Third time's a charm #gifts!

Honestly, I should have a baby more often (WAHAhahahahahahahaha). But still, people have been very generous.

We've had cards, gift cards, a baby book, a meal-train organised by the Church, extra meals, desserts, flowers, a post diabetic-pregnancy sugar-loving diet (bonbons, foie gras etc etc), wine, champagne, practical new mother gifts, a mahoosive gift token from the OECD, soft toys, most of the spring/summer range of Petit Bateau, a gorgeous new scarf for mama (giving mama pressies is hands down a winner), and the following beautiful carrot cake:

Plus these chocs are a bit unique:

 Happy mama, happy baby!

PS happy birthday Zach!

One on one time #treats

Baby's first apéro #vivalafrance #celebrate #1weekversary

From one flower to another #happybirthdaylily

Brits Abroad #Catherine&Crevette

Today, the two future besties met up for the first time.

I have been blessed that Small Fry, Fingerling and now Crevette have all been born within 2 months of Wendy, Eleanor and the beautiful Catherine.

We had actually timed things even better than that and Catherine was due only 2 weeks before Crevette's due date. As things turned out, she arrived way back in November and has been growing like a trooper ever since.

Long may they grow up together. 

That sinking feeling #firstbath

Ever since I first tried out the tummy tub as recommended by Mama Boyd, I have loved it. Babies can relax in the foetal position and I feel they can be better supported.

Our little crevette* was getting all worked up this evening, so I decided now was the time for the first bath. Instant success. She loved it, it calmed her, and she went right to sleep afterwards.

OK, so she was still awake from 1am-5am, but I reckon that's more to do with being 5 days old.

*a little shrimp or prawn in French

So what on earth happened? #birthplan-shmirthplan

They say that every baby is different, every pregnancy is different, and every birth is different.

And they were not kidding.

Because this one is quite a story. The short version is that I birthed our baby girl at home so quickly that she beat even the midwife.

And the long version is....well, that kind of is the long version too. I mean, there's nothing I did in particular and I'm no hero - she just literally came that quickly and that easily.

I suppose I'd been having those braxton-hicks contractions for a couple of days, well, a couple of weeks, but over the previous two days they had been strong enough for me to breathe in to my belly through them to help increase their efficiency. But nothing strong enough to stop me going out for dinner on Friday night with a bunch of girlfriends, walking a mile in the pouring rain with El Puma on Saturday morning to sign for his new studio apartment in Paris, or eat a massive birthday meal for Abuelo on the other side of Paris, or even have a lovely foot massage on Saturday evening.

Hmm, maybe all those things together did have an impact.

Anyway, I went to bed Saturday night with contractions that indicated to me I would probably have a baby within the coming week, rather within the coming 2 weeks if I'd stuck to the same timing as with Fingerling. After a couple of hours I still wasn't asleep, so I decided to get up and read a little on the couch. They were stronger, but not too strong and certainly not regular...if anything there were maybe 3 an hour. That got me through until about 1am when I was suddenly hit with the toe-curling-can't-breathe version. I was pretty surprised and it was pretty sore, but the next one wasn't until about 20 minutes later so I decided to try my relaxation exercises and a different type of breathing. I was able to almost fall asleep between them but the actual contractions themselves were pretty powerful. 

At 2am (so really only 3 or 4 of the bad ones later) I decided that if I was going to get through the next 6-8 hours of labour with contractions of this intensity, I would need my midwife to help me as I wasn't managing to stay relaxed through the contraction or even breathe properly. 

I woke up El Puma and I spoke to the midwife who said he (yes, the same one who was at Fingerling's birth and did such a great job) was on his way and that I should have a bath and try to relax. This seemed sensible to me as I felt I had a while to go and around this stage in labour with Fingerling, I was only just in established labour.

Well, ha ha ha. Shows how wrong you can be.

With the bath full I had a long and powerful contraction that lasted about 2 mins and I couldn't move, but I felt something change and just let El Puma know that I felt like I wanted to use the loo before getting into the bath. It's only a couple of metres between the bathroom and the WC, but I had another contraction on the way and at the end of that I lost the mucus plug.

And of course that changed everything. I rushed into the toilet so that I wouldn't make a mess and then my body completely took over. I asked El Pu,a to call the midwife back and tell him things had quickly sped up. And then my body just took over, my waters broke and about half a minute later I could feel her crowning. I quickly asked El Puma to call the midwife again and say I could feel the head. He literally relayed the message "she can feel the head" but what I actually meant was "I've got the top of her head in my hands". The midwife could hear me breathing that involuntary panting and El Puma relayed his message back to me "try to control your breathing to relax" but I knew I was well beyond that...

I had a moment of fear about whether there might be a problem, but after finishing his call El Puma followed the midwife's instructions and set up the tarpaulin on the couch. As I heard his footsteps walk away I knew that my body couldn't wait and I remember just 'letting go'. And voilà, out she slithered - all of her in a oner. That bit alone took about 15 mins with Fingerling, but this time she was suddenly in my hands and I'm just glad I didn't drop her in the loo.

She screamed straight away and I could see she was totally fine so I didn't worry anymore. She opened her eyes as El Puma came back to see what had happened. He had the biggest eyes but remained wonderfully calm and called the midwife back again to say the baby was here.

We wrapped her in a towel and I walked to the couch and we waited the 15 mins it took for the midwife to come, looking and laughing at each other in disbelief and at our new baby girl.

The midwife stayed a couple of hours with us - sorting out the placenta, checking me and getting me into bed, and then checking the baby and giving her to me while he sorted out the paperwork with daddy.

Fingerling woke up about 6.30 and came through. Hearing a little squeak from the bassinet so did a double take (so funny) and asked 'what's that?' We explained her baby sister had arrived during the night and she was so excited she called out to her big brother who also came through. He was less than enthusiastic that it was a girl and walked straight on to his daddy's side of the bed and got in beside him, pushing my arm away.

Don't worry, the presents the baby brought with her for them seem to have done the trick.

And that's how we became a family of 5. I am SO grateful for such a swift and easy birth. Third time's a charm :)

Rainbow - Shining Light - Pearl #no.3

Iris Helen* Margret**

Born on 21 January, 2018

@ 2h37

Weighing 3060g (6lb 9oz)***

49cm

(at 39 weeks and 3 days)

Baby photo

Baby's view

* A family name and named after my grandmother
** To honour our beloved Tante Margret
*** Pretty light compared to the family standard

High Society #Abuelo #70

2017 was technically the Big Year in the Gonzales family, with Mamita turning 100, Abuelo 70 and El Puma 40. Following on from that great Peru trip and with a December birthday when things are naturally a bit more busy, Abuelo decided to postpone his birthday celebrations until the 20th of January.

As I was only 5 days away from my due date, Moon, Abuelo, Tonton Ledruz and Maëlle joined us and Pacotio in Paris. Pacotio chose the Lebanese restaurant at the top of the Arab World Institute (Institut du Monde Arabe). The Institute was established in 1980 by 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values, and seeks to provide a secular location for the promotion of Arab civilisation, art, knowledge and aesthetics. Within the museum are objects from the Arab world ranging from before Islam through into the twentieth century. 

The Institute's building is highly recognisable, right on the banks of the Seine and following the curve of the waterway. It is covered in geometric motifs that are 240 photo-sensitive motor-controlled shutters which automatically open and close to control the amount of light and heat entering the building. This creates interior spaces of filtered light, which is often used in Islamic architecture. 

All that, and the views are pretty good too...and free to access!

Looking upstream to Notre Dame

Looking north

The group

 It was a great location to celebrate Abuelo's 70 years...

 ...and was apparently also inspiring...

 Happy Birthday Abuelo! Who knew that another special gift was just around the corner?

That sinking feeling #bumpdrop #finaldays!

That nesting instinct #extendstotheChurchCrechecupboard!

Galette des rois #homemade #everyone'sawinner

Galette des rois (King cake) is a type of cake associated with Epiphany, commemorated on 6 January, and celebrated the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. 

Tradition holds that the cake is to 'draw the kings' to the Epiphany. A figurine called 'la fève' is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket becomes king or queen for the day. It originally started out as a dry French bread type dough with sugar on top and the figurine was an actual bean (une fève), but in France it is now made with puff pastry and a dense centre of frangipane (a marzipan type paste) and is eaten throughout the month of January.

It's also traditional for the youngest person to place him or herself under the table and name the recipient of each share (so that no-one can deliberately get the fève). This year, both Small Fry and Fingerling won the fève in different galettes. But for me the most impressive feat was making them myself (with the kids) for the first time. I thought they turned out not too badly, and certainly tasted good. Gone in minutes!

All the best bits #Christmas/NewYear #greatwaytoend2017 #greatwaytostart2018

Here endeth the Christmas holidays and tomorrow is the first day of school of 2018 (Yay! One  weekend as 4 was quite enough thank you!)...which seems as good a time as any to recount them.

They all started waaaay back 2.5 weeks ago, when Mama, Fingerling and Small Fry said goodbye to daddy one cold Wednesday morning, and headed off to Gare du Nord, and then via Eurostar to London. The kids were very excited - the train alone will do that to them - but I had also downloaded a Eurostar entertainment stimulation thing that made it look like you were travelling through the Channel i.e. the water bit, with sea creatures and what not swimming around. Well, I don't know much more about it because we got an old train with no wifi, and it turns out that it streams the images rather than downloading them. The kids didn't seem too bothered mind...

 And then we arrived in London...

And then we headed to Tring in West Hertfordshire, where live my good friends Nandi (Uni friend) and Steve and Small Fry's great friend, their son Thomas (plus Samuel, just a bit older than Fingerling). Like I said, super excited kids:

 We drank tea, we watched tv, we strolled around Tring, and the kids even got to swing on FREE (gasp) swings (this not being usual in Paris).

And then it was back down to London on Friday morning in order to see the show "Boing!" - a trampoline extravaganza, with our hosts as well as Claire and Dominic, our good London friends. It was a great show and I'm glad we finally got to see it as last year it was cancelled at the last minute due to an injury to one of the stars. It was a very physical performance and the kids were enthralled.

From there we went straight to Kings Cross and our 8 hour journey north to Aberdeen. So I had a bag full of activities with me and both Nandi and Claire kindly gave us travel-friendly gifts too, but in the end the kids were as good as gold, and even slept for 2 hours. Bonus.

 And then it was Christmas.

Christmas has always been a special, almost magical time for us, I think, and this year it felt especially so. Maybe it's because we were ALL there, or because we were all in ONE house, or because there are babies on the way, or because we were close enough to Perth for the Lambs to visit too, or,...I don't know. But it was great fun. 

And despite my diabetes, I ate well, and others drank well, including the Christmas pudding:

And really, for the kids, you can't beat having cousins. Cousins are GREAT.

This is about as much of Small Fry as I saw all week:

He was constantly playing with his cousins, and Fingerling too was gently cared for by the two oldest. And I got to read. Everybody happy.

We stayed in a 'luxury B&B' (essentially a refurbished Victorian mansion with turrets) in the town of Birnam in Perthshire, over the River Tay from Dunkeld. It's in an area of Perthshire called Big Tree Country, and Birnam in particular is famous for the woods named by Shakespeare in his play Macbeth. They think the big old oak trees that still remain (only a handful) probably don't date to that time, but are certainly part of the original wood.

We toyed with the idea of doing some proper walking, but we stuck mostly to the shaded south side of the river and it was just too cold.

And then the snow came.

I thought this was quite a funny sequence that I caught on my iPhone:

The snow actually warmed things up a bit and El Puma and I had a nice easy walk along the bottom of Birnam Hill and past all the big fancy houses.

We did make it out one day for an excursion, to the Pitlochry fish ladder, which I last saw about 25 years ago I reckon. The ladder was built as part of, and next to, the Pitlochry Power Station and dam on the River Tummel in order to allow salmon to continue to travel upstream to their native breeding grounds. The fish ladder is made up of 34 separate pools, each about 50cm higher than the last and covering 310m in total. Each pool has a 1m opening below the water level to allow fish to swim up into the next pool. A continuous flow of water maintains the water level in each pool. There are also 3 larger pools which allow the fish to rest during their ascent, and there are underwater viewing areas beside these (although they are only open during the breeding season). In 2006, over 7,000 fish used the ladder. 

Another baltic day that was.

And another day the excitement came to us in the form of Uncle Stan's bin lorry. Just the best. thing.ever.

And the bump? Well, there were 2 of them this Christmas:

29 and 37 weeks

A handy stage

And then...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

7 of us decamped back to the Boyds' in Inverurie, who could not have been more generous in hosting us. It was more cousin time, more eating and drinking, and more special memories, like our New Year's walk up Bennachie.

You can see the treacherous ground underfoot once we left the tree line, and I only made it about 200m before I turned back in order to head down slowly at my own pace: the big disadvantage of not being able to see one's feet! El Puma brought Fingerling down too before returning back up the mountain to help those who had gone on descend, and eventually I was joined by Aunty Fona and Oma too. 

After moaning her way up the hill until she got to ride on her daddy's shoulders, Fingerling sang Jingle Bells chirpily and skipped most of the way down. A true Parisian then.

Group shot right before I turned back

The view for those who made it higher

And finally, finally, we had to leave. Which I did, in the early morning, by train...all the way to London and then the Eurostar to Paris, while El Puma flew with the 2 kids and all the luggage.  

Reunited in Paris!

And you know, that still wasn't it...because I booked us tickets to go right to the top of the Eiffel Tower this afternoon as a kind of getting-over-our-fab-holidays present and a final thing to do before the baby arrives.

It was as cold as it looks. We had a fairly decent view but at the top Fingerling did her usual thing and moaned until she was once again comfortable i.e. being carried.

What a drama queen. This was her about 10 minutes later as happy as larry on the carousel at the foot of the Tower.

Anyway, it was a fabulous break with family at a special time of year, and a massive, massive thank you to everyone whom we saw on our holiday and who helped us and made Christmas and New Year such a wonderful, wonderful time for us G-Ks.

I probably didn't have as much time to reflect on 2017 as I would have in other years, but nae bother...I reckon 2018 is going to have plenty in it to keep me busy.

With love to all and wishing you much health and happiness this year.

xx