Light and fluffy

I typed out a whole blog entry and was about to press publish, when I realised that my computer does not have auto correct...

Not to worry.  I can do this... I think.  Bear with me!

I wanted to tell you some cool stuff about my kids, cos I love them to pieces, and I think you should too.  So.  Get comfy.

My eldest son, Eli, is unquestionably hilarious.  He's full of beans, and drives me CRAZY, but he's really honestly funny.  I often find him stretched over two pieces of furniture, at which time he announces he is a bridge.  He's clever, and knows a little too much about too much.  But he has this amazing softer side, when I kiss his head, he'll say out of the blue ~ I love you so much mummy ~ and I swear I nearly lose it every time.  He'll tilt his head to the side and smile, the most incredibly cute cheeky smile, and he knows I cannot resist his charms.  Occasionally, I'll enter a room and he'll say "..nothing", which we all know means "I'm being mischievous".  It's a laugh a minute, minus the crying (from me) and the tantrums (from both of us).

Sullivan.  Well.  I've never known such a sensitive soul.  I'll tell you a story about something that happened the other day.  I was chastising Eli, while holding Sully.  I stormed out of the room and in doing so, Sully's little feet hit the doorway as I walked through.  He was so distressed about all of this, thinking that I had perhaps done this to him as some sort of punishment (when it was directed at Eli) that it took him a full 5 minutes for him to look at me.  I was literally chasing his gaze and he would avoid eye contact.  He's 5 months old.  I was amazed.  I'll have to be very very mindful of how I discipline him, where Eli takes a lot of *encouragement* to behave, Sully will most definitely not need the same level of coercing.  I felt terrible, just so you know..   He's so smiley and happy, even when you know he's so tired and bored that all he'd like to do is crash out in bed all afternoon, he still smiles.  He really only cries when he's got poop in his nappy.  He's honestly the easiest baby to love... and he's really cute. But I guess I have to say that, don't I?

I'm so glad I have my children.  I couldn't imagine living a life without them - as tired as I am, and as much as some days I miss my freedom to sleep..  I think every married couple needs a baby or two, you know, just to keep things real.  They're only babies for such a short time, and the sleeplessness is such a small part of it in the long term.  I have more than likely posted about this sort of thing before, but seriously, if you don't have one, have one.  They fill your life with such love and joy, and you have a friend for life - if you treat them right.

A. xo

Baby Opinion Speaking Syndrome

B.O.S.S.

It's a poorly documented, but very real problem, affecting any woman of any age.  It's insidious nature means that people of any race, religion, creed or colour can become overtaken by the symptoms of BOSS.  BOSS usually presents at first with an obsession with reading parenting magazines and books.  From there, this disease takes hold and spreads to mother's groups, blogs (such as this) and constant facebook posting.  Due to easy transmission, BOSS has practically taken over mums around the globe, causing them to not only compete with one another on the "quality" of their parenting choices, but also to earbash each other with their personal opinions.  At it's worst, BOSS has been known to cure the incurable friendship, and break parenting groups apart. . .

Ok, so maybe it's not a real disease, but I totally think (myself included) that when a woman becomes a mother, she gets a certificate of BOSSiness, valid for eternity.  It's not necessarily something she wanted, or needed, but she gets it.  It's a part of the hormonal mess that is motherhood.  All of a sudden, even though you may have never or never will experience some of the things you seem overly concerned with (breast feeding/formula feeding, smacking, bedtime practices, food for toddlers etc etc - trust me, the list goes on and on and on and onnnnn) you are THE expert with THE opinion to be known.  Even the most even tempered mums have at least one topic that they're keen to "share" their knowledge about.  The worst offenders, however, seem to be the older generation, who have literally got ALL the answers, despite newer research, studies and scientific proof that they are indeed wrong.

Oh, and don't bother trying to tell a mother she is wrong.  You'll probably get a lot more than you bargained for.

So.  What is my point??  My point is this:  opinions are like belly buttons, everybody has one (yes, that line is plagiarised..).  Experience, however, is not as common, nor is the poorly named "common sense".  The latter is surprisingly rare in fact... And even though the dominating factor in all of this is the children,  the child itself varies greatly in innumerable ways.  Something might be ideal, in an ideal situation, with the ideal parents and the ideal child.. but basically, that scenario is about as likely to occur as the moon turning red and falling into the ocean.. Get my point?  It's fine to have an opinion.  Ok to express it.  But when someone (another mother perhaps) disagrees, or chooses to ignore your point of view, don't be offended.  She's just got a case of BOSS that's about as bad as yours!!

A. xo

UPDATE..... OMG...

Oh wowee.. I didn't realise how long it's been since I posted anything.  I'm a naughty blogger.

Not to worry!!

Ok, so long story short, I'm not pregnant anymore (thank heavens for that!! haha) I have instead a gorgeously handsome new little boy baby we named Sullivan Cole.  He's such a dreamboat and I am officially in love with him. :o)

He was born on September 20th of last year (2011) at 3.50pm after a really amazing labour!  Let me fill you in.

On Tuesday morning, at 39 weeks and 1 day, I woke up feeling as good bad as every other day in the past fortnight.  I was so uncomfortable and felt sick most of the time.  But that was ok, I knew that it would all come to an end soon enough.

I puddled around, organised Eli some food, had a snack myself, tidied up the house a little bit (as best I could with what felt like dislocated hips..) and sat down to relax and surf the net on my phone.  10 minutes later I heard a pop, which kinda felt like a balloon popped in my pelvis, and I paused, knowing that this was more than likely that infamous "pop"before a "gush" of "waters".  I leapt off the couch with speed greater than any I'd shown during my entire pregnancy, just in time for the flood.  I stood there, with water literally pouring onto the floor.  I was SO HAPPY!!!!  Of course, this means it's time to have the baby I'd been dying to meet.  It was all going to come to a climactic end TODAY! *insert delirious screaming here*

While I was standing there like a human waterfall, Eli walked in and dramatically paused, announcing, "Mummy!! You're weeing!!"  No baby, no.  Go get mummy her bath towel darling.. and off he ran to save the day.  He was awesome too, cos he returned lightning fast with my towel and went about helping me clean up.  I let all the relevant parties know what was going on and soon had mum and aunty in my house, making me food, asking me frequently if I had had any contractions.  About 11.30am-12pm (an hour or so later) I started getting gentle contractions.  They weren't overly painful and were irregular - about 6-8 mins apart.  Every time I moved I would get another one, I'm thinking if I'd just got up and moving it would've been an extremely quick labour - as in, quicker than it already was - but I was still waiting for Hubby to arrive from 3hrs away, so I didn't want to speed things up until he got there. :o)

At about 1.30 I decided I should go and shower, to get comfy and obviously clean.  The contractions were getting worse, but not unbearable, and they were about 5 minutes apart (regular).  I jumped into the shower, and they instantly intensified.  I don't know if that was because I was standing (quite possible) or if it was the heat, but the shower ALWAYS works for me at getting things going.  By 2pm-ish I decided to go to hospital.  Hubby still hadn't arrived, so we called him and told him to meet us at the hospital.

When we got there, they strapped some monitors on me to see how the contractions were measuring.  For 15-20 minutes they made me stay there, and the machine failed.. it didn't measure a single contraction!! I was starting to fret a tiny bit, because these buggers were really starting to hurt!!  They were about 3 minutes apart, and lasted around a minute.  At around 2.45 I wanted to get into the shower.  I was there for all of 10 minutes (on a hard plastic chair.. uncool people..) when I decided I wanted some drugs.  It was getting gnarly by then and I didn't fancy the thought of pushing a baby outta me with no drugs on board...

Mum and Hubby started to recognise the signs of transition (that really intense bit right before the pushing stage) and they all hurriedly got my out of the shower to do an internal exam.  I got back to the bed and dressed (don't remember how to be honest) and they did a VE.  I was 8CM!!!! You can imagine how pleased that made me... :o))))

Within the next 10-15 minutes (or by about 3.20pm) I was in delivery suite.  I started sucking down on that gas like no man's business, and begged for something QUICKLY, as I knew it wasn't going to be long.  It was too late for anything more than the gas, so they just kept telling me to keep going, keep breathing and that it wouldn't be long now.  I declared at that point that I was quitting.  I wasn't going to push.  Cut the baby out.  I'm done.  It would've been funny to watch a high as a kite labouring woman say such ridiculous things - but I believed it.  ;o)

All of a sudden I felt the need to get on all fours.. so they organised me and then it was time to push.  OH MY GOD!!! What an amazing feeling.  It's a welcome pain after the agony of those last few contractions prior to that point.

Sullivan was born with 2 big pushes and some panting, and had his cord over his shoulder and down his belly.  This meant that when he came through the birth canal his cord was compressed, limiting his oxygen for a good few minutes.  He was very limp and grey and they worked him pretty hard to get him empty of fluid and breathing well.  But!  All is well, and it didn't take long and he was thriving!  They put him on my chest and he managed to wriggle his way down and attach for his first feed.

He is amazing, and Eli is a great big brother.  They are going to terrorise me when they're both older.... :o)  I can't wait.

A. xo

Random update!

It's been almost 10 weeks since I was last on here.. and since then, nothing much has changed except the date.  Oh, and I'm 17.5 weeks along now, instead of 8..

I'm starting to feel ok.. not great, but ok.. I'm run down, very tired and cannot seem to get on top of my health at this point.  Just today I've woken up with a full blown cold.. ugh.  Just what I needed...

Also, we've decided not to find out the sex of the baby until birth.  That's exciting news.. cos you'll have to wait and see and keep checking back to know what we've had.  Any time around September 26th we should all know! :)

Lastly, but certainly not least-ly.. My darling little munchkin man has turned 2.. It's come with a bang, that's for sure.  He's strutted into terrible twos with all his might.  He's great, as you probably could guess, and I love him to bits.  BUT I cannot wait for him to go to Kindergarten.... ;)

That's all for now, as I'm overtired and quite frankly feeling crappy.

A. xo

Swallowing the seeds.

When I was a little kid, my Uncle used to spin very tall tales.  He had a massive marble, which he said was a wishing stone, and he spent ages convincing me I'd get the Care Bear I was wishing for if I just wished every day.. and yes, it was meant to be a real one.  Needless to say, that never happened.  He bought me a bear from Canada, and he said it's because he cares.. but it's just not the same if you ask me.

Most people will have heard the tale of swallowing melon/pumpkin seeds.. that if you do such a daft thing, you'll have a vine of almighty food growing in your belly.  Often, this was an explanation from afore stated uncle for the bellies of pregnant women.  It was sound reasoning in my view - as a 5 year old - and even now, I'm starting to think it's true.  I ate watermelon some weeks ago, and swallowed the seeds.  Yes, I took a giant risk.  So it may come as no surprise to you all that I am in the beginning stages of growing a watermelon sized belly.

(For anyone who may not have caught up yet.. I'm telling you that I'm pregnant....)

I've just skimmed past 8 weeks now, and looking very much forward to the day the morning sickness (not so aptly named, if you ask me, or hundreds of thousands of other mums...) goes away!

So there you have it... eating watermelon makes you pregnant.  I'm sure that's why there is so much infertility around... they've got it all completely wrong!! ;)

Sending out baby dust to those ttc-ing and here's to hoping you can have your very own watermelon/baby very very soon.. xoxox

A. xo

Time for an update...

Well... I have news.  Tis day 10.  Not yet at day 14, but a whole lot closer.  :)  This has to be good news right??

I do need to think about this carefully.. if I am pregnant, do I say so straight away, or do I wait for the dreaded 12 weeks to be over before I share?  I think I've mentioned in previous posts that I am a fan of the share, but I just don't know what is really appropriate this time around.  I guess I'll make that choice when the time comes... ;)

In other news, flooding...  Our state has been swamped over the last few days/week with dirty muddy stinky water.  Brisbane, our flagship city, has gone under again, the second time in less than 40 years.  It's been devastating to so many, and there is still yet more devastation to be realised yet.  I'm personally fine, and haven't really been directly affected by the floods.  Kingaroy is fairly high, and safe from that sort of thing, however, we are central to most of the flooding, and so are isolated and depending on our stocks of baked beans to get us through.  Like I said, we're fine, but it's still shocking to see.  There is no meat, bread, milk or eggs to be bought, and no promise of anything soon.  Luckily, I have my own bread maker, we drink a lot of soy (which can be stored in the pantry), and living in a rural community, we've been getting our eggs for some time straight from a farm.  So, all is ok with us and ours.  That hasn't stopped the rest of the town from going on panic stations!  The aisles at the supermarket are bare, and there are still heaps of people trying to buy food.  It's crazy.

My husband is stuck in Brisbane - and he's ok too.  He hasn't been home for almost 2 weeks due to the water on the roads.  He was telling me this morning that he helped out some people at West End who were trying to evacuate.  He drove around on his way to work and thought, I have to help.  So he did.  I couldn't be more proud of him. :)

Anyway... I have nothing profound to say.. Must be baby brain. hehe ;)

A. xo

Day 3.

Here I am, watching a clock tick by, one measly stupid smug second at a time, wishing it would just move it's butt faster to day 14.  I have made no bones about the fact that I hate waiting.. and this is quite simply no exception!  Instead of whining about the TWW today, though, I'm going to write a little bit of a message to anyone trying to conceive...

I literally stalk to TWW forums every day and so so so many women (no one that I know) don't have a clue about the cycle and how it works, as well as the work it takes to fully understand it.  I certainly don't think any less of these women just because they don't know, but I feel that if I can educate just a couple of people on the baby making basics that I've learned, then my work here is complete! ;)

Here's what you will need to do/know if you're trying to conceive (or simply want to understand what's going on..):

1.  Just because you have a generally regular cycle doesn't mean it will forever and always be that way!  Your cycle is not a carbon copy each month, so saying you always get your period on day X isn't foolproof.  Your body goes through amazing and incredible things each month to ripen an egg, release it from the Ovary and produce different symptoms in your cervix and mucus patterns to facilitate fertility.  If there is stress, an immature egg, illness etc, this may interrupt the delicate balance required to go through the whole process.  This WILL make your cycles varied.. your period is not "late".

2.  The luteal phase (the part after ovulation) is a set amount of days (usually 12-16). It doesn't tend to change. ** In some cases women have a short LP, others have long, but mostly this part of the cycle IS regular.  If you feel that you are certain of your ovulation date and your period hasn't turned up by 16 days past, you are either pregnant, or something else is going on.  Before posting on forums (or yahoo questions.. "Could I be pregnant??") perhaps take into account that you may have again miscalculated your ovulation date.  There is NO way of being certain, even if you chart/temp/observe physical signs/use OPK's.. so just breathe, relax and wait it out.  Pee on a few hundred sticks if you want while you wait? ;)

3.  False negative HPT's are RARE!!!!  It's possible that you are a late HCG metaboliser, but more than likely, at 13/14DPO a negative is a negative.  Have a cuppa, down some tim tams and start again once your period shows her face.  It's true what they say, it's not over till the Witch shows her face, but most of the ladies I've spoken to who have negatives by the time it's due, are in fact not pregnant.

4.  Charting is the best way to know where you are and what's going on in your cycle.  Take your BBT (basal body temperature) the same time each morning before getting up.  This will show you a clear pattern of temperatures which change after ovulation from generally low to generally high(er).  Doing this takes a lot (but not all) of the guess work out of your cycle.  For instance, this last cycle I charted temps, mucus findings and CP (cervical position).  I did all of that because I want to conceive.. duh.. ;)  If I hadn't taken my temperatures, and solely relied on one of the above symptoms to determine my most fertile window, I would have stuffed it completely.  You see, my body geared up to ovulate about 5-7 days prior to successfully releasing an egg.  If I hadn't been temping, I would have assumed that I'd ovulated and then when my period didn't arrive 14 days later, I'd be peeing like crazy on anything with a window and wondering why on earth I wasn't getting positives... YOU SEE?????  This saves your sanity in my honest opinion!

If you've done everything you can to determine these things on your own and you're still confused, jump onto the TwoWeekWait.com forums and ask someone to look at your charts, or just commiserate about symptoms you think you're having that are perhaps driving you crazy with wonder while you wait to test.  There are loads of awesome women in the same boat just dying to talk about everything conception related.  (I'm one of them -- YAY!) "

No need to be confused about your body, unless of course, your body isn't working correctly and you need the help of medical pros.  There are many many women going through a lot of heartache due to factors out of their control, and this post is not for those women.  To the rest of us, good luck and happy baby making!!

A. xo