My new project

It's a year long project for my little bub.
I hope I can last the distance.

Our Birthing Adventure

At 9 days overdue, my doctor sent me to Fetal Monitoring in Monash Medical (Clayton) for some tests. These tests are regularly done for overdue pregnancies once they reach Day 9/10 post due. What they usually do is check the baby's heart rate pattern and do a short ultrasound to check the level of amniotic fluid.

At that point, baby wasn't engaged and I hadn't experienced any contractions, not even Braxton Hicks (none that I could feel anyway). I had already resigned myself to the idea that we were going to get to the 2-week overdue mark and I would have to be induced.

Our appointment was at 3pm and we were there on the dot or thereabouts. D convinced me he needed to drive me down there and come with me for the tests. I had originally planned to drive myself but he can be persuasive when he wants to be. Turns out, he was right.

At a few minutes after 3pm, they hooked me up to the heart rate machine thingy and they started monitoring bub's heart rate and my contractions. After about 30 minutes, bub had given them enough of an activity pattern but hadn't quite given them a resting baseline. Knowing how active baby was, D and I resigned ourselves to a long wait as he never seemed to rest for a long enough time. My OB was there for his rounds and he came and looked at bub's pattern and said, Looks like everything's fine.

An hour into the test, while we were still waiting for a resting baseline, one of the midwives looked at the machine, talked to another midwife and suddenly everyone seemed all concerned. In a matter of seconds, I've got 3 midwives around me, telling me to shift from one side to another, hooking and unhooking me to/from the machine and looking all worried. Apparently, bub's heartbeat dropped to around 95 from his pattern of about 140-150.

They called my OB and he said to test my amniotic fluid. One of the midwives told us that it was likely that I was going to have an emergency caesarian that very afternoon. D and I looked at each other thinking, uh oh, we didn't have our bags with us. We quietly discussed swinging by the house first on our way to Cabrini (which is where I was booked and where I still thought I was going to have the baby) to get ourselves organised.

I went for the ultrasound and the midwife administering the test said that the amniotic fluid looked way too low. They called my OB again and he told them to get everything organised and prepped for surgery.

D and I wasn't sure of what was happening at this point but took it all in stride. They then told us that there wasn't enough time to get me to Cabrini and the surgery was going to have to be done in Monash. My OB practiced there anyway so that wasn't a big issue.

After that, everything went fast forward. It seemed like in a matter of minutes, they had wheeled me into the birthing suite, taken my details to admit me to hospital, made me drink this icky salty concoction (still no idea to this day what that was for), changed me into a hospital gown and then set me down on the hospital bed to wait for surgery.

During all this commotion, D had to phone my parents to let them know we weren't coming home for dinner and that I was having the baby that evening. Poor D, he was wearing his not-so-comfy work shoes the whole time.

After a brief wait, I was wheeled into the operating room, attached to an IV drip, given spinal anesthesia and prepped for surgery. Once they determined that the anesthesia was working, they performed the caesarian and at 6pm on the 29th of September, our new baby was born.

So, it didn't happen the way I was dreading, I mean, expecting, but I actually didn't mind it. I mean, what's an hour (max) of prep and surgery compared to 24+ hours of labour? And in the end, we've got our perfect little boy all healthy and safe and that's all that matters.

Week 1+ Photos

Only 1 week+ old and my newborn has more photos than I ever had in my first year as a baby. The wonders of digital age.

Just a Week Old

Our Newest Little Darling

40 weeks + 5 days

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Need I say more?

Maternity Leave Project #1

I have this list of projects I want to do while I have the time. I'm on my third week of maternity leave and after the organising, clean up, getting the guest/baby room ready, I haven't even started on my list of projects.

Up until now.

Our bedhead has been bothering me for some time. Especially during the last stage of my pregnancy as I couldn't sit up comfortably without a million pillows propping me up. It looks nice and all but the design just didn't consider comfort whilst sitting up.

This is what our bedhead looked like before I tackled it:

I went to Clark Rubber to see how much a custom fit foam would cost. For a medium density foam that would fit our bedhead, it would cost me about $115+, which, cheapskate that I am, wasn't prepared to pay.

What's a girl to do? Go to Ikea, of course. I went to the bargain corner and found a single mattress for $20. How good is that?

All I had to do was cut it to size and although it wasn't the perfect fit, it works for my purpose.

Had leftover curtain fabric and since this was just an experiment, decided to use that.

After 2 hours of measuring, cutting, sewing, pulling, tugging and maneuvering, voila! I've got a padded bedhead that's so much more comfortable.


Now that I have the pattern, I can opt to change the fabric down the line. I was thinking of faux suede in a brown shade but that will have to wait until bub comes out. I don't think my tummy can take any more tugging and pulling at this stage. At least I can sit up comfortably now, which is REALLY crucial at this stage of my pregnancy.

So, Project #1 complete. Yey.

Home Stretch

Seriously, I'm getting way too massive. Over it.

38 Weeks Down

So, I'm in the last stretch of pregnancy. Let's blame preggy brain for not being online during that loongg stretch of non-blogness.

One thing I have learned during this pregnancy (amongst other things)? I do NOT like being pregnant. Seriously.

Campervan Adventure

And we're off!


View Caravan Adventure in a larger map

Yes, I've been noticeably absent

But I've got a good excuse, I think.

I've been busy gestating a baby...

It's like a real baby!

One of my favourite parts is around the 6:35 mark. Looks like s/he's going to be a big eater -- like mum and dad!

Um, ok...

So, yes, I got myself up the duff (as they call it here in oz).

13 weeks and counting.

It's still all a bit odd.

There are no words

The death toll is over 130 and still counting. This is heartbreaking.

Seriously

Read more

This is ridiculous. You'd think we were living in the Sahara.

I wish we had AC.

I really did it!

I know my posts have been a bit piecemeal but you take what you can get, hey?

NZ South Island Itinerary

Found this nifty tool in google maps so I decided to do a summary of our trip using it.


View Larger Map

Suggest you click on the larger map link.

More details to follow...

NZ Teaser

I've managed to upload some photos onto my facebook so if you're interested, follow this link.

I am still aiming to blog about our trip but in due time.

I went sky diving!

Happy 2009!

No, I'm not dead. We just went for a quick holiday in New Zealand, which I will blog about when I get the chance (feel like it).

Holiday was brilliant!

Going back to work tomorrow, not so.