He's doing well, behaving himself and has stayed in bed all day.
He's a bit slurry when he's tired, but otherwise completely normal to talk to.
He's starving hungry.
He has stayed awake for longer periods and his temperature has stayed down.

If you haven't got a digital thermometer and are thinking of getting one, I'd recommend this.....

 We have been playing with it ALL day.....and I can even take his temperature at night when he's asleep!

We're getting there.... :)

When you have children (or a partner with Meningitis) you ask a lot from your washing machine, especially when they're tiny or ill. I've had to remove more bodily fluids from bedding than I'd ever like to remember, and it usually means a trip to a launderette or an hour spent leaning over the bath trying to stay at least a little bit dry while you attempt to clean something taller than you are. Then you have to work out how to get it downstairs without dripping 18 pints of water on the way, and if your bathroom doesn't have a large window overlooking the lawn that's not an easy task. What we really need is a duvet you can put in an ordinary washing machine at home and then tumble dry, with matching pillows which are also designed to be washed and rewashed - too good to be true?

I really was delighted to get asked if I wanted to review some of the range of Spundown Bedding from The Fine Bedding Company,  which is designed with washing in mind. It's made from polyester which is specially prepared to give a really light and thin duvet with the same heat retaining properties as a standard duvet. Because it has so little volume it fits easily in a standard washing machine, and can be washed at 60 degrees to kill off all the dust mites and remove allergens like pollen. There's no way I'm reviewing something that makes a claim like that without actually testing it properly....

When the bedding arrived I was really impressed, I've put a coffee mug in the photo so that you can see how little the duvet box was.


We put it on our bed and I was really pleased just how thin and lightweight the duvet was. Our old duvet was the same 4.5 tog, but about 3 times the thickness and weight, and definitely not as soft! The peachskin cover on the duvet is lovely, it's almost a shame to cover it, but you can still notice the difference through the cover (or maybe that's just my imagination).
 






We had the duvet and pillows on our bed for 10 days before I gave in and washed it. I was enjoying my new bedding so much I really was worried it wouldn't be the same afterwards....


I have a 7kg washing machine, which is a bit bigger than average, but not massive, and it fitted in very easily indeed. Good as my word I washed it at 60 degrees and then, on the hottest day of the year, I tumble dried it.

wet

Dry

There is absolutely no discernible difference. It looks and feels exactly the same as it did before I washed it. 

The pillows worried me more, I've washed pillows plenty of times and it generally goes horribly wrong. I can't say I've ever been happy with the outcome. They generally end up metamorphosising into a whole new shape of pyramid pillow with an extra twisty bit and some special big lumps that never go away, or the cover disintegrates into fluff. Neither happened.

Pillow 1: Lumpy Pyramid/Pillow 2: Spundown/Pillow 3: Cotton Wool

Not yet washed/Washed

After a simple shake the pillow really was no different from the unwashed one. After 3 more night's use (as this post was delayed) both pillows look and feel the same. You can't tell which has been washed and which hasn't, I'm really impressed. They're as plump as each other and neither have any uncomfortable lumps or bumps.

I'm really delighted with this bedding. It washes and dries every bit as well as it promises it will. It's lovely bedding anyway and it's been brilliant for my partner now that he has to have a couple of weeks bedrest because his skin is sensitive and it's light and easy to move about or fold out of the way. I know I can wash it every few days without having to write it off or put up with something vaguely resembling a pillow, and he'll be resting and recuperating in a clean and hygienic environment that is pleasant to be in. I'd recommend it to anyone, and I really do think it's very reasonably priced at £18 for a pillow and duvets starting at £45 for a double. They're excellent quality and brilliant for anyone with allergies. I've noticed a definite difference in my hayfever - 2 weeks ago I was waking up with  bunged runny nose and now I really am not. 

Updated 16/04/16 - the Spundown duvet is every bit as good as the day we got it. I still love the amazingly light weight - and it fits in a carrier bag to go on holiday!! I definitely recommend this product. 

Updated 11/06/17 - My thoughts from last year still stand. A fabulous duvet. Colette from Going On An Adventure has recently reviewed and you can find her video here. 

Today started badly for me. 4 hours sleep full of nightmares and the knowledge I wasn't meant to ring hospital until 11am or go in until visiting until 3pm. It really sucks. It's the worst treatment of relatives and friends I've ever known, and I knew my partner would have a hellish day.

I cried at school. My son's nursery teacher asked me how Dad was and did they know yet what it was? When I said "Meningitis" she had that horrified face that all parents and carers of small children especially have when they hear that word. I cried, I couldn't help it. The other parents there were lovely, but they too had that same horrified face. "He's loads better now, he really is, he's just terrified of hospitals and not coping with that very well". They didn't really hear me, they'd just heard the word Meningitis and their brains were still whirring around that.

One of the Mums walked with me home and we made light, saying how much better he was and laughing at him trying to come home. I joked that he could get the bus directly to our house and he'd probably turn up on the doorstep at 11 o clock with his drip stand. Then my phone rang and it was him (his ears must have been burning).

He told me he'd got dressed to leave again, and a Doctor had come and had a big chat with him. They'd found out that the second batch of results from the Lumbar Puncture wouldn't be through until Monday and everyone had realised he really wouldn't stay that long without a huge battle and a lot of upset. He'd struck up a compromise. As long as he stayed at least as healthy as he was at that moment he could go home once all of his IV antibiotics were finished. I had to be prepared to take him, and he needed to go back to hospital for check ups. Perfect.
I added a few more clauses - 1.You have to stay in bed as long as I tell you to 2.You aren't to go on your laptop for work AT ALL. 3.If you get hot or sick I will take you straight back and I don't want you to argue with me. He agreed.

Just after lunchtime, and almost exactly 48 hours after I'd taken him to the Walk In Centre, I drove to the Hospital to pick him up, ready to say 'no' if I didn't like what I found. I needn't have worried. He was sitting reading his Kindle like any normal well person. He wasn't hot or shaky and he was really alert - he spotted me instantly. I did check his discharge notes just to be sure, which was maybe a bit mean, but I wanted to let him know I'm taking no messing.

It was a lovely (and very scary) feeling driving him home and packing him off upstairs. I know I have back up from the hospital at any time if I need it, but he's so much happier and unless he's due painkillers, paracetamol to control his temperature (and with that the shaking), he's been really well. He will be on anti virals for the next 9 days, but the steroids and antibiotics are done with hopefully (during his stay he'd had Penicillin, Amoxycillin and Ceftriaxone), and he no longer feels he needs the anti-emetics. He's incredibly tired - he can only stay awake for about 3 hours at a time - sensitive to light and noise, and he still has an horrendous headache which will take a long time to go, but he is back.


The little boys and boy no.1 were delighted to see him home, and when the teenagers came in from school a real sense of relief went through everyone. It's quite hard for the little ones to understand he's still very poorly, but they're learning very quickly that shouting and screeching are not going to be tolerated at all at  the moment.

We still have to wait until Monday for the rest of the results, but the hospital Consultants are confident he really does have a mix of both types of Meningitis, something which is apparently relatively common, and is usually fairly mild, he was just unlucky to develop such severe symptoms, but so, so lucky that he wasn't any worse.

The last 72 hours have been the worst roller-coaster I've ever been on. We all know that Meningitis arrives swiftly and without warning, but so much has happened in such a short space of time, I'm really glad I wrote it all down because looking back it's a blur. It feels Tuesday night and Wednesday morning must have been about 10 days ago. We're not entirely safe yet, but we're within sight of it.

I was so positive when I left the hospital last night and I imagined how delighted my partner would be to see me this morning after the school run, sitting up in his bed and smiling....

Actually when I arrived at hospital he looked really ill, the shaking was back and he was as hot as he's ever been and visibly in a lot of pain. The Consultant came over soon after I arrived and explained that "we need to know what type of meningitis you have in order that we can treat it correctly, so we need to do a lumbar puncture". It wasn't the gentlest of announcements, but at least now we could stop dancing round the subject and admit he does have Meningitis.

Sitting with someone while they have a lumbar puncture is horrific. I made the stupid mistake of considering all of the parents who have to go through it with small children and that image won't leave my mind because I cannot begin to contemplate how awful that must be. It takes such a long time to get all of the fluid that they need and the pain gets worse with each ridiculously slow drip. There's also something so wrong about watching such a precious fluid being taken out of someone. And that's before you even consider the dangers associated with the procedure.

We got the first lumbar puncture results really quickly, only a few hours, but they weren't exactly as we'd hoped. Bacterial Meningitis is the really dangerous one that we all panic about and Viral Meningitis is actually a lot more common than you'd think and often doesn't even require hospital treatment, and if that's what he has and his temperature stays down he might even be able to come home. His results were very high for virus, but also showed bacteria, so, at 2.30pm today he started on his 3rd lot of IV antibiotics, plus antivirals and steroids...we'll get the remaining results tomorrow and they should tell us without any doubt. Keep your fingers crossed....

Because he may have Bacterial Meningitis he had to move from the lovely ward into a room by himself. I left him and went home to see to the kids for 2 hours. When I came back he had been moved and was alone. He had no phone signal in his new room, he'd been given the tea ordered by his bed's previous occupant and no anti-emetic. He'd hated his tea which he'd then hated again as it made it's way back out. He'd had nothing to read, nothing to look at and was confined to his room. No-one had brought him any water despite him having to drink to prevent headaches from the lumbar puncture and he's had the headache from hell for 2 days. He'd decided he'd had enough and was going home.

As soon as he saw me he started dressing and had his pyjamas off and a t-shirt and pants on in moments. Pretty impressive considering the cannula in his arm, the Lumbar Puncture and the fact he still can't bend his head down or lean forward. He can be stubborn, and obviously his judgement is still impaired, but 2 Nurses and I managed to convince him it was probably best to stay...well, okay it was mainly me and I used emotional blackmail. I don't want that responsibility and he didn't really want to go home, he was just really fed up and who can blame him? I know I get tetchy after a couple of hours with a headache, 2 days with blinding agony and I would think it's probably fair he vents a bit. I've got to say too that it's a measure of how much better he was this afternoon that he was able to try to abscond, I can't help but smile really.

So tonight's 2nd tea was what they had left in the WRVS shop - which happened to be a bacon and egg butty and a packet of fruit pastilles - and he was delighted with it. I'm hoping I've programmed him and I can use it in the future as a special treat.

By the time I left he felt a fairly normal temperature, he hadn't been sick and he was really chatty. He was ready for a sleep and his results tomorrow, however still struggling with the ridiculously Victorian visiting hours in his new ward of 3-4 and 6.30-8. I just hope he doesn't turn up home at lunchtime tomorrow with his drip stand....

As for me, it'll be hard to sit at home until 3pm knowing he's there alone and waiting for results, but I have loads to catch up on....I might even get that bedding review done....

Today I was going to finish writing up a post about some lovely bedding I'm reviewing but life very much got in the way of Blogging.

Instead of writing I spent 2 hours at the Walk In Medical Centre and then another 5 at the hospital. My eldest 3 have been absolute gems and looked after the youngest 2 beautifully the whole time. My first ever visit to the Walk In Centre and it was my partner who I took.

2 days ago he had a bit of a temperature, a cold and a headache, it was nothing special. By last night he was writhing in pain, but sleeping fitfully and he had a pretty bad night. He couldn't go to work this morning at all, but held it together to ring in sick. I went out at 8.30am on the school run and then to toddler group and came back at 10.30am to find him still roasting hot and vomiting. I gave him paracetamol and ibuprofen and expected him to feel a bit better. He didn't.

He was adamant he didn't want to go anywhere, but when I got back from fetching boy no.3 from nursery he was clearly still as bad and his thighs were really hurting him, with cramp style pains he couldn't ignore, so I did that Mum thing and took charge. I made him get dressed and took him to the Walk In Centre. He looked like a woman in advanced labour, writhing and moaning and couldn't sit still. His temperature was 38.6. I've been reliably informed this evening that above 38.4 an adult can fit from the heat alone. They gave him more Paracetamol and he just got hotter.

He really was so ill. He started to lose track of what was going on, he couldn't answer questions and his face would go vacant mid sentence. He drifted between writhing and shaking uncontrollably, to looking like he was sleeping.

We went straight to A&E, straight through triage and out the back door into a cubicle where they asked him to undress and put on a gown. We couldn't have been quicker if we'd arrived in an ambulance, I really can't fault them at all, but you do know its serious when you arrive in A&E and 5 minutes later you're wearing a nightie which ties up the back.

Within half an hour he had a cannula in his arm and had donated several tubes of blood for testing. He had a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia and urine tests which were all clear. He had his ears, nose and throat checked. His head, thighs and back were agony and he couldn't touch his chin to his chest and I know how serious that can be. Eventually the Doctor did say the word we were all thinking, but no-one wanted to say out loud - meningitis.

He was given 2 huge syringes full of antibiotics and put on a saline drip. 2 hours later and it was like I was with a different person. The fluids made him perkier and he could hold a conversation. He started to fret that he was wasting everyone's time and should probably go home. No chance, the Doctor told him at this point that he was staying and although he wasn't happy, he had no argument.

He'd stopped being sick and had drunk some water which had stayed put. He had a cup of tea and I took a picture because I felt he was getting so much better....I'm not going to post it because clearly now I can see that is a man who is still not well, and the photo doesn't even show the uncontrollable shaking.

Another couple of hours later and we were up on the ward, I was getting really twitchy by this time and worrying about the little boys, who would be going to bed soon as long as my eldest was following the normal routine.

Then he was hungry. He ate a sandwich and I waited 15 minutes and he wasn't sick. This is an excellent result. Visiting hours were almost over and he needed to sleep, so I really had to leave him. I took a photo because I wanted to show the kids he was much better. It didn't even occur to me at the time that they hadn't seen him at his worst.



I rang at 11.30pm because I would never have slept without it, and was told he'd been asleep since 8.30pm.

No lumbar puncture thank goodness, and so far a good response to the medicines, and that is where we are now. By the time you read this I'll hopefully have had a few hours sleep, got my family up for school and gone back to hospital, and hopefully they'll have found out what type of infection he has. Hopefully he'll be cooler and more comfortable.

Hopefully he hasn't got anything as exciting as Meningitis and his symptoms are all from a far less scary infection. I guess the bedding review post will have to wait a bit longer....

On Sunday I did something a bit different from my normal lazy Sunday. I picked up 4 other North Manchester Bloggers in my van and took them all to Laura Tired Mummy Of Two's house to spend an incredibly civil (honest) afternoon listening to the tennis and packing goodie bags (and oh yes, they're real goodie bags). There may have been a few beverages consumed (as chauffeur I was on the fizzy pop) but I was really quite glad I wasn't drinking alcohol because the talk was, somewhat obviously, mainly about Blog On and I wanted to take it all in.

Goodie bag!

I've been to a couple of events, I've met a few people, but this will be my first really big one, and I've certainly never been to any sort of Blogging conference before - I'm not even sure if conference is the right word! I have to admit to being a bit nervous (okay, a lot nervous). I'm excited about meeting some of the folks who's blogs I really like, and some who've been really friendly and/or helpful to me in particular.

I was really pleased when Heather from Notes From Lapland started this linky - even though clearly maths isn't her strong point because there were 5 bloggers in my van on the way to Laura's and I'm pretty sure she knows all of them (not Biblically obviously....probably). I however did pretty much reach my limit of known Bloggers last weekend, so it really would be great to get to know a few more before we get there.


This is me - I'm Jenny and I'm not usually covered in jelly, but this was taken at my Red Nose Day Jelly Bath. I am however usually harrassed, greying, overweight, not very tall and older than your average blogger, (in fact there are several blogs where I'm old enough to be the parent of the author) but I know I won't be the oldest person there! Woohoo!


I've 5 children and 2 step-children (5 of whom live with us full time and the other 2 bob in and out) - they're 3,4,13,13,15,15 and 19 and I am surrounded by teenage angst and pre-school tantrums everyday.
I'm from Derby and moved up here 6 years ago because it was where my partner lived, he's originally from Mull and came here via Glasgow, so our children are destined to have accents that don't match anyone else's forever.

I've been using the internet since before electricity was invented and I've had a couple of other blogs over the years, but nothing very public. I was previously well known in a few Internet areas under the guise of missusjen (and maybe a couple of other names), but 2 other people turned up using that name a few years ago so feel free to go and send them loads of messages assuming it's me (actually it will usually be me, but this way I get to choose whether or not to reply).

I started The Brick Castle because I was reviewing toys and had nowhere to store my reviews, and a sleeping blog where I'd ranted and moaned the everyday wasn't really an appropriate place, so I started over. I'm glad I did.

See you there....

As part of this years Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt I was lucky enough to be able to offer a Babasling of their choice to one lucky winner who shared with us the most strangest or most interesting place they have ever breastfed their infant.


One of the major aims of the week was to share advice, support and experiences with new Mums and Mums-to-be, and show them that breastfeeding is possible for almost everyone, at almost any time and in virtually any place - and definitely NOT confined to toilets and car parks. It IS the most natural thing in the world and the rights of you and your child to nurse are protected by law. Just because you CAN do it anywhere does not mean that no place is unusual or funny however - lets face it you can eat, sleep or pee anywhere, but some places are definitely far more noteworthy than others!

Slings are a great way to carry your child hands-free so that you can get on with all that other boring stuff you have to do every day, and you can also feed your child discreetly and easily while out and about.

I'll be hosting a guest post from Pippa at RedRoseMummy soon, who yesterday completed the 5k Race For Life while carrying her daughter in her new Babasling (well done you!).


We've had a group of fantastic entries, although sadly no-one supplied us with photo evidence of them at the top of Snowdon or on the Big Wheel in Blackpool.

There were tales of feeding at the Town Hall while registering the baby, feeding in supermarkets and Ikea while browsing, on the train ride at Drayton Manor, at a school play, in the swimming pool and feeding while a passenger on long journeys on planes, trains and in the car - something I did once try but wasn't very successful at! The park and countryside were the most popular entries and I have to say sitting outside in the shade on a warm day feeding your baby is one of my all-time favourite and most peaceful things.

It was pretty much impossible to choose a winner, so we put all of our favourite entries into a hat and picked one out.

Our winner is Libby, who fed while flat on her back on the Osteopath's couch, and also while labouring with no.2, which I have to say is very impressive and not something I think I'd have been able to sit still long enough to manage, and I wouldn't have wanted to hold a toddler long while in labour either!

A special mention from me goes to Gemma who writes at MyMillsBaby, who fed behind the bins in McDonald's car park after being asked to leave when her husband had the car keys and was still inside. It's an awful experience and exactly the type of thing which Keep Britain Breastfeeding week is hoping to help prevent in the future. No-one should be made to feel like that ever.

Thank you for all of your entries, and thank you for helping to show new Mums and Mums-to-be that breastfeeding is normal and everyday, and we don't have to hide it away because it's something we can be proud of. We are giving our babies the best start, and something that will affect them positively for the rest of their lives. It should be normalised, it should be nothing special, it just be what we do with our children whenever and wherever they're hungry.

Our 3 girls and our 3rd boy - who are hopefully under no doubt that Breastfeeding is the natural, simplest, cheapest and best way to feed your baby.

When I first was writing this post I added this video, then I took it out because I thought everyone would have seen it by now, but the first two people I've spoken to haven't seen it - so I'm putting it back. Very well worth a watch - Hollie McNish - Embarrassed..


 

Sunshine and Snowballs is written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Charlotte Cooke. It is a very sweet rhyming book with 32 full colour pages full of beautifully drawn pictures. It shows the contrasting weather throughout a year and introduces the concept of seasons.

The language is simple and pretty, perfectly accessible for a 2 year old to enjoy. The pictures show boys and girls equally, so although this is a sweet book, it isn't feminine. It is full of drawings of children playing and having fun. It's a very happy book.


The tempo and rhythm for each page really matches with each of the pictures incredibly well and a great example of that is this page, which is my personal favourite and very striking compared to the rest of the book.


My boys really like this book. There is so much to see on each page, and so little text that the words lead the story and then the pictures run away with it. I love this book, it's beautiful, really beautiful.

There are two ways to read that title.

I AM definitely getting older, some days I feel like I might fall apart. I have a hernia and grey hair and wrinkles, but that's just what you can see. I'm definitely older in mind too.

My children are getting older, all of them. This morning I packed Boy no.3 off on his first ever school trip to a farm.....


And 2 hours later boy no.1 left for The Beat-Herder Festival...


They're all moving on.

This year sees a lot of big landmarks and September is a big step for several of our children.

Boy no.1 has now left College and is awaiting his results to see where his road is going to take him in September.

Our two 15 year olds will enter their final year of High School and take their GCSE's

Boy no.3 will start Primary School

Boy no.4 will start Pre-School (Nursery)

And I'll have no babies left at home!

I've seen a lot of 'moving on' blog posts recently and I think the imminent holiday is the cause, but it really feels like we'll all be taking a really big step in my house. It's going to be an exciting and fairly scary year, but fortunately, as Mary Steenburgen says in Parenthood, "I happen to like the roller coaster"....

What boy no.3 looked like after his trip to the farm....


A true likeness of what boy no.1 looked like after last years trip to Beat-Herder..... I'm NOT picking him up in my van this year!


(Photo credit to Beat-Herder Official Photography)

Snapsterprint will print your pictures and text onto T-shirts, Hoodies, Mugs, Water Bottles, Caps and many more gifts, as well as a selection of items perfect for parties, and we were given the opportunity to test a range of personalised party items and a mug!

The ordering is really straightforward, it only took me about 40 minutes to put together all 4 of the items I chose.

Ordering is really simple. In my case to start with I was ordering Mini Banners, so I clicked on the 'Party' range from the left hand menu and chose from the vast array of different theme groups - we chose 'Tots' because I wanted something suitable for a youngster's birthday. My son had absolutely no trouble deciding which theme he wanted - 'Calling Earth From planet Robot'.
After choosing a theme you choose your item, in this case 'Mini Banners' and then you personalise it by adding your own details and photo's. It's very intuitive and allows you to reposition your words and photo's really easily, even altering the angle in which they appear.


There are 20 Mini Banners in a pack, which costs £3.95. They are printed on 'premium silk coated 170gsm paper', which I found to be really good quality, good and strong and doesn't rip easily at all.  My 3 year old took one of the banners upstairs to show some of his siblings and it's still entirely in one piece and useable. I think they'd be great for scattering on tables at a wedding for example, or for use around the room as decoration.

My next item was A4 posters, and the ordering is exactly the same process. A4 Posters are supplied in packs of  20, but there are various options available, (up to 1 x A0) for £3.95.


The colours are bright and clear and the paper has a good amount of gloss, so that it will resist a sticky toddler finger, but isn't going to glare when you take photo's. They'll be great as my son is having his party out of the house, so we can put them up to decorate the room and alert his guests as to where we are!

My final party item was the Invites, which are supplied in packs of 15 for £4.99, and I rushed mine, which is why I didn't notice that the word 'Party' fell off the bottom! Never mind though, a few strategically placed '......' and I will be able to write whatever I like on the back. I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the invites, mainly because I messed up, but I think I expected them to be openable, which is why I didn't just write my whole message on the front as I should have done! But this is why people do reviews - so that I make the mistakes and you don't have to ;-)


The invites are printed onto premium silk coated 250gsm board and inclusive of matching envelopes (which were missed from my order).

My last item was a personalised mug. They are a 10 oz. Orca Ceramic Mug, which is dishwasher suitable. I chose a photo from my Sea Life Centre review, because it has 6 of the children on it and is the perfect shape to go around the mug.



It's a pretty good representation of the original, and the colours have translated well. Mugs cost £5.95 and can be printed with a photo wrap, text or design of your choice.

I think that Snapsterprint offer incredibly reasonable value for money. The personalised products they sell add a real special something to a party and I love the themes, there were several that I really liked. The paper quality is excellent and the printing very tight, there's no blurriness or mismatching of colours etc. I shall certainly be looking at them again when we eventually get around to getting married.... or when the next teenager reaches 18 - whichever is soonest...