Don't sneak up behind me

Yesterday, Josh was to start work at 2. At 1, I said goodbye to Josh as I went upstairs to put Noah down for a nap (he had broken his nap into two...dirty rat) as Josh was going to leave a few minutes later. Well, Noah went down really quickly and so I came back downstairs.

Apparently I came down very quietly. Josh was not expecting me to come back before he left.

I walked to the garage where Josh was putting on his workboots, and facing away from me. As he turned around I did what anyone in my position would do - I hid behind the doorway and then popped out yelling 'RARRRRR!'

Josh's response was not what I had expected.

I expected him to jump, maybe yell a bit, laugh, and give me a hug. Instead, he jumped, went into a trance like state, put on his serious face, and pulled his hand back to punch! Now to be clear, this all happened in a microsecond - he had no real intention of punching me. This is the split second response of my highly trained husband :)

When he realised it was me, he went out of his 'trance' and laughed kinda irritatedly (not a word, but who cares). Apparently, you never come up behind such a highly trained superhero.

The life whisperer

Recently, Josh and I have been watching this DVD...



This guy is awesome! We keep a rather exciteable dog in our tiny little backyard and despite being walked twice a day, she gets a bit bored. Our neighbour came across me, 41 weeks pregnant, walking our rather rambunctious dog and offered some tips. The next day he came over with the DVD and suggested we watch for some tips. Well, it took a few months for us to get round to it (due to having a baby and all!), but we started watching the DVD last week.

We are learning all sorts of things about how to train our dog to be better behaved. It's all about training US, not training her. And I must say, she is doing better because we are doing better.

If only making everything in life do better was as easy as watching a DVD and implementing a few of the strategies.

Of course, we have this:


and this:


but it is not as easy as training a dog.

Life is a journey. We travel whatever roads we feel are best for us. There is no 'life whisperer'. Sometimes we reach a fork in the road. Sometimes we do a u-turn and find a better path. Sometimes I think it'd be nice to see where our road leads, but then I realise... where's the fun in that?

'Just keep swimming!!'

Thanks Dory, good advice. Apparently someone trained you well too.

Sleep

I've decided training a baby to sleep stinks.

Right now he is in his bed SCREAMING his little lungs out because he is desperately tired and I won't rock or feed him to sleep.

We had sleeps perfected before he got a cold and before we went on a trip to Townsville. Now his ability to put himself down for a nap is destroyed. We had it perfected. Darn.

Lucky I love him so stinking much!

Baby Noah

Well, I did it! I had a baby!

It was almost 4 weeks ago now and that time has just flown. What a whirlwind! Days roll into one and life seems super busy, but I am loving every single moment (except maybe that moment where he cries 15 minutes after I just put him down at 4 o'clock in the morning... but I get over it fast :))

So a bit about the birth...

Noah was quite content in my belly. He was due on January 12, but I was very grateful he didn't come that day as Brisbane flooded completely and I would have had a rough time getting to my hospital! However, I had called a nearby hospital to make a contingency plan so I knew everything would be okay.

A week after he was due, we were still waiting. The midwives had visited and begun helping things to move along. They did two membrane sweeps, I went to the chiropractor to ensure everything was aligned, and finally we decided I needed to be induced.

So on Thursday night (20 January) I was admitted to hospital to start the process. They inserted some cream stuff to start thinning things out ready for my actual induction the next morning. It causes masssssssive cramping and I felt like I was in labor. No such luck, I was just cramping all night long. Sadly I was in a shared room and the lady next to me snored like a hippopotamous, so between the cramping and the hippo, I got virtually no sleep. Pretty scary when you know you're gonig to be in labor the next day!

Either way, at 6.30 the next morning I was taken to a birthing suite where my waters were broken and I was given the induction drip. Things started hard and fast, so I got in the hot shower to help take the pain away. After about 2 hours in there I was over it! I wanted something to do that would help the pain like the water did where I didnt have to be naked and wet. I wanted a bath or something... but my midwife started suggesting pain relief.

I had wanted to do it naturally, but an induction kinda changes things. You have none of the natural hormones that come with labor to help fight the pain, you just have the unnatural contractions that are ridiculously ouchy... and get ouchier every half hour or so. The midwife said she thought I'd be in labor for about 18 to 24 hours, so I should really consider an epidural or something. Well, we discussed it and decided to do it... despite my prior desires.

Can I just say... EPIDURALS ARE HEAVEN SENT!

It was a great choice! I could still feel just the top of the contraction, the tightening, etc... but the pain was sooo much less. Virtually gone. And the guy who put in the epidural talked us through everything and was incredibly fast and good. I didn't feel it at all. I'm so grateful they offered this option. I don't ever want to have a baby without one! It meant Josh and I got some much needed rest, ready for pushing.

Now, the midwife was wrong about one thing... the time I'd be in labor. After about another 4 hours, Noah's heartrate started dropping. They were concerned and sent for a doctor thinking they may have to perform a ceasarian section. Well, when the doctor came, they found that everything was fine but Noah was sitting there ready to come out! Time to push! I just didn't feel it because the epidural was too good :)

So I pushed and about 15 minutes later we had a baby. 7 and a half hours labor isn't bad for a first baby... and certainly was much less painful than I anticipated.

I can't even tell you how excited we were to see our little man. What a wonderful feeling it is to meet what has been inside you for almost 42 weeks and find him PERFECT!

A couple of things about Noah...
1. He never had hiccups inside of me but now has them almost every day.
2. He eats like crazy and has put on close to 3 pounds since birth.
3. He is such a sweet spirit and barely cries except to signal something specific.
4. I've been very blessed to be a part of the Mater Midwifery Group Practice with midwives who still visit and give me advice on the things I have questions about.
5. Noah smiled for the first time today!!!!!

When Noah was 7 days old, we had some professional photos taken by Photography by Shayla. She was wonderful. Here are a few pictures of our amazing new addition.

Progress!

So I haven't posted too much pregnancy progress so I thought I'd do that today to keep a few of you happy!

The dates aren't exactly right because I didn't keep great track of when these pictures were... but they're roughly right! Enjoy!

22 weeks:


24 weeks:


32 weeks:


Another about 32 weeks:


37 weeks with our mini christmas tree:

Holidays!

Katrina...Contain your excitement, calm down... OKAY! I CAN'T CONTAIN IT!!

As of tomorrow afternoon, 3pm, I am on holidays! YAY! Being a school teacher, whilst disturbing, does have perks :)

So, what to do with my time? I wish I could say I was going to do what I am meant to do and put my feet up and relax... but it is unlikely. I need to set up the baby room, find a nice picture to put on their wall in our bedroom, and I'd like to sand and re-finish the piano,. The only BIG task there is the piano and I suppose I can enlist some help. I'll try to find some time there to laze in the pool and walk the dog also.

It is very exciting to me to consider that I may not return to full time work for a large number of years. I'm a realist and know that financially I'll probably work a couple of days a week once maternity leave is over, but no more full time? Woo hoo! I understand that being a mum is challenging, hard work. But I am super excited for what is to come.

Christmas is 2 weeks from Saturday, the baby is due in less than 5 weeks. I can see that time is going to FLY by!

I like to move it, move it

Yes, we're moving!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am.

I'm less excited about the actual moving process, but having a new house will be SOOOO AWESOME!

Even more exciting is that we have bought the place. Our first home! It settles on Friday. We transferred the balance of the deposit to the lawyers today (yikes...) and we're ready to move on Saturday. I'm grateful in advance for the wonderful friends and family who are coming to help to ensure this 35 week pregnant woman doesn't try to do too much!

So here is what we are moving into:


Yep, it's a townhouse. But it's pretty :)

And here is the part I am MOST excited about:


Yep, a kitchen that not only has an oven, but also a stove, bench space and a double sink. Oh and tiles on the floor instead of carpet. So much excitement!

Can't wait :)

And in other news... Natalie, my sister, got endowed a couple of weeks ago. We took a few pictures outside the temple and here is my favourite. It's great because it shows us candidly laughing, and petting my delicious baby bump. There are times when I find my family adorable. And Josh. He looks hot in this picture.