Expect The Unexpected

Most people that know me know that my pregnancy definitely hasn't been easy. I guess all I can say is - you just never know what to expect as every pregnancy is different!

As a rather petite person I had always worried what a baby would do to my body. Yesterday, the freaked out look on my obstetricians face said it all.

Let's rewind a week, I had been feeling crampy and uncomfortable for quite some time, but thinking it was quite normal (because in most cases it is!). I was working as I normally do, and my routine was much of the same before I was pregnant.

On Thursday I felt very, very strange. A hot flush came over me suddenly, my eyes blurred and I saw stars. The most bizzare thing was that I wasn't even moving! I was sitting at my desk and then bam! There was no stopping it. Of course, it's only natural to question every single little thing that happens to you when it's your first pregnancy, so I quickly rang my OB & she told me to come in, which I did. I was then tested for pre-eclampsia. I'd never really heard of it before so it was all news to me. She explained that it can be quite dangerous for the baby and for myself. (another post on pre-eclampsia to come)

I didn't have ALL of the signs, but did have a few.
I went downstairs, had some blood tests and a urine test, and headed back to work. Thursday night I couldn't move - and by Friday I was done.

The weekend was quiet, I was enjoying my yummy lunch on Sunday with my family when I went to stand up. Who would of thought such a simple task would become such a disaster.

I felt something rip under my left rib - and quickly sat back down. I then tried again to get up, and couldn't move without help. Trying not to freak out, I went into the bedroom and thought - the little guy must be in a weird position, so let's try to move him. I tried to sit straight, nope, I tried to get down on all fours to wiggle him over, nope, tried to lay down on my side, nope, stand up, nope, tried a heat pack, nope, nothing seemed to be working. The only way to stop the pain was to stay in one position and not move, and definitely no breathing deep.. Every breath I took was like a stab to my body. 

This all happened at about 4pm, I tried to put up with the pain but at about 10.30pm at night .. It was time to go to the hospital.

It's a very confronting feeling when you realise you don't care about what happens to you, as long as your baby is okay. I guess that's one of the first things we learn about being a parent; it just comes so naturally that you care for them more than you do yourself. It's pretty amazing if you ask me.

Then came the bombardment of questions. Have you had any bleeding? Are you feeling what you think may be contractions? Are you on any medication? Is the baby moving? If I poke your stomach here, does it hurt? What about here? What about here..? Are you light headed? Have you noticed anything strange? Are you allergic to anything? Your stomach feels very firm, does it normally feel like this? 
I was so out of it I actually don't even remember what I told the nurse! 
After many tests and monitoring the baby's heartbeat for 20 minutes - we then waited.
What is it about hospitals and waiting that makes you so nervous and tense?

Finally, I was told by our obstetrician that our 'not so little' man had grown very quickly and was weeks ahead of what he should be. We knew he was a bigger baby already but assumed he would slow down a little, as it's very common to have a few growth spurts, and then a slow growth period where days catch up to weight. But no, not our son! 
Because of his quickly growing size and my petite frame - he had completely ripped the muscles on the left of my abdomen to shreds. 

So how do your muscles heal and recover from this when your baby is still growing?
They don't.

There is absolutely nothing I can do but try to manage the pain and not do anything strenuous.
No more work, no more shopping, no more crazy excerises, nada! Unlike a normal torn muscle that can rebuild and heal, there is no opportunity to do so, because our baby is still growing, the muscle will only continue to tear until I give birth.

Speaking of giving birth, now we know our dude is a lot bigger than he should be, and not only do I have an unbalanced pelvis but also a petite frame, we are going to have to look at delivering earlier, and most probably by a caesarian. I'm currently just over 33 weeks, and in two weeks we will be heading back to the hospital to make a decision. I am not fussed if I end up having a caesarean - to be honest, all I care about is knowing he is healthy and okay. I have no issue with having the decision made for me, I just want what's best for him. As I said, in pregnancy, expect the unexpected.

Bed rest has already proven to be quite boring & I don't know how much Foxtel I can watch - but it's all worth it in the end, right? I mean - look at that face!!!!! Not too long until we meet, and I can't wait!

What's In My Hospital Bag?

The day of birth is slowly creeping up on me, and I'm feeling overwhelmed with excitement, anxiety and nervousness. My hospital recently sent me a cute little package, with a list of things I should pack and bring with me to the hospital, so I thought I'd share them with you!

When do you pack? To be honest, it's entirely up to you. It may also depend on your pregnancy and your circumstances. You may have been told your baby could possibly come early, you may also want to pack earlier if you are having twins or you can leave it to the last minute if you are booked in for a caesarian.. just speak with your obstetrician/midwife to see what's best for you.
For a normal pregnancy, I'd say any time from 34 weeks is fine. But if it makes you feel more comfortable knowing that little bag is sitting in the corner ready for a quick pick up - then pack whenever you want!

Mums Bag:

Loose clothing for every day. Tshirts, button down shirts, trackies, whatever makes you comfortable. Go with darker colours, there may be some stains & leaks that you don't want to see.
Night gowns/button down pjs 3-4
Dressing Gown
Slippers/Thongs
Socks
Maternity Bras 1-2, even if you aren't planning on breastfeeding, you will be very tender after birth and these will help ease the pain
Granny Undies or Disposable Undies. I always overpack underwear, so I just say, bring them all! If you are having a caesarian, you may find high waisted cotton nickers to be much more comfortable as they won't rub your wound.
Toiletries Hairbrush, toothbrush, dental floss, toothpaste, shampoo & conditioner, makeup (if you're keen!), deodorant, moisturiser, makeup wipes, cleanser, cotton buds, hair ties and lip balm. Everything that makes you feel human again.
Nursing Pads
Maternity Pads
Baby wipes These will help you to feel a little more fresh if you can't get up to have a shower just yet
Nipple Cream Hot/Cold Gel Packs & Witch Hazel Pads
Any Medications/Glasses
Medicare Card
Health Fund Card - health insurance details
Blood Group Card
ID & hospital paper work
Mobile Phone Charger
Snacks! (fibre rich) (as if I would pack a bag without food?)
SRC recovery shorts (unless you are having a c-section)
Certificate of Installation for car seat
Notepad & pen - and squeeze out all the information you can from the nurses to write down!
Camera
Baby book

Baby Bag:
Six/Eight onesies/sleepsuits
Six/Eight cotton singlets
Muslin Cloths/Swaddles

Two/Four pairs mittens and booties
Two/Four beanies/hats
Baby bath soap
Baby wipes
Baby Blanket
Nappies (check to see if your hospital supplies them)
Pacifier

For twins - increase everything by half.

Alternatively - a great baby shower gift or gift to yourself is the Bundle Bags!

These are amazing pre-packed maternity bags for Mum and for baby. They are 100% certified organic, and really beautiful.

Nursery Time!

One thing that I was really, really excited about was styling our nursery.

I constantly found myself daydreaming about colour schemes, patterns, wall decals and bunny rabbits.

To get started, the first thing I did was jump on Pinterest and to browse through a few different themes and pick one that we liked the most.

I was really digging the "into the woods" theme but with a modern take. It suited our home, as it's quite modern itself, so sticking to this theme really worked. Plus who doesn't like tiny baby foxes?

I then needed to take into consideration the size of the room we would be using as our nursery. We live in an apartment, and our nursery/second bedroom isn't quite as large as the master suite. This limited our options for how much furniture we could buy. Cue opening up every single ''maximising small spaces'' blog you could think of.. and we were soon to realise we'd only be able to fit a couple of pieces - a cot, a dresser with change table on top (rather than separate), a nursing chair and a small corner table.

Although limited on the 'larger' pieces, this didn't stop me from adding some really beautiful décor to help the room look larger and beautiful.

The Boori Eton is the nursery set we chose to buy. The great thing about this cot is that not only does it convert to a toddler bed, it also converts to a double bed for much later down the track.

Next up - our chair. It might possibly be my most favourite item in the nursery. Not only does it recline, but it's also a glider. With little puppy dogs running around, we couldn't risk having an actual rocking chair, we certainly don't want to squash any paws or hands/toes! This beautiful chair was made at Berkowitz, and even without the baby arriving yet, I seem to find myself spending a lot of time in it..

I had one large blank wall above where my chair sat, I then decided on putting two rows of three paintings together in frames, to bring a little colour into the room, and to fill the space. I went with some water painted animals - which are so cute! If you are looking to budget, this is really great. I downloaded the water prints online, and purchased the frames from Target, which were a bargain $12 for 3. The fun part (not) was measuring up the wall. Don't tell my husband how many holes there are behind each frame.. it was really hard to get right!! ...sorry babe.

We then headed to Adairs Kids to add a little colour above with a row of wooden triangles. We also purchased aqua decals, our side table and our baby bear blanket at the same time.

The next thing we did was choose a rug. As I mentioned, the space is small, so I opted for a small faux sheepskin rug to keep up with our theme.

Our bedding sheets are from Living Textiles - as well as our bassinet sheets and change table sheets.

We have an ipod dock sitting on our little corner table, ready to play some awesome lullaby renditions, as well as some block out blinds.

Keeping the nursery simple is really important in a smaller space, I would have loved to put a tee-pee up though!!

Pets & Babies

Introducing your pets to your newborn can be a very delicate task and it is crucial how you handle it so that no one gets hurt (babies OR pets!).

Anyone who knows me, knows I love all animals, very very much, and it breaks my heart to see and hear about people shunning their pets when their children are born.

At home we are quite lucky as both of our dogs aren't much taller than a 30 centimetre ruler and neither of them weigh much more than a pea, so physically there isn't much they can do to harm the baby. But mentally - the baby can harm them very much, unless handled correctly.

If you have a bigger pet/dog who is used to being 'your baby' and being inside with you and being the centre of your attention, it's even more important that you take care of business, starting prior to the baby coming home.

Tips:

Start to enforce rules around the home. No jumping on couches, beds or any other type of furniture uninvited, and definitely no jumping up on laps when you walk through the door. This is really important for cats who we know like warm spots - no doubt you will find them in the babies bassinet or cuddled up in a blanket. A pet should not be allowed to sleep with your child. Creating a calmer atmosphere where your pets know you are the boss is very important. Give them a special somewhere that is ''their spot'', and get them used to being there. This may be a little harder for cats, but can certainly be achieved with dogs.

I was told a great tip - carry a doll around the house and treat it like I would our baby, to get my dogs used to another love in my life, and something else having my attention. I can imagine if my neighbours saw me carrying around a phone book wrapped in a blanket I might look like a lunatic - but I'm definitely going to try this.

Familiarity as well as smell is very important for animals. When the baby is born & you are still in hospital - have your significant other, or a family member take home a blanket that the baby has spent the day wrapped in, and put it in your pets bed. This will allow them the opportunity to become familiar with the babies smell, I was also told that brining home used breast pads will be helpful also. Gross. But may be worth trying.   

Get them used to a crying baby sound. I don't know how useful this is but perhaps try playing a crying baby on YouTube from your phone. 

Don't yell at your animals for making noise when your baby sleeps, or if they bark and wake the baby up. They don't understand what they would have done wrong - and though you may be running on 24 hours with no sleep, pets aren't aware of that. 

Get your pet used to being touched in annoying places - like the tail, ears, nose, paws and most importantly - near the mouth. No doubt when those little hands have grown, you want your pets to be able to handle the constant attention they will probably get. Start doing this immediately - play with their favourite toy or give them treats while you do it to make the experience enjoyable and not irritating for them.

Remember when your little one comes along that your pets still look at you as though you are their whole world (and you are - you feed them, care for them, love them and they love you unconditionally). They don't understand what is happening, you must be patient and continue to be loving and caring towards them whenever you can. They need special attention from you, they need to be walked and cuddled and played with. They are not humans, they don't understand English and can't have things explained to them. Jealousy is unfortunately very common, and you don't want your pets running away (which has been known to happen - sorry to the bird my Mum and Dad had when my bro was a baby, he lost his mind after not being able to sit on my Mums shoulder every day and he escaped from his cage - never to be seen again!) Try and make the experience enjoyable for everyone, and they will grow to love your baby as much as you do. 

Another important thing to remember is if you have a doggy door or cat door - make sure your child isn't able to fit through it. And if they can, lock it up while baby is exploring, and be very careful & mindful of this.

Last but not least, if you don't think you can do this on your own - do some research and get a trainer! There are behavioural specialists who can take the guesswork out of preparing your animals for a newborn. 

Good luck and remember, love your pets!

No Vax? No Visit!

This post may come across as aggressive, which is not my intention, but there's nothing quite like a protective Mumma bear.

So my husband and I have made a very strict rule, if you aren't vaccinated - you won't be allowed to visit our baby. This isn't a throw away comment - it's a strict "I'll see you again further down the track when he is fully vaccinated and when it's safe". It's nothing personal at all, I do not judge you for your choices and respect that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but this is part of our birth and parenting plan, and while you may have your plans of why you don't vaccinate, we have our plans on why we will.

On the other hand, if you have been vaccinated/immunised in the past, most of you will probably need a booster shot. If you are planning to come and visit our little guy when he is born (which I'm sure a lot of our friends and family plan to) - please go to the doctor and ask what you may require.

Lately, we have seen an epidemic of whooping cough in the news, and to be honest - it's quite terrifying. Just in Victoria alone 2,500 babies have been treated for whooping cough since the beginning of the year, which is up a jaw dropping 70% from last year. A new born baby does not have a strong enough immune system to fight off this terrible disease on their own. Babies cannot receive their first whooping couch injections until they are six weeks old, and even then it takes three shots over 6 months until they are fully vaccinated and unfortunately, whooping cough isn't the only disease your newborn baby is at risk of. So please respect our choice.

Mums, if you haven't read about why you should immunise/vaccinate your newborn, please do. Educate yourselves and make your decision based on what your doctor suggests, what your obstetrician suggests and what you believe is right.
My obstetrician advised me to have my shots between 29-32 weeks (which I had last week), and if you are afraid of needles - I promise it wasn't bad at all! Just a little corking the next day!

At the moment - the whooping cough vaccination is free for expecting parents, as well as the flu shot. Pensioners also can recieve the vaccination at no cost - but generally it's around $30-$40.

30 Weeks Pregnant

Feeling like I am on the home stretch.. literally stretching all the way there!

The weekend was the first time anyone actually called me ''big'' and asked me how long I had to go! I don't know if it made me happy or not? I feel like my belly has just popped out, out of no where. I catch glimpses of myself in the mirror and think... WOAH, how have I gone from announcing my pregnancy to all of a sudden telling people I'm 30 weeks?

Things that I've noticed lately?

• I feel very big & uncomfortable. It's really hard sitting at a desk from 8.45am until 5.30pm every day. It's getting harder to reach my keyboard, my belly may be growing but my arms aren't! Mostly, I just want to lay down, and by about 3pm - I'm seriously okay with just lying on the floor in my office. Don't judge me for it!
• Welcome back hormones, you have not been missed. As we know, the baby can feel your emotion and moods, so I'm trying really hard to stay calm and happy - but it's not easy when I feel like I have bipolar!
• I am starting to forget things. Baby brain is pretty common, and can effect most pregnant women. My suggestion? Open your notepad on your phone, and write everything down. My to-do list has honestly saved me a few times!
• I am REALLY tired. Not just sleepy, but tired. I have been having naps constantly, and feel a little achy all over. 
• Things on the inside are starting to feel pretty crampy and squashed. The kicks are getting pretty hard & strong now, but it's really nice to feel them, even if they hurt a little!
• I am starting to really slow down. I can't walk very fast. Actually.. I can't move very fast at all. 
• I run out of breath very quickly. Even walking down a flight of stairs. This is because the uterus now puts a lot more pressure on the diaphragm, and it feels like my lungs are being squished. It may look like my baby sits low, but he sits right up underneath my right lung. I swear I can feel him scratching it! I try to get him to move to the left, but he really loves it! I have almost considered making his middle name ''right''.
• I am starting to get a bit of the ''nesting'' coming on.. I have been spending quite a bit of time in the nursery... cleaning, washing things, preparing things, changing things, folding the same items over 20 times. 
• I'm getting more and more excited about meeting our little man every single day. I remember being 20 weeks pregnant - that was 10 weeks ago and time has flown by.. so I can just imagine how quickly the next 10 weeks will go! He will be in my arms in no time!
• I don't cry as easily as I thought I would? I know some women say even a TV ad will set them off.. but me? No crying! Just a moody roller-coaster ride!
• My dreams are getting SUPER weird again. I have been trying to write them down so I can look back and laugh at how crazy I was.
• Exercising right now is really important & I have seen such an improvement since exercising/stretching every night. I now only cramp up a little while I sleep, and just feel generally better all over. (as best as I can considering I feel like Violet from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory after she blows up into a blueberry balloon!)
• Practising breathing is also super important. I feel like when I breathe in and out big & deep and lift my arms up, it creates room and the baby can stretch out a little. It gives me a little break from feeling squished, too! 
• Now is definitely the time to buy a pregnancy pillow - the bigger my belly gets, the harder it is to sleep. I feel like I have gotten away with it so far because my mattress is a Tempur Memory Foam mattress which just moulds to the shape I am, but things are starting to get heavy now, and I can feel my lower back being pulled forward by the weight of my belly.
• Now is the time to pamper yourself! I had a massage on the weekend and it was honestly the greatest thing ever.

Even with all the craziness going on, I am really enjoying this time, and the third trimester. I know it's the last time my life will ever be anything like it is now - so I'm just taking it in before things change forever. I can't wait to see what the next chapter holds for us!  

Summer Outfits That Will Make You Go Ga-Ga!