Drowning in Playmobil and Other Stories

Fin's Brachycephaly..........

2009-02-24T15:22:00.000-08:00

In 1992, 'they' discovered that putting baby to sleep on his/her back dramatically reduced the chances of SIDS (Cot Death).
In 2007, 'they' discovered that the number of babies being diagnosed with Positional Plagiocephaly or Brachycephaly are equal to the number of lives saved - a 70% increase in skull deformities through positioning in line with a 70% decrease in SIDS.

In a Nutshell...

Plagiocephaly is most commonly a deformity whereby the skull, when looking from above, has a distinct 'parallellogram' shape, and can lead to asymmetry of the facial features, ears etc. This is more common when a baby lays with its head on a favoured side.

Brachycephaly is a form of plagiocephaly where the head looks pretty much normal from the front, but when viewed from above or from the side, looks distinctly flat across the back. This is typical in babies who lay with their face pointing towards the ceiling.

There are other reasons for these conditions - prematurity, birth trauma, heavy birth weight, multiple births, lack of amniotic fluid and chromosomal abnormalities such as Downs Syndrome can all cause Plagiocephaly. In some cases, the bones in a baby's skull close too early, before the head has been given a chance to 'round out'. The majority of cases, however, are caused by the soft skull being moulded by the baby being left in one position for too long, such as when they sleep, are in a bouncy chair, or car seat.

The NHS are currently (rather half-heartedly, to be honest) promoting (i.e. giving you a photocopied sheet) 'Back to sleep, tummy to play'. OK, YOU try putting your newborn down its belly for more than 3 seconds. Do they like it? Do they hell. Do they find some milk to regurgitate spectacularly across the entire room, you and themselves; then cry themselves into an exhausted stupor? You bet they do.

About Fin

Fin appears to have Positional Brachycephaly. Yes, it could be loads worse, of course it could. But it does still come as a bit of a shock when you notice that your 8 week old baby's head is as flat as an ironing board at the back.

I first noticed it 8 weeks ago, and mentioned it to the Health Visitor who did his health check. She told me I was imagining it. However, over the past few weeks it has got noticeably worse.

Looking into it, many parents go down the whole route of cranio-osteopathy, which essentially means paying a private company a fair few thousand pounds to fit a helmet to your sprog which - in theory - restricts the growth in some areas, and 'pushes' it into those places where the skull needs to even out. There are many success stories, but just as many tales of parents who have seen little, or no, difference - apart from in the wallet - regardless of how young their babies were when they started the treatment.

What I CANNOT find, however, is any information online about success stories using JUST repositioning. Repositioning should be used from birth as a preventative measure, but a straw poll of some friends of mine indicated that I am not alone in not having done it quite as often as I should have. Indeed, some people swear they employed repo from the word go, and their children still ended up with flat heads.

Data on children who have seen a marked improvement through repositioning AFTER diagnosis is like rocking horse poo, to be honest.

I have seen ONE, just ONE report that indicated that - with both groups (one using helmets, one using repositioning), the differences in end results were a lot closer than the helmet companies would have you believe.

We sure as hell can't afford the helmet, let alone the consultations and the visits to the consultants, who are nowhere near us; so we are trying the repositioning. The NHS do not usually fund helmet therapy, on the grounds that plagio/brachy are both considered purely cosmetic issues.

What we are doing

The pram is banned, except in extreme circumstances. It's the Baby Bjorn baby carrier for my wee man; as the back of his head (the occident) is not in contact with a firm surface as it is in a pram.

Plenty of time OFF his head....tummy time he IS slowly getting used to; but also laying on his side; lots of cuddles, sitting on my lap or over my shoulder. Fortunately, he's just coming into his own now (15 weeks this Thursday), and so it won't be long before he will not be putting so much pressure on his head.

For sleeping, we have two 'gizmos'...a Love Nest, which is a safe pillow with a cut out that allows the flat bit of his head not to be in contact with a hard surface, so is great for the bouncy-chair, the cot and the change mat. I also have the Bebecal Wedge, which allows you to safely prop baby on his side to sleep (in 'safely' I mean not likely to roll onto his tummy). I'm a bit scared of that one - seems the UK batter the 'back to sleep' message far more than the rest of Europe; but I know that they have been used with pretty good results.

We are awaiting an appointment for the paediatric department of the hospital to take his measurements and assess the degree of brachycephaly, so it will be hard between now and then to really know whether we have made a difference. By the time we get seen, it might be too late to act. So it's very much a leap of faith, a stab in the dark.

But that has to be better than sitting back and doing nothing. Doesn't it?

Seasonal Food Recipes Part 2 - Parsnips..the Devil's Own Vegetable

2009-01-23T06:45:00.000-08:00

Parsnips. Personally, can't stand the little blighters. If I wasn't Pagan, I would truly believe them to be the vegetable of Satan. But they do make a very tasty, and very cheap soup which is even easier to make than the leek and potato soup. The huge bonus to this soup is that it doesn't actually taste of parsnips. Yeee-Haaa!

Curried Parsnip Soup

Ingredients to make 4 really satisfying portions, you'd easily serve 8 as a starter.
Safe to freeze

1 and a half lbs of parsnips - as locally produced as you can get (even most supermarkets can source these from not-to-far-away).

1 medium onion

1 tsp curry powder for a fairly mild soup (or to taste, I like it spicey so put about 3 tsp worth in)

1 tsp ground cumin (optional, not worth running up the shops for)

2 and a half pints of chicken or vegetable stock
Smidge of butter or oil for frying

- Finely chop the parsnip and onion, and fry for 2 minutes in a large pan
- Add the curry powder and cumin (if using) and fry for a further 3 mins, stirring well.
- Add the stock, bring to the boil and then simmer for around 45 mins until veg is well cooked.
- Allow to cool slightly, transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth.
- Add a little salt and pepper if required. To make it a bit creamier tasting, just add a splash of milk as you are reheating it. When you reheat it, don't boil it as it will spoil the taste.

You can also make a nice spicy squash soup the same way - a tsp or so of smoked paprika added when you reheat it really helps to add some depth.

Seasonal Food Recipes Part 1 - I'm Off For A Leek...

2009-01-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

This year, I will mostly be banging my drum about vegetables. Although Richard eats meat, and I'm a hypocrite (i.e. I don't eat mammals unless they've lived wild and been shot, and I only eat Free-Range or, at a push,'Freedom Food' poultry); living on a weekly food budget of around £25.00 means that we often have completely vegetarian weeks.
With the current 'credit crunch' / economic downturn / complete annihilation of the modern world as we know it (delete as applicable according to your level of paranoia) bearing down on us all; it doesn't take a genius to work out that eating more simple vegetarian meals could make a huge difference to the weekly food budget.

It's good to buy seasonal veg wherever possible, as locally as possible. You know, food miles, freshness, supporting your friendly local farmer and all that. I'm not going to kid you on that I don't have a freezer bursting with bags of frozen veg, but they tend to be accompaniments to a meal, or to help bolster out, say, a veggie curry; but I do try to base a few meals each week on food that is in season, and is grown locally. It isn't much, I concede, but it helps. It's easy to forget that vegetables can be the main ingredient of a meal, and not just something dumped on the side of the meat and spuds.

So, first and foremost in my guide to lovely seasonal food for January is that smelly icon of my homeland, the trusty leek.

Did you, perchance, know that it was Phoenican traders who introduced the humble leek to Wales when they engaged in the tin trade?

Legend has it that in 640 AD, the Briton King Cadwallader was under threat from the invading Saxons. In order to distinguish themselves from the enemy, the Welsh wore leeks in their hats and subsequently gained a great victory over their enemies. Since that time, the Welsh have proudly eaten and worn the distinctive vegetable as a matter of national pride.

Saying that, there was not much pride in eating your raw leek in a show of childish bravado on St David's Day before mid-morning playtime and subsequently throwing up all over the playground and/or teacher.....

Leeks are an excellent source of vitamin C, iron and fibre; and also share the same attributes as their relatives - onions and garlic - in that they are reputed to aid the functioning of the blood and heart, and are also anti-bacterial and anti-viral. Interestingly, raw leek juice is very calming (though a bit smelly) for chicken-pox spots and the symptoms of Shingles.

If you make no other soup this month, make this one......

The World's Easiest Leek and Potato Soup
Serves 4 easily

You will need:

1 medium to large leek - I like the thick, dark green bits because I'm Welsh, but feel free to remove them if you prefer.
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes - any old spuds will do, let's not get pretentious about this.
2 pints of vegetable stock (I must confess to using an Oxo cube or four when I've got no home-made stock, which is, erm, pretty much all the time...)
Oil for frying
Salt and pepper to taste
A blender

First, thoroughly wash your leek. Even if it's organic. It might look nice and clean on the outside, but you'd be amazed how much dirt is inside. I've read loads of ways to clean the buggers but, to be honest, they are all pretty faffy. Best way I've found is simply to slit the leek all the way from tip to bulb, then roughly chop. Chuck the lot in a collander, wash with cold water.

Then fry your leek for around 3 minutes on a medium heat (you don't want to burn it), adding the potatoes and frying gently for a further 2 minutes.

Whack in your stock, bring to a gentle rolling boil and then immediately reduce temperature (down to low).

Bugger off and do something interesting for an hour.

Turn off heat and give your soup a while to cool down before blending.

Sit down and enjoy your masterpiece, or pop into freezer to enjoy later.

(As we have kids, I tend not to add salt and pepper until it reaches the table, as there is usually a lot of salt in the stock).

As usual, the BBC Food Guide has a fantastic range of recipes using leeks - you can look them up for yourself here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/

But here are a few more of my personal favourites:

Three Mustard and Cheese Leek Bake
(serves 8...well, depending on hunger....)

3lb (1kg 350g) small leeks, trimmed and washed and cut in half
salt and pepper
2oz (50g) butter
3oz (50g) plain flour
¾ pint (425ml) milk
6oz (175g) cheddar cheese, grated
1oz (25g) parmesan cheese, grated
1 tbsp (15g) wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp (15g) Dijon mustard
1 tsp (5g) English mustard

For the topping:
2 tbsp fresh wholemeal breadcurmbs
1oz (25g) grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6/180C fan oven.2.

Place the leeks in a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes until just tender.

Drain and put straight under cold water.

Place the butter, flour and milk in a saucepan and slowly bring up to the boil and whisk all the time. Once it is up to the boil, reduce the heat and let it just simmer for 2 minutes.

Add the grated cheddar and parmesan and then the mustards.

Season with salt and pepper

Put leeks into a shallow serving dish and pour over the sauce.

Mix the breadcrumbs and the cheese together and scatter over the top of the leeks.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

This basic recipe also works really well with cauliflower (posh Cauliflower Cheese, really!) and broccoli.

Leek, cheese and mushroom flan
Serves 4. Ish.

1 savoury flan-case (yeah, yeah, I know...I'm crap at pastry). Make your own if you think you're hard enough - it needs to a 9 incher.
2 large leeks
Oil or butter to saute the leeks
3 medium eggs
3 fl oz milk
3 fl oz soured cream (optional, you could just use another 2 fl oz of milk, really)
A pinch of salt
6 oz cheddar cheese
3 mushrooms, sliced
Ground nutmeg
Method

Set oven to 200 degrees C or Mark6.

Slice the washed leeks and saute them in a pan until they are just soft

Season with black pepper and cool.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, soured cream if using and a pinch of salt and then add half the cheese, the mushrooms and the leeks to this mixture.

Pour into the flan case and sprinkle the remainder of the cheese over the top.
Grate some nutmeg over (or, if common as muck like me, pinch some out of the nice handy jar of pre-prepared stuff)

Place in the oven and bake for 1/2 an hour until golden brown.

This recipe is also gorgeous if you substitute the cheddar cheese for 4oz of Gorgonzola or Dolcelatta, and add a little rosemary (dried or fresh) to the egg mixture when you add the salt; and omit the nutmeg at the end.Who needs nutmeg, anyhow?

I hope this has inspired you to do more with the leek than a) wave them at rugby matches or b) half-heartedly fry them off and shove them in mash potato. Stay tuned for my next Seasonal Food bang-drumming session, which will happen after I have been able to conduct some culinary experimentation in my kitchen..........

A brief introduction.....

2009-01-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

OK, I'll admit it. I am NOT the sort of person who should have a blog. I don't actually DO that much, and what I do is not terribly interesting. Nevertheless, I thought it might be a challenge to make such activities as ironing baby-gros, picking pieces of Playmobil from between my toes and cooking family meals on a budget of £25.00 a week sound like a worthwhile way to spend my life. And, I must confess, I do have two rather cute kids; one of whom is a born entertainer. The other one is too small to do much at the moment, other than sleep and poo (which he does beautifully, may I add, before someone accuses me of favouritism?).

This is me - the ugly one in the blue hippy dress, in case you're wondering. On my lap is Ellis, but more about him in a minute.

As I write, I am 36, still only 5ft tall, and in desperate need of a hair colour to 'subtly' hide my grey. I like cooking, reading, trying to be a gardener, moaning, nagging and writing lists of things to try to keep my life in some semblance of order. I hate dirty kitchens, crumbs in the toaster, odd socks and custard.
I'm Pagan. I'll be honest here, I'm not really sure what sort of Pagan category I would fall into - I'm not even sure whether Pagan should have a capital P. So I'm probably not a terribly good p/Pagan. But I know what I believe in, I know what I practice, and it doesn't really fit into any category. But I'm definitely NOT a Wiccan. That much I do know. In fact, speak to most P/pagans and they'll probably say the same as me. That's the beauty of it - it is incredibly personal, and therefore very hard to pigeon-hole people. Maybe I'll tell you more about it as this blog goes on.

Anyway, onto the stars of the show:

This is the ever-lovely Richard. As you can see, he is not blessed in the hair department, but this does not put him off living a relatively normal life. Richard is also 36, but couldn't care less about what he does have going grey. Richard loves all the things I hate - free online poker, action films and Beyonce Knowles. He also loves breaking cars (more about the sad demise of our Rover later, I'm sure), pretending not to hear me, and chocolate.
Richard is not pagan, but quite likes the opportunity to light big fires in the garden at certain times of the year.
Richard and I got together when we both lived in London. Somehow, he persuaded me to move to Scotland, but I suspect that the 5 pints of strong lager may have been a factor. We've been together 9 years this April and seem to tolerate each other enough to produce the two visions of gorgeousness you see below.

This is Ellis. Ellis was born on April 16th 2006 at 7.58am, weighing in at a not-so-mighty 5lbs 11ozs. Ellis loves Peppa Pig, Fireman Sam, refusing to eat anything except chocolate, walks in the countryside, throwing tantrums, being utterly charming to old ladies (particularly 2 seconds after a major tantrum which has left me in tears in the middle of the Main Street) and colouring in. Particularly on the table, the walls, his face or his brother. Ellis can prove that yes, toddlers WILL starve rather than eat anything sensible, and that ultra-washable felt-tip pens are not quite as ultra-washable as the manufacturers claim.

And this is Finlay, or Fin as we call him in our hoose. You are looking at the first photographic evidence of a) Fin's first smile and b) the only time he stopped crying in about three weeks.
Fin was born on November 13th 2008 at 4.21am, shortly after a midwife told me to stop moaning about Braxton Hicks. He was a relatively massive 6lbs 13oz. Fin is currently keeping the makers of Infacol in business, and likes sleeping during the day, Cow and Gate Hungrier Baby Milk, and pooing spectacularly up the back of his vest and out of his trouser legs. He hates sleeping when everyone else is asleep, and being drawn on by his brother.

A point of interest for any amateur astrologers - our family now covers all the elements: I am Libran (Air), Richard is Taurus (Earth), Ellis is Aries (Fire) and Fin is Scorpio (Water).
I have already been told by a Wise Woman that I am going to have a rather interesting time trying to use my Libran diplomacy to tame an Aries and a Scorpio, and she actually suggested that I go back to work and allow the Bull of the house to pull them into line.....yeah, like that's going to happen any time soon.....