The Moment Your Life Changes Forever...

We found out we were pregnant on 6th October 2008. I first took a test at 7am… only to be disappointed at not seeing a line. It was one of those very cheap, “pee in a cup and then dip” type tests. I was about to throw it in the bin only to catch the slightest glimpse of very faint pink, so faint I had to squint to see it… confused as to whether this was something to be excited about, I rushed to show Daddysaur to see what he thought but he was none the wiser. Feeling in a tizzy about things I went to my drawer and took out a digital test I had been saving. The word pregnant flashed up after about 2 minutes of sitting with my fingers crossed tighter than ever. No more confusion over very faint, hardly there pink lines… there it was in plain daylight… no mistaking the one word “Pregnant”.

Me pregnancy went very smoothly apart from a couple of very small bleeds. I didn't even have any sickness!

I went to hospital midday on the 5th June 2008 (after having a disturbed night and a trip to the Maternity Hospital).

First of all I was examined and immediately marked on the chart as being in labour and at 2cm dilated. I had a lovely midwife come in, check all my stats, inform me of my choices of pain relief and she then told me that she was ready to break my waters. WHAT A WEIRD FEELING! It felt like I had wet myself.

I went for as long as I could without pain relief. My contractions were very bad and every 2 minutes. I was moved to one of the delivery rooms and a student midwife introduced herself. She was lovely and made me feel so relaxed. I requested an epidural.

Once the epidural started to take effect I felt fantastic. It was so weird having the strong pressure of the contractions but not the pain I had been feeling the night before and all morning.

At 8.00pm I was ready to push and things all happened very quickly. Before I knew it there were 5 people around the bed and I can't remember why. There was the student midwife, a couple of normal midwives, Daddysaur and a student Dr. (who I might add was a bit strange. He was there a while earlier and for a training Dr. he was very easily embarrassed. He blushed every time I was being examined!).

Pushing was hell! I won’t lie. I was so scared. More than I have ever been in my life, but time passed so fast. The main midwife was yelling at me like she was the commentator at a horse race… “aaaand we see the head, we see the head, just one more push and we will have a baby… come on come on one more push”. Bizarre. I went into shock during the pushing because I really believed at one point I couldn’t do it and I hyperventilated. I don’t remember much more after that. The Dr. was then called for and before I knew it the end was off the bed and I was in the stirrup things instead. The baby’s heartbeat was dropping rather fast and they were worried about him so the Dr. told me she would have to use suction on him. The suction didn’t work so she had to use forceps and also episiotomy. I got very dizzy at this point and with one great big pull from the Dr and a lot of blood, there was my baby on my tummy.

Olliesaur was born at 8.49pm weighing 8lbs 1oz after 10 hours of established labour.

Olliesaur and I spent the first night apart. I can’t remember why but I think I must have looked distressed and exhausted. It really made me miss him and I think this probably helped with us bonding given that labour was a bit traumatic… I missed him and had to pull out my camera to see photos I had taken a while earlier. He was brought back in his little crib at about 5am. I felt so much love the minute I saw him and the love has only increased each day.

Olliesaur is now a 16 month old, walking, talking, SHOUTING, cuddling darling boy who makes me laugh all the time. It is truly amazing how fast the time goes!!

I'm about to do it all again. I am currently 6 weeks and 4 days pregnant. We always said we would like a 2 year age gap between our children so you can't get more precise than being due a baby 5 days after your first born's 2nd birthday!

I am looking forward to sharing everything with you about my stay-at-home, work-at-home (I do blog design, invites and announcements) life with my energetic toddler and the growing baby in my tum.

Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

Four years ago, around this time, I was getting ready for a vacation to Hawaii with some family and friends. Life was pretty good. I had a job I loved, friends I cherished and the only thing missing was a man. I was fairly convinced at the time that I wasn't interested in ever having kids, but I so badly wanted to find Mr. Right that I was looking for him everywhere (on the interwebs, in bars, at work, on vacation, whatever). Little did I know he was right there all the time, disguised as my youngest sister’s sweet friend.

Three years ago, I was wrapped up in a somewhat whirlwind relationship with the man I knew I would eventually marry. One day, it was like a light bulb went on and we went from kind of knowing each other to practically living together in a matter of weeks. I was the happiest I had ever been, even though our relationship was putting serious kinks in my previously free-as-a-bird lifestyle. Oddly, this perfect man of mine’s desire to be a father was starting to change my long held views on the subject of parenthood.

Two years ago, I was newly engaged. We had set a wedding date a year and half in the future and I couldn’t have been more excited to plan my wedding. Also, we were anxiously awaiting the birth of my sister’s baby at the end of the summer. Life was changing so quickly, I think I must have been dizzy. By this time, I knew we would have children one day, but one day still felt pretty far away.

One year ago, I was entering the second trimester of my very unexpected pregnancy. It’s always been said that the women in my family are hyper-fertile, but I never believed it. My husband likes to think it was actually his super sperm, but whatever the case, we were thrilled to be expecting. Our wedding day was rapidly approaching and the enthusiasm I once had for wedding planning had long since worn off. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted nothing more than to be married, it was the wedding I could have done without. I was too busy thinking up names for the baby girl I was convinced we were destined to have.

And that brings us to today. Our little surprise is now a babbling, rolling, teething, 6-month-old little man. Because I grew up in a house full of girls, baby boys are not a species I am extra familiar with. I had no idea that everything in his path is to be kicked, poked, pulled or prodded. I didn’t realize that a man's indescribable need to disassemble things is innate (as is the tendency to throw a fit when they are unable to put them back together exactly right). And most importantly, I never knew that baby boys could be sooooooooooo much fun.

A Year Ago Today...

It’s hard to believe that a year ago, I was creeping around work hiding a bump under my jacket (thank God it was winter). On the 30th May 2008, I got the BFP at 11 weeks pregnant. Except mine wasn’t big. It was very faint, and Daddysaur was rather convinced that a FAINT line meant NEGATIVE. Umm... No, darling, it doesn’t. But that didn’t stop me from doing 3 other tests and then going to the doctors for a blood test.

My phone had been on silent all through the doctors appointment, and when I got out of the surgery and checked it I found Daddysaur had tried ringing 36 times. Either he was really scared about the whole deal or really excited. So I rang him with the news, and we both agreed to keep it a secret until the ‘safe’ time – around 12 weeks. This pregnancy was NOT planned, and I think I can pinpoint it to one very drunken night, but we were still uber excited and could not wait.

The next 9 months or so passed quickly – well except for the last 2 months. My due date was set as the 31st December 08, so we were praying I wasn’t going to go into labour at our friends’ New Years Eve BBQ. But the 31st of December came and went, as did the 7th January. Finally, at 42 weeks pregnant, and dying of heat, largeness (my end weight was around 110kgs – and I am normally 75kgs!) and utter impatience, I begged my doc to induce me. After quite a few arguments (a new study came out that very month on how a pregnancy actually naturally lasts 42 weeks, and that we shouldn’t induce) he eventually agreed. Please note that I do not take inducement lightly, but I was running out of maternity leave, being mid-summer it was VERY uncomfortable, and I had horrific swelling of my feet and hands.

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On the 15th January at 5:55am my little angel was born. We had always wanted to find out what she was, but I got the surprise of my life when they pulled her out and she was a perfect little girl. Daddysaur was absolutely smitten, and to this day remains wrapped around her little finger. The birth was not easy, I had such high hopes for a drug-free birth but getting induced sped the labour up from around 22 hours (average labour for first-time Mum) to 5 hours. In the end, I had an episiotomy, and she had no heartrate when she was pulled out as she was very stressed. But I only had gas and a pethidine shot, so I was quite pleased that I had managed with that! Although, I must say: next time I’m seriously thinking about an epidural.

So that's about me. I am back at work, even though Tinysaur is only 3 months old and we are learning constantly about each other. I sit here tonight after struggling for 2 hours to put her to sleep. And I am learning that she likes to be wrapped up tightly like a little fat worm. Whereas when she was born, she hated it. I guess I'm learning that you just have to keep trying different things!

I look back now and realize how naive I was about parenthood. I researched like crazy (working in a library kinda turns you into a nerd) but I was still quite naive about just how physically and emotionally exhausting it all is. But in the same instance, when I am up at 3am trying to put 4 month old Tinysaur back to sleep for the 6th time I really appreciate just how little sleep the human body can function with! And I would not change it for the world. Because although she is really testing me at the moment, every smile, every laugh, every gurgle, every coo makes my heart melt. And when I see her with Daddysaur, it reminds me how important love is to everyone. And there is nothing quite like the love a parent has for their child.

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