The Whole Story

I've decided that the time has come to put Francis's birth story on the website. Certain recent events have got me thinking about it more than usual and I've realised that, while my physical recovery took only a couple of months, emotionally I still have a long way to go. I am at the point where I don't think I will ever get over it and while I feel this way the prospect of any more children is far too scary to think about. Although most people know the gist of what happened to me I really feel it's time that everyone knew the full story and I am hoping that by getting things off my chest I can start to put the experience behind me and move on.

I am warning you now, it will be long! I may need to post it in installments or there is the possibility that Graeme may set up a separate page for it. I shall make a start on it today and hopefully have it on the site within the week.

Lisa xxx

September - Pine Lake, Teen Mums and Lunch with Friends

It's occurred to me that I do not have the time to write posts for all the stuff that has happened recently, which means that my promised holiday post has been given the boot. Instead, here is September in a nutshell.

We spent the first week of September at the Pine Lake Resort in the Lake District, thanks to Graeme's parents letting us use their holiday club. We had a 2-bedroom lodge all to ourselves and were able to forget about real life for a week. Having a small baby prevented us from taking full advantage of the local acttractions and resort activities, but we still had a lovely time. We visited Lancaster (like York, but nowhere near as pretty), Morecambe (THE place to go if you have a Motability scooter) and Kendal (which was beautiful, but I was far too tired to appreciate it). We even managed to have dinner in the bar a couple of times or just a coffee if we just fancied getting out of the lodge for an hour or so. Unfortunately, Francis chose this week to start waking three times a night for a feed, so I pretty much missed the mornings by catching up on sleep. It was by no means a restful break for me, but it was lovely to have a change of scene. I'd love to take Francis back there when he's older.

September also saw me being invited to a Teenage Mums group to chat to them about breastfeeding. They were a nice bunch, not at all what I'd been expecting. Only one of them resolutely said she won't breastfeed (which, quite frankly, baffles the hell out of me) but one girl was very interested and asked loads of questions. The rest were not very vocal. The midwife thought it was amazing that I was still breastfeeding after my unconventional start to motherhood. She also told me I'm only the third HELLP Syndrome case she's ever encountered. Let's hope I'm the last; I wouldn't wish my experience on my worst enemy.

Towards the end of the month I was delighted to receive a Facebook message from my friend Vicky, who lives down in Swindon. I first got to know Vicky a few years ago via a website and we met up in person last year, along with a few others from the same website. Vicky's message said that she and her husband Phil were coming to Liverpool for a party and did I fancy meeting up for lunch? Of course I said yes, having not seen her for ages and having no idea when I'll get another chance. So, on the last day of Spetember, Graeme, Francis and myself met up with Vicky and Phil in Wetherspoons pub in town for lunch and a chat. It was lovely to see Vicky again and to meet Phil for the first time after hearing so much about him.

Sorry to be so brief, but Francis is getting more demanding now so I don't have as much time on my hands. I'll do a recap of more recent events later in the week.

Lisa xxx

Message From Beyond The Tyne...

As some people may be aware, Lisa has been spending the week up norf with the parents, enjoying the freedom that comes with having somebody else to play with the baby for 5 minutes. Given that when left on my own, I tend to sit and do absolutely nothing most of the time, there have STILL been no more updates to the website.

Obviously, Lisa now has loads of spare time while Francis is coo'd by all and sundry, so she filmed a little clip of him having a play on his gym and uploaded it to youtube. Check it out HERE.

Lisa will be back this weekend, and then (possibly) normal website service will be resumed!