Coke And Code - Java Games and Games Development

I'm reading on the BBC website about the 'Uk financial crisis' and I have to say that my favourite part is reading the comments from other reader. This reader in particular is talking about who is responsible for the amount of debt that the average person is in in the UK.

"Isnt it odd that if a smoker risks his life by smoking he assumes the majority of the responsibility rather than the tobacconist, yet when somebody risks their financial well being by overspending they are viewed victims and its the banks fault.Strange world!
Anyway like it or not we are all at risk from passive smoking and a 0.25% rate cut is like trying to cure lung cancer with an asprin."

I love his tobacconist analogy. It is true though. If you don't want to be in financial shit, dont' borrow more than you can afford to pay back. I shudder to think what our mortgage would be if we had borrowed everything that was on offer!!!

I don't think ppl realise just how fantastic a husband I've got. We were talking last night about how no one ever seems to notice Kev in situations but he's always there in the background holding things together. There's a lot of undeserved praise flying around these days and its' understandable that Kev gets Narked from time to time. All this praise about so and so can move house 'nearly' on their own or someone else was oh so fantastic with their pregnant wife until she was about 10 weeks pregnant. For gods sake! Are these ppl seen as so pathetic that they have to get praised for the crap that everyone just gets on with normally?

Back to Kev. He gets a rough deal. I mean, he has a wife who has lots of medical problems meaning that she needs a lot of support, a baby who refuses to sleep at night and is fast heading towards tantrum of the year award, he has a very good job that he has worked exceptionally hard for (that ppl seem to think just landed at his feet, no he's is talented and hard working)and gets on with it all as part of everyday life. Lets face it, my condition is chronic and not going to go away. Kev could bail and create hell but he doesn't. He quietly gets on with it and no one notices.

Comments like so and so even managed to transfer their utility bills on their own (when in their 30s) are frankly insulting to us (and them). We only moved transatlantic twice and once with a newborn baby in tow!! How can they even be compared? Kev is completely under-rated.

Ppl seem to think that I'm the strong one of us but they're wrong. Without Kev's support I would have lost it years ago. He's always been there for me. I might not like what he has to say sometimes but its always said out of love and never spite. The world needs to know that just because I'm the one with medical problems rather than him it doesn't mean that he doesn't suffer them as well. Which is worse? Having arthritis or watching someone you love get frustrated constantly about not being able to do things or live in constant pain. I can tell you that its easier to be the person with the condition rather than the carer.

Give Kev a break, he's my rock and I love him.

Now that we have Meg's passport I booked our flights home yesterday. I've booked 3 seats because baby's are not guaranteed a cot otherwise. So she'll have the window seat with a cot secured to it. I'm not going to have her on our laps for 11 hours. It's stupid for that length of time and not to mention dangerous. I've heard of lap babies on planes being called missiles by the cabin crew. All you need is bad turbulance.

I also upgraded our flight so we get more space. I'm fine with the leg room anyway but it makes a world of difference for Kev and it should be easier to see to Meg if we have a little more room.

There are however no facilities for storage of Meg's milk. I think some hostesses do it but they're not supposed to. So we'll have to take powdered milk and water for her. I hope I can get her back onto powdered milk by then as she's had a tough time with formula and powder is the worst.

Forgot to say, we're flying on the 12th Dec and will get home on the 13th which is a Wednesday. It seems like I'll still have to wait until Sunday to see my family though. My Mum doesn't want to meet her first granchild while being a guest in someone elses home. I see her point, I wouldn't be happy either. After all this time what's another few days I guess. It would be daft of her to sit in a car for that long at the moment anyway as she's injured her shoulder in 3 places. I certainly wouldn't want to have a seatbelt over it and she can't drive like it. So as far as I'm concerned I won't be home until the Sunday.

I had my 6 week check yesterday. I can't believe that Meg is 6 weeks old already. It doesn't seem that long but I guess I had a lot going on in the begining. She is such a little person now though. She has really filled out and has jowls (sp?) like an old woman! You know, the saggy skin under the cheeks where old women's skin has lost its elasticity! I guess the rest of her head will grow into them at some point.

Anyway, I passed my check up with flying colours and am no longer on 'pelvic rest'. Lol. It'll still be a while before I'm not too tired I would guess though. Not to mention the fact that we won't have a house of our own for a bit. :(

Other things covered were my gall bladder stuff and the injury I got to my foot back in May! I need to rest my foot and do special exercises as I have been. I made it worse when I took Meg out for a walk for an hour. Gentle brief exercise is fine but I didn't realise that too much stretching would further damage the ligaments. Doh!

It seems that I still have to be on a low fat diet. My body hasn't taken too kindly to having its gall bladder pulled out. I've been getting really bad IBS like attacks with fatty foods. Even a lean cusine with 10g of fat in it was enough to cause problems! It's going to be fun living with people who haven't had to worry about fat content. I'll have to just not eat things that are dodgy, please or offend. I have been warned that it could be upto a year before I can eat normally again.

My Dr told me that the surgeon who told me that I could eat what I like and do what I like the day after surgery was being stupid. I have to admit I had my doubts as I was in a lot more pain and discomfort than he led me to believe. The incisions were fine but I was hurting inside where the gall bladder was cut away from the liver. He's an ex-marine who obviously hasn't ever given birth!! That explains why he was so short sighted. He told me to do sit ups to get back the muscle tone. My Dr was annoyed by that because I hadn't had my post partum check yet and he didn't bother to check if my abdominal muscles had seperated while I was pregnant. Thankfully I had checked and the muscles were fine. I can now even do a sit up while holding Meg in my arms. Really useful for getting out of bed when she been cuddled up with me.

THe other things in the check were the obvious internals etc and also vaccinations. I was given a tetanus/diptheria/pertussis shot which is now really sore. In the other arm I had a flu shot as Meg is too young for them and we're about to inflict a climate change on her. This way she shouldn't get flu from me. Kev was also called in for his flu jab for the same reason. If anyone else is ill they just stay away from Meg but it;s not that easy for Kev and I so Kev decided that even though he has a needle phobia he would do anything to protect his little girl. Next year however she gets the shot and he doesn't!!

We have a winner..its official....the UK passport office is quicker than the US passport office. The passport turned up this morning so we can now book a flight home. We're aiming for December 11th and are going to try and get an upgraded flight. We are beyond worrying about the money and just want to get home in as much comfort as possible as we have Meg in tow.

I still dont understand why its cheaper to book return flights than one way tickets but I don't care anymore. I'm booking a return and not using the return ticket. Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to upgrade the return flight!

I just need to get mine and Kev's immigration papers signed off by USIS now. Otherwise we're not allowed to go through customs. I need to check that return flights are not an issue as well.

For personal reasons I'm taking a break from blogging. It might resume in the future.

It seems that I most likely have a job to go back to in the UK. I asked my old boss if he would help me to write a grant to get a salary when I get home and he replied saying that he has a 3 year contract available that I would be perfect for! It not only uses the skills that I already have but also adds to them so I won't be bored. I'll be working on kidney physiology. I recently read a friends thesis on renal (kidney) physiology and really enjoyed it. I even started to look up some papers because of it. It's his setup that I'd be learning to use. It looks so much harder than what I've already done. Bring it on!

I need to negotiate over the start date though. The job is available from the end of Jan but I want to spend more time than that with Meg as well as have a rest and make sure that I'm fully recooperated myself. I'm thinking April time when Meg is nearly 6 months old. This will give us time to settle down again and find childcare etc.

I just can't believe the timing with this job. I feel so relieved that I have a job to go to because I was really disappointed to have to resign from the one I have. I know it was the right thing as everyone keeps saying to me but I have to admit that most people who are excited about it are from a purely selfish point of view wanting us home in the UK. The fact that my career that I have worked really hard for could have taken a serious hit didn't occur to anyone (except Kev which is why he pushed to stay out here for so long).

Don't get me wrong I'm glad to be going home but I felt that I was being forced to give up on what is a big part of me. My work has always been important to me and I know that it's no longer the most important thing but why can't both work? So like I said the timing for this job opening couldn't have been any better from my point of view. I bet that I'll get lots of stupid comments though about being selfish and not putting Meg first. I look at it another way. If I have time away when I know she is safe and happy then I think I will be a better mother. I also think that daycare is a good way to learn social skills and the children who go to day care tend to be more advanced early on in school which will build confidence.

Yes it's true. Kev has been fantastic this last year. We came out here to have an adventure but didn't expect the one that we got. In the beginning it was all new and exciting and we got caught up in everything then I got two pink lines! For the first few months everything was great, we were really excited but nervous and I couldn't wait to tell my Mam and Dad the news. About 4 months into the pregnancy I started to feel unwell and put it down to being pregnant. Kev was great.

Early on when I had morning sickness and the smell of the fridge would send me running Kev would cook me 3 square meals a day. While I was in the shower he was making my breakfast, while I ate my breakfast he was making my packed lunch for work and I was to tell him when I left work as it gave him an hour to cook my dinner before I had walked home. I was craving roast dinners so he learnt how to cook one and wow, his roast potatos are great!

As time went on I got progressively more ill and Kev took me to ER twice for what they determined was indigestion. Still he didn't complain. A lot of ppl would probably think I was being a wimp and an inconvenience, well if Kev thought that he nover said it. The third time was serious and Kev called an ambulance. We then found out that I had gall stones and couldn't eat fat. What a nightmare. So Kev once again comes to my rescue and trails around the aisles of the supermarket reading all the labels on the food to help me to learn how to stick to a low (under 5g) fat diet. Believe me it was a steep learning curve. Kev even ate some of the stuff with me!

Of course over the last few months I got much worse as the pressure of an increasingly large Meggie on my stomach and gall bladder prevented me from eating and in the end even drinking water. Kev came to the hospital with me everytime and stayed whenever he could. I was being rehydrated at the hospital and eventually Kev (not me, as I was running to the bathroom) convinced the doctor that I needed to be induced. When I got back the decision was pretty much made.

When it came to the birth I turned into another person and had to appologise to the nurse later. Kev was by my side the entire time. I don't think he even went to the bathroom! What amazed me was that Kev helped during the birth by holding my leg still for me to push back against. I couldn't stop my legs from jumping around and they needed an extra pair of hands. This of course meant that Kev (who is squeemish) saw everything and he tells me literally everything! He saw Meg being born and followed by, as he descibes it, a waterfall of birth, yet he stayed strong and refused to faint! He even held Meg after the doctor had checked her over. After his ordeal he very slowly walked backwards and fell into the chair in the corner. I don't think I had ever loved him as much as at that point in time. He was amazingly strong and did it all for me.

Of course things didn't just stop there as I was very ill when Meg was born after not eating for nearly 2 weeks and I still needed to have my gall bladder removed. The first 4 weeks of Meg's life where really hard for all of us. Meg was ill, I was ill and Kev was exhausted. I'm grateful that Kev wasn't too proud to ask for help from his parents and I'm grateful that they flew over at such short notice to help us. Kev even took more unpaid leave from work after my op.

Today is his first day back to work and so far it seems to be going well. I'm in the living room with Meg (who is having a colicky episode) and we're leaving Kev to get on with his job. I'm now able to cope with Meg (including picking her up again) and I can get through most if not all the night time feeds without Kev so he can sleep.

After all that has happened and the number of times that I have told Kev how wonderful he has been, I still don't think he gets it. I could not have done this without him. He held everything together when I fell apart. So many men would have just not bothered thinking of this as women's work. I'm sure he got annoyed by the situation nearly as much as I did but he never took it out on me and that takes a strong person. I'm sure that we both feel the same though when I say it was all worth it. We now have the lovely Megan who is actually a very good baby who just has a little problem with gas, but then again she is a cross between the Powells and the Glass!

So according to the surgeon I can eat anything now...ha! I've been warned by so many ppl that it isn't always the case. My mother being one of these ppl and I think I can trust her. Anyway, all the time I was having Meg I craved ice cream so we went out for a walk a couple of times and bought ice cream. Well the both times I only ate a small amount out of the bowl as something didn't feel quite right. I felt light headed of all things which was a bit confusing. In less than an hour (in minutes the first time) I had to run to the bathroom and when I say run I mean walk as quickly as possible to avoid accidents. Both times this lasted for the rest of the day. So I think ice cream is off the menu.

Other foods have done it to me as well. Anything deep fried, chinese food, pretty much anything that has a lot of fat in it. So it looks like I'm going to have to stay on a low (rather than no) fat diet at least for now. This should be intersting when staying with relatives. I hope they don't value their bathrooms too much!

Just the right size for Meggie.

We took Meg to see the Dr yesterday for her 1 month check-up. She now weighs in at an amazing 8lbs 7ozs meaning that she has gained a full pound in 2 weeks! However, this only puts her in the 25 percentile! Then again she is being compared to American's!!

As Kev points out, the genetics for American's mean that they are bigger as the immigrants were the strongest and fittest originally. I'm not so convinced. Lets face it, there are more diabetics here and obesity is a bigger problem meaning that the babies will be larger if the mothers are bigger. Also the American diet is awful. If you want to be healthy you have to cook everything yourself and that doesn't seem to be the norm from what we've seen. Either way, who cares? Meg is healthy and gaining weight at a good rate so I'm happy.

The only problem we have is that Meg is a bit colicky meaning that she has problems with gas. She has episodes where she is in pain and very hard to comfort. We had one day when all day either myself or Kev had to hold her to comfort her. We did it in shifts. It was haertbreaking to not be able to do more for her. If we don't comfort her quickly after each bout of pain she gets so upset that we then can't console her. The problems started when she went onto formula milk which of course makes me feel bad for not trying harder to breast feed. We have to try different types of formula and see which suit Meg best. Then of course we go home where all the formula milks are different again!

Meg also had her 2nd Hep B vaccine. She really cried out in pain with that one. She now has a big lump on her leg that we have to be careful not to put pressure on. She did however have a reall cute bugs bunny plaster!

Meg goes back to the Dr for a 2 month check when she gets another 3 vaccines. She has to have these early though as we don't want her to feel unwell on the flight home. The Dr thinks that's a good idea and says it won't do any harm to have it a week or so early.