Thank goodness for friends

... who like ironing! Ironing is one job I hate. DH went to work today wearing an un-ironed shirt because I forgot to do one last night. So today, I called a friend who had gifted me some "free ironing" vouchers - she picks it up and delivers it ironed the next day. Hallelujah!

So, the house is a shambles, the floors need cleaning and vacuuming but at least DH will have some ironed clothes to wear.

Yesterday I ventured out for the first time by myself with 2 kids. I discovered that the seatbelts in the back seat of my car do not reach around the baby car capsule so she has to ride on the front seat. Fortunately my car is so old it doesn't have an airbag in the front, so it is okay... but I would prefer it if she could be in the back. The reason for my venturing forth ---> I needed some Tombow glue for scrapbooking! LOL!

Here she is at 2 weeks old.

And here she gives her opinion of my photography attempts.

I sure am tired of Blogger and it's issues with photos... even when hosted on Flickr. And even tho' I'm leaving comments on people's blogs who are still on the old Blogger... they aren't showing up. Grrr!

I am also really, really sick of toilet training. We don't seem to be getting anywhere! Bribery and other means are just not working as incentives. DS is nearly 3 1/2 so he surely must be physically capable. At this rate he'll be the only 5 year old still in nappies. *tears hair out*

txt for the previous post

Here she is a week later wearing a dress I made years ago in hopes of having a little girl to dress up one day.

Things are going well. I'm still a bit sore but that is to be expected given her size! Breastfeeding is good; so much easier the second time round. She's eating well, and sleeping for some decent stretches at night so I can't complain.

DS is very gentle with her and loves to hold her. He's been a bit jealous of the present she's getting, but apart from that he's great. He told my folks after seeing her the first time, "She's pretty eh?" Something to remind him of when he's a bit older and his feelings are less complementary.

RAK Winners

I think I've worked this out correctly.

Janine guessed the right day and Shannon guessed the closest weight. So girls - email me an address and I'll post you some cards to use! :-) (Shannon - I think you've got my home email so feel free to use that one).

Thank you for your comments on my blog - I'm sorry I've not had time to return the favour but you know how it is! Soon...

1 week later

Here she is a week later wearing a dress I made years ago in hopes of having a little girl to dress up one day.

Things are going well. I'm still a bit sore but that is to be expected given her size! Breastfeeding is good; so much easier the second time round. She's eating well, and sleeping for some decent stretches at night so I can't complain.

DS is very gentle with her and loves to hold her. He's been a bit jealous of the present she's getting, but apart from that he's great. He told my folks after seeing her the first time, "She's pretty eh?" Something to remind him of when he's a bit older and his feelings are less complementary.

RAK Winners

I think I've worked this out correctly.

Janine guessed the right day and Shannon guessed the closest weight. So girls - email me an address and I'll post you some cards to use! :-) (Shannon - I think you've got my home email so feel free to use that one).

Thank you for your comments on my blog - I'm sorry I've not had time to return the favour but you know how it is! Soon...

Siblings

Couple more pics and a quick birth story

I've yet to get my "notes" about the birth so will write something more organised later, but here is a quick story and some photos. Okay - blogger is having a hiccup so here are some links.

Just born

Not quite a day old


We went to church Sunday morning fully expecting to have a "normal" quiet Sunday and thinking I'd be induced the next day. After church we went to my folks (who were looking after Tim) and had lunch there and around 2.30pm after dessert I realised I'd sprung a leak...

We came home and I rang my sister who wanted to be there at the birth to come over. DH and I went for a walk in the hot sun around the block - my skirt got soaked from all the amniotic fluid... there was no doubt to anybody who we passed what was going on but frankly I didn't care. My sister arrived and we did another walk - cxs were around 5 mins apart but not very long. I decided to sit on the birth ball for a while and time some so we could inform the midwife what progress was happening. My main midwife K was off call this weekend so we called her backup B who for various reasons I'd never actually met. (This bothered me a bit before, but as it turned out B was great and I have to say I felt safe and secure in her care). We rang her first around 4.30pm (I think) and her advice was "when you not laughing anymore, give me another ring".

Around 6.30pm I had was starting to feel like I wanted to go to the delivery suite - things were getting painful, I had the TENs machine on and DH/my sister were doing acupressure to help me. I was also "vocalising" by this stage. We got to the delivery suite around 7.00pm and I was asking for an epidural. B checked me and said, "The good news is you're 9cm, the bad news is, it's too late for an epidural!" This wasn't exactly what I expected to hear & I really felt incapable of doing it all au naturel.

B bought in the gas for me which took some of the rawness out of the cxs but they were still very intense. After a bit, B had me get up on the bed leaning over the top part on my hands an knees. I wasn't there long and I started pushing involuntarily at the peak of the cxs. I'm not totally sure how long I was pushing before she crowned - it didn't seem that long. My sister and DH were encouraging me by telling me they could see the head etc which was great because I was starting to lose it. I got her head out and then her shoulders got a bit stuck so B got DH to pull the emergency cord ... things happened very quickly then. The room filled with at least 4 midwives, I got flipped onto my back, and that allowed her to come out at 8.19pm, an hour after our arrival to the hospital! Her cord was quickly cut and she was whipped over to the newborn station (DH called out "It's a girl!" as she went by) to have a bit of oxygen... but she pinked up within seconds and it was all okay.

I lay there totally stunned that I HAD DONE IT! With just gas, TENs and my support people. I still can hardly believe it. I can't help myself comparing it with DS's birth, and I have to say my recovery both mentally and physically has been so much easier.

I had 3 stitches.

Breastfeeding is going fine - she is a much mellower baby than DS and that combined with having done it before helps a lot. I'm at home now, and a little nervous but I have this confidence that we've done this before and while it won't be a cake walk necessarily, we'll get through these first 6 weeks.

Thanks for your well wishes I appreciate them. I'll post some more pics as we take them!

The Babys Here

A baby daughter born 07/01/2007 weight 4270 g Lydia Murielle
Mother and baby are doing well more to follow

My last post before baby (I hope!)

I'm off today for a CTG and membrane sweep. Hopefully that will stir things up a bit and I'll go into labour. Otherwise... the dreaded induction word has been mentioned, so no doubt we'll be discussing that today.

Yesterday we went down to Glenbrook Vintage Railway and had a lovely afternoon riding the train etc. DS got spoiled by his Nan & Pop by getting some more Thomas the Tank Engine stuff for his collection. Afterwards we popped into Wrights Water Gardens for a look. We were a bit early for some of the lilies, and the lotuses weren't out yet, but it was a pleasant walk around.

Just for fun
If anyone wants to make some guesses about the arrival date & weight of the baby I will RAK the nearest correct guess with some cards I've been making while waiting! :-)

So, leave your guesses in the comments and I'll be in contact with the winner once the event has occurred!

Edited to add: The appt went well and baby seems fine in there. We have another appt for Friday if there is no delivery beforehand; I'll see the specialist that day too regarding induction.

Edit 2: Still nothing happening as of 3.41pm Thursday 4th! Dunno if you girls want to keep guessing or not ;-)

Edit 3: Okay - saw the midwife again this morning Friday 5th and had a scan to see if all is well. Which it is and best news is that baby is facing the right way around! I'm so glad! I have been doing lots of walking and last night had 2 noticeable contractions. This morning I experienced what they call a "show" so something is happening at long last. If I don't deliver this weekend I will be induced on Monday morning at 8am.