Nesting

I decided to do some more 'nesting' today. Daniel has been busy working on his job application most of the weekend so I have been busy in B's room. I finally dismantled the spare bed yesterday and have put bed ends in new shed (wrapped in an old doona-cover for protection). The slat base is outside on the verandah behind the outside couch and I've had to leave the mattress in B's room for now. I've left the port-a-cot together and put some of my favourite bears in there so it's really starting to look like a baby's room now.



I also went shopping today and bought some essentials from Big W. Bought a huge box of 144 disposable nappies, some baby-wipes and 12 cloth nappies. One step at a time we're getting there. We're also keeping an eye on some items on ebay at the moment as there looks like some good bargains can be found there.

Week 24 GP Visit

This morning I went to visit my GP for my 24 week appointment. I think I was in there for about 40 mins so I feel sorry for all those people waiting after me. I had questions and stuff to sort out. Firstly she took my blood-pressure, which was fine, then we listened to the baby's heartbeat again and all is good there. I then asked her about my ecsma again and she had a look. She could see it was no better and actually made an appointment for me to see a dermatologist in a couple of weeks. I'm quite pleased about this as it really is annoying me. We then talked about my up-coming blood tests I have to have done. I have to have an Anti-D injection at about 28 weeks and a whole heap of other tests done that week too. They test me for Gestational Diabetes and syphilis, of all things! My GP suggested that someone at the hospital who requested the test be added to my list of bloods may be doing a study on it. So I have all that to look forward to. I'm terrible at getting blood tests done. I usually ask to lie down or I feel really queasy. Last time it was only one vial so the nurse convinced me I'd be fine but with the next lot I don't know how well I'll go sitting up. Might have to push my point. I'll let you know.

I actually had a really bad night last night in the sleeping department. I was quite tired and went to bed after 'Glass House'. Daniel had been out singing last night and got home not long after I had gone to bed. I was still reading and we had a bit of a chat then he went to wind down and watch some telly in the lounge. I only read a bit longer and had turned my light out by the time he came to bed. I was mostly asleep by then and thought once he was in bed I would go straight to sleep. Unfortunately that didn't happen. My stomach was making funny digesting noises that were annoying me and also giving me a bit of discomfort. I tried to ignore them for a while and then got up to go to the loo to see if that would help. I also got a quick drink of water but when I got back into bed it was no better. After tossing and turning trying to get comfortable for a while I decided to take my book into the lounge so as not to disturb Daniel, who was fast asleep. I have one of our spare doonas on the couch at the moment to snuggle under while I'm watching the telly in the evenings (cheaper than turning on the AC) so I got under that and tried to read some more. It was at about 1am by this time and I was getting quite frustrated too. I think I stayed out there for about an hour reading or just trying to doze and eventually trudged back into my bed. I must have got to sleep not too long after getting back to bed but I feel quite tired already and it's only 11am. I've got to start work at 12.30pm and work through to 9pm so I think I might struggle a bit today.

In other news, a few weeks ago we got a package from Adelaide from my brother and his wife in the mail. It was this terrific port-a-cot. We set it up the other night and it's really great! It has what they call a bassinet which means you don't have to bend all the way down, that you can put the mattress half-way up for a baby to sleep in. It also has a change table that you can attatch and it all folds down to a portable size to take from one place to another. It has wheels on one end to make it easy to move around the house when it's set up too. I'm thinking this is so good that we may not even need to buy a 'real' cot! Best present guys! Thanks heaps!

Oh well, I should go and iron shirt for work and think about what to have for lunch before I leave. It's been quite chilly up here this last week or two so soup makes a great lunch. Might go and see what I've got.

Sorry it's such a boring post - promise the next one will be better :-)

Maternity Wear and other Stuff

Just a short one today (famous last words).

Went shopping on the most recent long weekend as I've finally gotten too big for all my normal clothes. I had bought a couple of things when Dad was still here as they had some on special at Target. I bought a pair of black pants for work and couple of tops. But now all my casual pants don't fit either I had to buy some new ones. Daniel had been told about a maternity wear shop at Aspley by one of the ladies at work but when we went to check it out it had closed down. We didn't know where another one was but found one by accident when we came across a brochure in Brisbane Bubs for a shop called Maternity Revolution. It wasn't far from where we were so we went to check it out. It was good timing as they had a sale - 15% off everything. I bought a pair of jeans, a pair of pants that look like cargos that can be full length or 3/4, a pair of really comfy trackies and a really lovely top. Daniel took a photo of me last night before we went out to dinner for a friend's birthday. I'm wearing the new top and jeans and looking a bit more preggers. I'm 23 1/2 weeks so I should look a bit pregnant I guess. And here it is...



I have my 24 week appointment with my GP on Thursday. I think we're supposed to be talking about my 'birth plan' but I really have no idea about what exactly I need to decide for my birth plan. Should be interesting. Hopefully she'll be able to sort out my skin too. I've really had a very cushy pregnancy so I far I think, but the one problem that I have had is my skin. I've had really annoying ecsma on my legs, thighs and bum. It's terribly itchy and not an attractive spot to scratch. I bought it up with her last time and she prescribed sigmacort. I was only supposed to use it for a couple of weeks but I've been using it twice a day for about 4 weeks now and I don't think it has really improved. It just relieves it a bit when I put it on. I have also been using QV wash in the shower in stead of the old body wash I used to use but I don't know whether this has made a difference either. I hope it improves soon though as it is most annoying when I'm going to bed and keeps me awake trying not to scratch.

As I mentioned Daniel and I went out to dinner last night for our friend Jenny's birthday. We went to Tomato Brothers in Wilston which is a wood-fired pizza place. It was *so* delicious! There were a lot of people there so Jen had organised a banquet. All this food just kept coming and coming. It was a really good idea as it meant you got to try a lot of different things. It started with a couple of calzones which I'd never tried before and were so scrummy! Then a few different flavoured pizzas which were also scrumdiddliumscious. I really ate way to much and suffered for it later by felling ill all night. The best part of the night though was that we got to catch up with friends we hadn't seen since we found out about the baby. Amy and Jo sat with us all night and it was great to hear all their news and fill them in about what we'd been doing.

Other than that, not much to report here. I talked to Jody at work during the week about when I'm likely to take maternity leave from. At this stage I think I'll stop work 6 weeks before I'm due, around 2nd Sept, and only work as a casual from a couple of weeks before that, from about my birthday. That works out that I only have about 9 weeks full time left! That's pretty scary stuff. Hope I get everything I want done before I go.

That's all for now. Ciao!

Getting ready for B

Well, it's been another hectic couple of weeks since coming back from Fiji as we have been busily making some room here to fit in another little body.

The day after we got back from Fiji I had another ultrasound appointment at the hospital. From this scan we could find out what sex the baby is. Daniel and I had both decided quite a while ago that we both wanted to know if it was possible so... now we do! We also don't mind if the whole world knows and most of the family and friends have been told. However, some people don't want to know so click here if you would like to know whether it's a boy or a girl. Also, keeping this in mind, if leaving a comment could you please refrain from referring to it as he/she for the sake of others. Anyway, it was an exciting day, and we're really just glad that so far the baby looks healthy, with all its bits in the right place. I've also just started to feel the baby move now - well, I think it's the baby. Having not done this before its hard to tell sometimes so I'll just go with it. I would put in another pic but we haven't scanned them yet and it really doesn't look that much different from the last one.

A couple of days after that our friends Greg and Mel and their two children, Bailey and Jaime, came up from Hobart to Queensland on holiday. They stayed with us for the first few nights and then went and stayed at the Gold Coast for a week. Bailey's 7 and Jaime's 5 so they were really excited to go to the theme parks again. I think they all came up a couple of years ago and did a similar thing but as the kids are a bit older now they were able to enjoy it more. Bailey's tall enough now to go on all the coolest scary rides and Jaime's not really a scary rides sorta girl, so she was happier with the more sedate ones.

The day they all arrived was the same day as my Dad also arrived to stay with us. Boy, did we have a houseful! No, really, it was great! Dad slept in the spare room (soon to be nursery) and Greg and Mel slept on the sofa bed in the lounge. The kids had sleeping bags so we put them to bed on our bed to fall asleep and then transferred them later on to matresses in the lounge too. Greg and Mel know Dad quite well too so we all had a ball. Far too much alcohol consumed (not by me of course!) and some really great food (thanks everyone else for cooking - I did bugger all!) and just a really great time catching up and hanging out.

The main reason for Dad coming up though was to help out with all this stuff that needed doing around the house. The first priority was getting a slab laid for our new big shed. This meant taking down the old small shed, digging a suitable hole, and boxing it ready for cement delivery on Monday. Dad was straight in to that on Friday morning (he arrived Thursday night) and it was all ready to go on Saturday. To spare you all the details here is the summarised list of everything Dad did in his 13 days here:

• dug-up, boxed and laid 2 slabs
• built shed
• took 300kgs rubbish to tip
• cleaned up back veranda (most stuff went into new shed)
• mounted dryer on wall in laundry
• fixed hinges on study door
• put extra brackets on shelves in kitchen
• filled in side wall of garage
• put shelving units together and tidied up garage
• mounted outdoor speakers
• rearranged the computer room

...as well as countless other bits and pieces along the way. Bit of a superhero is my Dad! Daniel and I did help a bit with a few things but as Daniel was at work most of the time and I'm not allowed to lift much we really don't count.

So as you can see from that list I have a really good excuse for not getting to my blog sooner. I've been making hundreds of cups of coffee and getting the beer out of the fridge at just the right moment. Got to keep the workers happy my Mum always says!

So it was back to work for me on Monday. Greg and Mel came back up to stay with us Monday night (thanks Dad for the great Shepherds Pie) and then I dropped them to the airport on my way to work Tuesday morning. I was rostered off Wednesday so I got to spend my last day with Dad. We went out for brunch and then went shopping and bought me a new office chair so I don't have to sit on a dining chair any more at my computer. We had an early dinner together and then I took him to the airport to wave him goodbye. I know I'll see him again in a few months when they come up for the birth but I miss him already. Love you Daddy xxx