...merry christmas...

Sooooooo I'm a little late thanks to the busy-ness of the season with a 12 week old BUT -

Merry Christmas everyone! And Happy Holidays! Whatever and however you  celebrate, we hope you had an amazing time with loads of love xxx

baby Olivia's birth story - Part Two!

Catch up on Part One here -

...not long after my Mum arrived we made the decision to head to the hospital because the pain had gotten so bad I felt I wouldn't be able to get in a car if we left it too much longer!

So, we did one last trek around the house, trying to think of anything we had missed that we would need, locked up and headed to hospital...

After arriving at the hospital (and oh boy, getting out of our suburb was interesting while in labour....full of twists, turns and roundabouts!) the hubs dropped my Mum and I at the front, parked the car and then joined us, and we made the slow trek to the birthing suite. Upon arrival, we were informed that the caseload midwife working that day was in prep with another client, as she was getting ready to have an emergency caesarean. So we waited for a monitoring room to be ready for us (all the while my pain level was getting worse!) and I was hooked up to a monitor for baby's heart rate to be monitored.

I was so excited to have yellow straps...
everything for Little Bean was yellow!

It felt like we were in that room forever! All I wanted to do was get in the hot shower and it felt like I was waiting for an eternity...meanwhile, the pain in my hips was getting worse and worse with every contraction. I eventually got off the bed and tried sitting on a chair beside the bed, leaning onto my husband or the bed...until *finally* they let me get into the shower in the room - only to discover the water in the shower was inconsistent, going from nice and hot to cool! Talk about irritating! All I wanted was hot, hot, hot! I had used a heat pack all the way to the hospital, and I remember getting one of the massive gel ones while I was waiting for the shower - it just didn't do the trick!

I tried to work through the pain in the shower for as long as I could, but it just kept building to the point I felt I couldn't handle it - and it didn't feel right. Having been in the labour room with my sister, when she gave birth to my nephew, I had a fair idea what to expect (my poor sister was in labour for 3 days!) and I have a fairly high pain tolerance. However, the pain I was getting during contractions was all in my hips - it honestly felt like my hips were going to crack! I started mentioning to my husband that I didn't think I was going to be able to do it without some assistance...

After a while, we were moved to a birthing suite - number 5! By this stage, I was pretty much set on getting an epidural. Anyone who knows me knows how much of a big deal that is, and I think the decision to get the epidural was harder than actually getting the epidural! However, the midwife who was watching us had set up the bath for me to try first, and encouraged me to use some gas. The gas I HATED, and after one contraction I told them to get it away from me - it made me feel dizzy, nauseous and out of control...not something this a-type lady wanted! The bath just didn't help at all...I feel like if I had gotten in it sooner, when I was managing the pain a little better, I might have held out a little longer.

After the gas attempt, I got out of the bath to get a cannula in preparation for the epidural. The guy was lovely, particularly when I gave him a heads up about my phobia of all things medical, in particular needles. I think the cannula was worse than the epidural! The epidural was so scary for me, I have always been scared of getting one so I was terrified. Luckily the anesthesiologist we had was lovely, and listened to my fears and helped me through it (I advised her that unlike most patients, I did *NOT* want to know what she was doing, for her to just do it). This was where our Calm Birth preparation really helped me - I focused on my breathing to really keep myself calm and still as I was terrified of moving while they put in the needles. I remember the anesthesiologist asking at one point if I was having a contraction because I was so focused on breathing - I wasn't!

After the epidural, everything suddenly became peaceful and I knew I had made the right decision. I had been in natural labour for approx. 6 hours at that point (I believe I got the epidural around 12.00?), and suddenly I felt like I could actually enjoy the process of giving birth to my baby. I remember passing my sister in the hallway on the way between the monitoring room and the birth suite (she had been adamant that even if I couldn't have her in the room, she was waiting in that hallway until I gave birth) and I couldn't handle the thought of anyone else in the room, no matter how much I wanted to give her the experience she gave me. However, after I had the epidural, I had my Mum go and get her, and she spent the rest of the time in the room with us. It was so nice to be able to do that...I am still a strong advocate for natural birth, and I will try again next time, but having the epidural was the right decision for me that night - as it turns out, it was a good thing I got it...

To be continued...

:: 2 months old ::

Dear Livie,

I can't believe you are 2 months old already! The time is flying by and I am just not ready for it. You are already trying to do so many things, and I wish you would stay my teeny, squishy baby for longer. In saying that, I'm so proud of how clever you are and how much you are taking in the world around you and wanting to learn new things!

The best thing about my day is your milk drunk snuggles in the middle of the night and your bright, happy smiles every time you wake up. As sad as it is to see the teeny little Livie disappearing, the new personality that shines through every week makes me excited to watch you grow.

Just please don't grow too fast.

I love you my baby girl.

Love, Mama xxx

TWO MONTHS
26/10/2013 - 26/11/2013
Weight: 4.86kgs (clothed) - a whole kilo more than last month! - & 55cm long

Clothing Size:0000/Newborn BUT you are completely out of any footed 0000/Newborn because of your length. Not too much longer and I think you'll be in 000!

New Milestones/Firsts: First Halloween!, first Christening (for your cousin Kimberly!), first birthday party and lolly bag, first Christmas party (Poppy's family party!), first purposeful rolls from belly to back and first accidental roll from back to belly! You had your first trip to the Plaza at 7 weeks old to purchae Mia's birthday present. You also started "talking" - ie. making purposeful sounds in response to our conversation with you!

Loves: Still in love with your Daddy but Mama seems to be getting a bit more love these days :) You also love your "Minnie Mouse" rattle my aunt bought you, your singing Lion, "Gemima" doll from Playschool (Nanny bought you a Playschool Nursery Rhyme book and every time she is on the page you grin at her and go quiet!), your bedtime routine (oh my, she lets us know when she is ready for her bath, massage, feed and bed!) and foot massages (this one is Daddy's job :) ) and you have recently started loving to play "peek-a-boo!"

Milestones I think she is close to: Real laughs/giggles - you already do this in your sleep, but you have recently started to make the connection when something fun is done repeatedly to you (eg. tickling your belly) - you will smile before the next time happens and I think the next step will be a giggle! You are also trying so hard all the time to pull yourself up to sit up!

Sleeping: Still all over the shop during the day, though slightly better than it was, since we started using some Infacol to help your poor belly. Night time is still really good, you have generally been going to sleep from about 7 or 8 til between 12 and 2, then waking 3 hourly after that. Last month I mentioned you had a day of 2 hourly feeds...as it turns out, you have silent reflux. Our doctor got suspicious of it when we took you in at approx. 4 1/2 weeks for the sniffles and a cough, when she couldn't find any infection, etc. She advised that it can been signs of silent reflux and sure enough, that weekend your coughs turned into coughing up something and swallowing it, then you started screaming and arching your back while feeding. Your 2 hour feeds had been an attempt to soothe your sore throat! 5 weeks old was the worst week and unfortunately coincided with your tongue snip. We started you on thickener during the day and your sleeping and feeding got better!

Favorite activity/toy: Still love Minnie, but also a fan of your singing Lion. You also still really love tummy time, despite being a reflux baby! You definitely love your baths and massages very night as well

Best part about being a mum: Late night, milk drunk snuggles and your beautiful grins!

This month we: Had a lot of adventures! Lots of parties and celebrations. We also had our 6 week check ups, and you had your needles. You did so well with those! You cried while they were being given to you, then afterwards only cried for a minute in Mama's arms before starting to have a very cranky conversation with Mama, Daddy, and the nurses! They thought it was so funny, you sounded like you were telling us all off and would be wagging your finger at us if you could! The nurses loved you and couldn't stop going on about how gorgeous you were :) Made Mama proud.

You also had your tongue tie snipped at 5 weeks - again, you did beautifully and only cried for a few minutes. I think it was harder on Mama and Daddy, watching them do something like that to you! But we knew it was something you needed. You were grinning at the doctor and nurses beforehand and barely cried afterwards. After 5 weeks of feeding difficulties and Mama fighting to get someone to believe something was wrong, the first time you latched on afterwards was such a relief! We still had a rough time for about a week and a half while you relearned how to use your tongue, but then we had a week and a half where you suddenly "got it", and did amazing!!

We also started going to the "Meet and Greet" at the Community Health Centre, to meet up with other mums and bubs! It's been a lot of fun so far, and our friends Kate and Imogen, and Kate and Peyton, are all going as well! The 5 week course looks like it is going to be lots of fun.

Another month over...and I still haven't finished Livie's birth story! I do promise it's coming but you know the saying - babies don't keep. Blogging can sometimes wait. I'll be around more soon, but I promise I'm keeping up with everyone's blogs (even if I don't get a chance to comment!)
-Amanda xox

:: 1 month old ::

Well, it's a little late, since Miss Olivia was 1 month old on the 26/10/2013 but golly! Is it ever hard to get a chance to blog when you have a little newborn refusing day naps...*more on that later*

I personally love reading baby monthly updates on all my favourite blogs, so I hope you will all indulge me with Olivia's! I also love the chance to write everything down and print it out for her Project Life - it takes a little longer to get into there, so this way I have all her milestones written down somewhere to access later.

I can't believe that my little munchkin is already over a month old...people aren't kidding when they say time flies! She's already changed so much...and my, oh my, what a first month we had. Without further ado, Livie's first month!

ONE MONTH
26/09/2013 - 26/10/2013

Weight: 3.86kgs (clothed) 3.78kgs (bare weight)

Clothing Size:0000/Newborn although some are still a little big!

New Milestones/Firsts: First car ride, first doctor appointment with Dr. Khan on 04/10/13, first trip down to the local grocery store, first photoshoot (and first shoot with our wedding photographer! More on that later!), first trip to the Plaza (7 weeks), first real smiles (oh they are so much better than wind smiles!!) and first roll from belly to back (and she's already trying her darndest to roll from back to belly! Stay little for a while baby girl!) She had her first time to a house other than our own - we made a quick stop at my parents' house for my Mum's family reunion! We also thought she had her first cold BUT turns out it was reflux... :( ...There are probably a million other "firsts" given her new to the world status, but they are the big ones I can think of!

Loves: Her Daddy. Oh my is this little girl a Daddy's girl! Not only is she the spitting image of him as a baby (I think she has my eyes...that's about it so far!), but all he has to do is talk and she would stop and listen. She could stare at him for hours. I'm just the food, clearly!
She also loves her Nanny's voice (my mum) and I think that's because my Mum stayed with us for the first 5 days out of hospital, to help out, so it's one that Livie recognises. It's so sweet to see her smile when she hears her Nanny!
Other loves include the "BABY" frame beside her change table - it currently has generic pictures of babies and grandparents in it, and I swear she thinks they are her friends! She smiles at them and coos a bit at them...she's going to be disappointed when I put pictures of her in there I think! She also loves to stare at the banner and hot air balloons on her wall, and if she is facing the other way she is captivated by the mobile I made! Score! (DIY to come on that one!)
Baby girl also loves cuddles, of course, the abstract canvas art in the living room, and she has also taking to loving to stay awake during the day...something we decidedly *don't* love. However she loves her sleep at night so that's fine by us!

Milestones I think she is close to: "Talking" (ie. cooing, making noises) purposefully.

Sleeping:Olivia was a fantastic sleeper for the first two or so weeks...then her poor little belly started playing up. She's a great sleeper at night, she started sleeping from 5 - 6 hours from 7pm quite early on, then would wake at 4am and sleep again until her wake time at 7am. She then feeds every 3 hours during the day....but the sleeping during the day? Was not happening unless she was on our chests. She also went through a period of 2 hour feeds, which I think is when her sleeping started to get messed up. It wasn't too bad then but week 5 was terrible! But more on that in next month's update!

Favorite activity/toy: She loves the Minnie Mouse rattle my aunt bought for her, and she's a fan of her vibrating rocker. But mostly she loves face to face time with her Mama and Daddy, and tummy time on the playmat with Daddy (Mama couldn't do this for ages thanks to Livie's birth)

Best part about being a mom:The smiles at 3am. There is nothing better than your baby looking deep into your eyes, and giving you a great big, beautiful grin! It makes everything else worth it :)

This month we: had a really rough time! Recovering from Olivia's birth was hard enough (Part Two of her story coming soon!) but on top of that we had latching problems, blocked ducts, excessively sore nipples, bacterial infections, mastitis, tongue tie, gas problems and reflux. *phew* We had it tough. Really tough. But thankfully month two is looking better...And this month was all about us getting to know our little girl, and getting to know ourselves as parents. So in spite of it all, all the pain and the problems, it's been amazing. And I'm more in love with my husband then ever before. He has shown himself to be an amazing, hands on Daddy and I love the relationship he has with our daughter already <3

That's it for this month! Stay tuned for Part Two of Olivia's birth story (you can read Part One here) and, if the little miss gives me time, a DIY for your baby's nursery!

Amanda -xox-

happy halloween!

Happy All Hallow's Eve everyone! Despite the fact that Halloween isn't a big deal here in Australia, the hubs and I love it and always enjoy decorating our house and having loads of lollies ready for any kids who come knocking! Lucky for us, the area we've moved to seems to enjoy it as much as we do! We've had loads of little kiddies (adequately supervised by adults, thankfully!) come a-knocking, all dressed up, and a number of people in the street decorated their houses.

Exciting for me, as a Mama, was that this was Livie's first holiday! So of course, I couldn't resist dressing her up, even if we didn't leave the house...Enjoy!

Happy Halloween Everyone! Love, Olivia Grace xx

baby Olivia's birth story - Part One!

Wow. It's been a while since I wanted to sit and write this post but we're still settling into our new way of life over here and writing a blog post tends to be a little further down the "what to do while baby is sleeping" list and generally doesn't get reached! But at the moment I have a sleeping babe on my chest (the only time she has managed to fall asleep today thanks to some horrible wind!) and I thought I'd take the time to get started on our story...

As I've mentioned previously, we had some concerns that little miss was going to make her entrance quite early - at 36 weeks we had some contractions and the hospital advised me to finish up work as she was ready to come at any time (of course, we didn't know she was a "she" then!)

While lots of rest and couch time prevented her from coming that early, we did experience a lot of pre-labour work in the following weeks and it's here our story starts. On the Friday prior to Livie's birthday, I actually had consistent, working contractions from the early hours of the morning until about 5 pm - we were convinced we were going to meet our little bean that day! I was feeling really good about how everything was going and dealing with the pain well, but then all at once, I got this complete wave of exhaustion and need to lie down...and I listened to my body. Sadly, everything pretty much stopped at that point and we came to the realization that it was just more intense pre-labour work and it wasn't going to progress further.

40 weeks according to our scans - 2 days after our false start & 3 days before labour started

On the day labour actually started (Wednesday, 25th of September), we had a check up with our midwife at 8am, then my mum (who had stayed at our place for a few nights after the Friday false start...she couldn't help herself, she felt she was going to miss out if she went home! Hehe) and I went shopping in the morning for a few hours. It had been a while since I had been out and about for that amount of time and it was nice to go shopping for a while! However, it meant that later that evening, when the hubs and I decided to go grocery shopping and I started to feel a bit achy and have a bit of pressure, I just put it down to my unusual amount of standing/walking that day...and soldiered on! (I remember getting out of the car and saying to the hubs - "I might be a bit slow tonight because I'm a bit sore, so please be patient" :) )

As we went about our shopping (around 6pm), it became apparent that the pain I was getting was coming every ten minutes or so...and was getting to a point where I would physically have to stop walking and wait for it to pass. I had been reluctant to say anything to the hubs, since we had had so many days of pain that led to nothing, but at that point I turned to him and said, "Hmmm, maybe we should hurry this up a little..." He suggested just leaving then and there, but I convinced him that we should finish - we were expecting family over for dinner that night and if it turned out to be nothing, we needed to have food ready!

By the time we got home (the shopping centre is literally a 2 min car ride from our house!) the pain was coming every 5 mins and I had told the hubs that I thought he should call his sister and dad and tell them not to come. By the time we (and by that I mean he!) unpacked the car, the pain was 3 mins apart. It escalated pretty quickly and I rang my mum (who had decided to spend the night at home that night... of course!) to let her know that I thought that night, of all nights, was the night she should probably come back!

I should note here that one of the reasons I had not thought I was really in labour was because of how different my pain was - I felt absolutely nothing in my stomach and only had intense pain in my pelvis/hips/back. I should have known something was up then... but hindsight is a wonderful thing!

By the time my mum arrived, we had spoken with the on call caseload midwife (ours was of course off for the night as she was working the weekend!) and advised her what was going on and had planned to stay home as long as possible... however not long after Mum arrived we made the decision to head to the hospital because the pain had gotten so bad I felt I wouldn't be able to get in a car if we left it too much longer!

So, we did one last trek around the house, trying to think of anything we had missed that we would need, locked up and headed to hospital...

Part 2 coming soon!

39 weeks, 6 days according to our hospital due date. last shot before heading to hospital!

 

dear baby

Dear Baby,

I can now call you by your name, sweet little Olivia. I'm so excited to have finally met you, to know that you are exactly the person I thought you were, carried inside me all those months, and yet, you are completely new to me! Daddy and I simply cannot believe that today you are two weeks old. Where have those 2 weeks gone? They have been a mix of snuggles and endless feeds and little sleep...the most precious time we could imagine and yet they fly by so fast!

Already you have changed so much, in such a short space of time. Your cheeks are getting chubbier (and I'm so proud that I can say "I'm doing that!"), your eyes are getting bluer, your smiles are getting more and more real...and our hearts grow more and more full of love for you. And for each other.

You are the most amazing gift that anyone could have given to us and we are both amazed and terrified that such a tiny little person is all ours. We cannot wait to see you grow, see your personality emerge and see who you look like (and whether you get some dimples!) but right now, I want you to stay teeny and squishy for a good while yet...as terrifying as that can be it's almost amazing to feel your warmth against me and know that right now, you are all ours. The world has not yet touched you and you are perfect.

Welcome to the world little Livie. You just became ours.

Love, Mama xx

Weight: 3340 grams, 135 grams above her birth weight

Keep an eye out for Olivia's birth story, coming soon!

40 weeks...and introducing Miss Olivia Grace!

15.09.2013 - 22.09.2013

How far along? 40 weeks!

I feel I should make a disclosure here, since I am marking this post as 40 weeks! The dates I have been using at the top of our bump dates are based on a due date of the 22/09/2013, which is the date we were given at all of our scans. However, based on various elements, our hospital had given us a due date of 26/09/2013. So while Olivia's birth falls out of the dates I have given on the blog so far, she was born on her exact due date by hospital dates...so we'll go with 40 weeks ;)

Baby Size: 7 pounds, 1 ounce (3205 grams)

Total weight gain: 12 kgs

Bump measurement: 102 cm

Maternity clothes? I have been released from the world of maternity clothes and have entered the world of loose pants and feeding tops currently!

Stretch marks? 2 teeny tiny ones in an inconspicuous spot...and none on my belly! Yay! I am waiting to see if I get any as my bump deflates though :(

Sleep: It's so nice to sleep without any pain or heartburn! Now I just wake to my gorgeous little bubba girl instead :)

Best moment this week: I think this one is pretty self explanatory this week! Seeing my little Olivia's face for the first time...parred with the tears on her Daddy's face as he held her

Miss Anything? No. My world is amazing and all wrapped up in my little family

Movement: Miss Olivia was a little wriggler right up til the end...and wriggled her way into the wrong position! But more on that in her birth story...

Food cravings: Indulged in some yummy strawberries right til the end...and after she returned home I craved choc chip cookies hehe

Anything making you queasy or sick: Was getting heartburn right up til the end - including through contractions!

Gender: A BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL :)

Symptoms: Are now allllllll gone thankfully.

Belly Button in or out? It stayed in! Looked like a sad face towards the end, all stretched out, but didn't pop out

Wedding rings on or off? Managed to wear them the whole time, but I have a lovely indent when I take them off these days and they were very tight the day we went into labour!

Mood: Over the moon!

Looking forward to: Watching our little Livie-Bug grow and learn and love...

...our first wedding anniversary...

Yes, I'm a few days late with this post...but I think I have a pretty good reason -

Whatcha think?? :) But more on this little love bug real soon, because today's post is about my husband....

My wonderful, amazing husband. On the 29th of September we celebrated one year of marriage. One whole year already!  And while this year marked a very different day to last, and we were battered, bruised and sleep deprived, nothing could be any better than the day we had - loving on our new baby, a physical representation of a love that has grown over the last year and will continue to do so.

I wished my husband a happy anniversary in the best way possible, with our daughter, and thanked him for the best present in the world - our baby girl and the love and support he gave me to get her here. We needed nothing more.

I can't wait to see where our future leads and look forward to many more anniversaries celebrating what started this little family of ours - our love.

38 weeks!

08.09.2013 - 14.09.2013

How far along? 38 weeks!

Baby Size: Baby has reached their final fruit/veggie comparison of a watermelon…how cliché! Hehe

Total weight gain: Well, unless I suddenly balloon over the next 2 weeks, we’re sitting at around 12 kgs

Bump measurement: Still 101cm! I really expected my stomach to grow a lot at the end but nope, we’re staying around the same…

Maternity clothes? Yeppers! But the end is in sight! I know I will be living in breastfeeding singlets and stretchy skirts for a while, but it will be nice to switch up my wardrobe a bit in a few weeks

Stretch marks? So far, so good! Bought a new cream this week, instead of my normal Palmer’s Oil – Gaia (the brand I plan to use on Baby) Belly Butter…smells like a spa, love it!

Sleep: Crap. Only word for it. Very, very broken sleep, and after my hips behaving themselves for the most part since seeing the physio, they are back to being almost unbearably sore resulting in me tossing and turning all night. However, there’s nothing we can do about it because it appears to be as a result of all the weight and the muscles relaxing, not any tight trigger points like previously. Physio couldn’t find anything to release at my last appointment :(

Best moment this week: Feeling you react to your newborn cousin on my belly when I was having snuggles with little Kimberly. Feeling the two of you kick each other is pretty awesome, but she doesn’t bother now – it’s only you getting jealous of my snuggles hehe

Miss Anything? Sleep. And clothes that fit – not because I’m massive, but because all my maternity clothes are winter clothes and suddenly we are seeing very warm, Summer-like, Spring weather! (yes, please ignore the outfit in the photo – I didn’t realise just how big it made me look and how unflattering/awkward it was! But I was so hot I needed some kind of shorter skirt on…I need to go shopping. lol)

Movement: After well over a month of being in the same position, you spun Mama out the other day but completely flipping to the other side. It felt so strange feeling feet popping out to the other side! But it was only for 2 days and now you are back to your favourite position – back/bum slightly to the right and feet and knees continually stretching out to the left :) Not a lot of room for much more movement than that!

Food cravings: Hmmm this week Mama has been indulging in how cheap strawberries are right now! We love us some strawberries, don’t we Little Bean?

Anything making you queasy or sick: Heartburn at night often makes me feel like I’m going to throw up…but nothing else has really bothered me any more than usual at the moment

Gender: A big ol’ surprise but getting so much closer to when we get to find out!

Symptoms: Movement, heartburn, big belly haha, sore hips….Still don’t feel like we are really this far along though!

Belly Button in or out? Still in!

Wedding rings on or off? On! But getting tighter...

Mood: Content

Looking forward to: Meeting our Little Bean! But I will be sad to not be pregnant anymore…

our maternity shoot - blogged!

That's right! I'm finally sharing some of our maternity shoot...the lovely Sandra Henri has done it again :) We're in love with our photos (we received 12 digital images from this mini shoot, some which aren't in the blogpost!) and cannot wait for Sandra's session with our little bundle when they arrived. I had a hard enough time picking out our maternity images, I can only imagine how hard it will be when I have to choose pictures of our Little Bean!

Unfortunately, the direct link to our shoot appears not to be working at this stage, so I will direct link to it when it is fixed - for now here is a link to Sandra's blog, where we are the last entry. Hope you enjoy having a peek! We had such a wonderful time in the Orchard :)

36 weeks!

24.08.2013 - 31.08.2013
please ignore the terrible photo with the bad lighting! you can see how tired I was...we thought there was a good chance we wouldn't get to take anymore photos and we have been borrowing my dad's SLR for all bump pics, but we didn't have it with us. so, iPhone pic it was! at least we got one :)

How far along? 36 weeks!

Baby Size: Last week as a honeydew!

Total weight gain: Since 10.08.2013 I've only put on 3 grams...total is around 12 kgs - much less than I thought I'd put on! I'm pretty impressed with that :)

Bump measurement: 101 cm

Maternity clothes? Most definitely! Still getting away with regular stuff as well though. Anything I buy now I try to make sure is breastfeeding friendly (ie. button up! Lol)

Stretch marks? Not yet...just waiting for them though

Sleep: Had a GREAT sleep last night (28.08.2013) but prior to that been really restless at night. 27.08.2013 was a really unsettled night.

Best moment this week: Well, I wouldn't call it the best bit shall we say the most interesting? On 24.08.2013 we had a little hospital trip after a very uncomfortable afternoon that resulted in period type cramps and lower back ache. Expecting to be told it was just Baxton Hicks, we were actually told they were real, my cervix was 2cm long (roughly 50% effaced) and super soft. I was advised to give up work and rest as Baby could come anytime. Since then, things have been happening on and off, mostly at night.
While we'd prefer to for Baby to stay in a little longer, at least til 37 weeks, it is rather exciting that we could be meeting them very soon!
Actually, the best moment would have been while we were being monitored - watching our Little Bean's heart rate skyrocket every time their Daddy leaned in and spoke to them :) Best thing ever. They definitely know their Daddy's voice!

Miss Anything? A good night's sleep!

Movement: Baby was 2/5 engaged on Tuesday at our midwife appointment and since they engaged (bump dropped the prior Thursday so we assume they engaged sometime around there) they haven't been moving around so much - now I just tend to get kicks out one side (to the left) and their butt sticking out! I do feel occasional hand movements up towards their face/head - cute!

Food cravings: These seem to have died off, is that normal towards the end? I did crave a Milky Bar and Light and Tangy chips the other day :)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Same as before, but I have started to feel nauseous over the last couple of days? 

Gender: Big surprise! But we should be finding out soon! 

Symptoms: Where to start?! Braxton Hicks, heart burn, movement, pressure and pre-labour pains! Oh and headache...

Belly Button in or out? Still in!

Wedding rings on or off? On! But getting tighter...

Mood: Shocked? But excited. 

Looking forward to: Possibly meeting our baby!! We are also on weekly midwife visits now so that is fun :)

friday's letters

Dear LAST week's Friday's Letters,
I wrote you. According to my Blogger app you are still being "saved". You have become the missing blog post. Maybe some day I will be able to access you and share you with the world...but I'm not holding my breath (this is what happens when you are 37 1/2 weeks pregnant, couch bound and too tired to turn on the computer for a post so attempt to post from your phone! ... which I'm doing again today...)

Dear DIY mobile,
I'm so pleased with how you turned out! Necessity really can produce amazing results :) Now it's a shame I can't sew or Baby's nursery would be a lot closer to being done!

Dear Husband,
Thanks for putting up with my grumps today. And for the many midnight toast requests. And for being patient through all the times I thought something was happening in the last week (in my defense, things WERE happening, they just didn't progress!)

Dear Nursery,
A lack of funds means you are likely to be a work in progress for a while...but that's ok! I think you are still coming along really nicely! I might even do a sneak peek later this week! (along with a post about some DIY and freebies that have helped us build up the nursery on a budget!)

Dear Baby,
I love being pregnant. And I'm going to miss you being safe and sound in my belly. But at the same time, I'd really appreciate if this continual on and off thing would stop - if you wanna do this, let's do it! But if not, please stop this guessing game for a while...

Dear Bumpdate Post,
You are written. Promise. I just need to get off my butt and get the photo off the hubby so I can post! I will get around to it. ..

Dear Work,
I don't miss you. Sorry, not sorry!

Dear Readers,
I promise to be more consistent soon. The last fortnight has thrown me through a loop! Happy Friday, I hope you all have a great weekend!

little bean's baby shower

WARNING: This post WILL be picture heavy :)

As usual, it's going to be very hard to limit all the awesome pictures I have from this day, but I'm going to try and do this recap in one post!

We had our Baby Shower on the 27th of July (almost 3 years to the day since I threw one for my sister and nephew on the 24/07/2010!) at my parents' home. It was hosted by my sister and my mum, but my wonderful girlfriends all helped out with various roles and assisted my sister with set up (and photography haha - thanks MoH and Amy!) on the day.

my gorgeous sister, responsible for all the gorgeousness, and I...I realised I didn't get a photo with my mum though!!

We had an absolutely fantastic day - the afternoon flew by and I hope everyone had as great a time as I did! I was so exhausted by the time I got home, but completely overwhelmed with the love and joy from our family and friends.

We started off the afternoon with some mingling and checking out all the awesome decorations my sister and mum had organised -

After mingling for a bit and munching on some yummy food (we had so many lovely friends bring along scrumptious food! Oh my!) we got started on that typical baby shower past time (but my sister found some not so typical ones!) - games.

First up was Baby Shower Charades -

1. giving birth and baby landing on the floor! -- 2. trying to breastfeed while swatting away flies

3. trying to shop while the kids keep adding things to the trolley! (this lady has PLENTY of practice with this, with 5 kiddies under 5!!) -- 4. i believe this one was possibly trying to use the bathroom while the kids keep annoying you...i spared her the embarrassing picture we have!

5. actually my aunt's 2nd turn up, but I'll just use one - trying to give birth while your husband is driving you crazy!

Next we moved onto a Baby Shower Find-A-Word and a list of Baby-related words that were jumbled up and had to be unscrambled. It was harder than it sounds, particularly since it was an American version so there were words like "diaper" and "pacifier" which were throwing all us Aussies off! ("nappy" and "dummy" are the common terms here, for those wondering!)

some lovely ladies (all teachers!) trying to work out the puzzles!

While everyone was working on their sheets, another game was started - a race to see who could dress and swaddle a baby doll the fastest...while blind folded! My sister-in-law and a family friend took part in this race - our family friend won! I don't know that I'll be letting either of them dress Little Bean any time soon though...hehe...

Then everyone was asked to draw what they thought Little Bean was going to look like...there was some cute, some hilarious and some downright strange drawings (here's looking at YOU MoH!) but one thing they all had in common? Dimples!

drawings were posted on the wall near the present table for everyone to look at! winner was chosen by my dad as I was busy opening presents!

The other game that was going on throughout the say was the typical "don't say" game - guests weren't allowed to say "Baby", "Amanda", "Graham" or our last name. You can see in some of the pictures that guests had necklaces on. Each necklace had a blue and pink dummy on it. Normally, in this game whoever ends up with the most necklaces (or pegs, or whatever is used...) by the end of the Shower, wins. My mum and sister did things a little differently though - every dummy on every necklace had a number on the back of it. After the cake was cut, I was asked to choose a number between 1 and 100 and whoever had that number on a dummy won! (so the more you had, the better your chances...but someone with just one necklace could win! Sort of Baby lotto if you will :) ) Since my little niece had collected the most necklaces though, and didn't win via the number selection, we gave her a prize as well.

i had to add this picture, not only because it has one little niece in it - but two! see that gorgeous bump my sister-in-law is sporting? in there is my gorgeous new niece, Kimberly! she was originally approx 6 weeks ahead of myself during pregnancy, but she was induced 9 days early and little Kimberly was born on the 6th of August, 2013 at 1pm! we took a few bump pictures together throughout our pregnancies, the last one just days before she was induced. i can't wait for our little one to join the family and for the two of them to grow up together!

speaking of bumps - this is my sister pulling a "fake" bump pic with me....except little did everyone know, this was not a fake bump! my little sister is also preggers and due Valentines Day next year! my Little Bean is going to have a cousin close in age on BOTH sides of the family! (and my sister was wearing this hoodie to try and cover her bump, as they weren't ready to share the news just yet!)

But back to the story at hand! Next up was cake cutting and speeches...since we all apparently pull *terrible* faces while speaking, I'll spare you those pictures. Instead, here's some cake cutting ones...

my cake was amazing. my sister has been excited about this cake from the day she asked to host our baby shower and i must say, it turned out amazing! it was yummy too! the middle of the cake was pink and blue swirls, since we don't know whether Little Bean is a boy or a girl! it looked great! (and yes, i cut the booby...no way was I going for the belly - still too close to the end of Game of Thrones for me!) some of the gorgeous ladies at our shower! ahhhhh....loved this!

After cake, we moved inside to open all of the amazing pressies that Little Bean was spoiled with. I cannot even express how grateful we are to our amazing friends and family for all the love they piled upon us and all the wonderful gifts that they bought Baby!! I know it's not terribly exciting to see gift pictures, but here are a few (I'll try and keep them down!) -

my cousin's little boy decided to be my helper for the evening...he got a little over-enthusiastic sometimes, bless him!

Every time I use something someone has bought us, I will be reminded of the amazing love that they expressed for this little baby they haven't even met yet...Now, if only I could memorize who bought what outfit because I would love to show them all when Baby is in it!

Finally, this lovely lady was responsible for the favours for the party, and sent all our guests home with one of these:

They were PERFECT and I may or may not have teared up the first time I saw them. I am so blessed to have such amazing friends and family who know me so well. Guests actually thought that I had made the Shower Invites by hand, they were so perfectly something I would have chosen! But I didn't see them til everyone else did, and they were the work of the lovely Romana! I have just realised however that I do not have a photo of them...I will share with you soon, because they were gorgeous. One is tucked into Baby's album already :)

Oh, and yep - here's another baby bump!

This lovely lady and her hubby are expecting their SECOND bubba, at New Years! I'm so excited about how many wonderful people in my life are having babies so close to us - our Little Bean can add a faux cousin to the list as well!

Overall, I cannot express just how thankful we are for the entire day, for all our wonderful family and friends, and for all the love we have felt as a family. I can't wait til Little Bean gets to meet all the amazing people who care so much for them already.

We are truly blessed!