Sunday, November 9, 2008

Caught in a rainstorm

Yesterday we had a surprise rainstorm while Jambin was outside playing on the deck. I've been disappointed that he won't get to experience the thrill of running through sprinklers on a hot summer's day, due to Brisbane's water restrictions, but this was even better - Heaven's sprinkler!!

 

 
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Sunday, November 2, 2008

Pregnancy Update

So, I'm 13 weeks 5 days along. A few more days and I'll be entering my second trimester. I'm still nauseous almost every morning, but have only thrown up twice, which is excellent compared with my pregnancy with Jambin, where I threw up daily (and sometimes off the train platform on the way to work). I still can't do the washing up without gagging - which is slightly problematic because our dishwasher has gone belly-up, and we can't afford to replace it at the moment.

I had an appointment with the midwife at the hospital where I've booked in last week. Do you remember how I mentioned that I was measuring 2 days ahead at my 8 week scan .... Well, according to my fundal height, I'm now measuring about a week ahead. I know, I know, measurements are often wrong. But given my history of having a ginormous baby, and 2 measurements taken with different methods by different people in different hospitals, I'm starting to prepare myself for having another toddler-sized newborn.

The plan at this stage is to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean). I'm not sure whether that will happen or not, as I feel that the internal tearing of my stitches after the caesarean with Jambin may have compromised my scar integrity. The spot where the stitches tore has been painful since he was born, and now that everything is stretching and growing in my pelvis, it's giving me even more trouble. If it turns out I'm at a high risk of uterine rupture (not just the average risk associated with a VBAC), then I'm not going to push the issue. I guess that makes me a traitor to the natural birth cause, but I'm far, far more concerned about breastfeeding working out this time around than I am about 'achieving' a natural birth.

If I did have to have a repeat c/s, I'm going to ask that I be allowed to go into labour naturally first, so that I will have some of the hormonal changes to help with getting breastfeeding working from the beginning. I'm also going to ask that I be allowed to wear my glasses. My surgeon last time wore his glasses, and I'm 99% sure they didn't autoclave them first, so I can't see any reason why I can't wear mine. I'm blind as a bat without them, which makes me feel a bit vulnerable.

What else .... Jambin has started patting my belly and saying "baby", and even though he knows what 'baby' means, I'm pretty sure he has no real idea that I'm growing one.
I'm tired, so very tired. Growing a baby and parenting an active toddler is exhausting. I've also been working 2-3 days a week, and getting out the door just about does me in.

Menu Plan Monday

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Monday & Tuesday - Fajitas
Wednesday & Thursday - Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup (by popular demand from Gareth, even though it's a Winter recipe, and it's far too hot to be eating spicy soup at this time of year)
Friday - BBQ steak, sausages, onions, mushrooms and potato salad.
Saturday - BBQ fish, prawns, and green salad.
Sunday - hopefully either Gareth's or my parents (who are both staying with us this weekend) will be able to babysit Jambin so that Gareth and I can go out to dinner to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary.

I'm trying to use up some ingredients in my cupboard, and I'm still feeling that first trimester tiredness, so I'm doubling up on meals to cut down on night-time cooking. I gave my fridge a really good clean-out this afternoon. It was starting to look a little bit scary (and furry!!). I'm grocery shopping this afternoon, so it will be nice to arrive home and be able to put the cold things in the fridge without playing Food Tetris to fit everything in, and trying to avoid aforementioned furry things.