Octopus arms

In my new series "helpful hints for new moms" part one:

How many arms do you need to breastfeed in public?

1 - to hold baby.
2 - to hold breastfeeding equipment.
3 - to hold down baby's flailing escapee arms.
4 - to hold scarf or similar over self and baby for modesty.
5 - to hold coffecup.
6 - to hold phone.
7 - to keep waking up baby which keeps falling asleep like time is of no consequence and you do not care about exposing selves in public.
8 - to give middle finger to onlookers (optional).

Also, breastfeeding hurts. Many Byron women make it look easy and natural and this can make you feel a total failure as a mother for not turning into "Madonna with child" within five minutes. You're not alone.

Baby baby

It's all going well. It's almost been 6 weeks. The good news is I can, at 6 weeks (apparently some kind of magic number) resume important activities such as driving and... and doing yoga? Nah.
I plan to take up yoga again. Soon. Within a year, definitely.  You see, for a bout of Bikram you need a three hour block. Baby currently allows for an occasional 20 minute block. If hubby is around.
Also, taking a medication which lists "weight gain" as one of its side effects. And as you know I am lazy. Why bother with exercise if going to put on weight anyway?

Love my new life. Love it.

Hurrah!

I'm back!

Testing

Well?

Our Baby

Born May 1, 2013.

4.27 kg, 56 cm - I apparently know how to grow a big baby. The short version is: 21 hour labour, emergency c-section, a week in hospital and having boobs referred to as "milk making equipment."

But she is here now.

Being 41 Weeks Pregnant Comes With Unique Challenges

You thought you were feeling heavy at 36 weeks - well, hahaha! The wisdom of hindsight.

You were still relatively light back then, now - NOW - you are heavy. No more outings. No way. No more swims. No more interacting with public; which strangely believes itself to have acquired new and unprecedented rights to comment on your appearance.

Examples from today:

"You look like you are about to explode!" (Followed by hormonal crying on husbands shoulder)

"Oh My God!"

"You need to get on a trampoline." (Right - I can barely walk thank you very much)

"That baby hasn't even dropped yet, at least a week to go." (Last things you want to hear; and by the way - who made all of you bloody experts on pregnancy?)


Time to take yoga teachers advice and simply stay at home. Protect self and baby from ill considered comments, well meaning or not. I try, I try, I try to remember - did I used to treat pregnant women like cute dogs or similar that are more or less available for cuddles and smartass comments? I hope I didn't.

Being pregnant sure has been great, but now... we are ready for step 2. Birth. When? It's torture not knowing when it will start - will it ever start?

My mother is here from Sweden. And hubby's family from down south. After Byron Bay's worst summer ever (I am guessing, but it was pretty bad) I have been delighted to show them a beautiful, sunny, clear water Bay with swims everyday.

Thank you Byron. Without all that beauty I might have felt really down by now. As obviously the guest of honour at this party has failed to show... yet.

Week 36, Business End

I struggle with motivation. To write, to go for walks, to do anything around the house really. Partly because I'm rather lazy of course. But anything involving moving around really is hard. Do not wish to understate this.

Clearly I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to be having a baby. To be so lucky and so fortunate.

But my knees are literally buckling under the pressure. Finding myself watching Biggest Loser (nothing else was on, ok!!!) and instead of laughing heartlessly at the contestants feeling a great deal of... empathy? It's bloody hard to walk, let alone do proper exercise, with all this extra weight on one.

Apart from knees, having some aches and pains in joints and bones just in general. But if this is the only thing then I am still very fortunate.

We're almost there with all the baby-stuff! Have got all the essentials and only missing some bits and pieces - which will all come together I'm sure.

In the outside world, the Bluesfest is on. We had tickets. We sold tickets. For a long time I was hoping I would be able to go, but when I started to be unable to walk - and grew out of all my shoes and boots (around 20 weeks) I abandoned this hope. Hubby, however, got a job at the festival instead, so will be able to catch some music.

When we bought the tickets (April last year, early-bird special) I said, and I remember this like it was yesterday, "I can't think of any reason we would not be going!"

Well, there was one!

The Role of Babies

I finally got a new phone - my very first smartphone! So excited about it, and spend hours glued to it every day. Tried to update blog from phone and upload photos. That didn't work at all. Why??? No idea. Oh well. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Nursery area is almost set up! Just missing the mattress and sheets. And probably a million other things hubby and I are not aware of but that, no doubt, are essential.

Was thinking about all the things we buy for our babies and children these days. Was wondering what used to happen - what did our grandparents get for our parents..? I know mom used to play in the pig-pen... And more so, what did our great-grandparents get for our grandparents?? A teddy-bear nightlight, a changetable with a bamboo-underlay, an ergonomically correct baby-bath and some paraben-free baby-wipes? Yeah right. More like the dog's old blanket.

The role of babies in our lives have definitely changed. I guess they used to be an almost unavoidable necessity; something women might sigh about "oh no not again" sort of thing, but know it was best to have six or seven, because a couple might not make it. And so they just used to come along. Exist. Hang out in the background and make use of the available resources (dog's blanket, pig-pen and so on).

Unlike nowadays when they tend to be planned, longed for and arrive like precious gifts to be treated like princes and princesses; like the most beautiful thing that may ever happen to us.

Of course, that is how I think about Beanie. Already so longed for and loved - naturally I am going to buy you that expensive organic cotton cot-blanket, precious baby.

9 weeks

...to go. Am feeling a little mental.

Only 9 weeks!!! I'm not ready. Haven't got cot yet. Haven't ordered the mattress and sheets for the cot. What if baby comes? Can baby sleep in stroller for a few weeks? Oh my god how am I going to cope for another 9 weeks?

On physical side am still struggling with elephant-sized ankles and feet, alongside a charming condition called carpal tunnel syndrome. This makes your hands tingle and freeze up, and be generally too weak to open most things from the fridge. Atleast it matches up with the sciatica which causes similar symptoms in legs.

Strangely, I am no longer hungry all the time. Thankfully (hmm) this decrease in calories has not affected weight-gain.

I am really, honestly, not too bothered by any of this. Have kind of stepped back from it and taken on the role of the observer. Hmm, I think. Interesting! Look at that. How curious. Getting out of bed for the 5th time at night to go to the loo - process takes 10 minutes with the backache, leg-cramps and sore hands - fascinating.

Everyone says this is nature's way of teaching you how to exist on little to no sleep. I think nature has got that backwards - surely it would be better to sleep now and have more energy when baby comes - rather than not having slept for 7 months already..?

Also hubby seems to be spending his entire life in hardware stores or in garden chopping and pruning things whilst I am standing at safe distance pointing and shouting "that one, and that one - kill them ALL!"

Hubby is struggling to live up to my expectations of house and garden suddenly looking perfect, in spite of always having been total disasters before... Apparently this sort of behaviour is called nesting.

As if baby will care one way or another about our lattice...

6 kilo baby?

The very essence of Murphy's Law, I believe, is this:

Decide to put nail-polish on toe-nails, do not put newspaper underneath bottle for first time in entire life, because - after all - have never spilled any before.
Spill.
Try to save floor and get nail-polish all over hands.
Do not fetch newspaper, figure instead there is no way you will spill twice.
Spill again.
Then, after having spent 7 months avoiding chemicals as much as possible - end up with nail-polish and nail-polish remover all over your hands.

So I was doing some pedicure... realised it might be the last time for a while. Oh dear. Had hoped to arrive in hospital, in about 10 weeks time, with beautiful looking feet and newly shaved legs. Unfortunately, each added kilo is making this seem more and more like a far fetched dream... Am only 30 weeks and can barely reach my toes. Pregnancy really is beautiful and unique experience. But there are things they don't tell you about. If they did, there would be fewer babies in the world.

Think most women are not as big as I am, surely. Suspect 6-kilo-baby. That will be a fun day. Luckily I will come prepared with yoga poses, meditation techniques and chants. Oh yes. No epidural here. And no morphine either, though admit would be fun... might be bad for baby though.

Weather cooled down, thanks be to the Universe. But feet still resemble bricks more than feet and ankles have transformed into thighs, and thighs... actually, never mind.

Starting to get some stuff organised. Pictures to come. When done. Which, hopefully, will be in the next few weeks.