Movember

A few months ago Jake decided that he wanted to grow a moustache for Movember. I'm very proud of him for deciding to have a go and also for putting up with the facial irritant. He doesn't like growing facial hair so this is a big thing for him.

Below is a link to Jake's donation page for anyone who wishes to donate to Mens Health. It's completely up to you and you can keep yourself anonymous if you wish. He hasn't put up a picture yet but I've placed a picture lower of what it currently looks like 13 days in.

http://au.movember.com/mospace/2604230/

I love you Husband. You're amazing.

Movember 13.

 And a picture of Hannah - Just because I can.

Emailed Posts

Hello everyone,

This is the first time that I have used the email post feature for my blogs. Please let me know if there are any problems with these emails so I can fix them if need be. 

For some of you this will be the first time you will have seen any posts from The Only Lamey Family Blog so please allow me to explain - These blogs that you will receive originally started with the Pilkington families as a way of keeping in touch with those siblings that live interstate. As Jake and I are the only Lameys in the Pilkington clan I have named my blog The Only Lamey Family. Up until the birth of our beautiful daughter Hannah we haven't really had much of an interesting life - In truth it's not overly interesting now but I know all of you will want to see pictures and know what is going on with Hannah. If you do not wish to be a part of this very special list of people then or if there is a better email to get in touch with you then please let me know.

I'm not actually sure how these emails will work for you so I have added the link to our blog in case you would like to look over previous posts. Please note that the blogs you will read were written for my siblings in Western Australia so please keep that in mind. For future posts I will endeavour to explain things for those who do not know certain family members etc.http://tammy-jake.blogspot.com/

It has been a month since I last posted any information on this blog. Hannah is actually 3 months today! As I like to say in all my blogs she is growing up so fast. She's no longer the little baby we brought home from the hospital. She's not even the gorgeous little girl she was last month. While I acknowledge the fact that babies grow and Hannah is even better now then she was yesterday or the day before, it's sad to realise that she will never be 2 months old ever again. I have to wonder if I recorded enough of her beautiful smile or the way she talks and wakes up. There are things she used to do before a feed that I didn't record but will miss immensely. I'm sure every parent knows what I am going on about  =)

I have taken a lot of pictures. Sometimes I just sit there with my camera taking multiple pictures. It's amazing how many different facial expressions you can get in over 20 pictures. One moment Hannah will be happily chatting and the next she will be continuing to chat but she's confused or unhappy. Her entire face can change in the blink of an eye. No matter how she is chatting though she always sounds completely wonderful.

Here is the routine we currently follow at 3 months old. The times are general. Sometimes we will wake early or sleep in and sometimes we'll go somewhere for an appointment so things need to move around a bit but you'll get the general idea. 
At 7am we wake up for a feed. We play till 8:45 and then she goes to sleep. At 11 she gets woken up for another feed and another play and then it's back to bed at 12:45. Her next feed is at 3pm and then again at 6:15 before going to bed at 7. During this time we play a little and cook dinner. She sits in her bouncer next to Daddy while I cook the food. Once the food is ready I tend to rock her to sleep while I eat. Sometimes she's happy enough to stay awake for the entire time so I allow it when all she needs is to see a face and she's happy. Often I get to eat my meal cold but I don't mind so much. I love holding my baby. 
Up until recently Hannah was sleeping through the night [from 7 till about 6:40] but the last three nights she's been waking up at 5am.

Below are some pictures of Hannah with Mr Mortimer Moosey. Because he is my favourite toy we play with him all the time. While Hannah is wearing the same outfit the top picture and then next 2 pictures were actually taken 17 days apart. The first picture I just placed Mr Moosey with her for the picture but in the next 2 she's actually grabbing him. She can now grab his hoofs and horns and bring them up to her mouth for a lick. She likes to lick.

Next are some pictures of 'Harold'. Nana Pilkington gave Hannah some jumpsuits that were originally a gift for someones son who outgrew 000 clothing. Being in boys clothes I decided to nick name her either Harvey or Harold while she is wearing them. I let her pick which name she wanted by putting 2 fingers up - She grabbed the Harold finger - Twice! =)
Please note that these pictures were taken with my phone camera and aren't quite as good.

While Jake is at work we do a few things like go for walks, shop for food, visit friends and play. I recently organised that every fortnight we go to the park with other mums from church who also have young children. Most are my friends and some are people I don't know very well but they're all really nice people. It's nice to have something to look forward to. When we play we sing a variety of songs. Most are nursery rhymes although Daddy and I will sing some oldies. I also like to sing some of the fun church songs that I grew up on.

It's almost time for Hannah to be waking up for her feed so I will just post some pictures of her bath the other day before I finish. She looked so adorable =)

She's so skinny and yet so chubby all at the same time!

We love her very much as I'm sure you do too.

Stay safe.

2 Months ...

Hannah is now two months (and one week) old. She's such a great baby, I've been really lucky with her. 

She's very smiley and very talkative. In the mornings when she wakes up she blinks a couple of times and gives me a huge smile. It's the best thing in the world! She loves to talk while she's having her 'happy' change and we play for ages.

When she's happy I grab her legs and we 'run'. She loves doing that and she will almost laugh. It's not quite there but very nearly.

We've had some troubles over the last week. For some reason Hannah has decided she doesn't want to eat. Sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn't. It's very confusing. This morning for example she had about 10 minutes but wouldn't take anymore. Last night she had an hour and would have probably had longer if I'd let her. 

I feed Hannah at 6 each night and put her down to sleep at 7. She generally wakes up once a night between 2 and 5am and will normally wake for the day between 7 and 8.

People tend to think she looks like her daddy but I have no idea who she looks like. I don't really know how to tell. The other day I was looking at Alexander when he was 3 months old and Hannah looks completely different and yet so similar. They make the same facial expressions. I love all her faces.

Below are just a few photos of what Hannah looks like now. 
 
... We love our Hannah

Hospital Updates

Fortunately I've had some progress since I last wrote. .. Not really that much but it is some. 

Monday I went to the H@H (Hospital @ Home) Office and had a check-up. While we were there I was informed that I had been booked for my ultrasound at 3 which was great news. The doctor also placed another IV thing into my right hand. Oral antibiotics wont cut it just yet so we found another vein. At least it's not in my wrist this time but now because it's my right hand I'm able to do less then before. Yay!~

At 3 o'clock Sarah, Hannah and I waited for my ultrasound appointment. When they called my name I went off with the lady and Sarah played with Hannah until I got back. The ultrasound showed an abscess which a doctor then lanced with a needle. A very big needle. They applied a local on the area and removed about a tablespoon of pus. I couldn't really tell the difference straight away but it made moving so much easier and less painful. I can now stretch now arm out. Not fully but still it's better =)

On Monday the nurses also booked me an appointment for Tuesday at the Outpatients area. Jake took the day off work because I can't drive with this IV thing in my hand and having Hannah on my own was out of the question - As a side note Jake was wonderful yesterday. Made me lunch and dinner! - So Jake and I rocked up before our allotted time, booked in and waited in the waiting area. Not long after we got there we were called by the nurse and she took us into .. another waiting area!!! Still, 2 hours are better then 10.

So as it stands now, I have another ultrasound tomorrow. It's a good thing really because as of this morning it has gotten worse again. They'll likely need to lance the area some more. I doubt this will be my last time. I also have another outpatient appointment for Friday where hopefully I can go on some oral antibiotics and get this thing taken out of my hand. 

All in all I'm feel pretty awful at the moment. The IV thing is interfering with my ability to look after Hannah and it's causing a few tears. I don't care as much about the pain as I do about that. It hurts when she's crying but I can't help her because picking her up and moving her is so difficult. Oh well - It'll get better soon.

It's not all been bad. Today is a Wednesday which means that it's a new financial week. I LOVE the new financial week =) It means I get to play with my budget! We also received a card in the mail from Tiarni. It's a cute little thing that says 'To Hannah. From Tiarni' It's very pretty. Not only that but we got some pizza for dinner the other night too. There's not much there but it's something =)

Below is a picture of my hand. It looks pretty ugly and wrinkly. Apparently this vein is starting to hurt like the one on my left hand. [Hopefully] only 4 more injections to go though! (I get 2 daily)

Wednesday the 21st of Sept

Hospital

First of all I've attached a picture of Hannah. She has such a great smile - even if it's a little blurry. It didn't look that blurry when I took it though.

Saturday the 17th of Sept. In the morning.

So it's taken a few days for me to write another blog but I have a very good reason why! As the title would suggest it has something to do with the hospital. Nothing serious but I did waste a good part of my life and it's still not even over!

I'd been taking some medication for Mastitis. By the time my first lot of antibiotics had run out the issue still wasn't sorted so I organised some more with my normal doctor. Unfortunately on Friday when I called him to let him know it was getting worse again I was informed he's on leave for 2 weeks.

Saturday dawned with no improvement so after feeding Hannah I went to a random doctor to see what we could do. After half an hour of waiting I was able to get in to see him but he decided it was out of his hands and I needed to go to the ER. Off I went home with a little letter and a sad face. Jake, Hannah and I got to the hospital that morning at 11:50am. Hannah and Jake got to go home but I didn't get to leave until about 10:15pm. I got in to see a doctor quick enough but the waiting around after I'd seem him, waiting for a surgeon is what really held things up.

Below are some pictures of my arm. At the end of the night they decided that they would give me some antibiotics through an IV. I don't actually have pictures of the IV thingy but here are the pictures of after we took it off. Technically it should still be in my arm but we took it out this morning. It's hard to tell but to the left of the pad there is a red/pink mark and my arm is swollen.

Side on view without bandage.

The IV was hurting my arm quite a bit. In fact I'm actually in more pain now then when I went into the hospital in the first place! My body aches. I can't move my torso area without that deep ache kind of pain. It makes it hard to sleep and get up off chairs and beds etc. To be honest I'm actually glad this thing is out of my arm. They placed it right in my wrist which makes looking after a baby really difficult.

My entire experience with the hospital has been ... pathetic. It took over 10 hours to get this thing in my arm and get sent home. The surgeon and a nurse informed me on Saturday that someone would give me a call Sunday so I could go in and get an ultrasound. Not only did it not happen but when I rang the hospital some guy told me ultrasounds only get done on weekends in an emergency! My Hospital at Home (H@H) nurse kept telling me the same thing too. Why tell me Sunday in the first place if it's not going to be Sunday! 

I have to go into the hospital today for a check up because we took the IV out. We need to see if it's gone down enough for a tablet to work. My H@H nurse also rang after visiting this morning and told me that the ultrasound I need done may not even happen till the end of the week. I'm just on some list. .. And I need this ultrasound done so they can work out if there's an abscess in there they need to lance so it can get better.

Wish me luck! Doubt it will do me any good though. Hospitals are stupid.

7 weeks!

Yesterday Hannah was 7 weeks. 

We had a big day yesterday. After feeding and washing in the morning we got in the car and went to my work. This is the second time that we've visited work. They think she's even cuter in real life which I think is saying something because she's pretty adorable in pictures. We had a quick lunch with a couple of my mates down at the pub and then we were off to the Pediatricians. His office is just around the corner from work, hence the visit.

It was a really quick visit with her doctor. He decided that she's doing great and we wont need to see him again unless there's any major issues.

So at 7 weeks my Hannah is 4.63kgs and 56cms long. An entire 1.6kg more then she was at birth and 7.5cms longer. She's growing so big! 

After coming home and feeding again it was time to go for our walk with Aunty Sarah. It took us a little while to get going on the walk as Sarah wanted to play with her. She posted a picture of a smiling Hannah on her Facebook in case you're interested. (Oh, and I've still had no luck getting my phone pictures on my computer but I'll figure it out)

When we returned home we got to see Daddy who held her for a while before her next feed. She was fairly unsettled at this time but I think that's because she slept rough during the day. 

At about 1730 Nana Lamey came for a short hold and play on her way home while I finished heating dinner up (Jake helped). After Nana left we ate our dinner, I fed Hannah and then it was time for bed. Considering she was so grumpy just earlier she went down without a peep and didn't wake again until 5am. She's such an awesome night sleeper!

The only problem with her sleeping so much at night is that I have trouble sleeping. I tend to wake at random times and listen for her and I have to sleep on my back after a while due to fullness. The doctor says I'm a good milk cow though and she's going great so I guess it's a small price to pay.

She's such a happy child and I pretty much know her moods which makes it very easy. 

Have a good one!

Finally

So I figure it's time to start writing some posts. I did write a couple but they're not finished and I doubt I'll ever publish them so I'm starting over. I think I try to write too much about events that have already happened. I will endeavour to just keep to the present with maybe a few things past.

Today Hannah and I actually had a pretty uneventful day. She fed and slept and we went for a walk with Aunty Sarah. I made my very first roast today too! Beef =) I'm very proud of it. ... It's gone now though.

Her sleeping hasn't actually been the best lately. She sleeps fantastic at night time but during the day she doesn't seem to want to sleep as much. I can't complain though when she's hardly ever grumpy and only wakes once a night for her feeds. I normally feed her at 6ish, put her to sleep at 7pm and then we wake up when Daddy leaves just before 7am. 

Hannah after her sleep a week and a half ago.

She's growing up so fast! I already wish she were smaller. I can completely understand why people have more babies. 
I was going to put in a picture of Hannah smiling that I took on my phone but I've been trying to upload these things onto the computer for the last two hours and I'm just a TINY bit sick of it. .. I need a new phone. Another time hopefully.

I'll blog again soon!