Welcome to the World Baby Emily

Sorry for the hiatus but anyone following my Twitter stream will know what after an induction beginning on the 7th of July 2011, on the 11th of July 2011 at 9.48am  Nick and I welcomed our Baby Daughter Emily Jane Salmon into the world.  Thanks for all the best wishes.

We chose not to find out from the scans if she was a boy or girl , but with a strong streak of boys in Nicks family, everyone was pretty surprised to see a little girl and the pink cards and matinee jackets have been flowing through the letterbox ever since.

We are all totally smitten I can confidently say she is the most beautiful and intelligent baby in all the world. Don’t know where she inherited either trait from but she definitely inherited her parents appetite and is busy guzzling my milk while I guzzle everything in sight. Most babies lose weight the first few days but at birth she weighed a healthy 3.4kg ( 7lbs 8oz – old money) and  has gained 0.2kg ( Smug and Proud Parents) in the first 5 days.

With a long induction , labour and then recovery from the Caesarian section I spent rather longer than planned in the Queens Medical Centre Nottingham getting to go home after 5 days.

During the early stages of induction I was mobile and hungry, we even popped to the local pub, Nick sampling the Bombadier Ale and I can reccomend the bacon cobs from the  hospital cafe does. Once on the ward I indulged in the  NHS Patient Menu it was hot, tasty there was a good range of options and constant offers of fruit, tea and coffee.I got some funny looks photogrpahing the menu and food with my Blackberry, I may have had the air of an undercover journalist

Still the first thing I wanted to do when I got home was eat, even before I gave birth I had been making plans  I had put some meals in the freezer , thankfully my mum (now Grandma Jane) visited laden with a massive home made lasagne, mountains of cheese and a gammon joint which she cooked, we have been having thick gammon and chutney sandwiches , she also used the gammon stock to make a nourishing soup with our neglected vegebox contents.

When Nick popped out for more baby supplies on my second day home I snuck into the kitchen and found plenty of leftovers to make a throw-together salad; dried out bread , leftover pasta ,lettuce from accompanying the lasagne the night before,  red peppers my mum had found mouldering in the salad drawer and saved by roasting them and popping them in oil ,mixed with olives from the fridge , sliced red onions, feta cheese and  drenched in olive oil  vinegar, dried mixed herbs  plenty of black pepper.  Fantastic throw together meal quickly made and quickly consumed before the next round of feeding and changing.

 I aim to be cooking again soon but it’s quite nice being taken care of and new Dad Nick has been taking the opportnity to make the kitchen his own iron rich foods and endless cups of fennel tea to ensure Emily gets nothing but the best.

We have some great ingredients too  Emily put on a picture perfect  performance for her other Grandparents and earned us some Longhorn Braising Steak and Lincolnshire Sausages from the regional farmers market.

Hopefully I will be cooking up a storm again soon, if I can ever find non-baby photo space on my camera memory card.