It is my birthday today. I have been thinking about my Mum all day.
As I was going to sleep I thought ‘She already knew I was coming 27 years from now, I wonder how she was feeling’.
Each time I woke up for the bathroom in the middle of the night I thought ‘She was still going through labour this time 27 years ago’.
And then when I finally woke up at 5.30 in the morning I thought ‘She was getting her first look at her first child this time 27 years ago’ (I was born at 5.20 a.m. on 31 October 1980).
When she called today to wish me a happy birthday I nearly cried telling her how I had been thinking about her. She said ‘Now do you understand why it is so important to a mother to see her children on their birthday?’.
This is the first year that I have realised that my birthday is so important to someone other than myself.
Sitting with my husband eating breakfast this morning we were playing the ‘this time last year’ game (e.g. ‘This time last year we were still planning the wedding’, ‘This day 3 years ago you asked me to marry you and we had just bought our apartment’, etc).
This of course turned into the ‘this time next year’ game. I wanted to cry (noticing a theme here? Crying has become very common to me!). This time next year my baby will be crawling around the house; this time next year I will not feel my baby kicking inside me as I eat breakfast; this time next year I will not be with my baby for the entire day; this time next year other people will be able to hold my baby rather than just me; this time next year my baby will (sometimes) find more joy in a pile of toys than it does in me.
Ok, so I know it was way over the top, however, it made me realise, that as uncomfortable as I am at the moment, I don’t think I am ready for the pregnancy to be over. Of course I look forward to holding the baby in my arms, but I am almost dreading waking up and not having the baby completely attached to me.
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
Friday, 26 October 2007
Photos
Ok, have decided to come clean... I am cheating on this blog with another. I guess the thing is that it doesn't matter if this blog finds out about the other, but the other one (which I send to family) should never, ever find out about this one. I would like to keep this one as a place to vent and would rather no 'real life' friends and family find out about it.
On the other blog I post photos of my growing belly and a (very dorky) weekly update about how Pudding should be growing, I don't write personal stuff on that one and only really update it when I get the chance to download pictures. You are all welcome to come and view the other blog if you want to see belly shots, and then bookmark it if you wish to see baby and family photos once Pudding has arrived.
Please be aware that I don't want friends and family finding out about this blog, so if you wish to comment on the other blog, please don't mention this one!
OK, so here it is:
http://babygalang.wordpress.com/
On the other blog I post photos of my growing belly and a (very dorky) weekly update about how Pudding should be growing, I don't write personal stuff on that one and only really update it when I get the chance to download pictures. You are all welcome to come and view the other blog if you want to see belly shots, and then bookmark it if you wish to see baby and family photos once Pudding has arrived.
Please be aware that I don't want friends and family finding out about this blog, so if you wish to comment on the other blog, please don't mention this one!
OK, so here it is:
http://babygalang.wordpress.com/
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
Wrong way out
I think my baby thinks that it can somehow find a way out of my belly through the belly button area. It has been constantly trying to kick/punch a hole through there for the last week.
Baby is head down which is good because I doubt there is much room for it to turn around, and has its back on my left side facing my front which I hear is a great position for the birth. I get most of my kicks and ounches on the right side and occasionally a shoulder or elbow on the left.
On the advice of my midwife (backed up with google research) I have started taking Raspberry Leaf Tea. It has a stimulating effect on the uterus and I have definently noticed BH since then (was too sure I was even having any before have the Raspberry Leaf Tea). Here's hoping it reduces my labour time and the need for intervention!
The advice I found on google was this:
In a study carried out in Sydney, Australia, 192 first-time mums were given at random either a 1.2g raspberry leaf tablet or a placebo twice a day from 32 weeks of pregnancy. The herb had no harmful effects on mother or baby, and those women who had taken raspberry leaf tablets were found to have a shorter second stage of labour and a lower rate of forceps delivery (19.3% versus 30.4%). It is believed that raspberry leaf, if taken regularly through pregnancy and labour can:
· Ease the symptoms of morning sickness.
· Sooth and prevent bleeding gums which many pregnant women often experience.
· Relax the smooth muscles of the uterus when it is contracting (Burn & Withell, 1941).
· Assist with the birth of the baby and the placenta.
· Calm cramping of the uterus.
· Provide a rich source of iron, calcium, manganese and magnesium. The magnesium content is especially helpful in strengthening the uterine muscles. Raspberry leaf also contains vitamins B1, B3 and E which are valuable in pregnancy.
Raspberry leaf is also used for the following:
· To aid fertility.
· To promote a plentiful supply of breastmilk.
· To help stop excess bleeding after birth.
· To treat diarrhoea.
· To regulate irregular menstrual cycle and decreases heavy periods.
· To relieve sore throats.
· To reduce fever.
Baby is head down which is good because I doubt there is much room for it to turn around, and has its back on my left side facing my front which I hear is a great position for the birth. I get most of my kicks and ounches on the right side and occasionally a shoulder or elbow on the left.
On the advice of my midwife (backed up with google research) I have started taking Raspberry Leaf Tea. It has a stimulating effect on the uterus and I have definently noticed BH since then (was too sure I was even having any before have the Raspberry Leaf Tea). Here's hoping it reduces my labour time and the need for intervention!
The advice I found on google was this:
In a study carried out in Sydney, Australia, 192 first-time mums were given at random either a 1.2g raspberry leaf tablet or a placebo twice a day from 32 weeks of pregnancy. The herb had no harmful effects on mother or baby, and those women who had taken raspberry leaf tablets were found to have a shorter second stage of labour and a lower rate of forceps delivery (19.3% versus 30.4%). It is believed that raspberry leaf, if taken regularly through pregnancy and labour can:
· Ease the symptoms of morning sickness.
· Sooth and prevent bleeding gums which many pregnant women often experience.
· Relax the smooth muscles of the uterus when it is contracting (Burn & Withell, 1941).
· Assist with the birth of the baby and the placenta.
· Calm cramping of the uterus.
· Provide a rich source of iron, calcium, manganese and magnesium. The magnesium content is especially helpful in strengthening the uterine muscles. Raspberry leaf also contains vitamins B1, B3 and E which are valuable in pregnancy.
Raspberry leaf is also used for the following:
· To aid fertility.
· To promote a plentiful supply of breastmilk.
· To help stop excess bleeding after birth.
· To treat diarrhoea.
· To regulate irregular menstrual cycle and decreases heavy periods.
· To relieve sore throats.
· To reduce fever.
Monday, 15 October 2007
Jewellery
I do beleive that my wedding rings and my watch have indeed grown smaller throughout the course of this pregnancy. If they shrink any more I shall have to wear my rings around my necklace...
Possum update
I think an Australian of the year award is in order - for my humanitarian work (towards possums - not humans).
On Friday I finally got brave and... wait for it... you will be amazed by my bravery... I quickly opened the front door, ran to the side of the balcony and put a broom over the side so that the little one could climb up it and escape (what it was escaping to I have no idea - city traffic perhaps?).
Of course as soon as it escaped (it took it about 15 minutes to figure out what to do) I was hit with the realisation that rats could sneak through small holes - maybe possums could too. So I boarded up my front door just in case. Yes I boarded up my door to escape from a 10 cm possum.
So guys, start the nominations coming for Australian of the year!
BTW, I have my first birthing class tonight - looking forward to eating out with my husband (we haven't really been out to dinner alone since I fell pregnant) and then meeting other pregnant women in the same stages as me.
32 weeks 2 days
On Friday I finally got brave and... wait for it... you will be amazed by my bravery... I quickly opened the front door, ran to the side of the balcony and put a broom over the side so that the little one could climb up it and escape (what it was escaping to I have no idea - city traffic perhaps?).
Of course as soon as it escaped (it took it about 15 minutes to figure out what to do) I was hit with the realisation that rats could sneak through small holes - maybe possums could too. So I boarded up my front door just in case. Yes I boarded up my door to escape from a 10 cm possum.
So guys, start the nominations coming for Australian of the year!
BTW, I have my first birthing class tonight - looking forward to eating out with my husband (we haven't really been out to dinner alone since I fell pregnant) and then meeting other pregnant women in the same stages as me.
32 weeks 2 days
Friday, 12 October 2007
Terrified
Am currently sitting at my kitchen table (ahh work from home!) too terrified to go outside because of an animal lurking out the front of my ground floor apartment.
Ok, maybe I exaggerate, but I seriously can't tear myself away from the window and am too scared to go outside. There is a little baby possum which seems to have decided my ground floor balcony is its new home.
That's right... a possum!!
I live in the city - what is a possum doing lurking around my house?!
Those of you from overseas may not quite understand my terror, a possum, though admittedly quite cute, is just really like a big rat. Seriously, an Australian native RAT!
A rat that it is illegal to kill/hurt/relocate even when it is in your house!!!
The cute/scary little thing keeps climbing up my window frame, presumably in an attempt to get out of the balcony as the other sides are brick... I don't know what I can do about it, I know it is scratching the crap out of the frames but I am not allowed to (read: too scared to) do anything about it.
Oh man, the things that happen when you stay at home to work (this so would not have happened in my high rise building I work in!).
Ok, maybe I exaggerate, but I seriously can't tear myself away from the window and am too scared to go outside. There is a little baby possum which seems to have decided my ground floor balcony is its new home.
That's right... a possum!!
I live in the city - what is a possum doing lurking around my house?!
Those of you from overseas may not quite understand my terror, a possum, though admittedly quite cute, is just really like a big rat. Seriously, an Australian native RAT!
A rat that it is illegal to kill/hurt/relocate even when it is in your house!!!
The cute/scary little thing keeps climbing up my window frame, presumably in an attempt to get out of the balcony as the other sides are brick... I don't know what I can do about it, I know it is scratching the crap out of the frames but I am not allowed to (read: too scared to) do anything about it.
Oh man, the things that happen when you stay at home to work (this so would not have happened in my high rise building I work in!).
Thursday, 11 October 2007
Skinny - minnie
My belly has become skinny again... well sort of. For ages the baby was lying horizontally and it was causing a few problems sleeping (it really didn't like me sleeping on either side). But recently it has turned so it is vertical, ahhh. My belly looks much more out front and less wide!
I can't tell if the baby is head up or head down though... will have to wait until next Thursday's midwife appointment so that she can tell me!
I can't tell if the baby is head up or head down though... will have to wait until next Thursday's midwife appointment so that she can tell me!
Monday, 8 October 2007
Shower and christening - ROAR!
My baby shower on Saturday was lovely. My Mum and sisters had gone to such trouble, decorating the house in blue and pink ribbons and balloons, and Mum had made a table centre piece from baby nappies (diapers) and pink and blue nappy pins and dummies (pacifiers). My sisters had organised games and prizes, all baby themed of course.
It was just the girls there but then my husband came back after a couple of hours and we opened the presents together. We got lots of lovely presents from friends and family, and I spent yesterday evening playing with all the toys and folding and re-folding the new clothes!
Yesterday we went to a musical with my Mum, Grandma and MIL. Thinking back there was a funny moment when my husband called me over to the conversation because he overheard my MIL telling my Mum and Grandma to book my Grandma’s church and hall for MY baby’s Christening because she wasn’t able to book her church for Christenings!!
I had to do my best not to go into full Lioness, territorial, mode and ROAR that it was our family now and we will be choosing the church – and the RELIGION, no less (my husband and I are different religions – both Christian, but he is Catholic and I am Church of England)! I had to bite my tongue because I know that she was only doing because she cares, but I really do draw the line at someone other than us choosing our baby’s religion. It is really funny to start feeling all these territorial feelings about our new little 3 person family!
BTW, am getting really, really fat now! Just saw some pictures of myself at the baby shower and I almost don’t recognise myself! I feel ‘normal’ until I see photos and then I get a shock! LOL, oh well, only 9 more weeks of growing and then I hope to start shirking back to my former self!
31 weeks!
It was just the girls there but then my husband came back after a couple of hours and we opened the presents together. We got lots of lovely presents from friends and family, and I spent yesterday evening playing with all the toys and folding and re-folding the new clothes!
Yesterday we went to a musical with my Mum, Grandma and MIL. Thinking back there was a funny moment when my husband called me over to the conversation because he overheard my MIL telling my Mum and Grandma to book my Grandma’s church and hall for MY baby’s Christening because she wasn’t able to book her church for Christenings!!
I had to do my best not to go into full Lioness, territorial, mode and ROAR that it was our family now and we will be choosing the church – and the RELIGION, no less (my husband and I are different religions – both Christian, but he is Catholic and I am Church of England)! I had to bite my tongue because I know that she was only doing because she cares, but I really do draw the line at someone other than us choosing our baby’s religion. It is really funny to start feeling all these territorial feelings about our new little 3 person family!
BTW, am getting really, really fat now! Just saw some pictures of myself at the baby shower and I almost don’t recognise myself! I feel ‘normal’ until I see photos and then I get a shock! LOL, oh well, only 9 more weeks of growing and then I hope to start shirking back to my former self!
31 weeks!
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Lioness and her cub
I was reading recently about how a woman suddenly somehow reverts to her animal instinct to protect her young and her ‘new family’ when she has her first child. The woman is supposed to get very territorial over her new family, however, at the same time, the ‘old’ lionesses also get protective over the extended family and it can end up in an all in lioness battle!
I think I know the feeling.
I have never really had a problem with MIL or my Mum overtaking and pushing opinions, even during the wedding planning everyone was very careful not to step on anyone else’s toes. I even lived with MIL for a few years while hubby and I saved for our place. Suddenly, throw a baby cub into the equation and everyone gets all competitive and possessive!
Between MIL, Mum and my Grandma seemingly competing in a ‘who can buy more presents for the baby’ and ‘who can guess the gender of the baby’ (and buy the most clothes in PINK and BLUE for the baby – as if somehow the gender of the baby will change depending on how many outfits await it!) and the endless stories of how they brought up their children (hint, hint, this is the best way to do it isn’t it?!) I am starting to get very protective of my new little 3 person family.
I, along with hubby, would like to be the one to decide how my baby is raised and would like everyone else to back off!
That sounds so nasty doesn’t it?
I am trying my best not to show anyone how stressed they are making me (just moaning about it to my husband in the car on the way home!) because I know that ultimately they have all of our best interests at heart, and I really do appreciate all the gifts (maybe hold the pink and blue until the baby is here though!). I just keep dreading how they will behave when the baby is here.
I have nightmares about them tearing the baby limb from limb in a bid to be the first to hold it; and am already anticipating getting stressed when they all pile over for visits all weekend when I just want to make sure that the 3 of us get ‘family time’.
I think I should stop thinking about it – probably just the pregnancy hormones stressing me out!
I think I know the feeling.
I have never really had a problem with MIL or my Mum overtaking and pushing opinions, even during the wedding planning everyone was very careful not to step on anyone else’s toes. I even lived with MIL for a few years while hubby and I saved for our place. Suddenly, throw a baby cub into the equation and everyone gets all competitive and possessive!
Between MIL, Mum and my Grandma seemingly competing in a ‘who can buy more presents for the baby’ and ‘who can guess the gender of the baby’ (and buy the most clothes in PINK and BLUE for the baby – as if somehow the gender of the baby will change depending on how many outfits await it!) and the endless stories of how they brought up their children (hint, hint, this is the best way to do it isn’t it?!) I am starting to get very protective of my new little 3 person family.
I, along with hubby, would like to be the one to decide how my baby is raised and would like everyone else to back off!
That sounds so nasty doesn’t it?
I am trying my best not to show anyone how stressed they are making me (just moaning about it to my husband in the car on the way home!) because I know that ultimately they have all of our best interests at heart, and I really do appreciate all the gifts (maybe hold the pink and blue until the baby is here though!). I just keep dreading how they will behave when the baby is here.
I have nightmares about them tearing the baby limb from limb in a bid to be the first to hold it; and am already anticipating getting stressed when they all pile over for visits all weekend when I just want to make sure that the 3 of us get ‘family time’.
I think I should stop thinking about it – probably just the pregnancy hormones stressing me out!
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