A post that's not as funny as Grandma Caryl's guest blogs..

I'm writing this blog when I should be napping. "Sleep when the baby sleeps!" they say.. but I'm not a good napper so I'm blogging instead :)

In this blog, I'm going to do a comparison of having a baby in London (with public transport) and having a baby in America (with a car).  Here is an example of an outing in London with a tiny baby:

This morning I got up 2 hours before I needed to leave after having approximately 2 hours of sleep last night.  Poppy was surprisingly cooperative this morning so I actually managed to shower and shove a crumpet in my mouth before we left.  Before we left, I fed her and she immediately projectile spit up all over the couch.  So now my smooth morning has turned into a frantic scramble to take the cover off the couch to wash it before running out the door. It gets so much worse....

I make it to my lunch meeting with my NCT group unscathed.  It's Shrove Tuesday - aka Pancake Day - so we all eat pancakes one-handed while feeding/holding our babies (it's really quite impressive!).  Poppy was happy and alert before we left so I thought I'd chance it and wait until we got home to feed her... MISTAKE, Allie, HUGE mistake.

We make it as far as Waterloo Station (approx. a 4 minute walk) before Poppy goes into complete meltdown mode - screaming, red-faced, lip-quivering meltdown.  I get on the train hoping the motion will calm her down but no dice.  So I get off at Southwark Station (one stop from Waterloo) with the intention of sitting on the platform and quickly feeding her before getting back on the train.  Since I'm breastfeeding, feeding her requires a chair or seat of some sort.  As adept as I am at breastfeeding, I haven't quite mastered the logistics of doing it standing up in public.  As I now know, Southwark Station has no seats or chairs of any kind ANYWHERE in the station.  So now I'm in panic mode and Poppy is absolutely inconsolable.  

Two very slow elevator rides out of the station later, we ended up in a pub outside the station.  I go in and try to find a seat.. the only seat available is literally on top of a heater.  So we do a quick, sweaty feed and head back to the station.  We make it as far as the platform before the little bugger loses it again - serious meltdown mode!  There's a train sitting there and I think "Wow what good luck! The train is here!".. get on the train only to realise there is a lady collapsed in the next car over so they're waiting for a paramedic.. which means we sit there for 10 minutes.  The entire time little Poppykins is absolutely wailing!  

Finally, the train starts moving and we make it back to Canada Water station (which is only 4 stops from Waterloo, where this journey started).  Poppy falls asleep and we walk the 15 minutes home with her getting mildly wet because I haven't figured out how to put the rain cover on the buggy yet.

Poppy pre-meltdown.  So deceptively peaceful.

Now... here's how this journey plays out in America with a car...

Leave lunch, Poppy cries, then I:

A. Drive home and then feed her. Everyone's happy.

...or

B. Pull over into a parking lot and feed her in the comfort and security of my own car, then drive home. Again, happiness all around.

SO MUCH LESS STRESSFUL. 

(p.s. I wrote the top half of this post on Tuesday and it's taken me 3 days to finish it.. I'm on Mom-time now)

Rant over.  

As she gets older, it does get less stressful to take her out in public.  And I'm getting better at manoeuvring the buggy aka stroller for all you Americans ;) on and off of public transportation.  

Now for the fun part - photos of my adorable child :)

So proud of herself after keeping me up all night..

Staring at Daddy and working on her neck muscles!

She was hungry...

LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS!

Poppy is gaining weight like a champ - she's over 10 pounds now!

That's all. It's 1 pm and I haven't showered yet.  Katie (YES KATIE'S HERE!) and I are going to Borough Market to stuff our faces today - hopefully little Popsicle behaves herself!