Diary of a very happy mammy of 3 miracles

[Shamrock.]

Thursday 7th February 2019

P is 5 years 11 Months Old Today

Ps appointment to see the cardiologist is now Tues 19th February so less than 2 weeks to wait for that. If you’re prepared to pay privately you can magically knock ten weeks off the waiting list. It doesn’t seem fair but that’s the way it is.

At WW on Wednesday I was down 0.5 lbs. The two previous weeks I stayed the same weight so I now have 10 lbs to loose to get to goal. As always the way I loose or gain weight is one of life’s greatest mysteries.... I have been sticking rigidly to my WW points for the last few weeks and exercising as much as possible and I seem to be stuck at the same weight, whereas for 6 weeks over Xmas I ate and drank what I wanted and I only gained 1 lb ...how does that happen ??  

I’m on week 5 of the couch to 5km program. I’ve been doing it 3 times a week since I started and I’m really enjoying it. I can feel myself getting fitter and my clothes are starting to fit me better so I’m going to stick with it.

[FertilityFriends]

[Shamrock.]

Thursday 14th February 2019

J will be 7 months old in 2 days time

At WW yesterday I was down 1.5lbs so I now have 8.5 lbs to loose to get to my goal weight 
I’m not sure how I lost 1.5lbs this week because I didn’t stick to WW points allowance as rigidly as the previous few weeks  I had a few beers and nibbles at home Friday night and I had a few glasses of wine at a concert I brought my mum to on Sunday night (JM). I did however do my couch to 5km program 3 times in the week so I think that’s what helped. I now only have 4lbs to loose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight 

I’m back to work today    I had planned to go back next week but I got a letter from my HR department last Thursday telling me that they are putting me on half pay from this week because I have reached my sick leave limit so I have to go back now I thought pregnancy related illness wasn’t counted for half pay purposes but apparently it is. Before my car accident last March I had no sick leave at all but between that and being signed off on maternity leave in May because of the bleeds I had in Js pregnancy I am now at the limit of the amount of sick leave for which I am entitled to full pay. Anyways, it is what it is....I’ve been off work on full pay since last May so I can’t complain too much.

I’m in a well paid, permanent job so I knew I would be going back to work even with 3 children to care for. I wouldn’t put all of the burden of having to financially support our family on DH. I am happy to contribute too so that the kids will have secure futures and we can enjoy the here and now without financial worries.

I will miss J like anything while I am away from him but I’m only going to work on Thursdays and Fridays until at least September and I will probably take extra time off during the summer so I will have the best of both worlds. I will get plenty of time with the kids when I’m at home and I will get to use my brain and have adult interaction when I’m at work. The first few weeks getting used to being back in work and away from the kids will be difficult but I will survive! Thankfully T, the brilliant childminder we have for the last 2.5 years is going to mind them so I don’t have to worry about how well they are being cared for.

J has 2 teeth fully up now on his bottom gum and his face has put on weight from eating solids and it has made him extremely cute looking. I think he is getting more gorgeous looking by the day. He has big chocolate brown eyes and his hair is all spiky looking because it is just starting to grow  He was definitely top of the queue when God was giving out cuteness  He is developing really well too thank God. He loves eating solids and makes squawking noises to tell me when he wants more food  He interacts great with P and R and they adore him  He is able to pick things up and put his own soother back in. He gets very excited to see me when I have been away from him for a bit.

Anyways ...have to get up and get ready for work!

[Shamrock.]

Wednesday 20th February 2019

P is 5 years 11.5 months old

P got on fine at her cardiology appointment yesterday. The consultant did a heart echo scan and said she does have an extra beat in the top chambers of her heart but he thinks it is nothing to be overly concerned about because it is not causing her any physical problems such as fainting or chest discomfort etc. He said he wanted to have her fitted with a holter monitor for 24 hours to get an accurate picture of how often the extra beats happen. He also sent her for a ecg.

So P came home from the appointment wired up to the holter monitor which was set to record for 24 hours. I am to send the monitor back to them by registered post and the consultant will review the findings from that and the ecg and let me know if P needs to see him again. He said even if nothing shows up on the holter monitor and ecg P would need to be seen by a cardiologist once a year to ensure that the irregularity does not affect her as her heart grows. He made it sound as if there is nothing to worry about so fingers crossed there isn't 

There was a very funny moment when P was getting the heart echo scan done. She had to lie on a trolley bed and the consultant did the scan with gel on a wand and we could see what was happening on a screen. He scanned her tummy because I think they do that to look upwards at the heart and he also scanned her chest. When he was finished P said very seriously to him "Am I going to have a baby?"   
In fairness to her it was the very same as a pregnancy ultrasound  I couldn't stop laughing but of course I reassured her she is most definitely not having a baby 

I did really well at my WW weigh in this morning I was down 2lbs this week    So I now have 6.5 lbs to get to goal.... I’m happy with that. I did have a Thai takeaway and a few drinks Friday night but I burned off the extra calories by doing my couch to 5km training three times again this week  I even went out training in the pouring rain yesterday evening so I deserved a good weigh in this morning 

Work went fine last week. It was a novelty to be able to sit down on my behind all day coz when I’m at home with the kids I never get a minute to sit down. I also got to go on tea break where I got to drink a full mug of hot tea while chatting to my work pals and nobody asked me to wipe their bum or get them something  I did miss the kids especially J but I think I will have a nice balance now of being a good mum and having a little bit of life for myself  I’m back in work tomorrow and Friday....hopefully it will go as well as last week.

[Shamrock.]

Wednesday 6th March 2019

P is 6 years old tomorrow!
R is 4 years 11 months old
J is 7 months 3 weeks old

I can't believe P will be 6 years old tomorrow! ... That was a very quick 6 years! DH said to me earlier that this day 6 years ago we had no children and now we are lucky enough to have 3 of them and our lives are completely different

I absolutely love P and I couldn't imagine life without her. I am so glad we went down the donor route and I became her mum. She is very beautiful, highly intelligent, caring and feisty and I get to be her mum forever. I'm looking forward to seeing her grow and learn different things and develop her talents more as she gets older

I got on great at WW this morning. I am down 1.5 lbs since last week. I was up 0.5lbs last week so now I only have 5.5lbs to loose to get to my goal weight. According to my home scales I am back to the weight I was before I became pregnant with J so i am delighted with that 
I had gained 25lbs during his pregnancy!

I'm on week 9 of the couch to 5km program and I'm now able to jog/run for 25 minutes continuously without keeling over I feel so much fitter than I did before I started doing the program and thanks to it and WW most of the clothes in my wardrobe are fitting me again. I even bought a new size 10 blouse yesterday and it fits me well 

On Monday I got the results of the smear test I had done in November and thankfully it shows no abnormalities    The results 'only' took 14 or 15 weeks to come back. I was very nervous opening the envelope when I saw the 'Cervical Check' logo. I was terrified it would show something amiss because it was 4 years since I had done the last one.

[Shamrock.]

Sunday 10th March 2019

P is 6 years 3 days old

We had Ps birthday party at home yesterday. It went great. I tried to keep the guest list as small as possible and in the end there was 15 children including P and R. I only invited 4 girls from her class at school, the rest were friends of Ps from pre-school, 2 neighbours and a few cousins. It was a unicorn themed party and I got a gorgeous birthday cake made for her with a unicorn and rainbow on top. We played old school type games like ‘pin the tail on the donkey’, pass the parcel, musical statues, hide and go seek and dancing games. I gave out prizes and made sure everyone got something. I organized for a lady to come in to do glitter face painting and tattoos for all the kids. Everyone enjoyed themselves 

[Shamrock.]

Monday 18th March 2019

J is 8 Months 2 Days Old

I did it !!! Yesterday on St Patrick’s Day I completed my first ever official chip timed 5km race.
I jogged all the way and finished in 31.10 minutes  Not bad for a 46 year old with an 8 month old baby.  And not bad considering I only started the couch to 5km program 10 weeks ago  I’m very proud that I set a goal for myself and I achieved it. I’m hoping to keep it up now and take part in another 5km race soon.

I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit with my weight loss. Last week I was up 0.5lbs (6lbs to loose) because I ate too much birthday cake etc the weekend of Ps birthday and last night I had too many alcoholic drinks and naughty nibbles in our friends house so I expect to be up weight again this week but I will try to reign it in before this Wednesday’s weigh in.

J turned 8 months old on Saturday. He’s starting to get a lot better at sitting up on his own. He can sit now for a minute or two without toppling over. He doesn’t have much interest in drinking his bottles anymore but he is great to eat solids. He has a really good appetite and eats loads. I moved him in 9-12 month old clothes a few days ago as he was getting way too big for the 6-9 month old ones.

J is a great little fella and I love him and P and R to bits but I finally have absolutely no desire to have another baby. I finally feel that my family is totally complete and I will never do another IVF cycle again. It’s a relief to be out the other side of the infertility journey and I am never going back to it. We do have frozen embryos so we need to decide what we are going to do with them. At the moment I am leaning towards donating them to science 

Update:
I meant to say J has being saying “Ma” and “Mama” for the last few days  It is magical to hear 

Also I heard from the cardiologist who saw P a few weeks ago and he said the holter monitor showed some extra beats in the upper chambers of heart but it is relatively common for children to have that so he is not at all concerned and P doesn’t need to see him again 

[Shamrock.]

Thursday 28th March 2019

P is 6 years, 2 Weeks Old
R is 5 years, 1 Day Old
J is 8.5 Months Old

It was Rs birthday yesterday. He’s 5 years old now  I can’t believe he is 5 already. It only seems like yesterday he was born. Years are going by so quickly... I think it’s because I’m so busy all the time.

Anyways, so it was Rs birthday and I bought a dinosaur cake to send into his preschool with him. I asked his teacher to take photos of him getting the cake and blowing out the candles and she sent me some adorable photos of R with his best friend L (a 3.5 year old girl who lives right next door to us). She had her arm around Rs shoulder in every photo and she was looking adoringly at him ...so cute 

As part of the birthday celebrations the 5 of us i.e. me, DH, P, R and J went to Eddie Rockets last night for something to eat and I am organising a birthday party for him at home on Saturday 6th April.

I didn’t go to WW last week and this week at yesterday’s weigh in I’m the same weight as I was 2 weeks ago. I still have 6lbs to loose to get to goal. Last Saturday morning I did a 5km parkrun in 31.14 minutes and I did 4km myself twice in the week. My weight seems to have hit a plateau despite all the exercise and being good with my food most of the time but I know from experience that’s what happens to me so I just have to stick at it and I should see results on the scales in a few weeks.

[Shamrock.]

Sunday 31st March 2019 - Mother’s Day

It’s Mother’s Day and as a treat I am having a lovely lie-in while DH looks after our 3 munchkins down stairs. He has promised to bring me breakfast in bed so I’m lying here waiting for that 
Earlier this morning the minute P woke up she ran into our room threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug and a kiss (She said her teacher Miss G told all the kids to do that to their mums on Mother’s Day  ) She told me to close my eyes because she had a surprise for me and she went off to get a card and a bunch of paper flowers that she had made me at school  I shed a few tears of happiness when she gave them to me She said she had kept them hidden in her bedroom since Friday so that I would have a nice surprise today.

R also made me a card in school and he gave me a big kiss this morning when I asked him to. I haven’t seen J yet coz DH got up to him earlier  DH also gave me a card and wrote in it that he appreciates all the things that I do for him and the kids every day.

I did another 5km parkrun yesterday morning and this time I pushed myself a bit more than usual and I managed to reach my goal of completing it in less than 30 minutes. I got a new personal best of 29.08 minutes    I’m delighted with myself but my legs are still aching today and I was wrecked tired last night.

I have to bring J to the children’s hospital in Dublin tomorrow for a check-up with the respiratory team. It’s 4 months since his last check-up. He still wears the CPAP mask every night but he pulls it off himself during the night so I don’t know how many hours a night he is getting on it. He is growing and developing well so hopefully he is getting enough.

[Shamrock.]

Wednesday 3rd April 2019

J is 8.5 months old

J got on fine at his check-up on Monday. He was weighed and measured by a nurse and he weighs 8.7kg and he is 72cm long. We saw the consultant PMN and he was very pleased with J's progress i.e how well he is growing and developing. The morning of the appointment I downloaded the computer chip from his CPAP machine so the consultant could see how much of it he is getting now. He said it is very hit and miss. Some nights he gets loads of hours on it and some nights he gets only a couple of hours. I explained that J is able to pull the mask off and he is sleeping in a different room to us now so we don't always know when he pulls it off. I asked should we try to put it back on him in the middle of the night and he said there is no need to.

PMN is going to organise for a sleep study to be done on J at home so he will organise for him to be connected to a device to measure his oxygen levels at night over 3 nights...2 nights on CPAP and 1 night without it and they will then decide whether or not he needs to continue with the CPAP. I will hear from them when they are able to organise it and in the meantime we are to continue as we have been.

J is doing great. In the last few days he has started to imitate sounds that I make with my mouth. If I make a lol lol sound by moving my tounge from side to side J does the same. If I make a kind of Indian noise with my hand and my mouth then J does the same thing. He also blows raspberries if I do. It is sooo cute. P and R are having great fun playing the imitation game with him too. It's great to see them interacting and having fun together. J is able to say Dada, Mama and Baba and he ‘talks’ in his own language a lot. The last few days  I am trying to teach him how to clap his hands and he hasn’t got the hang of it yet but when I say clap, clap he says something that sounds like ‘clap’ 

As J is really good at sitting up now I got him a walker yesterday and he loves it. He is already getting the hang of moving around in it and he is already pulling clothes off the clothes horse and opening the washing machine door 

I got on great in WW this morning. I am down 3lbs this week 
So now I only have 3lbs left to get to my goal weight  I have lost 14.5 lbs since I rejoined WW at the beginning of October... it has been slow progress but definitely worth the effort 

[Shamrock.]

Wednesday 10th April 2019

P is 6 years, 1 month old
R is 5 years, 2 weeks old
J is 8 months, 3 weeks old

We had Rs birthday party last Saturday 6th April. We had it at our house and it went great. For it we had a 36 foot long bouncy castle obstacle course in the shape of a red lizard in our back garden  Luckily our back garden is quiet large for a housing estate (as we are living in a corner house) because the lizard was huge...much bigger looking than I imagined it would be. It was delivered on Friday evening and not collected until Monday evening so the kids had 3 full days of fun in it. R had a brilliant time. DH spent a lot of time chasing him through it which he absolutely loved 

I deliberately kept the number of kids invited to the party as low as possible and we had 15 kids at it including P and R. I invited only 3 from Rs class at preschool and the rest were neighborhood kids that R plays with and cousins. We were lucky with the weather so I was able to feed them all pizza and chips outside in the garden at the picnic bench. I got a cake made in the shape of a Minnion because that was what R wanted.

P was a bit off form on the morning of the party and I suspected she was coming down with something but she joined in the fun during the day and even went on a sleepover to her friend Ms house two doors down from us that night. The next morning when N dropped her back she seemed really unwell and she was saying her tummy hurt so I checked her temperature and it was 39c. I gave her Calpol and she lay on the couch unable to do anything. A while later her temperature spiked to 40.3c so I got her an appointment with the out of hours doctor. He checked her pee sample and said it showed something and he suspected a uti or kidney infection so he started her on Augmentin antibiotics which she is to take for a week. Her pee sample was sent to the lab and I am supposed to hear from my usual gp to let me know if there is an infection there. I kept her off school Monday and she insisted on going back yesterday.

At WW this morning I weighed in the same as last week so I still have 3 lbs to loose to get to goal. I’m happy with that this week because I went totally off plan food wise at the weekend and I didn’t do my usual run at the weekend either. I had takeaway two nights in a row, a few glasses of wine, birthday cake and Easter egg amongst other ‘naughty’ stuff so how I didn’t gain weight is a mystery