Fred at 3 weeks

It's been just over 3 weeks since Frederick was born. He is an absolute joy and wonder. I cannot believe how blessed we are to not only have had Fred, but to have had a Fred with such a soft cry :) The little fellow is extremely well behaved and only makes noise when overtired or windy. Often a cry and a fart go `part and parcel`, with the cry ongoing if the fart is not forthcomming :), and we could have one good session of this a day. Saying that, the crying is shortlived as it appears to facilitate the expulsion of the wind :) I read in the book "Baby Love" (extremely good book), that often babies cry with bowel functions as they're unsure about the pressure behind the anus :) I told my Dad this ... he told me that the best thing I could do was to stop reading :) LOL

Fred had his first bout of diarrhoea which lasted a couple of days. Given that he's only ever upset with bowel motions it was a very trying, not to mention upsetting (for mums) couple of days. According to the doctor something I ate must have not agreed with Fred via the breastmilk. I have been eating 'bland 'a' rama' since then. He also vomited a couple of times - quite dramatic, projectile vomits which had me panicing that he wasn't getting enough fluids/nourishment. Thank god it was just the twice, and thank god all is well now.

Fred, Jo and I went to parents group for the first time last Tuesday. It is a community ran get-together for new mothers with babies up to 12 weeks. A nurse / midwife and a lactation consultant run the meetings and mothers give a brief description on how their weeks have been and ask any pressing questions. It's excellent to hear that people have been going through similar situations as you and interesting to hear questions of mothers with older babies. Very good.

Breastfeeding is going well, I am feeling like I have my boobs out 24 x 7 which is wearing me down a bit. I'm going to start being a little stricter about the times in which he feeds trying to keep it to a minimum of every 2 hours during the day with the odd 'hour feed' of an afternoon when he's a little unsettled. During the night he's pretty good, only waking the once usually around 1am and he's back to sleep fairly soon after a feed and 3 nappy changes.

Well I best make the most of Fred having a nap with one of my own. Attached is a picture of Fred in his playgym which was a present from my work. He loves it!! as does Cleo :)

And then there were 3

This is a quick post to advise the arrival of our son. I will put the details in point form and come along and update the blog in more detail when time permits ... Running on baby time is frantic business :)

Name : Fredrick Thomas
Estimated DOB: 06/11/05
Actual DOB: 16/11/05
Time: 10:31 am
Weight: 10 Pounds
Length: 53cm / 21 inches (I know .. I don't know how he fitted either)
Delivery: Caeserian (The not so little fella was too big to fit through birth canal)
Cord Blood: donated

Notes: After a week of false starts and 2 full days of contractions the poor little fella just couldn't get out. Saw the Ob on Tuesday who booked me in for the caeser the next day. Thinking back I could have done with more then a few hours to prepare myself - or possibly it was best not to know what was to come.

The Operation lasted about 45 minutes, this included getting anethesised, baby out, stitching up and possibly add another 15 minutes for recovery before being reunited with our son. The size of the little tacker initiated a conversation about football during the stitching up period.. heh. The obs doctor knew he was big but I don't think he realised just how big .. he had his foot on the bed trying to tug Fred out of the little hole he cut, alas Fred was stuck under every bone possible. The doc grunted and groaned, wished he cut the hole bigger and finally set Fred free from his happy home of 9 months. Everyone in the room looked a little shocked with his size.

He is absolutely beautiful and sleeping & feeding extremely well. If only Jo and I could stop looking at him to get some sleep in ourselves :)

39 weeks, 3 days

This last week has been quite difficult physically and emotionally. I am very grateful for Jo being off work as I am finding it increasingly difficult to perform simple tasks. Then there’s the fact that she’s quite a pro at the odd bum massage. The swollenness mentioned in my last post is still with us and has worsened. Apparently I have developed an infection and as a result have started taken some pregnancy safe antibiotics. Hopefully they start to kick in soon and I may get some relief from the intermittent nausea. With all this going on I am actually in ok spirits (providing I get a nap during the day), enjoying Jo’s company and generally relaxing.

Pregnancy hormones are at boiling point causing the odd emotional flutter which is a little alien to me. I saw a little baby yesterday at the doctors, it must have been only a week old (if that) and I had a slight panic attack thinking “What am I supposed to do with something that little”. I realized that the majority of babies that we’ve seen have already been approx 6 weeks old or so. Saying that, and from what we saw from the ultrasound stats, I think that our little boy is already bigger then the baby seen yesterday (at least, that’s what I am telling myself).

Yesterday the midwife gave us some ideas on how to bring on labor; they included walking briskly, housework, eating curries, nipple tweaking (heh) and the ultimate failsafe method – castor oil. Today I thought we would try the “walking briskly to eat a curry” and as the days progress I’ll gradually raise the bar. Come Monday we’re breaking out the caster oil.. Well, that’s the `Jo and Tracy combined plan`. The `Tracy plan` was to slug down the caster oil unbeknownst to Jo on the way home from the doctors yesterday – heh. Alas, I couldn’t do that to Jo. I would like to see her have a week off relaxing before the baby arrives (though, she says she’s ready any time now – very cute).

Other news, Jo backed the Melbourne Cup winner … typical, she is the winner of everything (no jealousy here … heh ). The cat is convinced she is human. We’ve had to childproof the kitchen cupboards already as she can now open them, though she did just exhibit some cat like behavior by orchestrating a matrix move on the verandah (actually, she nearly flung herself right off the verandah due to being provoked by a cheeky bird).

I best get ready for today’s outing. Fingers crossed that next blog sees an addition to the family.

Bye for now
Tracy

38 weeks 5 days

If you go by the book we have 10 days to go. If you go by wishful thinking, today would be a good day to `go` - heh. We seem to be developing a pregnancy ailment a day atm so you can imagine that I am increasingly looking forward to the pain of labor. Bring it on I say!! According to the ultrasound he will be born naturally (YAY) .. and he’s a big boy (not so YAY). Saying that, he appears to be all limbs .. reassuring, birthing wise. We have an ad hoc doctors appointment this afternoon to check up on my circulation. My feet and legs are swollen and purple which is a bit disconcerting, however if I go by what I read it’s all normal if not expected.

Everything is pretty much ready and organised for our new arrival. All linen and baby clothes have now been washed and what furniture that was left to be assembled has been done so.

Today is Jo’s last day of work for 5 weeks. I look forward to the company. The cat and I are getting a bit bored looking at each other :)

Will speak soon. Tracy

Cramping the Cats Style

It's Thursday and I've been home for 4 days now. The week has been pretty uneventful with me mostly catching up on sleep. I've not been sleeping of a night and thus been napping during the day. The cat it seems is quiet happy to nap with me for the most part, though there is the odd occasion where she takes a flying leap at a flyscreen and attaches herself ... Not at all good for the flyscreen and she's told off .. on reflection however, it's fairly amusing :)

I've so far managed to reserve enough energy to have dinner ready every night for the hard working wife. Mostly vegetarian and healthy just by chance though tonight we're having "peppered rib eye fillet with pumpkin `n` chive mash" .. I might have to wip up some choco brownies for desert .... I've been keeping a list of quick, easy, healthy recipies for when the baby arrives .. this way I don't have to think about dinner when I have other priorities.

The little fellow is going well, his movements are now confined to squirms and you can make out his bottom, back and legs through the skin. I can feel him turning his head and can make out when he moves his arms and hands. I am quite comforted by all movements except for the hiccups ... I am not a great lover of repitition and given where his head is when he gets them .. it is most uncomfortable. The doctor kindly reminded me that he's a big boy and that he'll be comming out naturally (which reminds me .. I best pick up that "easing labour pain" book again). Next week we get the last ultrasound performed and I am hoping we get a better idea of his expected size .. possibly this will be handy to know (?) .. Tell you what would be handy to know and that's how we're going to get to the hospital ... Damn Jo for not getting that drivers license.

I best get the babies linen off the line and start the dinner.

Bye for now
Tracy

34 weeks

The countdown to just about everything has begun...

6 weeks till we meet `the little fellow` and the excitement is building. He's got a little personality already, especially when it comes to the cat. Those 2 have an interesting relationship. This morning Cleo (the cat) was lying on my belly purring whilst I was scratching her and `the little fellow` kicked the cat off. Now this is nothing new in itself.. however the cat hit back this time ... twas highly amusing.

The antenatal appointments have been going well. Have been putting on only the required amount of weight which is interesting considering what I am still eating. I am very restricted in the amount of exercise I can do atm because the baby is already head down and pushing on everything you would rather not know about!! Walking 500m is a HUGE task and I start to worry I am not going to make it home ... all this unused energy was driving me crazy, albeit now I am not sleeping so it's equalling itself out :) heh

1 more week of antenatal classes to go ... thank goodness. Jo and I have been driven crazy by the instructor. She wanders off on any obscure tangent.. sometimes to never return back to the original topic. Sometimes, as if dreaming her voice will trail off and there will be silence until such time she wakes up. This last bit is very awkward and often occurs after she's just explained a horrific situation .. NOT very comforting. When the nightly class finally winds up, (30 minutes late on average) we leave feeling a bit flat and realise that the instructor hardly says anything positive about our futures with a baby.... I mean, we realise that it's not going to be a bed of roses ALL of the time and we'll have difficult times ahead .. but the picture she's painting us is a bit morbid. Our midwife teaches the same class at a later timeslot and asked us what we thought of the class ... it seems we're not alone.

On a brighter note we went to a breastfeeding workshop the Saturday before last. It was excellent!!! We learnt a truck load about technique, common misconceptions and well, everything really. Did you know it's best to feed your baby out of a cup as opposed to a bottle should you require an alternative from the breast? Apparently this is so that the babies suckling technique does not get confused ... interesting.

It's Jo's birthday tomorrow, I best go and wrap her presents before she gets home. I want to leave them out and keep her guessing overnight :)

11 weeeks and counting

Can you believe it!! Only 11 weeks to go!! As I write this
I am thinking "what do you mean only 11 weeks" .. Saying that, this is turning out to be the best part of pregnancy and I am feeling the best I have in 6 months. Wooohoooooo .. we can go on like this forever ... hmmm, maybe not.

The accompanying picture is now 2 weeks old and I am quite a bit bigger then that now. Physically it’s amazing how much you can grow in just 2 weeks. So far there are no sign of stretch marks. The belly button hasn’t so much popped as almost stretched into oblivion and I am carrying all at the front and still have a waist .. heh. I think I am quite strange to look at. I, and no doubt the little fellow would appreciate if I became accustomed to the bump sooner rather then later. The way I look and how I perceive the way I look are out of sync and consequently I am continually squishing my tummy and the little fellow. It doesn’t take much to do and is usually accompanied by a searing pain and a kick of dissatisfaction :)

As Jo mentioned in the last post we started the antenatal classes this week. HHhhmmm.. Ok so I’ve allowed myself until this time (the last trimester) to remain oblivious to the finer points of birth. As you may have guessed by now, I have a pretty vivid imagination and can do myself more damage then good given the time :) There were about 20 couples in the course and another all girl couple which was reassuring :) I won’t go too much into the details of that comment, but let’s just say we’ve come across one nurse at the hospital that was previously posted at a hospital at redneckville in bigot.

The nights’ curriculum was the “first stages of labour”. The course instructor asked for a show of hands on how many of us were booked into the labour ward and how many for the birth centre. I was way surprised to see that only 2 couples chose the birth centre. I would have thought that more people would be inclined to choose the natural drug free birth plan, but am quite relieved to see that we have a group of 80% sane people. If the "birth centre" people looked the type (which they didn’t because they were hippies :) ) then after the nights course they would have modified their birth plan of choice to include hard drugs. The course instructor was quite a ‘wordsmith’ and subsequently had a pool of adjectives to source just the right word for the type of pain and or physical description. Needless to say as the course progressed my eyes got wider and wider until the point that they nearly enveloped the back of head. There was also the occasional gasp of horror emanating from my direction .. and you don’t want to know at what. Aside from the nausea and the feeling of impending doom I think the course went swimmingly and look forward to the next 6 weeks of them.

Talking of the upcoming weeks, things are moving very fast now and we have baby related things to attend and to organise nearly every week. All of a sudden I am feeling a bit rushed. Take work for example, I have only 8 weeks left and a few ongoing projects to see to fruition. On the other side of the coin my boss is great and very understanding. Having just given birth to a beautiful daughter of his own not 5 days ago has allowed me to work from home 1 day a week which is a godsend. It’s amazing how much travelling to and from work can take it out of you, especially when you’re lugging a laptop around.

We now have doctors’ appointments every fortnight as opposed to every month. I like it now that they’re more often as I look forward to hearing the heart beat. The little ones movements are quite pronounced now and you can see him move through the skin – bazaar, parasitic, but cool.

Bye for now, I will try to make a concerted effort to post more frequently over the next few weeks as there is lots going on.

BTW cleo the cat is fine. Her inquisitiveness got the better of her the other day and she took a dip in the fishtank. She was not impressed. Talking of fishtanks, does anybody want one? It's 1.3 meters in length by about 70cm high and 60cm wide and comes with a stand.

Tuesday 2 August, 26 weeks and 2 days

As I sit here about to write my first entry in our blogg, Tracy is having a serious conversation with Cleo the cat about the evils of too much cream, ice cream and M&Ms. Could this be cravings!!!!!

Things continue to progress nicely, thank you. Tracy's belly continues to grow and her belly button is about to pop out any minute now. Hopefully she will provide an updated tummy shot!! Baby Boy is very active, often using Tracy's bladder as a football. Unfortunately this means frequent trips to the toilet and many nights of disturbed sleep for both future mummies. Aahhh! a glimpse of things to come!!!!! Baby Boys favorite song continues to be the latest "Foo Fighters" and when it comes on the radio it turns into a family sing and bounce along. He also responds to the cats purr when she sleeps on Tracy's bump and on occasions to my voice.

We attended the prequel to ante natal classes the other week, called the "body shape" class. Tracy behaved very well considering the room was overcrowded with heterosexuals and a manic women who provided non stop information on all the aches and pains that can possibly happen to a pregnant woman. Tracy found it worthwhile though I don't think she's started doing her pelvic floor exercises yet. (She tells me she has!!!!!!)It was reassuring to have medical terminology for the tendon pain in her tummy. The real ante natal classes start in two weeks!!!! The night they show the video of a real birth should be very very interesting, especially as Tracy will try to watch it with her eyes closed, behind her hands and looking at the ceiling, anywhere but the screen.

We had a bit of a rough morning last Saturday. Tracy had so many strong Braxton Hicks accompanied with spasmodic back ache that we made an unscheduled doctors visit. Baby Boy was just practicing kick boxing and somersaults against Tracy's spine. She now has to do a yoga exercise "The angry cat" to encourage bub into a more mutually comfortable position. Both mother and child are now doing well. I'm still on the VALIUM!!!!!But we did get to hear his heart beat which is always music to my ears.

Have been shopping, yippee!! We have bought everything that we needed (and more) for Bubs room etc. We now just need to organise everything. Oh well that's another story :)

21 weeks and one day

For a Monday it's a mighty fine day to be at work. The sun isn't shining, it's freezing outside and here I sit inside with a comforting cup of tea. Then again I am working... alas, the people I work with keep me entertained :)

The baby is moving hell for leather today. I must say that this is the most that I have ever felt him move. This too makes for a pleasant working day :)

I love the fact that on an average work day that I don't have to communicate verbally with very many people :) I can escape totally into my own world, do my work thing and keep my thought processes to myself .. it's sweet.

Anyway, here's a picture of my belly. Looks a bit different, dosen't it ? :)

21 week update

It’s been too long between posts. Sooo much going on, hopefully things will start to calm down a little soon.

To summarise …. work, work, work, crazy work, crazy hours. Sleep <- what’s that? Weekend afternoon naps <- saviours. Doctors appointments … $$ ka-ching $$. Midwife advise … don’t eat nuts << what the!!!! Skin on stomach about to split open << no stretch marks yet!! Visiting friends << soothing. Visiting friends with newborn babies << priceless (lots more to say on this subject). Visiting friends in hospital << not very nice. Family in hospital .. << a valuable lesson learnt ( eating hospital food before discharge will have you back in hospital ) Public transport … does the average commuter know how to use a tissue? The Cat << decorated house with toilet paper ( definitely not as cute as when the dog did it in the advertisement) …. Anyway, that’s enough summarising, more details to follow and hopefully a post from Jo << she’s currently finishing up a jumper she’s been knitting me for a year now :) and just in time for the cold weather .. Yes!!! I know how lucky I am.

Now the reason for this post. We managed to transfer some ultrasound pictures from VHS to VCD to still pics … enjoy:

It's a BOY!!

It's official, our first born will be a boy. What can I say ... the image left no room for interpretation ... Too bad if you didn't want to know the sex during this routine ultrasound, the image stuck out like a sore thumb (literally). Jo and I couldn't be happier!!! Occasionally I'll look over at Jo and she has a little smirk on her face <<< soooo adorable.

This will be a short post as I have the day off today and am keen to cook a pumpkin tart :)

Bye for now
Tracer

(heheheheheheh - A BOY!!! All those kewl toys :) )

Countdown

In less then 24 hours time we find out whether we're having an Arthur or a Martha. It's all a bit exciting :) I hope the baby is amenable to the gender identification process. In the last ultra-sound the doctor was getting a little impatient that the thumb sucking little critter wouldn't lie still :) .. hmm, I wonder if this is an indication of things to come???

Speaking of movement, the baby seems particularly active during the "Foo Fighters" new song, "Best of You". It was the first most consistent movement I had felt, and it took me a minute to figure out what was going on. When the song's tunes subsided, so did the baby's movements. To weird to be true 1/2 way through the pregnancy? I hear you! But then it happened again the next day, and true to form, the movement only lasted the duration of the song. I don't know what to say .. I am hoping it means that he/she likes the song .... of course if it made such movement during a "Nikki Webster" song I would have to say that the poor little thing was trying to claw it's way out to turn off the music:) .. So possibly a little to early to tell :)

Once a week Jo and I make a point of sitting down together and reading about the baby's development in the coming week. This is a nice time where we sit and "oooh" and "ahhh" and "that's soooo cute" together. It is all very sweet ... or so I thought!!!! On reflection, I am wondering if it's such a good idea for someone like myself with a "HR Giger" type imagination to be exposed to such information!!!

For example ... did you know that from about week 18 the foetus starts to grow hair all over. They have a name for it, it's called "lanugo" and of course it serves a useful purpose. All good so far right?

Nooooooooo!

It's not good!! This hair falls out sometime just before birth and where do you think it goes? It doesn't! It just hangs around until you give birth and comes out with the baby. So in actual fact you give birth to a fur ball and a baby. You can imagine what my imagination does with this information ... Remind me to shave my legs in the first stages of labour so there is no chance that the midwife will confuse the fur ball with our offspring .. ok?

Monthly Doctors Visit

We're 4 1/2 months pregnant this week & looking it!! So far the pregnancy has gone reasonably well with very few of those pesky symptoms. Well, if you don't count those 3 months where I nearly passed out every time I exerted some energy, then everything has gone very well :) Then again you could ask Jo how she has perceived the last 4 1/2 months and get a different opinion ... so we won't ask her just yet :)

We had our monthly doctor’s appointment last week and got given the thumbs up. Apparently I have only put on 500g which was a surprise to both Jo and I as paras has a penchant for sweet things. I mean it's not usual for me to eat a chocolate eclair and a custard tart after a well balanced meal. For one that doesn’t like sweet foods at all I am enjoying the odd sugar rush :) Jo on the other is yet to be convinced, ice-cream and sharing rarely shared the same sentence in this house until recently ... still some convincing to go there me thinks :)

Another far more important perk of going to the doctors is that we get to hear the baby’s heartbeat. This is by far my favourite bit!!! I have to say that a month between visits early on in your pregnancy is a bit steep!!! What indication does a paranoid person have to rely on that everything is progressing in a text book fashion? How does one know for sure that that disappearing waistline is as a result of a growing baby and not a krispy kreme donut? You can imagine the state I had worked myself into by the time the doctor’s appointment came around :) Then there is Jo, I feel for her, as you should for having to put up with me over this last month :) I could see the weight lift off her shoulders as she saw my relief on hearing the babies heartbeat and intertwined with this relief is her own feelings about this child which I can't begin to articulate.

Next doctors (obs this time) visit is next Tuesday. At this time if the baby obliges we find out if paras is a boy or a girl. We are very excited about this, see -> WOOOHOOOO :) And yes Madeleine, you and Anne will be the first to know ... crikey!!

I should probably sign off for the evening. Jo is home from work and by the looks has had a hard day. A cup of tea is in order I think :)

p.s: upon popular request and depending on whether I have the nerve or not I may post a picture of my expanding girth in the near future.... hmmmm. Still some thinking to be done on this.

Quick Initial Posting

Whilst I sit and wait for my Solaris OS backup to finish I thought I would quickly start what will be Jo & I's blog.

Jo and I are expecting our first, (only ?, one of many? (geez, probably not) ) child in the first week of November 2005. We have created this blog to keep our family and friends updated.

Feel free to post any comments :)

Bye for now
Tracy