Puff Betty

Puff Betty

Betty tries to make daddy feel better

Betty's First Dummy

Betty Jean has been growing horns at 4pm every day! Yes, she has had colic. Won't bore anyone with the details (details with babies always come down to poo-colour). We've been busy though - Betty had her first playdate with a 5 week old boy named Alexander. They babbled to each other and knocked the dummies off each other's faces - a good time was had by all.

Betty smiled for the first time this week. And not a moment too soon - the little darling needed to start giving something back! She has a goofy habit of forgetting to close her mouth when the smile has ended. Julian and I have been ill. The top picture is of poor Julian after an encounter with some rebel eggs at Hugo's restaurant. We've been very social - Betty has met nearly all our friends now and we start baby yoga together tomorrow. I have an ugly feeling she is going to sleep through it. She likes attention so she should have a blast.

Tips for being a new mummy

As our friend Steven has predicted our blog has degenerated into a baby-site. But as the first of all my girlfriends to get knocked up, I thought it would be my duty to impart my wisdom for future generations of new mummies. Here are my tips.

1. This seems ridiculous, but if you buy any baby product, read the instructions before the birth. It'll give you something to do while off work. We bought some baby wash and didn't realise til Betty Jean was in the water screaming that we had no idea how much to use. Try reading size 6 print while holding a wet screaming baby. They scream louder when they realise they have incompetents for parents.

2. Put on your mascara/straighten your hair/wear nice underpants as much as possible. Try to keep something of your beauty routine even in the first few days. Anything that makes you feel like more of a human being in the first few days will be worth the effort. Oh, and there will be hundreds of photos of you looking your worst if you don't bother to lippy-up.

3. Re: the above point, try to emerge from the bathroom with as much done as possible - try to brush your teeth, put on some slap, get as dressed as you can. Inevitably, once you come out of the bathroom you won't get a chance to go back in.

4. Ask people well before the birth not to send congratulations cards - ask them to send over a meal! Something you can put in the microwave. Preferably with plenty of fibre. This is gross, but if you have had an episiotomy and 3 days of hospital food, the prospect of the first movement is actually more terrifying than the birth.

5. Get as much help with breastfeeding as you can. It's hard and it does hurt. But once you get help from an expert, it's easy and doesn't hurt. I hate to sound ungrateful, but the free help you get is just enough to make sure your baby survives the first few days out of hospital - they have no regard for the state of your nipples. Get professional help if you can afford it - if not, sell something. Try not to twist your back in the first weeks even if you have never had any back problems. You'll see what I mean.

6. Contrary to what you'll read, it's not the best idea to let the housework go. It's bloody depressing when you've had no sleep and you're housebound to be living in a shitfight. If you're strapped for time, get a cleaner to come in.

7. Go out with baby and family as soon as possible after the birth. We went out to the park on day 2, and out for dinner at week 2. Mum forced us and I am glad she did. Find somewhere kid friendly but not so kid friendly that you get PND. Book and tell them you have a big pram and need a table with lots of space. Somewhere dark-ish is also good for breastfeeding in public for the first time.

Illustrations

Something for little Betty's 21st.





Present from Dad. Gorgeous!



Nanny and Poppy and Betty Jean.

Motherhood

I am settling into motherhood quite well. I am doing things mummies do - it's such a cliche but it seems to work well with the lifestyle. I had the girls from yoga class over today for tea and cupcakes. Four little babies around a month old. And of course our mini hostess with the mostess, Betty Jean, wriggled the whole time while all the other babies slept.

After talking breastfeeding, sleeping times, and the quirks and foibles of baby digestion for 3 solid hours, I am feeling more confident about going out. I am the first of anyone I know to have a baby, but now I am feeling less isolated. I might have a little adventure tomorrow as it is becoming apparent that we are now social lepers. 3 weeks comes and goes for the busy people of the real world, but 3 weeks for me is a cycle of nappies, crying, and no smiles - yet. I am desperate for adult company so I am just going to have to go out and get it!

Paula and Pats are coming over Friday bringing lunch and gossip. I am so looking forward to seeing some people from my old life. Don't get me wrong, I am still completely enamoured of my little girl. It's also quite a strange phenomenon that now that we have a baby we are doing more and more of the things we have talked about - Julian has about 20 seedlings in plastic cups in the kitchen - sweet peas- I didn't know they weren't food! We have bought a PH meter, and some 1000 year old bat poo fertiliser. Julian has built a herb garden (without the herbs), and we have bought a trellis. I will be "casting nasturtiums" in the front garden come the beginning of spring, and I have chased the postie away from our mailbox, demanding to know what exactly he thinks "no junk mail" means. Getting back on track.