my-speck

i'm pregnant and it's going to be a rollercoaster

Weird birth story. Ok Speck – I’m sure you’ll fare better than either of the two unfortunate offspring of these two crazy Canadians…. January 10, 2009

Filed under: birthing,pregnancy — rakster @ 2:23 pm
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Extract from an AFP report published in the Brisbane times … Woman mistakes labour pains for kidney stone …

“

OTTAWA – A Canadian woman rushed to hospital on New Year’s Eve for what she believed was a kidney stone gave birth to a baby boy instead, local media said on Thursday.

“This is some kidney stone, isn’t it,” the woman, cradling the newborn in her arms, told Canwest New Service. “We’re still in shock. We just can’t believe it.”

Juanita Stead, 36, said she did not suffer morning sickness or put on extra weight during her pregnancy, and continued to menstruate and so she had no idea that she was pregnant.

A hospital X-ray on New Year’s Eve for back pains revealed the truth.

“The technician looked at me and said, ‘My dear, you’re pregnant with a full-term baby.’ And I said: ‘No sir, you got the wrong woman and you’re looking at the wrong screen. There is no way I’m pregnant,” she said.

Nicholas was born soon afterwards.

Coincidentally, the birth of the couple’s first child, two-year-old Cameron, also caught them off guard.

Stead knew she was pregnant with Cameron, she said, but he arrived two months early.

“I felt like I had to go to the bathroom and out he popped, right into the toilet,” she said. Her husband scooped their first-born out the toilet and put him in his mother’s lap until an ambulance arrived, she said.

AFP
”

Baby Mistake No. 1:
Not knowing you’re pregnant and thinking you just have random back pain.

Ok now Speck, I know you’re there! So that covers baby mistake no. 1 highlighted in this report…

Baby Mistake No. 2:
Giving birth so the baby falls into the toilet

And Speck, I guess I can’t be sure that this one won’t happen. But I will take precautions. Like if I get discomfort close to the due date that is persistent perhaps I’ll just pee on a towel or something just in case? Really though. Crazy.

Overall, while your father is Canadian and from the looks of this article this does leave you at a great disadvantage to the rest of the world’s population, I trust that my genes will pull you through! Don’t fear!!

Lots of love
mum

ps. enjoy the baclava. I went to Auburn especially for you to get some good stuff….. (it really was for you, I could almost hear your voice asking for some)..

 

Happy 16 weeks! 4 months. OMG its going so fast! Yoga, cookie / biscuit cravings and more. January 9, 2009

Filed under: baby's feelings,birthing,development stages,eating,exercise,pregnancy — rakster @ 12:17 pm
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Hello Speck!

I am feeling horrendous again today.  I think it was the wheatbran I had on my yoghurt for breakfast.  It just gave me a stomach full of gas.  I’m resembling a human drum again.  Unbelievably painful. Erk.

Enough of me.  What of you???  Well, yesterday you were 16 weeks way through your uterus-living phase.  4 months! OMG.  Only 4 weeks to go and we are at 20 weeks which is halfway!  That is crazy.  It seems to be slipping by very quickly now.   According to Kaz this week you are 11.5 cm long. And even more shocking, when I just opened a packet of gas-ease type of things I got in a baby sample bag from the hospital yesterday there was a bit of ruler/paper thing that opened out to show how big you would get each week and it says you’re going to get to 52 cm long when you’re born. That is just horrendous. How the hell do you fit inside my stomach if you’re that big???  It just doesn’t make sense. I’m only 162cm tall, so I just don’t see, even if you are curled-up in foetal position, ball-like, how 52cm of you can possibly fit in any space inside my stomach. Even if my body was different to all other humans and let you start to fill the big chunky spaces in the tops of my thighs. Well, maybe then, if one of your legs went down each of my legs… Enough of that though, that is impossible. You’re just going to have to limit your growth to a more reasonable size. Think of small and round and healthy and happy rather than long and lanky. I am going to look like a beach ball though, aren’t I? No matter what happens.

Apart from your size, this week you are supposed to be growing toenails. Toenails huh? Hopefully you’ll get your dad’s type of toenails and not mine. Mine are misshapen and not suited to women’s shoes at all. Your dad’s are much neater, standard and consistently sized. You should also be getting lanugo (downy hair) starting to grow all over your body. I trust this is happening. Most alien movies I’ve seen the babies and aliens don’t have much body hair, so I guess that if you get this hair I might start to think of you less as an alien and more like a person. Good luck with that too.

I had a big baby day yesterday, in and around working. Your dad and I toured the maternity ward of the hospital here in Sydney that you’re booked into. Hopefully we won’t be using it unless you come early, but best to have an option in case that does happen. Your dad got really excited and looked extremely happy (read grin from ear to ear) whenever we walked past dads holding tiny little bundles walking around the ward. In fact, we didn’t see any new mums, just 5 or so new dads with tiny bundles. I got a bit scared looking at all the medical equipment. The rooms / birthing suites were nice and big with lots of room, but were still pretty boring. Your dad and I agreed that even though there is a spa bath in them, it would be better to hang out at home for as long as possible cause the idea of being in a green room with low ceilings, fluoro lights and lots of medical bits and pieces for hours and hours, even if there is an exercise ball and bean bag, wasn’t that appealing. We might not have that choice depending on what happens, but home sounds more comfy. It was a pretty chilled-out feeling place though compared to other wards I’ve been to in the hospital. All in all, ok.

Next baby thing was that unfortunately we missed out on the ballot for the Natural Birthing centre spot at the RWBH. I think I mentioned that we entered in it before. Anyway, that means that we have to have the baby somewhere else. Which makes the decision we were going to have to consider about private vs public for us. And means that we’re planning to have you at the Mater in Brisvegas, where all your aunts and uncles on my side of the family were born (apart from aunt 2 who was at home). And where I was born. And its close to our house in Brisvegas, so even if there is a traffic jam I think we could walk there if you were on your way. Your dad and I are happy with this – we entered the birthing centre draw so that we had an option or two to consider, but it will work out this way too.

Speaking of jam, I started getting cravings for Jam Drops again yesterday. I notice your numpty grandmother has posted a recipe for me in the comments from last post to you, but its the wrong one. Who makes jam drops with a madeira recipe? I think I can make up the one I made before, so I might just have to do that. It was basically flour, butter, sugar and milk and jam. I’ll give it a go. Strange thing to crave, but there it is. Thanks anyway grandmother. I might try those another time but I’m really after the same thing as last time. Speck you like them, I can tell, otherwise you wouldn’t be making me have cravings.

I didn’t feel you last night / this morning, but pretty sure you got very active during and after yesterday’s very strenuous yoga workout.  First organised antenatal yoga class.  It was quite good – though I think you and I would have struggled had I not gone to yoga classes before and understood a lot of the poses from previous yoga experiences. There were only two other women in the class and they were both 16 weeks and in their first class too. I found myself perhaps not so discretely checking out (read: trying hard not to openly stare at all opportunities) their baby bumps. Mine was I think the least noticeable, though I don’t think the smallest. One of the women was tiny tiny, so her bump, while small, really stood out.

Pregnant Yoga Take One: to me, it felt really different being pregnant and doing some of the poses. I could really tell my centre of gravity was different with you down there. And I was really aware that there was a section of my abdomen area that didn’t stretch or respond to some of the poses in the way it used to. And some bits that are normally really flexible and fine were a little tender (like the groin area, though that could have been from all the cycling and frisbee but it was so pronounced I reckon it is shifting stuff around that area). Another thing I noticed was how sore my feet got afterwards. I really worked out the arches. Could be just ’cause I haven’t done it in so long, but I suspect the additional kgs I’m having to support makes a difference too. It felt really good though. I liked being aware of you down there. My breathing when doing it really moves up and down the spine a bit more and pushes out the abdomen to an exaggerated extent from normal. I guess it will get much harder to breathe as you get bigger. The instructor said that when you’re much bigger you’ll most likely join in on some of the poses and do some kicking and moving of your own, and that if you move around too much or head to one side of the uterus then my balance will be off and it will be hard to hold some of the poses. I look foward to that. Your grandmother was in charge of finding me somewhere local to go in Brisbane from April onwards. Hope she remembered.

Anyway, must run, stuff to do. Thinking of you down there with your toenails and hair.

love mum

 

exercising … and thinking about buying baby stuff (though just a little bit – I’m not obsessed yet – really, truly) January 7, 2009

Filed under: baby stuff,exercise,pregnancy — rakster @ 12:33 pm
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Good morning Speck,

How are you today? Hopefully not too shaken up from the frisbee work-out last night?? I’m a little bit tender in some slightly unusual places, but otherwise feeling pretty good.  Did I mention that I bought a heart-rate monitor so that I can monitor how I’m going with the exercise and not exceed the doctor’s recommendations??  Well, I did.  And I’ve used it a bit on my bike (which is now as you know set-up with the stationary bike trainer in the lounge room – it rocks), where at first I found it impossible to stay in the target range of around 140 bpm but have since worked out you can only just peddle a little with low resistance (so I’m aiming for longer at less intensity).   But was hard to use at frisbee because really I€™m reacting to what is happening on the field, and its not necessarily easy to focus on what my heart rate is doing.

Last night:  total workout time 1 hour 45 minutes with an average heart rate of 162.  I think that is a little high, I saw the monitor peak at about 184 a few times, but I really don’t know how you can exercise without getting your heart rate up.  And my resting heart rate hovers around 92 upwards to 100 anyway.  I figure that as long as I feel ok myself, and don’t push it too hard, you should be all ok.  If you’re not getting enough blood or whatever, then I’m sure I’ll be feeling pretty crappy too.  And I felt fine.   So.  Hope you enjoyed it.  My back is surprisingly fine this morning.  Last time I went it was a bit achey the next day.  I am famished today though.  I have just eaten a huge serve of spanakopita for breakfast but still need something else.  Forgot to chuck more fruit in my bag for work this morning.  I brought a bunch with me yesterday but seem to have eaten it all already.

What else is happening?  Well, since I went last to visit B & M at Bellingen/Repton, I’ve been doing some more investigation on the type and make of pram I think we’ll be after.  Not that I’m obsessed with buying baby stuff – in fact I would almost say the opposite – no big urges to go out and get stuff for you yet, but I am starting to think about it with some encouragement.  In the pram department, Mountain Buggy is looking like a winner at this stage – your dad was convinced from the get-go, especially seeing how well it handled with a fully grown adult in it at B & M’s house!  I’ve used one over rough ground with M at the markets, and it was easy to steer with one hand over gravel, and we both are pretty active, so it sounds like a go.  Went and looked at them at DJs the other day, and compared to a few others, and we both liked the Mountain Buggy the best.  I went shopping last friday in town and stared intently at all the prams going by, and watched how easy they were to use, what the people using them had draped over them to keep stuff on, whether they had storage, whether they fit on the escalators, and all that stuff.  I chatted to a few people while trying on shoes and the like to get their opinions.  All good stuff.

urbanelite_blue

At frisbee last night out of the 5 girls on my team who were there, three of the other 4 apart from me have little babies, and all of them have mountain buggies and couldn€™t speak more highly of them.  I think that such volume of positive accolades is a winner.  Now your dad and I just need to decide whether we need some of the accessories like the bassinet etc.  Again, everyone I€™ve spoken to about it who has had it says that while its kinda expensive especially as you€™ll only use it for a little while, it was really fantastic when they had it.  So we€™ll see.  And I think as we€™re going to New Zealand for a wedding soon, we might be able to pick it up a little cheaper, and I think they sell some attachments there that you can€™t get in Australia, like the car seat clip thingy that allows you to attach some brands of baby seats straight from the car into the pram bit.  Might be kinda handy.

singlecarrycot_blue

So.  As you can see whilst I don€™t obsess about baby goods and the like, get me started on a path and I can become quite excited and interested and no-doubt bore those around me to tears on the subject.  I€™ll have to keep that to a minimum if you€™re to have a sane mother with rational, normal friends and family (read €“ non-baby obsessed and living in the real world) to help her through the first bit of when you come along.  Otherwise they all might run screaming very quickly.

Anyway, hope you€™re well.  It€™s a little cooler today (hopefully) so maybe it will be a bit more comfortable for you down there.

Love mum

 

I told work that you were on your way today… January 5, 2009

Filed under: pregnancy,work — rakster @ 7:00 pm
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Hi Speck,

I had to go back to work today :(.  Your dad stayed at home playing house husband when I dragged myself out of bed in the morning and made the trek over the bridges (but yes, I cheated and drove) to the office.  But it wasn’t too bad!

And I told them all about you – and it seemed to go pretty well! yay! yay! yay!

I was a bit worried about telling them that you were coming (I figure that now is far enough along that you should be ok, and not just before I go on holidays which wasn’t perfect timing), but I did it.  And my boss was fantastic – he seemed more excited by the news you are coming than worried about anything related to work.   We chatted for about 15 minutes about you etc after which point he eventually said, “oh yeah, I guess that means a different plan for the work” that we were sitting down to discuss.  I take that as a good sign.  My work is pretty accomodating, but I was still slightly worried about the whole thing – it doesn’t go well for everyone, I’ve read a bunch of news reports recently about discrimination in the workplace against pregnant women which is apparently unfortunately still really common in Australia…  Not that I thought that my work would be like that – they are generally really progressive which is one of the main reasons I still work there! But, it does mean a bunch of changes to the way I work for them, including us deciding to move back to Brisbane to have you come along, which does affect my ability to go to the office in a rather large way.   All in all, not sure how it will turn out, but first indications are that my boss is happy for me and sounds like we can be pretty flexible, and try to make sure my workload cuts down a bit by April this year but keep on working after that.  I’m sure we’ll talk more about it as time goes on and we’ve both had time to think about it a little more, but first indications are that I’ll be able to keep working and we’ll try to work something out.  Which I’m pleased about!

The other exciting part of what seems like finally (though its really only been a matter of weeks since we found out about you it seems like much longer) telling my work is that I can now tell some of my friends from work-related circles.  And surprise, surprise, there are some other people I know who are having babies around the same time as you’re due to join us.  Its almost plague proportions actually!  So that is exciting too!!!

Going to run as its really hot today and I just feel like lying down.  I went for a walk to the shops with your dad when I got home but it was so hot I got really overheated and flustered and had to have a break at the shops for 10 minutes as I felt really awful, then had a cold shower when I got home.  I’ve started exercising on the bike set-up in the lounge room but it was too hot for that too.   I might have to postpone my daily cycle until later tonight when its a lot cooler.

Hope you’re well, and as your aunt & I are now saying, grow, grow, grow

love mum

 

Happy New Year! (and Happy 15th week of gestation) January 1, 2009

Filed under: baby's feelings,pregnancy — rakster @ 12:34 pm
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Good Morning and Happy New Year!

We had a GREAT New Year’s eve and New Year and new year’s day so far!  It was beautiful, relaxing and fun.  We started off by packing and then went to the ferry with a little time to spare.  After waiting for Mike to arrive (which he did with 2 minutes to the ferry arriving), we lined up with another 15 people and all their luggage and waited excitedly to get on.  Cockatoo Island was in plain sight and a 3 minute ferry ride away.

Alas – the ferry was full!  At this point with one car and a LOT of stuff, all the roads in Balmain closed (it was just after 3pm), we were kinda stuck.  We figured the next ferry would be just as full so it would be tricky to get there..  So close yet so far.    I phoned all the water taxis and alas, all booked out.  After a half hour wait with really no options luckily some others on the wharf with us managed to get a water taxi to arrive and we amazingly managed to cram 14 people with a lot of luggage onto a little yellow boat…  I wish I’d taken a photo but with really no room to fiddle around it didn’t happen.  But we made it!!!

We got to the island, found a spot for our tents and set up camp.  Then got a nice grassy spot overlooking the harbour bridge and right out in front of the mid-river barge, got the food, table and chairs out and settled in for the afternoon/evening.

And it was lovely! Lots of food, fireworks, chats but generally a very relaxed way to bring in the new year.  There were a lot of families around, and there was heaps of space for everyone to spread out as much as they liked.  The fireworks were amazing, with lots of lights up close and far away.  We were so close to the barge that we were getting black specks from the fireworks all over us.  Your dad wanted to know what you thought of it all – it was really really loud. We figured you could definitely hear it in there.  Hope it was fun and not too scarey!

Anyway, tired and watching series one of Dr Who with your dad.

love you

mum

where we were