Am I Still THE Mellow Mummy?

10 weeks in and life is returning to normal. I no longer live in a state of survival, trying to get through every hour without making a mistake. I feel on top of motherhood, which, compared to the first time, I think it pretty good going! I thought that it would be a good idea to re-evaluate my Mellow Mummy status. Am I STILL the Mellow Mummy even after a second child?

When Lara was born, motherhood had the wonderful side effect of calming me down, making me happier, less stressed, more relaxed and more spontaneous. I know a lot of this was to do with hormones and to do with the happy chemicals that Lara and I shared when we were together because when we were away from one another and, when I went back to work after maternity leave, the mellowness did begin to wear off a little.

During the later stages of pregnancy with Holly I could feel the 'yeah... whatever' feeling of mellowness descend again but childbirth does strange things to a woman and I was worried that this time I might benefit the same mellow side effect.

I certainly haven't had the 'nice hair and nails' side effect this time around but my 'totally random dry skin' side effect has come back since giving birth to Holly. Damn.

And the mellowness? Yes it is definitely back. Perhaps even stronger than last time. As a first time mum it is unusual for someone to be as laid back as me and to be so happy to just go with the flow and with your instincts. For a second time mum it is not so out of the ordinary. There are lots of happy and relaxed faces among my new second-time-mummy friends but then there are also still worriers - I'd love to be able to pass on some of the mellow vibes to them.

So yes, motherhood is great fun and I'm looking forward to the challenges that life has to throw at us together. If I can cope with toddler tantrums and two daughters with chicken pox in the first three weeks of Holly's life then what else does life have in store for us?

Holly's Birth Story

Holly Louise Button was born on Tuesday night at 11.41pm after about 5 hours of established labour. She was 7lb 13oz. Here's the story of how she came into the world (it's very different to Lara's birth story).

As you probably know, if you read Tuesday's blog post, I thought my waters had broken... turns out that they hadn't.  My contractions started at 5pm approximately 5 minutes apart but very erratic and mild.  By 7pm they began to get stronger - I consider this to be when labour was established.

At this point I was still pootling around the house.  Mr. B fitted the TENS machine (which definitely helped) and tried to insist that I went to bed but I kinda knew that things were starting to move more quickly and sleep wasn't on the cards.  I asked him to ring his parents who came around to look after Lara.  By the time they arrived, the contractions were strong enough to stop me in my tracks and I rang the hospital.  I'm sure they deliberately put the most miserable member of staff on the phone at the labour ward to try and put you off going in - she nearly managed to persuade me not to go.  During the half-hour drive to Frimley Park Hospital I only experienced 2 contractions (they had previously been coming as frequently as every 2 minutes) and I really began to panic that I'd made the same mistake as last time by coming to hospital too early and letting everything slow down.

We arrived in the delivery ward just after 9pm at the point when the midwife shift was about to change.  A stern-looking midwife asked me a load of questions and obviously thought I was fussing about nothing.  She didn't believe me when I said I'd had a urine infection earlier in the week, and she didn't believe my waters had broken.  I think she thought that when the next midwife examined me, I would be going straight home.  My contractions were gaining frequency again but still mild enough for me to almost continue my conversation.

The new midwife was a lot friendlier and by the time she examined me at about 10.15pm, the contractions had come back much more frequently and continually growing in strength.  I was VERY relieved to find that I had made it to 6/7cm dilated with just the TENS machine to get me through.  We asked her to fill the birthing pool with water (which takes about 20 minutes) but both myself and Mr. B were wary of getting into the pool too soon because we didn't want it to slow down labour too much. As we waited, I was in a lot of pain and the TENS machine was no longer helping me get through the contractions - a lot of concentration was needed to breathe through each of them.

I got into the pool just before 11pm and the relief was instant.  As suspected, things did slow down a little but it felt good to be in the warm water. The midwife left us alone for a little bit and told us to ring if I felt the urge to push - we both thought she was joking. At about 11.30 there was a lull in contractions and we stopped to joke with one another about whether we would have a May 1st or May 2nd baby and both of us felt pretty sure it would be the next day before we saw our baby.  I realise now that this lull was probably the point of transition into the second stage of labour.  From the very next contraction I felt the urge to push and tried to ignore it.

Thankfully the midwife arrived again before we needed to pull the emergency cord. She told me to ignore the urge as long as possible.  I ignored it for one more contraction and then my own body took over. It only took 3 contractions and 6 minutes for the second stage of labour.  Holly was born in one push and took both midwives by surprise because there was no pause between head and body.  She literally plopped into the water and they had to drop their tools to grab her.

Holly and I chilled out in the water together for about 10 minutes before getting out to lie down for the third stage - delivery of the placenta.  In that time, she naturally rooted for my breast by snuggling up my chest towards me.  I felt so relaxed it was unreal.

We had to wait for me to dry out before I could have my stitches (by far the most painful experience of the night and the only point at which I tried the Entonox gas).  We had a cuppa, some toast and a bit of a chill out while the painkillers for the stitches kicked in.  I grabbed a quick bath, got dressed and then we were discharged.  We arrived home with baby Holly at 5am and when Lara woke at 7 we had a lovely family reunion.

I am so happy that my second birth went entirely to plan.  It certainly has helped me get through the last couple of days with more energy and less pain.  The stitches are healing and we are both generally well.  I'll blog more about our first days together soon.

A Mellow Birth?

Today's guest post is written by Sian at You're not from round here. You can also find her on twitter as @HelpfulMum.

Is it possible to have a mellow birth? Can you prepare for a mellow labour and does that mean it will be?

Childbirth could be one of the most stressful events of your life. Could being the operative word. It could also be calm and, whilst probably not relaxing, certainly a chilled out experience. I have had two children and both were completely different labours. However, one thing stayed constant throughout. I remained calm. Here are my top tips for a mellow birth.

1. Ignore all the stories you hear pre-birth
2. Accept that it will hurt
3. Don't panic
4. Stay in control
5. Remain calm

When you are pregnant you will hear every labour horror story going. Even your aunt's sister's cousin will have a say. Don't listen to them. With my first pregnancy I was bombarded with scary stories (and the odd good story too). I decided to ignore them. Pregnancy and childbirth are unique. I will never experience what they have. Something similar maybe, but not the same. So ignore the stories, they will only stress you out. Also, try not to have too many expectations of how it will be. I'll admit that with my son I refused to even read the labour chapter of any pregnancy book. I just didn't want to know! Ultimately, it was going to happen whether I liked it or not and nothing could prepare me for that.

Accept that it is going to hurt. I'm sorry, but it's true. It will hurt. Maybe not a lot. Maybe loads. Either way, it will hurt. I didn't have any pain relief with either child. Not because I'm hard, or have a high pain threshold, but because, when it came to it, I opted to deal with the pain myself (mainly using deep breathing techniques).

With my son, I had a very slow and long labour. Nothing out of the ordinary. I took it all in my stride. I found that, for me, staying silent was the best option. Apparently (according to my Mum) I said 'ouch' once, right near the end. With my daughter I again stayed silent. It's very odd. I always thought I'd be someone who was screaming and shouting, but when it came to it, I couldn't emit anything!

It might be an old wives tale, but my body certainly instinctively knew what to do. When the midwife told me that my body would soon start pushing, she wasn't wrong. It is one of the most surreal experiences to have your body start doing things without you telling it. I found it very useful to override this and control the pushing myself.

It is very easy to say to someone 'just stay calm', as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Trust me, when you're having contractions, it's hard. It is, however, rewarding. Looking back, I think that staying silent was my way of staying calm. It disabled me from shouting, screaming and potentially losing control. I saw each contraction as a step closer to meeting my baby (which can surely only be a good thing).

I don't think it matters what kind of birth you are hoping for, these tips can cover them all. Expect the unexpected. I guess that just means don't have too many expectations. With my daughter, I hoped for a nice relaxing water birth. She had other ideas, and arrived when the pool was half full! She came so fast that I had to catch her between my legs!

I think you definitely can have a mellow birth. Certainly, I have had two very different, but equally mellow labours. Preparation for a mellow labour is hard. You can only second guess how things will be. Even if you have had a child before, it is not a guide as to how labour will be this time. It definitely is a case of taking it as it comes!

I wish you a mellow labour. Childbirth is amazing, that much is true. Enjoy it!

The Birth Story: In The Beginning...

Amy at ' And 1 more means 4 ' is hosting a birth story carnival to get her in the mood for number 5. I've been meaning to write mine for a while, so here it is, the story of how Lara came into the world.

It all started on a hot Tursday in June. I was already 6 days overdue. I had been off work for 3 weeks, I had entered EVERY competition on the entire internet. It was hot, my noisy neighbours were doing my nut in (a story for another day) and I was bored and fed up of waiting. I decided to do the thing my midwife had been going on about for months... I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the kitchen floor with a scourer. Within an hour I felt the first twinges!

That night, I went to bed with great expectations. I woke at 12.30 with the first contractions. Right from the start my contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart. I couldn't sleep so got up and started timing the contractions using ContractionMaster (they also do an Ipod app!). At about 4am the contractions started coming every 3 minutes, they weren't bad, just ehausting at that short an interval. We put the TENS machine on, bounced about the living room on the birthing ball and tried to take my mind off things.

At 11am on the Wednesday the contractions were strong and after a long bath and a few Paracetemol, the hospital suggested we come in. The drive to the hospital is 20 minutes and about half-way there, the contractions slowed down. The baby wasn't ready. The examination showed that I was barely dilated and by the time we left the hospital, the contractions had nearly stopped.

Obviously, as soon as I got home, things started happening again. I had another couple of long baths and more pills and at about 4 or 5pm I tried to have a sleep. I think I probably managed, through the help of the TENS machine numbing my mind and body, about an hour, maybe more of sleep. When I woke, the contractions were awesome. Mr B. cooked me a meal but I couldn't face eating. I gritted my teeth and tried to bare the pain but at about 9.30pm I rang the hospital and told them I couldn't wait any longer.

We arrived at the hospital in the dark and had to make our way around 2 million sides of a square through the night entrance to the delivery suite. When we arrived, there was no room at the inn. I was sent to the day care room for a 'sit down'... er, right. A miserable old bat (after lots of pestering from Mr. B.) brought me a canister of gas & air but it made me gag (reminded me too much of SCUBA diving, another story I will tell you at some point). We finally got a delivery suite at about 11.30pm and an examination showed I was over 7cm dilated. I asked to use the birthing pool and I was in the warm, relaxing water by midnight.

The birthing pool was great. I would highly recommend it and will certainly give it a go again next time. I am at my most relaxed in water and knew that I wanted to try a water birth. The labour progressed slowly but the water meant I was calm and relaxed. I don't think a single swear word passed my lips. At some point around 4am my waters broke (which is a weird sensation when you are yourself in water!). There was maconium in the discharge which (a) indicated that the baby was getting stressed and (b) meant that the pool had to be drained. I got out, lay down on a bed and realised quite how much pain-relief the water had been giving me... outside the water the pain was unbearable. An examination showed I was fully dilated and that the baby seemed fine so I was allowed to get back in the water and start pushing.

I have no idea how long I was pushing for but I know that I wasn't progressing (and that I was doing my own body a lot of damage in the process). The midwife noticed that the baby's heart rate was escalating and insisted I leave the pool. I was tired, exhausted and I wanted it all to be over. From this point onwards, it is all a bit of a blur, I was just so shattered.

I lay down on a bed because I didn't have the energy to do otherwise. I was hooked up to a heart-rate monitor and advised by a doctor to accept a Syntocinon drip to increase the contractions. Because I had not had any other pain relief, I was told that I was unlikely to be able to take the pain that the Syntocinon-induced contractions would bring so I was also offered an epidural. At this point I was so tired I really just wanted the whole thing to be finished. I took the drugs, had a great big needle inserted into my spine and tried to forgive myself for having not managed the water birth.

Myself and Mr. B. were left to have a sleep while the drugs took hold. When the midwife shift changed I was very emotional; the previous midwife gave me a kiss and wished me luck. The new midwife came in and cranked the drip up to 11. A little while later, the contractions started coming thick and strong but also the baby's heart rate went the roof.

The next few minutes were the most surreal of my life. A doctor examined me and found the baby to be wedged sideways in th ebirth canal. All hell broke loose. Doctors, midwives, anaesthetists, tea-ladies... everyone came into the room. I was handed sheet upon sheet of paper that read me my rights and asked for signatures. I was recommended for an emergency caesarean but thankfully the midwife managed to talk some sense into the doctor who agreed to attempt an assisted delivery first. The epidural was topped up, I was heaved onto a trolley and rushed into the operating theatre.

As the drugs took hold I started to shiver. The shakes were so severe that I was bouncing around on the table. I remember feeling very calm, in total contrast to Mr. B. who was panicking on my behalf. The drugs, the shakes, the bright lights, the total randomness of the whole situation in comparison to my birth plan... it all built up and I got the giggles!

The doctor attempted a vonteuse delivery. It failed. They then made an incision and attempted a forceps delivery – the last option before a c-section. After a lot of yanking, the baby finally came free! Lara was born at 8.59am on Thursday. At 8lb 12oz she was placed on my belly and the giggles turned to laughter, then to tears, and then more laughter.

The forceps delivery left a mark on Lara's face for a week or so, but it doesn't seem to have done her any lasting damage. The labour was hard work but I wouldn't have done it any differently other than waiting longer to attempt the initial hospital run. I just have to hope that if/when the next time comes, the labour will be shorter and easier.

NCT : An Expensive Introductions Agency?

Last week I had a very enjoyable lunch with the mummies from my NCT antenatal classes. All of our babies are now between 7 and 9 months old and it was great to get back together to compare stories, share tips and to calm each other's motherhood worries. While we ate, another group of brand new NCT mummies (and daddies) arrived in the restaurant. It was wonderful to see a new set of people starting out on their parenthood journey and comparing, sharing and worrying together. It got me thinking about the NCT (National Childbirth Trust) and what I had got out of my antenatal lessons. Were the NCT classes I took more effective as a means of meeting other mums, than as a preparation for birth?

Now, I don't want to get involved in the NCT brainwashing/preaching argument, the likes of which featured on Mumsnet not too far back, but I will make this statement... I don't feel that my NCT antenatal lessons greatly shaped my birth choices but I do feel that with my NHS antenatal classes alone, I would have been shockingly unprepared for the birth of my daughter. After the very thorough NCT lessons, both myself and my husband were equipped with all of the information we needed to help us make the right decisions for us (for me, and for baby) during the chaotic hell-hole that is childbirth.

Mother And Baby by Anna Cervova

I took a lot of convincing before I forked out the cash for my NCT antenatal classes. It is a large amount of money to hand over when (a) you can theoretically get the same guidance for free from your local NHS services and (b) you consider the enormous financial burden that a new born child will put on you. The thing that finally convinced me to pay for the NCT classes was the fact that almost all of the daddies who I work with recommended them to me, not only for the fact that they felt they had learned useful stuff from them, but because they all felt that they had made at least one good friend for life from the group of people with whom they shared their classes.

For me, with very few female friends, it seemed like an ideal way to meet some local mums. The mummies I have met through the NCT are a wonderful mix of people of different ages and backgrounds whose paths I would never have otherwise crossed. We have at least one thing in common, a baby born between May and July last year. We have met up on a number of occasions since the birth for baby massage, coffees, walks, and extreme alcohol consumption. Online, we share our thoughts on mummy-related topics, seek advice from one another and share photos and videos of our little ones.

When I look back on my NCT lessons, I mustn't forget that I learned a great deal about the drugs options available during childbirth (about what they really do to you, not just their availability). I learned how long to realistically expect labour to take and some very useful tips on how and when to get to hospital. I learned some great methods for dealing with the pain, how to step back and evaluate my choices during labour and whether or not I should tick the 'Do you want us to give your baby the vitamin K injection' box in my hospital birth notes. I learned (to the extent that you can without your own baby at hand) how to latch a baby to my breast. I learned to ask my family for help in those first few bonkers days after the birth, and not to expect parenthood to be a breeze. But most of the 'personal' stuff I learned was just common sense, and all of the birthing lessons were only relevant for the 36 hours of labour. My post-natal lessons did offer some useful material on weaning, but I think by the time that you get there, your mummy instincts have kicked in and you no longer need lessons to teach you parenthood.

I can't help feeling a bit foolish if the only thing I feel I gained from my NCT classes was a new group of peers! That would make the NCT nothing more than a very expensive introductions agency! I know that's not the case, but sometimes I feel friends are the most valuable thing I have taken away from my NCT lessons.

10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Pregnancy & Birth

There are a number of things about becoming a Mum that I feel a little cheated about. Nothing major, just things that I'm surprised aren't common knowledge until you actually get pregnant, and get involved in the mum and mum-to-be community. So, here for the benefit of mums-to-be, and perhaps those people considering taking the plunge, are the things I feel the world kept secret from me!

1. Why did no-one tell me about the existence of such a thing as an Episiotomy until I was 3 months pregnant and it was too late to change my mind? It turns out that having a great slash though your most private of parts is not all that rare and in fact, it can sometimes be safer, and quicker to heal than a natural tear but still... I may have had second-thoughts had I known this in advance!




2. Piles. Another one of those things that nobody warns you about until its too late! Almost every new mum I've met since Lara was born has had problems with haemorrhoids and/or constipation. Its not pleasant to talk about but be aware, it happens, it can be awful, and your GP can help. With free prescriptions during pregnancy and right up to your child's first birthday, there's no point suffering alone.

   
   

3. The average first labour lasts 12-16 hours. I don't think I'd ever really stopped to think about how long labour would last until I started my antenatal classes; everyone knows that it CAN be long and that it WILL be hard work but until you're there you don't really stop to think about the enormity of the task involved and the length of time you'll be in pain. That 12-16 hours (I think mine was officially 14) only counts from when you are first considered to be in 'established' labour and in fact, the whole process can last considerably longer, in many cases, several days. Ug.

   
   

4. Periods. I feel like there's a secret here that mummies keep! I had no idea that my periods wouldn't return to their normal pattern immediately after giving birth. I guess I had a vague inkling that it might take my body a couple of months to sort itself out but I never for one minute imagined that they wouldn't come back at all until after I stopped breastfeeding. I'm still waiting!

   
   

5. My biggest surprise as a new mum (however much I felt I had prepared for it) was the CONSTANCY of motherhood. 7 months down the line, I don't think its any different in terms of the constant demands on me as a mum, but maybe that's just because I've learned how to handle it. In the first few weeks of motherhood I felt like I was running at 100% CPU for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can't escape it, you can't take a breather, you just have to keep on going.

   
   

6. Losing the baby weight takes longer than you'd expect. Maybe I was being naïve thinking that I'd be back in all of my old clothes within 3 months of giving birth! The very wise Claire Lancaster recently told me her mantra – 9 months on, 9 months off and I think we should all be prepared for it to take that long.

   
   

7. I think its common knowledge that when you get pregnant, part of the pregnant 'glow' comes from shiny hair and gorgeous healthy long fingernails. I loved that part of pregnancy! However, I never stopped to think about when this would end. I was overjoyed that the healthy hair and nails didn't seem to disappear straight after the birth and had got used to it. Earlier this month I finally gave up breastfeeding and within a week my fingernails had started to break off. Within two weeks, every single one of them had broken. Damn it! Here's hoping I at least keep my hair in!

   
   

8. Teething seems to last for ever! I'd been prepared for a few days here and there of grumpy baby syndrome due to teething but I was never prepared for it to last for days, or even weeks on end for what seems like eternity. I think I still have months, if not years of this ahead of me. Oh good.

   
   

9. One of the best pieces of advice I had before the birth was to pack my freezer full of home cooked meals that we could turn to during those early weeks when you're too tired to cook. If you follow my twitterings you'll know that I'm a big curry fan so I put aside a whole load of different foods, curries of all sorts and a few less spicy, but equally flavoursome offerings. The trouble is, onions and breastfeeding don't get on very well! Lara had a very upset tummy and struggled with wind during her first 6 weeks. My Mum suggested it could be my diet. We cut out the onions and hey presto, the wind went away. So, next time I am preparing for childbirth, I shall remember to fill my freezer with onion-free meals.

   
   

10. Brain Rot. Its not a myth, mums-to-be and new mums do suffer from mummy-brain! In the weeks following the birth, I honestly felt like my brain had turned to cheese. It is sooooo frustrating to get up, walk half way across the room and then realise that you have NO idea (none whatsoever) why you stood up. I was often surprised at how useless my brain - specifically my memory - had become. I think my turning point was when I went to work at 4 months in for my Keeping In Touch days. It was good for my brain to get the exercise and to get back to doing what its good at – solving complex technical problems. If you're suffering from mummy brain, don't worry, it does get better (although I'm told by my Mum that it never quite gets back to normal!) and for now... live for the list!

Birth Choices - Your Posts

Following the popularity of my "Maternity Matters - The Choice of Where to Give Birth" blog post, I am inviting you all to post your stories of what choices you had, why you chose where you did to give birth, whether it worked for you, and whether you would make the same decision again.

If you have a story you would like to share, add a link to your post below using the MckLinky widget.

Looking forward to reading all your stories.

Maternity Matters – The Choice Of Where To Give Birth

On Wednesday the 27^th of Juanuary, Women's Hour on Radio 4 discussed the 2007 'Maternity Matters' government promises on the provision of maternity care. Among these promises was the guarantee that by the end of 2009, every woman in Britain would be granted the choice of where to give birth – in a hospital obstetric unit, at a midwife-led Birth Centre, or in their own home.

From what I've read, I think that I am one of the lucky few who was really offered this choice. In the local authority where I live, I could choose from our local midwife-led Birth Centre (its no more than 3 miles from my house), a home birth with the midwives from said Birth Centre, and a choice of three major hospitals, two of which had Birth Centres on-site. Admittedly, no-one ever actively discussed the options open to me, or 'sold' me the concepts of a home birth or of a midwife-led Birth Centre but I did my own research and made my own decision. Its a shame though, I imagine that there are a large number of mums who have no idea that they can give birth anywhere other than a hospital.

You may ask then, if I had the freedom to choose a midwife-led birth, why did I opt for the one hospital that didn't have a Birth Centre? I chose, very early in my pregnancy, to give birth at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey. It is a good 20 minute drive away from home and in a different county to where I live but there were a number of reasons why it was my number one choice:-

• My husband, his siblings, nieces, nephews, and many of my friends were all born there so it couldn't be that bad!
• Despite being the farthest hospital away from home, it is actually the easiest to get to (but the most evil to park at... have you ever had to do a 103-point turn to get out of a parking space?)
• It has, for a long time, been the hospital where our families have been treated so I knew I could trust the level of care there.
• My local Birth Centre is directly opposite Ascot racecourse and Lara was due during Royal Ascot week... I didn't fancy getting stuck in race-going traffic at my hour of need.

During my pregnancy I visited the hospital to view the maternity provisions and I'm sure that if I hadn't liked what I'd seen then I would have changed my mind, but from my experiences of my local Birth Centre, I knew that the hospital I had chosen would offer a more professional level of care. I had all of my antenatal and postnatal care (other than scans) at my local Birth Centre and was continually appalled by the level of service, the lack of communication, the lack of urgency and the miserable décor that gave the place an air of 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest'. Due to a lack of midwives, I spent several hours waiting for appointments before the birth and, in those first few weeks after the birth, I never once received a home visit from a midwife – I had to go to them each time, and even then I experienced cancelled appointments and delays. I was not impressed.

It was important to me that the hospital I chose had a birthing pool available. I wanted to try for a natural, drug-free birth (but, being the mellow mummy, I wasn't obsessed about it). As far as was possible, I managed my labour in the pool without drugs but then, due to complications ( a very stressed baby and a very shattered mummy) I left the pool, got hooked up on the drugs and ended up giving birth on an operating table. Lara was delivered by forceps following a failed ventouse.

Now, my NCT lessons had me believe that by choosing to give birth in an obstetric unit, it was inevitable that I would have an assisted delivery. To settle my mind, I have spoken to my local midwives since the birth who assure me that if I had been in the birthing pool at my local Birth Centre when the complications has happened, then I would have had to be rushed by ambulance to one of the larger hospitals as they wouldn't have been able to manage the delivery without medical intervention.

So, given my experiences, will I make a different decision next time round? Will I feel confident enough to opt for a Birth Centre? Or even a home delivery? Err... no. I was more than happy with my birth experience. The level of care was great, the facilities were outstanding (although I did have to wait for a delivery suite, and then again for a bed on the maternity ward), and I still feel like they did everything they could to help me attempt an intervention-free birth. To top it off, I now feel even more conscious that if I were to need assistance then all the medical practitioners would be there, on-site, with no need for an ambulance trip.

So, did you have a choice of where to give birth? Were you happy with your choice? Would you make the same decision again? I'd be very interested to read your comments below.