poem having been inspired by Dvorak’s New World Symphony. It was performed in English and Arabic and was, quite simply, breathtaking. There was a lovey clip from this on the BBC News website in advance of the Prom and it makes you realise what an incredibly piece of work the Brave New Voices project is.

The Royal Albert Hall

As if the Prom itself wasn’t enough for the kids, there was also the spectacular Royal Albert Hall for them to take in. None of the three of them had visited before and even as an adult I remember it taking my breath away the first time I went in. It is a huge space. Incredibly impressive. Like nothing they’d ever seen before. The closest Master C could come was comparing it to the circus! I suppose he’s right when you think about it being in the round like a circus is – but it did make me laugh when he kept telling people over the next few days that he’d been to “a concert at the circus”.

BBC Proms Children’s Press Conference

As if a Prom wasn’t enough for a day out in London, the kids also got the excitement of going along to the BBC Proms Children’s Press Conference first. Hosted by Barney Harwood of Blue Peter fame, this press conference gave children the opportunity to pose questions to leading musicians to find out what it takes to make it in music.

On stage with Barney were composer Bushra El-Turk, saxophonist Jess Gillam and clarinetist and composer Mark Simpson. All three of them spoke passionately about how they made it in music. The dedication and determination that they had to show as children and how hard work and practice can pay off.

Whilst none of our three show an interest in becoming a musician (yet!) what came across loud and clear was how the messages that all four of them on stage were giving could be read across to other professions. My step-daughter wants to be an actor, but as is often the case when you’re young, has received some set-backs in her aspirations. The messages that Jess and Mark were giving in particular about not giving up and remaining focussed on an end goal were so important for her to hear from someone other than her Dad.

The girls were also completely starstruck to meet Barney. He’s been a key part of all their Blue Peter watching over the years and they were particularly excited to see him in the flesh, and really that he’s actually a real human being! Little Miss C was incredibly proud to put on her recently acquired Blue Peter badge for the occasion and was thrilled when Barney asked her about it.

A musical education in the arts

I have to say that our afternoon at the Proms was definitely a school holiday highlight for all three kids. Not only did they get the experience of amazing classical music being played by incredibly musicians (the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rafael Payare and accompanied by the BBC Singers) in a world-class venue, but there were also so many other messages that they took away, especially from the press conference. I feel that it was an important step in their arts education for all three of them, and one which I urge any parent to try to follow.

Disclaimer: We were invited as guests to the BBC Ten Pieces Prom. The accompanying BBC Proms Children’s Press Conference was free of charge to attend. All opinions remain my own.

All photographs thanks to and copyright BBC/Pete Dadds.

Pregnancy Diary – Weeks 25 and 26

August 15, 2018 by Penny 1 Comment

Pregnancy seems to be speeding up. I’m sure of it!

I’m now at the stage where I think I’ve honestly forgotten how pregnant I am. I can just about work it out if I use my fingers and consult the diary, but it seems that I’m so busy right now that I don’t just have it instantly to mind.

Exhaustion

What I would say about the last two weeks is that I have felt utterly exhausted. I’m not sure if it’s just down to trying to cram in a lot of stuff with all three kids the first weekend, but by Monday and Tuesday I was no use to anyone.

The first weekend had been crazy with a visit to the Dunstable Kite Festival, along with a very long day in London. We managed to squeeze in both a children’s festival and a children’s Prom (watch out for the blog post about it very, very soon) into one day. On opposite sides of London. Without very long at all to get between the two. And without any proper plans for lunch. What I learnt was that I need to slow down a bit. And eat properly. Valuable lessons that I’m trying to take forwards into the rest of the school summer holidays.

Lazy days at home

If there is a plus side form overdoing it though it is realising how much my kids like a day in which we do very little. A day full of board games, television, baking and happily pottering about the house. Don’t get me wrong – the house is a tip at the end of it – but I think we all needed a few lazy days like this. It gave us time to reconnect somewhat and spend some quality time together at home.

Master C has got a bit of a thing for board games at the moment, so when he’s not playing with his trains he’s keen to find someone to play either Snake and Ladders or Ludo with him. Something I’m more than happy to agree to. Well, for the first nine or ten times!

Regaining my fitness levels

Another thing that I’ve noticed with this pregnancy is that I’m nowhere near as fit as I was with the last too. Back then I did the school run on foot and just generally seemed to have so much more energy. This time round I’m desperate to go to bed at the end of the day and in comparison walking and exercising very little.

I’m feeling. bit bad about that. Especially since I haven’t even been able to make it to my weekly aqua natal class for about 6 weeks now.

The only regular bit of exercise I have been getting is when I take the kids to their swimming lessons once a week. I’ve made a real effort to start swimming lengths again whilst they have their lessons. It’s a good thing for me to do – mentally and physically – and I’m realising I really do need to make some time to look after myself a bit better. I need to make time to go for walks and do other bits of exercise, as well as eating better too.

As I sit here writing this I have a week where the kids are staying with their Dad, and I’m trying to use it as an opportunity to get properly organised for the rest of the year. With the wedding and the baby I know that the next five or six months are going to be crazily busy and I also know that I need to be on top of things so nothing gets dropped. I just need to make sure I put time in my plans to concentrate on myself too.

Midwife appointment

Speaking of looking after myself, one thing that I do religiously make time for is medical appointments. I have to admit that I don’t understand people who don’t keep regular appointments. You’re responsible for a little life inside you. How can you not make the time to go and see the Doctor or midwife?

I therefore waddled off to the local doctors’ surgery for my 25 week mid-wife appointment, which was short and sweet. Although luckily not as disappointing as the last one was. This time around I did get to listen to the baby’s heartbeat, but to be honest there wasn’t a whole much more to the appointment.

A quick feel of my tummy told the midwife that baby (unsurprisingly) wasn’t head down yet, and all my blood pressure and urine sample were also fine. I’ve already got the next two appointments with her in the diary and at those I’ve been told to expect another set of blood tests and also my Anti-D injection. It seems the way they do Anti-D is different from when I had my son and daughter, so that’s yet another thing I have to get my head around.

Travelling around

I’ve also been making the most of the times when the kids have been staying with their Dad to accompany B on some of his work travels. I generally find that if I stay at home I end up not working that well as I get distracted by the various jobs that need doing instead. I therefore try and find cafes with wifi near where he is working and go with him and concentrate on my work whilst he is at work. I can make a cheap cup of coffee or tea last a good couple of hours if needs be, but it does mean I get so much more done. At the same time I can also make the most of the car journeys for a bit of crochet or sewing (which is like mental therapy to me!) and get to see a bit of the country at the same time.

Brighton

We were lucky enough to be in Brighton the day before Brighton Pride and loved the carnival atmosphere in the town. I found some gorgeous cafes and shops and even managed to find my wedding dress on a sale rack for the bargain price of £15 whilst there! That afternoon we sat on the beach watching the waves come in and it was just perfect.

Colchester

I also tagged along when he had to go to Colchester, which gave me a perfect excuse to catch up with my blogging friend Mary over a cuppa and piece of cake. We worked out that it’s been about two years since we last managed to catch up in person and it was an excellent reminder of how wonderful some of the blogging friendships I’ve made over the years are. She took me to a lovely vintage tea rooms and we platted a return visit so that we can go to the local board game cafe too. Colchester – we’ll be back!

As if that wasn’t enough as we made our way home, we delayed lunch plans slightly as the heavens opened, but that meant that we happened to be driving past the East Anglian Railway Museum just as our stomachs were rumbling.

Unfortunately the need to get back to pick up the kids meant that we didn’t have time to do the museum itself, but the pair of us loved having lunch in an old railway carriage on one of the platforms as we watched real trains go through the middle of the museum. Yet another reason to return soon.

Norfolk

As if all that wasn’t enough we also managed to squeeze in a quick overnight trip to Norfolk to see B’s family. We figured it was the last chance we’d get before the wedding so we thought we ought to make the effort.

It was very much a flying visit, but no visit to Wells Next The Sea would be complete without fish and chips from French’s. If you’re ever in the area it is the place to go. Don’t let the queue put you off. It’s well worth the wait.

The gorgeous weather also meant that we were desperate to fit in a beach trip and we managed it. Holkham is one of B’s favourite beaches and I totally agree as to why. It’s just so big that even on the busiest of days it doesn’t seem busy. There’s also something completely magical about paddling in the sea and it’s one of those things that I think should be done at every possible opportunity.

Leighton Buzzard Railway

The fortnight finished with a final trip out with the kids to the Leighton Buzzard Railway. Master C is a huge train fan and seeing as Leighton Buzzard is our closest train day out we thought it about time we visited.

Needless to say the kids had a ball (full write up coming soon on Penny Travels) but once again it reminded me how much days out are exhausting me with this pregnancy. Luckily we were able to change our plans and just stay home the following day, but it was another reminder not to plan too much these holidays.

The one where I turned 40 and took off all my clothes in public

August 6, 2018 by Penny 3 Comments

It’s hard to believe that it’s two years since I ventured off to Tea and Tents for the first time, and boy how my life has changed since then. Back then I described it as one of the most inspiring weekends of my life and just being back in the same place and seeing how far I’ve come since then was in a way quite humbling.

The Women’s Institute has helped turn around my life over the last few years. It’s given me confidence, courage and ambition, and without it I don’t think I would have made the changes I have to my life. I realised how unhappy I was and made differences to give me and my kids a better, happier life. The WI as a whole, the experiences I’ve had there and the friends I’ve made are what made all this possible.

When I discovered that the 2018 event was the weekend after my 40th birthday it seemed like the perfect time to celebrate with some of my closest girlfriends. What I didn’t realise when I booked my ticket was that I would by then be 24 weeks pregnant. Or that the country would be in the middle of a massive heatwave.

Never fear though – with a paramedic in my WI group, plus my mum and sister living just down the road from Walesby I set off determined to have a fab time and I did just that.

Last time round I was totally disorganised (possibly something to do with the amount of gin I took with me!) but with a clear head I this time planned my activities somewhat more and even booked in for some workshops and activities before I went.

For those unfamiliar with it, Tea and Tents is an unofficial WI festival that runs over three days on a Scout camp in Nottinghamshire. With over 500 women of all different ages and backgrounds, it’s a completely unique experience that I think is one that all WI members should try to see for themselves.

There is so much on offer that even after being more organised I still only feel like I scratched the surface of what there was. But I once again came home from Walesby feeling reinvigorated and motivated in a way that I hadn’t before.

Being pregnant meant that things like axe throwing were off the agenda for me, but instead I aimed to strike more of a mental balance by signing up to a variety of craft activities. I started off the weekend by totally throwing myself into the festival vibe and making a flower crown. How else are you supposed to look when going round a campsite in your pyjamas in a morning?

I’ve never really been very good with fresh flowers, but Polly was a fantastic tutor and gave us a great workshop showing us how to form the basic crown from wore and then adding on flowers as we wanted to. Bearing in mind we all started off with very similar flowers, it was amazing just how different all the finished crowns were. But that’s individuality for you.

I booked onto a card making workshop on a bit of a whim. Mainly because I was looking for something to fill a time slot and because a couple of my friends were going. I’m so glad I did though as I absolutely loved it and came away with a couple of completed cards. It also introduced me to Stampin’ Up and I know I’ll be heading there way to order a few bits for some Christmas card making later in the year.

There were so many sewing and needle felting workshops that I wanted to do, but in the end I went for one simply titled “stitch a suffragette”. With no picture as I guidance it was a bit of a case of booking in the dark, but I’m so glad I did. Run by a mother and daughter team from Old Town Belles WI, it was quite simply one of the most organised workshops I’ve ever been to.

With pre-prepared fabric hoops and kits consisting of all the pre-cut pieces of fabric we would need to create our suffragette (as well as detailed written instructions) it really did make the process of creating such an impressive looking piece of embroidery quite simple.

The two hour session just flew past and I’m so pleased and proud of my finished piece. Another member was telling me about how she was planning to add hers to a suffragette collection of artwork and memorabilia that she had in her downstairs loo and that somehow seemed just strangely perfect.

The other highlight of my weekend couldn’t really be any further away from the stereotypical Women’s Institute image of stitching a suffragette. After signing up for a swimming session at Walesby I was convinced by some of the other women online to join them in the organised skinny dipping session. And somehow I agreed to this without a drink inside me!

Two years ago there were stories floating around the camp about an impromptu spot of skinny dipping, but this time around it was far more pre-planned. With a lifeguard and everything! Quite what made me sign up to do it I’ll never know. But I’m so glad I did.

Never before have I felt so liberated and free. Naked in an open air swimming pool. My pregnant body fully on display. With a bunch of women that I had never met before, but yet I felt so comfortable. And heck that water was beautifully refreshing when it was so hot outside.

What a way to celebrate turning 40!

Just two days before my 40th the blogging world lost one of its brightest stars. Kate from WitWitWoo died suddenly, and we were all left stunned. How could someone so full of life be dead? Kate always told us to live life to the full. Not to worry about what everyone else thought. To wear what we wanted to wear. To be who we wanted to be. The blogging community came together in a way that Kate would have loved so much.

Inspired by T from Mummy Barrow we all decided to make the following weekend by embracing body confidence regardless of our size or shape. Bloggers across the country (and around the world on holiday in may cases) showed off their swimsuit selfies on social media. She would have laughed so hard (especially as many of us realised just how damn hard it is to take a good selfie in swimwear!) but I know she would have also been proud. #BeMoreWitWitWoo has already become a mantra for so many of us, and that’s exactly what I was doing when I went skinny dipping. Take these crazy experiences that life throws at you and embrace them as much as you can.

The final message that I took home from Tea and Tents this time round was being realistic about what is possible in life. A deflated air mattress, a bad bag, and crazy temperatures meant that the camping element wasn’t the easiest of things to deal with. The final night I headed off to my mum’s rather than endure another night under canvas. Although I missed out on some time with my friends (who it seems managed to stagger round most of the campsite making friends into the small hours) I instead slept for a decent length of time, woke without aches and pains, had a loo just down the corridor when the baby decided bouncing on my bladder at 3am was a fun thing to do, and also got a hot shower the next morning. As a result I felt refreshed for my return home – and clean for once too!

Quality Pregnancy Sleep thanks to Dreamgenii

August 4, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

It’s fair to say that I didn’t plan this pregnancy very well when it comes to getting a decent night’s sleep during it. These crazy temperatures mean that everyone has been struggling to sleep – regardless of whether they’re pregnant or not. It’s impossible to sleep when it’s still about 28 degrees in your bedroom, even when you have a fan running and all the windows open. All that means it’s been a bit tough to give the Dreamgenii a fair review until now.

I was fascinated when I first saw the Dreamgenii pregnancy support pillow at Blog On back in May as it doesn’t really look like any other pregnancy pillow that I’ve seen. As well as the familiar curved shape it also has an extra bit added on that I’ll come to in a minute.

How to sleep when pregnant

Firstly, one question that I’ve heard people ask, especially those that have never been pregnant, is why you need a special pillow during pregnancy. It’s true that not everyone does, but all three times I’ve been pregnant my sleep has been disrupted by back ache and also some degree of pain in my hips too.

As well as giving you a whole different body shape, pregnancy also affects joints, ligaments and muscles in different ways and for many women that can result in some degree or pain or discomfort. In previous pregnancies I’ve found that sleeping on my side with a pillow tucked between my knees helps somewhat, but it is bulky, cumbersome and not always perfect.

It’s also worth adding here that NHS guidance is for pregnant women to sleep on their side when pregnant, and ideally on their left hand side. Over the year there have been some frightening headlines about the risks of women sleeping on their backs (and as an aside this useful bit of the NHS website helps you understand the facts behind such headlines) but if you’re used to sleeping on your back it can be a hard habit to kick. Especially when you’re asleep and don’t realise you’re doing it!

Dreamgenii’s design

This is exactly where the Dreamgenii’s clever design can help. As well as having a curved section that works as both a knee support and also a bump support the pillow continues with another section. Joined to the end of the main curve is a flat non-padded comfort panel and then a smaller back support cushion section.

It’s a bit confusing to describe at first, but basically you lie on your side with the flat comfort panel section under your body. The larger section then goes in front of you, supporting your bump, and the curve continues and goes between your legs. This helps to align your hips straight and stop pain and discomfort there and in the pelvic area.

The back support cushion section does very much as the name suggests and rests in the small of your back. This is the part of the cushion that I wasn’t all that sure about at first, but it not only supports your back, but also stops you from rolling on to your back when asleep.

How did I sleep?

Let’s totally separate out this crazy summer we’ve been having. In fairness nothing was going to get me a better night’s sleep when it’s so hot. When the temperatures have been lower though, the Dreamgenii has been an absolute dream. I hadn’t really realised just how much I roll around in my sleep until now, but I’ve found that I can use the Dreamgenii to stop me from doing so and I seem to sleep longer and deeper as a result. For daytime naps in particular it has been amazing. I’ve woken up feeling refreshed and not in pain.

At night time I still find that I want to swap sides in the night and the Dreamgenii stops me from just doing that in my sleep. Instead I tend to wake up completely, reposition myself and the pillow and then going back to sleep. Trying to position it with the back support section whilst half-asleep took a bit of getting used to, but once I’d got the knack it was easy enough. Then once asleep I stay off my back and tend to sleep deeper too.

What I really like about the Dreamgenii is the additional bump support (this time round my bump aches in a way that I don’t remember having before) and also the lack of general bulk. There’s still room to have my other half snuggle up to me without him feeling pushed out of the way by a pillow!

With a retail price around the £49.99 mark the Dreamgenii does work out a bit more expensive that some other pregnancy support pillows on the market, but I think that is worthwhile for the addition of the back support and the lack of general bulk to the pillow.

Feeding support pillow

What I’ve obviously not been able to test out yet is how good the Dreamgenii is when you use it as a feeding pillow. As I understand it, the idea for this is that you have the comfort panel behind your back and the back support to one side of you, almost locking the rest of the pillow in place in front of you. That way it stops it slipping in someway whilst you feed.

The only bit I can’t get my head around yet is how you work it if you decide to swap sides mid-feed. I’ll admit that it’s over 5 years since I last breastfed, but I’m pretty sure my two did swap sides mid-feed and therefore expect this one might be similar. Will this work with the Dreamgenii. I guess I’ll have to wait a few more months to find out.

The Dreamgenii pregnancy support pillow retails for £49.99 and you can buy one directly from them here. Some of the range are also available online via Amazon.

Disclaimer: I was sent a Dreamgenii for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate (and non-affiliate) links.

Pregnancy Diary – Weeks 23 and 24

August 3, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

Can you tell that the school holidays have arrived? Hence all organised work plans just fly out of the window. Combine that with the stupidly hot summer we’re having (remember I’m northern, I prefer the cold!) and it seems I’m behind on absolutely everything right now. Including blogging.

There are moments when this pregnancy feels like it’s going on for ever. And other moments where it feels like only two minutes since we found out. A hell of a lot has happened since then, but there still seems to be so much more to do before we’re organised for this November arrival.

Looking back I’ve been trying to remember what I’ve been up to these last two weeks. A glance at the diary suggests actually quite a lot!

Sorting out the paperwork

Firstly – and possibly most excitingly – was a trip to the local register office. Paperwork all submitted and we’re getting married. Quite soon! We decided there was absolutely no point in hanging around and seeing as we want to do it before this baby arrives we were a little bit limited in free dates in the diary when all three kids would be with us. Luckily it was one of those cases where we came up with a possible date, found the registrar could do it and so could all our immediate family. Hence we booked it. It’s only going to be a small do followed by afternoon tea, but I’m so excited I could burst! I just need to find a dress that’s going to fit and hope that this baby doesn’t decide to make a surprise early appearance.

Turning 40

As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one week, just a couple of days later I celebrated one of those big birthday events that ends in a zero. Yep – somehow 40 has arrived and it’s fair to say that life isn’t at all how I expected it would be at this age. If you’d told me two years ago that I would have celebrated my 40th with a non-alcoholic gin and tonic as pregnant with baby number three I would have laughed at you. But here I am. And I couldn’t be happier.

In the end it was a quiet day. The day before I’d tagged along with B on a work trip to Kent and we managed a couple of hours at Bodiam Castle and a traditional National Trust Cream Tea which was a lovely pre-birthday treat. B managed to get the day off work for my birthday itself, so a lie in followed by lunch out was in order, before the rush of school pick up, swimming lessons and Cubs AGMs in the evening.

Luckily B snuck the kids to the supermarket for a spot of cake buying and the appearance of two friends at the AGM picnic meant I had a bit of a celebration there. By the time we got home it was late so there was just chance for that sneaky G&T before bed. It’s a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle I lead.

Tea and Tents

The weekend after my birthday is when life got much more exciting though. I headed north for a child free weekend and Tea and Tents. This amazing WI filled weekend deserves a blog post of its own, but needless to say it was fantastic (apart from a deflating air mattress!) and a perfect tonic to the madness of day to day family life. I ticked something major off my (as yet un-finished) 40 things to do when I’m 40 list, but more about that later.

End of Term

Once I was back from Tea and Tents we had the usual end of term madness. Somehow I’ve managed to get Little Miss C and Master C to the end of Year 3 and Reception at school and I’m so proud of how they’re doing. Despite all the disruption of the last year both had glowing school reports with LMC showing huge strength in reading, writing and French, and Master C in all things mathematical and scientific. They may both be so different in many ways, but I’m proud of both of them.

Birth Choices Clinic

The final bit of this fortnight of pregnancy was a trip with B to the local hospital to attend the birth choices clinic there. As I’ve spoken about before here, a consultant at the hospital has said that I can choose to have an elective C-section if I want to with this baby, but she referred us to the clinic to help us make an informed decision as to what to do. At least we thought we were going to attend the clinic. Right up until that moment when you tell the receptionist why you’re there and she looks at you and says “but there isn’t a birth choices clinic running today”. Argh!

All my medical care at this hospital has been fantastic so far, but I have to say that the admin side of things has been somewhat shoddy. Mistakes in letters, lost notes, cancelled appointments. The list goes on. Luckily a chat with the admin manager about these failings, and an acknowledgement from her that it wasn’t good enough, led to her finding one of the midwife matrons and we ended up with a private session with her to discuss our options instead. I have to say that she was excellent and answered all the questions we had, as well as some that we hadn’t even though of yet.

We think we’ve made our decision now, but babies can be unpredictable things. Who knows what the rest of this pregnancy might be like. So we’re keeping a bit of an open mind for now as to what we’ll do, depending on how things pan out.

And in a nutshell that’s it. Two weeks of busy family life with a couple of big milestones and a whole lot of fun thrown in for good measure. I’m shattered by the end of it though and slightly worried about everything that needs to be done over the next couple of months, but I’m sure well get there. Well, at least I hope we will!

Pregnancy Diary – Week 22

July 19, 2018 by Penny Leave a Comment

The weeks seem to be rushing past in this pregnancy. When it was all still a big secret in the first trimester it felt like time was dragging, but now that we’re past that point things are going so fast. Before I know it there will be a baby here! Guess I’d better start getting organised…

If anything though, I’ve done absolutely nothing over the last week that can even vaguely count towards getting organised. There’s been a lot of dull practical “life admin” like getting the exhaust fixed on my car and spending ages trying to find a garage with enough gas to re-gas my air conditioning. Really thrilling!

I also found time to take Little Miss C to her first pool party – Brownies end of year celebrations have certainly moved on from the church hall disco of my youth.

Dublin

The lovely Bonn and I also found time for a bit of a mini-holiday. Emphasis on the word mini. We were out of the country for less than 36 hours, but we still somehow managed to have a great time and feel like we’d properly had a break. I realise that I’m not going to be able to fly for much longer so I took advantage of him having a work job over in Ireland to squeeze in a quick trip to Dublin.

Dublin’s a city that we’ve been back to several times over the last year and we’ve made it very much our own. In particular we happened upon a lively little tapas restaurant there on one of our first visits and now we just have to keep going back. Normally we only get chance to squeeze in a quick lunch before rushing back to the airport. This time though we had an overnight stay and a proper dinner out. A rare thing!

The next day even allowed uptime to be proper tourists. After a trip round Tower Records (honestly we only went in so I could use the loo, yet came out with some vinyl!) we hopped on an opened topped tourist bus. They may seem like a bit of a naff thing to some, but when you want to be a tourist and can’t walk far they’re the perfect solution.

Tapas

It’s my 40th next week so we decided to make it into a proper birthday meal out – knowing that my real birthday will become somewhat lost in a flurry of kids related activities. It was lovely to just for once get the chance to properly relax and enjoy the moment (and the excellent food) rather than rushing off somewhere. If you’re ever in Dublin I definitely recommend finding The Port House Pintxo. Just don’t tell everyone. We kind of like it being our little secret out there.

Bekonscot Model Village

We finished the week with a. trip to Bekonscot Model Village. We’ve visited loads of times before, but this was the first time Bonn had been and Master C in particular was very keen to show him the trains there. Little Miss C actually went on a school trip a couple of weeks ago, but felt that she hadn’t got to see everything she wanted, so was more than happy to return.

I was also keen as I’d seen some tweets about a new section to the village and I was excited about seeing the village’s first underground station and funicular which had officially opened only a few days before.

It’s far to say we had an absolute blast. Trying to bend down to see some of the details is a tad tricky with a bit of a bump though! Look out for a full review soon over on Penny Travels.

Tots 100 Pregnancy Round Up

It’s not only been a week of days out and travel though. In between there has been plenty of work and also pulling together the latest Tots 100 Pregnancy Round Up. It’s live over on the Tots site if you want to go and have a read.