Welcome Jordan Emrys!

He's here and he is just beautiful.


So I will start from the very beginning (cause that's a good place to start).

Saturday morning, after spending 15mins getting Tony out of bed, we headed off to the hospital. Being that it's now Wednesday, I have very hazy recollections of Saturday but I will try my best.

We got there, were admitted and then settled into a room, where we waited.. And waited.. For a while we thought we might be taken in early but it was not to be.. 10:30am came and went and we still waited.


At one point a nurse came in to prep me and had to lie me down flat on my back. I told her that this was a bad idea, but she said she would be quick. And as predicted, the results were spectacular. Blood pressure dropped like a lead balloon, I lost the ability to breathe and I thought for sure I was going to faint, at which point she took one look at my very blue face and quickly raised the back of the bed.

Then at 11:00am they finally came for us. As I was being wheeled down the corridor I noticed the digital clock on the ceiling said 11:11am. Yes that's 11:11am on 1/10/11. Freaky!!!


Then I was taken to the pre-op room where they do the anesthesia and Tony was taken to change into his scrubs.


There were three things that sucked about the whole experience. The first was the canula. The first place the doctor put it in was bad. There was some kind of block and it wasn't good, so he had to put another one. The first one was ok cause he had given us an anesthetic patch to put on at 530am that morning. The second one.. Not so much. That was unpleasant. And then I had to have the two in until after the op.

Once the canula was put in it was time for the second thing that sucked - the epidural. The last epidural, I remember that the local anesthetic was heaps worse than anything else, but since I had put one of the anesthetic patches on earlier, I figured it would be a cinch! And I guess in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't so bad, but the epidural is a fairly big, long needle, and although I didn't feel pain as such, I did feel a whole lot of very uncomfortable pressure going into my back. This was also unpleasant. And then they had to very quickly lie me down before the epi rendered me completely useless.

Now they put me on my side, because of the whole blood pressure thing, and then wheeled me into the operating theatre, where they had to transfer me to the operating table, and when they did that, they put me flat on my back again, which leads us to the third and final thing that sucked - another blood pressure drop, which I couldn't do anything about because I couldn't move. Once again the results were spectacular.

Now I have had three very very brilliant doctors during this whole experience. I am in awe that I seem to have scored brilliantly in my obstetrician, my anesthesiologist, and in the pediatrician.

So when my blood pressure dropped again before the op started, my anesthesiologist worked his magic and spent a lot of time verbally assuring me as I struggled to breathe and not panic, that it was about to get a whole lot better, and it did. His voice calmed me a lot.

And then the Caesar began. This is how it looked..


Now see those lamps above me? They gave me a great reflection of the surgery to watch. It was fascinating watching my own operation :-) it took heaps less time than Josie's Caesar because before I knew it, I was watching them lifting Jordan out of my stomach, and then watching Jordan pee all over my OB :-) Brilliant! If you look closely at the below image, you will see the proof :-)


I heard his cry and knew it was all good. He has a lovely cry. Nothing loud and piercing, just a short and to the point mewl.

Birthdate: 12:27 01/10/11
Apgars: 8, 9
Weight: 2.108kg
Height: 45cm
Head: 31.5cm

So then they took him away to the Baby Station to weigh and measure, along with Tony who was busy throughout the whole experiencing giving Facebook a blow by blow, as well as video taping and keeping me amused.


I'd like to thank Tony at this stage. As always he is my steady rock who just gets me through anything. I would have gone mad through this whole thing without him. I love you baby!


And unlike Josie's Caesar, Tony got to cut the umbilical cord!


After the Baby Station they finally brought Jordan over to me and it was just love at first sight. Adoration and devotion. The anesthesiologist, having done the majority of what he was there to do, was running around with my canon taking photos. He took some truly awesome photos and I am so grateful to him for this. He got the shot of Jordan and his first pee, and Tony cutting the cord. And then he managed to take a photo which was so identical to the one we got with Josie, I had to do a double take when I saw it. I haven't had a chance to do a composite, and I don't have access to the original Josie equivalent from the ipad, but here is the photo of Jordan, Mummy and Daddy that blew me away. I will post a composite when I have a moment to breathe :-)


So they took Jordan and Tony away, and I stayed to get sewn up. This didn't take long at all before I was being wheeled into recovery. And in recovery, I discovered I was quite weird.

Having watched my whole Caesar via reflection, and found it fascinating to watch, when they started moving my legs around, my dead weight, epi induced, unfeeling legs, I was completely grossed out.I couldn't watch. To see my legs being moved around and not feeling them.. Blergh, it really freaked me out. Watching the Caesar was great though!

Meanwhile they took Jordan up to the Special Care Nursery, where he currently resides. They would only allow Tony and Josie in to see him though, the rest of the family had to wait because the hospital has a policy that until mum has been in to see the baby, only immediate family can be there. Which suited me just fine :-) I couldn't wait to get my hands on my son.

So Tony and Josie stayed in the SCN with Jordan till they released me from recovery and took me to see him, bed and all.


Josie is just besotted with him. She constantly wants to see him, hold him, just be there.


And 6 days on, he seems to know her. He always looks at her and the times she has held him he settled and fell asleep while looking up at her.


And I am just blissed out. Utterly and completely euphoric. Day after day I am happy. I haven't been this happy in a very very long time, he has just brought such blessing into our lives.


So after the initial meeting I was itching to move into the SCN to be with him. I couldn't wait to see him again.

Tony went and got the family through to see him and he was gushed over from head to foot. Becca especially is all gushy. Jordan has come at the most inopportune time for Becca. Four weeks till HSC, she is trying to study, and Jordan is not making it easy for her :-)


Now initially Jordan was in a special crib with a heat lamp above him. It wasn't an incubator, just an open cot with a heater above it. He had no breathing issues, in fact no issues of any kind, so after a day or so, they moved him to a standard crib, where he still is.


He is being tube fed every 3hrs, and I am putting him on the boob every second or third feed. Now that I have come home, I am going in to feed twice a day, and really loving each visit, and really loving breastfeeding. So different from last time. I really hated the whole breastfeeding experience. My milk never came in, I was stressed out of my mind and Josie just wouldn't latch properly. It was a traumatic experience. Now, my supply is getting there, I am expressing every 2-3 hrs in the day and 3-4 hrs at night and I am seeing results. Jordan is now sucking so well and latching and drawing, and each time I put him on he is better and better at it. It's just a matter of getting my supply up now.

So I think I will end it there for now. I'm not going to scare people with breastfeeding photos. That may be carrying the blogging a bit too far :-)

I am also going in to bathe him every second day. I will blog about the bathing after tomorrow when I will have some photos of it. It's quite an experience, and Jordan loves it :-)


So thats it for now. I hope you have enjoyed the photos!

Mari
Newly appointed mummy to Jordan Emrys :-)

So Here We Are..

I will have a son tomorrow.

Yep, its all happening. I am booked in at 1030am, for my caesar, at 34weeks. Since my waters broke last weekend I have baffled the OB as to why I am still not in labour. *shrug*. I guess Jordan runs on his own timetable, as does his father ;-) However, while his father is perpetually LATE, his boy may be on MY clock ;-)

Have had a strange day today. The blood pressure has been down, and I have been dizzy and short of breath and nauseous.. but otherwise ok. I am still leaking, and the leg cramps have started up again.

Had a meeting today with the Anaesthesiologist which Becca took me and Josie to. He asked me a bunch of questions, went through the procedure for tomorrow and then I met with the midwife to go over more questions and more forms and then I had some blood taken.

So tomorrow morning, after spending 15 mins trying to get Tony out of bed, we will proceed to the hospital to have our baby boy ;-) He will probably be in the NICU for at least a couple of weeks, but we will manage.

Josie is sleeping at Becca's tonight, and she is beside herself with excitement for tomorrow, and meeting her baby brother.

So till tomorrow.. when we become a two child, 4 member family!

Mari

Karaoke and Flooding

Remember this line from the last post...?

"...and on my side I just need to get my hospital bag ready. But that's still a ways off.."

Keep that in mind as you read..

Last Friday night I went out with some work friends for a last Hurrah at Karaoke. It was an awesome night, filled with singing, rapping (well not me obviously), eating, drinking (again not me) and general rowdiness. Huge amounts of fun were had.. And after 4 hours of this we weren't ready to bail yet so we went out to a bar on George St called 3 Wise Monkeys (??) where we danced and chatted drunkenly (I chatted soberly). As one of my drunken colleagues told me three times at that bar, I was sober, 8.5 months pregnant (probably the only 8.5 month pregnant woman in the city) and I got hit on (yes, you heard right, I got hit on!), so I was doin' alright that night. I did take it easy, I danced, but not outrageously, just on the spot. And I went home before midnight, so it was pretty sedate.

Tony and Josie were at Mat and Wendy's for dinner and they were staying there the night cause it got pretty late, so when I got home I was on my own. I caught up on email and Facebook and hit the sack around 1am feeling very stiff and tired.

At 2am, I felt a bit of a leak. And sorry folks but this is gonna get a bit graphic cause I need this down for posterity.

I threw myself out of bed (well I kinda dragged myself) and in the three steps from my bed to the toilet, I was gushing. Luckily I was able to make it to the toilet for most of it, but let's just say I had no time to pull off undies or anything like that. So I sat, and gushed. And gushed. And gushed. Man there was a huge amount of gushing going on. So once the gushing abated some, I noticed water on the floor in front of the toilet so I mopped that up with some toilet paper which I chucked in the loo (effectively blocking the toilet when I flushed, and then tried to push it through with the toilet brush, which my wonderful husband fixed the next day). At that point I was still leaking, and not wanting to continue leaking everywhere but knowing I had to get to my phone which was in the bedroom, I kinda waddled quickly, got the phone and then went and stood in the shower.

First I txt'd Tony to see if he was awake. That was kinda silly cause I wasn't gonna stand there waiting for a response now was I? It was about 215am by now so I just called him. He was still awake, and when I told him that my waters had broken (which I had to repeat three times for it to sink in!) he said "Have you called the ambulance?", and when I said "No, I called you", I could FEEL his eyes rolling at me from across the bridge! So I hung up with him, (he left Josie with Mat and sped off home at that point) and rang 000.

So the lady on the phone asked me a bunch of questions:

Lady: Where are you now?
Me: uhm in the shower.
Lady: is the water on?
Me: no..
Lady (laughing): why are you in the shower??
Me: cause I am still leaking and I don't want to have to clean the floor...
Lady (still laughing): ok then..

So after a few more questions she tells me the ambulance would be there soon and to go sit and rest somewhere. Yeh right. I'm still leaking lady, as if I'm gonna go sit somewhere.. So practicality winning over, I wrapped myself in a towel, went and put on a decent top (I was about to go out in public after all!) stuck my phone in my bra (as you do) and went downstairs to get comfortable. The only thing I could realistically sit on without making a mess was a little round plastic stool so I got that, put it in front of the front door and sat to wait for the ambulance.

It was an amusing sight I must say.

Luckily I didn't have to wait long, and I don't know how many speed limits Tony broke, driving from the north, but he arrived at the same time as the ambulance.

So they put me on the stretcher outside, and then stood over me discussing whether to take me straight to maternity or to emergency, while I lay, freezing without a blanket, and with it just starting to rain. Finally I cleared my throat and mentioned I was a little cold and they jumped into action and got me covered and into the ambulance and off to maternity we went.

I started getting contractions in the ambulance. About 2 min apart. Which was not good. It was a short ride and then we were at the hospital and they took me up to the delivery suites. There I was given a shot of steroid and a couple of pills to stop the contractions.

I am only 33 weeks so while not dire, it's still a bit early to deliver. The steroid they gave me was to faster develop Jordan's lungs cause at this stage they are not fully developed and it takes 24-48 hours to do it's job, so I had a few rounds of the pills to stop the contractions to give the steroid time to work. Contractions slowed right down almost straight away and by the middle of Saturday I was having maybe one or two contractions an hour with several hours in between. Not especially strong and very irregular. They also put me on antibiotics for the increased risk of infection after the waters have broken.

So now it's Monday, I have been moved to the maternity ward cause nothing was happening, and am waiting for the OB to come tell me whether I can go home or not. I am crossing my fingers for shore leave. I want to go home. I want to finalize some things at work (via VPN of course). I had two weeks left to get my shit done!! If I do go home, I am on full bed rest until I go into labour again, which means I am pretty much on maternity leave now.

And that's the story so far. The hope is that I don't go into labour and that Jordan has a few more weeks to cook but if I deliver now, the OB is confident that all will be fine. Feeding will be an issue, and he will have to stay in the NICU for a few weeks, but it won't be anything dire.

I'll update again when I know something more :-)

Mari

Perception vs Reality

This morning the Lee/Hill household was involved in a situation that I thought beautifully illustrated the concept that what we call reality is merely an illusion projected onto our brains as experience passes through the prism of our perceptions just as light passing through raindrops creates the illusion of the rainbow.

Josie's Morning
Josie is woken up by Kaylee excited to see Josie sleeping in her room.
Josie, being such a good babysitter, takes her cousin downstairs to get some breakfast.
Opening the fridge Kaylee points and squeals "Yoghurt! I want yoghurt!".
"Okay Kaylee" replies the very professional babysitter, "we'll get you yoghurt for breakfast."
Taking the large yoghurt container over to the bench Josie tips the yoghurt into a bowl and, along with a spoon, places it on the dinning table in front of Kaylee's highchair where Kaylee waits in wild anticipation.
Kaylee gleefully begins to tuck into her breakfast and Josie smiles beatifically and nods to herself in the satisfaction of a job well done.

Wendy's Morning
Having woken to the blissful sounds of silence (ie no screaming children) Wendy wanders downstairs to find her eldest child gleefully tucking into a block of butter that Wendy had stored in the empty yoghurt container the previous day.

It's all in the way you perceive the world around you people.
Enjoy your day and watch out for the butter.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Back on the Blogger Horse

Has it really been FOUR months since the last post?! Good lord. I need to get started again, for my children's sake :-)

Where to start?

So I am very pregnant. 31 weeks now. Sometimes uncomfortably so.. Lets get my whining out of the way...

I feel like a whale. It always really annoyed me when women said that. Normal sized women that is.. I always thought 'Quit your complaining woman. You are pregnant. That's such a blessing!'. I never felt 'like a whale' when I was pregnant with Josie. Maybe because the size difference between between the two states of being was not massively different.. My body didn't really feel the difference all that much? Now however.. 54kg down.. Bloody hell. When I walk, I really waddle now.. And slowly. I can't hurry anywhere. Next week we are having a fire drill at work. I have refused to go down 8 floors of stairs. Forget that. They would have to carry me.. I feel like every time I stand up, my uterus falls down between my knees. Pleasant. Not.

Which leads me to my next gripe. Low blood pressure. I have never ever had any issues with my BP. Not low, not high. And I guess I should be grateful that it is low and not high, but wow it's unpleasant. If I stand for more than 5 mins or so, I start getting head spins, shakes, ears ringing and short of breath. Grocery shopping is now out of the question. I can manage to do fruit/veg and deli, and that's it. Hello Coles Online. And Tony has had to fill and empty the dishwasher for me.. Hehehe.. I don't think he has touched a sink full of dishes for years :-)

Moving on. Leg cramps. At night. Excruciating. I have tried the pillow between the legs but it only helps briefly. And because I can't sleep on my front or back anymore, and I AM a whale, turning over requires careful planning and precision. I have to hold onto the bed head to pull myself across. I really need to start enlisting Tony to give me a push :-)

And we're done! I don't think I have anything else to complain about :-)

I am getting very excited about meeting the boy! Oh yes, have I mentioned it's a boy? With a penis?? What the hell am I gonna do with a penis?? Apparently they pee EVERYWHERE! Geez...

Yep that's it there. The dreaded penis.. Might leave it to his father.

And here is the boy himself.. Mr Jordan Emrys Hill.

So the story behind the names.. Jordan was picked out in the 90's. Tony and I were married in everything but name from the get go. We started talking baby names back at uni. Anyone who knows Tony will know that Jordan came from his beloved Michael Jordan, basketballer. Tony has waited a long time to be able to use that name for a boy :-)

And Emrys. I needed a name starting with E for my paternal grandmother, Eva. E is a very difficult letter for a boy. Girls we had a few, but not boys. And Emrys was surprisingly obvious for us. This was my idea and my choice, and Tony, while a bit embarrassed at the geeky origin, loves it too.

So Emrys is Old Welsh for Ambrose and it means 'immortal'. And the geeky part of it? Well Tony and I are big fans of the old Arthurian Legends. King Arthur's advisor and friend was Merlin the Magician. Merlin's Old Welsh name was Myrddin Emrys. Some of you may recognize Myrddin as the online name that Tony has used for a long time.

We are geeks. But you knew that :-)

So, moving on again.. The nursery is almost done, the furniture just needs moving around, and that is happening over the next few weekends. I have washed and put away all the clothes that people have very kindly donated and on my side I just need to get my hospital bag ready. But that's still a ways off..

I finish up at work in 4 weeks. I am SO ready for this. By this time with Josie I was already not working, having been retrenched 3 months before my maternity leave was to kick in.. There are massive things happening at work right now, and while it's all very exciting, I really am ready to go.

Aside from all the baby news, all else is good.

Josie is growing up too quickly. A couple of months ago she started asking about periods!! She's not quite 9years old! I went through a long talk with her about what happens.. I told her that every month a girl's body releases an egg.. And her eyes went wide and she went white and I quickly assured her it wasn't like a chicken's egg.. It was much much smaller. LOL.

She just came back from her very first school camp. 2 nights, 3 days, in cabins. She loved it. They did all sorts of things like canoeing (she threw up once and fell in once), cycling, climbing and various other sporting adventures. She managed to come home with everything (although I believe there is a towel in lost property) and she got some valuable experience being away from home.

I am really excited to see how she will be with Jordan. She is so so good with her younger cousins, Kaylee and Zoe, that I have very optimistic hopes for when Jordan comes. Josie is very attentive with her cousins, takes care of them, plays with them, feeds them. She is also very keen on helping with Jordan. Can't wait.

And then there is our latest newest addition to the family - Charley.

Charley is a 2011 Series II Holden Cruze. And she is so pretty :-) She has leather seats that warm up, iPod connectivity and a sunroof. And she is red. Red Hot in fact. Every time I see her I get a buzz.

So I think that's about it.. You have now been caught up in the life of the Hills.

Fingers crossed I do better from now on! It's just so hard with Facebook. Everything that happens, happens in a Facebook status update and I just never get around to updating the blog. But I have to. I will be good.

I hope..

Hello Coffs !

So here we are at Coffs Harbour and it is a bit chilly! Brrrr!

The last full day at Q1 was a non eventful. Tony slept, I watched tv, Josie did some school work. That was pretty much all morning till Tony got up and went down to the Q1 Business Centre to do some work. The weather that last day was fairly dismal actually. It was the first day that was anything but bright and sunny, so it felt great staying put all day.

In the afternoon the Lee Family came to sleep over and we had a lovely dinner of Beef and Bean Stew that Tony prepared, which was scrumptious, and also as much of the left over food as possible. They ended up taking quite a bit home with them :-) The girls had a great last day playing together, and Josie spent a lot of time playing with 9month old Jakob. Good practice I say :-)

Sometime during the night, Sam had to change Jake and for the first time in about 8years I woke up to a baby crying. And wow that was a memory that made me twitch, better get to used to that I reckon!!

The next morning we packed up, took everything down to the car and said goodbye to Q1 for another year or two. And then we all went to our traditional final breakfast at Pancakes in Paradise, which was, as usual, lovely.

After breakfast we went over to Billy & Sam's to pick up a whole heap of baby stuff! Clothes, blankets, BUMBO, travel bed.. Somehow managed to squeeze it into the car too! Josie was well padded on both sides :-) Thanks so much Sam, this will be a huge help!

And then off we went! It took about 4hrs to get to Coffs. We got in about 730pm, had a quick dinner and then sent the kid off to bed. She has school tomorrow so needs to get back to normal sleeping patterns.

We managed to finish Season 3 of Smallville (what a season finale!!), and then I berated my husband for not bringing Season 4!!

So this morning Josie is doing her final bit of school work, I am about to get Tony up and then we are off to Sydney. I go back to work Monday, have given myself a couple of days to unpack, shop, sort through and wash a mountain of baby gear!

It's gonna be a long drive today.. I think we may start with a final bit of Cold Rock to get us going :-)

Mari

Seaworld, Mother's Day and The Eye

So yesterday we went to Seaworld. We got there just before lunch and managed to catch the Sea Lion Show and the Dolphin Show. Both were great, although the Sea Lion Show gets a little more dull every time we see it. In between snow cones and stingrays we managed to score not one, not two but three toys for Josie! I don't think we have ever had such a haul. First Tony played hoops and got two balls in so Josie got a pink dolphin, then Josie won herself a giraffe and then somehow I managed to get two balls in a bucket and scored a purple monkey! Woohoo!

We walked around and saw as much as we could and while we brought some swim gear, we left it in the car so we didn't have to drag it around with us everywhere, but by the time we got to the pools and watersides it was well after 4pm and just too cold. Josie was very disappointed but it's just what happens when we come in May.. It's just not as warm as October.

So around 5pm we caught the monorail back to the front and off we went home to wait for the Lee family who were coming for dinner. Tony made a lovely lemon roast chicken with roast veges that were to die for and then we had Cold Rock for desert. It was yummy!

After dinner Josie went to sleep over at Jessica's places so Tony and I watched some Smallville and went to bed. Yeh I know, we are boring :-)

Today I relaxed and watched tv all morning before we got ready for lunch. Lunch with the Lees (and with our daughter back) was at the Hard Rock and it was a great Mothers Day lunch. Serving sizes were still massive but the food was great. After lunch we walked up to the Wheel of Surfers Paradise which looks like a mini version of the London Eye. It was really fun, we had 15 mins of going round and round and round :-)

Then we walked back to Q1 before saying bye bye to The Lees and having a few hours relaxation in the rooms. Around 6pm we went for dinner at a Serbian place called Balkan on the Board. Again the serving sizes were just MASSIVE and we took a lot home but it was delicious! Josie declared her pizza to be the best ever, even better than Pizza Hut!

After dinner we went back to the Wheel of Surfers Paradise to take a turn on it at night. It was spectacular and we had a great time!

So now we have one and a half days left here before heading off to Coffs again. It has gone fast again, but with 7nights here this time it feels like more of a holiday than previous times!

Till next time!

More Gorgeous Weather..

Proudly brought to you by the letters Q, L, D, and the numbers 1 and 26.

Yes the weather continues to amaze.

Thursday was a long day that started out with an hour drive to Brissy to see Jacqui and her new diggs. First we went to lunch by the river and had an awesome meal. Then we had some ice cream at MovenPick?! And then headed back to Jac's place. She is staying in a lovely apartment that managed to escape flood damage because it's on top of a hill in Toowong. She moved up to Brissy the day BEFORE the big floods! We hung around and chatted for a while before braving the traffic back to the Gold Coast. We of course managed to catch the worst of the traffic and it looked like it was going to be a three hour trip back, and then Josie started to complain about having to pee! It was all happening! At that point we were stuck on a bridge or freeway and couldn't get off either. We eventually managed to get out of the traffic and find a MacDonald's, of course.. I reckon Tony must have some homing mechanism for Maccas. So we had dinner at Maccas, Josie went to the loo and all was well with the world. When we did get back on the road the traffic had cleared up and we had a nice drive back.

Today was a great day! I left Tony to sleep and after some more school work I took Josie down to the pool. The outdoor pool was way too cold but the indoor pool was great and Josie and I swam laps and races for a while before I got out and dried off and she hit the spa. She had a great time down there, and I even managed to squeeze in a business teleconference. When we came back up she jumped in the bath for a while, while I made some lunch and woke up Tony. Then after lunch we went off to Pacific Fair so I could do some shopping. Managed to get myself a nice winter jacket, and Josie a whole bunch of long and short sleeved tops, a couple of dresses, a couple of skirts and a couple of tights, all of which were on sale! I had found that we are very lacking in winter gear this year so it was good to stock up on sale items! Tony, meanwhile managed to do some work, have lunch and then we came home. Before going up we all went to Cold Rock to stock up on ice-cream and then went up where Tony started preparing dinner for tomorrow night when Billy & family would be coming over for dinner.

And that's pretty much it for today! Sea world tomorrow! Woooo!

Mari

Day 2-3 In Sunny Queensland

So on Tuesday morning off we went to Queensland. The drive was nice and short, comparatively, it rained a bit, and when we were about 30min out of the Gold Coast it really started to pour and the clouds rolled in and we had some spectacular lightning. We got in around 330pm, got into our room at Q1 and then went shopping.

Our room this time was not as good as we were used to. We have truly been spoilt by our Q1 experiences. This year the three bedroom was actually a two bedroom where the enclosed balcony was made into a third bedroom with a queen bed and curtains. But aside from that, and no dishwasher, it's all good. Lovely views of the river, And a bathtub to sink into :-) I am a happy camper.

So we went out shopping and bought up groceries for the week. And then Tony dropped me off at a nearby medical centre to get my eye checked out, while he took everything back to the room and put it away and fed the kid.

My eye was really bothering me by that stage. I didn't even need to sneeze or do anything to set it off. And it was so painful. So I waited to see the doctor for an hour or so, managed to check my work mail.. Finally went in and was told I had hit a nerve when when I hit the eye, a neuropathic nerve or something. The nerve that runs up and out from the top of the nasal bridge, and I had irritated the poor thing, and it was letting me know it was irritated. Poor diddums.

So he gave me a prescription for cortisone for three days, assured me it was safe in pregnancy, took my $70 and wished me a happy holiday.

After confirming with the pharmacist that the cortisone is safe in pregnancy, I filled my prescription, Tony picked me up and off back home we went. It was a horrible evening. Every time my eye exploded I felt more and more exhausted, and it was happening more and more often. After struggling through a couple of Smallvilles, I finally went to bed.

In the morning I took my first lot of cortisone, and within a few hours I was already feeling better!! Throughout the day I had another couple of eye explosions, but it was heaps better, thank god, and Category A drugs :-)

So Wednesday was a great day. I started the morning with doing schoolwork with Josie, and then we went to the Top One restaurant at Australia Fair for Yum Cha with Billy and Sam and Jess and Jakob. This was our first time meeting Jakob and omg he is so gorgeous!! Such an easy baby, I want one of those!! He was happy and sunny and went to anyone without a fuss. He sat and played on your lap or in the pram, there was no fuss at all!! I need one of THAT variety!

So Yum Cha was fab as usual, and afterwards off we went to Dreamworld.

The girls went on a bunch of rides, got their faces painted and we saw the new White Lion display, which was just amazing.. They built the enclosure so that there was a platform right above your head where the Lioness sat looking regally down at us. It was simply spectacular. An absolute highlight of the day. Then of course we went and saw the Tiger show, where Tony reacquainted himself with his pals Taj and Sia. The first time we came to see the tigers, Taj and Sia were 3month cubs and they were so so cute. So now every time we come, Tony goes and spends most of the time we have there with his pals.

By the time we left we were soooo tired, but the day was not done! off we went for dinner at the Jupiters Buffet. It was soooo yummy! We sat around chatting and catching up till well after 9pm before we finally went home with a very tired child. Billy and Sam went home with two very tired children so they trump us :-)

After getting home I jumped straight into the tub and soaked the tiredness away for a good hour or more.. With a view of the Gold Coast to entertain me. It was soooo lovely. After one episode of Smallvilles I collapsed in bed and slept till 9am!!

So now we are off to Brisbane to see Jacqui and her new digs, as she studies medicine up here. My eye seems to be all better today, which is fabulous! You don't know how awesome it is to be able to sneeze in peace!!

Mari

And We're Off!

So off went went yesterday on our big adventure. Well not so big, but exciting nonetheless.

We left for Coffs Harbour around 11am yesterday, car loaded, child loaded and the cats prepared (physically but not emotionally). It wasn't an epic a drive as Wisemans Ferry (for those who know that story, for those that don't, check the blog from March 2008), but it was fairly long. And I hate to say it, but thank god for Telstra. When Tony got the iPad 2 he signed up for a month on Telstra for the data, to see what it's like, and well it shits the pants off Three. We had data coverage almost the entire way, even in the middle of nowhere. And even when it lost signal, it picked it up again within a few minutes, literally. In comparison, I sit here in Coffs Harbour with absolutely no Three coverage at all, and only the free hotel wifi to save me.

So anyway, the drive was good, long but good. I emailed, I facebooked, I napped, I played secretary to Tony while he drove and I typed out his work email as he dictated.. It actually went quickly. Towards the end I started to feel the lower back pain. I've always been perfectly happy in the car for hours. I can live in the car, and I love napping in the car. But this time I was expecting the lower back pain because of the pregnancy and it didn't disappoint. But it was only in the last hour or so so that was good..

Oh and I have another ailment. The other night we were out at friends having dinner and you know when you are laughing really hard and you laugh with your whole head? Well I was laughing, I was laughing so hard that I swung my head down, full force, onto the corner of the Tasmanian Oak hard(hard)wood chair next to me. It connected with the corner of my right eye socket. It hurt. It hurt for a while, but then it was ok.. That was Saturday night. Sunday it felt a bit bruised but only to the touch. Monday morning I sneezed and OMG. It felt like my eye ball was going to explode. It didn't help that I am feeling a cold coming on. So now every time I sneeze, yawn or in any way put pressure on my eye, I get about 4-5seconds of intense sharp pain from the corner of my eyeball that radiates outward and then releases. It's fun. Not.

So we got to Coffs around 7pm, and to our nice surprise we found that the hotel had upgraded us to one of their suites. It's a small hotel so it's not like it's a 'suite' suite, but it is a bigger bathroom and the bedroom has two massive windows that look out at the water. It's lovely.

We brought up some of our stuff, had dinner, put the child to sleep and then watched a few episodes of Smallville which Tony brought on the laptop and then managed some elaborate setup with the laptop, the iPad and some cables. I didn't get any of it, but was impressed nonetheless.

The sleep was comfy and I am now up and blogging, waiting for the man of the house to wake up so we can get going to the Gold Coast :-)

I will try and blog each day :-)

Mari

First Official Ultrasound

We had our 12 week Ultrasound today, and got the Nuchal Scan results. Results were all fabulous, and the scan itself was awesome.

Baby was SO active, at first on it's front, then turning over, and bouncing around everywhere, it was spectacular to watch, and really brought it all home.

Too early to tell the sex, but probably at the 18 week scan.

And here is a belly comparison at 3 months from 2002 and now.

Mari

More Good News And An Update

So firstly we have some awesome news!

We have finally sold the investment unit in the north!

After 8 weeks being listed at 'Offers over $650k', the first weekend we changed it to '$650k or near offer' and we got an offer at $650k!! We are absolutely stoked and relieved.

We bought the unit in 2005 for $543k and it was never meant to be an investment property. We bought it because we fell in love with it. the layout was perfect. The three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and massive living room were perfect and the pool and spa were an added bonus.

The strata and the travel costs to the city and east were killing us though.

We tried to sell it at the beginning of 2007 but didn't get a nibble. Well we got a nibble but it was $40k under what we paid for it. So we decided to tenant it and we moved to the east.

In hindsight our parents were right. Yes, there I said it. They were right. We should have bought in the east that last time. But I guess it was a learning experience.

So now we are finally getting rid of this massive monkey off our backs. We plan to get a smaller investment unit soon.

In other news, we've had a great long weekend so far.

Last Thursday Josie's new loft bed got delivered and Tony and Mat spent Friday putting it together. It's a bit wider than we expected but Josie LOVES it. In fact she has spent almost all of the time since Friday that we have been at home in bed watching TV!

Meanwhile Vika and I went to Paddys on Friday for a bit of a shopping trip. And had a really nice Yum Cha lunch before clearing Chinatown of it's take away Yum Cha to take home for dinner with our cousin Anna. The evening went really well and we all had a great time.

On Saturday I took Josie to see Rio 3D and we both loved it. It has been a long time since I saw a cartoon that I really enjoyed and Rio was fabulous!

Sunday we went to the Powerhouse with our friends Roman and Helen and their daughter Stacey. It was... well... fun cause we were out and with them.. but honestly.. the Powerhouse just let us down. It's so big and disorganized. Questacon it is not.

Had Yum Cha at Marigold for lunch which was awesome and then went our separate ways till they came over for some Crust pizza.

That was the first time I had tried Crust and I have to say it was the best pizza I have ever had!

So today we are taking road trip with Roman and Helen down to Wollongong to see the Science Centre and Planetarium. Should be fun!!

On the pregnancy front, all is good. Feeling less tired. Having strange vivid dreams, like last night's whopper. I dreamt that I had an arm and a leg growing out of my stomach and they were seeping mucus out of the base and I had to keep them dry. And then they eventually grew flush with my stomach and kind of got absorbed. It was so gross!!

I am still losing weight, 50.2kg in total. It's very exciting and I feel like I am living a brand new life. One with a lot more energy, and hope, and happiness.

Next week we are off to the Gold Coast for a couple of weeks and I just can't wait! I know it's going to be cold but I am sure we will still have a fab time and we may even be able to catch a few storms from the 29th floor!

That's pretty much it for me. Off to get ready for the trip to QLD!

Mari

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1st Obstetrician Appointment!

Ok so firstly, New Zealand was a bust. Started feeling sick the night before and didn't want to risk anything so pulled out. Quite disappointing.. but not worth the risk.

Now today I had my first appt with the new OB. He was.. a character.

Mat and Wendy used him for both the girls, and every nurse I speak to raves about him.

He is.. a character..

Aside from him having a potty mouth.. and using the f-word twice (with Josie there!!), I really liked him. He was very relaxed, very confident and knew what he was talking about.

Not to mention he didnt charge $6000 for 'Pregnancy Management' !

He also accurately calculated my real due date, based on the fact that I actually ovulated a week late, so you cant just use the first day of the last cycle.

So now my official due date is.. wait for it... 12.11.11.

And I am 9w4d today ;-)

This is really gonna be the Longest. Pregnancy. Ever!

Flying Away

So I am off to New Zealand on Monday. Going for work for a week.. my first trip to NZ, and my first trip overseas in about 5 years..

I'm looking forward to it, and not looking forward to it. I've never been away from my family for this long before.. and especially now, its a bit nerve wracking! Gonna really miss Tony & Josie.

But I think it will be a good trip and good experience.. and I am back on Tony's Birthday!

Tony is being left with lots of instructions and reminders. Josie has been organised. And my fingers are crossed that she gets to school on time!! ;-)

Mari

And Now, For the Biggest News Yet

Hmm.. so a picture tells a thousand words..

... or in this case just 3...

We. Are. Pregnant.

And before getting this:

.. we were due on the coolest date!

11/11/11 !

But now we are due on 16/11/11, which is not to say that 11/11/11 isn't still a possibility.. it is! Just gotta book the Caesar NOW! lol!

So everyone is really excited! Josie is beside herself and has already volunteered for all nappy and feeding duties ;-)

We are measuring 6w2d, with a strong heartbeat.

And I am feeling kinda dazed.. I really cant remember how to do this anymore! Its been 8 years. Do they still do it the same way, or has there been advancements in techniques?? - lol ;-)

So here's to an uneventful 8 months ;-)

Mari

Anniversary XIII... or is it XVIII?

Today is our 13th Wedding Anniversary.

I never really feel very big emotion around this day. This day each year for me is really a reminder that, what to me is, the important day is approaching. And THAT day is the anniversary of the day Mari and I became a couple, five years before we were ultimately wed.

From the day we became a couple we lived as a married one. We immediately shared a bed and a room (and later a house) at Uni, we shared our finances, we shared our lives 24/7 from minute one. And for nearly 18 years so far.

We got really good at being a couple, at being a single unit with a common goal. And then we got good at driving each other batshit. And 17.5 years later we're still working on getting good at not driving each other batshit. So it's a work in progress, but what in life isn't? And who else would I choose to drive me batshit? I wouldn't choose anyone else to NOT drive me batshit. So I'm definitely not going to put up with the crap I do for anyone else. Except our daughter... who seems to have figured out exactly what it is about each of us that annoys the other and tries valiantly to emulate those qualities as often as inhumanly possible.

But I digress. The point is that my life with my lovely wife is one that, no matter the ups or the downs, I have never wished were with another. I have never wished for a change at bat. 'Cos who else could possibly be better to share it with than she? Even when she is the cause of the upheaval her companionship gets me through it.

She often used to ask me why I loved her. And all I could say was "I don't know, I just do.". Which as you know, is not what a woman wants to hear in response to that question. And she would ask "why? You're often angry with me, I'm not beautiful [she is -ed], etc etc etc". I never had a good answer. Until now. It's because I was born with my heart outside my body (not literally in case any medically knowledgeable people are reading). But I found it 18 years ago on a train to Wollongong. And I grabbed on tight and I'll never let it go.

When the anniversary of that day comes in April this year I will have spent half of my life with and half without the love of my life.

And the ONLY thing I regret, enough to want to go back and change it, in this life is that she wasn't there with me the whole time.

I love you because you are my heart. And I need my heart to go on living.

I love you Baby.

Tony