The waiting game

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!!

Ours was VERY quiet. Since we didn't know where we'd be on Christmas Day, we decided to cancel Christmas this year, well - the gift-giving bit anyway, but we still got together with family and shared the day and a lovely meal.

But, we're still waiting for our best present ever!!

Tic tac was officially due on the 22nd, although technically they say that 75% of babies are born AFTER their due date. We're now 4 days "overdue" and I dont think there are any signs that we're close. At my 40 week hospital checkup on Tuesday, the midwife said that the head hadn't fully engaged yet, and although softened, I hadn't started to dilate yet. Disappointed! We just want to meet the little bugger, although I guess if its not ready, its not ready!

Its hard not to be frustrated. Even though bub will come when its ready (or when the hospital decide), I feel like all the pressure is on me to "perform" - everyone is so impatient to meet tic tac, and I reckon at this time of year its so much worse, because of all the other special/important dates around this time. At least the weather has cooled down a bit and its not so humid. Trying to enjoy my last few days of "freedom" anyway!

Next hospital appointment is on Tuesday, and if still nothing has happened then we'll be booked in to be induced - something I'd really like to avoid if possible. So we're trying every trick in the book to get things rolling, if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Here's a couple of pics we took on Xmas Eve - we were sick of sitting around the house waiting so we went for a drive to Manly harbour and had a wander around... took our fur baby Elke for a walk along the water - here she is with me and the bump!

And afterwards in the car - shattered!

Enjoy your boxing day everyone, and keep fingers crossed for us!

Dreaming of Screaming...

With thanks to System of a Down for the title...

Both of us had dreams of birth last night. I woke up to tell hubby that I'd just dreamt of having the baby. In the dream, I arrived at hospital on my own, because hubby was running late. There was a male midwife, who saw me to a room - where I had just hopped on the bed, and 5 seconds later gave one LITTLE push (hardly any effort really) - and suddenly the baby was born and taken away from me! I was told its a girl, and then the midwife told me I had two options, I could either stay there, or check into a hotel!! LOL!

Hubby dreamt that I was having contractions, while we were sitting in the carpark of a landscape nursery... I dont know what we were doing there!

Hmmm, well I'm still here anyway, and so is the bump.

For the last week I've been getting period-pain type cramps that come and go - perhaps these are Braxton Hicks? (I have no idea). And today I cant walk too well because I seem to have pinched a nerve in my groin area. Took Elke for a longer walk today, and was absolutely shattered when I got home. Lots of little stabbing niggles down below. I keep waiting for something to go "KABOOM" - this is it!! But nothing yet. Every little twinge I'm like "Is this IT?" I'm running out of patience!

Anyhoo... this is the new "Hil-mobile" - forgot to post pics when we got it a few weeks ago! Naturally, its a Ford!

And this was me on Saturday night (thought I should post one with my head still attached, just once!) - at the end of our housewarming party, feeling hot and bothered and about ready to collapse!

Ok, I'm ready for it to be over now

Yep, I'm ready for this baby to be out now!

This is just a horrible, horrible time of year to be heavily pregnant (and not in air conditioning). Its been so hot and humid, and I'm just so uncomfortable now...

The swollen feet are a given (I waddle like a slow-moving duck these days), but in the last week my hands and fingers have decided to join the "fluid retention party" - and now I cant get my wedding/engagement rings off. This is upsetting me more than anything else, its just SO frustrating and annoying, and really starts to freak me out if I think about it too much.

Yesterday I had my regular appointment with my chiropractor, and was telling him I couldn't get the rings off. Well, I had his entire office staff, other chiros, and my chiro's wife all trying different things to get my bloody rings off! Ice, elevation, lubrication - nothing worked! Felt quite funny to have so many different people standing around discussing different techniques that might work LOL! Their final suggestion was to have them cut off - something I'm reluctant to do to my beautiful rings.

So I'm just trying to ignore it for now, its not like I have purple fingers or anything, its just frustrating and annoying more than anything. I feel so stupid cos I SHOULD have taken them off weeks ago, but in my stupidity I thought "Naaahhh, my hands wont get swollen!!" - famous last words!

Week 38 hospital visit was on Wednesday and some good news - at my last visit at 36 weeks, Tic Tac was lying posterior (its back was against my back) - so after much effort this last fortnight (getting down on hands and knees, leaning forward when sitting down, not putting my feet up, lots of walking etc) we've managed to get bub to turn - yay! They are not concerned with the swelling, chiefly because my blood pressure is still on the low side of normal.

So its in position and ready to go - now just have to wait I guess! Officially we have 11 days to go, but of course its all up to bub and whenever he/she decides it wants to join us. Technically if they allow me to go 10 days overdue, then we might not be having a baby until 1st or 2nd of January... ugh!

We are having a housewarming party here on Saturday night (yeah great timing huh?) so it will be a busy weekend. I've told hubby that I'm not planning on jumping up and down serving people all night, so its a sausage sizzle and he's doing most of it (I'll make a salad and then put my feet up) - lets hope it goes to plan!

Have an awesome weekend!

Where's the cat?

The other morning I couldn't find the cat in any of his normal sleeping haunts... where is he?

Mmmm, there's a strange lump in Elke's dog bed...

Is that a little paw poking out?

Found ya!

Lemme alone mum, I like it under here!

Elke: Ok, but where am I going to sleep?

We are lucky enough to have a fully screened in patio area at our new house, which is where Elke sleeps at night. She spends most of her daytime indoors now, and Connor spends most of his daytime out in the enclosed patio area, sunning himself. Elke would rather come in and drink water from the cats small water bowl, and Connor would rather drink from Elke's huge bucket of water which is on the patio! Its like having kids! (except they dont talk back LOL)

Cravings

Photo at 36 weeks pregnant.

No car news yet, we hopefully pick it up tomorrow (Tuesday)

Anyway, cravings. I haven't really experienced many. I've had the odd occasion where I felt like having something in particular, but it wasn't a desperate urge or anything.

To date, they have been:

1. In the first trimester - fruit. I'm not a big fruit lover at the best of times, but I wanted and ate a fair bit of fruit in the first 12 weeks. I'm over it now though!

2. In the 2nd trimester, on one occasion I suddenly thought I could "smell" pickles. You know, like the ones on a Cheeseburger. Then I thought about pickles all day. Told hubby about it, and he went and got me McDonalds that night, LOL!

3. Last week, I really felt like one of those icy poles that comes in plastic tubes. Like the ones you give to kids, from the supermarket. So I bought a packet, and have been having one now and then - hits the spot right now because its so hot and humid lately! I guess its like wanting to eat ice...

4. Today - All I could think about was having a HUGE cold salad for lunch. No protein, just lots of crisp iceberg lettuce, onion, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, capsicum, cucumber and avocado. So I've just finished it - yum! I dont really understand this one, because I have salad probably 4 nights a week with dinner (the other nights are steamed veg), so its nothing special, but for some reason I REALLY wanted salad for lunch!

Now that I've got some time up my sleeve, I've been experimenting with some baking. Last week I made bread rolls for the first time, and yesterday I made some Almond and Strawberry Friands (ooooh yum!). I only ate a couple, and the rest go to hubby for his lunches (he's lovin it!). Think I might also try making some Calzones, or Foccacia bread, for his lunches. I'm not a natural "baker" (I'm hopeless with measuring and weighing ingredients) and I cant seem to stick to a recipe (I've got a bad habit of throwing extra stuff in for some reason, for experimentation - which is great when cooking, but not so good when baking). But for some reason, I feel like baking. Maybe its the nesting instinct??

3 weeks to go (unless tictac is late of course)!

Maternity Leave

Ok, so here I am, maternity leave. I finished work last Friday (big sigh of relief) and am now patiently waiting… waiting… for a baby to arrive.

4 weeks to go (am now 36 weeks along), and next week bub will technically be considered “full term”. Makes me laugh when people say to me “wow that’s gone quick!”… man, I feel like I’ve been pregnant FOREVER! I would just like tic tac to be out now, seriously, its been lovely to have another little being growing and kicking inside me, but I’d really like my body back now!!

Work gave me a baby gift card, so I happily went and spent that on Monday. Just a few small items to get now, and I’ll feel ready! I still haven’t packed any bags, so I must get to that this week – just in case. I’ve got lists galore, and have got so much stuff to get done in the next couple of weeks (get tax done, hospital appointments, massage appointment, get a few more baby/hospital supplies, pack hospital/baby bags, get baby capsule installed, organize bubs room, dentist check up etc) so I’m not exactly putting my feet up just yet (and with my feet swollen to resemble elephant-man, I really should be!)

One thing that is still up in the air is a car. Can you believe that we STILL don’t have a car for me yet? Because hubby is such a car (Ford) enthusiast, well, he’s been researching a car for me for the last 6 months. Its got to be a performance car (for him, when he’s on his own), and a safe & reliable car for me and bub. Hard to find something that ticks all the boxes. To me, a car is a car, but its so important to him! My company car stayed at work on Friday when I finished, so currently I’m driving around his hotted up XR8 ute (his pride and joy). It’s a manual though, and an absolute BITCH to get into reverse. I do enjoy driving it though, I feel a bit tough! Here's a pic - wouldn’t you feel like a hoon if you drove this?:
Anyway, we sorted something out yesterday, fingers crossed we’ll have a new car by the weekend (and bye-bye XR8!)

Today I'm going for a pregnancy massage, and I cant wait. I've certainly relaxed and loosened up a bit since I finished work on Friday, but my shoulders are still pretty tight. A bit of pampering will be nice though.

So nothing too thrilling to report here - catcha next time...

Fat feet

Hubby has always loved my feet - he has often said to me that one of the first things he notices in a woman (after a face, boobs etc) is their feet.  Its surprising actually how many of his mates share this same opinion actually!!   I don’t think it’s a foot-fetish, but apparently it IS important (in his opinion) to have nice feet.

 

Anyway, currently I have fat feet.  And at the end of each fat foot, I have 5 fat little sausages for toes…  This swelling only really started a few weeks ago, and its gradually getting worse, and some days are worse than others, depending on the weather, and how long I sit/stand in one position.

 

I'm having great fun tormenting hubby with my ugly feet now - I keep saying "Look at my swollen FEET!!" and he just about shrieks and runs away!  LOL!  Not quite, but it IS funny!  Ankles have disappeared too, on both sides.  It is quite bizarre.  Luckily I have no swelling anywhere else.  Elevating my legs at the end of the day helps a bit, but you cant do that at work!

 

We had our all-day ante natal class last Saturday, which we actually quite enjoyed.  We learned quite a bit, we both asked heaps of questions, and it was great to have a tour of the birthing suites, and to see the rooms in the maternity ward.  The great thing about my hospital is, although its public, you get an individual room - nice.  We watched a couple of birth videos, which for some reason made me want to burst into tears.  I just found it so emotional watching this woman go through all those contractions and pain, having her hubby supporting her and helping her, and then the actual birth (which was graphic enough in detail, and freaked me out a little bit) - just so … moving.  I blinked back the tears though, had to remind myself that I was in a room full of 30-40 strangers!

 

I'm having my baby shower this Saturday, and really looking forward to it.  One of my friends has organised it all, so I just get to sit back and relax!  (After I clean the house from top to bottom of course)

 

Oh and I have decided to finish work a week earlier than I'd planned, its just getting too much.  I will be 35 and a half weeks by next Friday, which is enough for me.  So I have only 5 days of work left - yeeha!   I've got so much to do after I finish though, to get organised for tic tac's arrival.

 

Have an awesome weekend!