My Bundle Of joy: Part Nineteen

~ beetleypete

This is the nineteenth part of a fiction serial, in 800 words.

While Leah was calm, I managed to feed her. The doctor came back when it was already light outside. “You can take her home now. It might have been that she was too hot, as we can’t see anything that concerns us right now. She has taken a feed you say? Good. Keep an eye on her, and get some rest. If you are still worried later on, perhaps take her to see your family doctor”.

There was no chance Olly was going to go into work that day. As soon as it was a reasonable time to ring anyone, he phoned his boss to tell her about what had happened, and agreed to take the day as holiday. Leah had gone to sleep in the car on the way back, and I decided to break my own rules by taking her into bed with us that morning.

After that scare, things calmed down, and I got into a routine as soon as I was no longer feeling the pain. I had told Doreen about the hospital trip, and she tried to reassure me not to worry too much. Then she was more or less finished with her checks, but gave me a number to call if I thought I needed a visit. Remembering what the doctor had said about seeing a GP, I decided to change doctors. Up to that point I had stayed with the one in the city, but that was no longer going to be practical, having to take Leah with me everywhere.

I found one about fifteen minutes walk from us, and they said they would register us if I went in. The place was packed out with people waiting to see doctors when I arrived, but an elderly receptionist was happy enough to get us registered. Olly was going to stay with his old one, as he was in the city most days anyway. I made an appointment for having myself checked over, and they offered me one seven days later.

Trying to get some order into my day was very difficult at first. Leah had no more screaming fits, but she had stopped crying at all, and that preyed on my mind. At least she was feeding, and sleeping. That allowed me some rest between feeds, and I stopped Olly getting up to bottle feed, so he could go to work feeling fresh. My Mum had been miffed at my asking her to leave, so to build bridges there, we suggested that we visit them every Sunday. At least that way we could decide what time to leave, and not have any showdowns.

The first Sunday visit went well. Mum had prepared a lovely roast lamb dinner, and it was nice to be able to sit and stuff myself without worrying about who was cooking, or having to wash up afterwards. I had to laugh at my dad and brother. When it came time to feed Leah, as soon as I reached under my top for my boob, they both made themselves scarce. Ronnie remembered he had a borrowed DVD to watch in his room, and dad had something he needed to attend to in his garden shed. Leah’s head had changed shape too, even though her forehead looked unusually large, the cone shape above had almost disappeared. That stopped my mum trapping on about her head at least.

Going anywhere with a baby was such a mission. There was the baby bag containing anything I thought I might need, as well as many things I would probably never need. Then the folding wheels for the portable cot, in case I had to wheel Leah around. The carry cot/car seat itself, which looked tiny, but was surprisingly heavy. All that without my own huge shoulder bag, which I still hadn’t got around to sorting through, and emptying out.

On the way home that Sunday, it seemed like Olly was reading my mind. “This car isn’t going to work, Ang. I reckon we need something much bigger, preferably with a sliding door. I will investigate what’s available, and sort it out”.

Late the following Saturday afternoon, he returned home driving a bright red Japanese people carrier that looked more like a minibus than an actual car. It had sliding doors at the back, and a huge hatch that opened up to reveal a space that I could easily lie down in. It had a high roof too, so no bending and stretching. The gears were funny, fully automatic, with a lever on the dashboard next to the steering wheel. In front, the driver’s seat looked like an armchair, and the seat next to it was a double one. After showing me around it, Olly asked, “What do you think then, Ang?”

I told him it was never going to fit in the garage.

30 thoughts on “My Bundle Of joy: Part Nineteen”

  1. (1) The doctor said, “You can take her home now. It might have been that she was too hot.” Angela suddenly realized that she should never have bathed Leah in the cauldron.
    (2a) The doctor told Angela to take Leah to a GP, but Angela balked at the idea of taking her baby to a Genetic Programmer.
    (2b) But, of course, the doctor was actually referring to a Ghost Pirate in need of a Guinea Pig.
    (3) The general practitioner was a 15-minute walk for Angela, and a 15-hour crawl for Leah. Unfortunately, Angela was too tired to walk, and Leah was too young to crawl.
    (4) Angela decided to build bridges with her mum.
    Angela: “Do you still have that old box of LEGOs?”
    Mum: “No, but your brother has an Erector Set.”
    (5) Bad citation: “When it came time to feed Leah, as soon as I reached under my top for my boob, they both made themselves scarce. Ronnie remembered he had yet to put ‘Lupa Capitolina’ in his DVD player, and Dad had a sudden urge to peruse his Playboy collection in the garden shed.”
    (6) Bad citation: “This car isn’t going to work, Ang. I reckon we need a car with a rumble seat for Leah. I’ll have my friend Dickey investigate what’s available.”
    (7) On the dashboard in front of the driver, there was a lever that activated the rear ejection seat. “The next time Leah starts screaming…”

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  2. So many emotional swings when you’re first starting as a parent. You are getting many typical emotional ups and downs right on for someone who wasn’t a father, Pete.

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  3. I can feel Olly slowly bending, I wonder when he will snap 🙂
    The baby business is big business, it makes sense to have more than one just to get your monies worth 🙂 And buy second hand, I cant believe how precious some people are about baby kit, its like a new status symbol for some!

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  6. Love it. Great detail detail around -all the bags, the weight of the baby carrier. Especially the bit about getting dinner made and not having to worry about the cleaning. The car?? Very considerate but I think I’d be a bit miffed it I didn’t have a say in choosing it lol thanks Pete

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    1. Olly sees that as his ‘male role’. And he is the only one earning any money as well. That said, he isn’t buying a car he likes, or would have kept his beloved old Citroen. And he is considerate about it being something useful for Angela. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  7. You are doing a great job capturing all of the elements of life as a parent – content panic and concern, and new cars that become filled with toys, supplies, car seats, bags of snacks and more!

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    1. When my step-daughter first brought her baby here, I couldn’t believe how many trips she made to and from the car. The back of the room was piled high with stuff, as if she was intending to stay for two weeks rather than a few hours. I’m pretty sure that my mum didn’t have all that stuff in 1952! 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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        1. Yes, it seems so. Including the ‘horrible’ mums who throw them out of car windows around here, and they end up on grass verges, or caught up in bushes. Or those who dump them by the side of their car in the Hoe Rough car park, then drive off leaving them in full view. At least my step-daugter puts them in a bin, but I can only imagine the mountains of plastic waste they have created.

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