Another day of playing and despite some angry exchanges between little T and myself, the track was finished. Just waiting for ‘Mini Tornado’ to wreak havoc!
I wonder how many dads have experienced the same? More importantly felt incredibly protective and proud of their track!
An emotional moment in the Turner household today as Little T was introduced to the wonders of Star Wars.
Is it too early for Top Gun?
It was some time before I was brave enough to take Little T out for a walk on the road. He is a confident walker but also has a mind of his own so the thought of him so near passing cars frightened the life out of me.
We’ve now been out a few times and today it was so lovely as it was his first time to splash in puddles! It does take three times as long to make it to the supermarket but he loves it and is learning quickly to hold my hand.
So far he has yet to make it all the way home with out asking to be picked up, but I’m sure his stamina will grow quickly.
Mrs T
Today we were off for a play date with the lovely Mrs M and her two littles. As she has a boy nearly four she has experienced a lot more child friendly activities than I and has introduced me to many a new place. Today it was the amazing Little Street, located within the Frimley train station. I knew it would be great but was even more impressed than I expected.
It is a fairly small area with seven different role play areas: Cafe, Hairdressers, Doctor’s office, Supermarket, Dress up/music, Vehicle fun (giant fire engine and several ride on cars, Construction zone. There is an entrance area for sitting to take shoes off, store your bags or have a snack. There is a small baby zone there as well. A mini cafe keeps mummies happy with coffee and shortbread as well as a selection of wholesome snacks for the littles.
It is a really high quality play area and caters for children up to school age. I thought it was great fun for Little T at 15 months and I think he will enjoy it much more at any future visits. As with this time he was mostly interested in finding things to chew on, rather than actually acting out the activities. Though he was quite interested in the espresso machine which Mr T will surely have his eye on now to buy for him!
We went for their morning session, 09:30-11:00, but there are four sessions daily (and because of how great it is, it is essential to book). This left the three boys with quite an appetite, so we braved lunch at M & S Cafe at The Meadows. A bit of a three-ring circus but we managed lunch and a bit of shopping and had three smiling boys when we went to the car. A very tired Little T has slept and allowed me to write this post which I am ever so grateful for!
-Mrs T
Getting back to blogging has been on my mind but I have really been struggling with what to write about. This morning I stumbled upon something that inspired me.
I left the house to get Little T some fresh air, he has been a bit poorly so I thought it was exactly what he needed. We would be out and he would tire himself out for a long afternoon nap. Of course life with children doesn’t always work out how you plan, he was asleep in the pushchair ten minutes after we left the house!
I continued on to explore. I had seen a sign for Blackwater Park behind a nearby industrial estate with a path following the river. It was a really peaceful and beautiful walk, but then I came upon a clearing and was really impressed!
A lovely meadow alongside the river with walking paths that go on for quite awhile. I got lucky as it is a beautiful day with blue skies and a fresh breeze. I can’t wait to bring the little man back when he can actually walk around and enjoy this nature right on our doorstep!
-Mrs T
Even more exciting than finding this place is that I was able to sit on this bench and write this post as Little T slept!
We were so happy to welcome Baby T into the world on June 16. Since then we have been busy emptying our flat in Tianjin, packing up the rest of our belongings, finishing up work and shifting our lives to the UK. Baby T was fantastic on our flight at just three weeks old. Tomorrow he is one month old, so far it is lots of feeding, sleeping and diaper changes. He is starting to fill out and loves to cuddle! Mum and dad are doing well, enjoying our new adventure.
Leaving the hospital
Just a few days old
Nearly one month old
Such a lovely boy!
-Mrs T
(As soon as we get a bit more settled there will be more posts to come, including our birth story)
This would be our 12th and most likely final appointment. It was a Sunday afternoon, the sun was shining and Mr T and I were enjoying a lovely day together. We thought it was funny when our translator greeted us by saying; “You’re in a great mood today!” I just laughed out loud, amused by what she must think of me.
It was a simple appointment, vitals, urinalysis and fetal heart monitoring. We did have a bit of a scare when the monitor stopped recording, the nurse had to come in and replace the cord but all was fine from there, though the new cord only recorded heart beat but not fetal movement. I could still feel the baby moving so I wasn’t concerned, we were just hoping we wouldn’t have to sit through another 20-minute session of monitoring.
In with the doctor she said my stats were good and she did a physical exam, not surprised to find baby still in breech position. The doctor said she would like to preform a cesarean birth between the 9th and the 16th of June (39-40 weeks). We expected this and said we would schedule for the 16th, still leaving some time for birth to start naturally but accepting the doctor’s wishes not to go past 40 weeks. It was amazing how quickly they were ready to process us in for the surgery, forms were filled out in no time and I had confirmation text messages before we had even left the building!
Although we had succumbed to scheduling the cesarean, I still came with two lists of points that are important to us whether it is a cesarean or natural birth and as much as they were probably annoyed with me, I took the time to go through each one. It was a kind exchange this time and Mr T and I feel that we understand what the hospitals procedures are and that they understand our wishes. I have since typed up my own birth plan and had a friend translate each point so we can have a clear quick reference on hand, just in case.
So that’s it, next installment should be about the birth of our baby!!
-Mrs T
As it often happens in the small world of expat living we by chance met a couple that had recently (one year ago) had their baby at AmCare. It was just after our last appointment and we were still feeling a bit negative. They had had a great experience at the hospital, I think this was because of two factors: the woman was Chinese, so there was less of a dependency on the translators and the man was very up front and asked for (and got) what he wanted. Before committing to the hospital he wanted to meet with the president of the hospital and would settle only for the lead doctor in the hospital to care for his wife. It was nice to speak to another couple who had used our hospital and hear some positive things. The woman has continued a personal relationship with her doctor and made a few calls and got us an appointment with her. We were unsure what this appointment would be like. Our translator canceled with our original doctor and scheduled us with the new doctor. We didn’t know what type of dialogue (if any) had occurred between the doctors or the translator about us. Had she been warned to watch out for the moody, demanding westerners or were we just another patient to her… This appointment was a very simple one with just vitals, urinalysis, fetal heart monitoring and then a visit with the doctor. It did seem as though the translator was being a bit kinder toward us, and I as well had vowed to come in and stay calm and accepting. The new doctor took great care to explain everything to us, starting with the fetal heart monitoring report, describing what each line meant (contractions, heart rate, and fetal activity) and told us all was normal. Upon her examination she found the baby to still be in breech position and she took the same stance as our previous doctor, but with a bit more sensitivity in her delivery of information. She also did not recommend acupuncture to attempt to turn the baby. She is willing for us to wait to go into natural labor, but would not feel comfortable going past the 40 week mark. We made it clear that we were not expecting anyone to try to vaginally deliver a breech baby, because we think that they think that is what we want, (from what we can tell it is just not done in China), but we would like to give the baby as much chance as possible to turn or let us know it is ready to be born by labour beginning. She explained how the hospital would define cesarean and emergency cesarean and the costs that accompany it. We asked how many days in advance did they need to schedule a cesarean (they can do it the next day). We left the appointment feeling secure in the care we were being given. We know we have done what we can to help the baby move and if it sticks in breech there is a reason for it. What is most important is not how the baby is born but that the baby and mum are safe and healthy. -Mrs T
