Where to start?

04 Nov 2010

It’s been weeks since my last blog and I’ve got well into the swing of motherhood – Vanessa is 10 weeks old today!  And so much has been happening – yes even between feeds, nappy changes and catching up with xfactor on iplayer in the middle of the night.

She's growing!!

The first week of October the Chateauvert coaching holiday was taking place!  Lucy and Corinne did a great job and everyone had a super time.  Rain got in the way just one afternoon, otherwise it was wall to wall sunshine.  You can see the photos of the week here.  For a big proportion of the group this week was a turning point in their climbing – becoming self sufficient at a sport climbing crag.  It was a shame for me to not be involved but from the sounds of it there were some big efforts and top performances.  Here’s a big hello to Ben, Kim, Craig, Rob, Nick, Brian, James, Richard, Carol, Alison, hope to meet you some time.

Rob at Chateauvert

Here's some exciting footage of Kim on her redpoint projectl (Creve la Dalle - a hard 6a), she got it in the end!

That same week we sampled A&E at the children’s hospital.  Yes Vanessa’s already had a general anaesthetic!  Two painful hernias reared their ugly heads.  No problem for her it seemed, just worse for the parents.

And as for my return to climbing? A week before we went into hospital I actually went to Stanage and did 4 routes!  I managed to lead two VSs, and second an HVS and (rather stupidly) an E3.  This is nothing to brag about as my fingers felt like they were going to snap.  I can’t help pushing myself.  Still the day was truly good for the soul and I really look forward to the next, even if it is next year.  Anyway a physio told me to hold back as my stomach muscles separated.  I knew it happened in pregnancy but I’ve been in denial.  So no climbing since then and for the last two weeks it’s been a tonne of pelvic floor exercises and the gap has narrowed.  Pilates seems a good way to go forward.

My body is actually in really good shape but as ever my head is jumping three steps ahead, but over-riding advice is to take it easy.  So Vanessa gets wheeled round Sheffield on a regular basis and I’ve had 3 trips to the swimming pool.  So my strategy now is to just really take it easy and get my body properly recovered

I’ve also managed to get Vanessa’s passport form off – the sooner we get a passport, the sooner we can think about going on holiday – something I’m pretty keen for.

Having her passport photo taken!!