Some Pictures

The Start:
(Well, I was hardly going to post a photo of the real start):



The End:
(Or is it actually just the beginning. This photo was taken when Sam was 1 or 2 minutes old. The umbilical cord has not been cut yet.)


Proud Mummy with Baby:

"Sisterly Love":

19 Days Later...

Samantha Elizabeth Squire is 19 days old now, and at last I have simultaneously got the time and the emotional energy to write!

The short story is: Samantha is a beautiful healthy baby girl. She was born at 0416 on Thursday 15th October, weighing in at 3.51 kg. After some (normal) initial weight loss she is generally breastfeeding well and has now almost recovered her birth weight.

Here is a comparison of the vital stats on the labour and birth:


As you can see, there were lots of things that were a lot better second time around. As Midwife Victoria says, "No-one should have to have a first baby!" (Sorry to anyone who hasn't had their first baby yet.) In fact, the worst thing about the whole experience this time was having my tear stitched up afterwards. That's not to say the labour and birth didn't hurt this time! But it didn't hurt for as long, so the recovery was much easier.

Unfortunately, after a terrific birth experience, our family has had a tough first fortnight...

The first problem was that due to my fast & furious labour, I didn't get the IV antibiotics I needed to protect Sam from a Group B Strep infection during the birth. I tested GBS+ while pregnant with Cassie. This infection has no effect on adult carriers, but can cause serious problems including meningitis for babies infected during the delivery.

We monitored Sam by taking her temperature every 2 hours or so during the first day; it was a little high but not quite in the danger range. So, we were just about to head home with her 13 hours after the birth (Geoff was literally about to put her in the car seat) when we were told to stay in hospital for another 24 hours of observations. They took a blood test that night at 3am and it turns out Sam had a high white blood cell count. This was consistent with infection, so they decided to start her on 2 kinds of antibiotics. We then stayed in hospital for another 3 days for antibiotics and further observations. The good news is, no bugs grew in the blood cultures - the suspected infection was probably a false alarm. We still don't know what caused the high temp and the high white cell count.

I was very pleased to head home by Monday 19th - hospital is neither pleasant nor restful. Actually, I found the whole sense of isolation from family (especially Cassie), friends, community, weather and time to be very depressing.

Unfortunately, we still had to wait a few more days for a whole family to come together under the one roof. Cassie came down with croup on Friday 16th, with the first signs becoming evident about 1 hour after she'd given Sam a big, infectious "kissy cuddle". I'd heard of croup, probably in period dramas or novels, but didn't know much about it. It's a respiratory inflamation caused by various viruses. It can land kids in intensive care. Luckily, Cassie only needed the GP. It was still very stressful though. It's also been stressful worrying about whether she passed the illness to Sam. So far so good on that front.

Cassie spent a few days in isolation with her grandparents, and came back home to us last Saturday. She's enjoying her little sister, but has been generally a bit more naughty than usual as she adjusts to the new shape of our family. I guess this is to be expected.

Our only other stress is that Sam has occasional days where she feeds very poorly and vomits. This was really worrying, but seems to be gradually improving over time.

39.5 weeks and into uncharted territory

Warning: This entry is a bit of a whinge.

I'm now only 5 days out from the official due date of 19 October. This date is based on the ultrasound conducted at 5.5 weeks when I had bleeding issues. Apparently the earliest scan is the most likely to provide an accurate date since there is greater variation between fetuses at later scans. At the time the baby was only 2mm long from crown to rump...it's a lot bigger now!

I've now entered uncharted territory as Cassie was born 6 or 7 days early, so my first pregnancy didn't actually last this long. I was optimistic that I would go a little early this time too, but after some false-start tightenings on Saturday and again this morning that amounted to nothing, now I'm not so sure.

Actually, I'm feeling pretty crappy this week. I walked to Belconnen town centre last Friday when I was still feeling great and smugly thought to myself: "39 weeks pregnant - ha!". But since Saturday a more intense kind of back pain has kicked in and now I am having real mobility issues just getting around the house. Not to mention lifting 13 kg or so of Cassie in and out of the car seat...she can mostly do this herself but still needs a bit of help sometimes.

I'm not sure if the back pain is because of the size of the baby or because it is tending towards being posterior, which makes me want to bend forward all the time. My joints are also extremely loose and I have to be really careful with any kind of twisting motion or I feel like my hips are about to dislocate.

I also don't remember my tummy being this itchy last time! It is infuriating. A playgroup friend suggested taking a photo of my bare tummy but as it's covered in red scratch marks and horrible purple stretches it's a sight I'd rather not see (and certainly won't post on my blog). Bugger - maybe I won't be wearing my bikini this summer after all!! (Something tells me there'll be other priorities to worry about anyway...)

Anyway, I guess I'd better sit tight and be patient. I hope the baby swings around into a better position before the labour starts for real. I got Geoff to read up on accupressure points to ease posterior labour pain just in case it doesn't move:

http://acupuncture.rhizome.net.nz/Acupressure/problems.aspx.

There are some videos linked to this website that are also really helpful. Apparently some of these points are also good for inducing labour if you are overdue. Obviously, I feel a little cautious about random advice picked up over the internet this way, so I hope I am coherent enough to ask the midwife about this next time I see her (particularly if I go into labour before the next appointment on Monday!).

Any Day Now ??

In a rare flurry of organization, I packed my Birth Bag this weekend. I'm not sure whether this was inspired by our attendance at the Birth Refresher course on Thursday, the rapidly looming due date, or the predictions of nearly every random stranger I meet that the baby will come early. I'm pretty sure these predictions are based on my rapidly looming belly!!

Anyway, packing the bag was a pretty straightforward exercise, except for the selection of musical accompaniment. Last time I didn't bother with music. This time, I'm thinking it can't hurt and might even help. Of course, if I was truly organised, I wouldn't need to bother selecting music in advance. I'd just pack my fully loaded and operational MP3 player and so have access to our full music collection. No such luck though - I actually need to choose some CDs. Anyway, Victoria (the midwife) has advised us that she is "sick to death of Enya". That's fine. There is no way in the world I would be giving birth to Enya. My current selection includes Sacred Spirit [a kind of combination of American Indian music, electronca, classical], Faure's requium, some Hildegard von Bingen, Oceania [polynesian], some Moby and Loreena McKennit. I suppose there is fair chance that I will never want to hear any of these items again afterwards...

Geoff's suggestion of the Ride of the Valkeries has been rejected out out hand, although maybe I should just take it along just so that I can make him listen to it out for 13 hours or something.

I was feeling a bit strange about taking a Requiem to a birth, but I feel reassured by the liner notes, which say "'It is as gentle as I am myself' wrote Faure,...Not for him classical models from Mozart to Cherubinin, nor anything histrionic as in Verdi...'My Requium expreses not so much the fear of death as the peacefulness of eternal rest'...". I guess if the music is not reassuring then I can always get Geoff to read our the liner notes over and over!

The "Non Pharmacological Pain Relief" handout supplied by the Birth Centre also suggests getting the support person (i.e. Geoff) to repeat simple words and phrases such as "Open, release, you're doing well, we're getting there". Sounds good. The suggestion to "Visualise your vagina opening like a flower" is less helpful. I'm sorry, but pushing a person out of my body just doesn't bring floral images to mind. Or it certainly didn't last time. Sorry if I just grossed you out.

Fully Qualified Big Sister

Cassie graduated today from the Big Sister Course at the Birth Centre! Her first step in formal education is complete, with a certificate to prove it! So, Cassie will be ready...it's a shame about the rest of us.

Highlights of the course included:

• Drawing a picture of "Mummy with the baby in the tummy". Cassie has produced a lovely piece of abstract artwork which I can't share due to us not having a scanner. She is starting to get the hang of sharing textas and other toys with other kids too, which is nice!
• Close up look at a real placenta, from a baby born at 9am today. Cassie's reaction was "Mmm...eat" [loudly]. This was a bit worrying. I guess it looks like liver but we don't eat a lot of that in our household. By the way, I didn't eat Cassie's placenta and I'm not planning to eat the placenta from this baby either. Still, it would be more nourishing than the 10 pieces of toast I ate last time seeing as I was 10 minutes too slow giving birth to get the proper breakfast. (How slack of me). This time, I am taking a container of my Mum's delicious spaghetti bolognaise. Complete with wheat and tomatoes (sorry Geoff). Mmm, a lot more apertising than placenta.
• Seeing a 4 day old baby being bathed. For Cassie, this was the best bit. Unfortunately, it was all happening at a very ergonomic height for the adults, which meant that I had to lift Cassie up for 15 minutes so she could watch. Very exhausting. This baby was tiny but he weighed 5.2 kg when born. I really really hope ours isn't that big!!
• Seeing a birthing video. As soon as she could see the baby's head coming out Cassie said "Needs bath". I tried to convice her that they could probably wait until the baby was fully born before they worried about that. Anyway, Cassie didn't seem at all distressed (or amazed) by the graphic video, but 2-year-olds can take a lot in their stride. Still, I'm not planning to have her at our birth. I found the video a bit hard to watch as it's so intense. And I will be experiencing something like that in about 3 weeks.
  

On the downside, I drove around TCH for 20 minutes without actually finding a park so we were quite late to the course. Cassie and I ended up running across Garran oval together. Probably this was very valuable experience...if I need to travel to the birth centre in labour during the daytime I think we will take a taxi. Although Canberra Cabs is pretty bad too...

In other news, I have yet another cold (I've had several mild colds in the last couple of months). Everytime I get a sore throat I am completely paranoid about swine flu, but it's definitely just a cold this time...Hopefully it will be mild again so that I'll be completely recovered before going into labour.

Great books for a big-sister-in-training

I know it is a bit strange to post two blogs in one day, but I have to pay a quick homage to two library books which must be returned tomorrow. Cassie has requested both of these books almost daily since we've borrowed them (acutally, sometimes, about 3 or 4 times in per day). And I'm still not sick of them!:

• "Hi new baby", by Robie Harris, illustrated by Michael Emberley. This one is about the first few days an ambivalent big sister (pre-school age) spends with her little baby brother. It's told from her father's perspective. The illustrations are particularly beautiful, with lots of emotional, realistic close ups of the girl and her family. The language is a bit American ("Mommy", "diapers" etc), but that's a pretty minor gripe. (It also features a slightly unrealistic episode in which Grandpa changes the new baby's nappy. Ha ha!! As if that would ever happen. In 2 years neither of Cassie's grandfathers has ever been anywhere near a nappy that needed changing!!)
  

• "There's a house inside my Mummy" by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Vanessa Cabban. This one is my favourite. It explains pregnancy from the perspective of a two year old big-brother-to-be, and begins with "There's a house inside my Mummy, Where my little brother grows, Or maybe it's my little sister, No-one really knows". The funniest page has got to be: "I just can't wait to meet him, I hope that he's alright, My Daddy says be patient, As his door is rather tight."!!! Seems funny now, I'm not sure if I will think like that when I'm in labour. Anyway, I like this book so much I think I'll buy a copy. I just hope it doesn't encourage the little brother/sister in our family to demand another baby.
  

Cassie will also be doing the "Big Sister Course" at the Birth Centre in a few weeks. I'm not quite sure what the curriculum is, but I've got to say some of the kid's drawings of "Mummy having a baby" that were posted on the wall at the Birth Centre featured Mummies with disturbingly realistic facial expressions!

Father's Day 2009

Today is Father's Day and I'm feeling guilty about making Geoff work so hard. We gave him a picture Cassie made at playgroup with her painted footprints and a slogan saying "Put your feet up Dad". We didn't actually mean it though!

He's out in the rumpus room right now painting the final coat on Cassie's new wardrobe. He's also been busy this afternoon helping me with my chook house, although I've actually been doing most of it myself. Here is the plan. Even though the total extent of my construction experience is a "C-" in Year 7 woodwork and metal work, it's really not that hard. And if things don't quite line up then I just repeat this reassuring mantra: "It's not precision joinery. It's only a chook house.". So far I've only done the top and bottom of the frame, but that's a start and I feel really encouraged. Actually, I feel proud every time I look at it! Builders must have great job satisfaction.

We are planning to get 3 isa-brown chooks. This should produce about 14 eggs per week which is great as Cassie absolutely loves eggs. I really hope the new baby likes them too (after 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding, of course). This is all inspired by my friend Lena who has 3 chooks, which are a great source of interest to her 2-year-old son. Cassie loves them too. When we visit, she stands near the chook house saying "Hello cooks [sic]", feeding them grass, and trying to pat them. So far she hasn't been nipped...but I'm sure that's only a matter over time.

Anyway, hopefully it will be finished by the time the baby comes. It's due in 6 weeks, although Cassie came a week early so I'm working on the assumption that could happen again. Thank goodness it's only 6 weeks to go, as I already weigh more than I did when Cassie was born, and I don't think my stomach can stretch too much further. I keep on bumping into people and things when I forget that I can't go through narrow spaces anymore.

Otherwise, I'm feeling ok though. Thankfully, the indigestion doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as it was with Cassie - I haven't even emptied my first packet of Rennies yet. Not working full time is a big help too: I think that sitting down at a desk is just about the most uncomfortable position you can be in during the last trimester of pregnancy. Feet in the ribs in particular is something that I always notice when I'm sitting typing.

My next midwife appointment is tomorrow, but at the last one four weeks ago I found out the baby was in the head down position. Very reassuring. I don't think it's rotated but I guess I'll find out for sure tomorrow. Certainly the regime of 4-weekly midwife appointments is a bit different than the fortnightly (or maybe it was weekly by this stage) obstetrician visits last time.

Anyway, Happy Father's Day to Geoff and all other Dads. I'm lucky that Cassie and her "bro/sis" have such a great Dad! I'm sure that I don't express my appreciation enough (probably like many busy Mums!). But everytime I feel so happy everytime I hear Cassie squealing with joy when she's playing a silly game with Daddy, or when she's getting a nice "kissy-cuddle" with him, or when he goes to lift her out of the cot when she wakes up at 5am (happy that Daddy's fetching her, not happy about the time, that is!), or when I see them reading or drawing or playing at the park together.

Wow, 32 weeks!

I thought I should update my blog since it's been neglected for so long and there are only 8 or so weeks now until it becomes obsolete!

Geoff and I have been busy lately trying to reorganize our freezer, our house and our lives in order to get ready for the new baby.

I have been trying to cook about 4-6 extra food serves per week to put in the freezer so that I should not have to cook much during the first month. This has involved a major waste disposal operation as the freezer was formerly the last resting place of many ancient, unregonisable and unlabelled food items, which are now in the bin. I hope my current efforts don't go the same way! I was feeling pretty good about my progress on this job until I spoke to another lady this morning who mentioned that the frozen food she carefully prepared was useless. She didn't have time to defrost it with her new baby. But then, her new baby turned out to be twins. I'm sure that would be more than twice as bad as one baby!

We spent $1,400 at the Whitewood warehouse last weekend buying bookshelves, a desk, and a new wardrobe. Unstained. Probably a big mistake as I now have to paint them myself. I will use low-odour paints to avoid breathing the chemical nasties. All this should allow us (finally!) to provide Cassie with the furniture she needs in her new room, and consolidate the remaining junk into a combined spare room/study. Cassie should also be able to move into a "big bed". I'm embarrassed to say that, at 26 months, she's still in the cot. I'm not sure if we will actually move her now, as it may be a little obvious to her that she's being booted out of her current lodgings by the new baby. Also, we have wised-up a bit since our first pregnancy, and now I know that the best place for a new baby for the first few months is actually co-sleeping in Mum and Dad's bed. Or at least, I hope it works out to be a bit easier that way.

The only other minor job on our list is to get that bloody deck built. I don't think we will ever build a house, as this tiny 26 m2 deck (which we are engaging a builder to construct) has been challenging enough. Every step in the process seems to involve some pitfalls, and so far I'm only talking about the planning and the DA, and the project is actually exempt from needing a DA! The latest item was having to ensure that the WHOLE HOUSE complies with the current Building Code of Australia energy efficiency requirements in re relation to window glazing. All this because we are replacing one (aluminium framed single-glazed) window (with a double glazed door). Surprise, surprise - our 1971 house DOESN'T comply with 2009 regulations! To fix this little problem, the building certifier advised me to manually change the U-value and shading coefficient of the existing glazing until the overall result was compliant. He earnestly told me that this was not "dodgy"! Isn't it good to see that the bureaucrats who design these systems are so sensible.

Geoff and I took some time to ourselves last week when we took ourselves off to the beautiful Country Guesthouse Schonegg. This was our first-ever (and last-ever, for a long time) night away from Cassie. The Guesthouse is in Murrumbateman, so you can see that I was not very confident. Cassie is not quite weaned yet, so I wasn't sure about going away for more than 1 night. Anyway, we had a lovely time. Delicious food at both dinner and breakfast. The people who owned it were truly hospitable (something the "hospitality" industry has generally overlooked), and the rooms were even solar passive!

Only two weeks to go till my mat leave starts! Yay!

Some nice food I cooked this weekend

Here is a diversion from pregnancy-related news. These recipes were particularly yummy. This food is a bit heavy but it is the depths of winter here. I love cooking, and it's actually fun have the challenge of doing this on a somewhat restricted budget (compared with pre-kids days, anyway). Other restrictions include Geoff's extensive list of allergies and Cassie's fickle and finicky preferences.

Wintry Chicken Stew (Makes 6-8 serves)
Why? Because Peter L and Sally came for dinner, and the mushrooms needed using up.

Butter or olive oil, for shallow frying.
1 onion, coarsely chopped.
3 large chicken breasts, coarsely diced. (approx 1.1 kg)
2 tbs flour
2 tbs butter
750 mL chicken stock, hot
¼ cup white wine.
1 desert spoon of rosemary (I used dried).
1 desert spoon of thyme (I used dried).
500g mushrooms, quartered.
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Approx 1kg mixed chopped veggies (carrot, celery, green beans, zucchini)
Juice of 1 lemon
Small amount pure cream (75 mL).
1 egg, beaten.

Fry the onion in the oil until it has softened, remove from pan.

Seal the chicken breast pieces by lightly frying, then remove from pan.

Make a roux of flour and butter in the pan.

Gradually add about half of the hot stock and whisk until smooth.

Add the chicken and onion, then add the wine, herbs, lemon zest and mushrooms.

Add more stock so that the food is mostly covered.

Simmer gently covered for about 40 mins to 1 hour.

Add the rest of the veggies and lemon juice. Add more stock if needed and simmer for another 20 mins to half an hour till the veggies are cooked. Leave it uncovered if you need to reduce.

When it is done, turn off the heat and add the cream.

Add the egg, stirring continuously.

Serve on mashed potato or rice with chopped fresh continental parsely or other herb to garnish.

Better if cooked the day before and reheated, so the flavours can develop.

Italian Sausages with Apple-Cabbage Sauce (serves 3)
Why? Because Italian Sausages were on special for $7.99/kg at the Jamison Deli...mmm-mmm.

1 onion, roughly chopped.
2 cloves garlic, crushed.
Olive oil, for frying (I used garlic-infused oil from Milawa).
¼ cup white wine.
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced.
1 teaspoon brown sugar.
¼ largish purple cabbage, chopped.
1 cup chicken stock.
A handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped.
6 thick Italian pork sausages.
Parsley to serve.
Sweet potato or ordinary potato for mashing.

Shallow fry the onion in oil until softened.

Add garlic.

Fry for 30 seconds or so more then add wine and apples. Cook for 1 minute further.

Add cabbage and sugar. Stir for 30 seconds or so until the sugar until the sugar is all mixed in.

Add the chicken stock and sage. You don't need too much liquid.

Simmer with the lid on for 5 to 10 minutes until the cabbage is cooked and apple is soft.

Meanwhile, grill the sausages and prepare some sweet potato or ordinary potato to mash.

Serve sausages on mashed potato. Top with the apple-cabbage sauce and some fresh chopped parsley.

25 Weeks - Dedicated to the Magic Tuby-Grip

This blog is dedicated to the Magic of Tuby-Grip. Tuby-Grip is a wide, elasticised stocking-bandage, about 25 cm diameter when unstretched. It stretches a LOT, as it is now wrapping all the way round my belly, from my chest to my hips.

I need it because my abdominal muscles separated badly last I time was pregnant (about 3 finger-widths apart). Despite occasionally diligent tummy-squeezing excercise, I only brought them back to 1 finger-width separation before getting pregant again. This puts a lot of strain on my back, especially with a 2 year old whose favourite words seem to be "Up cuddle" and "Carry"! (Putting her in the car seat is a particularly horrible torture for me. While she is able to get in herself, she's not often willing).

Anyway, when I mentioned this to the Midwife Victoria, she promptly arranged for two lengths of Tuby-Grip to be delivered to my house. I resisted wearing it for a little while since it's uncomfortably tight at first, but now I'm wearing it all my waking hours and it's helped my back soooo much.

What's Baby up to?

Baby has been kicking quite a lot for the last few weeks. She(?) seemed to particularly enjoy the Justine Clarke concert that I took Cassie to last Friday - I'm sure she was dancing. Like Cassie, she seems to have active days and quiet days. I try not to get too paranoid on the quiet days, but maybe some degree of paranoia is inevitable for many parents, including me.

Speaking of which, I've also recently experienced the first Braxton-Hicks contractions. This is worrying, as I never really noticed any at all with Cassie. But according to my pregancy book, they can start as early as 20 weeks. Several people have mentioned to me how your body responds more quickly to the hormones the second time around. Maybe that's one reason why I'm finding this pregnancy physically harder than last time, with generally more back ache and pelvic pain.

Trying to stay fit.

I've been making an effort to recover my fitness since getting over the morning sickness.

Unfortunately, my resolution to emulate Geoff's 40-something-year-old colleague and keep riding my bike up until 38 weeks gestation has already fallen by the wayside. I've taken Cassie to daycare in the bike trailer twice in the last fortnight, but I've now decided that towing the trailer is just too hard. It's up-hill all the way home and even empty, the trailer is pretty heavy. I kind of wish we had have spent the extra money to get the lovely, lighter, streamlined Chariot. Instead, we have the cheaper, stodgy-but-reliable Croozer. But I think Geoff's colleague had an advantage because she lives in the flat inner-North. And she wasn't towing a toddler. Anyway, it's not a competition...

I've also given up badminton as of this week. It's just getting too uncomfortable to lunge and change direction quickly. Picking up the shuttle is hard too! And my doubles partners probably feel more like they're playing singles.

On the positive side, I'm still managing to do a lot of walking, although I'm really feeling the effort when I push the stroller up-hill, espeically when it's laden with Cassie + shopping. I weigh nearly 60 kg now, about 10 kg more than usual. I can't believe how much difference this makes. I wonder if overweight people feel like this all the time, or if the pregnancy is making it worse. I hope to keep walking for the rest of the pregnancy. Actually, there should be more opportunities for walking when I go on leave in September.

Good-bye to tracky-dacks, hello e-bay bargains.

I felt a bit depressed a few weeks ago when I realised I had been wearing tracky dacks nearly every day for 2 months (since my jeans got too tight). Unfortuantely, my maternity clothes from last time aren't really suitable since they're not warm enough for this time of year and they were horrible anyway. My local Australian Breastfeeding Association runs a maternity clothing pool, but apparently their stock starts at size 14 and up...maybe that's what I would need next time, if there was a next time.

So I looked on e-bay, and picked up a bargain with 7 lovely tops and 3 pairs of trousers for $74! What a great buy. I have hardly worn my trackpants at all since these new clothes arrived, very liberating.

Unfortunately, all the buttons popped of my coat last week. My mother-in-law came to the rescue with two coats for me to borrow. It's nice to be warm again, although it is a bit strange to see myself wearing her clothes (Geoff thinks so too!)

21 Weeks

We're over the halfway mark now. It's hard to imagine the chaos that will descend on our household in just 19 weeks or so!

Here is what's been going on since last time I posted:

Cassie's 2 - and Nearly Weaned!

Cassie turned 2 on 29th May. We celebrated over lunch with my parents ("Gol" and "Pop"). Cassie didn't eat much of her main course, but she really enjoyed Gol's flourless chocolate cake. The photo (taken by Pop) shows just how much she liked it...

She also loved her birthday presents. Highlights include a swing set and a tricycle. Her legs are a bit too short to reach the tricycle pedals, but it has a handle so we can push it. The handle is at a very ergonomic height. It's a shame that the handle bars aren't - Cassie can't steer yet and bending down to make constant corrections is a little tiring.

The other exciting news about Cassie (well, exciting for me!) is that she's nearly weaned. There were several days this week when she only had one breastfeed in 24 hours. If you consider that she was having 8 to 10 feeds per day back in January, this is a big change. Of course, most of those 8 to 10 feeds were very small - I think they were more about entertainment and cuddles than nutrition.

I would like to say that she weaned herself, but this isn't true. The only way that I could find to wean her was simply by saying "No" or "Not now" about a million times. I tried "Don't offer, don't refuse", but it just didn't work for us.

Of course, I feel bad about reducing this source of pleasure for my daughter, but it will be impractical to have a toddler still feeding so frequently when we'll also have a newborn soon. I don't mind if she keeps up her one or two feeds per day though. Apparently a toddler is a much nicer and more effective means of dealing with engorgement than getting out the breastpump. No need to bother with sterilising... and no heart-breaking chuckaway of expressed breast milk if the baby doens't want it from the bottle.

Some people also seem to think that tandem feeding might help with sibling rivalry. I'm not so sure; it's probably different in every case. And it really will be hard for Cassie having to put up with a new baby.

Oh, and for the record, weaning does not seem to mean that she sleeps through the night reliably!

Ultrasound number 3

We had ultrasound number 3 on Monday, at 20 weeks and 1 day. The good news is, everything looks good! I even remembered my glasses so I could actually see the on-screen images for myself. It is hard to say that a ghostly-looking ultrasound image is cute, but the feet and hands actually were! I'm not so sure about the face. The skull outline that you see in the ultrasound just isn't cute.

We still don't know if it's a boy or girl. There was no sign of a penis, but according the sonographer, the baby was in an arkward position, so it would have been hard to see anyway. Also, apparently the penis is only a couple of mm long at this stage, so that probably makes it hard to spot too!

I think it will be nice to have the surprise of finding out the baby's sex when it's born. Although, I probably will be beyond caring at the time...if it feels like last time.

Anyway, we will have to keep trying to think of both boys and girls names. The current favourites are Imogen if it's a girl or Timothy if it's a boy (Immy or Timmy!). So far we've changed our minds dozens of times, so I'm not sure if these are the final choices.

The Importance of Iodine

Ladies, if you are thinking of getting pregnant, you should also think about taking an iodine supplement. You need to keep on taking the iodine until your bubba is weaned.

Iodine deficiency can lead to thyroid problems for Mums, and problems with brain development for the baby.

Apparently, we used to get heaps of iodine from table salt, but since nobody uses much of that now, 50% of Australians have an iodine deficiency. (How ironic - we are mostly having far too much salt overall - but I suppose the salt in processed food isn't iodised).

We can also get iodine from seafood, but seeing as pregnant and breastfeeding women are told to limit their seafood intake due to the mercury content it is probably hard to get enough iodine that way.

After hearing a segment about this on the radio on Wednesday, I bought some iodine supplement today. Actually, I couldn't get straight iodine supplement, I needed to buy a pregnancy multi-vitamin. It was the chemists' own brand. The more expensive and more heavily-marketed Elevit didn't actually seem to have any iodine in it!

For more details see:
Thyroid Association of Austalia

Nearly half way

Well, another 3 weeks has flown by, with hardly a chance to update my blog. Life is really busy now that I'm well again and trying to make up workwise and socially for 3 months of being sick. We've also just returned from a road trip to Melbourne where Cassie finally met a bunch of Geoff's relatives. This was long overdue given that she turns 2 next weekend! Cassie is quite a good traveler, but everything takes a lot longer now that we have to make frequent, obligatory stops at parks for her to run around and exhaust herself so that the next leg of the trip will be bearable.

We also spent a few days in Bright, which was nice, although the whole place feels very touristy. We stopped in the same place where we spent 2 nights in 2004(??) when we rode the Murray to the Mountains rail trail. We were even assigned to the same cabin, which was completely unchanged. This was a strange feeling given how much our lives have changed since last time we stopped there.

Everything's going smoothly with the pregnancy at the moment. Apparently I actually look pregnant now (as opposed to just a little bit fat!), as I have had a couple of strangers asking me when the baby is due.

I finally meet my birth centre midwife a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Victoria and she is very nice. I'll be seeing her around once every four weeks during the pregnancy, and then she'll be helping me during my labour, unless it coincides with her annual leave, a rostered weekend off, or another client giving birth. She is only assigned to about four or five women per month, so I hope there's a good chance that she'll actually be there. She came to my house and we talked for about an hour and she did a check up. All this is for free, as it's through the public health system! Why am I paying for that private health insurance??

Anyway, I think it's great to have a chance to meet the midwife in advance. When I was pregnant with Cassie I had an ongoing relationship with the midwife who worked for my obstetrician, but as she doesn't actually attend births this felt a bit pointless. Of course, the obstetrician himself was only there for the last little while.

Meeting the midwife has made me think a bit more about what I hope will happen during the labour. I didn't think about it much last time - for the first half of the pregnancy it seemed too remote, for the last half I was too scared. It also seemed pointless to even think about "birth plans" since you can lose control of the situation so badly, and so fast. I remember our yoga teacher saying "Just trust your body, it knows how to do this. You need to go with the flow", and trying to agree but thinking "Yeah right. Then how come so many women have so many problems".

While that's still true, it probably is important to have some idea of what I want to happen, at least if everything does go right. So:

*I really want to feel confident that the people helping me will give me the right advice for any situation. Hopefully knowing the midwife in advance will help with this. Last time there were a few critical points when I suspect I might have been given the wrong advice.

*I am going to try to remain in some kind of upright position. Last time, I ended up lying down (legs in stirrups). Apparently when you are semi-reclined your pelvic opening reduces by 30% and the angles are all wrong. Of course, you are also working against gravity. All this means it will take much longer, be harder, and you're much more likely to tear.

I think I knew all this last time too but I'm probably a bit more determined this time. I've told Geoff that he will really need to try to make me get up if I have to lie down for any reason (e.g. monitoring or checks). He is going back to fencing training next week so that hopefully in 4.5 months from now he'll have nice strong legs to help physically support me.

*I am not going to have pethidine. Last time I had it and it was utter rubbish. I remember about half an hour later asking whether they'd actually given it too me as I couldn't notice any difference at all. The midwife agrees - she says the main effect is to make you sleepy. Of course, if you're tired you're more likely to end up lying down...

That's all I've decided for now, but there's still plenty of time. If I feel like it, I'll have a water bath, lavender oil, customised music. Why not? It's certainly worth it even if it just makes it a tiny bit easier.

16 weeks and counting!

Hello,

Welcome to the blog of my 2nd pregnancy. I've just reached 16 weeks, and now that the morning sickness has finally lessened, it seems like a good time to start blogging. This will be my last pregnancy - I hope - and so my last chance to record pregnancy thoughts and feelings as events unfold.

My first pregnancy produced a daughter, Cassie, who is now 23 months old. Like most 23-month-olds, she's very cute, often infuriating, and generally heaps of fun to be around. She already knows about the "bee-bee", and seems to think that she has one in her tummy too!

The other person involved is my husband, Geoff. We're both feeling simultaneously happy and terrified about the prospect of a 2nd child. Sometimes we wonder why we're risking our hard-won equilibrium, which took a long time to re-emerge after Cassie's arrival...but hopefully it will be worth it!

A quick update on events so far:


Getting Pregnant:

Luckily, this seems very easy for us and happened nearly straight away after we started trying. Actually, I only had one period between Cassie's birth and this new pregnancy. That is one of the joys of "extended" breastfeeding!

Finding out:

I took a pregnancy test when my period was 1 day late, as I was keen to get into Canberra's famous Birth Centre. Everyone says it's "virtually impossible to get in... You practically need to phone up if you're planning to have sex when you think you might be fertile". I thought that was a bit excessive, so I waited a little longer...

Well, to my surprise, the 2nd little line appeared on the wee-test, so I phoned up the Birth Centre straight away, even before phoning Geoff. Amazingly, I got in, although I had to lie a tiny bit about the due date. Not a problem, as it's only by a couple of days.

Straight after doing the test I was hosting a Breastfeeding Association on Tandem Feeding, which seemed suddenly very topical. It was all I could do to hold my tongue and not announce to everyone at the meeting that I was "29 days pregnant!!!" Especially when the councilor hosting the meeting commented that she must have a trustworthy face, as several friends had announced to her that they were pregnant before they'd even told the babies' fathers...But, I did actually succeed in keeping it a secret, at least until I went to the doctor and did a second test to confirm.

I was very happy when we found out from the Dr's test that I really was pregnant. I resolved to really enjoy my pregnancy. I hated being pregnant the first time. I had bad morning sickness, followed by bad indigestion. I felt like an elephant the whole time. I felt completely unsexy the whole time. I didn't even much feel like going out at all during the last 3 months. Anyway, that was a big mistake, as all those things get much harder once you've got a newborn...

First 3 months:
Despite my resolution to have fun, the first three months can only be described as awful.

At 5.5 weeks, I experienced some spotting, and of course was scared I was about to miscarry. I also became paranoid that I might have an ectopic pregnancy. An ultrasound showed that the baby was in the right spot - big relief. I felt much better even though the horrible ultrasound sonographer did her best to make my day unpleasant.

Luckily, the spotting stopped, and around the same day that I had the ultrasound, I started to feel the first few twinges of morning sickness. At first, I felt relief, after all, this is supposed to be a sign of a healthy pregnancy. That was soon replaced by a feeling of "Oh no, not again", when I realised that the morning sickness was going to be just as bad as it was with Cassie. If not worse...

Not very nice to be feeling nauseous 18 hours/day (i.e. all the waking hours), losing much of your food intake, totally dependent on help from husband, parents and in-laws to keep the household running.

Luckily, I improved a bit at 11 weeks, just in time for me to play my flute at my brother Michael's wedding ceremony. Very relieved, as I was so worried I wouldn't be able to play.

11-15 weeks was ok, then at 15 weeks I caught a gastro bug off my daughter (I think), which seemed to restart the morning sickness. Or maybe it just took a week to shake the gastro bug. Yet again, I was feeling sorry for myself and generally unhappy with the whole world. It's hard to think about anything, let alone the changes that you and your family will face with the arrival of another child when you are experiencing all-encompassing nausea.

And now?

I've been feeling good for the last 2 days, and am really enjoying life again! Of course, it helps that the last 2 days have been perfect Canberra autumn weather. 17 degrees, completely clear and cloudless, no wind; perfect for walking near the Lake and appreciating the autumn trees.

Of course, life was cheaper when I was sick. Maybe to make up for all the time at home I've felt like visiting cafes and eating out all weekend. Geoff can never say "no" if I suggest eating out or takeaway, so I really need to show some restraint.

We also bought a Very Expensive Pram yesterday. It's a "City Mini by Baby Jogger". Note it's not actually suitable for jogging and comes with a warning label saying not to exceed 3mph. As if I'd be jogging after the birth of a new baby...

Actually, it cost nearly $500. I can't believe we spent that much. I felt like a complete yuppy walking with it this morning with Cassie in it. But I'm hoping it will save us money in the long run as it folds up really really small, and I think it will actually fit in our very small car with 2 baby seats and a load of shopping. Hopefully, this means we won't need to buy a new car. I really don't want to submit to a high-carbon lifestyle and buy a Falcon or Commodore...

The new pram is also light enough that I will actually have a chance of lifting it in and out of the car within 3 months of giving birth - no such joy with the Bema Q!

Anyway, that is just about up to the minute.

Photos coming soon, I hope.