The Pink Kit

Our doula has got us going through "The Pink Kit", which is a booklet, DVD and audio CDs which go through birthing. Primarily, the bit we are going to focus upon is the body awareness and birthing positioning parts.

Essentially, the more awareness Naomi has of her body, and principally, her pelvis and the muscles surrounding it, the more she can work with it during the birth.

So, last night (and this morning, coz we woke too early) we did some of the stuff on the DVD.

It was pretty good, although a lot of the time we were laughing at the fashion choices by some of the models/demonstrators, and the Kiwi accents didn't help much either.

"Teek a brith dipply un... and out egin....."

Hello baby!

SO proud of her!

I was SO proud of Naomi. She really got back into it so quickly. We had an initial 'sleep breathing' session which we both did. Very relaxing and we got into it straight away (we both continue to use this from day to day... very useful to reduce your heart/breathing rate during a triathlon!)

Anyway, then it upped a level and it was soon up to me to guide Naomi through it... so essentially, to lead her into a trance-like state. I was nervous, but it worked a treat. It was pretty amazing when Kayte (our practitioner) was asking Naomi to open her eyes, and she couldn't (a good indicator that she's in the zone).

However... it's not all as freaky as it sounds. It's really just yoga-like breathing, and confidence in your body and that it knows what it needs to do. After our first birthing experience, we're even more confident in how well it will work this time.

Hypnobirthing Refresher

Today Cory and I had our Hypnobirthing refresher session with Kayte who we did our course with during our last pregnancy.

We went through all the breathing and visualisation techniques which all came flooding back from last time once we got started. We also did a debrief on letting go of fears - so that was good as I am anxious about having another caesarian and really want to have a VBAC. It was funny though as BB#2 had been a bit quiet for the last couple of days but when I started with the breathing and relaxation it just went nuts and was kicking all over the place. I think the extra oxygen and relaxed state gives the bub energy.

Another visit to Nicola

I had another visit today to see Nicola. Everything is going well - I am measuring 27 weeks which is good given that I am almost 27 weeks! Blood pressure is good and bubs heart rate is excellent. I have my Glucose test in 2 weeks. Seeing that I had to do the fasting test last time I am just doing that one this time.

Genevieve loves visiting Dr Nicola and this time decided to play doctors as well and went and sat with Nicola on the doctor's side of the desk.

Countdown!

According to our dates we now have 99 days to go until arrival!

However, if you take Genevieve as an indicator of what to expect then we now only have 12 weeks to go - that is 84 days folks!

I now officially have 11 weeks of work to go - not that I'm counting.... MUCH!

Trying to catch the movement

I am sitting here watching TV and BB#2 is giving me a few kicks. I know my belly is moving but everytime I look down at it the kicking stops and then as soon as I look away it starts again. Cheeky!

24 weeks and viable!

Well we have just hit the 24 week mark and bubs is now considered viable. This means that if BB#2 is born any time from now it has a good chance of survival.

We have now progressed from feeling kicks to actually seeing them! Last night I was lying on the couch and the side of my belly started doing little jumps. They were just small but I could definitely see it moving.

Flutter-kick

Naomi is increasingly feeling little flutters and even kicks from time to time. After seeing the little bugger on the screen at each ultrasound, we're not surprised. BB2 sure is active!

Anywayz, from time to time, I'll gently plonk my hand on her belly to see if I can get some of the action. Over the last 6 weeks or so... nothing.

This morning - [bump]

Tee hee hee

New bottles

Following on from learning about BPA, and the fact that our (almost exclusively) Avent stuff is full of it, we're keen to replace them.

Got a couple of these at the recent Child and Baby Expohttp://www.adiri.com/

Quite different from a normal bottle in many ways. One of the fundamental ways is that the 'lid' is the base. It has a one-way valve in the 'lid'. You turn the bottle upside-down in its lid to fill it. When the bub is feeding, the valve is at the other end, so there's less air ingested.

Oh, and they're BPA-free, of course.

20w 5d

All is looking good!


Everything was checked, from top to toe. We saw 10 fingers and 10 toes, all the requisite bones etc. Heart all good, stomach and bladder good. All good!

(They even checked the 'nether-regions', but we looked away and the DVD recording was paused. All good there too).

VBAC Info from health.com

Did a bit of googling...

What are the benefits of a VBAC?

The benefits of a VBAC compared to a C-section include:

• Avoiding another scar on your uterus. This is important if you are planning on a future pregnancy—the more scars on the uterus, the greater the chance of problems with a later pregnancy.
• Less pain after delivery.
• Fewer days in the hospital and a shorter recovery at home.
• A lower risk of infection.
• A more active role for you and your birthing partner in the birth of your child.

What are the risks of VBAC?

The most serious risk of a VBAC is that a C-section scar could come open during . This is very rare, but when it does happen, it can be very serious for both the mother and the baby. The risk that a scar will tear open is very low during VBAC when you have just one low cesarean scar and your labor is not started with medicine. This risk is why VBAC is only offered by hospitals that can do a rapid emergency C-section.

If you have a trial of labor and need to have a C-section, your risk of infection is slightly higher than if you just had a C-section.

That's just a bit of it, there's a lot more, and some good FAQs at
http://www.health.com/health/library/topic/0,,hw200557_hw200560,00.html

It's sort of interesting though... it certainly has a US Obstetric spin on it all.

Meeting with our Doula

We met with our Doula, Kelly on Thursday. I have been chatting with her online, and we met her previously at a seminar on 'Preventing the preventable caesarian'.

I get along well with her and she has a good understanding of what I want from this birth. She and our OB have also worked together before, and both recommend each other. This makes me feel more comfortable in that we all have the same goal in mind and will be working for me rather than ignoring or undermining me.

The key benefit of a doula, for us, is that we'll have someone who is knowledgeable/experienced in birthing, with us for the whole labour. (What 'traditional' midwives do, as opposed to the in-hospital 'obstetric nurse' midwives who work on shifts - which is fair enough). If I had a doula last time I think that she would have picked up that VV was posterior (she showed all the classic signs) and would have made suggestions so that VV may have perhaps turned. That, in turn, may have prevented her C/S. Again... all just 'perhaps'es there, but we think it certainly isn't going to hurt and could in fact help a lot.

A few interesting stats about VBAC. In Australia (I think), the rate of a caesarian scar rupturing at some point during the pregnancy is 0.2%. During birth, it doubles, but that still makes it only 0.4%. I am happy taking on that very small risk, seeing how the risks involved with actually having a C/S are much higher, and our OB is so supportive. In fact, when we first met our OB, she said "So you're going for a VBAC then?.... Because I'm not interested in taking you on if you want a C/S".

Meeting some freshies

Today we did a bit of visiting to friends who have just had babies. First up we went to visit Dean, Kylie and Spencer who welcomed baby Sienna last Sunday. Genevieve kindly opened her present for her and tried to get her to play with the toy (which was a bit beyond a 6 day old). She was very gentle and patted her dark hair (we're not sure where that came from!)

Then we went to visit Kellie, Erich, Jamie, Joshua & baby Eliza. Genevieve was more interested in playing with the big boys but did give Eliza a kiss which was cute. Both of the babies are gorgeous and doing very well.

Another OB Visit

We had another visit with Nicola yesterday just to make sure everything is going along as it should be. We had a quick chat about how I was feeling which was pretty uneventful. I told her that although I know I am getting bigger and putting on weight I still can't feel very much and sometimes wonder if I actually am pregnant. So she said "let's go and have a look at the baby then".

We went into the room with the mini ultrasound and we saw bubs wriggling around like mad. It was being very uncooperative when it came to taking a photo! It kept putting its arm over its face and not going into profile. So I have to wait 3 weeks for my big scan to get another pic. Genevieve was with us and was very excited to see the baby on the "television".

All last week she was convinced she was having a sister but today she has changed her mind and now thinks she is having a brother. Hopefully the one that she wants at the time of arrival is what comes out!

I know we aren't having any luck on the name front...

...but we didn't feel the need to buy this.

We're keeping track...

Appointments

I booked my scan today and it is on Oct 9th so that's 4 weeks away. I will be 20w4d by then. The place wouldn't do it any earlier than 19 weeks so that was the earliest I could do. Fortunately I have an OB appt and meeting with my doula in between now and the scan otherwise I think the wait would be too long.

Babyfest

Following Kellie and Erich's little one, we've got a few friends due quite soon. Including a number of my mates being first-time fathers.

I'm thinking about how things are different the second time around. You know a lot more, and you also have a much better idea of what to expect. However, I'm thinking I'm going to start pulling the finger out, so I don't rely on what I remember. That could stuff me up big time.

Firstly, I could remember incorrectly, as can frequently happen.

Secondly, every pregnancy birth is different. (Hopefully this one will be, as we're gunning for the natural birth or VBAC* as the cool kids call it).

But, in the meantime, Genevieve is really hitting her stride in the 2.5 yr old stakes. Oh well... lets see if we survive hey?

*Vaginal Birth After Caesarian.

Jealousy?

I went to see Kellie and her new little baby Eliza on Thursday in the hospital. As soon as I picked Eliza up for a hold BB#2 flipped out - literally! I had little fluttery movements as if to say "hey I'm in here!!" It was pretty weird but funny at the same time.

2nd trimester, first belly pic

Well, it thought it was about time for a belly shot now that there is something that resembles a belly and not just fat!

So here it is - the 14 week belly!

Congratulations

We dropped by Nai's father's place on our way back from Ballarat, for a feed and for VV to do a bit of play-doughesation.

John was kind enough to give us a lovely bottle of Kreglinger from Taswegia. We'll pop that a few days after Nai pops, methinx.

2nd visit to the OB

We just had a quick visit to Nicola, the obstetrician today to confirm that last weeks scan and blood test results were all good. My ferritin (stored iron) has gone from 18 to 48 and my haemoglobin has gone from 11.7 to 12.6 which is great. She was really happy with the measurements and the risk factor that came out of the tests so there is no need for any additional ones.

Genevieve came with us and was pretty good after having a tanty about wanting to sit on Daddy's chair but once she got past that it was all ok. She helped the OB take my blood pressure and got involved so that was cute.

She tried to find a heartbeat but said that it could be too early at 13 weeks to find it with the doppler thingy, which it was so we didn't get to hear the wisha wisha sound.

So quite an uninteresting visit but all good. I got my referral to book my 19 week scan and go back to the OB in 4 weeks.

What's the male equivalent of being 'clucky'?

Jeez I hate that term. It just makes me cringe.

And when I see people do all the goo-goo gah-gah business... I dunno... I just don't see the need. The kid is cute. Congratulations. What's with all of the weird noises?

But I can see it, and I can feel my own version of this. After we were first expecting VV, I started looking out for pregnant bellies, and looking at kids. I thought this was like when you first buy a type of car, and then you notice all of those cars on the road (have there always been this many VW Golfs?) Instead, it's kids/bellies/Phil & Teds prams.

This time around, I'm a little more aware. And I'm still feeling it. Kids look cuter (OK... at least some of them). I noticed the child-care centre next door at work (looking down at it from the 10th floor, at the kids on the rooftop playground and I just got really excited - both at noticing, and at the prospect of being able to see the little heads running around on the green-rubberised faux path through grassy areas.

I was originally on here to watch the video of the scan (again, see below). And then, I'll probably go and watch the video of VV's reaction to watching the scan. Perhaps I should shoot some footage of me, watching VV's reaction to watching the scan...

So yeah... us guys go through it too - perhaps just a little differently.

Hello!

A milestone

Well, tomorrow we have the 12 week scan. This is the big one to check that the little-un is all OK. It also seems to be the official-unofficial time where, if you get the thumbs-up that all IS OK, you go public with your news. We're both going to be there (me via CargoBike, and Nai via train/tram) so that's a good thing - I've hated having to miss things, and it's only been by good fortune that I've been at some of the other appointments.

There's some people who know about BB2, there's some who have guessed, but most people we have yet to tell.

I've actually found it quite hard this time keeping my mouth shut. Or... alternatively, when we've been around people who DO know, I've had to do the double-think before I speak. I mean, if we do let someone know, I don't want it to be through a 'slip'. So, at times, it's been quite taxing (I did have a hideous virus for three weeks, sapping what little brain I have).

So... I'm looking forward to hearing good news, and I'm looking forward to being able to tell people and relax a little.

I'm thinking this blog is gonna get a lot more hits very soon.

Big Sister Dora

We were at the stupormarket yesterday and I spied a Dora the Explorer DVD where she becomes a big sister. We thought it'd make a good purchase, and it would help explain things to her, when the time comes.

The episode is standard Dora fare, and the cover wrecks the big surprise (ie: no-one was expecting twins). They obviously don't have ultrasounds in Doraland. The good thing is it has been written to provide some management of expectations of potential big sisters. All of Dora's friends tell her how good a big sister she's gonna be, and the reasons why.

A few interesting things though. Take a look at the pic below. No ultrasounds, but they do seem to be pro-disposable, and pro-bottle feed however. Hmm...

Deprogramming birth

A great article. We think sorta similar, excepting HypnoBirthing did work for us...

...I sensed that birth didn't have to be this traumatic, and took myself on a journey to discover how to deprogram my Western ideas of birth...

...I felt so relaxed that I figured it was just prelabour. At around 7am I started to feel disorientated and asked my mum to take my toddler out for breakfast, contractions were suddenly coming two minutes apart so I called my midwife.

I got in the bath and felt instant relief. There was now a definite desire to be vocal and I let out a loud but comical, sing-song "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" with each contraction. My husband and I joked that our son would enjoy imitating the noise.

It was about thirty minutes after I called the midwife. She hadn't arrived and my husband was in the kitchen making a cup of tea. I remember looking out the window at the sky during a powerfully intense contraction, feeling utterly euphoric. There was a mild stinging and I put my hand down wondering if I would feel the baby crowning - instead, to my amazement, I found his entire head had emerged...

Read the whole thing at essentialbaby.com.au

11 weeks

Well I am 11 weeks today and it seems that my nausea and extreme fatigue is becoming less - although now I will probably start worrying about them not being here as they have been reassuring signs of still being pregnant. I will be having the blood test for the NT scan done tomorrow morning and then Thursday week is the day for the big scan.

If all goes well from there then we will start telling people outside of the immediate family and close friends.

Two for Two

If the technology is correct, it appears that I'm two for two. Meaning, the swimmers only needed to be brought into their intended use twice, in my entire life.

With Genevieve, it was easy for us to pinpoint it. Without putting too fine a point on it, there was only one occasion (the weekend before we went on our trip around the world) where the dates indicated conception would have happened.

With the trip to Thailand, there were... err... many other possibilities, shall we say. ;) However, if the dates the ultrasounds come up with are to be believed, it was again a one shot deal.

So what does that mean? That we only had to do the deed twice in our entire parental journey? I prefer to think of it that was it all the practice that made gave us our 100% hit rate.

Names (again!)

So we have to start with the names thing again.

We still have ones from last time, but we're not 100% sure we still like them. Naomi's had a few suggestions, but I'm struggling to come up with any of my own at this point. Oh well, still got a quite a while to make a decision yet.

Naomi found an online Baby Name Genie - a name generator sorta deal. In it, you could put in names and it would make suggestion. My second name is 'Jon', so she put that in, with my surname, and look what it came up with! YIPE!

"Mummy, your belly is sticking out"

Aaah... out of the mouths of babes. Genevieve hit Naomi with this chestnut this morning. We'll explain it to her when we go public, because if we tell her before we go public... well... it's BE public from that point in time if you know what I mean!

Meeting Nicola

Today was my first appointment with our new OB, Nicola Bryan-Yuen. I hadn't met her before but we had been recommended by a doula who was worked with her before. We were certainly not disappointed. She has a wonderful philosophy and manner and is completely supportive of us and our birth plan.

She took my history and then we went in for a scan. I was pretty worried given the bleeding that I had earlier but as soon as she put the ultrasound on my belly we saw our little blob with a good heartbeat. It was wriggling and swimming around so everything looks great. It was measuring 9weeks 2 days which is spot on for the dates that we predicted.

So all in all it was a very good morning. We celebrated with some fresh icecream from one of those gourmet places, before I headed in to work (and Cory, back to the doctor's again, with this persistent virus he's had).

Nausea

From almost exactly the 6 week mark I have been suffering extreme tiredness as I did last time but this time it is accompanied by nausea - yay! I have already put on about 2kg because the only thing that seems to work is constant grazing.

With the doctors orders to take things easy I haven't been able to exercise as I normally would but have been eating more than usual to combat the nausea. I am hoping that this eases off soon as I want to start exercising again and eating properly.

Of course the nausea responds better to some foods more than others eg. I need to have carbs in the evening, dry biscuits in the morning, mints in the afternoon etc. Some days I need to eat chocolate but it seems to be less intense than last time where I had to have chocolate every day!

Limbo

We're stuck in Limbo.

We're in this weird 'floating' space where we can't quite yet relax. We're waiting for the next scan to confirm is is proceeding well (which, we are sure it is, but it's always good to have confirmation).

We're waiting until the 12 week scan before we go fully public about it.

And we're waiting to see if Naomi gets any more spotting (hopefully not).

It's a bit different to last time, as quite a few more people know. A few of our pregnant friends, as well as all of our family. And also, quite a few online friends through parenting forums etc. So... we sort of have to double-catch ourselves, what we can say to what people. It's harder, because sometimes you can let your guard down (which is great), but we don't really want to let the cat out of the bag either, at least not unintentionally.

Baby paraphernalia

This time around, we have a lot less we need to get. We've lent some things out, but by the time this one is ready, our friends will have moved on from their use of them, so we'll be able to get them back. So that's a good thing, and should save a lot of money.

One of the things that we will have to get is another car capsule. Last time, it came with our pram as a full setup. You could click the capsule out of the car, and onto the pram, without having to get Genevieve out of it. But we sold the two of them together as a unit, when we picked up the Phil & Ted's on eBay for a song.

We've been told that in all likelihood, we won't need to get a capsule, as by then Kellie and Erich's little-un won't quite be that little. (If it's anything like the boys, that is). However, we would like to have the option of being able to clip it into our Phil & Ted's pram.

Phil & Ted do have an accessory for this, but they don't sell it in Australia. So I'll investigate prices for buying it online from overseas, and we'll weigh it up. (It's not a 'must have', more a 'nice to have').

What probably is a must have is their toddler seat. This can be fitted on the top (if the freshie is to be sleeping in the back) or in the back (as shown right) if the freshie is going to be seated upright, with the toddler in the back. Friends of ours (and Vievey's) have this, and they've found it great.

There's plenty of other items I'm sure we'd love... but again, probably not too many we 'need'.

Plastic Baby Bottles

Genevieve was breast fed. But, once she started taking the bottle of expressed Mummy-milk, we used, exclusively, Avent bottles. We'd bought an Avent breast pump, and that had a bottle system to use with it, and then, when she progressed to formula, we stuck with Avent. Even our microwave sterilizer was Avent.

Then, back in April of this year, I saw this :

Canada Bans BPA From Baby Bottles

An Arcadia, Calif., store displays a "BPA Free" sticker on its plastic bottles as the chemical raises safety concerns. (By David Mcnew -- Getty Images)

By Lyndsey Layton and Christopher Lee

Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 19, 2008; Page A03

Canada yesterday became the first country to ban a widely found chemical from use in baby bottles, spurring a leading Democrat in the U.S. Senate to call for legislation that would prohibit use of bisphenol A, or BPA, in a number of everyday consumer products.

"We have immediately taken action on bisphenol A because we believe it is our responsibility to ensure families, Canadians and our environment are not exposed to a potentially harmful chemical," Tony Clement, the minister of health, said in a statement.

Clement said the action was based on a review of 150 worldwide studies. "It's pretty clear that the highest risk is for newborns and young infants," he said in a telephone interview.

Wal-Mart Canada began pulling all baby products containing BPA from its shelves this week, and the chain said it plans to stop selling products containing BPA in U.S. stores by next year. Playtex said it would offer free non-BPA bottles to parents and will stop using BPA in all products by year's end. Nalgene, the maker of reusable water bottles that are popular among athletes, said yesterday it would discontinue production of bottles made with the chemical and recall existing products already in its stores.

Washingtonpost.com

One of the main companies targetted (primarily because they are one of the biggest/most popular), has been Avent. And they're not alone. The majority of plastic baby bottles in Australia contain BPA.

What does it do? Well... if you believe the studies, when the plastic is heated, BPA is released (and so pops up in whatever foods/liquids it is in contact with). When absorbed within the body, it sort of acts like an artificial estrogen - so the body reacts the same was as it does as if it were injected with small doses of female hormones. The panickers are suggesting this is the reason for little girls growing up too quickly, boys becoming more feminine, homosexuality, global warming.... well... you get the idea. Check out here for more http://www.squidoo.com/bisphenol-A

I certainly don't like the fact that we used these with Genevieve and heated them up until she started to prefer cold milk (which coincidentally, was around the time I first became aware of this issue).

Suffice it to say, we'll be getting new bottles with this little-un.

Attractive little critter!

Last time around we subscribed to the weekly newsletter from birth.com.au. It's really good, as it gives you an overview of what's happnening week by week.

Well, last night, Naomi was reading me a bit from their website...

You are now 7 weeks pregnant (35 days after conception), which is the beginning of week 8. Your baby has more than doubled in size during the last week, to be just over 1 cm in length (or 0.4 inches) and is now looking more human. Each eye now has an optic cup, retina and lens and your baby's nasal pits are now present. These will extend to become their nostrils. Your baby's inner ears and tongue are starting to form and their upper jaw and palate come together this week, fusing as one. (If this fails to happen, the baby may be born with a cleft lip and/or palate.)

Your baby's tadpole-like 'tail' is noticeably receding and their trunk is now slightly straighter. Your baby now has a pancreas and an appendix and the beginnings of their reproductive organs, although not distinctly male or female yet. By the end of this week a fine, transparent layer of skin covers their body and their fingers (although still webbed) are now being defined as distinct thumbs and fingers.

I suppose it's not too hard to double in size in a week, when you're only 1cm long!

You can't keep a secret around here!!!

Even MX knows about it - check out the headline!!!

"I have a blob with a heartbeat"

Cory came with me again for this ultrasound (he was to be delivering a training session, but the two he had were no-shows) as I was very anxious about whether we would see anything or not. The ultrasound lady was much more thorough and was able to see that the cervix was long and closed and that there was a tiny little blob measuring 0.69cm with a little fluttering heartbeat. When I held my breath we were able to hear the heartbeat and it was recorded as being 114 bpm which is great given that they like it to be over 100 bpm at this age. We were right on the money with due dates as the scan showed 23rd Feb +/- 5 days and we think 22nd Feb.

Another blood test

Yesterday I had my blood test again and went back for my 2nd ultrasound. The blood test came back at 65,100 so it had definitely increased which was positive.

Quite funny coincidence

Article in The Age today.

Social networkers have found a new frontier for the ever-blurring line between inner and outer worlds: ultrasound photographs.

Browse through MySpace profiles or the blogosphere and you can find an expansive collection of in utero snapshots at various stages of the foetus's growth, from grainy, barely readable pictures to the much more vibrant 3D and 4D pictures that show depth and movement.

Many mums-to-be say posting ultrasound photos is an easy way to announce an exciting piece of information to lots of people all at once. But some warn that sharing foetal pictures could be oversharing - like posting drunken makeout photos and fret about what happens if the pregnancy goes wrong.

Read the whole thing at TheAge.com.au.

And don't worry - they also have an article that says Blogging makes you happy!

"I'm bleeding"

Yesterday I went to the GP and got my referral for my OB and was all excited. Then this morning I woke up and I was spotting. I was devastated and not feeling very hopeful at all.

I rang the GP and got an emergency appointment. The GP did an internal and said that the cervix was closed which was good and then ordered a blood test and ultrasound. Then I was ordered home for bedrest.

The blood test came back at 25,000 which is good for 5-6 weeks. Cory came with me for the ultrasound and while not showing much except a sac, it ruled out an ectopic pregnancy bleed. I have to repeat these tests in a week for a comparison, however there was nothing abnormal in these ones.

Eeeyup - that'd be a positive!

Somewhat more conclusive result on the second test!

Hmmm...

Well I had a bit of spotting on Friday 13th which I thought was my normal cycle but the it stopped which was a bit strange....

So when we got back to Melbourne and went shopping on the Sunday I picked up a double pregnancy test kit from the supermarket. It said to do the test 1st thing in the morning so I waited until Monday morning (my 1st day back at work) and did the test.

I got a very faint positive so I wasn't totally convinced. I took the advice on the pack that said to wait 3 days and do a second test.

Thailand

So, it was all going to start in Thailand. That's when the rubber- based protection would go out the window, and we would start trying to conceive.

You can check out our Thailand trip here, by the way.

Setting the scene

I wanted to get my cycle back to normal again this time like I did last time so I went to see Dr Chan and got a blood test to make sure everything was ok and I also went off the pill.

The blood test came back showing that everything was pretty much ok with the exception of my stored iron. This is pretty common after having a baby that it takes a while for the body to get back to pre-baby levels and mine hadn't quite made it back to normal so another pregnancy would take and even greater toll. So I got some iron tablets and started taking those.

Let's have another

We had been going back and forth on the issue of having another child but it finally came to crunch time and we made the call that yes we would bite the bullet and try for a sibling for Genevieve.

We had a few things coming up over the next couple of months so we thought that June would be a good time to try and that would give us about a 3 year gap between the 2 kids.

(Yes, that IS the most-recent family photo, aka as "Where's Daddy???")

I had a moment today...

...a moment to reflect, and to think about the important things in life.

Julie Schalken was on reception here at work. 21 years old. Last Nov she was complaining of some back pain. Went to physio, then specialist. Cancer. Kidney removed. Got into her liver, bones and lungs. She was dead within two months of diagnosis.

Throughout it all, she was the same, lovable, happy Julie we all knew.

Today was her memorial service. I was there, watching her family and friends. Mourning en mass with my workmates. And, something Naomi said to me came to the fore - "I don't want Genevieve to be alone, if something should happen to us".

So, from that point... I thought about doing something about it. (And working out how I was going to tell Naomi).

Tic Toc

I can't remember when I first started feeling like Genevieve needed a sibling but it's a feeling that has been growing stronger and stronger. It's now undeniable and I think my biological clock is telling me that it's now or never for us to start thinking about #2. Now just to get Cory to agree :)