A Study in Contradictions

My Little Munchkin Mia!

2012-01-21T10:50:00.000+11:00

Keep Left...or Right...Just Keep to One Side!

2012-01-21T06:30:00.000+11:00

When walking the streets in Australia, if you see someone coming towards you, you usually move to the side, whether it be the left or right, you try to take up less space, and it's usually mutual, both parties walking towards each other take evasive action to avoid walking into each other.

I'm not a member of this Pram Posse!

Not so in America. I thought maybe it was just a New York thing when we first got there, it seemed to me that even when you made eye contact with the person coming towards you, they just kept on walking towards you and it was up to myself and Dave to move out of their way. But I can tell you, it's not just a New York thing....it's an American thing. People were the same in Anaheim. And it was only the Americans. People of other nationalities made an effort to share the path, but the Americans, they want everyone else to move for them.

And it pissed us off BIG TIME! It's just so friggin rude! Now I know this is a fair generalisation, and perhaps we just went to places where the Americans were just so oblivious to everyone but themselves, but the same thing did not happen in Canada, or even in Hawaii as much, I guess because most of the people around Waikiki are tourists and a high proportion are not from the Continental US. A lot of them are from Japan, and they understand sharing the footpath.

The funny thing is, since becoming a member of the Pram Posse, I'm starting to realise that perhaps it was only me that moved out of the way. That perhaps this mutual moving to the side that I thought happened in Australia, didn't. Because now that I have less manoeuvrability and find it less easy to move out of someones way, I find that people here don't move to the side. I haven't done a lot of shopping with Mia and the pram or stroller, but the few times I have, I find that people just don't give a damn that it's harder for me with a pram to make room than it is for the other person with nothing but themselves to move. Even when they see you coming from a mile off they still continue on their same course, not making any effort to avoid the pram or stroller.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting that everyone should make way for the queen with her pram, but they could at least move to the side a little so I don't have to come to a complete stop and wait for them to come face to face with me and then move. I've tried to be very careful when getting about with the stroller, and make sure I keep out of people's way as much as possible, and don't block walkways or doorways or high pedestrian areas, but sometimes there is only so much you can do. I could just run the pram into people's shins, but I'm above that. For now.

Maybe it's just me, but when I see a man or woman with a pram, or a man or woman in a wheelchair, or a man or woman pushing anything for that matter, I automatically move to the side to allow them greater room to get through, as it's easier for me to manoeuvre than for them. To me it's just common courtesy, but I'm discovering that apparently that courtesy isn't actually that common!

Love that Smile!

2012-01-20T12:16:00.002+11:00

Six Week Shake-Up

2012-01-10T19:21:00.000+11:00

I'm not gonna lie to you.

This last week has been hard. Very hard. Mia has just been up and down and all over the place. She basically spent Saturday doing nothing but being fed, refusing to sleep and crying, crying, crying. Thank God Dave was off work coz I don't think I would have handled it on my own.

I just can't get enough of this face! So cute!

I have no idea what was wrong, except for maybe a delayed reaction to her needles that she had on Thursday, but she was fine after them and on Friday so I don't think it was that. She didn't sleep the best, she was waking up every two hours Friday night/Saturday morning, which is not like the usual routine of sleeping 4-5 hours, then waking for a feed, then sleeping another 3 hours and waking for another feed, it was barely every two hours and she was hungry!

My Mother-in-law did say when she was first born that at around 6 weeks babies tend to have a growth spurt and want to feed more and sometimes get quite whingy too, so I am hoping it is that and not something else.

The poor little munchkin has a fungal infection on her neck, in one of the folds of skin, so we have to clean it and put cream on three times a day and she is not impressed with it to say the least! But it's gotten so much better in just a couple of days so being 'cruel to be kind' is paying off.

I also took her to the doctor today to have her eye looked at because it's gotten a bit gunky and gross and she thinks it's a bacterial infection so now we have to give her eye drops as well. She doesn't seem as fussed by the eye drops though. To be honest, I think it's the fact that we have to hold her still to do her neck that she dislikes most, so as long as I am quick with the drops and get it in there while she is holding her head still herself she shouldn't be too fussed by it.

I don't like the whingy sookiness though, it makes me worry that there is something I'm doing or not doing to make her cry, and it breaks my heart hearing her. We spent a lot of time on Saturday trying to keep her occupied and interested in different things, and by the time I put her down for bed for the night I can say we both breathed a sigh of relief!

I'm prepared for the fact that there will most likely be plenty more days like that in the coming years, but I certainly hope it's a little while before it happens again! I'm sorry to say that I didn't handle it as well as I should have, I think the sleep deprivation of the previous week just caught up to me, and by about midday I was sitting on the bed crying while Dave tried to get her to sleep; he managed it, although she only slept for about half an hour and then wouldn't re-settle. I just felt so powerless to do anything and like I was doing something wrong that she would just be crying for nothing, as there was no obvious reason why she was so upset. Plus, I admit I got a little annoyed at Dave earlier in the day and took some of my frustration out on him which made me feel even worse.

The truth is, I sometimes feel a little jealous of Dave, going off to work where he doesn't have to be 'on-call' for Mia, and he doesn't have to worry about feeds and nappy changes, and he gets to come home and sleep all day without any interruptions; he can go to the gym whenever he wants without having to time it just right. It's been 7 weeks now and I haven't slept more than 3 continuous hours in a row, or had more than an hour to myself to go get a quick haircut and it's really starting to catch up with me.

And the worst part is, I feel guilty for feeling this way, and wanting to take a break, because I know that if given the choice I wouldn't want to leave her and go off to work or anything like that, but even just 4 hours of unbroken sleep, or a couple of hours to myself without worrying about being available for feeding, would be so good right now. But this is what I signed up for, and I knew (as well as you can) what I was getting myself in for so I have to suck it up.

I am so lucky to have my little munchkin, there are so many people who don't ever get to have what I have and I am so very thankful for that.

One Month Old

2011-12-31T10:30:00.000+11:00

My beautiful little munchkin was a month old last week.

Mia - One Month Old - 23.12.11

I can't believe how fast time has flown by since she was born. I said to my girlfriend it's so unfair how it feels like your pregnant for so long, but then the baby is born and time just goes at warp speed!

Things have been going very well, although I have discovered that Mia really doesn't like to sleep!

I've managed to bring her witching hour forward from midnight to 4am to much earlier, and some nights we can be in bed by 11pm/midnight, and once she is in bed she sleeps really well, only waking two or three times for a feed, and she barely even wakes for the feed and goes straight back to sleep.

But trying to get her to sleep during the day has been a challenge, especially if we have gone to Mum's or somewhere else. I think when we are out it's a bit to do with being in a different place and there being so much to see and take in. Her eyes can be practically slits, but she will resist going to sleep.

At home it's a little easier, but I've found that if I don't get her down before she gets really tired it becomes so much harder to get her to settle and off to sleep, so the first two weeks of the New Year I am making it my mission to stay at home as much as possible and work on the sleeping and helping her learn to start putting herself to sleep too.

Daddy & Mia on Christmas Day

I've been following the Tresillian recommendations on getting bubs to sleep, and a friend has given me a Wrap Me Up sleep suit, and so far it all seems to be working but I've only been doing it a couple of days. I'm hoping with a bit of consistency and a couple of weeks with not much to do we'll get some good habits happening.

I can't believe how much Mia has grown and changed in 5 weeks. She's so different to the little girl I bought home. So much more aware, she makes eye contact for longer and follows you around, she's started to make the cutest little noises, and best of all, we've started getting the most gorgeous smiles from her!

She's also starting to work out that her hands are attached to her and she has control over them and she has managed to get her fist into her mouth to suck on it quite a few times now (which I am not complaining about as she refuses to take a dummy, so sometimes that fist in the mouth is a very good thing! Lol)

The child and family health nurse came and did our home visit last week and Mia had put on 1.5kgs in 4 weeks, so we know there is nothing wrong with my milk! She's is a little piggy I must say! Thankfully we really seem to have gotten the hang of breastfeeding and it's going really well. We are also slowly getting longer intervals between feeds, sometimes we can even go 4 hours!

Mia maxed out on Grandma's bed on Boxing Day, in the gorgeous dress my good friend C made for her

All in all, I'm feeling a little more confident and less worried about doing things wrong and it feels good. Every day is a little bit easier and Mia grows and changes a little bit more and it's such a joy!

Looking forward to starting the new year with my little munchkin and seeing her grow and change.

Happy New Year everyone!

First Christmas

2011-12-30T16:51:00.001+11:00

All ready to go and see Santa!

Mia wasn't impressed enough with Santa to wake up properly and smile!

27, 360 Minutes and Counting

2011-12-12T20:19:00.001+11:00

So it's been 2 weeks and 5 days since my little munchkin Mia was born, and it's been a very interesting 2 weeks and 5 days.

I had no idea that you could run the gamut of so many emotions in a 24-hour period. Every day has been a combination of incredible joy, love and happiness, worry, guilt, anxiety and irritation.

Joy, love and happiness don't need much of an explanation. I can't believe how much love I have for this little girl I've been lucky enough to be blessed with. She changes so much everyday and I wish I could record every minute so I don't forget a thing.

However of course there is a flip side to those good feelings, and I suppose if you're a mother those other emotions don't really need much explaining either.

Worry - It's hard not to worry that Mia is ok and that I am doing the right thing. Though I try not to, it's so hard not to second guess every little thing I do and worry that I am doing it all wrong and setting both Mia and Dave and I up for harder times in the future.

There is so much conflicting advice out there about the best way to do things and while one thing might say you should be trying to do things in a certain way, others say just go with the flow, follow your child's lead, etc.

Because of my control-freak-perfectionist tendencies I find it really hard to just 'let-go' and to not have any kind of routine or basic set of rules to follow. And Mia is so all over the place that I don't know how I would even go about starting up any kind of 'routine'. My heart tells me not to worry too much about a routine anyway, so I am trying to listen to that. She's not even three weeks old yet!

One day she'll have big long feeds and then sleep for longer periods, but then other days she'll only have shorter feeds and sleep for shorter periods, making those days just feel like all I am doing is constantly feeding her! She seems to want to feed on average though between every two-three hours, which is totally normal, but I just had no idea how all-consuming breastfeeding would be. Sometimes it feels like all I am is a mobile milk machine and all Mia wants me for is to feed!

The last few nights she has also decided that she doesn't want to sleep in the bassinet. She's been a pretty good sleeper, and with a few exceptions she can put herself to sleep, she doesn't need to be rocked or held to get to sleep, but for some reason, the last couple of days she has just decided she doesn't want to sleep in the bassinet. She's happy to sleep in my arms, or on the play-mat on the floor, on the changing table pad on the floor in her bedroom (because I haven't properly cleared the stuff off her cot yet), even the bouncer (without actually bouncing), but she doesn't want to sleep in the bassinet. And when it comes to our bedtime, it's so hard to transfer her into the bassinet without her waking up. She just seems to know when she has been put in the bassinet and wakes up. The only time she seems to be ok with going back to sleep in the bassinet is in the mornings, she usually wakes up for a feed between 6-8am and then is happy to go straight back in to the bassinet and sleep for another 2 hours before waking for another feed.

One good thing is we seem to have gotten the hang of breastfeeding pretty good. She latches on well most of the time (sometimes we have a false start or two) and she seems to feed really well, but it is still a bit all over the place, sometimes she'll feed for 20mins, other times only 10mins, but I have no idea if the difference is because she is just having a lazy feed sometimes and taking her time and other times she is really hungry and gulping it all down all what. I haven't had a chance to take her to get weighed again (will be doing so this week) but I know she is definitely gaining weight so I'm not too concerned.

Guilt, anxiety and irritation - This has all come about because of her seeming dislike for wanting to sleep in the bassinet and the fact she finds it harder to get to sleep at night. The last couple of nights she has been quite fussy and crying, right when it's time for bed after feeding (usually some time between 10:30pm and midnight), she'll pretty much fall asleep right after having a feed, but as soon as I put her down in the bassinet she's waking up and won't settle and it takes ages to get her to sleep again, even though the rest of the time throughout the day (and the early hours of morning) she has no problem nodding off to sleep. I'm still trying to figure out what the problem might be, and tomorrow I plan on tidying her room and clearing her big cot and seeing if she'll be happy to sleep in there. And if she is then she might be making the transition from bassinet in our room to big cot in her room a lot sooner than I thought (or want!). But if she's happy to go to sleep in the cot, then so be it.

Anyway, this post ended up being a lot longer than I expected or anticipated. I'm loving being a Mum, I knew before that having a baby was going to be an overwhelming experience, and one that is a lot of hard work, with huge rewards, but it's true that nothing can really prepare you for how much hard work there ends up being and the emotional roller coaster you'll be riding. But I will say, I'd much rather be doing this work than any other coz the pay-off, having such a gorgeous little girl, makes it all so worth it in the end!

The Longest, Most Amazing Day of My Life

2011-12-02T21:43:00.001+11:00

This is the story of the most amazing day of my life...

On Monday 21st November I had my final OB appointment before my due date (23.11.11) at 10am. I was 39 weeks 5 days pregnant. He examined me and said I was about 2cms dilated already. I was pretty happy about that, needless to say. As I said to Dave, I was 20% of the way to fully dilated! He wanted to book me in for an induction at 7am on my due date, Wednesday as he was worried about the size of bubs because of my gestational diabetes. However he was pretty confident that I would go into labour before needing the induction, but he booked it anyway, just in case.

So I woke up on Tuesday morning the 22nd November around 7am with contractions that weren't too intense and around 10 minutes apart. Spent the rest of the day sitting on the fit ball and wandering around the shops with Dave, trying to help move things along as the contractions seemed to just come and go throughout the day, without much rhyme or reason to them, some worse than others, but mostly bearable.

By 10pm that night however they'd really started to pick up in intensity and frequency, varying between 5-8 minutes apart. I pretty much sat on my glider chair, breathing, rocking and counting through each contraction. Dave mostly did Sudoku puzzles (I knew he'd become addicted once I taught him how to do them!) and tidied up around the house.

By about 2am contractions were really starting to become intense and close together and Dave was a real help, counting through each one for me. I found the counting helped to keep me focused and not panic or anything from the pain, plus it was a good indicator to me when one was about to finish so I could look forward to that.

At 3am I felt like I was ready to go to the hospital, I didn't feel out of control, but I felt like I needed to be somewhere with people who had been through this before and could tell me how everything was going. I said all along that I wanted to try and stay at home as long as possible and it's like my body kind of knew when it was time to go. Plus I wasn't really looking forward to having contractions in the car so I figured the sooner we left the better.

We got to the hospital about 3am and I stood out the front of emergency breathing through a contraction while Dave parked the car and grabbed the bags. A security guard escorted us to the maternity ward through emergency. He asked me if I wanted to take the stairs or the lift. My answer "You don't have to wait for stairs". So up the stairs we went and were directed straight to the delivery ward.

Kirrily was the midwife on duty and she showed us to our birthing room and waited patiently for me to breath through another contraction. She then asked me if I'd prefer to stay in my clothes (I was wearing trackies and a pink top) or if I'd like a gown. I chose the gown. I knew things were gonna get messy and didn't want to have to bother washing and soaking clothes when I got home.

I climbed up on the bed so the midwife could get a monitor on my belly to see how the baby was doing and as I got up there my waters broke. Best timing ever. Dave's comment was "Thank God that didn't happen earlier, you would have ruined the glider!". I just looked at him and the midwife laughed. She got me set up on the baby heart-rate monitor and then went out to start getting paperwork ready.

The contractions were really ramping up now and I started to find it harder to deal with them being stuck on the hospital bed with the monitor strapped to me. When Kirrily came back she asked if I wanted to try the gas and air and I was like "Yes please!" I swear, it did nothing but dry my mouth out and make me feel a bit like I was stoned or tripping out or something, the pain was still there, but at least it gave me something to bite on! Poor Dave was doing his best not to cringe with every contraction as I squeezed his hand so hard and he counted through everyone for me as I was past the point of being able to count myself.

Kirrily came back to do an internal examination and take off the monitor about 45 minutes after we'd arrived and I said I was hoping for a big fat 10! Unfortunately I was only 5cms dilated, but she said my cervix was nice and ripe and progressing really well. Small comfort when you suddenly think you've still got hours more of the pain to go!

It was at this stage that I started to really feel like I was losing control of the pain, the contractions just seemed to be getting stronger and stronger (if that was possible!) and closer and closer together. When Kirrily next came in I told her I wanted an epidural but she suggested it might be a good idea to wait a little longer as it might slow things down. She left the room and came back a few minutes later and I told her I really needed something for the pain and she asked if I would like to try some morphine. I said yes, anything, just make it hurt less!

However, before she'd even had a chance to organise any kind of pain relief I suddenly felt the most overwhelming urge to push. I said to Dave "I gotta push, I gotta push" and thankfully the midwife walked back in the room at that time and I told her the same thing. The contractions were just coming one after the other and it felt as though the only thing that would help would be to push.

She was a bit skeptical so said she would examine me again, as it had only been about 15mins since she'd last checked and I was 5cms. Sure enough, she had another look and I was fully dilated (Thank God!). She asked me if I'd had a baby in a previous life as that was the fastest she'd ever seen anyone go from 5 to 10cms with their first baby. I just asked her to Get. It. Out!

She told me to start pushing if that's what I wanted to do, then ran out to ring the OB so that he would get there in time and wouldn't miss it. About half an hour before this I'd messaged my Mum to let her know that I was in the hospital and it was all systems go and it turns out she was awake and jumped straight in the car to come over. Good thing she did too, as she had to get from Campbelltown to Windsor (about a 45 min drive) and somehow she made it with about 15 mins to spare.

I pushed for about an hour and a half and it was probably the longest hour and a half of my life. I don't know what I would have done if Dave wasn't there, I could not have done it without him. He just kept telling me what a good job I was doing and that I was almost there, and it was hearing his voice that stopped me from being totally freaked out by the entire situation.

Finally, at 6:05am, 2 and a half hours after arriving at the hospital, my beautiful little Mia was born. It was the most surreal thing when they handed her to me, I just couldn't believe she'd come out of me! The look on Dave's face was one of pure amazement. Neither of us cried, we were both just so overwhelmed that we had somehow managed to make this little wriggling baby and that I'd pushed her out! I just could not take my eyes off her.

It took the OB about 40 mins to stitch me up as I had a torn perineum as well as internal tearing as Mia came out with one arm up around her head with the umbilical cord all wrapped up around so it wasn't ideal and did a bit of damage, something I'm sure she will hear about for the rest of her life! Lol!

My Mum was blown away by the whole thing and I also think a little overwhelmed as well, it being the first time she'd experienced childbirth from that perspective and not being the one actually giving birth! Dave's parents got there about an hour after Mia was born and needless to say they were pretty excited!

It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, one that I know I will never forget. It's true when they say that the memory of the pain fades and dims, because if it didn't, I couldn't write this story now. I must admit for the first day or two afterwards I think I was in a little bit of shock, it's weird how something so amazing can also be a little bit traumatic when you stop and think about what actually happened and the pain you went through. After going through that, I'm not sure if I would like to go through it again without an epidural, but ask me in a couple of years, when we decide to have another one and I'm sure I won't even care, I'll just want another baby! Because holding that little baby at the end of it was the ultimate prize!

I think one of the best things about having Mia is seeing Dave as a father. It's the most beautiful thing to see. He is just so in love with his little daughter, he just can't get enough of her. He is willing to do anything, change the dirtiest of nappies and is more than happy for me to express a bottle of milk during the day so that he can get up and do one of the night feeds. In the 9 days since she's been alive he has copped exploding poo and projectile vomit all over him and it hasn't fazed him once. If it's possible I'm even more in love with him now than I was before.

And needless to say, I am so in love with my little girl, I just can't get enough of her and just think she is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life! If I could I would just sit and look at her all day. So would Dave!

Introducing...

2011-11-29T20:16:00.001+11:00

Mia Hazel Purtell

Born on her due date, 23rd November 2011, at 6:05am, an hour before her Mum was due to be induced!

Weighing in at 3.57kgs (7 pound 14 ounces) and 51cms long.

Birth story to come, when I manage to find more than 15 mins to myself!

The Final Countdown

2011-11-16T22:37:00.001+11:00

So, less than a week to go!

Today I'm 39 weeks pregnant and by this time next week I should be a Mum.

I had an OB appointment yesterday where the doc said everything looked to be going well. He booked me in for an ultrasound on Friday morning to see how big the baby is and booked my next appointment for Monday morning at 10am.

He said if I haven't had the baby by Monday then he'll get the ball rolling (Induction! Eeek!) as he doesn't want this bub to go overdue because of the size risk, babies of mothers with GD can tend to be on the large size. But everything was looking good at the last ultrasound 3 weeks ago so fingers crossed that's still the case.

I'm not too thrilled about the idea of an induction. Everyone I have spoken to that's had an induction and a natural labour has said that the induced labour was worse, so I am really, really hoping that I go into labour naturally in the next few days.

I've been doing lots of walking and sitting and bouncing on the fit ball in the hopes that will encourage bubs to make an appearance. Dave's also been having stern words to bub every day, encouraging s/he to get his or her little butt out here! Lol! I think he's more impatient than me if it's possible!

The thing I'm hoping for the most is that bubs isn't too big and the OB won't want to just do a c-sec. The way I see it, people have pushed out large babies before, so there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to as well. I don't really think that will be the case, but it is in the back of my mind.

While I'm really not excited about the prospect of being induced, I am a tad relieved that PJ will be here sooner rather than later. It's kinda hard to comprehend that this baby will be in my arms and not my belly within the week.

C'MON BABY!!!

The Name Game

2011-11-10T10:59:00.000+11:00

Choosing a name for a baby is such a huge responsibility!

Dave and I have had 2 boys names chosen for ages. One of them for years. However we have decided on the second as there are so many of our original choice, even though we both still love it.

Girl's names are another story.

It took us a while to find a name that we both liked. I liked lots of girls names. Dave didn't like any of them, but couldn't give me any suggestions himself! Finally I found one that he seemed to like.

Then about 10-12 weeks ago I started to have second thoughts about that name and started throwing out some other options. Dave finally came up with one himself and amazingly it was one I liked, so we agreed. That would be our name if it's a girl.

About 2 weeks ago I started having second thoughts about that name! Not so much that I didn't like it, but just being worried that about changing my mind, and wishing we'd gone with another name, the original one, or a third that I've really started to like.

It's such a big responsibility naming a child. It seems like the first (of many) test of parenting and I don't want to get it wrong. It's something that they will have for the rest of their life. A name can effect people's perceptions of a person. Certain names have certain connotations. Of course we are all influenced by people we know with certain names, but there are certain names that demographics of people will equate to certain things and personality traits and I don't want to burden my child with a name that might be detrimental to her future success.

But the other night, lying in bed, trying to sleep, the name we have chosen suddenly 'clicked' for me. It just suddenly became perfect and I'm not thinking about any other name now. I can't wait to meet this little person and find out whether it will be our little L or bubby M.

If you have kids, did you struggle to pick a name and stick with it? Did you decide before or after the baby was born. Was that name anything like the names you'd considered before you were even pregnant? And if you're pregnant now or don't have any babies, what do you think about babies names, are there any that you are passionate about and will definitely have?

My good friend found out she is having a little girl this time around and she has had her girl's name picked out since before she was pregnant with her first (this one will be number three), and I know she still loves that name she originally chose so many years ago and is so excited to finally meet her!

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

2011-11-09T12:21:00.000+11:00

No baby yet, I thought you'd like to know.

38 weeks today and almost everything ready for bubs. Dropped the car in for a full detail today (I am hopeless at keeping my car clean, inside and out!) and going to go up the road and get someone to pop the baby seat in for me tomorrow and then we are officially ready.

Everything is done, the baby's room is mostly sorted and everything pretty much has a place.

Pretty proud of my paint job!

I'm hoping PJ will pick up on that and decide to make his/her entrance on Friday! Lol! A girl can dream can't she?

I'm pretty uncomfortable at the moment. It's been so hot that I am just irritated by everything and can't get comfy. I am doing my best not to laze on the lounge but sit in positions that will help bub put pressure on the cervix and get the ball rolling in regards to labour. Yesterday was the worst, 36 degrees and it didn't really cool down overnight either. The only thing that saved me was a cold shower.

Mum and one of my sisters are coming over today and we are gonna do a little bit more baby shopping, hopefully get a bouncer. I lay-by'd a breast pump the other day but I probably won't get it out till December sometime as I want to get breastfeeding established properly before I give expressing a go so that Dave can help night feeds when he is on arvo shift.

Going to Hogs Breath for dinner too and I can't wait. I know exactly what I can and can't eat there that won't affect my blood sugars and I don't have to think too hard about it.

I had one of those nights last night where I just didn't want to have to be bothered trying to work out what to have for dinner and how much carbs everything had in it and whether or not it would be appropriate to eat. I just wanted to be able to eat what I felt like without having to research it first. I shouldn't complain though, not long now and I won't have to worry so much about it.

The alphabet stickers for the baby's room showed up yesterday so I am trying to work out how exactly I am going to use them in the room and I still haven't finished or hung up the pics but I'm not too stressed about that, if they are done before bubs is here, great. If not, it's no big deal as s/he is gonna be in our room for the first couple of months anyway.

Really wish it would cool down!

Friday Funny - What?!?!

2011-11-04T08:47:00.000+11:00

My girlfriend K emailed this to me yesterday. I thought it was pretty accurate! Lol!

Maternity Leave

2011-11-03T19:08:00.000+11:00

I started maternity leave this week. And I think I've been busier on leave than I was at work!

The gorgeous bunch of flowers I got from everyone at work on my last day

Saturday was my Baby Shower, just a small gathering of a few friends and family for afternoon tea and it was really lovely. I thought it was going to rain, and it did sprinkle in the morning, but then the clouds cleared and it ended up being quite sunny and humid by the end!

The yummy, yummy food...and this wasn't all of it, there was also fruit and some other lovely sweet things, not to mention some
fantastically delicious diabetes cakes that my friend C made...must get recipe!

My sister A and girlfriend K did a great job organising everything and the food was lovely, even if I couldn't indulge in much due to the GD. Still, I did ok, and managed to graze on a lot of the treats on offer.

I got ridiculous amounts of baby stuff, and I am so, so thankful to everyone who came for their gorgeous gifts. I don't think I've ever seen so many cute baby clothes in my life!

Opening presents...the baby bath filled with stuff is from my Sister A, who also had another basket filled with stuff. She has been
collecting it ever since I told her I was pregnant (at 5 weeks!) and I think she's going for the title of
'Best Aunty'!

I've spent the last 4 days washing, washing, washing and I've finally got all the baby gear washed, folded and put away.

I did a little shopping on Sunday and bought some books for the baby for Christmas (Dymocks had a 3 for 2 sale on the Kids Top 101, YAY!) and grabbed one or two things for myself and Dave for Christmas, and I spent the $100 Dave's Nana gave us at the shower in Target buying a nappy bag, a play mat and a cool tummy-time mat thing that has some really gorgeous colours and a mirror and stuff.

Monday was all about the washing and waiting for the blind for the baby's room to arrive, gonna put it up on the weekend.

Tuesday was acupuncture and OB appointment. The OB was really happy with last weeks ultrasound results, the baby's growth has slowed right down to normal and is measuring bang on average for a baby of her/his gestational age so chances are good s/he's not gonna be a giant baby but just normal size! I have also officially only put on 500grams in the last 8 weeks since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. In fact, I've technically lost weight as I now have hips again and I've lost some fat off my thighs, as well as my little back 'flaps' as I like to call them, however because the baby is obviously still growing and putting on weight my weight-loss doesn't actually translate over to the scales, but I'm feeling good.

Anyone for a wrap?

It's made me feel really confident about being able to lose weight after the baby is born and getting back into decent shape. It's no secret that I was overweight before I fell pregnant, and already trying to lose weight, and following the GD eating plan and learning a lot about good nutrition these past 8 weeks has really set me up for losing the 20 or so kilos I want to lose to reach my goal weight. I will admit though, I'm not gonna be strict on myself those first few weeks after bub is born, I reckon I'll have enough to think about, but I am determined to keep up these healthy eating habits and allow myself one cheat day a week. I also plan on speaking to the nutritionist at the diabetes centre after we're back home and things have settled down a bit about modifying the eating plan she gave me to compensate for breastfeeding. The endocrinologist I saw said that a diabetes diet/way of eating is one of the healthiest eating plans you can follow, and that if I keep it up, making the modifications to take into account breastfeeding, I should be able to stay diabetes free for a lot longer than I might otherwise have if I'd continued on the unhealthy track I was on pre-pregnancy (having gestational diabetes increases your risk of developing type-2 diabetes within 10 years if your baby's birth). With the added bonus being I should be able to lose about a kilo a week without being hungry and still giving my body everything it needs for good nutrition and healthy breastfeeding.

And let me tell ya, I have a list in my head a mile long of all the things I want to have on those cheat days, things I haven't been able to eat because of being pregnant or because of the GD, with a Maccas chocolate sundae being at the very top. Closely followed by Salmon Pate and Camembert Cheese!

Wednesday I went to Ikea, that den of home-making goodness, and got some drawer dividers to help me organise all of the clothes and wraps for the baby, as well as a few other bits and pieces and a wall lamp for bub's room.

I'm feeling pretty organsied and ready for bub now. There are still a few more bits and pieces that I would like to get, and I still haven't hung the pictures up in the baby's room yet, but all of the important stuff is done, with the exception of putting the car seat in the car. My hospital bag is packed and I have a list of the things I can't pack yet but have to grab when the time comes.

The doc says it's just a waiting game now and bub could come at anytime and I'm finding it really hard to sleep. It's like the 'night before Christmas' anticipation times a thousand and all I want to be doing is cleaning and organising the house, not doing something so useless as trying to sleep! However I am very aware of the fact that I need to try and get as much sleep now as possible and I'm thinking tomorrow, after I've dropped the edited catalogue at work I need to take advantage of my current 'lady of leisure' status and have at least a nap or two.

I think I've earned it!

How Does an Unborn Baby Get Rid of Hiccups?

2011-10-18T11:00:00.000+11:00

This baby has been getting the hiccups a LOT in the last couple of weeks.

{Image}

It's such a weird feeling. They don't last long but as s/he gets bigger and stronger they become more and more noticeable.

And I had to wonder, how does an unborn baby get rid of the hiccups?

They're already drinking upside down (well this one is anyway!)

You can't scare them that well.

And they can't breathe so holding their breath is not an option.

I'd really like to know how they do it so quick! I could do with a quick fix to my own occasional hiccup fits!

Pregnancy, Yoga & Acupuncture

2011-10-16T10:28:00.000+11:00

A few weeks ago I had my first session of acupuncture at Point Specifics in Kellyville.

I've never had acupuncture before but my friend K highly recommended it so I thought it would give it a go. What did I have to lose?

I'm happy to say that my first session went really well. Jacinda specialises in pregnancy and fertility acupuncture and she is also a Doula.

At my first session we focused on my back pain (mostly felt while working at my desk at work) and my insomnia, and three weeks later I can report excellent results. I've been sleeping much better and the pain I was getting while sitting at my desk at work has completely disappeared.

Jacinda also does acupuncture to help get your body ready for labour and labour encouragement which I am definitely interested in. There is a chance that I may have to be induced early because of the gestational diabetes and I really, really, REALLY don't want to be induced if I can avoid it, so anything Jacinda can do to help me go into labour naturally a little earlier will be much appreciated!

At my next session I have to remember to see if there is anything she can do for my sinus. My sinus has gotten so bad in the last few months, to the point where now I have a blocked or runny noise all day and it's really starting to impact on how I feel. I haven't had to worry so much about feeling breathless from the pressure of my uterus on my lungs, that hasn't been a problem, my problem is not being able to breathe much at all through my nose and I'm over it. Fingers crossed she can help!

I've also started doing Yoga on a Sunday morning, run by Tara, who I mentioned in this post. I've been going with my friend K who actually put me on to her and we have been going together (K is about 21 weeks pregnant) and I've really enjoyed it. There are a number of other classes and things that are run through the Pregnancy & ParentingWellbeing Centre, one is a post-natal fitness class which I am definitely going to look in to doing after bub comes along (not long now!)

I haven't done much Yoga before so I expected it to be a little hard, and some parts were, but I was surprised by how much of it I could actually do with this protruding tummy and masses of extra weight! I'm really glad I decided to go and I'm hoping I can actually manage to use the full 5 class pass that I bought!

Not that I'll be complaining if I can't, because I will have a baby!

34 Weeks, 3 Days and Counting!

2011-10-14T22:02:00.000+11:00

I really can't believe how fast time seems to be flying now!

It feels like only yesterday I was sitting at my girlfriend's kitchen bench letting her in on my news, and now, here I am, just over 34 weeks pregnant with not too many more weeks to go! Scary!

Last weekend my Mum and sisters came over and painted the baby's room for us while Dave and I went to an antenatal class at Baulkham Hills called Yoga for Active Birth. There wasn't actually much yoga involved at all but the class was really good and I highly reccommend going to one of Tara's classes if you're in the area. She's a natural birth advocate, Yoga instructor and Doula and she's just lovely!

So, the baby's room is painted and we have moved the furniture in. Just need to hang a few pictures, paint the small chest of drawers and find a nice lamp and it's pretty much done.

Oh, and buy and put up these really cool animal alphabet stickers, that I want to put along the top of one wall.

So, what do you think?

The Cot

The super cute sheet set that my Mum bought me. I still have to wash them and the baby will be in a bassinet in our room for the first couple of months anyway, but I just had to see how they looked on the cot. It's all so exciting!

This is the chest of drawers/change table (still need to get a changing pad) and the small chest of drawers beside it are going to be painted white with yellow drawers (the same yellow as the trim you can see in the picture). This chest of drawers was the only thing my Grandmother let my Mum take when she first moved out of home at 16. She has re-painted the drawers to match the colour of all us kids bedrooms...there's some history in those drawers, that's for sure!

Readers

2011-10-11T17:52:00.001+11:00

I saw this on the Baby Bunting facebook page and had to share

Can't wait to share my love of reading with my little one!

Chubby Bubby

2011-09-19T21:18:00.003+10:00

We have a Chubby Bubby!

This scan was done at 29 weeks (almost two weeks ago now) after I found out I had gestational diabetes (GDM) and the OB wanted to check on how bub's growth was going.

Safe to say it's not gonna be a small baby, bubs was measuring on the above average side for most measurements at that age, which the technician said was pretty common for the babies of mothers with GDM.

I've been sticking to a strict diet and it hasn't been too hard to be honest, I actually have to eat more than I was before (albeit no chocolate and sweets or junk food!). I have to test my blood sugar levels 4 times a day and I was a little worried at first that pricking my fingers would hurt, but it so doesn't.

The bad thing about it all though is that I have to be so obsessed about food and what I'm eating and when I eat. It's really kinda exhausting, the days are flying by because I'm just living from one meal to the next (6 a day!).

The other bad thing is that if I get a high result then I feel a bit like a failure and it gets me a bit down. I know it's not really my fault, especially now that I am following the diet so well, but it's hard not to feel a little depressed. I've only had a couple of higher than allowed results (BSL has to be between 4 and 7 for GDM whereas with normal type-2 diabetes you have a little more room to move) but it still gets me down and I'm scared of what the GDM doctor will say when I call her tomorrow with my results. I really don't want to have to have insulin injections or have this baby get any bigger than s/he should be!

Picture Perfect - Sunset

2011-09-18T20:50:00.000+10:00

Sunset on the Beach
Port Stephens, NSW

Picture Perfect - Sea Shells

2011-09-06T11:30:00.000+10:00

Sea Shells on the Sea Shore
Port Stephens, NSW

2 Down, 1 to Go!

2011-08-30T22:00:00.001+10:00

1 trimester to go that is!

Yep, time is certainly flying by and I can't believe I am now 28 weeks pregnant and officially in the third and final trimester.

I've spent so long wishing it was November already that I am starting to get a little freaked out by how close November actually is! And with how busy we are going to be over the coming months I don't know how we are ever going to get everything ready for the baby in time!

We have made a fair bit of progress in clearing out the spare bedrooms so we can move furniture around and re-paint the room that will become the baby's, but it's one of those things where you basically have to make more mess to clean and clear the mess so at the moment it doesn't actually look like we have actually made as much progress as we have.

We picked up the baby's furniture on the weekend and now we have even more boxes in the house, but at least these are contained to the first bedroom, which doesn't need much done to it at all so they can sit there until the baby's room has been painted and we can put it all together.

We have decided to paint the baby's room the same green as our bedroom and once the baby is born I will put up some curtains, depending on the sex. Pink if it's a girl or brown if it's a boy.

I did the glucose tolerance test on Friday and apparently my sugar levels were a bit high so I have to go back on Monday and do an extended test after eating a hi-carb diet for three days beforehand. The hi-carbs I can manage. It's the fasting from 9pm Sunday night until after I've finished the test (which involves arriving at 8am, having blood taken, then drinking the glucose drink, then sitting there for an hour before a second blood test, and then sitting there for another hour before a third lot of blood is taken) that is going to prove the most difficult. How they can expect a pregnant woman to not eat for almost 14 hours and have three lots of blood taken within two hours and not pass out is beyond me, so it will be interesting to see how I feel once it's finished. Gonna have to take some food and juice with me I think!

Apart from that everything else has been going ok, although if you really want to know, I do have a polyp on my cervix which has been the reason for my bleeding on and off the whole time. It shouldn't cause any problems and it's definitely not cancerous (thank God!) and I must admit it was a relief to finally get an answer on the bleeding and have a reason for it that had nothing to do with something being wrong with the baby.

I've booked in for acupuncture in a couple of weeks, a friend of mine has had it during both her pregnancies and credits it for helping her go into labour a bit before her due date (my due date is 23/11/11 but i'd love a baby birthdate of 20/11/2011, wouldn't that be cool!) so I will also be getting the labour encouragement sessions as I get closer to D-day. Jacinda specialises in obstetric acupuncture and is also a doula so I am really looking forward to seeing how it goes. If you've had acupuncture during pregnancy I'd love to hear about it and what you thought and how it went.

I've also been reading Juju Sundin's Birth Skills and to be honest it has me a little excited about it all, I'm nowhere near as nervous about labour as I was a few months ago before I read it. To be honest, I'm starting to get more nervous about the whole being responsible for a newborn baby more than the actualy labour and delivery. We've killed so many pets that I just can't believe they are going to let us take a real baby home! Argh!!!!

Antenatal classes start next week though so hopefully they will help me feel a little less nervous about it all.

I'll leave you with a pic of my 'bump'. It's not very good quality, I took it to send to Dave's sister who is living over in Canada at the moment and I didn't realise how pregnant I actually looked until I put the pic on the computer, it's a little scary how big I already am and I still have so much growing to go! I'm gonna be the size of a small barn come November!

P.S. I've been verrry slack on the blogging front lately so I'll try to post a bit more often in the next few months, life has just been so hectic that when I get home from work the last thing I've felt like doing is going on the computer and weekends have been all about the cleaning and organising!

Picture Perfect - Festival

2011-08-03T15:26:00.001+10:00

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!

2011-07-10T23:06:00.000+10:00

Today I trekked into the city with my Mum and sisters to see Mary Poppins at the Capitol Theatre.

Standing on the corner of George & Campbell Streets
waiting for my Mum and sisters to arrive before the show

I got in nice and early, an hour before the matinee kicked off, so that I could take my time walking from the car park to theatre and could grab a decaf coffee.

Despite the 'breeze' (some would say gale!) the sun was nice and warm and I only ate my hair a few times!

The show was fantastic! I really enjoyed it and so did everyone else. Verity Hunt-Ballard played Mary Poppins and she was really good, you could tell she had seen the movie a few times, she had Julie Andrews moves and mannerisms down!

Marina Pryor was excellent as usual as Mrs.Banks and the kids who played Jane and Michael were also good. I was a little disappointed with Matt Lee as Bert, but the fabulous Dick Van Dyke is a hard act to follow and he did a gallant job of trying to fill his shoes.

The only other thing that was a little disappointing was the dancing, particularly in the chimney sweep roof-top sequence. That is one of my favourite parts of the movie, and the dancing in that sequence is just out of this world so I expected a little more from the dancing in the show. But apart from that I really enjoyed the show and I would highly recommend, even if you were only slightly impressed by the movie.

After the show we headed over to the Meat & Wine Co. in Darling Harbour for a lovely dinner. We had a bit of time to kill so we had a quick wander through the Harbourside Shopping Centre so that we could use an ATM and find a bathroom (I swear this baby is sitting directly on my bladder!).

While I was in the bathroom my sisters were in Cotton On Kids and found some super cute baby T's, which, I have to admit I just couldn't resist, esepcially at 2 for $20. Considering I haven't actually bought anything for the baby yet apart from a couple of finger puppets I found in Ikea, I don't feel guilty about spending money we really don't have. But, hey a baby's got to wear something right!

Dinner was lovely, I had the ribs and chips, satisfying my craving for some crunchy hot chips. I just can't seem to get enough of potato these days!

All in all it was a really great day and I really enjoyed spending it with my lovely sisters and Mum. Special thanks to Mum for getting me the ticket and paying for dinner as my birthday present.

I wish they had this in an adults size
too, I would have got Dave one to
match! He's gonna be jealous,
he loves dinosaurs!

The Green Thing

2011-07-08T16:08:00.000+10:00

I received this in an email from my girlfriend K a few weeks ago and it really made me think. I hope it makes you think too.

{Image Credit}

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day. In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.But that old lady is right; they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.But she's right; they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water.They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were, just because they didn't have the green thing back then?Pass it on