Tag Archives: pregnancy

Ante natal or anti natal?

by . Posted on
14 Jul

It’s all pretty quiet on the western front here at Avalon this week.  No Willing Workers, husband gone from dawn til dusk, and just the sound of silence and my ligaments and muscles stretching to encompass the growing boy.  He literally grows overnight!  I had another visit to Antenatal (where they do seem to be very Anti-Natal!!) to go through the registration process.  Actually, I had a very nice midwife who checked us out (all fine) and had a good chat to.  My blood pressure raises 20 points every time I go near that place – you have never seen so many scary people in your life.  It’s like one of those 1980 horror movies – the day of the living dead.  Ugh!

We went to the dentist as we both had a feeling that fillings were required and it had been a long time between inspections.  Just picked one out of the phone book.  Oh my God – what a mistake!  The registrar, when taking my medical history asked if I had any medical issues.  ‘No’ I said, ‘but I am pregnant’.  ‘When are you due?’ he asked.  ‘September the 20th,’ I replied.  ‘This year or next year’ he asked????
Do I look like an elephant????
Then the dentist was a sort of modern day Frankenstein, more concerned with yelling at his assistant that the CD cover wasn’t showing on the computer screen to indicate which song was playing.  Eventually he asked me why I was there and I explained that because I was pregnant my gums were receding rather more than normal and I had a couple of sore spots so just wanted to check they weren’t cavities.  ‘What rubbish’ he exclaimed.  I should have walked out there and then, after all every pregnancy book on the market verifies the scientific research that pregnancy softens gums as well as everything else.  Good thing it has slightly softened my idiot tolerance ratio or he would be in the dentist’s chair and I would have been the one with the drill!  Needless to say, we won’t be going back, and the hunt is still on for a nice, friendly, normal, preferably human, family dentist for the three of us . . . .
We have been asking everyone we know who they use and each time get a grimace and a graphic horror story of that person’s last Port Macquarie dental experience.  Apparently there AREN’T any nice dentists up here.  Maybe it is the place that bad dentists come when they’ve been thrown out of every capital city in Australia . . . .
Good thing there are such nice Complementary Therapists up here.  We have been having some Bowen treatments which have been lovely.  Incredibly relaxing and long-lasting.  Both Ged’s and mine posture has definitely improved since we started and what with the acupuncture and the Bowen, I have been pretty good through the pregnancy.  My varicose veins have been fine, the reflux is annoying but it’s not critical, and I have kept very well and active throughout.  I am very lucky to have access to these wonderful resources and to have the emotional and physical support through this amazing time of transition from single and selfish to married, sharing and Mum!
The potential painter came today with his wife and kids to assess the work needed on the windows and eaves and the kids had a ball catching the chooks, chasing the ducks and petting Daisy and Paddy (still no sign – phantom pregnancy, maybe?).  He seems nice so he starts next week and hopefully we can get all those annoying little finishing touches jobs done so that the house is really a family home at last . . . . (is this the longest renovation in living history, I wonder?!)

Tree change Anniversary

by . Posted on
01 Jul

A whole year has now passed since I moved lock, stock, and two smoking barrels up here from KV.  What a lot has happened – to me, to the farm, to my life.  Who would have thought that this move that we all deemed the craziest and biggest risk of my daredevil life to date, would make so many dreams come true?

Here I am, one year on, belly distended with child, rings on my fingers, wed at last, in a sweet little cottage that is finally a home (just the finishing touches to go), an office on the way, surrounded by ducks, dog, chooks galore and STILL awaiting the birth of the first Avalon calf.  Truly all my forty odd years of restless searching have finally led me to Ged and this beautiful place that I can wholeheartedly call home . . .
The good news is that a literary agent I have worked with before in the UK is interested in seeing this ‘Mad Cow’ that you all keep saying is a book, written as such.  That actually doesn’t mean very much – it means that if I can knuckle down to writing the first three chapters, she would like to see them to see if they have potential in the publishing world . . . while the baby is sleeping  . . .??
We went out for dinner with friends in Port Macquarie on Friday night and had a dismally disappointing meal with appalling service.  We are slowly working our way through the eating establishments up here and it seems that the bad far outweigh the good.  We treated ourselves to the local Indian a week or so ago as we are both firm fans of the genre and it was awful!  Microwaved mess style food – ugh!!  And  I didn’t know that there was such a thing as a bad Indian restaurant – Port Macquarie really does take poor palatability to new depths!!  Nonetheless we will soldier on with our campaign to try them all so when you come to stay we know where we can safely send you and where not!  The things we do . . . .
The winter thus far has been so mild that all the plants are confused.  I have daffodils in flower, blossom on the trees, lavendar in bud – bizarre.

It’s a BOY!

by . Posted on
23 Jun

Time is winging its way forward and the bump is growing daily.  We had our final ultrasound and apparently IT’S A BOY!!

The baby was obviously determined that there be no more confusion about his sexual identity – He had both his feet and hands in front of his face (yoga baby?) so there was an uninterrupted view of his genitalia.  I made her go back and check three times and each time she said ‘that’s a scrotum, there’s the penis’.  I have been in shock ever since!
I wandered around Port Macquarie in a daze all day muttering ‘this changes EVERYTHING’.  Ged was sympathetic, knowing I had my heart set on little Harmony.  But finally the boy in him broke through the sensitive, caring, husband – ‘he’s well built, anyway’ – TYPICAL!!
Ged is happy too because he knows that he is now more likely to get his two.  I am still going to want my precious little angel girl so whereas, before, I was happy to stop at one, now I will pull out all the stops to land my Harmony . . . more acupuncture methinks!
(oh my god, you mean I have to go through this again??!!)  Being pregnant is quite the most bizarre experience.  I’m sure it’s not natural!  First the overwhelming tiredness, then the nausea, then the constant stretching pain as the previously taught muscles of your abdomen are lengthened and loosened, the endless weeing on the hour, every hour all night, the heartburn, the hunger, the water retention, the emotional rollercoaster . . . Someone tell me, please, why do your bum and legs have to get bigger too?
There seems to have been an extraordinary level of interest in the burgeoning size of my bust as people who pitied my petite appendages imagined that Ged and I must be revelling in my new found frontal regalia.  Actually, I have always loved my little fried eggs no matter what anyone else said or thought, and luckily so has Ged.  I got another huge shock when I finally went to be fitted for a new bra – from 32A to 12C in less than ten minutes and $100 – that’s a pretty cheap boob job!!

Pregnancy, homebirth and Solar

by . Posted on
02 Jun

Thank you for all your input into the birth debate . . . especially those of you who sent your support, beautiful stories of blissful drug-free births.  We have carefully considered all your arguments and will make an informed and educated choice closer to the time, in consultation with our midwife and antenatal care clinic.  We will let you know what happened after the fact!

Phew!
The bump is growing daily and I am now firmly entrenched in those ‘oh my god I wouldn’t be seen dead in those’ maternity jeans and they are SO comfortable!  I am also wearing Ged’s boxers and tees around the house and he is constantly complaining of the shortage of supplies for his own use!  My hair is growing at a ridiculous rate of knots and depilation is a daily occurrence – what a bore!
We have finally settled the sale of Ged’s property so we are just clearing out the detritus of his life  – how depressing!  Meanwhile he has been getting lots of calls from a double page spread article I wrote explaining Australian Solar /alternative energy solutions for the two biggest circulation glossy magazines on the Mid North Coast.  Of course, immediately after that came out the new Rudd Government announced its new budget – blatantly reneging on its election promise to make a positive commitment to climate change by withdrawing solar rebates from households earning more than $100,000 (gross)  per annum.  With the average city home at somewhere between $400,000 and $500,000, petrol at $1.80 a litre and spralling grocery bills (due to the rising price of petrol) $100,000 is not a lot in this day and age.  To add insult to injury the new means test is $100,000 for solar, but levied at $150,000 for the ‘Baby Bonus’ (yes the Aussie Government will be paying me $5,000 in September for doing my bit for Queen and country!!) and the Family Allowance.  So they are actively cracking down on intelligent Australians committed to acting on Climate Change. And the bit that really sticks in my craw is . . . we voted for them!  Never again!
We have an update article going in the July issue and I seem to be getting articles printed regularly with them which is nice.  The means test isn’t as big an issue for ged as it is for the city solar installers who are losing thousands of dollars worth of orders a day, but it is a blow for the whole industry so we are actively campaigning with his colleagues and cohorts to get this ridiculous ruling overturned.  Please sign any petitions we send you – this is important not just for our bank balance, but the future of solar in Australia.
We had a very entertaining afternoon first finding the cows on ‘the other side’ (they had all gone ‘bush’) and then pursuading the heavily pregnant Paddy and amiable and obedient Daisy to follow us into the yards so we could get them moved over to the house side for maternity watch.  After much wild leaping through scrub for Ged and determined plodding for me we managed to lock them in and George came and trucked them over before first light on Sunday morning.  Paddy has been named after my Mother, the Matriarch, as she will be the first of our cows to calf down on the farm.  We are now feeding them daily and regularly palpating the udder for telltale indicators of imminent birth . . .  no sign, so far!
At the other end of the scale, Mischa has been in hospital having all her girly bits removed and was very well behaved – here she is, showing off her scar!

New Feline Family Member

by . Posted on
14 Apr

Just when things were getting back to normal, Ged went up the road to look at some wiring and came back with a new member of the Love family!

She is young, calm, easy going and cuddly and to ease her into Phoenix’s existence, we are only having her during the day at the office so we can gauge his reactions and tolerance levels.  He hasn’t been either excited by her or antagonistic but since his stress levels are still pretty high after the comings and goings around the wedding and the trauma of 12 days in doggy prison, best to go slow and tread carefully.
I wasn’t particularly enamoured of her at first, although Ged seems to have fallen very hard.  But she’s growing on me, and wheedling her way into my affections, so I know resistance is futile!
But let’s face it, I loved Tom so much and while I have desperately wanted another cat, I am loathe to let anyone take his place in my affections.  I feel disloyal to his memory if I fall for this little Tiger.  But a house always feels so much more like a home when there’s a cat waiting there for you.
She hasn’t taken long to make friends of us all and sure enough she came home before the weekend . . . she’s pretty content with her new-found family and warm, cosy home.
The deluge has begun again.  Everyone keeps commenting that March was, indeed, a miracle!  We lay the credit at ‘the power of positive thinking’ – we were determined that it wouldn’t rain in March, we kept saying so, we decided to believe so, and our thought shaped our reality.  We also said we didn’t care what it did in April . . . now that was foolish!  My sunny resolve and relaxed mindset is giving way to Eeyore-like gloom as we face day after day after relentless day of torrential rain.
Of course, the other problem is that I haven’t got anything to WEAR!  I grew out of jeans and their ilk weeks ago, and my elasticated waisted summer pants are way too cold for the Comboyne climate so I am in mini-skirts, tights and boots (they must be the mini skirts from my fat days!) and I can’t see me squeezing into those for much more than a month!  I have taken to riffling through my wardrobe every morning and trying to put together creative, comfortable clothing solutions that don’t make me look like a fat frump!  I have been fashioning fashion from things that haven’t seen the light of day for 15 years!
It was much easier in Fiji where a sarong or sulu hid all lumps, bumps and burgeoning belly!  Oh well, as soon as we have made some moolah again I guess I can go shopping!
Mischa, making herself very much at home . . . .

Are we there yet?

by . Posted on
11 Feb

Lordy, I’m so far behind . . . better buckle down and try and piece together the past for you!  Get ready for a marathon!

I feel as if we’re never going to get there.  I am weak as a kitten, prostrate over porcelain and tired beyond my worst nightmares and Ged, too, is over it.  Talking of marathons, it feels like we are in the last 3 or four miles when you’ve already hit the ‘wall’ – everything hurts and it seems too far, too much, and an impossible reach to the finish line.  Every fibre of your being is screaming ‘give up, give up, give up’ and it is only the exhortations of the strangers on the sidelines that keeps you putting one foot in front of the other . . . .
There’s so much still to do and that determined, ambitious, can do, will do, nothing gets in my way, never say can’t female that we all know so well, seems to have deserted me.  She has gone AWOL and left behind, in her place, this weak willed and muscled, floppy, drooping over furniture female who is a complete stranger to me and let me tell you gets precisely nothing done!!
It was good to get away to Sydney and have a dress fitting (thank God, Adam cut the dress big is all I can say – when that feisty female left she took my waistline with her!) and have my haircut by Ilia and begin to get some sense of how this hair will be for the big day.  I also found a jewellery valuer who could do an on-the-spot evaluation of my engagement ring which was very gratifying – it’s already worth substantially more than we paid for it – so it’s doing much better than my first foray into the share market!!
Let’s hope that great Amazon warrior woman we know and love comes back soon . . . !

Mr Goanna who keeps eyeing up my chickens and their eggs!

Prone over Porcelain and Snoozing my life Away

by . Posted on
05 Feb
Now I know that Little Miss has said that the farm is to be organic but we have a weed problem that is out of control and several steep banks where even the death defying George daren’t take his tractor, so there is only one thing for it – Grazon.
Of course I can’t do any spraying (or much of anything since I am so often prone on the sofa snoozing my life away!) so my brave husband-to-be has to go into the chemical fray.  We are both so conscious of the toxic fallout from these quite frankly HORRIBLE chemical soups that we would far rather not expose ourselves, and I made Ged get all the kit to protect himself.  Attractive, isn’t it?!
Little Miss appears to have had a hand in the proceeding from where she watches her potential parents as they endeavour to get her new home finished for her arrival, because not long after Ged commenced Operation Chemical Fallout I heard swearing and stripping in the front yard and found that he had come under enemy fire!  For some reason beyond my comprehension the sprayer I have used faithfully for the past few years turned traitor on its new master and blew a gasket (literally!) causing a fountain of chemical soup to deluge the one part of his body unprotected . . . his eyes.  Poor, poor love was in so much pain so we flushed and flushed and flushed, rang the poisons hotline and then laid him down with a cold flannel over his face to rest them as they recuperated.  Looks like Little Miss is going to get her way after all  . . !
It is very hard to feel enthused about the renovation while I am Little Miss Slumber and I am afraid I am falling behind.  I went to the doctor and we agreed that an ultrasound was essential to correctly date my pregnancy so we booked me in that same afternoon and Ged came to have his first peek of his little princess.  Apparently there’s a very strong heartbeat there and we are six weeks pregnant so we are in for a lot of momentous changes to our lives this  year, culminating in a new arrival at the end of September (they say 25th, I say 22nd) but I have been known to be wrong before . . . . !!
When I told Mummy she said ‘are you feeling sick yet?’ and I said in my most superior and patronising tone ‘I don’t believe in morning sickness, it’s all in the mind’.  Boy, was I wrong about that!  I never knew you could feel so sick and still stand up (although lying down is by far my best position for coping with the unrelenting nausea.  Why do they call it morning sickness  it’s from the moment I move from horizontal to halfway close to vertical in the morning, until the moment I lay my weary head down to sleep at night.  Ugh.  And what is it with the secret society of women who have borne children, that they never initiate their childless sisters into the horrors of hanging over ceramic from dawn to dusk?  I’m amazed that the world is as over-populated as it is – I can’t imagine why you’d willingly go through this more than once (even with the Australian $5,000 baby bonus and exhortations to have ‘one for you, one for Australia’!!)
Ah well, this too shall pass . . . . x