Story: 25/8/08-31/8/08
Tuesday, 23 September, 2008
Monday 25/8/08
I couldn't sleep because I'd slept so long the night before, so I turned the light back on and finished reading Persepolis. Despite falling asleep late, I still got up at 6:45 and drove to work. I got petrol, parked and was in the office by 7:30. Within one and a half hours of sitting at my desk, I felt really stressed because I realised my thinking was out and I was actaully a week ahead of where I thought I was. I had thought that today would be Briefing thinking day, I'd have two or three days in which to do the second draft of my children of divorce article, along with some stuff for The Daily Reading Bible (Volume 17), and then I'd start editing the October issue on Friday. But no; Briefing thinking day was the Monday before, and according to my schedule, I shoulve have started editing last Friday. Furthermore, we were going to layout the following Thursday. I quickly saw I couldn't do it all, and started to despair.
I dealt with email, pulled together Briefing thinking day material, then moved onto working on the layout. Fortunately it was a fairly straightforward issue. I ate lunch, met with Elsie, then spent the afternoon cleaning up all the files. I missed my 15 minutes of fame with Tony because he wasn't feeling well so he went home. And I made myself leave at four and play with Wii Fit for about half an hour. I had a shower, made dinner and did the laundry, then watched the rest of March of the Penguins off the hard disk recorder (I worked out how to watch stuff while it's recording). Then I went and edited and marked up Sola Panel entries from the last two weeks so that everything would be more or less tidy for when I dumped the content into Microsoft Word for the October Briefing. I also dealt with two weeks' worth of Faithful Writer correspondence (there wasn't much), then went and read in bed until 12:30.
Tuesday 26/8/08
I was up at 7:15 and in the office by 8. I spent most of the day transcribing Lesley Ramsay's talk from EQUIP 2007. Then Tony and I met up to talk about the October Briefing plus other matters. The meeting went a bit long as we worked out my priorities for the next two weeks (Briefing first, The Daily Reading Bible (Volume 17) second, e-news third). Ian, however, was doing a Father's Day special and couldn't wait that long for e-news so he ended up doing it himself.
Bec and I met up for lunch and to go through the Faithful Writer feedback. It was mostly positive with a few criticisms—mostly emailed later. It's funny: she and I are rather similar in that we tend to remember the negative comments instead of the positives, but we ought to keep things in perspective and not let those comments overshadow the positives.
In the afternoon I was feeling rather sleepy. Guan was in so I caught up with him for a bit and whinged about stuff. To wake myself up, I went out for a walk to get Easyway, then came back feeling somewhat refreshed. I collated the feedback I'd received on my children of divorce article, edited two articles for October, and left for home around 4:30. I played with Wii Fit for about half an hour, then heated myself some leftovers. Ben went off to Bible Study. I watched taped So You Think You Can Dance? (US) and then went to bed at around 1:30.
Wednesday 27/8/08
I woke late. It was hard to get out of bed but I did. I played with Wii Fit for about half an hour, then had a shower, ate breakfast, read my Bible and prayed. I got stuck into work around noon, and spent the next six and a half hours working on the second draft of my children of divorce article. I cut around 600 words out of it—tweaking and improving it. It was hardgoing and almost traumatic because I found myself reliving stuff all over again. Eventually around 5:30/6 pm I reached my limit. I felt emotionally exhausted and decided to leave the rest of the trimming to Guan who said he'd edit the article (Guan is an awesome editor). I made dinner. Ben went over to visit the Fords who had just had their baby. He came back and we ate together, then watched taped NCIS, Spicks and Specks and Australian Idol. Then we went to bed.
Thursday 28/8/08
I woke up at 6:15 and was out the door and in at work by 7. I ate breakfast, then dealt with email and The Sola Panel, and got stuck into the second feature article. I cut it down by 6,000 words but I was still nowhere near the 3,200 it needed to be. I kept slicing and dicing. Bec and Guan persuaded me to come out to get dumplings for lunch, and we ate honey chicken and handmade noodles. In the afternoon, I pressed on. We had Bible study and prayer at 2, and I finished making another hat. In the afternoon, I finally finished the feature article and sent it off. I then edited the second Bookshelf review and sent that off. Then I left at 4:30 and went to the shops to buy fruit and vegetables, fish, and groceries for the Engage conference.
Back at home, I carried everything up the stairs and put it away. I played with Wii Fit for 45 minutes, then had a shower and then made dinner. We watched Australian Idol, then more Idol, then Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and I learned to appreciate the benefits of the hard disk recorder. Afterwards, I did a bit of packing, then went to bed.
Friday 29/8/08
I was in at 7. I signed up with del.icio.us and then tried to get the Facebook application working but it wouldn't. I dealt with email and Positions Vacant ads, then went over Guan's edits of my children of divorce article. Then I got into the main business of the day. But server and internet problems started driving me crazy and made it near impossible to work. Plus I was feeling a bit sad. So I stopped and had lunch.
Tony was in after lunch and we touched base on Briefing things. I pushed on and finished the Pastor's brief, then left at 3 which was later than I intended. There was bad traffic on Gardener's Road (later Elsie told me it was because there was truck parked in the left-hand lane just before the intersection with O'Riordan, which meant all traffic had to merge into one lane). I decided to take the back way and was home in around half an hour.
I ran around like a mad thing, trying to finish the packing. Then Elsie came. It took us half an hour to load the car and check that everything was in working order. Then we were away.
While stuck in traffic on Parramatta Road, however, I realised I had forgotten the electric frypan and the netted spoons for steamboat. I felt like an idiot because I had prepared for packing so carefully (I keep a master packing list on Remember the Milk). Elsie called one of her housemates who hadn't left yet, and I called Sarah. The battery on my mobile was dying despite me trying to charge it the night before (double grr). We spent the rest of the drive to the mountains listening to Sia, Birdwood Snape and Katie Noonan. We reached Katoomba at 6 pm and went to the Katoomba Family Hotel for dinner.
Unfortunately our dinner took 45 minutes to arrive. I think they were seriously short-staffed. Instead of dropping our stuff off at the house, we went straight to the convention centre. I'd forgotten what Katoomba Christian conventions are like. In my defence, I'd only been to one before—Women's convention in 2003 or 2003, which I had hated. Ushers in bright orange reflective vests ushered our car onto the oval and told us where to park. We hopped out the walked up the mountain—up all those stairs. I received a call from Guan and realised I'd left all our tickets at home (triple grr!) Fortunately KCC reissued them for us at $5/ticket. We exchanged these for our orange rubber wristband and program. Ultra efficient ushers got us inside and made sure every seat was filled. The logistics of it all impressed me; I'd hate to organise a conference for 2,500 people!
We ended up in the middle of the hall just behind the middle screen. I tried craning my neck to see the screen but it was just easier to watch the ones down the front. Strangely enough, we were near George and other Wild Street folk. The singing and the music was fantastic—both in terms of quality and enthusiasm. (The songs were boring but let me save that for my own rant about Christian congregational music another day.) I had an empty seat in front of me so I had a great view. And I liked the video interviews they did with various young people.
Mark Driscoll spoke on John 1. He didn't tell me anything I didn't already know but he preached the doctrine of regeneration very strongly, which I appreciated. Afterwards, we caught up with people: Haoran and Sarah (who were about to break their big news when Gary beat them to it), George and other folk. Some of our party were keen to go, however, so we didn't stick around too long but headed for our accommodation.
I had booked The Blue House pretty much a year ago on Jess G's recommendation. It could sleep up to 10 people and board was only $450 for the weekend. We had eight in our party: Haoran and Sarah, Guan and Mary, Bec, Elsie, and me and Ben. We arrived at the house and wasn't quite sure how to get in (it's not close to the street). Then Guan and Bec arrived and helped us unload (Mary hadn't come to the evening talk). Haoran and Sarah arrived not long after so we helped them unload. Inside, it was smaller than I expected and they certainly didn't have enough chairs/lounges for the eight of us which was surprising. But it was still cosy and warm. We set up stuff, then broke out the cheese and crackers, and drank tea.
We were all pretty tired so turned in for the night fairly early. Unfortunately I didn't sleep too well; I wish I wasn't such a light sleeper because every time someone used the bathroom, I woke up.
Saturday 30/8/08
I got up around 8, had a shower and then started feeling more normal. The rest of our group were already up—Guan, Mary and Bec had gone out for a walk, but Haoran, Sarah and Elsie were inhabiting the lounge room. I had toast for breakfast, then sat on the porch for a bit with Bec and Guan when they returned, drinking tea.
Then we got ready to go, and made our way to the convention centre in two cars. We parked and walked up the mountain. The ushers were giving out free copies of The Sydney Morning Herald, and people were gathered around drinking coffee (or queueing for coffee). We waited for the coffee drinkers to get their fix, then headed into the hall. We were in the middle of the back third this time. Mark Driscoll preached on John 4 (the Samaritan woman at the well) as well as more on regeneration. It was great stuff! We were also pleasantly surprised to find that the Engage team had put all this free stuff on our seats: a canvas bag filled with a Mount Franklin water bottle, chocolates and other snacks.
We had a five minute break in between sessions, and then everything started up again. Driscoll was supposed to preach on something else but he decided that we needed a brain break, so a Q & A would be better. We were asked to SMS in questions which I thought was rather clever. He answered the questions well, but also demonstrated his particular bugbears which probably arose from issues in his own congregation. Oh, and the thing about his daughter made me (and a few others I knew) cry.
We didn't realise that lunch was being provided that day (there were these big tents in the plaza labelled “BEEF”, “CHICKEN” and “TURKEY”). In any case, there were no gluten free options, so our party opted to head home. Plus Bec wasn't feeling too well. Back at the house, we decided to change around our plan for meals and have steamboat for lunch instead of dinner, given that we would not have that much time to eat dinner before heading out to the evening session. We had way too much food, and ended up cooking some of the surplus to have a leftovers.
Then we cleaned up, and I had a chocolate, before a bunch of us set out for a walk to Katoomba. Sarah and I visited the vintage emporium, and I found a black velvet hat I liked for $25. There was also this beautiful white armchair there—the kind that made you want to curl up in it with a good book—but that was $900 (why am I always drawn to expensive things???) We poked in a few shops, but then Guan and Mary were tired so they headed home. Sarah and I continued on to the op shop (got a Paula Danziger book for $1.50) and then the Hattery.
Then Sarah started feeling sleepy so turned back. I went on to Coles to get a few supplies, then walked back via Café Expresso to see Angus. I bought a chai latte for Bec off him, then walked back to the house. By this time, I was feeling rather tired. I sat in the lounge with the others, knitting and drinking tea.
Dinner was all over the place, with everyone doing their own thing. I had steamboat leftovers but most people weren't too keen on them. We left at around 6 or 6:30 to go to the convention centre and make our way up the mountain again. In the hall, we were split up, with Ben and Elsie having to go onto the row behind us. I was not thrilled about this. But I did get to sit next to Ali.
Don Carson preached on Matthew 11. I've never understood the second half of that chapter so it was good to hear him explain it. Afterwards, I caught up with Ali, Becky and Sal, and I finally got to see Little. The others were tired and set off for home, but Haoran, Elsie, Ben and I stayed behind. I met long-time Hippocampus Extensions reader Drew for the first time (his blog seems to have been hijacked by advertising), and talked to him, among other things, about his PhD.
We left for home. The others were still up, and we settled down with our various teas and hot chocolates. Some went to bed but others stayed up and played Chrononauts (a time travel card game), which had been a birthday present to me from Matt and Larissa. Both Haoran and Guan are games people, and it always helps to have games people around when you're learning a new game. They interpreted the rules, and we started off playing open-hand, but then realised that wouldn't work as we needed certain things to win (I, for example, needed the crown of thorns). But Ben beat me to his objective and won. Then we went to bed.
Sunday 31/8/08
I slept way better than the night before, but woke up feeling like I was on fire. I went downstairs to wash my hands and said a bleary hello to everyone else who was already up. Haoran made us a yummy hot breakfast. I meant to watch because my own skills at doing bacon and eggs and fried tomato are quite woeful, but I was distracted by the logistics of us packing and cleaning and leaving in time for the first session. So following the eating part, we packed, we disposed of the leftovers or packed them for lunch, we cleaned, we put out the garbage, and we paid and left.
Somewhat predictably there was a long queue to get into the conference site. The poor ushers were trying to hurry us along but there were so many of us and the ground was muddy. We made our way up the mountains, ignored the newspapers and the coffee and filed inside. We were seated on the left in the second third part of the hall. The singing was in full swing by the time we had sat down, and we sang something which sounded, to my ears, like the chorus to Guy Sebastian's Elevator Love. (The quality and banality of most of the songs we sang slightly depressed me but I suppose you just have to appeal to the common denominator if you're going to write congregational songs.) Carson preached on Psalm 40 and it was awesome—so good, so comforting. I should really buy that talk and listen to it regularly.
We had a 1 minute break in between sessions (during which we consumed more of the goodies left on our seats—more water, chips, and bite-sized brownies). Then Driscoll did his final talk which was on John 10: “I am the good shepherd”. His message was very simple. During the last part, he tried to get us to re-appreciate the cross by going into great detail about the crucifixion. I thought that was quite unnecessary: echoing Ben's point about The Passion of the Christ, the Bible doesn't spend that much time on Christ's physical sufferings, so why should we? (All it pretty much says is “And he was crucified”.) I actually tuned out for that bit and focussed on filling in my feedback form.
Then the conference wrapped up, with thankyous and goodbyes and “Drive safely!”s issued from the front. Guan, Mary and Bec said goodbye. Haoran and Sarah had already gone. Ben, Elsie and I left together, and hit traffic pretty quickly coming out of Katoomba. As we drove towards Sydney, I regretted that I had left my lunch in the esky in the back, so we pulled over and I got it out. At the first McDonald's we encountered, Ben ordered his lunch and we swapped drivers. I took us all the way back to our place and it didn't seem to take that long at all. We helped Elsie get her car out of the driveway, went up and unpacked, and then I left for church.
I was really out of it. Bec had stayed home (she was, quite understandably, exhausted) but George was there. Rod preached on 1 John 2—the second half. I found it really hard to concentrate but I think I got the gist of it. George and I had a really long deep and meaningful afterwards—talking about Driscoll and his anecdote about his daughter, children of divorce stuff, and being stuck in a rut. She gave me some very good advice about owning your feelings, and doing something to help yourself to deal with being sad.
I didn't stay around for dinner, but drove home and ate something while watching March of the Penguins and a pseudo-documentary in C.S. Lewis that Ben had taped for me. Then I had a shower and went to bed. Ben came in not long after.
Current:
seen: Moon 15/10/2009
read: The Incredibles 11/10/2009
seen: She's the Man 05/10/2009
read: I Kill Giants (Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Niimura) 04/10/2009
read: Astro City The Dark Ages Book 1: Brothers and Other Strangers (Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross) 04/10/2009
seen: Children of Men 02/10/2009
seen: Metric (The Metro) 30/09/2009
seen: 500 Days of Summer 25/09/2009
seen: The September Issue 18/09/2009
seen: Gilmore Girls: Season 1 17/09/2009
read: Flight (Volume 1) (edited by Kazu Kibuishi) 16/09/2009
seen: Ponyo 11/09/2009
read: Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert) 05/09/2009
heard: Aimee Mann (Enmore Theatre) 04/09/2009
heard: Ben Folds Solo (Opera House) 31/08/2009
read: Phonogram: Rue Britannia (Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie) 26/08/2009
seen: Northanger Abbey 20/08/2009
read: The Princess Diaries (Meg Cabot) 18/08/2009
seen: The Phantom of the Opera 17/08/2009
seen: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 10/08/2009
seen: District 9 10/08/2009
read: Shortcomings (Adrian Tomine) 02/08/2009
read: AIR Volume 1: Letters from Lost Countries (Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker) 28/07/2009
seen: Persepolis 25/07/2009
seen: Ghost Town 25/07/2009
heard: Gutter Twins (Seymour Centre) 23/07/2009
seen: Coco Avant Chanel 20/07/2009
seen: Gutenberg! The Musical (Seymour Centre) 16/07/2009
seen: So You Think You Can Dance? Australia Live Tour (Sydney Entertainment Centre) 11/07/2009
seen: Every Little Step 07/07/2009
seen: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen 03/07/2009
seen: Synecdoche, New York 30/06/2009
seen: Charlie's Angels 27/06/2009
seen: Penelope 26/06/2009
seen: Coraline 10/06/2009
seen: The Sky Crawlers 08/06/2009
seen: The Bourne Ultimatum 07/06/2009
seen: The Bourne Supremacy 07/06/2009
seen: The Bourne Identity 06/06/2009
seen: Stick it 05/06/2009
Comment:
Hi Karen - yes! But we’re finished at Moore now and living back in Tassie so it’s unlikely. I enjoy still enjoy reading though, hope you don’t mind!
@Miriam - I had a very fast labour too (lets just say it was quite a bit quicker than 4 hours) and I almost felt embarrassed telling people! I’d never imagined I’d be one of ‘those’ women. Still, friends who’ve had longer labours followed by shorter labours assured me it’s the same amount of pain, just squeezed into a shorter time span so I try not to feel too bad 
Congratulations Karen & Ben. What a beautiful daughter. Thanks for sharing your birth story - sounds almost identical to mine, except my labour was only 4 hours! My midwife also told me not to share it at mothers group as people would be jealous hehe
Enjoy this wonderful time getting to know Astrid.
Miriam
Thanks everyone!
Wow, Bron, I still can’t believe I haven’t met you yet! Thanks for continuing to read this blog!
Little Rachel, now I’m intrigued!!!
It’s so funny reading your labour experience. It’s so funny she came out when you were standing up and the midwife had to catch her. Wow! I will remember to go through your blog more carefully when my time comes around. It’s very informative.
Congratulations to you all and many blessings. Astrid is a little sweetie.
Congratulations Karen and Ben. A gorgeous girl with a gorgeous name. Praise God!
Thanks for sharing your story.
Congrats, Karen! She looks wonderful, so alert and adorable! Glad that everything went so smoothly (comparatively).
Well, one of your details clears up a conversation Jess and Anna and Liza and I had! I’ll tell you later.
I think you and Ben did amazingly well, and that the staff were right: you were pretty tough! I will have to give all those exercises a go when that time comes.
Yay for Astrid! Such a beautiful name for a precious daughter.
Hello! Thanks for sharing. It sounded tough and bewildering! Can I come and visit sometime? Tonight or tomorrow night? I’m away for the next 4 days after that. Love George
Congratulations! Astrid Winter is a gorgeous name. So beautiful. Thank you for sharing your story. It’s interesting to hear from other women. Now I’m expecting my second I’m starting to think about all that again. Eeeeek!
RPA is very busy, apparently they’re at 3 times capacity for the area. When we were there last year the night my daughter was born there were something like 8 births in 45 minutes. As soon as I’d had a shower we had to be out of there! I remember being rather surprised at having to walk up to the post-natal ward. “you want me to what?!”
I don’t think it’s exclusively the change of temperature: young babies like to be cuddled up (or wrapped in a blanket or similar) as they adjust to being on the outside after so long being wrapped up on the inside.
Oh yeah, it makes perfect sense that babies would cry if you put them in a cold bed! I totally never thought of that!
I love your posts, they are so fascinating! :D
Oh Jess! There are so many good things about Sydney
Looks like really nice adventures! I don’t really think of Sydney as a place to explore.. hmm.. you have opened my mind up to The Staycation.
I get depressed at the adrenaline crash also because then I have time to think about how shitty everything is lol.
Hmm...food for thought indeed. V. interesting, thank you for posting
lol! Karen, you’re so frank and I love it. “the non-constipating kind” of iron pills. hahaha.
i know how hard it is to not tell people the sex of your baby. I am tempted to tell strangers or acquaintances what you’re having because, as Ben reasoned with the waiter, I’ll either never see them again or it’s not like their going to tell anyone of consequence.
Thanks Kathleen! Glad you’re finding them interesting!
These posts are fascinating, Karen, and I’m happy/sad for you.
Hey Little! One of the things that astounds me is that people all over the world give birth everyday in different circumstances, and they seem to get through it. Maybe all the bells and whistles of the western world are simply that—bells and whistles, and things we do to make ourselves feel better about such a painful and momentous occurrence. I’m sure Mongolia has its own ways of looking after their expectant mums!
Great post, Karen.
As I said to you last Friday: the Toturo thing is gorgeous!
Thanks for posting about the changing relationships between friends. I’ve been struggling to come to terms with my best friend’s relationship with her boyfriend and the loss I feel. It’s been 18mths now, but I guess it’s taking longer for me to deal with because he’s not something we talk about and I don’t often see them together. However, it’s still known. It’s good to know I’m not alone or going crazy or whatever.
Also, thanks for the updates on Peanut. Can’t wait to meet him/her!
I think that your child will one day be thankful that they can read about what their mother was thinking. They won’t have to wonder if you’ve forgotten anything or just telling the good things! I think the positives are more believable when accompanied by the negatives, that’s just more realistic.
The PGP sounds really hard! Also not something that people talk about, so is it hard to get understanding from people when you need to go a little slower? Though perhaps they just expect that of pregnant women… gah, there are so many steps at MM! :(
I worry about the money stuff too… though I guess in Mongolia maybe they won’t do all those medical things so I won’t have to pay for them! 
Keep blogging! You know I’m fascinated. ;p
Thanks Miriam! That’s good to know!
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the long update. It sounds like you are experiencing very common emotions (high and low) of first-time expectant mothers.
In answer to your question about breastfeeding in 5mins - that’s pretty common. In the first few weeks as both you and baby are learning how to feed (it takes a while to get the hang of it)feeding takes a little while (about an hour for me and Alex). This was actually a blessing for me as it meant I could sit and rest for that period of time, 5 or 6 times a day! Lovely, especially as it was such a tiring time of my life, with all the adjusting that comes with the birth of a child.
The milk flow can be quite fast to begin with(often too fast for baby!) and it means they take in too much and then need to be burped, which all takes time. After awhile though your breasts will adjust and regulate themselves as they work out how much milk is needed. THey are amazing the way they work. They actually feel quite soft and empty after a few weeks and lots of new mums worry that they don’t hvae enough milk, but it is very normal, and just means your body has regulated the amount of milk it makes.
Check out the Australian Breastfeeding Association webpage - it is full of excellent information. I would recommend joining the association - you receive a magazine every 2 months, which is filled with wonderful articles. I found it very helpful (and still do after 3 years of feeding). A great bit of reading to have in your hands while sitting down to feed. You also receive an excellent book “Breastfeeding....naturally” which answers just about any question you may have about breastfeeding. I read it many many times!
Mim
Congratulations again - and it is very interesting to hear what happens!
@Sarah: Thanks for the tip RE Australian Breastfeeding Association! I never would have thought to look there. Ditto KMart: I was wondering if they did since Target don’t.
@Rae: Thanks for the tip! I’ll check it out.
@Little Rachel: Oh, I’ll definitely be up for visitors! I may not be very good company (brain-dead, etc.) but I’ll certainly appreciate visits!
@Rachel C: CONGRATS!!! So excited for you Yours sounds like a good philosophy. One day I shall have to blog about Outliers!
@CafeDave: Thanks for the tip!
@Elissa: Thanks for your kind words! It makes me happy that you and Dave were excited we were getting married! Thanks also for the prayers!
@Elsie: There are lots of other lovely things I could have said about you, but let’s not overload my readers, shall we? ;P
Aww...thanks for the lovely things you said about me! I enjoyed reading this post (as I do with all yours). xo
Congratulations to you both. I know you will be such wonderful parents. You sound WAY too sensible! 
(Sorry to read that there were some unusual comments made about your marriage! We thought it was exciting. We still have a lovely photo of you & Ben in our lovely box of special memories. (I was only 22 when married & I was 30 when we had Bonnie...)
Everyone is different! I nodded through your post. SO many people feel the curious need to share their “horror stories” which is just dreadful. I remember complaining to David who said - go find people who are positive & listen to them. Great advice, which I did. Those people still have a big place in my heart because their advice was honest & gentle.
Bless you & Ben & the little Peanut. We pray all goes smoothly over the coming weeks/months ahead. We sometimes forget what a precious little miracle life really is…
Another book from the dad’s perspective I found helpful was From here to paternity - it’s an Australian book, and was followed up with a blog.
Hi!
I’m so excited for you reading your blog about being pregnant I am 13 weeks pregnant with #2.
You’re so right about all the pessimism “advice” that you get. I got so mad about it but never found a good response. I’ve had such joy right from day one with E that I just don’t want to buy into the negativity (I’m sure kids pick up on it too!).
My philosophy was/is to be a relaxed mum and from that figure out what was best for my baby/child. Get advice when you’re not sure on things or want to know how other people approached things, read books (loved Outliers!) that aren’t all about parenting… but just enjoy.
In a sample size of one to date, I’ve had such a happy, chilled out son right from day one. People say all the craziest advice… glad you don’t do guilt
With love,
R
Thanks so much for writing more! I love hearing how you’re going and all your thoughts.
After watching my sister I agree with you that it seems the first six months are perhaps the hardest. She got quite lonely at home all day; weekends were all right because then her husband was around but it’s just as you say… one feed ends then the next begins! If you are accepting visitors during this period then I hope to use some RDOs to come have grown-up conversations!
The book review of The Second Nine Months makes me want to read it now!
Names: We have one girl name that we both like and no boy names that we agree on. But they are also top-secret… so if anyone else uses them we can’t accuse them of theft! 
Yay Peanut, keep on growing, can’t wait to meet you!
Hello! Thanks for sharing
I loved reading your pregnancy update! I am glad to hear that things are all going pretty well, and I hope the rest of your 2nd trimester is as good.
I just wanted to add, that some other blokes decided that there was not much for the fathers-t0-be, and made a couple of DVD’s just for expectant dads. They are called ‘Being Dad’and i think they are available at big W. I have both though, if you would like me to send them!
Just wanted to wish you all the best!
Love
Rae
re: gluten: no idea!! I didn’t have to go on that diet - it was probably related to the test I didn’t do.
At the risk of adding to your list of advice:
Re: maternity bras - because I’m big I had to look hard for something nice in my size and discovered the Australian Breastfeeding Association. They have a massive range online and most are (dare I say it) sexy.
Re: maternity clothes - Kmart have a nice range of basic stuff.. I only found out towards the end of pregnancy and I would have liked to know earlier!
Re: Parenting classes - if you’re at RPA you can just ring the midwives section (they’ll put you through) and ask directly.
Congratulations again
Don’t laminate your ultrasound picture That is my advice.
Congratulations! This is so fantastic!
Thanks so much for sharing all of this… people swap engagement stories but rarely pregnancy stories! And it’s kind of similar don’t you think, all this excitement leading up to a big day!
So happy for you guys! Actually never been more excited for anyone except my sister! I think it’s because I think that you will both be amazing parents and love the idea that someone could grow up in your family.
Looking forward to many more posts on the topic.
Lovely news, Karen.
Thanks everyone! I will be sure to ask for help when I need it!
Blinks:
Interesting answer.
"We pick out people who have the same kind of unhappiness we do. And we gravitate toward them and try to help them.
"Many of us are like this. Every time we try to help someone else and fail, it feels weird. It feels bad. We do not know exactly what is going on but it is upsetting.
"Until one day we realize that what we are doing is avoiding our own pain. We have learned to act as though it is not our pain that is at issue, but other people's."
Cleaning tips for all sorts of things. White vinegar is apparently wonderful!
The case for print.
"Laura Miller has argued eloquently in Salon about reading on the iPad as a serene experience, a sanctuary from the link-surfing that dominates so much of what we read online. And yet, I know what having an iPod has done to my attention span and ability to sit through an entire album, in order, by one artist ... and I'll be damned if I let the same thing happen to the way I read. Out of every argument I've heard in favor of e-readers ... my least favorite might be the central point of the thing: the fact that it allows you to choose from thousands of books at any given time. I simply don't want that kind of potential for distraction ...
"For me, to deny books their physical structure simply ignores far too much of what makes them enjoyable. The commitment they require, the way they force you into a state of simultaneous calm and focus—these are things I have yet to duplicate by any other means."
Something to do with leftover wool. Makes good toys!
The reasons behind the creation of the 4 am news slot. Interesting how lifestyle fuels these sorts of cultural changes.
Via Elsie. Consumer addiction used to distract or cover for emotional emptiness/loss/grief, etc.
A parenting philosophy to introduce media to children late and slowly.
Family-friendly movies. Includes Miyazaki, some Pixar and some surprises.
Via Neil Gaiman. Good advice for writing professionals on working to deadlines and why they matter.
Symptoms indicate preschoolers can be depressed but many resist the diagnosis. However, diagnosing it may help as it will pave the way for treatment. Change of attitude: we don't think young children can get depression. Ways of treating it given that talking therapy is out of the question and medications are not a good idea for humans that young.
Interesting that they say we start kids learning things like ballet and music at the age of 4.
"Most parents want to distract their kids from negative emotions rather than let them process the feelings."
|
|
Comments
Thank you, oh gracious generous friend.
Leave a comment
Comment moderation is currently OFF.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete all comments I deem unsuitable for this blog. These include defamatory comments, comments filled with nothing but swearing and, of course, spam.
If your comment contains more than two URLs, it will be blocked by my spam filter. Please split it over two comments.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.