Shots and other happenings...

Hi there.

Yesterday I went to the hospital for the routine check and as always I was there for ages.
But all is well and the baby is kicking like mad.
Mr T and Leon went to see granddad and I'm glad they did as Leon would have been sooo restless in the hospital...and not to even mention what Mr T would have been.
Anyway, just as the doc checked all the necessities we came to talk about my previous medical history with all the infections and the loss of baby Milo.
She then decided to take a swab to check that I haven't got GBS (Group B streptococcus) present again. This is something that isn't routine but I'm glad she was so thorough.
Then she said that she thought that I should have two shots to mature the babies lungs just in case I went into premature labour again.
I was quite taken aback as I've never heard of an option as such. When expecting Leon nothing like that was even mention and that was just a year after losing Milo.
However, as there was no downsides to get this done I agreed to have the first shot yesterday evening at 11pm. Both me and Mr.T was soo tired by the time we got home from the hospital and then just knowing that we'd have to drive back later in the evening wasn't too positive.
But hey, you do what ever you can to make sure the welfare of your child.
So come later evening, we packed in a sleeping Leon in the car and went back into town again.
Got the shot (in my bum and it's still a bit sore) and went home again.
As the second shot needs to be taken 12 hours later we were off to town again today.
Got a new shot, close to my hipbone this time, and that was it.
It feels good to have it done just in case the worst case scenario would happen.
I'll be 28 weeks gone tomorrow Friday, and if the baby somehow decides to clock out earlier at least we've made the chances of survival better.

Leon is now running around like mad. No stopping him. :D
His granddad came back from a trip to LA just a week or so ago and have bought us some LA Lakers gears.
We all got caps and some t-shirts.
Leon got a proper little Lakers kit and looks so adorable in it. He seems to like it a lot.

Later this evening I'm having Mr T to do some drilling and put some shelves up in Leon's new room.
Better get it done on his last day off before it's back to work again.

I'm checking the developers homesite now and then to check on what houses in the area are sold or still up for sale and now it seems that we're soon to have a next door neighbour. That should be interesting. I just hope that they aren't noisy.
A young family similar to ourselves would be ideal.
We just have to wait and see.
A close by playmate for Leon would be great.

Take Care!

Progress in the walking department.

Hello there.

Just a quick hello and some films of Leon shot lately.
He's now toddling around more and more so soon we'll be running after him non-stop and cursing the day he left the ground with his bum. :D

Drinking and laughing with daddy


Toddling around on Bambi legs

We've been to a friend this evening and had a snooze at their gorgeous 1 week old baby daughter.
She's tiny! Was only 2,5 kg when born so even smaller than Leon yet born in week 39.
Such a sweet little cutie.
I can't believe than we'll be having one of those again in a little more than 3 months time.

Well, well.. I must say I'm actually looking forward to it more than I did before.
To have a tiny little one will be tough, specially with Leon to care for too but I hope we'll manage somehow.

Take Care!

Update from the Emerald Isle

Hello there!

Long time no see.
I've been absolutely shite at updating my blog and once again I apologize for the few readers that I might have left.

My back/bum is almost back to normal now and the feeling of being able to walk around without pain is wonderful.
The belly's getting bigger and I really hope that the pain wont come back again.

My dear mother is still here. Yes, STILL.. And I don't want her to go home but I reckon I need to let her go soon.She's been here since June but her help has been priceless and invaluable!
She's the VERY best mother one could ever hoped for.
If I turn out to be a fraction as good as her I'd be happy.

Leon's growing and are getting cuter and cuter by the day. Still not walking unaided but he took a few steps the other evening.
The smile he gave us when realising he could walk unaided makes your heart go warm.


He's also starting to make a new face when he's up to something naughty. He'll wrinkle his nose, as if saying "I'm too cute to be told off aren't I?"..
The picture below is one of those "wrinkly" moments... :D

On the way out with his trike

My handsome little fella

We went and had a scan the week before last as was amazed at seeing the baby yawning at us. Got some nice pictures and we also found out that Leon's is to have a baby brother! :D
We were thinking of leaving it to be a surprise but once there having the scan our curiosity became to great.
Well, well.. Leon's old baby clothes will come in handy once again. And I will have a house full of lads! :D

"Hello, hello there, here I am waving away"

The next McKinney under development

Our house is slowly becoming a home in it's own right.
Went to IKEA a few days ago and bought a changing table to spare our backs for the future.
More and larger items are to be bought at a later date but below are a few pics of the current state of our house.

Our house from the outside

The hallway seen from the kitchen

Stair leading upstairs

Kitchen

Living room, a bit on the narrow side..

From another angle

Downstairs toilet got a splash of color after the IKEA visit

Upstairs landing

Leon's room..currently more of a drying room

Family bathroom

Guestroom, at the moment filled of stuff that should be in the attic, when we get that sorted..

Our bedroom

The back garden is slowly getting green..

Take Care!
/Jess

We finally got the keys!!!

Hello there!

We've finally reached our goal. The house is ours and the move can take place on Friday.
Things haven't exactly gone smoothly but consider this is Ireland I reckon we can't be too disappointed.

However, I'm office chair bound at the moment and have been so for the last week.
The first days was an absolute nightmare. I was laid in bed unable to move OR lay still due to extreme pain. I think a nerve is trapped in my back somewhere. I was eating Neurofen like sweets although you shouldn't take that when pregnant but it was that or cry for hours.
All this lifting of Leon have slowly messed up my back and I'm scared I'll have to have a troubled back for some time now.
I'm getting better but can't walk by myself yet so come Friday, moving out day, I'll have to be carried down the stairs if I can't managed walking my self. How embarrassing is that??!
I've been so bad so if was only by a stroke of luck that Tom had a week off work when this happened to me. But as he had to return to work we had no option but to call for mum.
My darling mum is a jewel. Even though Mr. T's dad was visiting them in Sweden at the time, she didn't hesitate to fly over as soon as possible.
So here she is, taking care of Leon and me when Mr T's not around.
What ever would I do without my beloved parents?!

Leon on his rider

I'll update you again as soon as we're online in the house and things are a bit more sorted.

Take Care!
/Jess

House news etc...

Hi there.

All the contracts are finally signed. Well, for me they are. Mr T will have to sign the final contract after the snaglist been sorted and a few other papers completed.
But the girl buying our flat is signed "in" so it's all go ahead now.
We've already ordered the flooring to the house and what carpet to cover the stairs and landing.
The flooring will be walnut, although "only" laminate and the carpet was some stripy thing that was on sale.
I hope it'll look good.
We'll have to sort out the tiles for the bathrooms later too.

It's amazing how much there is to think about when buying a house. All those bits and bobs that in the end adds quite a lot to the expense in whole.

But we're so happy that we now have a family home to watch our family grow.

Here's a link to my face book where I've uploaded pictures from the house.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=273515&id=539425716&l=72d247e8af

Time to go back and play with my highly demanding son! :D

Take care!
/Jess

Another trip to A&E with Leon!

Good afternoon.

This has been an intensive day as Leon got another allergic reaction this morning.
This time to due to a bit of white toast. It didn't even had butter or anything else on but apparently it was enough with just the bread. (Contained soya and gluten so maybe one of those is bad for him?)
He got his first taste of a tiny bit of toast yesterday and that went down well but today when having two small slices he got those itchy white lumps all over his body and face started to swell within an hour or so.
Us being scared to death since last years incident took no chances and called an ambulance straight away.

Anyway, the swelling and itchy bumps slowly subsided without any medication needed but we got seen by a doctor at the hospital and got prescribed some antihistamine and two steroids for Leon's bad eczema.
Next step will be to get a referral to an allergist or dietician for his food allergy, until then all new foods are on hold.
No wonder the little mite only weighs 8,7kg when he's on such a strict diet.

I really hope that the new baby wont be having the same problems as Leon has. Two little scratchers in the family would be unbearable.

Otherwise the day has been brilliant regarding to the weather. Not a cloud on the sky and a perfect breeze of wind to cool you off.
I'm on the verge to become a human gingerbread if I stay out all day.

Take Care and hope you all get some sunshine.
xxx

Leon 1 year old!!!

Good evening.

Today was Leon's 1st birthday!
Time really has flown.
However, we haven't had any real celebrations here at home more than singing a little for him and he got some presents from nana and granddad.
He's still too young to know what a birthday mean but the reason for not having a birthday bash is mostly down to lack of space here at home. It's so cramped that I'm going crazy.
I will invite my friend Lisa and her daughter Cora and the neighbour Laima with her son David later this week (or next) but that's about it.
But next year I'll try to have a big fun party for him, in the new house, with loads of kids.
A few friends of Mr T's are expecting or just recently had a baby so by then there will be more kids to attend.
For now a meal at TGI's will suffice as a formal celebration.

A newborn Leon, one year ago...

The little mite has been a bit under the weather lately and that also added to the calm and non eventful day today.
He got some small red blisters on his hands, wrists and a few on his body and for a while I thought he'd caught chicken pox but it turned out to be infected eczema so the doc put him on antibiotics.
He also told us to get in contact with the dermatologist at the children's hospital to get it sorted as he said that it was a bad case and if left untreated his skin could be scarred.
My poor little baby. I feel so bad for him.
Fortunately he seems to be on the mend and the blisters are slowly healing but he's wearing socks on his hands to prevent him from constantly scratching.
It feels like Leon's been wearing socks or mittens on his hands his whole life.
But his hands are healing fine with the socks on so we just have to deal with it and hope that he'll some day outgrow or get less problems from his eczema.

No to something else.
Something I thought about keeping a secret for a bit longer but I'll tell yous anyway..

We're expecting baby nr 3!
Totally unexpected and unplanned but very welcomed now when it's here.
I'm still in a very early stage and things might still go wrong but then again things went bad when I had Milo and at that stage no one would have expected things to go pear shaped.
Maternity care here is awful. At least at the hospital where I'm attending.
I got my first appointment set to the 21st of August!! I'll be around 25 weeks gone by then. Appalling!
I need to be monitored from week 12 onwards I think anyway.
IF I would have got an earlier appointment when expecting Milo in 2007 his death might would have been prevented. I got an infection that probably easily would have been detected with a common urine sample.
I will not let that happen again.
I'll stand my ground and DEMAND to be seen earlier.
Too bad we can't afford to go private. I reckon things would be much better then but we just have to bite the bullet.
With the house and the move in general money is very tight but things will get better once we're settled in our new home I hope.

Anyway, time to get ready for bed and cuddle up next to the lads in my life.

Take Care!