Away

Here are a couple of shots from our weekend in the Blue Mountains. We had a great time & Lilianfels was absolutely beautiful. The weather was great & our room was spacious & comfortable. We went to the Norman Lindsay Gallery (I keep wanting to say "Harvey Norman Gallery") it was very busy as they were having a children's literacy festival which we didn't know about. We got a copy of the 9oth anniversary edition of The Magic Pudding - I love this book & now baby has a copy too.

Entry to Resort.



Darren at High Tea.


Magic Pudding Statue at the Gallery.

Indoor pool at the resort.

Lovely lounge area where high tea was held & a man played piano each night.

And here is the pram all put up & some photo's of the almost finished nursery.

After the baby shower we will sort out everything & label these baskets appropriately.

I still haven't got a cot mattress, but I do have some time before we'll need it - so no hurry.

I just noticed Pyewackett is in the shot, sneaky thing.

I should have stuck the branch up a little bit higher - so Pooh's bum isn't on the rail, but by the time I realised I didn't want to unstick all the pieces - so that's how it's staying!

That beautiful rocking chair is a lend from Cindy - it is so comfortable.

Not much elst to report, as usual I'm tired and I'm ready to stop peeing now - really!

This Thursday we head to Kiama for camping, & I'm still in 2 minds about how that's going to go - mostly it's the nightime peeing that will be an issue. Darren is truely about to learn exactley how many times a night I get up!!

Requested

Here are some pic's just for Janna - so no one else look at them ok!

Pic 2 looks like I'm pushing my belly forward, cause my back looks bowed - I might have been - can't remember. I think it might be a balance thing, because I think I'm standing like this a lot. Either way I definitely can't pull my tummy in.
Pic 3 is my view looking down.

In other news & at the risk of this being Too Much Information for my millions of male readers - I've sprung a leak!! Well 2 leaks actually. Yep the colostrum is in full production & now I'm wearing those lovely round pads in my bra - the johnson & johnson ones are funny they even have a fake nipple shape on them! Also the cats know - I can't smell anything - but they obviously can - Pye bit my boob!! Not hard - but it was freaky.

Done

Lots of things marked off the list this weekend & a few things added!

First of all Dad & Darren got the cat mesh put up on the balcony - so now the cats can be outside & we don't need to worry about them going over the railing. So no more "shut the door!" yelling. They were very interested in the installation as well - except when the drill was out!

Take note of the obligatory beer!

Last bit, - you can't see him but Supercat was hanging on the screen door watching very carefully.

Almost done.

We got out of this by doing DIY for around $100. When the catmax people came they quoted over $800!! Thanks heaps to Dad - for knowing what he's doing!

And we finally broke open the pram boxes that we've had since October -

Darren wanted me to be sure & label this photo with the comment that his head was actually itchy & this was not in any way a "thinking" pose!

I've just realised I never took an actual good all finished photo of the pram - will do so for next post.

On Sunday we also moved the furniture around in the nursery & our bedroom, I think it is how it will stay now - but who knows - I may change my mind again. I'll also put those photo's up next time.

Adding to our list - the mattress for the cot is too big (wide) so we took it back - but they don't seem to make the narrower size anywhere, so we'll have to get one custom made. I found a place at Sans Souci who'll do it for $179. We've just got to check if Ayisha's one will fit & if that doesn't I'll be ringing Sans Souci. And also the cat door needs to be put in.

And I know - there's no photo's of me on here - I tried to get some showing the baby belly - but to me it still just looks like I'm fat. I'll try again soon! Sorry Janna!

Growth

I had my first Clinic visit at St George with a doctor instead of a midwife yesterday. All is well, & he was very happy with baby's growth & my lack of weight gain, but he did tell me that I would be induced either at week 38 or 39 as they do this with all the GD patients.

So according to their dates for me - which seem to fluctuate, I could be induced around these dates -

week 38 - 23rd of May
week 39 - 30 May

That also means my 6 weeks between finishing work & baby arriving could be as short as 4 weeks! I had been avoiding reading any info about inducement or cesareans, hoping I wouldn't need to - but I guess I better get informed now. Also I'm pretty much on fortnightly visits to the clinic from now on & at week 32 they'll send me for another ultrasound, to check growth. Guess I'll have to update my ticker once they give me an inducement date.

In other news - my Huey Lewis concert has been postponed - Goddammit! Apparently they have recording commitments & won't be able to tour at that time. So, so disappointed. We have 2 options, either we return our tickets now for a refund or we hang on to them because they will be valid for the new dates, & then when we get the new dates we can return them for a refund if we can't attend.
We've decided to hang on to the tickets & see what the new dates are. And we are still going to the Hunter Valley on the original weekend anyway as we've paid for the accommodation already & it is still our wedding anniversary. Sucks though.

Pooh!

Soon it will look like the 100 Acre Woods has taken over my nursery!
Have a look at what Darren's mum got us!

It's not EVERYTHING in this picture - we got the washing hamper on the right, & everything on the cot (fitted sheet, top sheet, blanket, pillow case, quilt & padded bed head bit) except the valance along the bottom - after the baby shower I want to go & get the valance, the lamp & maybe the wall hangings, mat & mobile. You know me - I love a good matching set!

We also got another capsule for the car, initially we were just going to borrow Cindy's one - but after thinking about it for a while we realised that it would just be easier to have one for MIL's car & one for our car (mum already has one) - so we priced one online for our travel system & were going to pay $329 at Babies Galore - but when I got there on Sunday they had the exact same one for $230 - last one in the shop. So of course I got it. And a new mattress for the bassinet & an airwrap for the cot. We also got a mattress for the cot - but it's a little too wide - so this weekend we'll go & exchange that.

This weekend we'll also do the furniture re-arranging we didn't do last weekend - can't do anything if the V8's are racing!!

Sooner

So in my last post I talked about them upping my insulin sooner rather than later - it was sooner - real soon - in fact it was that afternoon! And they've gone up twice more since then & will continue to do so as my hormone levels go up. My endo was happy with my weight though - I'm still just below my pre-pregnancy weight.

So now I'm injecting before breakfast, lunch & dinner & testing glucose levels 4 times a day - that's 7 needle pricks a day - I can't tell you how over it I am already! It's not stressing me like it was before but I still don't like it. My mantra has become "it's not forever"....

On a happier note for me - I've finalised all my maternity leave - that is unless I go extra early. So my last day at work will be the 23rd of April. I cannot wait. the struggle to get here every morning is not good & it's becoming quite rare for me to put in a 5 day week. Although that was pretty rare before I was pregnant too!

Today the weather is finally cooler - but over the weekend & on Monday it was very, very hot & I had another dose of 3 nights without sleep - which led to finding myself actually crying when my alarm went off on Tuesday morning & ringing Darren to tell him I could not go to work. Jess came & got me & dropped me at mum's so I could relax in the air con. Mum & Dad are in Malaysia so Darren & I actually stayed there last night & plan to tonight as well. I had my best nights sleep in ages - only 2 bathroom trips! I still feel tired today, but at least I'm not "cry tired" anymore! In fact Darren & I might just stay there until Saturday when the folks get home.

I've got my 3rd antenatal clinic visit on Friday afternoon, this is the first at St. George Hospital though. It's in the exact same place as the diabetic educator & the endo, so at least I know where to go. We also plan to do the maternity ward tour some time in the next few weeks. They run every Tuesday night.

Baby is moving around heaps & definitely knows EXACTLY where my bladder is! It's so odd to sometimes have a tummy that is rock hard on one side & all floppy, soft on the other! Jack/Sophie is also good at becoming completely still when Darren puts a hand near my belly, poor thing has only felt a couple of kicks because of this. Also I get a lot of movement in bed at night & though Darren's there - he is usually dead asleep (lucky guy!) so I don't wake him just to feel it (not when he has to get up at 4am).

This weekend we are going to move some furniture around - we want to fit the bassinet in our room beside the bed. So have to move the camphor wood chest out of there & into the baby's room. Which means re-arranging that room too. Also I might see if Darren's mum wants to get the mattresses for the cot & bassinet this weekend. And we still need to sew some extra length on the curtains covering the cupboard. So still a bit to do yet. When all that stuff is done I'll put up some more photos.

Nearly

After a very busy weekend the nursery is almost completed. Thanks hugely to Ma & Pa.... apart from knowing (pretty much) what they are doing - Mum is a great motivator. Just do it now!!!



Measuring up for the often cursed stripes (thanks Louise!! )



More measuring & marking.



Dad putting up the trim - it has a pretty vine pattern carved in it.



Mum checking Dad's work!



I think this is more trim stuff.



Stripes all done.



Woohoo - an actual cot in my house - for my baby!

This room now has the cot, change table & bassinette in it & we are going to be getting a rocking chair from Cindy soon also. Last night before bed I caught Darren adjusting the change table position again - he said "I can't help myself". It's so nice to have it looking ready.

So we still need mattresses for the cot & bassinette - Darren's folks are getting these. And that is basically it for the big stuff. We contemplated getting out the pram also - but held off! barely...

In other news - I'm still only on one dose of insulin a day - but I've been told it will be going up - sooner rather than later. I'm feeling better about the whole thing, now that I've had time to process it & now that I realise that I can't control it on my own.