We have water!!

Well it's Saturday night, Tom's having a boy's night out with the men from church & I've just had a lovely, relaxing, peaceful bath... alone, what bliss!!! I think I've forgotten how to have a bath without a toddler in with me or begging to get in. I didn't quite know what to do so now I'm sat in the living room with the fire on, in my comfiest pyjamas, blogging while I wait for the X-Factor results show to start (wild, I know).

So, you'll have gathered by now that we have water again!!! We finally got switched back on at lunchtime yesterday after more than 36 hours!!!!!  It was ridiculous. It would have been amusing if it wasn't so stressful. After speaking to the water company 9 times they finally got an inspector out. Unfortunately, they sent an absolute idiot who was rude & patronising.  Firstly he told me it was sorted, apparently the supply had been switched off outside, but when he came inside... still no water. He reached under the sink turned the stop-tap & lo & behold the water was back. In his most patronising voice he informed me that it was no surprise we had no water if we'd switched off the stop-tap! I assured him we had done no such thing. Who would do that? There was some terrible noises coming from the pipe & he rushed upstairs telling me whatever I had left on sounded like it was going to flood the place (again he wouldn't listen when I told him nothing was on upstairs). 

The longer he was in my house the more irritated I was getting. I didn't believe a word he was saying because I knew neither Tom or I had switched off this tap plus my pipes sounded like they were gonna burst.  I had also had a call from the water company telling me my neighbour had reported the same problem so I knew it couldn't be caused by the tap under my sink.  He was so arrogant & unhelpful & at one point even said to me (with a smirk on his face) "it's ok to admit you turned off the stop-tap... You won't get in trouble... It was just a mistake!!" Honestly? I wanted to hit him. For about the 7th time I told him I DID NOT TURN OFF THAT TAP!!!!!

To cut a very long story short (thank goodness I hear you say) we have 2 stop-taps & 2 pipes (there should only be one of each) so all this guy did was turn on the disused tap (which he'd have seen if he'd actually looked properly). The gas man (who was doing a safety check) sorted the 2 taps (turned off the disused one again), the noises went away & I was a happier bunny.

The saga continued that evening when another inspector turned up to investigate why half our terrace are without water.  Apparently there's been a leak further up the street in one of the empty houses & all of us below are now without water (we all share a pipe that goes under the houses). When I told him we now had water he looked very confused. I showed him the outside mains supply that had been turned off & explained the whole tap drama. He asked to come in & check if we really had water (apparently my say-so & Rebekah being in the bath wasn't enough evidence). 

It turns out that the reason we have 2 pipes & taps is because sometime in the past, whoever lived here got a private water supply, from the mains, installed for situations like this. So while half the terrace is without water we thankfully have this supply none of us knew about. Crazy eh? I am so thankful for this because the water company are unable to do anything about the leak because it is in a private property & not a problem with the mains supply so we could've been without water for a lot longer!!! What a blessing this extra tap & pipe turned out to be!!!

Well, it's getting late so I'm off to bed now. Goodnight!

Still no water...

Well it's been 36hours now & we still have no running water!! I think it's a disgrace, not to mention seriously stressful!!!

I had a terrible morning yesterday! After I blogged I was putting the ironing board away when the iron decided to take a nose-dive off the top shelf of the cupboard under the stairs onto my foot... point down!!!!! It hurt soooo bad. It's ok now, just very bruised & swollen. Poor Rebekah... I couldn't stop crying & I think she was terrified. Once we'd got over that little hurdle I spent most of the rest of the morning on the phone to the water company. The people on the phone are very nice but I'm getting past the point of caring now.  I've told them I'm pregnant & I have a 21month old but still no water. One of my friends emailed me yesterday & told me to speak to my MP (or at least threaten it). Thankfully, one of my dear friends Leanne (who was visiting from Scotland) brought us a couple of bottles of water round.

The crazy thing was, I couldn't leave the house as they promised someone was coming to fix it so we had nothing to drink except full fat milk!!  By the time I got to the hospital for my antenatal appt I was severely dehydrated!! I had 4+ ketones & had to answer all manner of questions about diabetes, headaches, was I feeling well etc. Of course I didn't feel well & I had a headache which I knew was caused by being dehydrated. The midwife mentioned (half joking) about needing to have a drip but I promised I would drink lots, assured her not to worry & promised to check my ketones before I went home (I was about to start work). The problem when you're 'high risk' & have high blood pressure, having a headache twitches my midwives & triggers a whole load of new questions.

Thankfully I have a wonderful & reasonable consultant, who, after asking what was going on, why I was so ketotic, let me I explained the water saga, she left it & moved onto the real reason I was there... My blood pressure, which, by the way, was great!! I was kind of expecting it to be high given the morning I'd had but I prayed & He delivered. She even agreed that as long as I have my bp checked each week, & let them know if it misbehaves (which I trust it won't) I don't have to go back for 3 whole weeks!!!!! I'm so excited. When you've been at the hospital or the midwife 10 times in 6 weeks a 3 week break makes all the difference.  Poor Rebekah... She gets dragged to 'Mummy's work' for all my appointments (which she actually likes because she gets so much attention) and yesterday when I told her I had to go to work she pointed at my tummy & said "baby?".  What a clever girl!!

Anyway, breakfast calls & I'm waiting for the complaints dept. at the water company to call me back so I'll go. I'll update later.

No water!!

I am getting slack at this blogging lark. I started a post on Tuesday but then Rebekah got up & then to be honest, I spent all my internet time yesterday looking at new cloth nappies, or on the cloth nappy board at baby centre.  They had a raffle yesterday to raise money in memory of one of their babies who, tragically recently died, after being born prematurely. The money raised was split between SANDS (Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Society) & the local NICU where she was cared for. A lot of money was raised which is brilliant & I know Phoebe's Mum was very pleased.  I didn't win anything... hey ho. But, as Tom said "it's not the winning that's important it's the taking part that counts."  It still would've been nice to win a little something ;)

I woke up this morning & we have no water!!!! Tom rang to let me know he couldn't have a proper wash. I hadn't realised 'til then. Thankfully I was able to flush & rinse a soiled nappy but now I can't flush the toilet, have a shower, make a drink, the list goes on. I've rung the local water company they have no idea what's happened so someone's meant to be coming out this morning to sort it out. I hope so!! In the meantime Rebekah & I will have to stay inside & miss our toddler group this morning & hope it's sorted before I have to go to work later!!  There was some strange banging last night (we couldn't work out where from) for nearly 2hrs so I don't know if that's anything to do with it.

Anyway, I better go & play with Rebekah. Just wanted to write a quick post. Hope you're all ok!

Sunday night feeling :( & random thoughts

It's Sunday evening & I'm working tomorrow so I've got that Sunday evening feeling. You know the one where you've had a great weekend & you know it's nearly over & work is looming. It's funny, I haven't worked on a Monday since January 2007 so I'd almost forgotten that feeling. I'm on a long day tomorrow so the thought of  a 14hr shift... Hopefully it'll fly by. To be fair it's not usually that bad. I'm back on the ward & I really enjoy it. It's busy but I like it.  I was meant to be working on the delivery unit until January but because of my blood pressure I've been moved so I'm kinda slotting into the off duty where they're short.

I've enjoyed this week. I've had a week's holiday. I know, if you're a regular reader of this blog you're probably thinking "but you've only just gone back to work!!". This weeks holiday was booked ages ago, before I was even pregnant. It's been a pretty chilled week. I've enjoyed not having to go to the hospital to see the Dr or have my blood pressure checked (they agreed to see me in a fortnight instead of weekly).  I've still had to have my BP checked but I was able to go to the Community Midwife (CMW) who is only a 5min walk away instead of 2 bus journeys there & back.

 I went shopping on Friday & bought some new maternity clothes with some vouchers I got for my birthday. I love shopping but even more when I don't have to even spend anything. I got a lovely pair of pants and a jumper. I LOVE maternity clothes! I don't know why. For a start they are super comfy plus you don't have to worry whether or not you look fat in them cos let's face it... us pregnant ladies are gonna get big.  I carry most of my weight around my tummy anyway so it's a relief to not have to worry about trying to hide or disguise my belly. Ha ha.

Friday night was our "girls night' at church. We had a lovely time. We walked around the Christmas markets in town then went for dessert.  It was nice to hang out & chat with girls who I don't always get a lot of time with & nice to hang out with my 'Mummy' friends without babies or toddlers in tow.

This week Rebekah went back into cloth nappies.  After a little break (morning sickness & poo weren't going well together) I'd got out of the habit of using them but after yet another bout of nappy rash we're using them again.  Rebekah has hardly ever had nappy rash. She didn't get in when she used to wear disposables & she didn't get it in cloth but since she's gone back into disposables she's had it a few times!! I can't work out why. Maybe it's because her bum got used to being chemical free & now it doesn't like the chemicals in the 'sposies.  I only converted to cloth this summer after reading MckMamas post on cloth diapering. I researched what she'd said further, was horrified & ordered my first cloth nappies pretty quickly. I was surprised at how much I liked them, & how relatively easy they are. Not to mention cute & totally addictive!!!!

Rebekah's off having her bath now. It's one of her favourite things.  It's her & Tom's 'daddy/daughter time' so it's special to both of them. She's always loved her bath. Even as a newborn she has always been very relaxed in the bath. I wonder if it's because I loved having a relaxing bath when I was pregnant, splashing the water onto my tummy & I'd always sing & talk to her.  I'd put on my favourite cd, sing along and talk to the daughter I was yet to meet. Tom asked me a couple of weeks ago if I talk to 'the bump' as much as I talked to Rebekah.  It's a good question. I told him I always used my bath time to spend quality time talking to Rebekah & now, if/when I have a bath (it's usually a quick shower these days) I still talk to Rebekah!! Lately she always want to get in with me so while I lie back & try to relax she sits with me & plays. So now, so 'the bump' gets quality time with me & his/her big sister. We both talk to my tummy & now, instead of Mummy singing her favourite tunes 'the bump' listens to various renditions of 'Old MacDonald, Wheels on the Bus, or My God is so Big'!!  Oh & not to mention Rebekah kissing 'baby' through my tummy every few minutes.  This baby may not get as much one-to-one time as Rebekah had but it is loved just as much by it's Mummy & Daddy has the privilege of a very loving big sister who can't wait to meet him/her!!! I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going. I'll be 17wks on Tuesday!! Crazy! At this rate it'll be May before I know it!

Things that go bump in the night.

Last night was a noisy night in our house & I am feeling sleep deprived today.

It started just before Tom & I were about to go to bed (while I was writing my last post actually). A police car chase went through the alleyway behind our house. For those of you not privileged enough to have experienced one of these I will explain. It starts with a loud distant rumble & within seconds a car flies behind your house. Seconds later the police car follows with sirens wailing & blue lights flashing. Our house is a traditional Manchester terrace (just like in Coronation Street) The houses are very close to each other and rather than backing onto each other they are separated by a narrow alley (just wide enough for a car to drive down). Every 10-15 houses are separated by another alley.  Anyway, so, Tom & I were chatting when we heard this noise. I said "what was that?" quickly followed by both of us saying "oh... joyriders" in a knowing tone... followed again by "car chase" again, in unison. About 5-10 minutes later we heard the all too familiar police helicopter circling above & we smiled at each other knowing that the chase had been unsuccessful.  You may think I sound blase about this but it's a fairly common occurrence happening every couple of months. The helicopters are out far more often probably fortnightly. It's a pretty normal part of life in Openshaw. I've explained in earlier posts why we're here & I know some of you are probably wondering why we chose to live here, especially now we have children. That answer is a post of it's own which I will tackle one day soon.

Back to our noisy night...

We went off to bed when the helicopters stopped but were woken a few hours later by a loud bang. For the second time that night I said "what was that?" Tom didn't say anything but got up to go and investigate.  He couldn't see anything untoward downstairs so after we'd both had a nosey out the bathroom window we decided it must have been a cat & went back to bed. 

Anyway, about an hour ago the police knocked on my door asking if I'd heard anything strange last night. I told them the story & apparently the lady next door has reported a break-in.  It could be the answer to the mystery noise but the police don't believe her!!! They think she's faked it & kicked the door in herself. Tom's with the police. We hear EVERYTHING from next door & if someone had broken in he says we'd have heard more than one bang. There were no screams, no footsteps, no sounds of stuff being taken, so it remains a mystery.  As Tom pointed out, someone who is bold enough to break into a house while people are inside won't try to be quiet once he's inside so who knows.  As usual we were woken a few hours later when the family next door got up for school (I told you we hear everything) but other than that, it's been pretty quiet since.

Family, new shoes & praying

I can't believe it's been 3 days AGAIN since I last posted!!!! Whats happening? I've gone from blogging everyday to every 3days!!! I need to sort myself out.  I've either been out during nap time or slept myself.

Yesterday Rebekah, my sister-in-law Nicci & I went to see one our other sister-in-laws Esther & her daughter Hannah. Hannah is 5 months older than Rebekah so it's lovely for them to grow up together. Esther is expecting her second baby in 2 weeks so yet again we're having babies close together. Esther is Tom's older sister & we lived together before we were both married so it's great fun doing the Mummy thing together too.  They have a BEAUTIFUL home so it's always a nice relaxing day. It was a lovely treat to have Nicci with us too. Rebekah loves her Auntie Nicci. When I told her we were going to meet Nicci she said "bye Mummy". I tried to explain I wasn't going anywhere but I think she just wanted some time with her auntie. We are very blessed to have Tom's 2 brothers (and their wives) within a 5 minute walk so we see them a lot.

Rebekah got new shoes today. She didn't want me to put her shoes on yesterday so I figured it was time to get her feet measured again. Sure enough they'd grown so it was time to shell out a small fortune for new shoes. Her shoes cost more than mine!! All worth it for her feet to grow properly though. Anyway, I chose 2 pairs I liked & Rebekah had to try them on. I think she liked the first pair the best (purple, metallic, patent shoes with small leather flowers) and they were very pretty but I decided not practical for a toddler so we took them off & tried to get her to try on the second pair (brown with pink leather flowers). They're cute but not as pretty & Rebekah wasn't having it. She ran away from the lady, giggling as she ran around the shop. The lady was trying everything under the sun but no avail so after a stern word from Mummy Rebekah gave in. I couldn't understand why she was making such a fuss. She kept saying they hurt but I got her to walk around anyway (unsympathetic Mummy). After she started whimpering I took them off only to find the lady had left the tissue paper in the toe of the shoe!!! No wonder it hurt. After that it took us twice as long to get her to put them on again. In the end she left with her shoes on & very proud.

She must have liked them because she couldn't wait to show them to Tom when he got home! In fact they also got mentioned twice in her bedtime prayer (along with her new buggy)! Her prayer tonight was the longest & cutest prayer I've ever heard. As I've mentioned before, we all pray together before Rebekah goes to bed. Her prayer is usually 1 or 2 words at the most followed by 'amen'. Not tonight. Tom was at church so after I prayed Rebekah had her turn. She went on & on & on. I couldn't understand most of it but it went something like this (I'll use dots for the bits I couldn't understand) ... Daddy & Beka... Daddy go home... shoes... Beka... Daddy... shoes... Mummy... buggy... shoes... Daddy... buggy. Every time I opened my eyes she clasped her hands back together & just carried on.  It was beautiful and yet SO funny. I had to stop myself from laughing.  The cynical side of me thinks she was stalling bedtime but the other side of me was beaming inside (even if I only got 1 mention).

Anyway Tom's just got home & it's late so I better go. Hope you're all ok. I'll try to blog sooner this time!

  

Not me monday!!!!!

It's that time again... Not me Monday. The things that us imperfect people never do. MckMama started this on her blog so after you've read my post head over there to check out the other 'Not me Mondays' 
This weeks after being at work all day on Friday & not seeing Rebekah all day I was NOT secretly pleased when she woke up and I was NOT excited to have a warm sleepy cuddle with my baby girl. When she was wide awake I was NOT glad Tom brought her into our room so we could all have a little midnight play together before we went back to sleep. I did NOT do these things because I am NOT so selfish that I put my needs before my daughters sleep.

Oh & I was NOT even happier the next morning when she slept 'til 9am after her midnight playtime. I definitely NOT glad of the lie-in.

Earlier in the week I did NOT put a DVD on downstairs, put Rebekah in front of it just so I could go and have a shower on my own without a toddler stood at the side of the bath trying to get in & giving me a running commentary of each body part as I wash it. I did NOT do this because I would never use a DVD as a babysitter just so I could have some peace & quiet for 10mins.

I did NOT sit down last night & eat a load of ice-cream straight from the tub & tell myself it was ok because dairy is good for the baby & I need the calcium from a tub of ice-cream. That would make me a pig so I certainly did NOT do that.

If you want some free therapy of your own leave me a comment with some of the things you have NOT done this week then click on the button & the top of this post & head to MckMama's blog to read some of the things other bloggers have NOT done this week