Maternal Musings From .....MERMAIDGRRRRL!

14 months Old

2008-08-17T20:46:00.000+10:00

Hair Raising Stuff

2008-02-05T21:43:00.000+10:00

Things here are quiet and smooth for the most part. My diet has been going OK and I've lost about 6 kilograms so far, but cheated last night and today. Damn you chocolate muffins and custard tarts!I pretty much lost my breastmilk over the Christmas period. Seth got more and more fussy at the breast and then just refused to latch basically. He is a little buggar with the feeding - if it's not

XXX-mas

2008-01-05T13:30:00.000+10:00

Well we ended up going up north for 2 weeks instead of a few days. It was really a great time. My brothers house is a beautiful big high-set with tropical gardens and a salt water swimming pool. The drive up took two days and Seth was surprisingly good in the car. On all 4 days of driving it was just the last hour on the road that he became miserable an I would even say that he cried less while

He looks like an angel......

2007-12-14T21:48:00.000+10:00

I had a most stressful day today getting everything finished up for X-Mas gifts. I say finished up, but I just mean for the interstate contingent. I had a "lightbulb moment" this afternoon as I struggled at the post office that Christmas is in fact not run by baby Jesus or some jolly guy in a res suit, but is in fact run by overworked, overstress, tired WOMEN. Young women in shiny office wear,

Little Man Seth

2007-12-07T20:07:00.000+10:00

Anyone remember Kwynne? God I loved her blog. I almost felt angry when she quit blogging after her little boy was born - didn't she know other butch mums and lesbian mums in general needed her? Now I understand. Bloody parenting takes up all your time! Well, it takes up all my time and energy. When I go back to work in March it will be like having a mini holiday for 2 days a week.Development-wise

sneaks back in

2007-11-18T07:33:00.000+10:00

I'll start off by saying that I haven't sewn nearly enough stuff and it's looking unlikely that I'll have a market stall before Christmas. I'm disappointed in myself, but it's been very difficult with LM working some double shifts and Seth needing a lot of attention so that's just how it is. I'm shifting my focus on that to over Christmas when LM has 6 weeks holidays and I can sit down and get

Not dead....

2007-10-28T14:53:00.000+10:00

.... just sewing

Yee-har!

2007-10-11T19:00:00.000+10:00

Click here to take my marketing survey please, pretty please!!!People are letting me know that question 6 presents oddly - you have to list in order of preference, not give each a score out of ten. I can't really change the way it's done. Sorry about that.You guys are totally awesome net-buddies. I'm loving reading the poll results and they are truly helping me get my shit together with the

Market Research (edited a hundred times)

2007-10-10T16:07:00.000+10:00

Please click here to take my online survey for my business researchIf you would rather not do the survey, then please answer in the comments box if you have time, but I tried to make the survey really easy. Even an answer to one question would really help me!Some questions for you...How much do you usually spend on a gift (for someone you like)?How much does packaging influence your purchase?

Growth Spurts

2007-10-07T19:46:00.000+10:00

This week has been one of rapid growth spurts in our household. Seth has started eating solids as of yesterday. I say solids, but really they're just liquids off a rubber spoon since rice cereal is impossibly watery when mixed with breast milk. He has had three meals of it now and he just loves it, chatting away and trying to stick his face straight into the bowl for maximum access. I posted

Verbs And Nouns

2007-09-30T08:54:00.000+10:00

Well I took down a heap of posts that I'm not sure I want there any more and that's made me feel quite a bit better. I would like to switch to Wordpress for the PP posting option and the great commenting, but I'm put off by the fact you can't "pretty up" your site much (pathetic I know). It's a difficult thing really isn't it - even though I don't think I'm some huge role model or anything, I do

Public Privacy

2007-09-26T14:08:00.000+10:00

I'm kind of having second thoughts about my blog. I've kind of sat somewhere between public and private on it. Several people in RL know about my blog but most don't. Because of the RL people I sometimes temper what I'm writing about on it, so it does take away from the "diary" aspect of my blog somewhat but that hasn't really bothered me too much. The main people who I don't want reading it are

Time keeps on tickin' tickin' tickin'

2007-09-22T20:07:00.000+10:00

OMG - what a week! Seth had gained another 240 grams as of Monday - he's caught up now to the 20th percentile and I'm feeling much happier. He has a tiny bit of chub on his body, cute little rolls at the tops of his thighs and cheeks like an enthusiastic squirrel. Physically he's coming along in leaps and bounds now, rolling over without too many worries in both directions.On Thursday I took him

Boxing and Bitching

2007-09-16T20:10:00.000+10:00

Sorry that I've been so quiet the past week. Little Mister has just done 7 late shifts in a row, so since I have troubles falling asleep without her home and Seth is still having a couple of feeds at night I've been freakin exhausted. When does this night feeding end anyway? At the moment he eats at about 1am and 5 am and then wakes at 6am. I wish he would just sleep for one hour longer in the

Weight Update

2007-09-10T14:36:00.000+10:00

I love the comment about Jesus being a toddler in many of these pics - so true! Mary must have read the WHO guidelines about breastfeeding until the age of 3 ;-) I'll have to poke around, but I've definitely seen a picture where an adult man is drinking from Mary's breast too. Anyone else recalling this? Maybe he's some kind of saint? I've found the source of the yellow milk - vitamin B

Ooooh Ah - Fashion

2007-09-08T18:56:00.000+10:00

I'm till posting the Lactating Mary pics, cause I like them!Little Mister just had 3 days off and they were HEAVEN! On Wednesday and Thursday she got up with Seth (this is after she'd just done 7 early shifts in a row) and let me go back to sleep for a big sleep in. It was too lovely for words and it was nice for her too because he's such a lovely little guy in the mornings, laughing and

Sehr Reiche Nixemilch

2007-09-03T12:58:00.000+10:00

Well todays weigh-in had a most excellent result! Seth has gained 200 grams in one week! I am so relieved and pleased. I'm still giving him EBM top-ups and the child health nurse said to continue that for another week then weigh him again to make sure we're back on track and for my peace of mind. She said she's so pleased with me for having persisted with it and doing the whole lot without

Lait de Sirènes

2007-09-01T19:10:00.000+10:00

Things are so much better in the boob department. Overnight they swelled up just like the first time my milk came in and Seth gulps away quite happily. His nappies are soaking and Little Mister commented that she can already see him chubbing up. I'm still pumping for top-ups, but I've bought a 20 pack of Medela freezer bags and I intend to fill the lot of them over the next few weeks so if my

Latte Dei Mermaids

2007-08-31T18:46:00.000+10:00

I'm getting my head shrunk tomorrow morning. Not literally of course, though that wouldn't hurt since it is kinda big. I'm having a psych assessment by my GP so I can get subsidised counselling through public health with a good counsellor. The thing about having this done is that when i asked her for the referral to be done I really felt like I needed help FAST! Of course now that things have

Zeemeermin melk

2007-08-30T21:08:00.000+10:00

I think things may be on the upswing. I've been taking lots of your suggestions and trying not to get too down about it all. It seems to be working already. These are the things I'm doing:ate oatmeal for breakfast this morning (blech)drinking Sustagen and milk at nighttaking lots of fenugreek capsulestaking lots of fish oil and evening primrose (hormone precursors)having naps with Seth during

Mermaid Con Leche

2007-08-29T15:52:00.000+10:00

Today has not been an emotionally good day for me. It is so fucking hard to keep up this pumping/feeding/sleeping/eating/drinking thing when I have a baby who cries a lot, won't stay on the breast and won't take decent day time naps. It wasn't my finest moment today when I was trying to hold the pump on with one hand, settle my baby with the other hand and growling at the same time "Suck the

Mermaid Lactans

2007-08-28T21:18:00.000+10:00

Mary bore a mute Babethough in Him were hidden all our tongues. Joseph carried Him,yet hidden in Him was a silent nature older than everything.The Lofty One became like a little child, yet hidden in Him was a treasure of Wisdom that suffices for all. He was lofty but He sucked Mary's milk, and from His blessings all creation sucks.He is the Living Breast of living breath; by His life the dead

The Dry Pump

2007-08-23T19:48:00.000+10:00

Seth had lots of very wet nappies yesterday, so you would think that I would be satisfied about his intake right? Well when we got him up at 9:30 to eat and have his nappy done before retiring ourselves we changed him after giving him both breasts and found that his nappy was dry and promptly freaked out. Yeah he'd had about 6 wet nappies, but one dry one was enough that we stared at each other

Regrets et al

2007-08-20T12:15:00.000+10:00

I'm regretting writing that cranky post, so I took it down. I'm not just regretting writing it cause LM read it and is (understandably) upset. It's cause I found this week really dreadful in all sorts of ways and I chose to just complain about my partner instead of dealing with things properly.I'm having a very hard time getting over Seth having lost weight and am wondering why I'm over-reacting

The Sad State Of My Boobs

2007-08-14T20:41:00.000+10:00

We took Seth for his 4 months check-up at Child Health yesterday. I usually look forward to these appointments as it confirms that everything is going well and gives me confidence in what I'm doing. The appointment started badly because when we went in there was an older and chilly kind of nurse there who said to us "Didn't you get the message? We rang you to cancel because the nurse is off sick"

An Anniversary

2007-08-12T19:20:00.000+10:00

Today is the anniversary of our succesful IUI, the one that resulted in our little Seth. It seems like yesterday that Little Mister defrosted the vial in her hands and yelled at it "Go up! Turn right! Don't fuck this one up!" as it hissed and thawed. And my golly, it worked a treat. Who knew it was yelling at sperm that helped them navigate the dangerous terrain of my uterus?It's very strange now

Seals, Sleep and Shoulders

2007-08-11T15:05:00.000+10:00

Seths "Builders Cleavage " Does anyone else think it's hideously unfair that I've got my period back so soon, especially considering I'm still doing 2 night feeds? If I was sleeping through the night then I'd feel OK about the cramps, bleeding and tiredness, but for goddesses sake I'M TIRED ENOUGH AS IT IS! I DON'T NEED MY DAMN PERIOD AS WELL!! OK - enough of that outburst for a while.The sleep

Seths Christening!

2007-08-06T12:50:00.000+10:00

We just had the most wonderful weekend EVER. Seths christening turned out to be such a wonderful caring family weekend and it absolutely passed our expectations of what it would be like to be mums in our community and family.Guitarboy and Miss Ivy flew in on the Friday night so Seth and I went to the airport to pick them up. It was so great to see them again! They were surprised at how much of a

Gown Pic and more...

2007-08-01T17:34:00.000+10:00

I haven't achieved as much today as I would have liked unfortunately, so I can't show you a picture of his baptism candle cause I haven't finished it yet! Little Mister starts night duty tonight so I think I'll stay up a bit later tonight finishing his bonnet and candle and then sleep in tomorrow morning with LM and Seth, especially since it nearly guarantees that Seth will have at least an extra

Getting Frocked

2007-07-31T22:20:00.000+10:00

A quick update with pics coming tomorrow...I have finished the christening gown, except for sewing on one button that has somehow gone missing. I think it looks really pretty and kind of understated. I'm wondering now if I should have gone more boofy and over the top with the whole thing, but it's looking pretty good and simple I guess and if it had more lace and stuff I'd probably be tearing my

I'm A Real Person

2007-07-29T16:06:00.000+10:00

We went out on a date last night. Our friend is getting married next weekend on the same day as Seth's christening which means we can't go to it. This meant we made the extra effort to go to her hen's night which was dinner at an Irish pub before the others pressed on to go out drinking and go to the casino for a flutter. This was our first night out as a couple without Seth! In fact it was our

Whispering Update

2007-07-26T10:08:00.000+10:00

In his Jolly Jumper. I love his socks so much!My friend came and assessed Seth and said he's like nothing she's really seen before. There's no one way to comfort him, he sleeps well at night and can even put himself calmly to sleep from a fully awake state just by lying there, smiling at me and passing out happily. She can't really see a set reason why he won't sleep during the day and it's

Whisper To Me Baby!

2007-07-24T18:39:00.000+10:00

I've had a shocker of a day today. Little Mister is doing 8am - 4pm shifts all week so I'm left up to my own devices. The problem is that Seth really doesn't like to sleep during the day if we're at home. If he's in the sling and we're out he will sleep all day. He will even sleep in the car between places if I'm running around doing errands. But when we're at home he's a real little buggar and

What to do with this???

2007-07-19T14:39:00.000+10:00

Well, I got a response from my mother about the christening invitation. What the hell do I do with this as the answer? She does a good job of sounding like she's the rational one and I'm cruel and nasty.When we had the family lunch at my mothers on the Saturday she had told them (incorrectly) that we would be staying at her place on the Saturday night, so they had driven from their country town

Stiiiiiiiiiiiill Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick

2007-07-18T15:19:00.001+10:00

I am still sick and miserable. Seth is much better and really quite chipper. He doesn't seem "achey" any more - god only knows how one knows this but I could kind of guess that he was feeling like shit. I still feel dreadful. My joints still ache and my nose is streaming. Of course I can't take cold & flu meds due to BFing, so all I can use is a decongestant spray and take basic painkillers for

Siiiiiiiiiiiick

2007-07-15T17:51:00.000+10:00

We are sick and unhappy in this house. Little Mister seems to have missed catching it, but I've got a revolting cold with a mild snotty nose but wicked urge to cough constantly and a post-nasal drip from hell. The achey joints and headache are no walk in the park either. Poor Seth seems to have it too and is just as miserable. This afternoon after LM went to work he screamed and screamed and

The Tatt!

2007-07-14T18:31:00.000+10:00

After Little Mister washed off some of the carbon and stuff this morning I got to have a good look at the tatt and it's looking great. There's still more carbon to be removed so it still looks a bit purple and blurry, but the swelling has gone down a little bit so it's a little bit clearer today. Like I said, the guy is going to go over the nautilus shell she already had there to make it all

So Tired!

2007-07-13T21:24:00.000+10:00

Little Mister has had most of her outline done for her sleeve. It's awesome! The guy used a photo of Seth to do his little face and he has the cutest tail in the world. The big mermaids don't really look like us per se, but it's more of a representation instead of a portrait and I think it's too cute. He made sure that LM's mermaid has short hair and that she's looped up over the shoulder and

Inkiness

2007-07-13T13:51:00.001+10:00

OMG - Little Mister is getting the beginnings of a sleeve tattoo today. It's the three of us as mermaids on her arm. The guy started drawing it this morning and we're home having lunch while he finishes so we can go back and get started with the ink. Pics to follow later!

Colic Sucks Dogs Balls

2007-07-08T18:52:00.000+10:00

I haven't wanted to sound whingey, but Seth is crying a lot in the last few weeks. Well, to be honest he has always cried a fair amount so I don't know whether he's actually crying more or whether he's so much bigger that now it rips our fucking ear drums out. We had a brief period of calm at about 7 weeks and I had a heart full of optimism that our baby was getting "easier", but unfortunately

A Cocktail Post!

2007-07-05T17:53:00.000+10:00

I have a couple of quick things to post about....I sent a christening invitation to my mum with an accompanying note. It saidDear Mermaidgrrrrls mum,You are welcome to come to Seth's christening in August if you wish. We will have a full house at the time, so you would have to arrange your own accomodation.Cheers,MermaidgrrrlI have sent this down with my brother (who will now be known as Captain

Technology Hates Me

2007-07-04T19:11:00.000+10:00

So last night I managed somehow to spill an entire glass of Berocca into the keyboard - my lovely, expensive, ergonomic keyboard. I tried to dry it out in front of the blow heater which seemed to work, but then when I went to type it would do multiple letters and add in weird symbols and stuff. Thank the godess it works again today!When we first brought Seth home from the hospital Little Mister

Pic post

2007-07-03T19:01:00.000+10:00

Too many kisses from girls with lippy... My mum has bad taste in clothing ensembles!I fried my keyboard a bit with water! Whoops! Keeps doing multiple letters - will post properly tomorrow (if I can).

Aaaaaaaaaagh! People!

2007-06-28T19:33:00.000+10:00

<<< Watching me trying to catch up on blogs while he rests on my arms. He's got baby acne! We took Seth into our workplace today. I guess I didn't realise just how quiet our lifestyle has become before today. Everyone was running up to see us and wanting to hold Seth and it felt extremely overwhelming for LM and I. She's even more worried about starting back at work! It just seemed so noisy and

Immunisations and Disappointments

2007-06-22T15:45:00.000+10:00

Seth had his first immunisations today. And it kind of sucks dogs balls.We went to the GP that was recommended by our paediatrician. LM and I don't really have a regular GP since we tend to see the one that services the staff at our work if we need to. When we told this to our paediatrician he recommended a doctor who works one block away from our house. He said that this guy is really great and

8 Weeks!

2007-06-19T14:09:00.000+10:00

I feel so bad for being such a slack blogger. I had originally anticipated that I would update at least every second day and have a wonderful record of Seth's early infanthood. Hah! I was so freaking delusional on that point. Instead of writing about it I'm actually living it and that's OK. It's certainly a full-time job and Little Mister and I have new respect for anyone who either A) does it on

Back Home At Last!

2007-06-14T16:32:00.000+10:00

Seth in the kitchen sink at Guitarboy and Miss Ivy's houseWe got back home from our big trip this afternoon. We are totally exhausted and the airline accidentally sent one of our suitcases to the far North after labelling it incorrectly. Doh!This will be a bit rambling and not make much sense probably, but I want to write it out before I forget the details so I will remember why I don't want to

So much news, so little time...

2007-06-07T21:26:00.000+10:00

Seth has really been keeping us on our toes. We had one really wonderful day where he slept really well and was cheerful and happy to stare at the toys on his play mat arches and we got all excited, thinking that by turning the magical 6 weeks of age he must have turned a corner. WRONG! The last two days have been dreadful and Little Mister and I are both nearly crippled with back pain from

Fatty Froglet

2007-05-29T16:09:00.001+10:00

I can't believe that 5 weeks ago today we saw little froglet lifted out of my belly and roar into independant life. It feels like 100 years ago, but also somehow feels like it was just yesterday. Was there really a life before froglet consumed the whole thing? Of course there was.... one where I could go to the toilet uninterrupted by either my hair being pulled by him while he cries, or by him

Heading For Colder Climes

2007-05-24T14:15:00.000+10:00

Thanks so much for all your suggestions! It's so hard to know what to do when he cries but we're muddling along OK. A few things in answer to suggestions...- He refuses to take a dummy no matter what. We've tried a couple of different kinds and dipped them in breastmilk first and even sugar water to no avail. We've tried when he's calm, when he's angry, when he's crying, when he's tired, when

Manual Please!

2007-05-21T19:13:00.000+10:00

Little Mister have looked at each other and laughed in exasperation several times in the last few days. Seth hit the three week mark and totally changed personality it seemed. He went from our easy-going little man to someone who cries a lot during the day and refuses to sleep, waiting for the sun to go down before he'll actually close those big blue eyes and go to sleep. I know I should be

The Agony And The Ecstasy

2007-05-17T18:48:00.000+10:00

Famous

2007-05-17T09:09:00.000+10:00

Our photo and birth announcement are in the local newspaper. How cool is that? The day they came to the hospital I waited to fill out the form until the photographer actually came in cause I didn't know if they would put in a queer family. When I said "there's no father - there's another mother. Is that OK?" he said no problem, so we filled out the form and had the photo taken. And now we're

Phew!

2007-05-09T13:15:00.000+10:00

No wonder so many people don't blog for a few weeks after having a baby. It's more than a full-time job! I'm breastfeeding somewhere between 9 and 12 hours a day depending on how he's going with it. It seems like he's constantly trying to build supply, with only one day out of three being a day that he's satisfied with what he's getting. Otherwise he's on there feeding for hours!Generally things

Everyone Loves A Quickie (with photos)

2007-05-05T12:08:00.000+10:00

No time for a lovely long post at the moment, but I'll try to give a proper update in the next couple of days. The basics are that Seth's eating well (and by well I mean constantly) and appears to be gaining weight. Plus here are some photos of Seth in the bath with Little Mister!We're coping pretty well with the whole new mummy thing and are doing our best to keep each other relatively

Where to begin?

2007-04-30T11:06:00.000+10:00

I really don't know what to write because there's so much where do I start? Maybe I should start about how I felt about the C-section and how that went cause it was kind of a kooky experience and something that feels important to me.I loved going to the hypnobirthing classes and feeling like I was gaining confidence in my body to do things naturally. Little Mister enjoyed the classes too - except

Soooooooooo Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired

2007-04-28T13:14:00.000+10:00

Just got home from the hospital today and we're going really, really well. I'm just so incredibly tired I feel half dead, so here's some pics till I have the energy to write about our amazing experience of becoming mums! I've got masses of photos on my Flickr account that I've made "friends only" for the time being until I can be bothered sorting them, so if you want all the gory stuff like Seth

A star is born

2007-04-25T00:45:00.000+10:00

Dear friends, this is a 'guest post' on behalf of Mermaidgrrrl and Little Mister to let you know the very exciting news that... today (24 April) at 1.21pm their little baby boy, Seth Herman, was born! He weighs 4.03 kg (8lb 14oz) and is 53 cm long. And he's gorgeous.Baby arrived through c-section, as you know a fairly recent decision made by Dr in response to MMGs high blood pressure, but happy

Here We Go!

2007-04-24T08:09:00.000+10:00

Oh my goddess - I feel like I'm at the top of the rollercoaster ride and looking down and am freaking out and really excited at the same time. How they expect you to sleep properly the night before having the baby is bloody beyond me! I got such a lovely surprise last night to find out that Seagreen is going to meet us at the hospital this morning. Can you believe she organised a last minute

The Final Countdown (not that 80's song)

2007-04-23T17:55:00.000+10:00

Wow - I can't believe it's all happening tomorrow. I think I've rung everyone or e-mailed everyone that I had to inform. My bags are all packed. The hospital check-in time is confirmed. We've taken some last-minute photos of the belly. I've spent time being really scared and time being really excited. I bought some last minute little outfits that will look nice in photos to e-mail to relatives.

2007-04-23T12:57:00.000+10:00

C-section tomorrow at 11:30 am. Fuck!

Trolls Under The Bridge

2007-04-23T09:28:00.000+10:00

I always laugh when I read nasty comments on peoples sites. How often does the commenter - so happy to open their mouth via their keyboard - actually leave any indication of their real identity or personality? 99% of the time the answer is that they don't. These people trip from site to site leaving their pearls of wisdom and never have the intestinal fortitude to leave themselves open to similar

Kombis and Cuts

2007-04-20T13:31:00.000+10:00

The visit with my SIL went well. The twins are very strong and large for a multiple birth! They both had a feed, a poop, a cry and a doze and seemed very happy little babies. It turned out that Little Mister actually knew my SIL's mother from around their home suburb so that was funny! They brought a couple of presents for our baby which was sweet and SIL is kind of hoping they will deliver our

Phew!

2007-04-19T15:33:00.000+10:00

Well my BP is definitely up, but the urine test came back clear so we moved onto blood tests - again. The doctor said that things are definitely "getting a bit hairy" at this stage and wants to see me again on Monday unless my BP spikes. He said the baby feels pretty huge, that he wants to get me at least over 38 weeks and it's probably looking like a C-section at this stage. Even though I really

Hmmmm - Medical Mayhem

2007-04-19T09:15:00.000+10:00

Last night we made a plaster cast of my belly. It was hysterical! Little Mister stood me in the bath tub, rubbed me over with cooking oil and proceeded to cover my belly with big pieces of plaster that we use to set legs. The funny thing is that I look at the cast and I can barely believe my belly really is that big, even though I'm carrying it around every day. Strange kind of body dysmorphia

International Warfare

2007-04-16T09:45:00.000+10:00

Somehow my mother has managed to fuck things up way more than I expected. I thought the issue was finished once I'd spoken to my older brother - that we could just kind of drop it and all move on. That's why I decided (of course) not to tell my SIL that mum had been crazy about the whole thing. Why upset my SIL after her nice holiday? It seemed foolish to involve her in our family dramas that

Mother Madness

2007-04-14T15:42:00.000+10:00

My day started out normally enough - LM came home from work and crawled under the covers with me and I got a couple of extra hours sleep. My back is still really hurting, but I didn't sleep too badly. And the baby seems to have dropped a little more which is exciting! I woke up at about 8:30, had some custard for breakfast (I was hungry and wanted something cold!) and turned on the computer to

Ouchy Bites

2007-04-13T22:21:00.000+10:00

My back started hurting this morning really, really fucking badly and hasn't let up except for when LM massaged it for a while. Between that and the newly painful Braxton Hicks mixed in with the old skool painless Braxton Hicks I think I'm safe to say I'm in pre-labour. The baby is still OP and kicking furiously at the front so I took a warm bath and floated belly down for a while to try and turn

What Really Matters

2007-04-12T15:37:00.000+10:00

I'm feeling really overwhelmed with happiness today. See the difference some sleep makes? It's not only the great sleep though. It's lots of things.I'll start with the sleep - you thought I wouldn't bore you with pillow talk! Little Mister started night shift last night, so I made sure to go to bed nice and early as soon as she left. Of course this meant I had the bed to myself so I could make a

Sizing Scan Update

2007-04-11T16:57:00.000+10:00

So we had the sizing scan. We decided to have it done at the hospital we work at so it would be free, and also so we could go and visit my work and leave a little present for my colleagues. I was shocked at the high detail of the scan compared to the 19 week one! It was really clear even though it wasn't 3D - it was like watching the baby on TV practically. The baby is head down with it's feet

More Whinging (no shock there)

2007-04-11T09:19:00.000+10:00

I really quite feel like shit at the moment. Yesterday too. Physically and emotionally.I am really feeling so tired and uncomfortable all the time now. Over Easter we went and stayed with LM's parents for the Saturday night to have some family time. I don't mind doing this, since we really get on quite well nowadays to the point where it doesn't matter so much that my own family tend to be jerks,

Photos

2007-04-06T11:40:00.000+10:00

These are all the clothes we got given at the baby shower, washed and on the line. Mind you these are just the clothes, not the bed linen and blankets! Can you believe how many little outfits?I was inspired to be brave by the Beanies, so here's a photo of me in all my scary-huge glory in the bath tub. The blotchy things are rose petals from the bath bomb. Of course I wish I looked more like Demi

Brothers and Bubbas

2007-04-05T14:09:00.000+10:00

I haven't taken pictures of all the gifts yet where you can see what they are, but here are a couple of pics of all the bags and packages in the nursery. Today I'm working on washing everything ready to pack it away, made a bit more difficult by sporadic rain which is doing it's best to hamper my good intentions. I've so pleased by some surprise company today - LM has hurt herself at work and

Baby Shower Hugeness

2007-04-02T12:40:00.000+10:00

We had our big BBQ/baby shower yesterday and I must confess to still feeling totally overwhelmed. And puffy in the feet department also. I officially have severe cankles.We ended up hiring a heap of tables and chairs and getting a tarp erected for protection from the elements which I think was a good idea. No need for anyone to get sunburnt! We ordered all the meat through the week and I went

Bum Wipes

2007-03-30T20:17:00.000+10:00

Since there was an expression of interest in the bum wipe solution here are some recipes! Apparently some people use paper towel cut in half if they want disposable wipes, but I've made my own out of flannelette. I just did them double sided and overlocked the sides with a 4 thread. Apparently this isn't the best fabric to use - a lot of people reccomend towelling on one side for better poop

Worry Worry Worry

2007-03-29T13:07:00.000+10:00

Worrying seems to increase along with the number of doctors appointments! I've been doing home blood pressures for 2 weeks now and it's all been going OK - I never have a diastolic over 85. The blood sugars have been going OK too and I've stopped being quite so stringent on my testing, figuring that 3 times a day is plenty if everything has been stable and I've been eating OK. Because of all my

2007-03-28T10:53:00.000+10:00

Things that are wonderful:-The Fonaholics finally got their positive test after 2 hideously fucked up rounds of IVF and two largely uneventful IUI's. So much for limiting local donor sperm to IVF to guarantee success! We're proving them wrong!-The Family O are expecting an addition to their family after lots of trying. Gotta love those surprise positives-I've been so surprised by the touching

Who Had Time To Work?

2007-03-27T18:02:00.000+10:00

Despite being on maternity leave I am really pretty busy! We have been flat out organising the baby shower. It seems like we have soooooo many people coming which is kind of a surprise. We went and ordered all our meat at the butchers today and it turned out surprisingly cheap because we went to a discount bulk buy place several suburbs away. We ordered 60 rump steaks cut as "minute steaks" for

Motherhood Is Looming!

2007-03-24T15:11:00.000+10:00

Well I'm still feeling a bit tripped out, but generally a lot better. When I feel crappy like that I just really need to do my relaxation exercises and listen to my affirmations a lot too. It helps that so many people have shared positive stories about delivering large babies! It appears that Little Mister has been struggling with her own stress issues this week too. I think between the hard

Shit Scared

2007-03-20T16:01:00.000+10:00

I had to ring up to book the sizing ultrasound today. So much for going public and having it done for free - it was all booked out! Apparently it's a bumper month for babies in May so they're flat out with all the scans. Instead we're just going to cough up the fee and go to the place that did our 19 week again. At least this means we can burn it do disc and I can send it to my brother for his

Iraq and Aliens

2007-03-18T18:09:00.000+10:00

The best thing so far about not being at work any more is that I get to talk to my brother nearly every day. The brother that's in Iraq, not the one in Australia. Thanks to the joys of chat programs and him being on night shift at the moment it means we can sit and chat for some time every day and it's been wonderful to have some regular contact. I've had lots of family turmoil over the years and

More Babies!

2007-03-13T14:12:00.000+10:00

Lots has happened in the last few days it seems! My blood sugars have been OK, but not great. I'm pretty confident now that the diagnosis of GD is right, because when I eat something I probably shouldn't I am "rewarded" with sugars that are too high for a normal person. I'm really trying to knuckle down and be very, very careful what I put in my mouth to avoid problems with the baby and visits to

Chicken Kebab Donor?

2007-03-09T10:45:00.000+10:00

We started the hospital antenatal classes last night and they were really pretty funny. The information sheet said to take a pillow for comfort and we suspected they might be making us sit on the floor so I took along a big european pillow for maximum squishage, only to find that we were sitting on shairs after all and the pillow was unneccesary. At least another couple there took along not one

Big Giant Update

2007-03-07T10:20:00.000+10:00

Sorry for weekend slackness... I got busy.Now for an ever-exciting gestational diabetes update. My sugar levels have been really good, with only two over the 7.0mmol cut-off they prefer and that was after eating a BLT with 1" thick white bread slices and a big iced coffee made with icecream, so no shock there that it came back a bit high. My fasting sugars in the mornings are fine and after a bit

Lucky Baby?

2007-03-02T22:18:00.000+10:00

I'm feeling a lot better today. I'll expand on things in a bigger post over the weekend, but the main thing is that my blood sugars have all been well within the limits and I've stopped feeling scared before the number pops up on the screen. At the moment I'm sticking religiously to the testing schedule but will be discussing with my doctor on Tuesday where to from here if all my sugars come up

So Far I Suck At Pregnancy

2007-02-28T09:38:00.000+10:00

Sorry about my posting slackness for the past week or so, but I've had a fucker of a time in some ways.Last week I was feeling really under the weather. I even thought I might have a UTI and took myself to the doctors for a test because it was uncomfortable when I peed and I felt quite sick and very, very tired. The test came back negative, which is a good thing really. But it didn't explain my

Late Nights and Belly Pics

2007-02-19T16:25:00.000+10:00

I've had a bit of a funny weekend. Little Mister has been on night duty which always throws my body right out of whack. I'm terrible at sleeping without her and often go to bed really late because I feel at a loose end and watch trashy TV till all hours. Saturday night I went to bed at a reasonable hour but didn't get to sleep because I had such a bad tummy ache. I assumed it was the baby growing

YAY and BOO

2007-02-16T18:10:00.000+10:00

YAY to Stacey and Angele who had their baby girl on Wednesday. I can't believe their cat is as big as their baby! Very cute pics.BOO to the letter I got in the post saying I had failed the stupid glucose test and now I have to do the two hour one. Like the first one wasn't horrible enough! I was left feeling so lethargic and sick after the first one I can't imagine that the second one will be any

Making Fitted Flannies

2007-02-14T23:40:00.000+10:00

I had my revolting glucose test today. I had eaten a chicken sandwich before I went and had the drink so I had something in my system. After having the drink I went running around doing errands and then returned for my blood test an hour later. After the blood test I went shopping to buy some fabric to make a sling for a work friend for her baby shower gift this weekend. I took quite a while at

Orchids and Emanations

2007-02-12T10:07:00.000+10:00

I'll clarify for you what happened on Thursday night at work. I was looking after a patient who was sick in general, but doing quite well in general. We were going to transfer him to another ward and had to move him onto a different bed to take him there. As we were moving him over he pooped the bed and we had to clean him up and change the bed linen. Well I confess, my colleague PPG did most of

Blech

2007-02-08T22:30:00.000+10:00

I didn't really want to go to work today. I had to drag my arse in there when all I wanted to do was sew little nappies and listen to music. I psyched myself into it though with a Vanilla Chiller from Gl0ria Je@ns and an ironed work shirt. Things went pretty smoothly all afternoon and even though I was tired by dinner time I was looking forward to the shift being over so I could come home and go

More Blood Tests!

2007-02-08T09:12:00.000+10:00

Next week I have to have my one hour glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes (GD) and a full blood count to make sure my haemoglobin isn't getting too low from providing for Cletus. The GD test (for those unfamiliar) involves drinking a cup of sickly sweet glucose and then having a blood test an hour later to see whether your pancreas has a spasm and dies from the influx of a substance

Weekend Update

2007-02-05T09:52:00.000+10:00

I had a bit of a funny weekend of mixed emotions. I was so incredibly tired on Friday night after only 3 days at work. How am I going to cope this week with 5 days in a row? I can nearly guarantee I'll have Wednesday off sick to break it up. Little Mister went away 4 wheel driving on Saturday morning and stayed at the park there overnight and I didn't even hear her leave on Saturday morning

My Entitlements

2007-02-02T19:19:00.000+10:00

I was worried to see that Sacha is still hard at work and not planning to leave any time soon so I asked her about nurses rights to maternity leave in the US - which are fucking dismal to be frank. In contrast here are my rights and responsibilities in regards to maternity leave...I am a permanent employee in a public hospital, which means I'm employed by the state government. I've been in this

The Fun Part.... Shopping!

2007-01-30T18:00:00.000+10:00

I've felt a bit miserable and isolated over my days off. We were a bit broke this fortnight after having to pay mega-bills all in one hit, so I didn't really have anything much to do. It was so fucking hot as well that I haven't wanted to leave the house when not entirely neccesary, so I've been sitting naked under the cold flow from the air con and watching bad shows on cable and the baby

Belly Shots!

2007-01-28T15:54:00.000+10:00

Yet again, I'm an entirely negligent poster and I apologise. All my energy is being sucked out by the pregnancy and the relentless heat and humidity of this summer. We were truly blessed with very mild weather right up until the start of January but are now paying for it in spades. Because I'm feeling the heat so much more and am sweating horribly I'm ever so grateful for our air conditioning and

The answer is..... yes.

2007-01-19T14:16:00.000+10:00

After many tears shed and hours of worry I have decided to take the course of ibuprofen. My upper back has been very painful for the last few days, since those muscles were working hard to try and compensate for the injured shoulder. Last night came the breaking point when my right lower back went out as well and now I can't stand up straight without crying. All of this and I start night shift

Advice please?

2007-01-17T17:58:00.000+10:00

I can't find any batteries for the camera, so still no belly shots yet I'm afraid. Instead my new news is that at the age of only 24 weeks and 4 days Cletus the Foetus is kicking hard enough to be able to see it on the outside. Weird huh? It seems like only yesterday when all I could feel was tiny little morse code taps on my bladder. Now he is kicking hard enough to make my boobs jiggle and

Bras and Brothers

2007-01-14T23:07:00.000+10:00

It's been well over a week since my lost post and I'm horribly ashamed of my slackness. I've been in a post X-mas lull and just haven't got around to it. Sorry!I finished my satin dress that I'd designed and made the pattern for and it turned out pretty well. This was my first garment that I'd done from scratch so I'm quite proud of myself. When I look at my poor dressmaking dummy, clad in a very

Sewing and Stretchmarks

2007-01-04T18:10:00.000+10:00

Well, I was going to impress you all by posting photos of the amazing nursery curtains, but I can't find the camera! Making the curtains was a lot more fiddly and labour intensive than what I expected, but they were definitely worth the effort. The block out nearly all of the light in the room to try and ensure later sleeping (the sun comes up here at 4:30 in summer) and the colour looks

Maternal Musings From .....MERMAIDGRRRRL!

14 months Old

Hair Raising Stuff

XXX-mas

He looks like an angel......

Little Man Seth

*sneaks back in*

Not dead....

Yee-har!

Market Research (edited a hundred times)

Growth Spurts

Verbs And Nouns

Public Privacy

Time keeps on tickin' tickin' tickin'

Boxing and Bitching

Weight Update

Ooooh Ah - Fashion

Sehr Reiche Nixemilch

Lait de Sirènes

Latte Dei Mermaids

Zeemeermin melk

Mermaid Con Leche

Mermaid Lactans

The Dry Pump

Regrets et al

The Sad State Of My Boobs

An Anniversary

Seals, Sleep and Shoulders

Seths Christening!

Gown Pic and more...

Getting Frocked

I'm A Real Person

Whispering Update

Whisper To Me Baby!

What to do with this???

Stiiiiiiiiiiiill Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick

Siiiiiiiiiiiick

The Tatt!

So Tired!

Inkiness

Colic Sucks Dogs Balls

A Cocktail Post!

Technology Hates Me

Pic post

Aaaaaaaaaagh! People!

Immunisations and Disappointments

8 Weeks!

Back Home At Last!

So much news, so little time...

Fatty Froglet

Heading For Colder Climes

Manual Please!

The Agony And The Ecstasy

Famous

Phew!

Everyone Loves A Quickie (with photos)

Where to begin?

Soooooooooo Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired

A star is born

Here We Go!

The Final Countdown (not that 80's song)

Trolls Under The Bridge

Kombis and Cuts

Phew!

Hmmmm - Medical Mayhem

International Warfare

Mother Madness

Ouchy Bites

What Really Matters

Sizing Scan Update

More Whinging (no shock there)

Photos

Brothers and Bubbas

Baby Shower Hugeness

Bum Wipes

Worry Worry Worry

Who Had Time To Work?

Motherhood Is Looming!

Shit Scared

Iraq and Aliens

sneaks back in