Please sign the petition for cord blood donation

While I was pregnant with Amber, I found a link to have cord blood collected and stored on several sites, but none in the UK that allowed donation - only a cryo srvice that saved it for your child only, in case they needed the cells at a later stage. I wanted to donate to help to save someones life, or to contribute to the research to help potentially save lots of lives in the future.

A breif explanation of what cord blood collection is, and why it is useful:

Currently the donation of cord blood for the national register is only available at 5 Hospitals in the UK. Cord blood would usually be thrown away but it could be used to save someone’s life. It is rich in stem cells and it is these stem cells that can be used to treat patients suffering from life threatening diseases like leukaemia. A cord blood transplant is an alternative to using bone marrow. Collecting this blood will not affect your delivery in any way (more information available from the national blood service website). Currently for collection of cord blood at other UK hospitals,the donor would have to pay a substantial amount of money to a private organisation for the collection and storage of cord blood.That cord blood is only for personal use by the donor or their immediate family and is not available on the national donor register.

The link below is to a petition that asks the prime minister to make it possible to donate cord blood in every hospital, rather than only 5...

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Cord-Blood/

Thanks for reading, I hope that this gets through in time for when I have another baby - although I think it will be a few years yet!

Ta,
Lou
xXx

I'm in a place called vertigo...

Yes, the dreaded vertigo has returned. And to those who do not know, no, its not fear of heights, thats 'Acrophobia'; I found a good description here:
*

Vertigo is a false sensation of motion or spinning that leads to dizziness and discomfort.

So basically, I feel like I'm on the waltzer 24/7. This is particularly a problem where Amber is concerned. She likes to be rocked, bounced, lifted, swayed... in fact lifting her up and playing aeroplanes was what set this attack off. Grr. I hate my inner ear. I also have a chest infection so I'm on antibiotics for that. Only 4 doses left tho! I also seem to have a memory problem, as I start typing something and then forget it... Antibiotics make me tearful. Why is that?!

*

Other news:

Lets have a game of good thing, bad thing!

• Good: We sold the Rover!
• Bad: Gareth gave it to the bloke on the promise of the money the next day...
• Good: Its not taking up space in front of the local shops any more!
• Bad: When we arrived to pick up the money from the bloke, we discovered he may have done a break and enter on the shop where he worked, and the safe which supposedly had the money he intended to give us has dissapeared and he is nowhere to be found...
• Good: The police picked him and the car up!
• Bad: They let him go, and they let him have the car back... he told them he'd given us some of the money...
• Good: Um, thats it, I've run out of good stuff!
• Bad: I've had to send him a letter giving him 2 weeks in which to return either the car or £400.00 cash to the local police station to be forwarded to us, or I will take him to court.

What the hell are the police thinking of to give him a car he doesnt own? We still have the V5 in my name and no money to show for the car... if they phoned the DVLA they would have been able to confirm that it was in my name and not his. The worst thing is, I'd saved, hard, to be sure that I could pay my credit card bills while I was on maternity. I took all my savings out to buy the Mondeo we bought to replace the Rover, and the money he was supposed to pay us for the car was going back into that. Also some of the money in my savings belonged to Amber - presents family and friends had given us, and I havent got around to setting up an account for yet, which really ticks me off - I felt bad about using that money anyway, without having some low life con me out of it. I really hope that he settles out of court, because I'm stressed enough as it is at the moment without this idiot creating more problems for me.

*

The council have been in this week and put in a new kitchen and bathroom and i now have a lovely bath! The kitchen looks great too - or they would do if the tiling, painting and flooring was done... in true council style, they've done half the job and cant tell me when the rest will be completed. There is a huge hole behind my toilet, rubble under the bath, dust on EVERYTHING, plaster falling off the walls where the tiles were taken off, and NO DRAWERS IN THE KITCHEN! Where am I supposed to put cutlery, utensils, towels, and other kitcheny things? Argh!

*

Argh! Not having a good week. Looking forward to not having vertigo (soon I hope) and Sam coming the week after next. Thats keeping me going - am hoping that I am well enough to go to Carole's 60th... Its ok. Gareths bought me a lindt rabbit so I feel better for having chocolate :)

Gareths new job vs new kitchen and bathroom...

Yay! Gareth has a new job! Yay! Kitchen and bathroom are going to be done up!

Pity both of them start on the same day... :S

And its looking like me, Amber and Boxer are going to have to bunk up in the bedroom for 3 weeks - ouch!

More on the subject when I have time...

Best buys for baby and me :)

This is the definitive list of things I wouldnt be without, with Amber... sure I'll probably add to it as she gets older and into different things, but for now, from newborn to 2 and 1/2 months this is it:

• Loola travel system - front and back facing, and a car seat that fits straight on the chassis - and folds compact for small abodes and car boots!
• Sleepsuits from Matalan - with fold over cuffs so you dont have to use scratch mits which fall off and get eaten by the sock monster...
• Tescos value baby vests - 3 for £1.75 - unbeatable!
• long sleeved bodies from H&M - popper up instead of having to pull it over baby's head!
• Chicco mamma lullaby nightlight - the key to a good nights sleep! Comes on automatically when it hears baby cry! Priceless!
• Muslins - cheapest found at Sainsbunnies, 3 for £3
• Bambino Mio prefold nappies (and my new washer dryer) - but NOT bambino mio wraps - they die if they accidentally end up in the dryer! Motherease are better, but there are some others I was given that dont have labels in that are much better than either!
• A salt lamp - great for lighting the room subtly when you have a sleeping baby in there and youwant to get ready for bed without disturbing her!
• GR8X change bag - has a built in change mat, and folds out so that the pockets are either side of the mat. Handy!

Watch this space for more favourites...