On the hunt

Mundane post time....

Sorry.

They're all mundane, aren't they? 

I'm on the hunt. For floral bed sheets. For my Nan. To give to my Mum for her birthday. Generation gap, I know. But Nan, bless her, doesn't even know how to use a computer, let alone own one. We have enough trouble with her mobile phone. That's a story for another day.

Anyway, during the heat yesterday, Darling Daughter (DD) and I were outside, in her playpen. Yes, both of us in the pen. Then the phone rings and it takes me about 5 rings to realise it was mine. So out of the pen I climb and inside, and answer it and Nan's worried she's woken DD. 

I tell her no. It's all good, we're just chilling in the cool.

So Nan tells me she wants to get my Mum floral sheets. Mum hates block coloured sheets. I don't know why, I don't need to know why. 

So I promise Nan that I will look. I've just spent all bloody morning trawling the internet for floral sheets. Then Mum rocks up and sees me looking and asks what I'm doing. And she points out she doesn't like FLORAL sheets, she asked for patterned sheets. So I start looking again, and guess what?

NO PATTERNED SHEETS!! 

Oh hang on, wait a second....

They're $319?!?!? WTF? Who the heck pays that much for sheets? I honestly balk at anything over $60. 

Anyway, I guess that's it. DD is awake and she's an aspiring blogger herself. You should see what she would do if I let her at the keyboard!

Happy Monday peeps!

Done for another year

Wow. What a huge few days. Darling Daughter (DD) turned one on Saturday. It was a great day, but also a bit emotional for me. We woke up before her, but made sure all her presents we had were out before we went to bed. We were very careful to only get her a few things, knowing that our families and friends would spoil her. 

I have a radio station that I listen to, every day, with DD (it's our TV off time) and she loves dancing to the music, so I contacted the host and he added in her details for a birthday announcement. I'm that sentimental, I got out my phone and recorded it. And I got a bit teary. 

We simply spent family time together (except for my two trips to the supermarket for bags of ice) until it was time for her birthday party. The weather was pretty good considering weather reports said we had an 80% chance of rain. 

DD was placed in her playpen, in the middle of all of us, and as people arrived, the circle got bigger and so did the pile of presents. I can say that we know the most generous people! 

We did things a bit different - we didn't have games or nibblies, just sat around for about 30 minutes to allow all of our guests to arrive (my cousin had to work late) and once everyone was here, we cut the cake. 

And it made me sad to do so. Why? Well, DD is obsessed with Giggle and Hoot. Mainly Hoot. We can be anywhere in the house, and if she hears the theme song, she gets so excited and starts trying to say Hoot and dances. 

So the lovely mum of a girl (I can't stop calling us girls, sorry) I went to school with made us a butter cream, chocolate mudcake Hoot. I thought a marzipan icing Hoot might be a bit much for a one year old to handle. Hubby and I ate Hoot's legs, which were wafers. Hoot has been so awesome, that a week after picking him up, we still have a little bit of his head/face! It has lasted so well! We let DD have a bit of cake to mush in her fingers (a normal serving size) and to eat. She even loved sitting up in her "big girl" Disney Princess camp chair, because our other young guests were doing it. 

I cracked a bottle of Chandon Vintage Brut (2008) that I bought on our honeymoon in 2011 and was saving for a special occassion. I figured after everything we had been through DD's first birthday was special enough.

Having Christmas just three days later was huge! Again, family and friends spoilt all three of us rotten. Our house looks like a toy store, with ALL sorts of things, from baby pianos, to walkers and stuffed toys littering our lounge room floor. But you know what? I wouldn't change it for the world. I think inside I like having them so close together because I know I don't have to worry about any of it for another year. 

I do wonder what DD will think when she is older, but if she says anything, I'll just remind her that she was the impatient one who couldn't wait to meet Mummy and Daddy.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you have a safe, happy, healthy and prosperous 2013!

Thank you for sticking by me for the first couple of months!

Monday Menu Plan

Ok, so today I'm linking up with A Dose of Dannie for her Monday Menu Plan.

Mine is likely to change, depending on my mood, the weather and what DD is doing at the time I decide to cook. 

But so far for this week we have:

Monday: Chicken & Mushroom risotto with baby spinach. Courtesy of a one pot meal pack.

Tuesday: Chicken Muffins with a potato and garlic filling - Lenards. Most likely to be served with salad.

Wednesday: Steak and veges.

Thursday: Marinated steak (Masterfoods Marinate in a bag - Red Wine & Garlic) and salad or veges.

Friday: Grocery night. Likely to be Maccas or KFC - both are on my way home

Saturday: Chinese - going out for my Nan's 73rd birthday

Sunday: BBQ I think, with the in laws. Or whatever my MIL decides we're having. On these nights, I'm not picky, because I'm not cooking it or washing up after it lol


We're a pretty boring bunch here. This weeks plan is slightly more extravagant than usual thanks to packet mixes and marinades. 

What's on your menu?? 

My Christmas List

In true Christmas Spirit, along with Essentially Jess and Always Josefa I'm doing my Christmas List.

How many items do it get? No, I'm just kidding. There's always a few things that are standard, so here goes:

1. Good health for all of my family. I want my mum's arm and neck to be better.
2. A money tree. Greedy, I know. But if I had a money tree with a never ending supply of money, I'd share it with my family, friends and charities. I wouldn't be so greedy as to keep it all myself, but I just want us to be comfortable without worrying.
3. More creativity. I'm sure you're all getting bored with my posts. I'm not that exciting or interesting.
4. For my family and friends to get their wishes for the rest of their lives - I know what some people want and it's nothing I can help with, so I really, really want them to get it.
5. An RDO for my husband. Having him home that one extra day a week would be wonderful.
6. An open ticket (including travel) to any and all country music concerts in Australia forever. I want to see Big and Rich, Billy Ray Cyrus and all the artists at CMC Rocks the Hunter. I've been lucky enough to see international artists Brooks and Dunn, Tim McGraw, Joe Nichols, Dwight Yoakam and Gary Allan to name a few. I want more. It's an addiction!

I'd share the love, but all my favourite and followed blogs have already been tagged I think.

Tell me in the comments what you want and who you would like to see give their Christmas list.

Countdown to Christmas

So, this year marks our very first Christmas at home as a family. DD and I were both still in-patients over last Christmas. 

Santa Claus even found her. Obviously her Mummy and Daddy were very muchly unprepared for her early (yet still welcome) arrival. We've also got to get through the first birthday party too, which I'm probably over-excited about.

I'm getting antsy to put our Christmas tree up, but thanks to my upbringing, I have to wait until December 1. I just can't bring myself to do it any earlier. Although I have broken with tradition and decided that Christmas carols will be played from DD's 11 month mark. That gives me an extra week and a bit to enjoy the music!

We're currently sussing out the shopping centre Santa's to get our first ever Santa photos done. I took her to look at Santa the other day, and she just stared at him. Quite intently too. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I'm really looking forward to this year. We're all going to be together, and won't have to steal tables from vacant hospital rooms to have Christmas lunch on. Although, I have to admit, my hospital was great and allowed me to pay extra money (out of my own pocket, not my private health insurance) which meant DH and my parents could have Christmas lunch with me. We even got a choice of beer, red wine or softdrink. 

Tomorrow sees DD at her grandparents house and me trying to organise more Christmas presents for my family and friends. This year, I am much more organised.

In fact, my mum will be getting more than just a $50 note shoved into her hand this year. She WILL get a gift. I'm making sure of that. 

This is probably a pointless post, but all these things jumble around in my head and make it hard to function some days unless I get it all out.

What are YOUR tips for getting organised for Christmas?? 

The Journey Part 2

To follow on from yesterday's post....

This side will deal with how I went emotionally.

When my waters broke, I was calm. When they admitted me to hospital, I was calm. Two days of bed rest, I was bored, and still calm. The third day though, it suddenly hit me. I was going to have a premature baby.

DH had gone back to work by then, as there was no sign of labour and he was only a 5 to 10 minute drive away anyway. No point in wasting his holidays, which we were saving for when we took our baby home.

Day 3 saw me having to be cuddled LOTS by my parents. Those who know me, know that I hug, but my parents and I never really did. We knew we loved each other, we always said it, but the only things apart from DH to calm me down were my parents. The lump of emotion that constantly seemed stuck fast grew and grew and grew. 

They took me off bed rest, I walked the corridors of that ward like there was no tomorrow, trying to get bub on the way again to no avail. 

The night before my induction, I finally caved and asked for the medicine to help me sleep that I had declined the previous few nights. I still didn't sleep great. DH and my mum were at the hospital early. I remember the midwife wanting me to walk around, but as it took her, DH and mum to walk me to the toilet, it was decided it wasn't a great idea. 

When DD was born, there were a LOT of people in the room. 3 or 4 midwives, the OB and the Paed. They all arrived within 2 or 3 minutes from their rooms (the doctors) and I remember hearing DD screaming. Everyone was saying, "What is it??" My honest to goodness thought was, "I don't give a F*** what it is, IS MY BABY OK??"

DH and I were extremely lucky. DD was breathing on her own, didn't require ventilation but was tiny. We got a quick cuddle before she was rushed over to the Special Care Nursery (SCN). 

1 week later, the day I was dreading came. I was discharged. It was great that I got to spend so much time in hospital, being so close to DD. I missed DH and my bed greatly, but the love for my child made me want to stay so close. The Nurse Manager was quite abrupt and nasty to me, and then when the lady at the desk at the hospital asked if my baby was leaving with me, I broke down. 

Another issue I had was that Kangaroo care was encouraged for so many of the other parents, but not us. In that time, I kept asking myself why we were so unlucky that we couldn't use kangaroo care to help us.

Most of the people we came into contact with were great. There's a few very special ones who I keep in contact with, especially the midwife who took care of me on bedrest and spent some time in SCN looking after DD. And me. The conversations we had at times kept me sane. 

2 weeks after she was born, our first huge milestone - leaving the isolette for an open cot. 3 weeks after she was born, I got to room in for the night. At age 22 days, we brought our daughter home. It was so great to finally show the lady at the desk that we DID have a baby and we WERE going home. I wanted to sing and shout and dance around.

The biggest, longest rollercoaster so far was defeated. We were finally a family. Even now, I look back and wonder how I got through. I don't see myself as a strong person. But in that time, I had a strength I didn't know I possessed. 

There might be more to follow this, I don't know. All I know is that it is approaching 12 months since this journey began too soon. And I wouldn't change it for the world!

I'm linking up with Jess for IBOT

The Journey Part One

This is a post I've thought long and hard about writing. I even asked DH would he mind if I shared, because it's OUR journey, not just mine.

Be warned, this could be a long one. 

As you would know from previous posts (and some of you knowing me outside this), I am a mum to a beautiful 11 month old daughter.

What a lot of you won't know (my faithful followers) is that my little girl was born early. 7 weeks early, at 33 weeks gestation, in fact. And to top it off, she had stopped growing and was the size of a 29 week baby. Not that you'd know it to look at her now. 

Here is our early start story......

I'd been on the pill for many years, to manage a medical condition where my body was wonky and instead of a 21/7 cycle, I was having the reverse, a 7/28 cycle, where my period would last 4 weeks and I'd have a week off. Ugh. So, at the start of 2011, I stopped taking it. We had our honeymoon and a month after we returned, our little girl was conceived. I know the exact date and to me, it's kinda funny.

I had the standard "morning sickness" but thankfully, mine was only nausea for the most part. I had one bout of a bad head cold at around 8 or 9 weeks pregnant, and that was the first time I actually threw up. Everyone at work had an idea, what with me wearing travel sickness bands on my arms to reduce the nausea to a workable point.

My first trimester was a breeze apart from the nausea. The second trimester, I was sick for 6 weeks with 3 chest infections. I was only allowed 2 lots of antibiotics so the third bout I just had to get on with it.

My due date was February, and because I didn't want my baby shower in January (too hot), and December was booked out with antenatal and Christmas parties, my lovely friend, Kylie, organised it for November. So many people asked me why I was having it so early, and I explained the time constraints to them.

DH and I had antenatal in the second weekend in December 2011. So many people had told me I was too small (only a tiny bump), and I looked like I'd overindulged on pasta. I'm serious. Teeny tiny bump. I asked the midwives at antenatal and they weren't concerned, so I was happy. There was one couple there, who were 36 weeks, and me, at almost 32 weeks, was convinced their baby would arrive first. 

The following Saturday, after a walk around the shops, I took my mum to our GP as he hadn't seen me since the last chest infection. I went home and decided to have a nap before my team Christmas party that afternoon. I woke up, lay there and thought about getting the washing off the line. That's when it happened. 

I was convinced I'd had too much water to drink, that tiny little release was my body's way of telling me to get up and pee. So I stood up, and said to DH, "Get up, I'm leaking." I didn't know where else to stand, so I stood in our shower stall as I didn't want to "pee" all over our newly polished floors. A call to the women's unit and we were on our way (there's another story here, but that's another day). We arrived, and were put in a labour room, because there were 3 women who presented at the same time. 

The midwife who ran our antenatal class was on, took one look at the maternity pad I'd had on, and said, "Sorry, love, your membranes are gone." We had to wait about half an hour for the on call OB, who just happened to be the one I was changing over to (that's another story). He did the first internal of my pregnancy, and held his fingers up in a circle to the midwife. A little wave of panic went through me.... I was dilating!

My mum, by this stage, had joined me at hospital, while hubby went home and got my hospital bag. I mentioned to mum that it really felt like I needed to pass wind, and she said sadly, "That's early labour, love."

They dosed me full of drugs, which made me look like I'd sun baked naked in the midday sun, but they stopped my labour and I got the recommended 2 doses of steroids for bubs lungs. They said to me if I hadn't gone by the Thursday that week, then they would induce me, as it was too risky for bub to stay in there. So Thursday comes around, and they pump me full of drugs... I must have looked like a pin cushion as I had 3 (yes, 3!!) things being pumped into my two hands. I was one of the lucky ones - my labour was only 3 hours, 33 minutes long and with one huge push at the OB's instructions, DD was born, screaming! 

33 weeks, 3 days gestation, 3 pounds 7 ounces (1560 grams), baby girl, head full of hair. NO ventilation required. But she still spent 2 weeks in an isolette (humidicrib) because of her size. She couldn't hold body temp. 

I think today, I will stop our story here. There's so much more to tell. But I don't think I want to dwell on anything now. Just getting this part out there is an awesome start. Please stick with me, everyone, while I get brave enough to let you into what was going through my mind during this time. I've only stuck to the cold, hard facts for now. But you need those before you can see into my mind. 

Have a lovely Monday!