Tomorrow is the last day of the summer holidays and on Monday my children will all be back at school. I'll have approximately 12 weeks of quiet time during the day before our little bundle of joy will be born. I intend to make the most of that time!

Little Barney will be starting his very first day of school on Monday. He's very excited about it, although understandably a little nervous. Annabelle will be starting her first day of High School, whilst her big brother moves into the third year. So Monday will be the first day back to routine since we went travelling around America in January! What a change it will be! It's been so long that I can't even remember what times the schools start and finish at each day.

This week seems to have been very busy. What with running around to get the last few items of uniform, naming uniforms, washing, ironing and generally keeping up with the housework. I've started making homemade bread again (at last). So I'm now fully back to sprouting seeds and making bread, which should really help my health. Dan has been an amazing Dad this week and spent a lot of time with young Barney. Maybe it's the realisation that he will soon be at school. But he has made cakes with him, taken him out on walks, and made little marshmallow top hat sweets. You can read about some of that on Dan's blog - which is rarely updated but worth checking out when it is!

Wednesday evening saw us going to the wedding party of Jools and Andrew. Jools is a belly dancing friend of mine and she looked absolutely beautiful on her wedding day. It was great to see her and also another of my dance friends that has moved away.

Apocalyptica - Path

Metallica, Dublin 2008

It was on our travels in America that we heard that Metallica would be playing in Dublin this summer. I was so excited but really didn't think of booking tickets as I'd just found out that I was pregnant, and had no idea if I would be feeling well enough to go to the gig or not. But that didn't put Dan off. He secretly bought two Metallica tickets for us, while we were somewhere in a desert, somewhere in America (the wonders of the internet, eh?)

So this week saw us trekking down to Dublin for the gig of the year. I spent about 5 days building up to it. Some days I feel fine, but other days I feel so rough that I can barely get out of bed, and I didn't want to be like that at the gig! So I spent a few days getting early nights (I slept for 20 hours on Monday!), eating lots of alfalfa and broccoli sprouts, and generally taking care of myself. And it worked!

Our mate D was also going to the gig so we all drove down in the car together. What should have been an hour & a half drive turned out to be a four hour drive, due to the concert congesting the roads, and lane closures. It took us 3 hours to drive 17 miles at one point. Which meant we missed the supporting bands, and arrived just in time for the last song by Tenacious D. I was a bit gutted at missing them as I thought Jack Black would be very entertaining on stage, but at least we were in time for Metallica.

There must have been at least 20,000 people at the gig. That's a LOT of people, in a big muddy field, mostly filled to capacity with alcohol. Dan was very protective of me in my condition and kept me near the back where I had lots of room to myself. Every time anyone came near me he put a protective arm across my bump, which I found very sweet. Perhaps I should have bubble wrapped myself. D went off to the front of the crowd and got lost in the mosh pit. He met us at the end of the gig (minus his treasured hat which he was proud to say died and was lost forever in the Metallica mosh pit, LOL) looking a bit the worse for wear.

And what about Metallica? Well, I have to say that they were absolutely fantastic live. Seriously amazing. I think I enjoyed the intimacy of the Apocalyptica gig more, but for such a huge audience Metallica certainly rocked the place. They played one of the songs, Cyanide, from their new album 'Death Magnetik', plus a set including tons of my favourites including Enter Sandman, Whiskey In The Jar, One, Ride The Lightning, The Memory Remains, Master of Puppets, and ending with Seek And Destroy. I found the whole thing totally shattering, but was just getting past the pain barrier of standing for so long during pregnancy when the show came to an end. They had a display of fireworks during Enter Sandman, and during the song 'One' an amazing pyrotechnic display of mushroom bombs! Which was very impressive.

All in all it was a great gig, and I'm glad that I was able to stand long enough to enjoy it.

Medical Insurance Dramas

Those of you who read my travel blog will remember that we had to come home from our 5 month trip 2 weeks early due to complications with my pregnancy. At the time the medical insurance company we were using were extremely unhelpful. I had been to A&E and been told by doctors that I must return to the UK for monitoring of baby and blood pressure medication for me (which is now starting to work thank goodness). But the travel insurance company (Insure and Go) wouldn't agree to send me home without a ton more doctor visits and forms to be signed. Dan spoke to them at the time and they said we could return home at our own cost and make the claim for reimbursement from them when we got home. So that is what we did.

However, on arriving home and sending in our claim we started to receive letters that hinted that because we hadn't made our claim in America we would not be entitled to any reimbursement. Well to cut a long story short, we received a lot of letters, a lot more emails, and various forms to fill in, all of which hinted at us trying to con money out of them, and that we wouldn't receive any compensation.

So you can imagine how amazed I was this morning when a cheque arrived in the post from Insure and Go, with a letter explaining that they have already paid the hospital expenses directly to the hospital in Oregon. But not only that, they included a cheque which covered the cost of prescriptions, motel stays in San Francisco, and the cost of 5 flights home, (despite them insisting at the time that they would only pay for me and one other person even though that meant leaving my kids behind in America!) Well, blow me down, they actually paid out. What a relief!

22 week baby scan

Today was an exciting day for our little family. The 22 week scan of baby number 4. Needless to say I was very excited about seeing how our little bundle is getting along. Daddy, Annabelle and Barney all came along to see their little one on the screen (Jimmie said he will just wait til next time as playing on the computer is more fun).

At first I went into the scan room on my own while the radiologist spent quite some time taking measurements and looking for various things (heart, stomach, bladder etc) She said baby is measuring perfect for due dates (19th December). Then she invited Dan and the kids in to see. Little Barney was very excited to see the little person who's cot he had chosen and helped put together earlier last week. He has already bought baby's first teddy bear (a very large crocodile from Ikea). He was full of chat and questions for the radiologist. He announced that our baby looks like a dinosaur, and I suppose he's quite right! Much to his disappointment baby had it's legs tightly crossed for the entire 15 minute scan and so we couldn't find out whether it is a girl or boy. But Barney doesn't need any confirmation - he knows for sure that it's a girl, and if it's a boy he will still love it anyway.

Baby had the hickups during the scan (something which I can feel he/she has a lot these days) and we could all see its little chest jerking with each hickup. The radiologist managed to get a good picture of babys face (see photo above which doesnt look anything as clear as it did on the screen at the time) and we all saw baby opening and closing its mouth, then lift its hand up towards us. Barney said the baby was waving at us and trying to say hello. How sweet.

A visit from Neil

This weekend we were delighted to see our friend Neil from Birmingham who came to stay with us for a few days. He's never set foot in Ireland before, so we were more than happy to show him a little of the north. The weather was pretty dismal all weekend (no surprises there) but the sun managed to shine whenever we stepped foot outside of the car.

I picked him up from Belfast City Airport on Saturday morning and took him on a little driving detour of Belfast city, before driving home to Banbridge. We saw some of the murals around east Belfast (where I used to live) and then drove through the centre to see the City Hall, University, etc. Since the sun started shining in the afternoon we decided to make the most of it and took a drive with the kids to Newcastle, Co Down. As we stepped out onto the beach the sun started beaming down for us! Barney, Annabelle, and Annabelle's best friend from school all got totally covered in wet sand, but had a good time digging about on the beach. We then drove up into the Mourne Mountains a bit and stopped at the Silent Valley Dam. You can see all the photos from Newcastle, and the Giants Causeway by clicking here.

Although the weather on Sunday was pretty awful we still took our trip to the Giants Causeway in county Antrim. The coastal drive to the causeway is beautiful, although far more spectacular when not raining. The queue to get into the Causeway car park went on for miles. I've only ever been there in the winter when its quiet, so I was surprised to see it so busy. Despite the rain we still managed to have a walk around the causeway stones without getting wet (except for Jimmie who almost got swept away in the waves!) The sun stayed out long enough for us to explore.

It was great to have Neil over to visit. Barney just thought he was great, and had him tortured playing games of hide n seek. Hopefully next time he will come for a little longer and we can show him some more of the delights of Northern Ireland.

Update on family life.

We've managed to keep ourselves quite busy the last week or so. In preparation for the baby we are changing the upstairs office into a nursery, and the downstairs spare room into an office. But the downstairs room (our old home education study room) was a tip. The 14 year old wallpaper was peeling and just disgusting, so we decided to strip it and give it a lick of paint. So Dan spent a day stripping wallpaper, and another day painting the room magnolia. If our wireless internet connection ever arrives (we've been waiting 2 months for it now) we will be able to move the computer into the new office and start work preparing the baby's new room.

In an attempt to get me to believe we are really having another baby, Dan sent me off to Ikea to buy a cot. Barney and I spent many hours in Ikea (our first ever visit there) and came home with a new cot, mattress, duvet, sheets and blankets for the baby. It was good for Barney to help in choosing these things. It's helped him to feel a part of the whole 'baby thing'. I let him chose the baby's first teddy bear, which he will bring to the hospital as a gift when baby is born. He chose a HUGE green crocodile. He is sleeping with it until he baby is born, just to take care of it. After we paid for it and he carried it to the car he said "Mummy, I hope the baby doesn't die when it's born, now that I've bought it such a lovely present".

The doctor has started me on medication to lower my blood pressure, which is working fabulously. Apparently I am taking an extremely low dose, but it has worked effectively to lower my BP to around the 75 mark, instead of over 100. She was delighted with the results. On Monday of next week we have our big 22 week pregnancy scan at the hospital. When I was pregnant with Barney the big kids came to see the scan. This time the whole family will be trudging along to Craigavon Hospital to see how the youngest member of the family is getting on. These days baby is starting to kick very strongly. Dan felt his first kick with his hand on my tummy this week.

We have been dog sitting my sisters dog Leila for the past few weeks while she is on holiday in Australia. Leila has proved to be a big hit with the kids, and she's been spoilt rotten. Between sleeping on peoples beds and getting up to 10 walks a day, I don't think she'll ever want to go home!

A summer wedding

Yesterday saw Dan and I put on our glad rags as we headed off for the wedding of his friend R (and his fiance, obviously). R has worked in our CD shop since the day it opened 7 years ago. We were delighted to be able to share his happy day with him.

So Mum came to babysit, and I tried my best to make my horrible shapeless sack of a maternity dress look pretty. I thought Dan looked amazing in a suit! It's not very often that he gets to wear one. In the end we got ourselves looking quite respectable, even if I do say so myself!


This was the first wedding in a chapel that I've ever attended, and I found it very interesting. I was fascinated by the bell ringing, chanting and kneeling. Having been christened into the Catholic church myself but never having attended it, I always find it interesting to see how I could have been brought up if circumstances had been different. The service was lovely and the bride beautiful, as expected. Even R scrubbed up well for the big day!

The reception was held in a beautiful lakeside setting. Every detail of the day was just divine. The food, the company, the setting. A really lovely day. I didnt know a single person apart from the groom but within minutes of arriving at the reception I'd met his entire family and had my legs sprayed with cooling spray by his mother! They were a really lovely bunch. I hope R and his new wife are as happy as Dan and I have been together. I'm sure they will be.

I have the use of my sisters car for three weeks so we should be able to get out of the house for a bit and have a few wee adventures. I also have the pleasure of her dog for three weeks too. Though she seems no trouble so far.

On Monday we went to the hospital as requested to have Dan's blood checked. The midwife was rather vague about the whole issue of antibodies in my blood, but Dan kept pressuring her for some answers. Why are they always so reluctant to reveal what is going on with ones body and unborn child? She said that there are antibodies in my blood that could harm the baby. All due to me being of a rhesus negative blood group. They are trying to find out if Dan also has antibodies. If he hasn't then it means that somewhere my blood and the baby's blood has mixed (as far as I can work out from her sketchy brief explanations). She said that baby will be more closely monitored with blood tests and scans every two weeks, and that baby may need to be delivered early if it is showing signs of ill health. That's as much as I could find out so far. But I can feel the baby kicking and moving around a lot, so that puts my mind at rest. I am now 20 weeks, exactly half way through the pregnancy. Doesn't time fly? (I'm sure I wont be saying that in another 20 weeks time!)

The weather had improved somewhat over the start of the week. The kids have spent some quality time out in the garden. Here are Barney and Annabelle enjoying the sunshine and taking Hudge the guinea-pig for a wee swing!

Baby has a heartbeat

This morning saw Barney and I visiting the local midwifery clinic for my 2 week pregnancy check up. Barney was particularly impressed that he got to hear the new baby's heartbeat before his brother and sister, and before his Daddy. His little face lit up with excitement and amazement when the midwife asked if he could hear his baby siblings heart beating. I couldn't help beaming a big smile myself just from watching his wee enchanted face.

My blood pressure was even higher than usual at my checkup and the midwife seemed suitably worried. She is coming out to the house tomorrow to take it again and is requesting that I get some medication at last to bring it down.

This is turning into a bit of a pregnancy blog as I'm just not doing anything or going anywhere to report. As soon as something fun happens I'll be sure to let you all know!

Feeling the stress

The last few days have been a bit of a bummer, to say the least. On Friday some good friends of ours came to visit. It was great to see them again after so many months, but the exhertion of entertaining them (not that I lifted a finger really) sent me to bed that night with the start of a migraine. It seems that my high blood pressure doesn't affect me if I sit at home and do nothing. But as soon as I have guests, go out somewhere, or try to do anything other than rest, my blood pressure shoots up and I end up in bed with a migraine. I can't even get to Tesco's for some shopping without two days of sleep afterwards. So after our friends left I spent two full days in bed, with vomitting, the banging splitting head feeling, and severly disturbed vision and sensitivity to light. Dan tried to blacken out the windo in our bedroom but I still had to put a blindfold over my eyes. Today I made it out of bed and have been ok, even managing some housework and cooking.

But this afternoon I received a call from a midwife at my hospital. She said that the blood tests they'd taken on my last visit showed antibodies in my blood. I am rhesus negitive and Dan is rhesus positive, so theres always a risk of my body having difficulties with a rhesus positive baby. Out of the 3 kids I've had so far, only one of them was rhesus positive like their father. Us rhesus negative blood groups are a rarer type and I usually have to endure anti-D injections after the babies are born. Anyway, the midwife said they needed to see Dan at the hospital to test his blood. They asked me if he had ever had any blood transfusions (which he has) and asked me to send him in for some tests. The midwife wouldn't say much more about it, and all I know is that my body can fight a rhesus positive baby if there are antibodies present. So I guess I'll just have to wait and see what they say when we visit.

Baby at 18 weeks

Taken in 1965 by a Swiss photographer, this image was the first of its kind to show a live fetus inside the amniotic sac. This is a baby at 18 weeks gestation, which is exactly where I am at the moment, and so I wanted to post this picture onto the blog.

Right now my baby is kicking against the desk table. He is only 6 inches long from his head to bottom, but is already causing quite a commotion in there. I think she's having a rave right now. My baby can now hear sounds from the outside world, including my heartbeat and voice, and the voices of others around me. At almost half way through the pregnancy she is already a perfectly formed little human, just growing in strength and size until the big day.

Baby names

Doesn't everyone like a good chat about baby names? Well, women do at least. Especially mothers or expectant mothers. It's amazing how a group of women can while away the hours discussing names for the protruding bump. I am no exception. I do like to come up with my short list of baby names well before the baby is born. That way I have time to mull over the names in my head and decide whether they will stand the test of time, and am less likely to name my baby something I'd forever regret. I also have childhood memories of my littlest sister, who remained nameless for 6 weeks after birth because she was supposed to be a boy and my parents had run out of girls names.

I've received quite a few emails now asking about baby names so I thought I'd throw them out here onto the net for your perusal and comments. Please feel free to suggest any other names you feel are apt. I've received a good few suggestions based on the fact that our baby was conceived out in the deserts of New Mexico on our travels, names such as Sandy. So feel free to suggest names along those lines too, although I can't promise that I'll choose any of them!

No, we don't know the sex of the baby. We have never asked the sex of our babies and I highly doubt we will this time. I do like to hear my husbands emotional tear-jerked voice announce "its a boy/girl" at the end of all that damn hard work.

So here is our shortlist, so far. Basically if its a girl its probably going to be named either Emily or Zoe, with the middle name of Grace, Rose or Skye. Our family is unanimously agreed on that one, so I doubt any newer suggestions are going to tempt us away. But do go ahead and try. Our boys name list on the other hand is longer, and far less definite. I have so far used my favourite boys names and have a hard time finding any that I like as much as the ones I've already used up. But the shortlist so far include ....

Charlie, Jack, Oliver, Harry, Jamie, Henry, Rhys, Tyler, Harvey, Harley, and Joel. This list is set to change dramatically as the weeks pass. With additions and subtractions along the way. At this point let me say that our three children have biblical names so far, but this is purely coincidental. Samuel, Jude and Luke are biblical names, but were not chosen because of this. So non biblical names are perfectly fine. But one thing is for sure, I'm not calling it Randy.

Setlling back in

It's taken a little while to get used to being back at home. Especially as things are so different now. Neither of us are working at the moment, we don't have a car, or any money left, and we have the excitement of a new baby on the way. I've found it hard to settle back into home life. Firstly because we spent 5 glorious months traveling every day. Just waking up and deciding where to go and what to do. No ties and no boredom what so ever. Now, back at home I can't go anywhere as we don't have a car and I'm not well enough to get about the place. Secondly, life is not what it was before we left as we no longer have the business. Dan is at home, and taking over all the household chores, a) because I'm not well enough, and b) because he likes to keep busy. So, I'm a bit restless and redundant, although I cant complain as we've just had the best year ever.

The weather has been awful since we got home... rain, rain and more rain. I'm desperate to get back out into my vegetable garden. The only bit of home life Dan won't want to take over, lol. I've made it out briefly, twice, in between rain showers. What was once a beautiful healthy vegetable, fruit and herb garden (see here for the before photo) is now a jungle of 4ft tall weeds! Oh, the heartache!


I've cleared a few of them away, but I really only manage about 20 minutes of gentle weeding before my blood pressure goes up again and I have to lie down in a dark room. I'd really love to be able to get some lettuces planted, if nothing else. I do find it so therapeutic. This is me in my weed garden sporting some lovely pink welly boots and a 16 week baby bump.

The kids are settling in quite well. For the first week we barely saw them. Barney still keeps discovering toys he'd forgotten about. And the bigger kids have been inundated with offers for sleep overs, trips out with their friends etc. Barney says he misses the RV and misses America. He likes to sit and chat about all the things we saw and experienced out there. The bigger two kids are using the summer to catch up on school work they missed. Annabelle only needs to catch up on some maths, but Jimmie has two hours of school work each morning, which covers French, Science, Maths and English. They don't seem to mind doing it. I think they realise they got a pretty good deal with the trip.