My Summer Read - The Two Week Wait by Sarah Rayner

When I picked this book out I didn't actually play proper attention to what I was buying, this is often the case now I've got kids, it's hard to spend the amount of time I used to spend researching a book and checking out reviews. Luckily I managed to pick something very readable and I tore through it in two days, unable to put it down.

The Two Week Wait is based around two women's journies to achieve parenthood. Both women have two very different reasons for wanting to go through IVF, Cath is a Cancer surviver with no ovaries and Lou is a lesbian who after having a health scare realises she wants children and her time is running out. These two women's lives are entwined in a way that they will never know when they both go to the same fertility clinic and opt to 'egg share'.

I liked the characters in this book, they were down to earth and I could empathise with their situations - more so with the situation of Cath as I've known people going through IVF and it's a long and hard road and the portrayal of hers and Rich's journey is so real. As a character Cath has already been through so much with her Cancer that you're constantly willing everything to go right for her. When she spirals out of control, over thinking the IVF and jumping ahead of herself assuming that a baby is a dead cert, you want to stop her and make her calm down and be realistic. But as is proven by the forums that Cath and Lou both go on, most women do go manic during 'the two week wait' - which is the length of time women should wait before doing a pregnancy test after artificial insemination. Apart from the main female characters I also like the portraits of their families, particularly Lou's mother, a very staid and seemingly old fashioned woman who on finding out her lesbian daughter is pregnant surprises everyone by saying she is pleased and gives a really honest speech about how she has felt since her daughter revealed details of her sexuality. There is a real fondness there as there also is between Cath and her mother Judy.

The one character I didn't like was Cath's sister in law who expresses some opinions about IVF that I know a lot of people do hold but that I find really unfathomable. She is against it for how 'unnatural' it is and asks Cath if she's ever thought about practising 'acceptance'? Very easy for a woman to say who had two children of her own naturally!

The plot flits between both protaganists but not in such a way that you can't keep up with the story, we see how their lives are similar with the experiences they are going through and unbeknown to them they also reply to one another on a fertility forum. Lou's thoughts are never far from thinking about how recipient is getting on. This is partly attributable to her being quite selfless but also because she is thinking about her donated egg, underlining that she doesn't lose the connection with the fertilized egg - it is still a part of her.

What I didn't realise is that this is the second book from Sarah Rayner and I had no idea until I'd finished it that the characters are from her first book. Just goes to show that I didn't need to read that one to enjoy this one and I will look out her debut novel to find out the story that preceeded this one. I'd recommend this as it is a page turner and I did get sucked in to find out what Cath and Lou's journey held for them. I won't spoil it here, I'll leave it to you to read the book.

I've written this review as part of the special summer edition of the Tots100 Book Club, in association with Tesco Books. If you like the sound of The Two Week Wait it can be purchased at Tesco Books 

Thanks for inviting me to join in! Click the badge below to see other entries to the Summer Book challenge.

Plum Cookery School and Weaning

How many mums find weaning a real headache I wonder? I know first time round I found it quite hard to follow all the different advice that was flying at me from all directions. Obviously I managed as Isla is now chomping her way through lots of different food (although fish fingers remain her favourite!!) and we eat the same meals together as a family. She is a bit of a fuss pot though, and from one day to the next she changes her mind about liking things. One day she likes pasta, the next she doesn't. I *know* that this is all about her having control but it's still frustrating. We've actually come a long way since I wrote this post about her eating habits - as you can see the list of food she ate back then was quite limited and I worried a lot. I think we all put too much emphasis on how quickly children should be eating what we eat, they will get there in their own time.

We're now weaning Noah, who is 10 months old and I was really happy to hear that the people behind Plum Baby have set up a cookery school specifically to help mums, offering exciting recipe development classes and the opportunity to talk to child food experts.

One of my favourite TV chefs Rachel Allen is working in conjunction with Plum Baby to create some tasty new recipes. Isla and I recently baked some biscuits together following a recipe from Bake and I personally think as soon as children are old enough they should get involved in the preparing and cooking of food. It gives them more of an interest in the food they eat and stimulates their curiosity about how things taste. I can't think of anyone better for Plum to partner up with as Rachel is a mum and her food is top notch - not too complicated but oh so tasty!

I haven't got an obsession with Rachel's cookbooks....honest!

I would say from my experience first time mums are a lot more nervous - I was! Second time round I'm so much more relaxed. My biggest tip to anyone starting weaning is to keep the mantra "food before 1 is just for fun" in mind and try not to get too uptight. Before 1 a baby's main source of nutrition is milk so don't get too down hearted if they're not eating roast dinners and chilli con carne. Food is strange and exciting at the same time for them, they are mini explorers getting to know different tastes and textures! They can refuse food many times before they finally find it acceptable.

My other top tip is to try and relax about the mess and this means the mess your baby will get into, the mess you will get into and the mess on the floor! If you own a dog, he's going to LOVE weaning!

This muckiness used to annoy me a lot (even though Isla looks cute!)

Now I just embrace the muckiness with Noah - it's all part of the fun! (this was extreme I have to add!)

I would also say don't beat yourself up if you can't make your own fresh food all the time. Buying pre made baby food isn't a failure, it's a real saviour! I actually don't know where I'd be if there wasn't Plum Minted Pea and Lamb on the shelves! It was Noah's absolute favourite meal over anything I make (hmmm perhaps I should feel cross about this!?).

So weaning may feel a bit mind blowing at times but if you keep calm about it then so will your baby. Here's us having a bit of fun at dinner time - food must be fun....

This post is an entry into the Tots100 competition to win a super dooper all expenses paid two day cooking experience with Rachel Allen at the Plum Cookery School - I would love this prize as I think I definitely need to get my cooking mojo back and my husband can vouch for that! It also includes a stay in a swish hotel, a video camera and £500. It's worth saying that I LOVE Rachel Allen and the OH can also vouch for the fact that I drove him mad watching her on UK Food the whole time I was pregnant - I love her food!