babyblog

This picture makes me cry

This was taken when D went into the NICU to meet his brother for the first time. I think the expression on D's face says it all, knowing there was a problem and the baby wasn't with us he was very nervous and scared.

Too much stress at a time when I don't need stress

G being at home for the next 4 weeks

People who try to intimidate me. I stand up to them but afterwards I feel so shaken by it.

The Blues

I had a very weepy night last night. Hormones are all over the place when you've had a baby, and a combination of tiredness and bullying got to me and I spent several hours sobbing over the baby while he refused to sleep until 3.30am.

I know that it was because of the phone call. It upset me. I don't need the grief right now, I don't need to be worrying about this damn thing while I have a new baby to take care of, but somehow I can't help let it get to me.

1 Week Old

Time goes so fast, I can't believe Harry is 1 week old today!

With your first child I think you're always anxious to get to that 'next stage' of development... with subsequent children I think you're more keen to prolong the first stages, they're so cute when they're tiny and newborn! I know G was always keen for D to be dressed up in little jeans and things when he was born, whereas with H we have a preference for proper little baby clothes :)

He's such a good little baby - he never cries and he sleeps most of the time only waking to feed or have a few minutes of alertness looking around him. He's still a little lazy on the feeding front, it's hard work to get him to take 10-15 mins of one boob and then he's done, but rather that than a never satisfied fractious one! Last night he had a feeding frenzy from 12-3am, waking hourly, but then had a 3.00-7.30 stint which was great.

I'm not doing the thing I should be doing - grabbing extra sleep when he sleeps during the day so I suspect my adrenaline fuelled energies will wear off soon and I'll hit a tiredness low spot, but I really do have no complaints!

We took him a walk around the block yesterday for the first time (first time I've felt up to walking) and he was so cooed over by various friends neighbours it took us about 2 hours to go less than half a mile! He also had his first checkup with the GP, who gave him a clean bill of health other than saying he might have a slight umbilical hernia, but we'd see as these things usually resolve themselves so absolutely no need to worry (cue, worrying!). His 3rd and final trip out yesterday was to Dairy Queen, but sadly he was unable to partake of their ice-creamy goodness other than 2nd hand through mummy's milk :)

4 day old little guy

My lovely new boy (long)

Before I forget the finer details I thought I'd write about the last few days.

Thursday 22nd July.

After maybe an hour of sleep we got up at 4.15am. Took a shower, couldn't stop shaking with nerves, felt dreadful. Told G 'I'm not ready', not ready for the baby to be born yet... happy with him in my tummy. Arrived at the hospital at 5.30 and went up to Labour and Delivery where we were greeted and taken into a room to 'prep'. They put me on a monitor for 20 mins to check all was well and noted that I was having regular contractions... the nurse said this baby would be coming out soon one way or another! They then attached an IV (ouch) which stung and shaved me a little (yuk). Took some blood to check my INR and PTT to make sure the Fragmin wasn't still screwing around with things in my system, and checked my BP, Temperature, etc. IV made me want to wee non stop (lots of fluids going in). Kept having to trek to the bathroom towing the IV thing with me and trying not to show the world my bum in my hospital gown. All very clinical. All very terrifying.

Finally it was time to go through to the OR (half an hour later than planned, apparently the OB's were having a meeting). G had to stay behind and wait while they did the Spinal and got me ready, which was the scariest part. I wanted him with me. They got me into the OR... I tried not to look around too much. They put me on my side and the anaesthetist, who was a very friendly and reassuring Chinese lady, was very conversational and started the Spinal. I had been so terrified of the pain and discomfort of this especially after the experience I had when having D, and amazingly it was nothing like it. She numbed the area, which I barely felt, and I didn't feel the needle for the spinal *at all*.

My legs started to feel warm and strange. They rolled me onto my back and inserted a catheter (lovely) which I didn't feel. Everything started to feel heavy and numb, really peculiar. I started to feel dizzy and spaced out.... they put something in my IV to bring me back to normal and gave me an oxygen mask. It took a while, I felt very odd for a bit. Then they put the curtain up infront of my stomach and G was brought in, finally. I cried with relief when I saw him. He sat down beside me and held my hand, by which point the OB had already started getting our little boy out.

No more than 5 minutes later we heard a sucking of liquid which we knew meant they'd got into the amniotic fluid, and then heard a lovely wailing sound and saw for the first time this gorgeous little boy as they held him to show us. Both of us burst into tears of joy, there's no describing the emotion at all, I'm not even going to try. They took him over to the check-up area where the pediatrician and a couple of nurses were, and G went too. I could see from where I lay. They said he looked lovey and healthy and around late 7's early 8 lb's in weight.....but then they said they wanted him to cry which he wasn't doing and lots of tests and things started to be done. I felt totally useless and removed from it and was very upset not knowing what was going on. G kept running back to me and saying it was fine, don't worry, just needed to get him to cry. After what seemed like an eternity they said they were going to take him to the NICU to observe and of course I was so upset and worried and sent G with him as I didn't want him to be alone. Before he went they put him to my face to kiss.

I don't remember too much of being taken to the recovery room but I do remember arriving there without a baby and just feeling so very very sad and scared. I lay there alone for maybe 10 mins or so terrified I wouldn't be able to know my baby or bond with him because I wasn't with him, and scared for him. Then G came back to update me that he was OK, still needing a bit of observing, doing the same little grunting noises which D did when he was born which meant he had a little fluid on the lungs which is apparently common with c/s babies, and they wanted him to stop doing it and when he did he could be with us. G called my dad to tell him the news and then I spoke to Dad and I was so upset, we asked Dad to come and be with me as G was with the baby. G went and took a few photo's and brought the camera back to show me.

Finally my room was ready and they wheeled me to the NICU in the bed to see the baby. I looked at him and said 'Hello Baby' and at the sound of my voice he opened his eyes for the first time. Couldn't stop crying. (it's hard to write this, am very emotional). Then they took me to my room.

The hospital has some shared rooms and some private. We'd requested private but it depends what s available. Typically, nothing private was immediately available so they wheeled me into a shared room where a couple were, with their baby (thankfully with a curtain drawn around them). Arriving alone without a baby or husband with me was awful, I coudln't stop crying. Dad, Sally and Dylan arrived and I had to stop crying because of D. Gave D his 'present from the baby' which was a digital camera of his own which he's absolutely thrilled with! G came back and took Dad to the NICU to see the baby. Then he took Sal, then D (who had been a bit nervous and shy then finally agreed to go). When he and D came back they announced the baby would be brought over to me to feed and if he did well he could stay. And in he came... cannot describe the relief / happiness at being with him. Not going to try. Anyway, he fed well, and he was allowed to stay :) :) :) :)

We had a few checkups and things, he was given a sponge bath by the nurse, they were checking blood sugars and various other things due to the GD, I guess they were checking me too, all a bit of a blur, and then they moved us finally to a private room which was a huge relief. Dad, Sis and D went off as D was 'bored' (love him) and G and I stayed and relaxed and got to know our little boy. I had alot of 'afterpains' due to an Oxytocin drip they had me on -- apparently this was necessary due to my increased risk of bleeding from the Fragmin. I basically felt like I was in labour for the next 18 hours, very painful. They gave me Morphine shots which did nothing, then changed to Demerol which was slightly better although mostly just made me very woozy and spaced out every 3 hours. The haematologist came to see me and decided to give me Fragmin at 8pm, and then a huge dose the following day which is what I'll remain on for the next 6 wks. The others came back again later and hung out for a while and we were all just extremely relieved to have got through this and totally in awe of the little boy whose name we could not decide upon!

I was very determined to give him a name but nobody could make a firm 'yes I like that best' decision (including me) so the discussions went on endlessly into the night between G & I (who stayed and slept in a recliner). The little one breastfed really well and often but they kept checking his sugars and at 3am they said he was much too low and made us give him a little formula much to my disgust. Still, it was for the best for his health and doesnt seem to have had any adverse effect.

Friday 23rd July

Requested a change from the Demerol shots as they were just making me totally spaced out, and was given Tylenol 3 pills instead which were much more effective. Once the IV stopped around 8am I felt a lot better anyway, not so much pain at all. Even managed to get up & have a shower. They took my staples out -- they were like regular staples, very weird! G and I had a good night with Harry (as we'd now decided his name was to be!) and he fed and slept well. We had a lazy morning snoozing between feeds too. In the afternoon Mark, Linda & Katie visited and it was great to see them although I think I was a little out of it still due to the medication! They brought us some gifts and seemed to like the little guy :) Dad Sis & D arrived again later on after a day trip to keep D entertained and they were pleased to see I was so much more mobile and better, and that Harry was doing well!

Saturday 24th July

The not crying much thing with Harry has so far continued...he's very relaxed and calm! He's also hard work to keep awake to feed, he'll start off well then after a couple of minutes get very drowsy and try to go to sleep so we've been having to constantly nudge him, jog him, strip him off, burp him, etc, to keep him going. It's hard work to get him to feed for more than 10 mins each side. Saturday they announced we could go home at lunch time (hurrah!) so we made arrangements for D S & D to bring car seats, etc down. Just before they arrived the nurse weighed Harry and said he'd lost a little too much weight - 9.3% of his bodyweight and she was concerned and wanted us to agree to supplement him. I said that I was very unhappy about this, that he was only 2 and a half days old, that my milk wasn't quite in yet and it was only to be expected, and that he was feeding well if we kept at him and would rather give him a chance to gain weight once my milk was in. She said she was supposed to make us stay in the hospital and insist we supplemented but I said no, I really was not happy with that, so she finally agreed we could go home on the proviso that we fed him every 2 hrs and brought him back on Sunday for weight check. And that she could put some formula in our bag. Agreed. Goodbye!

Bringing him home was lovely - D D & S had arranged for a Stork to be placed on the lawn announcing his birth (Canadian thing!) which was a nice suprise, and we brought his bassinet downstairs and all just gazed lovingly at him for the rest of the day basically! Went to bed early and kept up the feeding schedule with my milk coming in fully by the end of the night and my boobs growing to fill a gigantic H cup bra, yikes!

Sunday 26th July

Felt a bit crap in myself due to a narcotic rebound headache... too much demerol / codeine, but hurt too much to do anything but take *MORE* T3's. Went down to the Hospital which was the absolute last thing I felt like doing to get Harry weighed and yay, he gained weight! So now we're off the list for concern, and I'm *so* glad I insisted they could not make us supplement. Came home feeling dreadful and went to bed for 20 mins, but then Steve & Dee visited so got up again. Lovely to see them....... managed to sit and chat for a while but then felt like I was going to pass out so had to go back to bed. Stayed there for a couple of hours with H beside me for feeds then got up for dinner and felt a little better. We took H outside the front to meet a couple of the neighbours for 5 mins last night and got another little gift of clothes which was sweet! Came in and went to bed early.

G and I lay in bed checking all the photo's D had taken with his new camera last night and were reduced to tears of laughter by the 'week in the life of a 5 yr old' we were witnessing. He's so talented as a photographer, he's always been really interested in taking photo's but we didn't realise he has a huge talent for it. The subjects, composition, artistic quality of those he's taken are phenomenal - I'll have to post some. He's taken some lovely ones of his brother too.

Monday 26th July

H fed well last night, albeit more frequently but less lengthily at each feed than before. A little growth spurt, I think. I bought a Medela 'Pump In Style' breastpump to help with engorgement initially but to pump some supplementary feeds into now, especially for any occasion I am not home and G needs to be able to feed him! Dad took H outside in his arms for a few minutes this morning and he was wide awake and watching the world around him.. the most wakeful he's been to date. Lots of feeds again today too! Dad and Sis have now popped to the supermarket to stock up on food for us after they leave tomorrow. I honestly don't know what I would have done without them this week, they have been phenomenal. Especially Sal who has been tireless and wonderful with D! But their being here has enabled G & I to have this baby without worrying about whether D was OK, to concentrate on the baby and getting to know him, to sleep and feed when we need to and to enjoy this time getting to know Harry. Honestly without them this whole thing would have been a completely different experience and so much harder. I am forever indebted to them.

I've written so much I really don't know if I've covered even half of what we've been going through emotionally or physically over the last few days. But the overwhelming thing is that we have a little baby boy who is gorgeous, happy, contented and completely delicious! The pregnancy wasn't too hard and the actual cs birth wasn't either. I've been a bit tense about a PE, but I'm on huge shots of Fragmin now so hopefully the risk is minimal The first few hours when Harry was in the NICU were awful, but thankfully he's OK and was soon with us. Now we're enjoying him and speaking of doing so, I must go and be with him :)

I'll post some pics up when I have a minute :)

Update on the new arrival

Harry Benjamin Jones was born at 8.14am on Thursday 22nd July, weighing 8lb and 3oz. He's absolutely lovely! We are home today (Saturday) despite having the c/section on Thursday which is a great surprise and obviously I'm a bit sore and can't do much (including sitting here at the computer) so I'll write with more details when I can :)

he is here!

our lovely new son

Image taken on 22/7/2004 13:54

Last Day

Today is probably the last day I'll ever be pregnant - weird thought!

I'll miss it in some ways. It's been a relatively easy pregnancy and I've mostly really enjoyed it. Totally different experience to that I had with D which was very stressful and uncomfortable. Hoping that things will continue in the same manner after this little boy gets here!

I'll miss feeling him rolling around in my tummy.
I'll miss having an excuse to wear things which bare my abdomen to the world without people thinking 'wow she's fat!'
I'll miss the attentive attitude of friends and strangers that pregnancy brings.
I'll also miss sleeping!

I won't miss feeling like someone is dancing on my bladder the whole time.
I won't miss being 1001 degrees hotter than everyone else.
I won't miss the heartburn.
I won't miss the anxiety!

But most importantly of all, I can't wait to meet this little boy :)

Please think of us tomorrow morning and wish us the best, fingers crossed this will all go well. Love you all.

xxx

Soccer Mom

We bought a new car today. Well, to be more accurate we switched our old leased car for a new one. I am now officially a soccer mom.... we got a Minivan. It seemed to make the most sense what with 2 kids and a dog to ferry around all the time and for those big family outings and whatnot. Although it is far too much of a stereotype. However, we're also going to trade my car in for a Golf TDi which will be the more fun car for non-child journeys (for both of us) and for G to do all his mileage for work in at far lower cost on fuel.

Had a nice day with Dad & Sis. D has taken a huge shine to my sis and wants to be at her side all the time. I'm feeling less concerned about how he'll be when I'm in hospital - happy as long as he's with her! Tomorrow they're going to Wonderland while G and I do some last minute things such as a c/s class at the hospital, buy an 'I'm a big Bro' present for D, and pack my bags finally (something I really should have done a while ago!).

I'm tired now so I think I may have an early night -- suspect I may not sleep too well tomorrow night!

Angels in Mercy Dash

Well actually, Dad and Sis flying in from the UK to look after us while we have this baby :) They arrive tonight. It's all getting very 'real'! I was exhausted yesterday and went to have a bath before bed to relax. Didn't work, lay awake until 2am with the baby kicking like mad & I guess subconciously concerning myself with Thursday. I then managed to wake every hour or so and found it hard to get back to sleep, so I'm pretty tired today. And it's hot, very hot. D wants to play outside which isn't easy to cope with as it means I have to be out there with him. Hoping G will take him out this afternoon so I can have a nap!

Big, Fat, Hot, Tired, Nervous, Excited, Worried

The above title answers all 'How are you' type questions!

Other than that, I'm pretty fine. We've spent the weekend catching up on the last of the chores in preparation for Dad & Sis arriving tomorrow. There hasn't been a great deal to do really, all that mad 'nesting' a couple of weeks ago got most of the stuff out of the way!

We took D's electric jeep in to the shop to get fixed yesterday and it came back better than ever. We then went (him in it) over to this street party thing we'd been invited to and all the kids wanted to ride in the thing and yep, you guessed it, it got very broken. It's now back in the shop and won't be ready until Wednesday much to his disgust.

G's been home and helpful for the last 3 days and I'm feeling so much better as a result... having the load of D and things which need doing shared makes life much easier. Yesterday, out on our travels in G's car which has broken air conditioning, I felt quite ill from the heat, but nothing like as exhausted with the burden of coping with 9 mths pregnancy + D + heat of last week.

D has been playing up a little the last couple of days. I'm not sure if it's a bug he's coming down with or if it's the baby he's worried about. He's been so amazing about the whole baby thing so far I am not convinced he's suddenly having cold feet, although it would be perfectly natural for him to do so. I hope it's just a bug, although I don't want him to be ill this week, (and I also don't want to catch anything!) He's had a quiet day at home today and I'm planning on getting him to bed early so that he can stay up late tomorrow night to go to the airport.

I'm going to shag your hair

I wrote a nice long entry yesterday and then broke it and lost it all. Doh.

Currently happening here in humid ontario.......

1. Had my final appointment with the HRC yesterday and met the Perinatologist who will be delivering me, a very nice guy indeed. They seem to put a lot of effort here into making sure we (patients) have peace of mind. There's none of this rushing through like a conveyor belt that you get on the NHS. They sit down, talk to you, reassure you, demand questions and give detailed answers, and basically make you feel that you're being cared about and looked after.

The outcome of the meeting was that everything is set for next Thursday (eek!) and the baby is measuring correctly according to the tummy+tape measure thing they do. Heart sounds fine. He says he'd like me to start back on the Fragmin 8-12 hrs after I give birth rather than wait 24, he thinks it's unecessary to wait that long plus he says he doesn't want me lying awake all night fretting about another blood clot - fantastic!. I've gained another 3lb in the last week but the nurse says it's almost certainly water retention due to the humidity. BP etc is all fine.

2. Hair cut. Went to see my hairdresser for a pre-baby cut. He remembered that I had instructed him to refuse to cut my hair short (for fear of the inevitable MUM CUT that every woman seems to get) and instead said he was going to 'shag' my hair. Whatever tickles your fancy mate! Looks nice tho :)

3. Anniversary. Yesterday. G forgot. Made up for it by taking me (and D) out for Thai food at our favourite restaurant which was lovely... spices didn't seem to prompt me into labour though!

4. D in slightly better mood. He's obviously stressing, although he doesn't realise it, about the changes that are looming in his life. He's been dealing with it by being a pain in the bum and constantly going on and on about things he's been told NO to. Of course my elevated hormonal state and lack of patience hasn't helped with this, and neither has the horrible weather which is enough to deal with in itself, so we've been sparring quite alot this week. Yesterday was cooler though, and both our moods improved dramatically and he was a sweetie all day.

5. G is finally finished with the insane hours at work and here to support and help out. YES.

Humidity is NOT fun

Over the last few days the humidity level here has soared. It's actually making me feel quite ill ... endless sweat, bloating, lack of oxygen, etc. It's like walking through soup. Last night there was a fierce thunderstorm and it was still raining this morning but it hasn't even touched the humidity level.

G managed to get home at a semi-reasonable hour last night (7.30pm) which was good. We watched a movie (Anchorman) which was not good.

This morning D & I had to pop down to see the DR to get some more meds and to get some more cream for my everso itchy arm. The Doc suggested the heat may be aggravating it (something is), well heat or stress anyway.

I've been wondering how the extreme heat and humidity will affect the baby once he is here. Will he hate to be outside? Will he be OK in the shade in his pram? Do I put him in something very light and not bother with a sheet or blanket? Never having gone through this kind of weather with D I'm confused as to how to deal with it.

Being mostly alone is tough

For some reason throughout the last couple of months of my pregnancy, in particular the last 3 weeks of it, G has decided to be at work ALL OF THE TIME. He's leaving earlier than usual and getting home late... after D has gone to bed or at the earliest, at his bedtime. The days are extremely long and tiring trying to look after D and cope with being this size, in this heat. When G does come home the first thing he usually does is disappear into the basement and continue to work. Or bring his laptop upstairs and work from the sofa ignoring anyone around him. He's rarely in bed before 2am, and his temper is bad. Quick to snap, quick to shout, and totally lacking in empathy or patience for either D or I.

The thing about relationships is you have to make time for each other and work at them, otherwise you end up feeling separate and apart... and feeling like this at 37wks pregnancy is fucking awful.

I am so tired and washed out and I'm so fed up with coping with these long endless days alone.

A pool!

D is now the proud owner of a 12ft circular pool which resides outside on the back deck. It's awesome really, the water is deep enough to go up to the top of his legs and it has a filter pump attached to keep the water clean. The thing took about 4 hours and 3 hosepipes to fill with water! Today was yet another day of non stop 'doing things' and once again I'm thoroughly exhausted. It isn't making me get any smaller though - I swear my stomach grew outwards another 2 feet over night last night. I feel sooooooo enormous it's ridiculous. I guess I've been lucky really, 36 wks of pregnancy with a fairly tight neat high bump all at the front... 2 wks with a giant low down bump is doable (as long as I don't see anyone I know!).

Loving my neighbours.... aside from various people coming to invite D over to play with their kids for the afternoon to give me a break and everyone offering help if we need it, next door brought around a delicious strawberry flan tonight. Can't help but compare to London where generally you don't know who your neighbours are or, at most, only know them to nod to in passing.

Ow! My Eye!

Aside from some absurd spending of money on totally unecessary things this morning, the rest of the day was devoted to sorting out the garage and the front garden.. the former full of garbage and the latter full of weeds.

G was determined he was not going to have a good time doing the weeding. "I bloody hate gardening" was a mantra repeated multiple times over the course of the afternoon, and finally his stroppy use of the strimmer resulted in something twanging off and hitting me about 4mm below the eyeball and giving me a black eye.

Change of Date

So, the baby's birthday has been changed to Thursday 22nd July (1 day sooner than originally planned) due to scheduling issues at the hospital. I'm pleased, it means Dad and Sal will get an extra day around him and it is one less day to be freaked out over the next fortnight :)

Other than that, not a great deal to report after seeing the OB this morning. Nice guy today, reassured me that the Perinatologist that's performing the c/s is a wonderful and talented bloke (I actually meet him next week), and my last appointment with them is next week! Hard to believe. Somehow managed to gain 4 POUNDS over the last two weeks....... well, I know exactly how, it's due to eating ice-creams and moolattes and mcmilkshakes..doh. Going to be GOOD for the last 2 wks.

The Cleaners are here at the moment - cannot wait for the house to look lovely and shiny and clean, the lack of ability to crouch down and clean behind toilets etc has been getting me down.

Did Forget

(to write yesterday).

Not a lot to say, mind you. Yesterday was looooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng. G was up bright & early for work (despite not getting home until midnight the night before). D and I went off in the morning to track down the store where we bought his electric Jeep because the charger is broken and I wanted to buy a replacement. Unfortunately the map and directions the place gave on their website did not correspond with any actual road in existence so we ended up coming home empty handed.

We took a walk around the block in the afternoon and bumped into one of D's friends and D invited him over to play so I spent the next hour or two refereeing them arguing about *everything* (fun). The rest of the day was spent hanging out outside talking to various people. The evening was spent collapsed on the couch fighting sleep.

Today I had my weekly massage at 9.30am which makes for a good start to the day. G actually had his yesterday, the one I bought him for fathers day, and loved it. He wants to go back again. I've also booked my dad in for an appointment when he's here so she can have a go at his frozen shoulder.

At noon I had an interview for Court TV regarding that wretched book (which shall not be named nor linked to). I loathe to talk about it these days, to be honest. I wish the media interest in it would go away but every now & again it resurrects itself and gets a mention which means I get yet another flood of unwanted email and attention. Talking about it obviously draws more attention to it, but seeing as they are doing a piece on it anyways (meaning I will get the attention anyway) I figured I may as well say a few words. I have no idea how they will portray me as obviously they will have an angle to work from, but I hope it is in the spirit in which I spoke --- to basically say that I'm not bitter, I'm over it, I just wish it would go away!

--ooh, result--- one of D's little friends just came to knock for him so he's gone to play at her house. I'm off to snooze!

Almost forgot

Pregnancy brain in full swing I just remembered that I hadn't written anything today.

It's been a long day. G is still at work (11.05pm). D and I went to the mall this morning for a potter around, then we went to see the Garfield movie this afternoon for something to do, seeing as the weather was not great. It was an OK movie, fairly amusing in places, better than I had thought it would be anyway!

I currently feel very BIG. I swear my tummy has expanded disproportionately over the last week or so, it seems to be far far bigger than it was. I have an appointment on Thursday so hopefully they'll tell me it is nothing to worry about (i.e. haven't suddenly swelled up with fluid, or baby suddenly gained 5lb overnight!). But most of my clothes seem to not fit properly suddenly, t-shirts which were once respectable now fit into the 'Skanky Ho' category with my belly sticking out for the world to see, and my jeans are totally unwearable. Only 2 more weeks to go though!

Showery Sunday

It was boiling hot and completely humid this morning with a very overcast sky - the sort of weather that you know is going to errupt into a giant thunderstorm at any moment. We did a few more tasks around the house (of course!) and then nipped out to get some bits and bobs. Stopped at DQ for a 'MooLatte' - their version of an iced cappucino. Of course it is far more unhealthy than your average iced cap... made with DQ ice cream and utterly delicious. I can see I may have to revisit very soon. On the way back the heavens errupted and thunder and lightning ensued. G was pleased as it got him out of weeding and mowing the lawn, but it has meant we've been stuck indoors for the rest of the day which is on the dull side (despite having plenty of chores to do).

My back is really sore, I'm finding that once I get into bed at night .. when I get up (as I frequently have to do, joy of pregnancy) I can barely walk. A couple of Tylenol help, but I'd rather not take the drugs if I can avoid them. Roll on next massage. Also getting fed up with this endless cold/cough and will raise it with my OB on Thursday. Suspect it could well be allergies, but seeing as I've never really had them before I don't know if they are likely to spring up out of nowhere or could be pregnancy related or what. Anyway, it's beginning to be a trial to need to blow ones nose every 5 mins, and the cough is very icky.

'Devil Child' (not one of mine)

Being a total cleaning freak and making G do lots of hard work for once lol

The fear of sharing a room with some NOC at the hospital - hopefully this will not happen!

Energizer Belly

This nesting / cleaning malarky isn't getting the baby moving and I wish it would! I have this crazy hope that I'll go into labour and all will go smoothly and naturally, thus avoiding the necessity for the c/section. I know it'll be a bit risky, but it's got to be worth a try. Today's energetic feats have involved shampooing the carpets upstairs and down, vacuuming, clearing out all of the cupboards in the kitchen, cleaning them and re-stacking everything and lastly cooking dinner for some friends who are coming over tonight (I have to fit a shower in somewhere before they get here too!).

Last night was a full moon as well, you'd think THAT would get the baby out! Dunno why I'm so impatient really, I mean I'm only 36 wks so I shouldn't *expect* anything to happen. I'm not terribly uncomfortable although I am approaching the waddling stage. My lower back is getting sore though - I think the pressure-washing of the deck yesterday did it in somewhat, I could barely get out of bed this morning and had to take a couple of Tylenol for the pain. Today's shenanigans will probably not help either.

D asked me yesterday... 'Mum, is the baby naked in there?' Yes, he is. "Oh my goodness, quick eat a blanket so he has some covers!"

Energy! I have lots!

This is apparently quite normal during the last trimester but I've got absurd amounts of energy zooming around my body. Today got up, went out and ran some errands, did some shopping, came back, tidied, vacuumed, cleaned, cooked, pressure washed the deck for like 2 hours, sat down for a total of about 1 hour and I'm still going strong at nearly midnight. Madness.

My back is hurting though.

Perhaps I'll go to bed.

G'night!

Something horrible happened at the beach

Went to Heart Lake this afternoon to get some sunshine and so that D could have a splash around. The beach wasn't too crowded, so we sat down by the waterfront so that we could see D's every move. After being there for half an hour or so, an Indian family of around 25 people decided to come and stand right beside where we were sitting, slightly infront, and blocked my view of D in the water and shouting loudly to each other. The beach is not tiny, there was plenty of space for them to be, why did they have to choose to stand 2 inches from where we were established and sitting? I'm not exaggerating, several of them were actually touching me they were that close.

Eventually G asked one of the women very politely if she wouldn't mind their party moving slightly to give us some space. She, for some reason, decided to take offence and got her husband who then launched into a verbal attack on G complete with much swearing and threatening of violence. G stood up and the guy backed off a little but continued to hurl abuse at the top of his voice (so that everyone on the beach could hear) about how we didn't own it, our parents didn't own it, and he could stand there if he wanted, blah blah. Total lack of respect for personal space on their part!! Anyway, this guy was out of control and eventually (we had remained calm) G said to me let's go, and walked off to retrieve a toy of D's. When he'd gone I stood up and the guy started shouting at me, so I calmly said look, we asked you politely to move that's all, you're right infront of us, surrounding us, we wanted to see our son in the water. At which point the man grabs me by the arms and shoves me, forcing two of his family members to pull him away. Bearing in mind I am 36 wks pregnant this was absolutely terrifying and I was completely shaken. G came back and found me in tears - I told him what happened - at which point another guy came over and threatened to hit this guy because he'd seen what happened, and then the security for the park came over and they dealt with these people (who of course denied everything)...... we left, I was in a dreadful state, couldn't even breathe I was so upset and scared. It took me about an hour to calm down... horrible. What kind of man attacks verbally and physically a pregnant woman?

The day improved slightly by having fireworks this evening on our street for "Canada Day" (whatever it is, all I know is everyone had the day off today) which D really enjoyed. There's a full moon outside so I'm hoping the old wives tales will come true and I'll end up going into labour ;)