December 2007 Mummies

Hi everyone!

We have just had 5 nights away at the batch at Coalgate (10 mins north and inland from Darfield, and on the way to Mt Hutt). But one of those nights was spent in the lovely town of Hokitika. Yes, we were child free! Woopppeee. While we were there, we went and saw Anna and family. It was so nice. Cool house Anna and it was great meeting all the family. Jimmy was so funny, and Leah is beautiful.

I know what you mean Peanut about the sizing at Postie. We always end up getting two sizes bigger. Zoe is really tall and is out grown most of Lucy's clothes at the same age. Eeekkk more new clothes for her.

2nd day of the school holidays - going ok at this stage - ask me again at the end of the week.

Sally, was thinking of you the other day! You haven't been on in a while. Still undecided on xmas. We are suppose to be doing the North Island but we now have weddings etc again so looks like it might just be Kaikoura for a couple of nights and then Wanaka. We might come say Hi in Hamner for a day!

Chops, that seriously sucks. I would try ringing CAB and asking them where you stand etc. Heres theres webpageCAB

Nice Lisha, that would have been awesome. Hmm, school holidays...now I get frustrated with DH being home when there was no kids it was exciting now he disrupts all my plans.

Poor you and sick kids, kirstyn. My 2 both have coughs and colds at the moment which is bad enough.

We have just had 2 nights in Kaikoura with SIL and her boyfriend. It was really nice although the kids weren't crash hot. Mac destroyed about a $100 of makeup when I put him down for a nap...although it was funny to walk him and find him with my necklace and makeup on.

I am traking Frano to the Dr's today. He is terrible at the mo with sleeping. Up 4 or 5 times a night again. I was stoked with only having to get up once.

Yeah, I'd been meaning to get on here sooner but with DH away last week I didn't have a lot of time. That combined with Liam following me around all day long . Very annoying.

Boo to all the sick kiddies. And OMG Peanut at having to get up that many times in the night. I really hope you get some answers at the docs. You can't keep that up for long . Was the make-up yours or SIL's? Expensive things these children, in more ways than one

Emz, how long is DH away for this time?

 Peanut - boo to all the night wakings ... not fair when Frano is 9 months old now.  Will keep everything crossed for you that goat's milk does the trick.  Grrrr to all those other doctors .

I hear you Sally, on the annoying 2.5 yr old .    I feel this huge sense of relief when at playgroup, knowing Jimmy will not be following me around for a couple of hours.  He's occassionally really good, but 90% of the time demands attention these days.  I so can't wait until Leah is old enough to play with him - surely that must mean we'll get a bit more time to do other stuff???   Actually, I should get around to organising more play dates for him soon - he loves spending one-on-one time with other kids his age.  His best friend at the moment is Nico - they're a week apart in age (we had the same due date).

Aww, thanks Lisha .  Was lovely seeing you again and meeting Adam. 

Boo Emz, to no farewell kiss .  Ooo, loved the photos of your new French doors ... esp Jack the builder, too cute!

 Chops - your ex-accountant sounds obsessive!  Scary stuff.  Sorry to hear AF turned up .  How's the cute little Jimi-Dodge doing?

Is Madison better yet Kirstyn?  Any more news on the moving front?

If anyone is interested, I finally got around to writing up the story of Leah's water birth, at home .....

My waters started leaking at 7pm on 22 March.  I phoned the MW, who advised me to try and get some sleep as she and her backup had just attended three births during the past 16 hours and needed some rest.  So we tucked two-year old Jimmy up in bed and sent Mum off to her B&B for the night.  I went to bed at 9.30pm and tried to rest, but after a couple of hours the random contractions were too uncomfortable and I realised I wasn't going to get any sleep.  So I woke DH and asked him to start filling the birthing pool, which was set up in our lounge.  He headed back to bed at my request, once the pool started filling.

I started timing contractions at midnight .... they were consistently five mins apart and reasonably strong.  Pacing around the kitchen and lounge on my own, listening to my favourite music and waiting for the pool to fill (it took two hours in the end  ), kept me in a good frame of mind and the contractions seemed quite bearable.  I phoned my student MW at 1am and asked her to come now ... she had a 2 hour drive ahead of her.  But I waited until 2am to call my MW, concious she needed as much rest as possible.  My contractions were 3-4 mins apart by then and getting more intense.

At 2.15am I hopped into the pool ..... ahhhh, bliss .  The water felt divine, and it was another 15 mins before the next contraction arrived.  When it did, I felt cheated ...it hurt just as much as the previous one had when I was still on dry land!  I distinctly remember them initially feeling much more bearable during my previous labour .  However, the water definitely helped me to relax fully between contractions, which was a huge bonus.

My MW arrived at 2.45am, then the student MW at 3am.  DH was up again by now too, and all three took turns massaging my back during contractions.  DH was a little unco at the massage though  so I asked him if he'd mind the student midwife taking over that role - she was a pro .  From the time everyone turned up, I closed my eyes and kept them closed until Leah was born.  This seemed to help me to get into the "birthing zone". [Bizarrely, when at an Opshop concert a few months later, I had a flashback to this part of my labour when the band members were all playing/singing 'Saturated' with their eyes closed ].

During the next hour, contractions ramped up.  They seemed to come crashing in on top of each other, leaving me no breathing space to recover in between.  Just when I was starting to think I can't handle this any more, I felt Leah move down.  And next thing I needed to push.  The MW left the room to phone her backup, and I was feeling a bit confused ... wondering whether or not I'd gone through transition already?  I didn't know how many cm dilated I was, but must have been at 10cm then.

As planned, I tried not to actively push too much ... just breathe the baby out.  She crowned within a couple of contractions, but I could then feel her head starting to come out a bit and then slip back in.  After three or four such contractions I thought "bugger this" and moved into a more upright position - squatting on my knees and leaning over the edge of the pool.  Her head came out with the next contraction, then her body ..... I didn't realise this though.  The MW said Leah had some cord entanglement, which unravelled as she came out, and that she did a half breaststroke swim away from me before she caught her.  The MW pushed her back under my legs and then they were all saying "pick up your baby Anna ... pick her up".  About 30 seconds later I finally clicked ... reached down and lifted her out of the water.  She bawled immediately and I said "Hello darling - that wasn't too bad, was it?".   Leah Frances was born at 4.15am, 23 March 2010, weighing in at 3.42kg.

 We rested in the pool for 20 minutes, but I didn't enjoy it much - kept worrying I was going to drown Leah.  So we hopped out onto the couch and started BFing (she latched immediately ).  I birthed the placenta an hour later, using the same position again, but this time kneeling on the floor with Leah lying in front of me on the couch.  The backup MW arrived around this time, and Jimmy also woke up and came out to meet his baby sister.  Don't know how he managed to sleep through all the noise previously - although everyone assured me I wasn't that loud.

At 7.30am, Mum arrived as planned.  She walked in the door and saw DH sitting on the couch.  She asked "What's that you're holding?" and he replied "Leah" .... she couldn't believe her eyes .

Reflecting on Leah's birth, what stands out most in my mind is how normal and natural it was.  I'd spent Monday nesting with Mum, then given birth at home overnight, and was there for Jimmy that morning - meaning his routine wasn't put out all that much.  There was no drama, no fuss, no stress.  Just love.

That is such a lovely story Anna. Makes me almost want to have a 3rd . You are so awesome doing it without pain relief.

That really sucks Peanut. I have my fingers crossed that the lack of dairy makes a huge difference to poor wee Frano. It really makes you wonder about the competancy (or lack of) of some doctors. Blardy shocking really.

Oh ripcurl that is sad about your Nana . I take it she lives up here too? I hope she makes a full recovery. She'll be in good hands in the hospital for the time being.

And man, I don't know how you cope having your kids up so late. Some days I am literally hanging out for 7pm so we can get some peace & quiet . Ollie goes to bed at 6.30 usually because he's so knackered by then. What time do they wake up? Hope you're all feeling better soon. Being sick is really hard with kiddies . Any progress on shifting to Auckland?

How was your night last nght Peanut? Any better? I guess it'll take time to see an improvement.

Liam will not stop following me around. It is driving me mental . He follows me absolutely everywhere...

Oh crap emz . I hope the 3 months go fast. It is really starting to get difficult for the bigger kids aye. I think Liam gets a bit worried when DH goes to work that he won't be coming home "for more few days" (his words). It's hard to explain to them when they don't really understand the concept of days, weeks, months etc. I'll keep an eye out for you on the news

Liam had a little friend over to play this morning & he hit her over the hit with part of his wooden train set . He hasn't been himself for a few days now & it's not easy to deal with...

Bugger! I nissed the news as was having a wine with Mum. I will stay up and watch the late one - which channel was it, Sally?

NO difference so far but am hoping. They reckon it takes 4 days or so to leave the system so fingers crossed.

Lovely birth story, Anna! My next birth is going to be drug free.....safe to say when there are NO plans for a 3rd.

Hows your Nana, Kirstyn?

Hello ladies

I stay away for a couple of days and look...

I want to start of with saying; what a beautiful birthing story, Anna!! I cried...as if I was there to experience it... My plan with Jimi's birth was to do the same; use a bath set up in de kitchen...ready to go...but jimi had other plans and because I was not dialating (?) enough after 16 hours...i had to go to the hospital...ended up taking 26 hours but did it myself...no snip...yay!!

Thank you all for your support with the accountant thing...unfortunately, because she is not a chartered accountant, she has no governing body...so nobody to lay an official complaint with unless she stole you money or something.... Apparantly she must have a case manager with the IRD though and I am planning to find out who that is and send that person a letter. Not that I think it will do anything...guess she knows she's untouchable... I have to say it has been the last straw for me and I am really struggling with people and their behaviour... I need to find a way to handle it better as I can't seem to avoid certain sort of people.

I'm sorry Peanut but had a little giggle when reading about the make-up and vasoline thing... it's terrible I know but I could just see him covered in it.. A couple of weeks ago I went away for the afternoon while DH was watching Jimi...when I came back DH was outside fixing the car and where was DS? "Watching TV" was the reply...but no, the little monster was sitting in the kitchen covered in baby cream....he somehow managed to open it and was playing with it by putting it everywhere, including the wooden floor...thank goodness we don't have carpet!!
I am so keeping my fingers crossed that you've found the sollution now to frano not sleeping...you must be so tired.
for you, I struggle too at the mo and I can only imagine how much harder it must be with 2 and not sleeping

Saw the clip of the news Emz, must be hard times for you too. The not knowing an exact date when he'll be back would be hard too I imagine...Hope time will fly

A couple of you talked about being followed around all day.. I was sooooo happy to read that...I now know it's part of the age thing...I was getting worried about my parenting skills...Jimi does the same but can also do the exact opposite where he wants me to go away...that's a lot easier though cause I just do...hahaha

Sally, Jimi doesn't sleep till 8:30-9pm. He wakes up around 7-7.30 and has an afternoon nap from 1:30-4... Staying up till 8:30-9 has been that way for ages...and it works really well these days as DH is home around 7pm so at least they get to see eachother for a couple of hours each day...

Saw your photo's Lisha, it looked so lovely... I am seriously thinking more and more we need to plan a holiday on the south island next summer...
I want to see more of NZ!!

ow...ripcurl, I hope you guys are feeling a bit better.. being sick yourself as well makes it even harder ay...and then the news from your Nana... ow how distance sucks... I hope she'll be better soon too

wow...
I wrote a book hehehe

Her DH? Do you mean my DH? If it's mine, he went to the Solomons for approx 3 months on Thurs. We found out just over 3 weeks ago so that's why we were hectically trying to get our DIY done last weekend! He's just there as extra force for their upcoming elections, hence the short time away.