New Arrival

I never finished my short blog about the arrival of our new baby. I'd had to pop in for a visit to the assessment unit the week before her arrival as I'd panicked that her movement pattern had changed (it was fine). The assessment unit was so reassuring, everyone so kind, after I had cried down the phone... I sat in the waiting room for about an hour, as the unit was so busy, luckily I had brought my crochet project with me (below) and I finished it a couple of days before Robyn was born.

My finished cushion. Next time I think I would use a smaller hook and try to make it denser so less of the cushion pad is visible. Rich did suggest I stitch a coloured cushion pad prior to covering it with the crochet but I was feeling very lazy about the finishing and didn't want to. It would have looked better if I did. I love the cushion, it's so jolly and has inspired me to begin another project once I've finished my current crochet blanket WIP. I have a sweet little Ikea chair which was bought 10 years ago in the run-up to James's birth. Its cover is well worn, has holes, has been dyed to cover stains, has faded... It's very tired! New covers are available from the Ikea website but I thought it would be nice to crochet a cover for it, it will have to be fairly dense to prevent stretching and sagging but I'll mull it over... Perhaps I'll rope in Rich's mum to help me sew a new cover instead.

Once Rich suggested the name Robyn I was very sure that was the name and didn't waver at all. My mum and nana both loved the name (hooray!), mum bought this sleepsuit for her and I hung it up next to the bed. It's an odd time because you are very aware that nothing is set in stone until your baby is safely delivered and for some reason this was playing on my mind a lot. I liked to look at the tiny clothes and wonder what our little baby would be like when she arrived.

Here she is, wearing another robin themed sleepsuit I found on eBay. The birth was very straightforward and happened overnight in the midwife-led unit at the big university hospital in Newcastle Under Lyme. I was bowled over by how fancy it was, big room with a huge bath for hydrotherapy (if you fancied). The labour was a little erratic and much slower than Oliver's, however it soon sped up after my waters had been broken by the midwife and Robyn had arrived an hour later. I remember being near to the end, knowing I needed to push and I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to have to push! They could tell though and push I did.

Robyn and I at the hospital, not long after the birth. None of the hats I had packed fit her, they were all too big for her little head. I was run a lovely deep hot bath by the healthcare assistant who followed this up by bringing me the most incredible plate of toast I have ever seen (8 rounds!). I think the toast was to be shared between me, my mum and Rich but I ate most of it cold after I'd had a nap.

We were discharged at midday, me with a revolting 10 days' worth of subcutaneous injections as a parting gift which I did not want. The scene the following morning as Rich got the boys ready for school and I sat there with this uncapped injection, trying to muster up the courage to administer it was ridiculous. It took me about 20 minutes to psych myself up to do it (I think we all have something which makes us a bit silly, mine is injections). In the end I found that doing it very slowly worked for me, firmly pressing it against my skin till it went in - I found this tip online. The injections were to prevent DVT, which has been found to be a leading cause of maternal death (who knew!), so obviously I had to be a brave woman and crack on.

Here is the other crochet project I had cast on or hooked prior to Robyn's arrival, it's the Spicier Life CAL by Sandra Paul (Cherry Heart). I managed to crochet my way through the first 4 sections before setting it aside in order to finish a cardigan which I will write a blog about soon. Having pulled it out today I am very dissatisfied with the combination of yarns I used, yes, I wish I had used sock yarn and mohair only ;-)

I may write a post about the wonderful knitted *things* I was given too! So many wonderful things!!! To end this post, a couple of pictures from when it finally snowed after a fairly mild and disappointing winter.