Techno Bean

This is real proof that we have spent the past few days twiddling our thumbs....Bean now has a personalised wish list on Amazon.co.uk. I'm not necessarily suggesting that everyone goes out and buys presents for the baby, but if anyone fancies it, we thought this might be a good idea. You have to have your own sign in and then you go to wish lists and put Bean Chittock as the name and then it should let you see what Bean would like....or what we think Bean might like!!
Any problems, I am a technophobe, but Jon should be able to help.
As for the birth...as you may gather it hasn't happened yet.
xxx

Head over heels -- and still no news

Nearly had a bit of a shock today....
We went to the mid-wife and she decided to send me for a scan because she wasn't sure which way up Bean was. Just the think you want to hear when you're three days' overdue. She said she thought it might be Breech, which would mean getting me in for a C-section as quickly as possible. The good news is Bean just has a rather large bum and what she thought might be the bottom is actually the shoulders, which means the head is quite well engaged. That would explain why I am feeling like my insides are a pestle and mortar and my pelvis is being ground away with every movement of the Bean's head. Dad thinks Bean is going to be a pot-holer at this rate, but am not so sure....It was a relief though not having to be scheduled in for a last-minute section, even if it means Jon was rather shocked by the size of Bean's bottom, which seems to be taking up the majority of my stomach. It was nice to get a late scan, although it wasn't very easy to see much as there's not a lot of room in there. We've just got back from a lovely Thai meal at the only pub in the village and I am hoping the spicy food will prove irresistible and spur Bean to make an exit, but am not sure. Hilary, Jon's Mum, is up in Yorkshire for a few days. She was getting lonely in London and obviously wanted to see the Bean, but no can do on that front. Thanks to Auntie Lorena for the best wishes....we had considered some Peruvian and Latino names...why didn't you mention Ollanta.. or Humala: surely the great almost man hasn't been forgotten already? Well, as ever, will keep you posted. To everyone who is off on their hols already or shortly, 'Bon voyage'...I really am getting itchy feet now, and know how everyone must have felt whenever I used to jet off here and there. I haven't been on a plane for at least eight weeks....getting withdrawal symptoms, and likely to be a while until I do again. You'll be glad to know I have been playing Bean music from the Buena Vista Social Club and the Jungle Book in French, to help with the cosmopolitan upbringing even if there are no planes involved just yet. Jon seems to think strumming on the guitar is going to inspire Bean to make a quick exit. Not sure about the baby, but it might have that effect on me soon. Love to you all xxx

D-day plus two -- we will let you know

I couldn't write anything on Monday which was Bean's due day as the internet here has been appalling, but it seems it is working at the moment - whether or not it lasts for the length of this post is uncertain.
As you may have guessed, I am still the proud storage container of a Bean, who has clearly decided the outside world is too much of a scary place to enter and it's nice and warm and comfy inside. So, we're two days' overdue and have been trying all the old wives' tales of ways to bring on labour: including driving over bumpy roads, going for walks and eating spicy food. None of it seems to be working, but we do seem to be a bit lower over the past couple of days and there is an incredible amount of pressure on my pelvis, which in turn is giving me sciatica. Oh well....it's just the waiting game and we're trying to keep occupied, although it seems that everyone else is just as impatient as we are. We will let you know when the Bean decides to make an appearance and are still hoping it either happens in the next two days or not until Monday because of the issues with the maternity ward.
Little else to report, apart from we did horribly in the pub quiz last night. Brain seems to be representing a plate of mushy peas and incapable of answering even the most basic questions.
Terrington may be a one horse, one pub village, but it does have a rather posh prep school, which is repsonsible for ludicrous amounts of noise in the morning when the 'yummy mummies', as Jon calls them, drive their ridiculous four by fours at brake neck speed up the road, so darling Fergus isn't late to school. Anyway, we had a bit of amusement this weekend because the kids of Mum and Dad's neigbours were playing rugby and it was quite amusing listening to some of the posh names being yelled by parents across the pitch and laughing at some of the silly things children get called. So, Bean won't be Farquahar or Tarquin or Torquil.
I bought a copy of 'Mr Happy' the other day and have been reading it to Bean and Jon. For amusement factor it beats 'Al-qaeda' by Jason Burke that I have been trying to plough through, but it's not quite up there intellectually. Although it does now give Jon ammunition whenever I sit there scowling...he doesn't seem to realise the difference between concentrating and sulking.
Well, that's it for now...will hopefully post again soon.
Adios a todos
xxx

Still no news

Emotions increasingly irrational, desperate need to have everywhere clean and tidy -- a feat in itself with these energy levels, the inability to lift weights and bend over and a messy hubby -- and growing clumsiness.
I know billions of people have gone before me: peering into this great unknown and survived the jump, but I am scared. Natural, I suppose and I know the tiredness, the sleepless nights, the smelly nappies, the sore body parts and the lack of a life for the immediate future will all be worth it, but it's just something I need to get off my chest. Yes, I am selfish...I am sorry. Yes, I am excited, but I am tired and hormonal. I know it's not really the end of an era, but the beginning of a much, much better one.
You'll gather from this the Bean hasn't made a grand entrance just yet. Five days to go until D-day and if I don't go into labour today or early tomorrow, I'm going to sit with my legs crossed as Malton maternity ward is closed from Thursday 5pm until Monday 8.30 am and the alternative is scary Scarborough -- a one hour drive over horrible tractor and caravan-infested predominately one-carriage way roads -- where the hospital is huge and a visit last week really put the fear into me (even if they do have a birthing pools, which hopefully will be free).
So, while I do the crossed leg thing, please do the crossed finger thing, so we can all end up with monumental cramp.
This is proving quite cathartic...apologies for sounding like a miserable, moaning moo...I really have no excuse. Mid-wife appointment tomorrow and we'll see if Bean is any more engaged than last week, where the head was one-fifth down....I've been walking and eating curry, which is supposed to bring on labour, but no such luck yet.
Thumb twiddling aside, at least the grass grows quickly here, so fast in fact that you practically can see it grow.
Love to you all.
Han
xxx

38 weeks

Oooh, I have been very re-miss. Apologies for the fact that imminent motherhood, coupled with living out in wilds in Yorkshire, are not really conducive to blogging. So, here I am at 38 weeks pregnant and taking advantage of the fact that this may well be my last entry for a while. For all those who are still reading this, thank you...I am beginning to feel very large and could probably give John Wayne a good waddle for his money at the moment.
Nevertheless, Jon and I are enjoying being together, even if it is a little frustrating that we can't find work for him at the moment. It all feels a far cry from life in Peru and Bermuda and we are both missing our friends very much. In August, we spent a while down in Cornwall for the wedding of Jon's sister Sarah and Steve. It was a lovely change of scenery and I had never been down to that part of the country before. It was also nice to finally meet Steve and Sarah after hearing so much about them. The wedding was lovely and it gave Jon the chance to catch up with some old friends and some beer-drinking.
Not much else to report, aside from the fact that we won the quiz at our local last week....if this is the highlight of my week, hum, I should sign off now.
Love to you all