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The blog is now a feed, so you can subscribe to it to get updated content as it comes in. This is just for me to play with at the moment, but someone might use it somewhere down the track.

I suppose an update is in order

Well, in the last year lot has happened: I returned to work a couple of days a week, Shawn got his Permanent Residency Visa and the family moved to the Upper North Shore of Sydney to be closer to family and to find some affordable childcare, but the major event is that Ivy was born on the 25th January, 2008. I was 17 days overdue (not a typo). I spent three days in pre-labour, no sleep and had ten hours hard-core syntocynon induced labour. My temperature rose as my body worked overtime and Ivy's heart rate started showing a few blips in response to the physical pressure I was under. So the pregnancy ended in an emergency c-section, but resulted in a smart, strong, well-adjusted, beautiful girl that I love more than I knew I could.

Christmas Illustration

The good thing about my job is that I can spend my in between times working on skills. Thus this little Christmas Landscape was born. It's also a product of my new home which is a little closer to nature... and it's fire season at this time of year. Although I have to say that I've only smelled bush fires the once so far. Let's hope it stays that way.

Back

... although I'm quite sure no one is tuning in anymore. I keep trying to remember this or that thing that happened and can't remember (Extended baby-brain or the early onset of senility?) or want to have somewhere to post scribbles. I've been starting to feel a little more creatively inclined of late as well, so maybe that will factor in. Now that I'm a mother I'm finding there are a lot of questions I'd like to ask my mum if she was still around. I'm think that Ivy might have questions when she's older too, things that I'll have long forgotten or won't be there to answer, so this might be good for that.

Big

I'm really quite big now and am not entirely fond of the idea that I still have another two months of expansion ahead. How much room does a baby need... really? We should evolve to lay eggs instead.... small ones. Then maybe tying shoe laces or getting a decent night's sleep wouldn't be so hard. I really need to buy a body pillow or something very soon.

On the upside, I really enjoy Shawn's reaction when he feels her moving around and I like feeling her moving around... mostly... when she's not being aggressive about it.

p.s. Today is my birthday.

7 Months

I have exactly ZERO photos of my pregnant self. Due to my first five to six months of shocking morning sickness, I don't think anyone would have dared come near me with a camera. Now I don't get nauseous unless I'm really sleep deprived. I should make sure I get at least one before this time is over.

I quite like having a big belly since for the first part of the pregnancy you tend to just look fatter, not pregnant. At 7 months there's not much mistaking that you are actually pregnant, except for people on public transport, as they have a particular blindness to these things. It also makes it far more real. Many weeks have passed without us thinking about the reality of it too much so that now, all of a sudden, you can't not pay attention. The funniest thing that I'm prone to doing at the moment is going to close the wardrobe door and it being blocked by my belly. All of a sudden it's really out there. Neither of us can quite grasp that there's any more room in there, but I still have another two months of expansion.

I was telling Shawn that when I feel her moving around or kicking, I want to take her out, cuddle her, play with her for a bit, then put her back in again... except without all the blood and surgery that would involve. We imagine opening a little hatch on my belly and lifting her out of a snug, red velvet lined pod.

Road Trip

It's been a week and a half since Shawn and I got back from our little road trip. It went something like this.

On Saturday we drove to Canberra and stayed for two nights. I haven't been there since I was 12 so it was kind of all new (again). First impressions: very quiet, very leafy, very suburban. Dinner on our first night was at Alto, the restaurant at the revolving Black Mountain Tower. Yummy. Dessert was my favourite. A type of chocolate pudding with a mandarin salad that was warm and spicy. Really good. Next time we'll go for lunch so we can actually see the city design a little better.



We managed to wander around Floriade at Commonwealth Park for a while, but I probably wouldn't bother again. The highlight was seeing varieties of strange-shaped tulips I hadn't seen before. The lowlights were all the people and the rather boring displays. The park itself was far more pleasant to me.

From Floriade we walked down to Lake Burley Griffin and got a half hour boat ride, which at $5 each was worth well worth it. It gave my pregnant self a chance to rest while taking a look at a lot of different landmarks and getting a commentary on them.



We also took a guided tour at the War Memorial. Guided tours in general are great. You hear a lot of interesting stories that aren't always written on the little white cards next to exhibits and tend to take in a lot more as a result. Some stories are best not heard when you have pregnancy emotions though.



We were going to drive on to Wagga to see family, but we had a call from my Aunt saying the farm was pretty much under lock-down due to Equine Influenza. Another time.

So from Canberra we drove on to Melbourne, arriving at Narelle's place, where we stayed for three nights before staying at a serviced apartment in the city for a week.



It was weird being back in Melbourne after being away so long. If Melbourne could be relocated to Sydney, I'd be very happy. I really love Melbourne, but I think the weather is better up here and it's closer to family.

Melbourne activities included:
- spending an inordinate amount of money at The Chocolate Shop
- catching up with friends (sad that I have more friends in Melbourne than in Sydney)
- a visit to the National Gallery of Victoria to see the Guggenheim exhibition
- eating great pub food in Brunswick
- driving around old neighbourhoods
- making very good use of our weekly tram tickets
- visiting the Botanical Gardens
- buying treats from the cake shops on Acland Street in St Kilda
- pointing out The Esplanade Hotel to Shawn so he could see where RocKwiz is made
- Visiting Queen Victoria Markets and buying a new wallet in a great shade of green
- Melbourne zoo
- walked along the Yarra for a bit



We did one day trip out of Melbourne to Phillip Island to see the Little Penguins. We booked a ranger talk beforehand as well. It was cold and wet, but it was very cool to see them all hurrying to their burrows in the sand. Extremely cute.

It was sad leaving Melbourne, we'd almost convinced ourselves that we lived in the apartment.


(Crappy pic, but it was a challenge getting a good shot from the car.)

We drove back up the Princes Highway. A lot prettier than the Hume. Lots of green hills, Canola fields and happy looking cows (a very different experience to seeing how cows are kept in the US).

We stopped in Merimbula overnight and by a total accident, looking for food, we happened upon the Zanzibar Cafe, just when we were thinking we'd be stuck with fish and chips. This worked out perfectly because we'd planned to have at least two high quality dinners on our trip, but after Alto in Canberra, we just didn't seem to get around to it, then we hit this place. Given a 14/20 by The 2007 Good Food Guide. We have a tendency to agree with them.

On our last day of travel we stopped at Bateman's Bay for Lunch. Fairly uneventful, except for the high winds and my fear that the poor little echo was going to end up with something punctured by the branches and twigs strewn all over the road... Did I say uneventful?



It was, right up until we hit the highway that is. We rounded a bend, to see a tree laying across the road. It must have only just come down because we were the first car on our side to come across and people coming from the other direction had just gotten out of their cars. Thankfully, one of them had one of those fluorescent road workers vests and started running past our car waving it around so no one ran up the back of us. Lots of nearby men shoved fruitlessly at the tree (which I could have told them was not going anywhere in one piece), while the slightly more practical started trying to get through to SES or the RTA. After a very short time (with the arrival of the sixth car back) a man drove up and got out of his car with a chainsaw!



What luck!.. or do a lot of people around there carrying a chainsaw with them? So the tree was dismantled and the pieces pushed off the road in no time. Interesting experience.

During all our driving we stopped approximately every two hours so I could stretch and I have to say that on the way back it was definitely needed. My growing uterus is now pushing up against my ribs causing me a lot of discomfort. By the time we got to Nowra my ribs were killing me so we stopped at this park. We happened to have some bread in the car so we spent some time sprawled on the grass and feeding ducks.

We arrived home and enjoyed a 3 day weekend before work again on Monday. I was even relatively chipper on my first day back at work... weird.

21 weeks

And I still have morning sickness. Mostly I just feel sick, but I'm still throwing up on the odd occasion as well. Hurrah.

A few days ago I felt the baby's kick with my hand on my belly, not just from the inside as usual.

Today is supposed to reach 27c. Which is a shock. I think it's time to go buy a maternity skirt or something. Actually, it's time to buy some maternity clothes regardless. I need a belly band to extend my t-shirts and hide the belly belts that have been extending my jeans and trousers.

Kicking

When a doctor or ultrasonographer tells me that the movement I feel would only be like "butterflies" at this stage, I now know I'm not insane to disagree. Last night, for the first time, Shawn was able to feel the baby kick too, which was pretty exciting.

At this stage I don't mind the kicks and find it reassuring, I'm thinking that further down the track I'll be happy if the baby is a little less active.

Work Has Moved

My first day at the new location was pretty bad. So many things went wrong that I don't want to relive them by listing them here... okay, just a few. It's FREEZING here. Why is aircon so hard to get right?! I left the house without my glasses and had to go back, my monitor died, but was forced to use it to shop for new monitor and I felt like I was going to faint or throw up during travel to and from work. The lack of somewhere to sit when waiting for public transport isn't good when you're pregnant and then trying to get a seat is another matter, especially if you don't look pregnant (but are still suffering from nausea, fatigue, etc)... although I'm not entirely sure how much that'd help these days. People can be appalling, especially on public transport. I guess I'll see how true this is when I get closer to my due date and start sticking out a lot more.

I should also say that the office space is very swish. We have windows we can see out and the transition was made a little easier by the fact that work hired a chef to cook us breakfast on our first day. So not all gloom.

Second day has been a little less eventful, thankfully.

Centennial Park

On Saturday, Shawn and I went to Centennial Park for a picnic. It couldn't have been a better day for it. Sunny and nice and warm. A little respite from winter. I think the key to a really good picnic is going well prepared. We had a picnic blanket, two pillows, lots to eat and drink and a book. Just being outside was really nice, watching the different birds flying around together, chasing each other away from their nests and hopping down to chirp at us and see if we'd feed them. I think the best thing about this day, other than just getting out, was the fact that I got to eat a sandwich. I don't get to do this a lot these days. Being pregnant, I can't eat cold deli meat or salads that haven't been freshly washed. This rules out most places that serve sandwiches. So for this day we bought a cob loaf and stuffed it with cooked chicken, Swiss cheese, semi dried tomatoes, artichokes and various other salad bits and pieces. I loved it. So nice to eat just a simple sandwich again!

19 Week Ultrasound

Yesterday, I had my 19 week ultrasound. They took a look at all the organs and did lots of measurements. Everything is going fine and best of all (although they say "No guarantees") we found out the sex. It looks like we're having a girl. Both Shawn and I were positively giddy about finding out. Now we just have to warn people against buying overly pink, frilly stuff for her. Not sure how successful that'll be. I really enjoy going for ultrasounds, actually seeing the baby moving around, looking at it's little feet, but I think this is the last one, unless they decide they didn't get a good shot of something or something needs to be checked further down the track.



To celebrate the ongoing well-being of the little one, we went out to Newton's Cocina for dinner. The food was fresh, cooked well and in good (large) portions, but sadly very bland. Great for someone who hasn't been well or has morning sickness and can only eat bland foods, but not great if you're after great Mexican food. Also? A little expensive. We'll give it a miss in the future I think. Baja Cantina tastes better and is cheaper.

I Take it Back

I threw up on Saturday. Since I've been feeling better I guess I've been a little over-confident with what I think I can get away with. Apparently getting into bed after 10pm is not something I can get away with. I might have made it if I could've slept longer in the morning, but a headache and a strong desire to go to the bathroom killed that.

I Still Keep Ginger Nut Biscuits With Me

But I haven't thrown up for 17 days, which is great. To replace this I have headaches every day instead. I still feel off colour every morning, I'm still required to fight off waves of nausea at regular intervals as well and often go off food, but, as mentioned previously, it's so much better than uncontrollable vomiting.

The cafe across from work have been concerned that I don't drink their coffee any more. I've explained that it's not them, it's me. I could probably stomach a full cup now, but it tastes very bitter to me now.

I think I can safely say that chocolate now tastes amazing to me again.

Financial News

The stock market has taken a downturn, which means it probably won't be a good year for my superannuation, however, today I can't seem to care as I've just paid off a very persistent debt.

6 Days and no throwing up!

The five day run has been broken! This doesn't mean that all of a sudden I feel great, I still feel pretty bleh and have to fight off waves of nausea every morning, sometimes all day, but these kinds of days are no where near as bad as throwing up days. I also mentioned to Shawn that I've been craving chocolate more often lately, whereas previously I'd gone off almost everything. I'm hoping this is the morning sickness easing and that it's not just a freak event.

Things I miss and don't miss

I miss going for long walks with Shawn. The foot with the torn ligaments is healing gradually, but is not 100% yet. Aside from that, I feel exhausted and lethargic all the time. A big grocery shop is a challenge for me at the moment.

I miss being able to function on eight hours sleep. I can get away with nine and a half (sometimes), but feel much better after ten and a half, and those occasions where I get eleven or twelve hours sleep are heavenly.

I miss being able to eat what I want. Sushi is what I'm missing most at the moment.

I miss not feeling sick every morning and lying there before I get out of bed wondering if getting up will make me throw up.

I miss being headache free. (headaches caused by pregnancy hormones)

I don't miss worrying about putting on too much weight and not being able to get back into better shape. Being pregnant it would actually be good to put on some weight about now!

I don't miss my hair! I had a hair cut on Saturday. What once trailed down my back to reach my waist, now only just grazes my shoulder and it feels liberating! Now that the crispy ends are gone, it's so soft! Today will be it's first post-cut wash so I'm interested to see what it'll do once it's not in it's hairdresser-perfect-straightened state. It'll be so much quicker to wash and dry!

Baja Cantina

Last night I took Shawn to Baja Cantina in Glebe. He has been missing Mexican food big time, my favourite Mexican place had closed down (Why? Why?! Hot Salsa Mexican Kitchen, you were so good!) and I wasn't really motivated to take him to a mexican place that just wasn't to his Californian-Mexican standards. Since we were going to be over that way I decided I should bite the bullet and suggest we go to Baja Cantina. So glad we did this. Shawn loved it. Not in a: "This is good for Australian Mexican" way, but in a "This is some of the best Mexican food I've ever had" way. I've always thought comments like "Oh, we only have crap Mexican food in Australia" were misguided, ok just plain wrong. I've had Mexican food in several places in California and several places in Sydney and I really think that we rate pretty well. I mean, I guess they could be more "authentic" (in both places), but then I'm just not that big on offal. It should also be said that I've had what I consider to be bad Mexican food in California. They aren't immune!

It lingers

The morning sickness I mean. I've lost a few kilos because of it. I can't seem to break the five day run. I'm still feeling crappy on those five days, but I can go without throwing up for that amount of time... if I'm really lucky... okay, I've only gone that long twice, but it's better than nothing. Tuesday was my worst day yet and I had to take the day off work. I did force myself out to get to a tax appointment in the afternoon. It was quite the challenge, but I'm glad I did it. I can't wait to get my return back to see if I still have any student loan left. I'll be glad to see the back of that.

Yesterday I had my 'booking in' appointment at the birth centre at the RPA. I was reassured that I was doing fine and that the morning sickness isn't making the baby suffer, just me. The size of my uterus is fine for 15 weeks.

The midwife (Sarah, I think, caribbean accent) said she'd only look for a heartbeat with the doppler if I wouldn't worry if she didn't find one. Since there was no ultrasound to tell her where to point the thing I said I wouldn't worry. She did find it though. It was pretty cool to listen to. It's funny. I don't really worry about the pregnancy or how the baby is doing or think a huge amount about these appointments until after I go and then I feel pretty excited and happy about things going well and seeing or hearing some physical evidence that the baby is, in fact, there and is doing fine. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm not showing yet so I don't see that I'm pregnant. I hear this is common for first pregnancies since our stomach muscles have never been stretched out and are keeping everything nicely tucked away... although I know this won't last long.

Morning Sickness

My most heartfelt sympathy goes out to anyone who has to go through this. It makes me wonder how, as a race, we continue to procreate. I haven't thrown up for 5 days now, so I'm hoping it's on it's way out.