mikeandnichaveababy

As most of the planet now knows, Nicola gave birth our wee boy on Thursday the 21st of August although things didn't really pan out as planned.

At the point of finishing my last post, I was under the impression that Nicola was going to be induced at 2pm the following day. This resulted is very little sleep. The following day I went into work early - not because I wanted to but because I would have scratched myself to death with nerves had I stayed in bed. At work, I directed fast, nervous speech at anyone who looked side ways at me and was kicked out of work at 11am by my colleagues.

Unbeknown to me, Nicola was at home, hoovering and occasionally complaining of feeling a little crampy. She had mentioned a bit of pain during the night but as it didn't last nor repeat, we both put it own the braxton hicks - fake contractions for those not in the 'know'. By the time I got home, things were quite tense in the household. Nicola wasn't her usual self, she was quiet and a little bit snappy and now and again she would throw her arms around her stomach and groan for a minute or 2. At this point we sort of thought that she might be in labour but again put it down to braxton hicks. So, 1.45 in the PM came and we headed off on the short journey to the hospital via Somerfields so I could pick up a sandwich. We left the two Grandmas to be decorating our living room that we had stripped of paper only months before. We walked into the maternity hospital without a problem although Nicola later told me that she thought that she had a contraction on route from the car to the entrance. I'm beginning to think she might be bionic woman.

We are led to the Ashgrove ward where a where nice midwife puts two belts around Nicola to monitor the babies heart beat and any tightening that may be taking place. She gives us a short talk about the procedure or inducing people and we are well warned that it may take up to 30 hours before anything starts to happen. Nicola was well aware of this already and had stored up on snacks and trashy magazines. So the mid wife leaves us to it for half an hour and we watch the monitor and it becomes apparent that Nicola is having contractions every 6 or 7 minutes. When the mid wife comes back, she asks if Nicola is feeling any of these tightening to which Nicola agrees and she is then given some paracetamol (about half an hour later) for the pain. Ha ha.

By the time that the tablets arrive, Nicola is giving out the occasional muted scream and the midwife goes into the check how far she is dilated (don't ask!) and by this point she is 5cm and the midwife can touch the baby's head.

From here things happen pretty quickly. It’s now about 3.40 in the afternoon and the midwife returns with some gas and air for poor bionic lady. The screams are getting slightly louder although now here eyeballs are wondering off the back of her head. The midwife advises that there are no available beds in the labour ward yet so we have to stay put for the time being. That all changes when during a contraction Nicola yells "I want to push". Now, baby classes taught me one thing (and I could see the card in my mid as clear as day - it said - "Wants to push"), they will want to push but they shouldn't. I inform the midwife of her latest comment and she stares at me for a second. It could have been because by now I was white as a sheet and wanting my mummy but it was probably down to the fact that she was thinking "oh sh**, what the hell are we going to do?". Luckily at that point a bed became available and we were ushered though to the labour ward.

We arrived there around 4.05pm and almost instantly, Nicola's waters broke. There was Nicola, a new midwife and me in a small room and I asked Nicola is she wanted any more pain relief. She said (between screams) that morphine was an option. I asked the midwife on her behalf however was told that they could almost see the babies head so there would be no time for the drugs to take effect - this baby was going to be here soon!

For the next hour Nicola was advised to push as each contraction came. After a while, the midwife said "ok Nicola, the baby is in a bit of distress, it doesn't like what is happening so we need it out ASAP. Things were serious at this point although the midwife was very calm throughout which at least made me feel better. Nicola however was clearly in a lot of pain and she was asked to stop using the gas and air so that all her strength could be used to deliver this baby naturally. After 7 or 8 big pushes, the midwife requested that a registrar come and help with delivering the baby. Again, the registrar was extremely calm and professional through out the process and in the end; she used a suction cup to pull the baby out of Nicola. That in itself was a huge ordeal and having to watch Nicola go through the whole episode and not be able to do anything to help her was pretty traumatic. When they baby was finally here, they rubbed him down and placed him onto Nicola wrapped in a towel. I had tears in my eyes for a second or two and somehow whispered to Nicola that it was a little boy.

Thankfully, our little boy was healthy, if not a little bit small - 5lbs 12. Once Nicola was stitched up (which seemed to take hours) we were left on our own. All I wanted to talk about was what had just happened and our new baby and what we were going to call him and bla bla bla. Surprisingly enough, Nicola wanted me to shut up, as she wanted to rest for a wee while before talking about the ordeal she had just been through.

In the end, it took 3 hours 23 minutes from the time that we entered the hospital for Christopher to be born. When I phoned Nicola's mum at around 7.20pm, all they were expecting was an update along the lines of "na, nothing happening yet." so me saying that a new baby boy was here must have came as a tremendous shock.

Since then, things have gone well. They have now been out of hospital for 2 weeks where the fun has really begun. Its all good really though. We have no problem changing nappies, which by the way, seem to come with little chicken korma paintballs inside them. Nicola is feeding him herself and after the first couple of days, he has the hang of things and is starting to increase in size. The thing that really has got us though is the nightly struggle to sleep. The last few nights have been good where he has only woken to feed however a week last Friday he screamed from 7pm till 7am and on more than one occasion it was suggested that we throw him out the window. Thankfully, neither of us is that irresponsible. Lucy the dog has also been really good with Christopher, which was a huge relief. I think they will cause chaos together in the years to come though!

Two things before I switch off this blog for good.

1, the juxtaposition at the maternity hospital is incredible. On one side you have this amazing place where life is being born all the time and where love and nice stuff is amass. On the other side, the scum levels in that place are incredible. I'm not going into specifics here but the amount of junkies and drunks that congregate in that place is just unreal. The Saturday night before Nicola got out, I was leaving and there was a drunken chap ranting in the hallway about how it was "Nae effing right that I'm nae getting to see my kid until I'm sober". How harsh is that he uttered as I walked past him. Oh aye, really harsh! The staff at the maternity hospital were absolutely spot on and really helpful. They really don't deserve the grief that they take from some of the patients and visitors which makes what they do all the more remarkable.

2, Christopher, if you ever get a chance to read this, I hope you have enjoyed it (I can hear you crying through the house and you have just been sick on your head and have managed to leak brown stuff through your nappy!). Be nice to your mum and if you even think about becoming a rangers supporter, I have no son!

Till next time folks

I'm going to keep this quite short because tomorrow is going to be a long day and it’s already very late. I just need to jot down a few lines to let the world know what is going on and how things are progressing.

Things are progressing bloody quickly!

This morning, Nicola had a routine scan because they have been monitoring her fluid levels. I take the customary 1 hour skive time off work to attend this appointment with her which allows me to faf about for an extra 20 minutes in the morning before going out. We get there, the consultant (Dimitri something was his name) invites us into his room and he, along with another consultant (a very nice lady called DR Crighton) and a medical student (don't know his name - I think I'll call him Jnr Dr Geoff), scan Nic's tummy for baby measurements and fluid levels. All is going well, everyone is in good spirits and they start discussing the results. Dr Crighton asks Dr Dimitri man how he thinks the levels are - above average, average or below average. They conclude that they are probably slightly below average. I agree with their diagnosis, nodding and chipping in with the occasional 'yeah'. They don't pay me any attention (their loss) and begin talking about maybe taking Nicola in to get things started. They say "I think the results of this suggest that we should probably take you in soon and get you started. Some time over the next few days". Dr Crighton chats about the procedure for inducing women while Dr Dimitri man goes off to try and find a day to book her in.

2 minutes later, Dr Dimtri man comes back and says "Tomorrow at 2pm". I think my next words were "Oh F***" although I don't recall actually saying that but Nic assures me I did.

So, the fluid levels are lower than average, which is not really that big a problem but can cause the baby distress as the pregnancy continues. Given that Nicola is now 39 weeks plus through her pregnancy, it’s all very safe and her and the unborn spawn of Charles are fine. A further soooo, tomorrow, things kick off and in the next few days, a poor child will have a chronic notresponsibleholic father, a very nice mother and a hairy Aunt (not my sister, the dog :-)).

I'll update this one final time following the birth.

This is f***ing nuts!

Petrified Mike

Jumping Jesus folks, I'm going to be a Dad soon! It’s all just sort of becoming a bit more real. I've happily been going about, telling anyone that will listen, that I have a baby on the way and it’s going to be ace. Of course it's going to be ace but I have began thinking about what I won't be able to do no more. Top 5 can be found below:

1, Going on a two week holiday with my mates to the sun. Oh the quality holidays we had in the past are but a memory. A very fuzzy memory.

2, I won't be able to wonder round the town, dressed in a blonde wig, short skirt and handbag without bringing embarrassment to my innocent child.

3, Gary Glitter jokes will become inappropriate - (and rightly so)

4, Drinking first thing in the morning will more than likely become a no no.

and

5, I'm always going to have to be employed to ensure the comfort and safety of my child. That means, no more world tours and no storming out of my job on a whim because of my drama queeness.

It all sounds like doom and gloom but it isn't. It is time to be responsible. As part of my new found responsible-self, will always put my kid's well being first and I shall never attempt to use my kid as currency in a bet.

Now that I have array of thoughts down on E-paper (probably should be toilet paper though), I'll give you all an update on the health of everyone else. Nicola has a good solid bump in the lead up to week 37 (Tuesday the 5th). We had our scan a week past Wednesday and at that point in time, the Consultant was happy that they would not have to move things on due to the size of the baby. Fluid levels were good and the baby was an ok size, if slightly smaller than average. We have another check scan on Wednesday but we are quite confident that they won't induce Nicola at that point and that she will be left to run the course.

Today we had a top Sunday. Breakfast / Lunch at the Inversnekie (Nic couldn't finish, so I stepped up to the plate and polished off the left overs), followed by the early showing of Batman. Nic managed to cruise through the movie without fidgeting, fighting or peeing. Then it was off to future Grandma June's and Granddad Andy's house for some tea. I'm sure days like these will be few and far between so we'll enjoy it while we can.

Lucy the dog hasn't had much of a mention recently. That must mean that she has been behaving. Which, to be fair, she has been. Well, mostly. She is off to the vet tomorrow for a check-up before we book her in for neutering. Don't tell her that though - we haven't told her yet. Probably won't. She wouldn’t understand - she is just a dog.

Right, I've incoherently blabbed enough for tonight.

Take Care y'all

John-Boy Walton.

Aloha.

I normally like to update this with some sort of interesting story or at least some sort of news and have been holding off writing anything until I had something to write about. I don't. Well, not really. I suppose I have a wee bit of stuff I can gibber about. Lets see........

Oh, a few weeks back we went to our first anti natal class and have now attended 3. I'd heard mixed reviews from several folks about what to expect. Some said "It's s***te". Other said "Its quite good". I myself found it to be nae bad. They spoke about the stuff you would expect. For those of you that have already been through the birthing process, you all know the deal. For those that haven't, I won't spoil the surprise. In general though, it was useful. We ended up in a class full of nice people - educated, good jobs, enjoy nice wine on their palette and thankfully there were no obese, junky, alky, smoking expectant mas n das there and hence, Nicola didn't end up in a punch up over spilt orange juice. There was a really funny moment where one of the chaps joked about him being in the nesting period and the guy next to him announced that he had dihorhea but you really had to be there to get much amusement out of it.

We have also managed to venture into town - the drinking town, not the shopping town - when we went out for Louise's leaving night. Louise is off to Dubai so to celebrate, wait, that came out wrong, to send her on her way, we went out for a few drinks. I got nicely drunk early doors on buy 1 get 1 free girly cocktails whilst Nic didn't. A good night was had by all and thankfully Nic got tired and took me home before I made a fool of myself.

On the Nic health front, she is getting rounder by the day. At her last mid wife appointment her uterus was a little smaller than average but the mid wife wasn't too concerned at this stage. There is a small chance that something could be wrong but it is very common and probably more to do with Nic's figure than the health of the wee person. On the plus size, my uterus is exactly the right size!

Can't think of much else. If anyone has any questions or general wonderings, feel free to send a comment and I'll do my best to answer it.

Regards

Dr Michael Charles PHD

Good evening fellow cyber space monkeys! I suspect that anyone still checking this blog are content to be called cyber monkeys. If not, best you speak to the Boss.

Since the last scintillating update, Nicola has grown somewhat. Now, despite her criminal past, I felt it a little over the top for the young spotty chap at JJB sports to stop Nicola and have a go at her for stealing footballs. Thankfully the whole thing got straightened out and the only person to be hurt was of course the wee spotty chap. Black eye and a couple of broken ribs. She got a bit tired though (must be down to the pregnancy) just as she was about to start work on the knee.

On a serious note, young Nic is beginning to slow down a wee bit. It's becoming a bit of a struggle to lift herself off the sofa to go grab me a packet of crisps from the kitchen and the walking back and forth to work is taking its toll. Sleep is also becoming a problem, as her mind seems to go into overdrive at 3 in the morning following a visit to the bathroom. On a few occasions she has attempted to involve me in discussions at this devilish hour but a couple of groans and sympathetic grunts seem to have curbed her talkyness. I've heard the tv go one a couple of times but at that time of night the Jeremy Kyle is even more annoying than normal so she seems to have gone back to staring at the ceiling.

Last weekend we drove down to see Nicola's pal Fiona in Manchester. The purpose of the visit was to attend Fiona and David's engagement party. The party itself was pretty much an all day event and I managed to find myself with more than a couple of lager shandy's sliding down into the pit. Nicola managed to avoid any fighting at this party and had a really nice time. A few other members of the Nicola friend club made it down to Manchester and quite a few of them coped off. I'm a little hazy on the details but I hear that more than one of them succeeded in pulling with the world famous:

Hey min, dee ye want to get aff we me or nae?

It always failed for me but I think if your female you can get away with that kind of chat.

Finally, I'd like to talk about the conversation that I had with Nic this morning. Right, so it's Monday morning. I'm running late and am dolled up in my creased shirt and trousers, trying to grab anything edible for breakfast. I see Nicola in the hall and she looks a little uncomfortable. I ask her if she is ok and she replies:

Yeah, fine. I'm a little bit crampy. I DON'T THINK THAT IT'S CONTACTIONS.

Mike - Eyes wide - scared - taken aback "EH!" Where did that word come from? I don't need to be hearing "contractions".

Thankfully, it was just cramp though and thankfully I've been able to calm my breathing.

Later folks

Since our return from travelling the world (oh its just nae fair that we had to come back) Nicola has spent 1/3 of the time pregnant. She has now been up the stick longer than the average career life span of a Pop Idol winner. It is hard to think that in the next few months, a little me and Nic will be living in this flat along with Auntie Lucy, helping us to claim family tax credits and beg on Union Street. It is becoming more likely as time goes on that I'll never own a play station 3 while they are fashionable. I'll never be able to go the pub without tying the kid's lead to the railings and asking the dog to watch him or her while I have 4 or 5 pints. It just doesn't seem real sometimes.

Anyway, I was reading a baby website (as the modern man has to do and at 28 weeks they have a quote from a baby that says:

"I think I am completely ready now. I still don't have the desire to come out yet, though."

When I read that I was sure that they had taken the quote from my kid. I say something very similar every morning from my bed and have done since forever.

I also read about a funny phase of pregnancy that Nicola is currently going through which is called 'Nesting'. Nesting is an interesting time. Dishes all of a sudden are being cleaned at 7am. Dusting is taking place at 7.20am, I am being shouted at for not picking up biscuit wrappers 25 hours a day 10 days a week. To be fair, I'm not the most active cleaner in the world and deserve some of the abuse but it seems a lot more intense just now and I try to say nothing when someone in the household has a rolling pin in their hand.

We had Kirsten's wedding on Friday at the Town House followed a meal and shindig at the Palm Court. Kirsten was looking incredible on her day and you could see Jorge's delight in making her his wife. There was some emotional speeches and I must say that the whole day for us was more enjoyable than watching a monkey poke it's bum and then smell it. Nicola managed to get a bit of a bogey on and I managed to get her to order wine for her and pass it to me during the meal. By the end of the night I was more than a little plastered whilst Nicola was soberer than a judge. Having a designated driver is definitely a benefit of having a pregnant bird - cha ching.

On a separate note, out little dog has come into season. I am determined to make sure she meets a man dog soon so both Nicola and the Dog give birth about the same time. Imagine how good that would be!!!!

Ok, better run and watch the end of crime watch, make sure Nic hasn't been robbing from old ladies again.

Cheers

So it would appear that my original intentions to update this here blog on a weekly basis haven’t come to fruition. What can I say? I'm a lazy so and so!

Since the last encapsulating update we have had ourselves away to sunny Spain for the last ever holiday pre-parenthood. We headed across to the Costa Brava for 7 days and it was a lovely little break. Below, I have drawn up a wee diary of our trip.

Sunday - Depart Aberdeen for Barcelona. Flight gets in at 9pm and by the time we reach the hotel following an hour and 15 bus journey the hotel eatery is closed. We head out on to the main strip of the resort and seek out Burger King for a nutritious evening meal. Head back to the hotel after that and looking forward to sun bathing tomorrow.

Monday - Jesus Christ! Is that *&$^%*% rain. Do you mean to say we came here and its going to rain all week? For %&£^ sake we can get that at home. Jesus, when is the next flight. This place looks like Blackpool in November. What the hell we going to do? Sit in a pub for 7 days. Oh hell! Ok, lets check the tv. We can always sit in our room and read and sleep and watch telly. Click, click click. Oh hell, the only English language channels are CNN and Eurosport. That evening we wonder up and down the main strip and manage to count 22 moustaches on our short walk.

Tuesday - We make the decision to catch the train to Barcelona to ensure we another day is not wasted watching Italian Deal or no deal. We buy a 2 day tourist bus ticket and begin to see the sights. The day turns out to be really warm and sunny and we visit the nou camp amongst other things. Decide that Barcelona is a really nice city and that we'll be back the next day to finish off the tour.

Wednesday - We finish the tour but unlike the previous day it's a bit cooler and we don't have jackets. We spend an hour or two wondering around a mall looking for cheap jumpers so we can sit on the top deck of the bus without the goose bumps. We eat in a tapas restaurant attached to the mall and Nicola goes to the bathroom enough times to pick up loyalty points. Another nice day is had by all. We spend some time wondering around the streets of Barcelona and enjoy the sights up and down la ramblas. We get home in time to watch the huns bottle the uefa cup final whilst in a Dutch bar. There are a few blue noses there as well and it makes the experience all the more enjoyable. Nicola's bar stool gives her a lot of grief but she soldiers on and pokes fun at the huns.

Thursday - We finally manage to get some sun bathing done. The day is spent relaxing next to the pool. The pool looks sooo nice but anyone going in it seems to gasp for breath immediately due to the temperature. We avoid going into the pool and instead get a power of reading done.

Friday - We head back to Barcelona as the day looks slightly over cast. We do a bit more walking and have lunch in a very nice square off of ra lamblas. We take a boat tour around the harbour, which is ok. Nicola though begins to feel sick so the last part of it is spent praying that she don't start spraying.

Saturday - Bloody rain comes out again. We head to a small town called Blaines which is just up the road. We have lunch on the sea front and watch the rain come down. We wonder along the beach with our umbrella (ella ella) and the sun soon comes back out. We head back to our hotel and watch the FA cup final in another Dutch bar. That evening we enjoy our last supper at the hotel and join all the foggies in the bar at the hotel to watch a well dressed Spaniard play key board and sing songs.

Sunday - The last day. Thankfully the sun is out for our last day and we do everything leisurely. We bathe next to the pool and just have a nice day. The bus picks us up at 5pm and we fly home at around 9.30. The usual moans about the it being over too quick are voiced but overall we are happy bunnies. We get back to the Deen at 11.20 pm and get to bed after midnight

Monday - The dream is over.

Since the end of the dream we've got back into out old routine but both of us have managed to pick up head colds. In the week that we were away, Nicola seemed to get quite a bit bigger and she is now obviously preggers. She has started doing the pregnant lady getting off the couch manoeuvre and has become slightly less graceful. She is however glowing in her current form!

Laters peeps

Hey people. Hello? Is anyone there? A few people have asked what the hell has happened to the blog so here goes.

It's been a difficult few weeks here in the land of the pregnant and I'm going to use that as an excuse for the lack of updates. Since we last blogged, Nicola has had her 20 week scan (which was actually in week 21) and on the very same morning we got the news that Nicola’s gran had passed away. It was quite a surreal day for me but Nic must have been emotionally all over the shop. We got the bad news a couple of hours before the scan which meant that by the time of departing the scanning department, we were obviously delighted that the scan went as well as it could have but the stuffing had been knocked out of us. Nic and her family have really pulled together over what has been a hard few weeks and it's very sad that Nicola's gran didn't get to meet the future baby. It's also very sad because this blog lost a reader and you lot are thin on the ground as it is.

The scan, as I said above, went well. Everything in the right place it would seem and some more nice pictures were taken. I'll see if I can attach them at some point. Nicola is still doing well and isn't complaining too much about it 'All being my fault' which is all-good. The little person has started to kick their mother about and I have been prodding away trying to get a reaction. Sometimes I do, other times I just seem to chase wee one round the tummy region. It's all good. Nic now has a proper wee bump that you can clearly see providing she doesn't have a coat on. One thing that she has been moaning about though is not putting on enough weight - has another woman ever complained about that before? She has now out on around 4 kilos since she got herself pregnant. I'm doing my best to re-assure her although I have my suspicion that she may be using this as a ploy to legitimately eat more crisps. If I've learnt anything over my 29 years on this planet, its that women can scheme up things that you don't see coming till you are out of pocket or sitting watching Hollyoaks like it was your idea!

Lucy the dog has managed to get promoted to the next dog class. The only conceivable reason for this is that I'm sure the 2 ladies that take the class just want rid of her! She has really mastered her sits and stays and she is getting better on the lead. Her attention span around other dogs though is like my attention span around food and strippers. She starts at the new class a week on Monday so we shall see how she goes.

Anyways, I better run and look after my mrs.

Bye

Sir Michael No Bloggalot

Revelation - It's been quite a quiet week here in the land of the pregnant. Nicola has been feeling pretty good if not a tad tired and she thinks that she has started to feel the baby move. It could be the baby or...it could be the curry that she had on Friday night. A wee bump has developed as well and she is looking more pregnant as each day goes by. She still ain't got what it takes to beat my gut but give it a few weeks and I'll be the slim one in this relationship.

Young Nic has just returned from a weekend in Glasgow with her 3 friends Shelley, Louise and Kerry (who is also brewing a baby). By the sounds of things she had a good time but hopefully not too good a time - so far I haven't yet had a chance to check my bank balance and we all know how much money she spends on male strippers. She is currently talking away but I've learned to drown out the constant verbal noise coming my way am getting away with 'yeah's, 'no's or on on some occasions I like to mix things up with an 'uhhu'.

Not too much to report just now though. The search for a buggy with suitable cup holderige continues and we have the 20 week scan a week tomorrow (Monday the 14th) which actually falls within the 21st week.

Lucy the dog managed to disgrace the family last week at dog school by peeing in the hall. She is excellent at home just now but dog school brings out the worst in her and I had to mop the floor in front of the whole class - I was mortified.

Rightio, bed time for me.

Thankfully we now appear to be past the dreaded initial 3 months of pregnancy and Nicola is starting to feel a bit more like herself. I learned some valuable lessons in those first 3 months and I give you my top 5 below:

1, Women get an increased sense of smell - meaning of course that I have had to start wearing a fresh pair of pants everyday.

2, Trying to get out of doing something by suggesting that Nicola could do it herself is likely to result in a long hard stare and the dismantling of a voodoo doll looking like myself.

3, Buggies cost more than my Mondeo!

4, Buggies look to have put pay to my Xbox, PS3 and Nintendo Wii aspirations.

5, Waddling about with my arms pushed out to my sides and my cheeks puffed out is never ever funny.

So, as I said, Nicola is now back on form and instead complaining all the time that she is feeling bad, she is now twinkling about the place like a glowing beam of happiness. She has been coming on some long walks along the beach and the Deeside railway with Lucy the dog, cooking (thank god!) and has been discussing her plans for the arrival of the little person without bursting into tears and punching me.

She also has started to show a wee little bump over the last couple of weeks and advised me this morning that her waist is now 33 inches (the bitch). Oh how I remember when my waist was but 33 inches. It was the summer of 92 (around the time Burger king and MacDonalds were dominating my diet). I remember it well because burger king were advertising that you didn't have to have gurkins (they called them pickles) so I used to order a double cheeseburger with only ketchup meal please. Where am I going with this?....moving on....

We were in Glasgow yesterday and went to have a look at the Pram centre. This visit was quite productive and we began to get a feel for what we required and also what we liked. Now, Nicola disagrees with my scientific assessment of buggies. She always thinks she knows better and to be fair, she normally does but I'm convinced that on this occasion I know what I speak. Clearly, the standard of the buggy, just like the standard of a car, depends on the number of cup holders available. If one is walking down the street, one cannot hold a hot tasty beverage in one hand and push your own flesh and blood with the other. No, you must be able to relinquish control of your hot tasty beverage and allow the buggy to do the work. Allowing you to use both hands to push, wave or give the finger to passing traffic. I'll keep you posted on the buggy news as it comes but we have seen a couple that look to do what we need - only one has a sufficient number of cup holders!

On the Lucy the dog front, she has been getting a lot better and I can report that she is no longer using my home as a toilet. Well, mostly, she sometimes lets her standards slip resulting in me skidding through the kitchen from one end to another but 99% of the time she is good. She has now been to 3 dog classes and is very close to being promoted to the next class. Nicola and I were scared after the first night that all she was going to learn at dog school was how to bark. Thankfully though she has picked up some good habits and hopefully in a few months we will have a happy little pooch that behaves all the time and doesn't chase everything that moves.

That’s about it for now, I won't leave it so long next time.

Mike and Preggers