New Obsession - Sarah Richardson

I, like alot of people probably, daydream about either building a home from scratch or buying an old house and doing a full on renovation.

Currently Mr Mel & I live in a gorgeous 100+ year old Federation house, at the time we bought neither of us were really ready to take on a reno, Mr Mel had just quit his job in Sydney and was starting his own business, from home, I was working 60+ a week, plus we were heading down to Sydney just about every weekend.

So finding our lovely home, fully renovated, with only a few tweaks required, was perfect for us.

HOWEVER, I still have my daydreams, well more than daydreams, I know we'll either build or renovate one day.

And until that day looms, my new obsession is

Sarah Richardson has a couple of shows on Foxtel's LifeStyle HOME - Sarah's House is the one I love, I've only seen half of the series where she has purchased a stock standard developer/builders house off the plan, and is upgrading, designing, decorating, as the house is built.

Of course the budget is way out of anything we could ever do, but the ideas and inspiration are endless.

Not the series I'm watching but typical of Sarah's style - love it!

LOVE this ensuite, the antique mirrors on the doors of the vanity are gorgeous!

In other news, we're heading off for an ultrasound now, to see if bubs has turned out of transverse, I'm not hopeful as I can still feel a head under my ribs, but we shall see!

Till next time,

Spin baby spin!

At our last ultrasound 3 weeks ago bubs was sitting in breech, our OB told us not to worry that bubs will probably spin of its own accord into the normal head down, 'vertex' position.  That they don't start to worry until around 37 weeks when bub should be in the right position.

Bubs was in Breech

We had an OB appointment yesterday, we're now 34w 5d, and bubs has decided to turn from breech to transverse.

Bubs has his/her head under the right side of my ribs, his/her feet under the left side of my ribs, and his/her spine curving down into my pelvis area.

Bubs is now in transverse

The OB did an ultrasound to confirm, and there he/she was happy as Larry, heart beating away, kicking at the ultrasound wand, but not where we wanted to see him/her.

So the OB has said I'm to go back and see her on 4th April, if bubs still hasn't turned they'll do what's called an ECV (external cephalic version) where they manipulate the baby from outside, 'through' my tummy, to move it into a head down position.

ECV to move bubs into Vertex position

The OB warned us that the success rate is about 50%, and that some bubs can flip back up out of the head down position even if successfully moved.

She also warned that if during the ECV they think bubs is having any issues, ie heart rate dropping, or placenta issues, any ruptures etc, that bubs will be born by cesarean.

A Cesarean birth hasn't been on my radar, so to hear that got my heart racing.

I always thought/wanted I'd have a natural and hopefully drug free birth, and all of my reading & research over the past 8 months has been preparing myself for that type of birth.

Mr Mel & I have always said we'd aim for natural/drug free, but that our Number 1 aim was a safe, healthy baby & mum, so we thought we had all options on the table.

It seems now that the big 'C' has been bought up by the OB, that Mr Mel & I may not have been as open as we thought, as I now can't get it out of my head! 

Of course being the researcher I am, I spent most of last night reading up on transverse positions, ECV & Cesareans, have to say I'm desperately hoping bubs will flip over and play ball.

Friends have mentioned a website - Spinning Babies, which I'm going to look into, and a member of the website Simple Savings that I'm a member of, mentioned seeing a chiropractor to try the 'Webster Technique' which I'm also going to look into.

I'm hoping bubs will spin by April 4, as I would really really really prefer not to have a Cesarean.

The aim - Vertex position!

If any readers have had success with a bub moving from Tranverse to Vertex after 35 weeks, please let me know, would love a positive story!! :)

Till next time,

From Bunting to Bubba Bits

For our surprise wedding in July last year, I made around 100 metres of bunting to decorate the hall where we had our reception.

After many weeks of ironing & cutting & sewing after work most nights, and during most weekends, I was ultra happy with the end result.

Part of the 100m+ of bunting, on the day of our wedding

Part of the 100m+ of bunting, on the day of our wedding 

I'd always had in the back of mind that I would like to one day use the bunting for something in our house, maybe a baby's room, down the track.

Well seeings as we were lucky enough to fall pregnant on our honeymoon, that 'down the track' time is upon us, our baby is due in just under 6 weeks, and the bunting is being transformed.

The first version is the 'baby bunting' on the wall above the bookcase.

Some of the bunting converted to a baby banner, the green ones are calico which I hand dyed

The second is the 'bunting nappy holder', I think it's just gorgeous!

Bunting Nappy Holder - gorgeous!

Lovely from all sides

Till next time,

34 weeks down - gotta get sorted!

Can't believe on Saturday we'll be 34 weeks pregnant, holy moly that's come up quick!

Our Nursery is just about sorted, we found a rug in Newcastle that should do the trick, and was marked down to $159 from $389, score!!

I'll add a photo over the weekend, once I've got things tidied up!

Seeings as bubs could arrive at any moment, and 'best case' is only around 6 weeks away, Mr Mel & I have set this weekend as our 'get sorted' weekend.

On the to-do list:

• wash all nappies (modern cloth nappies/MCN's) - for the 2nd & 3rd time, they all recommend up to 5-6 washes before use, to help with absorption
• wash all baby clothes
• wash all nursery linen
• dust & vac everywhere in the nursery, including the flipping ceiling fan I keep forgetting!
• put all the 'baby stuff' in the nursery!
• finish off some art for the nursery
• Organise hospital bag for me, Mr Mel & bub
• Organise Ipod for 'delivery music', sounds so pleasant :)
• Buy a nappy bag - sick of looking at them, just need to bite the bullet!
• Make the hospital gown for delivery, hopefully not too difficult!
• Install capsule into the Ford
• finish off the bloody tax for our business - sheesh I hate it!

Till next time,

This is me - International Women's Day

Seeings as it is International Women’s Day I thought I'd do a brief 'this is me' snippet.

So, this is me, today 8 March 2012, tomorrow is likely to be a different me, but this is me now in this moment:

• I'm 37 but regularly act like I'm 17, maturity can be a fleeting thing for me!
• I'm 32w5d pregnant - all my friends say the loved their pregnancy, glowed etc, I'm not loving it, actually apart from feeling junior's movements I'm not even liking it 
• I'm still getting a handle on my fears around the birth - movies, tv shows, friends horror stories have ruined what should be a beautiful and natural occasion
• I've had terrible nightmares about things going wrong with our pregnancy, but am too scared to put them into words and tell anyone
• I don't swear in front of people, but let rip in the car on my own, a secret between me & junior now!
• I don't eat as healthily as I should, but I'm getting there
• Once bub is born I won't to really give me all into getting into shape, I'm 38 this year, time is ticking, I need to feel hot, well at least luke-warm, sick of covering everything up!
• I hate doing the dishes, luckily Mr Mel is a sweetheart and covers me there
• I'm desperately counting down the days till I start maternity leave - 12 days incl today
• I have a name picked out for a charity I want to start, one day, I've stopped telling friends/family about it, they think I'm crackers
• I have our future farm planned out in our head, and can't wait till we can do it
• I have occasional, well let's say 'midweek' blindness to housework, weekends are attack time, but I'm easily distracted and often don't get round to it, I'm hoping once I'm off work I'll be more motivated!
• I often wonder how I go so lucky - 5 years ago I was single, not sure what to do with my life, not enjoying my work, and not travelling so well financially - now I'm married to an angel, about to have our first baby, financially stable, and loving life - how the hell did fortune smile on me? And why?
• I count out letters in sentences to see if they end in a 5/10/15 etc, and will add/remove letters to try and make them fit, ie don't becomes do not, do not becomes don't
• I count the numbers in dates to see if they add up to a 7, my fave number, ie our wedding date was 23/07/2011, so 2+3=5+7=12+2+1+1=16, then 6+1 = 7 - tada
• I think the last 2 might be admitting a tad too much!

It’s International Women’s Day - celebrate being you, a wonderful woman :)

Till next time,

23 March - that's it - woohoo!

I told my boss today that 23 March is the day I'll be heading off on maternity leave - woohoo!

So relieved, they had thought I would work to a week before due (due end of April), and that was never on my radar, not sure where they got that thinking from!

Really looking forward to getting our house, and my body (!!) ready for the big event, life has been so hectic, still working 9-10 hours a day, 5 days a week, plus some work on weekends, so it will be great to be able to just concentrate on us, Mr Mel, Me & Bubs for a little while.

Hopefully bubs doesn't decide to come early!

Till next time,


PS - At this stage I'm going to take leave till bub is born, then be on the 18 weeks of Paid Parental Leave and will re-evaluate what we want to do come August!