Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Friday, October 03, 2008
Regular transmission to resume soon...
Hi everyone, thanks for the nice comments. Just to let you know that I am still in hospital at present as Moses is in NICU due to his prematurity (born at 34 weeks, 6 days). He is doing really well and is getting bigger by the day, and doesn't require any monitoring. My wound (I had an emergency caesarean after an hour of fruitless pushing.. Moe was aligned a wee bit wrong so just wouldn't go through the hole!) is healing well and I am beginning to get out a bit more. The support at Dunedin Hospital has been great, but you do go a bit stir crazy after a while.
Anyhoo, just to let you know that I will post the full story sometime soon, probably when I finally get home with our fantastic wee boy. I will try and post some more photos soon, if you want to check out some in the meantime, just follow the link to Phil's blog on the right hand sidebar (Phil's photos from Dunedin).
cheers, better go get something to eat lol....
Mel
Anyhoo, just to let you know that I will post the full story sometime soon, probably when I finally get home with our fantastic wee boy. I will try and post some more photos soon, if you want to check out some in the meantime, just follow the link to Phil's blog on the right hand sidebar (Phil's photos from Dunedin).
cheers, better go get something to eat lol....
Mel
Monday, September 15, 2008
Ow ow ow.... not bees, but baby....
Hmmm - 6 odd weeks to go, and gosh, I've already got an intimate relationship with Panadol going... How will I cope if I go over term (as is statistically likely)? Oh the joy of getting up 6 odd times a night (already... I thought that wasn't supposed to happen until after the birth) and having wee Bubba A regularly punching my left kidney and using my cervix and nearby organs as some kind of trampoline.
Despite being so uncomfortable, I still managed to find the energy to go slightly crazy in the weekend and decide that the washing machine needed to be thoroughly washed (including removal of the agitator and scrubbing of all the greasy crud underneath with a toothbrush). I even got excited about the geranium at the front door and spent some time this evening (ooo it has been so lovely and balmy here in Dunedin over the past few days) pruning it carefully. It is strange, going from moments when you almost totally forget that you are pregnant, to ones when you can barely move, to having your insides treated like the unlucky player at the bottom of the ruck. Perhaps this is what allows women to feel prepared for labour (light at the end of the tunnel and all that)?
Excitement tonight when I went to take a look at a blog I regularly peruse, Frugal Me to find a somewhat lengthy comment I posted a few nights ago had been featured on the blog! Hee hee, how nice!
Anyhoo, here's the latest photo, as well as a piccie of the lovely cake Mandy made for my baby shower. 33 weeks....
Monday, September 01, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Hat
I've been getting this impulse to do something with my hands. That, and the request that we take along something special that we have bought/been given/planned to the final antenatal class had me looking through my copy of Stitch n' Bitch to find something that I could have a go at knitting. This wee hat popped out (easy, cute, etc.) as an idea, so off I trotted to the knitting store to buy circular needles etc.
So here it is - my first attempt at knitting in ummmmm 15 years? It took far less time than I thought it would. Seeing as there seems to be a lot of people in my family alone that are popping out sproglets, I think I might be able to keep myself busy for the next wee while.
9 weeks to go today. I'm feeling BIG (more photos to come soon) and quite a few of the preggie clothes that I have been wearing for the past 14 weeks or so are even beginning to get tight! Went up to my parents place in the weekend as Mum organised a baby shower for us. A really lovely chance to see family. And mum ordered yummy cookies and cupcakes for the party which was awesome (I'm such a cupcake fiend!). One of our oldest family friends confided that in all her years, she had never actually been to a baby shower before! Everyone was really generous, which is such a great help (even using trade me, getting the basics is pretty expensive... though I must admit I am a sucker for slings etc in pretty fabrics).
My cousin N had her first baby in the weekend (on the other side of the world from here...). I got a few texts as her labour progressed (fantastically, she managed a 10 minute second stage of labour - I should be so lucky!), and then finally, a really neat message after she had taken her new baby girl, Emily, home, about how amazing she is.... I'm coming over all emotional now!
But seriously, the enormity of it all is beginning to sink in. I'm impatient to see what our little person is going to be and look like, but at the same time I guess a bit apprehensive about how things are going to go for the rest of the pregnancy and of course, during the labour. Our ante-natal classes are finished, and we're now seeing the midwife fortnightly. Baby A is apparently already standing on its head which is good. I like the feeling of knowing what it is that is actually poking and prodding me from the inside (I know where the legs and arms are now). So wish me luck!
So here it is - my first attempt at knitting in ummmmm 15 years? It took far less time than I thought it would. Seeing as there seems to be a lot of people in my family alone that are popping out sproglets, I think I might be able to keep myself busy for the next wee while.
9 weeks to go today. I'm feeling BIG (more photos to come soon) and quite a few of the preggie clothes that I have been wearing for the past 14 weeks or so are even beginning to get tight! Went up to my parents place in the weekend as Mum organised a baby shower for us. A really lovely chance to see family. And mum ordered yummy cookies and cupcakes for the party which was awesome (I'm such a cupcake fiend!). One of our oldest family friends confided that in all her years, she had never actually been to a baby shower before! Everyone was really generous, which is such a great help (even using trade me, getting the basics is pretty expensive... though I must admit I am a sucker for slings etc in pretty fabrics).
My cousin N had her first baby in the weekend (on the other side of the world from here...). I got a few texts as her labour progressed (fantastically, she managed a 10 minute second stage of labour - I should be so lucky!), and then finally, a really neat message after she had taken her new baby girl, Emily, home, about how amazing she is.... I'm coming over all emotional now!
But seriously, the enormity of it all is beginning to sink in. I'm impatient to see what our little person is going to be and look like, but at the same time I guess a bit apprehensive about how things are going to go for the rest of the pregnancy and of course, during the labour. Our ante-natal classes are finished, and we're now seeing the midwife fortnightly. Baby A is apparently already standing on its head which is good. I like the feeling of knowing what it is that is actually poking and prodding me from the inside (I know where the legs and arms are now). So wish me luck!
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Hmmm I wonder which side bubs is sitting on...?
Movement is definitely being felt now - in fact at times it is positively uncomfortable (belly button area being esp sensitive). There is something strange about looking down and seeing half your belly sticking out further than the other side. There is still another week until we see the midwife again, so I'm counting down to be able to find what position the baby is in etc. That will be our 28 week visit, so from then on we will be seeing her every fortnight - only 12 weeks to go! I managed a good walk down to St Clair and (most of the way) back with Amy this afternoon - for some reason I'm feeling a bit more energetic than I was a few weeks ago. I have been going to preggie yoga which is really helping the sore muscles and ligaments - they just don't seem to stick around annoying me as much now.
In literature news, I have made the resolution to resolutely ignore the statement repeated in many of the baby rearing books I have been perusing of late, that it is IMPERATIVE that I follow this or that advice that they are touting. Other than it being imperative to feed, cloth, change your baby (as well as avoiding dropping it on its head of course), I don't see how any other advice can be 'imperative' - I mean all babies are different, ay? What is good advice to dealing with one baby may not work with another....so I've decided that I must view this phrase with suspicion. There just seems to be so much critical writing out there that bombards pregnant women from every direction, I'm almost at a point where I want to shut everything away, in order to avoid imploding from the anticipation of my own inadequacy!
Right - rant over, glad I got that out.... move on....
In literature news, I have made the resolution to resolutely ignore the statement repeated in many of the baby rearing books I have been perusing of late, that it is IMPERATIVE that I follow this or that advice that they are touting. Other than it being imperative to feed, cloth, change your baby (as well as avoiding dropping it on its head of course), I don't see how any other advice can be 'imperative' - I mean all babies are different, ay? What is good advice to dealing with one baby may not work with another....so I've decided that I must view this phrase with suspicion. There just seems to be so much critical writing out there that bombards pregnant women from every direction, I'm almost at a point where I want to shut everything away, in order to avoid imploding from the anticipation of my own inadequacy!
Right - rant over, glad I got that out.... move on....
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
25 weeks and counting....
Yup I'm getting big now.... on the whole have been feeling a lot better than I did in the first trimester, but definitely get tired easy! Not as fast on my pins either (and I have a fabulous waddle going on too lol). Add to that a niggling sore muscle on one side of my groin/inner thigh that won't get better. Might try some panadol before bed tonight to see if it helps.
We finished tidying the study/nursery and spare room/study in the weekend finally, so will be able to put some before/after photos up soon. The cot arrives tomorrow (hopefully) and I scored a change table as well off trade me again over the weekend. So we are just about sorted in the furniture department. The wriggling does feel strange, and I still find it a bit hard to actually connect those scan photos with the activity going on in my belly. I am starting to look forward to meeting Baby A when he/she appears outside of my body though (that's my impatient side showing). I better knuckle down - there's a whole semester to go before then!
We finished tidying the study/nursery and spare room/study in the weekend finally, so will be able to put some before/after photos up soon. The cot arrives tomorrow (hopefully) and I scored a change table as well off trade me again over the weekend. So we are just about sorted in the furniture department. The wriggling does feel strange, and I still find it a bit hard to actually connect those scan photos with the activity going on in my belly. I am starting to look forward to meeting Baby A when he/she appears outside of my body though (that's my impatient side showing). I better knuckle down - there's a whole semester to go before then!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Hmmmm - keeping peace with the neighbours (or not)?
So for some time now, one of the new next door neighbour's has been leaving their place at 5.30am. I know this, because to do this they turn on an external light, that shines directly into our bedroom due to those charming decorative side windows you get in 1930's houses (you know the ones, either side of fireplaces?). This is despite there being (I understand) sensor lights fitted on the outside of the house. Because they've left, the light stays on until 7.30ish or when someone else gets up and thinks to turn it off.
The question is.... do I go over and ask that they stop turning it on? Is this reasonable? I think it only annoys me so much at the moment because I'm up during the night more often, and its such.a.bright.light. which makes it hard to get back to sleep (and we have covered up one of the windows with a towel, but you have to take that down every day cause the window gets moldy, and it would be $400 for blinds, and the light also shines directly into what will be the baby's room...)
Added bonus this morning - roadworkers starting at 6.30-7am outside our place. Super good, cause I'm up 5 times a night anyway at the moment peeing. The crisp clear morning air carries the beep when the trucks back up particularly well :). They're still there - repairing the damaged section of road that appeared after the heavy rain in the weekend....
The question is.... do I go over and ask that they stop turning it on? Is this reasonable? I think it only annoys me so much at the moment because I'm up during the night more often, and its such.a.bright.light. which makes it hard to get back to sleep (and we have covered up one of the windows with a towel, but you have to take that down every day cause the window gets moldy, and it would be $400 for blinds, and the light also shines directly into what will be the baby's room...)
Added bonus this morning - roadworkers starting at 6.30-7am outside our place. Super good, cause I'm up 5 times a night anyway at the moment peeing. The crisp clear morning air carries the beep when the trucks back up particularly well :). They're still there - repairing the damaged section of road that appeared after the heavy rain in the weekend....
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Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Back to skool...
Tonight Phil and I went to our first ante-natal class, yay! Run by the Dunedin Parent's Centre, I get the feeling that it will be well useful. And we have a great group - all due within a month of each other of course, but most of us around the same age as well.
Tonight was mostly about getting to know each other, but we did do a wee exercise at the end where the boys and girls went into separate rooms and filled out a big piece of paper about the physical, emotional and lifestyle changes we are going through...
No prizes for guessing what came first on the boys list ;)
Tonight was mostly about getting to know each other, but we did do a wee exercise at the end where the boys and girls went into separate rooms and filled out a big piece of paper about the physical, emotional and lifestyle changes we are going through...
No prizes for guessing what came first on the boys list ;)
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Christchurch and Cupcakes!
I'm off to Chch tomorrow - will be nice to visit the whanau and am taking the opportunity to catch up with a few friends. AAANNNNNDDD I get to go visit this nice shop.
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The one in which I complain loudly about tradespeople in this town....
Yes, well, I've had quite a day.
Our carpet was supposed to be laid today by a local carpet company. The quote process had gone fine, measuring was all done ok, and we arranged a time for the carpet to be lifted, then another time for the new carpet to be laid.
Thanks to the lavish but random tastes of the previous owners of our house, the carpet chosen to grace the main bedroom and study was a suitably expensive Cavalier Bremworth Sisal (yet they couldn't face the extra cost for proper suede finish paint for the living room, giving us their homemade sandpaper finish instead). So when we decided to finish of by carpeting the spare room (which had the rankest, dustiest old carpet ever) we were looking at around $950 to do approx 10sq metres.
The carpet layer arrived today (4 hours late).
He laid the underlay.
He laid out the carpet to be cut and put down. Then asked me "do you want the lines of the carpet to to be parallel to the door like in the other rooms?".
I'm like "What? - match the other rooms of course..."
"Um - well I don't have enough carpet to do that..."
So it turned out that the guy that had originally measured the carpet (and who, funnily enough, is no longer working for the company) had not made the obvious conclusion that we would want the pattern of the carpet heading in the same direction as that in the other two rooms done in the same carpet. So ensued an afternoon of talking to the carpet people, arranging for the correct length of carpet to be ordered ("should take about a week"), and arguing the toss as to whether we should have to pay for the extra carpet required (which I think the Consumer Rights Act says I don't).
Arghhhhhhh! What is wrong with tradespeople in this town?
This comes on top of:
- the wrong fridge being delivered to us (box was labelled incorrectly - unfortunately a lesser rather than better model)- making the total delivery time for the new fridge two weeks.
- the insulation debacle - which continues with a price increase (from head office of course) that has occured between the time we accepted the quote and the time we actually (after 2 months of emailing and leaving voice-mail messages) managed to get the stuff delivered to us (and which I am also disputing).
- tradespeople promising quotes, but never turning up to do them.
- and of course, the garden rubbish removal fiasco of last November (the $85 quote and $450 bill - don't get me started!!!!)
I really really don't know how people think that they are providing anything approaching good customer service when these sorts of things happen on such a regular basis. And I'm assertive (but not rude, I might add) about disagreeing or pointing out things that don't make sense!
What is even more frustrating is the way I am treated when I do this... in the case of the massively increased gardening bill of last Nov, it took me 25 minutes of arguing the toss with the guy before he would accept that I wouldn't pay the amount he had invoiced me, as I had a written quote for approximately a fifth of what he was asking for. Sure, I was happy to pay a bit more than the $85 as we had added to our rubbish pile - but not made it 5 times bigger in the interim, so I wasn't going to pay 5 times the quote, especially 2 weeks before Christmas.
Even today, the carpet people were not happy with me when I said that I would not be happy about having to pay the extra for the 0.3m of extra carpet that they failed to accurately measure for...
In other, more positive news, I finally made kiwifruit chutney today (a la the Edmonds cookbook). Note to self, do not use Eve apples in cooking - they don't soften up enough...and saute the onions first. And what is with the Edmonds obsession with DYC Malt Vinegar? I diluted the quantity they recommended with some cider vinegar, hopefully to improve the flavour of the chutney. It tasted ok upon completion today, but I'm going to leave it for a week to improve before trying it properly for the first time.
So how was your day?
Our carpet was supposed to be laid today by a local carpet company. The quote process had gone fine, measuring was all done ok, and we arranged a time for the carpet to be lifted, then another time for the new carpet to be laid.
Thanks to the lavish but random tastes of the previous owners of our house, the carpet chosen to grace the main bedroom and study was a suitably expensive Cavalier Bremworth Sisal (yet they couldn't face the extra cost for proper suede finish paint for the living room, giving us their homemade sandpaper finish instead). So when we decided to finish of by carpeting the spare room (which had the rankest, dustiest old carpet ever) we were looking at around $950 to do approx 10sq metres.
The carpet layer arrived today (4 hours late).
He laid the underlay.
He laid out the carpet to be cut and put down. Then asked me "do you want the lines of the carpet to to be parallel to the door like in the other rooms?".
I'm like "What? - match the other rooms of course..."
"Um - well I don't have enough carpet to do that..."
So it turned out that the guy that had originally measured the carpet (and who, funnily enough, is no longer working for the company) had not made the obvious conclusion that we would want the pattern of the carpet heading in the same direction as that in the other two rooms done in the same carpet. So ensued an afternoon of talking to the carpet people, arranging for the correct length of carpet to be ordered ("should take about a week"), and arguing the toss as to whether we should have to pay for the extra carpet required (which I think the Consumer Rights Act says I don't).
Arghhhhhhh! What is wrong with tradespeople in this town?
This comes on top of:
- the wrong fridge being delivered to us (box was labelled incorrectly - unfortunately a lesser rather than better model)- making the total delivery time for the new fridge two weeks.
- the insulation debacle - which continues with a price increase (from head office of course) that has occured between the time we accepted the quote and the time we actually (after 2 months of emailing and leaving voice-mail messages) managed to get the stuff delivered to us (and which I am also disputing).
- tradespeople promising quotes, but never turning up to do them.
- and of course, the garden rubbish removal fiasco of last November (the $85 quote and $450 bill - don't get me started!!!!)
I really really don't know how people think that they are providing anything approaching good customer service when these sorts of things happen on such a regular basis. And I'm assertive (but not rude, I might add) about disagreeing or pointing out things that don't make sense!
What is even more frustrating is the way I am treated when I do this... in the case of the massively increased gardening bill of last Nov, it took me 25 minutes of arguing the toss with the guy before he would accept that I wouldn't pay the amount he had invoiced me, as I had a written quote for approximately a fifth of what he was asking for. Sure, I was happy to pay a bit more than the $85 as we had added to our rubbish pile - but not made it 5 times bigger in the interim, so I wasn't going to pay 5 times the quote, especially 2 weeks before Christmas.
Even today, the carpet people were not happy with me when I said that I would not be happy about having to pay the extra for the 0.3m of extra carpet that they failed to accurately measure for...
In other, more positive news, I finally made kiwifruit chutney today (a la the Edmonds cookbook). Note to self, do not use Eve apples in cooking - they don't soften up enough...and saute the onions first. And what is with the Edmonds obsession with DYC Malt Vinegar? I diluted the quantity they recommended with some cider vinegar, hopefully to improve the flavour of the chutney. It tasted ok upon completion today, but I'm going to leave it for a week to improve before trying it properly for the first time.
So how was your day?
Monday, June 23, 2008
Heaven is....
Homemade hummus eaten in the kitchen with carrot and celery sticks....
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