alexist

It was osso buco with risotto. (Not as much work as you might think--it's about 10 minutes of prep, then the veal sits in the oven for 2 hours, and the risotto isn't much work either.) It came out very well; the veal was falling off the bone. It had definitely grazed--there was more of a beef flavour than I like--but lovely and tender. I ate the marrow from the bone too. :)

Tomorrow is going to suck. I have the GP for me & Aliza at 9:30 (postnatal check), then her hip scan at 11:10. This was SUPPOSED to be last week, but, erm, I didn't wake up. Naturally, the children's ultrasound clinic only runs one day a week, so I had to take the time they gave me, even though it's going to be tight. Here's hoping the buses cooperate--I'll need 2 of them. At least I have my choice of buses for the first leg--I need the 263 to the hospital, but I can get the 82, 125 or 460 from the doctor's. And they're all double-decker routes, which means less trouble with the buggy.

Sorry. The thing is, I have conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I'm a big fan of public transport. Sure, I moan about it in a stress-relief way, but I think the fact that I've kept using it and delayed driving says more than my bitching. For 2.5 years I lived in London, didn't drive, didn't have a problem 95% of the time. Sure, it was great having a car and Neil to drive it, and there were some things (IKEA, taking the cat anywhere) that really needed the car. Mainly, though, I got myself around on my own and I was pretty proud that I could get just about anywhere if I really wanted to. But with a baby...man, it sucks. None of the other mothers in my NCT group can believe I do it. And, sorry to say, I will be driving soon... because it's just too hard, and not doing it would mean missing out on a lot of activities. (Well, I don't know how many of those I'll do. You all know how I'm bad with the social thing. Turning up to a group full of strange women & kids... don't know! It would be good to have a few things to do with Aliza, though. It is a shame that the parent & toddler swimming is only on weekday mornings as Neil would have liked to have done that with her. My mother got Aliza a bathing suit. Ralph Lauren no less, WITH coloured polo horses on it! She got the 9month size though. Ah, turns out that's the smallest one anyway...)

Anyway, I shall now try going back to bed. I WAS tired at 23:30, but Aliza wasn't interested in bed. So I got up and cuddled her until her next bottle, put her to bed, and then realised I wasn't tired.

Aliza got weighed at the GP this morning. She's 5.130 kg--that's just under 11 lbs, 5 oz in old money :-)

Well, I woke up a little late, but managed to get both of us dressed and to the doctor's only a little late.

My check-up went fine, with one nasty surprise. She asked about contraception, and I said I'd decided to go back on the patch. Then she said something about migraines, and I said I'd had them since I was 12. She looked up, surprised, and asked what kind. I said, "Classic, with aura." Her response was something close to horrified. The upshot (after some more questions and discussion) is that they will no longer prescribe contraceptives containing oestrogen to migraine sufferers because of the stroke risk. My migraines are mild, but they are very definitely classic with aura, confirmed by a neurologist. Coupled with my breast cancer risk (which I knew meant no combined pill after 35) that was that, no convincing her otherwise. So now I have to ring Finchley hospital to have a coil fitted. :-( Nice having the choice taken away from me, huh?

Aliza's checkup was fine. She peed everywhere when the doctor took her diaper off. Naturally. I do wish they didn't have to weigh them absolutely starkers. She also posseted on the GP.

Despite being late to the GP, we were early for the ultrasound. Since it was baby clinic day, the waiting room was full of crying babies. Aliza fussed (especially as I had to take her romper off again... kept her onesie on and just undid it), had a bottle and did a disgusting poo. Thank God for disposable changing mats, I just changed her there and then!

Her hips are just fine, though she wasn't keen on having the scan.

After that, stopped at the butcher's in East Barnet (which is good--they have chicken schnitzel ready-sliced so you don't have to do it yourself ;) the one in Temple Fortune only does turkey schnitzels that way, and I hate them, so I have to buy chicken supremes and either cut them myself or not have them properly thin). They do have weird hours though which is why I don't normally go there. Anyway, got chicken for dinner, and came home.

Aliza's been a bit fussy because of getting poked and having her clothes taken on and off so much (not helped by being changed into a clean onesie and sleepsuit). Also she has terrible gas. Both ends. She's half-dozing in her bouncer now and I'll put her down in her basket in a minute :)

Survey of the top 100 books in today's Guardian, for World Book Day.

Bold is read, italics are "mean to read", asterisk is "will never read". Feel free to turn into a meme ;-)
( top 100 books )

My NCT group seems to be bearing out the statistics on British breastfeeding--doing better (as to be expected given the socioeconomic makeup), but generally following the trend. Let's see (total of 12 here, plus me):

5 breastfeeding from start, have continued (babies up to 6 weeks old);
1 milk supply issues, pumped & took domperidone, now fully feeding;
1 mixed feeding;
1 milk supply issues, gave up;
1 breastfeeding at 6 weeks but on verge of giving up due to pain (she's pumping part of the time because of this; I told her about hospital breastpump hire like I did)
1 cutting out breastfeeding at 8 weeks (pain, engorgement);
1 bottlefeeding from start, apparently told by Watford hospital not to breastfeed because of her baby's jaundice--which is VERY out of date advice! (I didn't say anything, though, because I know how bad I felt when it happened to me)
1 unknown.

The other woman who worked on her supply agreed that our hospital wasn't great at the support, and we all agreed that post-hospital support is really lacking--it's very much ad-hoc and volunteer, not organised by the NHS. Barnet Hospital does have a once-a-week breastfeeding group, and one of the health centres has an LC in on Thursdays, but things aren't great. I'm not surprised that we're already down to 50%.

From this week's New Yorker:
"EDITORS' NOTE: The July 31, 2006, piece on Wikipedia, "Know It All", by Stacy Schiff, contained an interview with a Wikipedia site administrator and contributor called Essjay, whose responsibilities included handling disagreements about the accuracy of the site's articles and taking action against users who violate site policy. He was described in the piece as 'a tenured professor of religion at a private university' with 'a PhD in theology and a degree in canon law.'

"Essjay was recommended to Ms Schiff as a source by a member of Wikipedia's management team because of his respected position within the Wikipedia community. He was willing to describe his work as a Wikipedia administrator but would not identify himself other than by confirming the details that appeared on his user page. At the time of publication, neither we nor Wikipedia knew Essjay's real name. Essjay's entire Wikipedia life was conducted with only a user name; anonymity is common for Wikipedia administrators and contributors, and he said that he feared personal retribution from those he had ruled against online. Essjay now says that his real name is Brad Jordan, that he is twenty-four and has no advanced degrees, and that he has never taught. He was recently hired by Wikia--a for-profit company affiliated with Wikipedia--as a "community manager"; he continues to hold his Wikipedia positions. He did not answer a message we sent to him; Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikia and of Wikipedia, said of Essjay's invented persona, 'I regard it as a pseudonym and I don't really have a problem with it.' "

I have problems with both sides here. First, The New Yorker was naive (and it's a shocking lapse for them--their fact checkers are normally very thorough). His refusal to reveal his identity would have been a red flag for me. The author could have confirmed his identity privately and not revealed it in the article.

Second, Jimmy Wales' attitude is really cavalier. Certainly, Wikipedia can't be held responsible for someone misrepresenting themselves. But not regarding it as a problem when it's exposed? Wikipedia's reliability, such as it is, rests on its users. If someone represents themselves as an expert in a field, his/her opinions will be taken more seriously than A. Random User. I don't regard this kind of misrepresentation as "a pseudonym".

(If you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales#The_New_Yorker_quotes_you and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Essjay. I find it amazing that people justify this on the grounds that he was protecting himself from a stalker! I can understand changing identifying details (exact birthdate, location, etc) but making up credentials is another story.)