ten weeks old

my little girl is ten weeks old

Lucy has a toy called Crunchie. It crunches and Lucy loves it. She grabs it and eats it and stares at it. She is becoming more and more alert every day. She winks and smiles and raises her eyebrows.

She does a cute opened eye thing if you take a photo of her with the flash.

She has started to laugh. It's only happened a few times. She mostly just gurgles but a few times she has been really laughing. It's the best.

She has a bit of a sniffly nose again. It was really sniffly on Saturday night. I put her down to sleep and she sounded like a little baby pig. So I called my mum and she said to drop some saline up her nose. It worked really well and she slept for a good long while.

She is becoming much more vocal. She sings along with me and chatters away. She likes words that start with G (gee, gah etc). Her cries are getting louder. She cries when she is overstimulated and sometimes it is tricky to get her to calm down. Myl is a superman at getting her to be happy. He sings to her with his big deep voice and she is in heaven.

She is getting better at feeding (or am I getting better?) Sometimes she is very picky about the side she wants. She will make hunger signs and then wail if I give her one side so I think she isn't hungry till I try the other. It's never the same side though. She is a kook!

We went out for dumplings with my siblings on the weekend. Lucy loves her aunts and uncles. She put on a very good show of smiles and cuddles. Sometimes I think she is better behaved for other people than for me.

I love her oh so much. Looking at her makes my heart ache. Holding her makes me feel so happy. I'm loving being a mama. It is so wonderful.

birth story (part one)

We had been waiting for our little girl a long time. My due date came and went and I was getting so eager to meet this little person who I knew was growing inside of me.

On Monday the 28th of March, my Mum and I went walking on King St Newtown. We were on a mission to get some buttons for a sweet little cardigan mum was making for the little one. There is a fantastic button shop right down the end of King St so we decided to walk down there looking at shops on the way. We thought this might be a nice way to bring on the little one. I guess we were right. I was feeling pretty pooped by the time we finished walking. We wound up at the Berkelouw book shop. I flopped down in a chair and made up my mind to stay there indefinitely.

Myles arrived and we had some ramen. The bookshop has a ramen bar. How cool is that. It felt a bit strange to be sipping noodles surrounded by books but the ramen was good. As we walked out of the shop all of a sudden I felt a strong cramp. The kind of cramp I needed to hang onto Myles to get through. It was about 6:30. I got excited. I hadn't felt anything like this before. It hurt so bad but so good at the same time. We got into the car and the cramp came back. Oh boy it hurt. On the way to Newtown that morning I had enjoyed going over the bumps, thinking they might bring our little one on but heading back every bump felt like torture. I writhed around in my seat and longed to be home already.

When we got home the contraction had ended. I got all pro active and finished packing my bag. I put in some baby clothes and a few last minute things. My excitement may have been a little premature as I had gone through a grand total of two contractions but I felt like doing something. After a little while of me prancing round the house doing labour exercises to encourage contractions and getting all maternal, we settled down to watch The Lord of The Rings - Return of the King. (as you do) I was desperately trying to not get my hopes up. I felt like something was  going to happen but had felt like that before.

The contractions weren't too strong but they were coming pretty regularly. About 5-7 minutes apart. I would have one and ask, "How long was that one?" getting more and more excited each time someone said, "five minutes." They were just not very strong. Frodo and Sam were so close to getting that ring into mount doom. I was watching but was so distracted. I was thinking of all my labour exercises and breathing techniques. I was wondering if ramen was a suitable food to keep my energy levels up. I kept getting up and needing to go to the bathroom. Just as old Shelob was sticking Frodo with her pincers I got up to go and my waters broke. All over the lounge room floor. (I'll leave it at that) Something was definitely happening.

I got in the shower and stood there till the water went lukewarm. (Darn small hot water heater) I was shivering with excitement. Myl and I exchanged some meaningful looks. We would be meeting our little one soon. The gears were all in motion. We called the birth centre full of anticipation. The midwife told me to try and go to sleep and call in the morning. My contractions were not strong enough. I was pretty gutted. I wanted to go in and get this baby out. I hung up the phone and went to go back to Frodo.

Now this was the point where I am eternally grateful to have a midwife for a mother. Mum pulled me aside and checked the colour of the waters. "I think there's some meconium in there." she said. I had not really noticed the colour at all. I would have happily gone to bed and waited for who knows what. I am so thankful my mum was there.

So we called the birth centre again and I told her what we had discovered. She told us to come in straight away to get checked out. We were back in action. I was excited and apprehensive. We got the bags together and went out to the car to go in.

to be continued...

more of the babe

I just had to post this photo my sister took of my little baby girl.
She is such a good baby.

We had her first big outing today. (The official first was to her aunt and uncles house last night for dinner.) We went to church this morning and she was so well behaved. She pretty much just slept the whole way through with breaks for cute eye blinking and little smiles.

She is such a calm little girl. Feeding has been such an interesting and wonderful time. I'm getting the hang of attatching her and my body is getting stronger to cope with a little one feeding from it. She is such a hungry little girl and is getting fatter by the day. It's nice to see her growing from the food that I produce for her. Pretty special.

She doesn't much like the bath or having her nappy changed but is easily soothed by a cuddle. She is a very cuddly girl. She is never as happy as when she is lying on someones chest or being held tight.

She has met lots of her family and is getting used to some faces. She has lots of quality Granny hugs with my mum. They like each other. She likes seeing her aunts and uncles. (Especially her aunts.) She takes to anyone who will give her a cuddle really.

She really loves her dada. Myl has been reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to her. His deep voice puts her straight to sleep so she doesn't hear so much of the story but enjoys it anyway. I'm sure he can read it to her again. She knows his voice and looks around for it when she hears it in the room. His smell can calm her down and he has been such a trooper in changing nappies. He has changed way more than me.

I have had such a great time being a mum so far and I'm sure it's because I've got Myl and my mum here. This afternoon I had a looong nap and Mum had some granny time. There is always food around that I didn't have to cook, nappies changed, baths given and babies handed to me in the middle of the night. I feel so so blessed.

That's enough for now. There is so much to write about my little girl and being a mama. I'm sure I will have many a post for the next few weeks. Not to mention all the photos I still haven't taken off my camera.

Stay tuned for a sweet guest post tomorrow!

good girl!

There is one special little lady in my belly.
After going to my last midwife appointment and being so worried about her facing forward and not backwards she has turned around and is in perfect position for birth.

At the moment she is all primed and ready to go. Mum has been doing regular checkups of her position and at the moment she is rrriiiiight down in my pelvis. 1/5.

It's all getting so close. Every night I go to bed thinking I could wake up in labour in the morning. Each morning I wake up thinking I could go into labour today.

Thankyou so much for your prayers if you have been praying. Our great God really does listen.

Still waiting but it could be soon!

Image Credit - Kid independent.

the mamas mama

This is my mama. Isn't she beautiful? She is going to be a grandmama soon. I've got a sneaking suspicion she is a little excited. Correct me if I'm wrong.

My mama is pretty wonderful. I wrote about her here for her birthday.

My mama is a super midwife. She has been my pregnancy hotline for the past 9 or so months. She was the third person to know about our little one. (Me, Myl, Mum.)

My mama is going to be there when the little one comes into the world unless she is delivering other babies or the little one comes in less than 3 hours. (The time it takes my mama to drive to Sydney.)

I've done loads of things with my mama over the years but I think this one will be the best.

Fresh Milk

 Warning- this post may contain too much information. It is about breasts so if this topic makes you squeamish I suggest you look to another post.

For everything you wanted or perhaps didn't want to know about breastfeeding and breasts in general, look no further than Fresh Milk: The Secret Life of Breasts by Fiona Giles.

Like most of the books I have read this pregnancy, I was given this one by my mum. I think in actual fact I may have bought it for her for a birthday one year. I can vaguely recall going to our family favourite bookstall and asking for the book my mum had ordered so I could buy it for her. I remember being a little startled (though not surprised) to see two large breasts on the front cover. Such is the life of a daughter of a midwife.

It was this same image that made reading this book on the train a little difficult however this is one of the themes the book discusses. Is or should popping your boobs out in public be a questionable offence? Especially when said boobs are used to feed a small child?

Fresh Milk is a series of short anecdotes that tell of womens struggle with breastfeeding, joy in discovering the usefulness of their bodies and their new identities as mothers. Breastfeeding is not all glowing faces and beautiful times. Some of the women seemed to go through terrible pain and anxiety in their quest to feed their little ones. Cold cabbage leaves, cracked nipples, milk that wont come. But through all this many of the women persisted and all in all said they wouldn't have given it up for the joy that they experienced through feeding their child.

This book leaps head first into the more socially awkward avenues of breastfeeding. Children breastfeeding at older ages, (one boy still going at eleven) the sexuality of lactation, adoptive mothers and their ability to breastfeed and even has a few recipes for breast milk in the back. It does so unashamedly and though I giggled like a schoolgirl or was shocked into silence by some of the stories I found it a really interesting read. It opened my mind to a whole side of breasts I had never thought about before and while I don't think I'll be trying the breast milk pumpkin pie anytime soon it gave me a greater appreciation of my body that has been created to sustain my little baby's life for at least the first six months of her life.

and this?

My mum saw this mornings post and decided that one cute baby photo was not enough for one day.

Love you mum.

Here is the girl version. A little me.

It's pretty much impossible to tell what our little girl is going to look like from the ultrasound but I guess she will be a mashup of her mama and dada. Big eyes I think are a winner and I think she might have my little button nose.

Whatever she looks like I'm sure she will be wonderful because she will be ours!

My mama

It's my Mama's birthday today.

Let me say she is pretty much one of the most amazing people in the world.

She was born in India and moved here when she was little all by herself to come live with her grandparents. A little sweetie pie with an Indian accent.

She met my Dad at church. He thought she was sixteen. A sweet girl but a bit young. She was really nineteen. They got married soon after.

They moved to Bathurst and had babies. They built the house they live in today.

I remember..

cooking with my mum
painting, drawing, making salt dough.
Pretending to play school.
Mum sewing clothes for us. Fleecy pj's and school uniforms.
Going to the shops.
Having picnics in the yard.
reading books.
Mum teaching me how to sew and crochet.
giving violin concerts.
Going to home reading and canteen with mum.
Cuddles on the couch.
Mum accidently running up the back of a car in Orange.
Sushi night.
Watching House.
reading the bible together.
Mum decorating my room when I was away at camp
with a fluffy rug and fairy lights.
calling my mum from Sydney when I missed her.
Calling my mum from Sydney with a diamond on my finger.
Calling my mum from Sydney to tell her she would be a grandma.

My mum is a midwife. She gets to be my own personal midwife for the little one.
It's so nice to share this time in my life with her.

She is the greatest mum in the world.
I love her so so much.

Happy Birthday Mama.

Introducing the cutest little nose in the family.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Here is the little one.



















Everything is well. All bits and pieces are where they should be and the little one is growing and moving and being very cute.

I had a much nicer ultrasound experience than the last one. No crazy bladder pains and a very friendly technician.

They had a sign in the waiting room that said only one visitor allowed which was a bit of a problem as both my Mum and Myl had come to see the show. But the friendly man let them both in as long as they stayed quiet.

It was so wonderful to see the little one on the screen at long last. No longer was there a blobby duck but fingers and toes and a little face and backbone.

I think the most precious thing was seeing the hands and feet. Little one gave us a wave and was dancing and jiggling all over the place. Those feet definitely belong to Myl.

Now for the big question... boy or girl?

Well.. someone knows. We got the technician to write it on a card for us and it is currently sealed and away in a place only Myl knows where. I'm really itching to find out. Mum says she could tell but if she could she is not telling anyone. She may be bribed and coerced but as far as I'm aware she hasn't even told my Dad. So its a surprise folks. We will find out at our Itsa party on the 20th.

I really want to know.

I'm getting boy vibes cos those feet were ENORMOUS.

It was so nice to see the little one. I'm so happy all is well and good. It's so nice to think of the little one swimming around in there having a ball.

Womb with a View

I am really excited.

On Tuesday we are having an ultrasound. We get to look at the little one again.
This time there will be less rubber ducky and more cute baby hands and faces
and bellies.

I'm thrilled to bits.

My mum is coming down in the morning and we are going to spend some time together
and then the US is at 2pm at the hospital. My mum is super excited. Maybe it's something to do with her first grandbaby and all. She sees babies born all the time at work but this is one she gets to cuddle and love forever... I'm actually a bit worried she may steal the little tacker after the birth.

I have been told that the hospital is terrible at keeping appointment times.
This makes me worry a small bit. My appointment was 45 mins late at the birth centre.

I'm sure it will be all fine. I may have to take a drink bottle (If you know what I mean)

SO

this is the ultrasound where they can tell if its a little bobby boy or sweetie pie girl.

Yes we are going to find out... most likely.

I'm now having doubts about finding out.

Is it better to find out or have a surprise? What did you do? Are you happy with your decision?

If we do find out we are going to have an "it's a" party in the park when Myl finishes his exams. We will let the whole world know on that day and there will be sweet treats and prizes and lots of fun.

For all we know the little one might decide to be modest and we wont be able to find out anyway.

Problem solved.

Image credit; Flickr kirakirahoshi

baby gifts

I was given some lovely little gifts for the little one.




















Paper crane mobile made by my mama.
The tag says
"May you know the joy of a little beak under your wing."



















Blanket crocheted by my mum in record time.
I think she hopes it's a girl just quietly.












Booties made by my mama. What a clever lady.













Booties from my friend Jen. Cutie pie moos.

Date - Maya Indian Food.

I have Indian heritage.

You might not know it to look at me but I do. My mum was born in a little town called Belgaum on the western coast of India in a military hospital. Her dad was in the army. They moved around a lot.

She is an Anglo-Indian which means she has English in her as well as Indian. Her life was more European and she has lighter skin. Hence why I don't look so Indian.

One awesome thing our family has gotten out of mums heritage is the love and appreciation of Indian food.

Maya is an Indian restaurant on Cleveland St Surry Hills. It is run by the sikhs and is therefore vegetarian. Mum is always taking us there when she comes to Sydney and I know my Gran and Pa are regular customers.
So we thought why only go when Mum comes to town. Why not go ourselves. So we did.

We had samosas (left) and dosas (below)

 A samosa is... spring rolls for Indians?

A dosa is like a big savoury pancake with potato curry inside and little dippity curry things to go with it.

Highly technical descriptions I know.
 If you can do better feel free to comment.

It tastes good.  

It was a really lovely date.

We ate and chatted and watched funny bolly
wood film clips on the screens in the restaurant.

I like Myl
I like indian.

We have fun together.

Dressed for Power

I've been going to womens convention for about five years.
Each time it is really wonderful to hear from amazing women of God about
our Lord and how to live in response to what He has done.

This year four generations of my family went. My nana, my mum, me and the little one.

It was really nice to spend time with women in my family whom I admire and look up to.
There is such a wealth of experience there and so much love.


What did I learn?

- As a woman and child of God my power comes from God.
- He creates in us a desire to love others in this world.
- He looks after us. He is great, glorious, good and gracious so that I don't have to be in control.
- He says good things in our lives so we can trust him.
- He is powerful in our times of struggle and need.
- His love in us shines to all the world.
- He treats our actions seriously and has dealt with them.

It is great to sit in a big shed with 1000 women all from different walks of life and know that God loves us all.

That he is in control of us all.

what dreams may come

I had a horrible dream last night.
It's the second in a series of terrible baby dreams.

It was time for the little one to be born.
Out came this beautiful, perfect precious little thing.
I was trying to remember all the things I wanted to do when the little one came out. Having a feed, having a cuddle etc.
All was going well.
Untill...

The little one turned into a duck.
And not just any duck. A really naughty duck.
A naughty annoying duck that made my parents cat hiss and try to eat it.
I was so dissappointed that I had given birth to a duck.

I didn't want the little one anymore.
I suggested to my mum that we keep it in the chicken pen.
She thought that was very rude seeing as though it was my baby.

The first dream like this was that I had a rabbit for a baby. It kept chewing through bits of wood and pretty much everything. I didn't want this rabbit baby either.

These are the only baby dreams I have had the whole pregnancy.
It has put me out for the whole day. : (

My mum said she had a dream where she gave birth to lizards.
Maybe this would be worse than an annoying duck and naughty rabbit?

Have you ever had a weird baby dream?

little gift for a little one

My mum taught me how to crochet booties a few years ago. Since then I have been making them for friends and family.

It's extra nice to make them now that I know they will adorn the sweet little tootsies of my little one.

These are made with multi coloured wool that just so happened to work so that each section was a different colour. Pretty special.

More home-made baby things to come!

birth centre

On Saturday Myl and I went to the birth centre at RPA to meet a midwife and have a tour of the place.

It was pretty exciting to be there. We got to meet a few other parents to be who were on the tour with us and learn a bit about what happens in the birth centre.
It would be really nice to have the little one there but there are so many things that can happen that mean I will need to go to the delivery ward next door.

It was pretty amazing to be in the room where it all could happen. There were two other women in labour at the time and although we couldn't hear them at all it was a nice thought that little lives were starting all around us.

The midwife spoke about choosing your birth partner. Its definitely going to be Myl but she said you can have as many people in the room as you want. I think I would just like Myl for most of the time but it might be nice to have my midwife mumma in there for a bit. It could be a very long time. See how I go on the day.

I'm so glad we went and figured out where the place is as on the way there we got a bit lost and ended up in a staff only section of the hospital?!?!
It's so close to our house that the closest parking is almost at our house.

Next step - midwife appointment and ultrasound at 19 weeks!