Catch up and hospital happiness

I have had a great pregnancy so far. Pretty much no morning sickness, just some lethargy which makes it hard to nest properly. In the first trimester we went on a holiday to show the kids the sights of NSW and meet up with family members. I booked the holiday prepregnancy and I would have been in real trouble if I had of been nauseous. Luckily for me I was fine and the holiday was great. For my birthday in Feb I hooked up with my friends at a restaurant to celebrate. Jason's birthday was going camping for a weekend with his family at Mt Tambourine where they have a great ropes course. I was proud that Jules has now done all 4 ropes courses. It was a moment to reflect on how far he has come, as the black course is a challenging course. The next weekend we had a comedy cruise. It was originally meant to be a girls only cruise but when I found out I was pregnant there was no way I was going without my family as I wouldn't be able to take them for until the baby was a year old. Besides I live for my family I would feel awful to deny them such a cool getaway. Jason as always turned out to be quite an asset and everyone enjoyed him coming along. We did our family thing and I met up with the girls heaps. He worked very hard to give the kids a taste of adventure and thanks to his efforts they enjoyed segway, ropes courses, rock climbing, laser tag and abseiling. Geordie surprised us by being the most adventurous of them all, being able to walk the plank and abseil confidently. Being on the pregnancy forums I have learned how blessed I have been. Some women were terribly affected by morning sickness. Yesterday they were talking about how expensive their pregnancy has been so far. So far my pregnancy has cost me: $0, I had no need for morning sickness medication and all scans (dating, nuchal transulency, and morphology scan) have or will be bulk billed. If you count the cost of the multivitamins then maybe it cost $60? Others aren't so lucky. Here are their responses: "Oh my god I am struggling with this!! So far I've paid about $1500 in obs appt costs (incl one pre preg planning appt) and that's after Medicare. And I have $3500 preg management fee due in 3 weeks!! Haven't bought a scrap of furniture yet because we just can't afford it. I'm seeing a private high risk obs who scans at every visit which explains the costs a bit but seriously!! So expensive!" "Zofran costs a $100 a week (2.5 packs a week at around $40 a pack)" "Our little man cost $11,000 to conceive (ivf), ob management fee is $2100 and morphology scan is $340 plus all the extras that will happen along the way (e.g. Paediatrician, pain meds etc). So this little guy has cost us a fortune but he will be worth every single cent. Thank goodness I have generous family and friends who are offering to give us baby things or he may have come home to an empty room! "Ob will end up about 5000, 900 for Panorama, 600 on scans so far. I wouldn't have it any other way." I have gone public with my babies and have been happy with their care. I booked into Caboolture hospital today and feel great about it. I did try to get into the Royal Women's Birth Centre, but didn't make it in as its a lottery (more people want to get in than they have places for). I am not sad about that actually, yes I wanted a water birth, but I have been happy with my other births which haven't been a water birth. I like Caboolture as it has great easy free parking and everyone seems friendly there as well. Its nice to book in and "belong somewhere". I am doing shared care so that I don't have to drive to the hospital as much. I have a student midwife that wants to follow me throughout my pregnancy and birth. I am confident enough to have her there. I think it will be nice to have someone take an interest in my journey :)

Yawn

I have spent the week taking things slow. I have been on the couch for most of the day sleeping or resting. Hard to believe how much energy it takes to build something so small.

Going in for my scan tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Low HCG

Lately I haven't been feeling sick. Which is awesome :)

I went to the doctor and I am no longer deficient in anything. My HCG was really low. It was 695 for about 6 weeks. That combined with not feeling particularly nauseous makes me wonder if I have a missed miscarriage.

The doctor wasn't concerned and said it doesn't mean much. Maybe I conceived later than I thought. those HCG place me at 3-4 weeks.

So I have booked in an appointment with another doctor to request a dating scan. I want to know whats going on in there. Is there a heart beat? Did I get the dates right? Am I about to miscarry?

Spinning and sick

Last time when I miscarried I didn't find out until I was 8 weeks pregnant. I didn't have any tiredness or nausea and when I did the test there was a relatively feint second line. I think it had stopped growing a few weeks earlier than the miscarriage.

This time is not like that at all. Yesterday I bought ginger and vit b6 pre-empting morning sickness. I was glad to have the crackers in the bedside table and the tablets ready to go. It hit hard last night with vomiting and vertigo from low blood pressure.

I have had a much easier day today. I remember vomiting a lot with Jules, and having almost no vomiting with Geordie because of the Vit b6.

Hopefully I will get through this next 40 days relatively unscathed. Last night was dreadful.

Why Mums keep Mum

There seems to be a lot of judgement when someone announces they are pregnant. Some people are delighted, indifferent, jealous. There seems to be lots of judgements, good and bad.

Thats probably why some women keep pregnancy secret for three months. Officially is because of miscarriage risk, but also I think its to help keep the mother in a happy bubble away from people's opinions.

It is also special for the mum to take one person at a time into the circle of trust.

6 Weeks:Sweet Pea

I am six weeks pregnant today yay! Bubs is the size of a little pea :) Hopefully a heart has started beating.

Glasshouse Mountains Family Exploration

Considering that it was a lifestyle change that got me pregnant. It seems especially important to continue that journey.

It was a lovely cool day (got to love those Antartic Breezes), and so we could have a lazy start to our morning. We got to our destination about 10am.

We started out at Matthew Flinders Rest Area near Mt Tibrogagan. It was lovely, shady and away from civilisation. While the trees stayed looking pretty much the same the roads changed a lot over a small area.





It didn't take long for us to come upon a few obstacles. Jules was ahead of us so by the time we had caught up with him, he had walked through it. We taught Geordie the smarter method of going around it!

Soon after the puddle we came across some 4WD drivers that got stuck at the tree. In all we came across 3 different adventurers. All of those we met were very friendly.

Initially Geordie struggled with the rough terrain. But once he got his confidence up he was quick and was soon leaving me behind :)

Jason is in his element and having lots of fun :)

In some places the road got very sandy.

Mt Tibrogagan in the distance. Look at that beautiful red dirt.

We had a lovely ride. Moments of peace and togetherness.




















When we got back to the Rest Area, I cut up some chilled apple and orange and pulled out a bag of salad. Exercise causes oxidation within the body and quality fruit and veggies help mitigate that.

Its is amazing how good a salad tastes straight after exercise.

We decided to have a little explore around the town of Glasshouse Mountains and grab a treat for the second part of our lunch. We got a seafood basket to share and enjoyed having some prawns, calamari, scallops, fish and a few chips.














After we got home we returned the kittens to the RSPCA and I went inactive as a foster. This is largely because of the toxiplasmosis risk, and I could also do with a break as I don't have much energy to spare these days. Although the exercise helps.

Look at those cuties! Each of those kittens is very loving would make a great pet. When we returned them the Staff were very surprised to see how calm they had become.











When we got home again, Jason and I headed out to clean up the broken glass at the bmx track. Someone had also tipped out the bin that had lots of dog poo in it.

Because of my pregnancy I ended up just supervising Jason as he tidied it all up for our boy and all the others that enjoy the skate park.

Dad's Surprise

When I discovered my happy surprise it was late and Jason was still at a work Christmas party. I was so excited, but rather than calling him up. I thought I'd tell Jason know in a way that was fun.

After the work he put into proposing. It was my turn to put some thought into my news. I got a box and put in it a cute baby hat and baby sunglasses and a positive pregnancy test. Attached was a tag that said "Congratulations! Due 10th of August 2015.

First thing in the morning I came in with the box. I asked him to sit up. it took a a bit of persuading as he was tired. By the time he was sitting up and looking at the box, I was grinning from ear to ear. it made him very suspicious like Jokey Smurf was giving him a gift that was about to blow up. When I tried to film it it was too much.

He was very happy, loved the gift and we had a great moment together. It was a great way to let him know he was going to be a dad again:)

A secret

Come here. Come closer. :)

A little bit closer. That's good that's very good.

I want to tell you a secret :). I have some exciting news to tell, that only one other person knows about. I've been a bit late lately, and when I did my pregnancy test, I had two amazing lines. Two beautiful, gorgeous, inctedible lines.

A profound feeling of joy, surprise and relief over came me! Jason and I have been trying June 2012. Month after month we only ever got one line.

Now we have two! Our world has been turned upside down in the most happy way :)

Let the holidays... BEGIN!!!

I am so glad that the term is over and the start of the holidays have begun. This term has been filled with healthy eating, a little too many calories, more exercise than I have done in years and so, so much Christmas shopping.

I was reflecting over my goals and I didn't make the weight related ones. I pretty much stayed stuck in the 103 kg's remarkably consistently. Still I didn't gain and I am very happy with that.

My long term goal was "To have a body which can get off the sidelines (ropes course, swimming pools, trampoline park) and enjoy what life has to offer. To be the weight and fitness which maximise my health and energy."

This I am achieving! I trampoline every Monday with the family, and it is soo much fun! Seriously it is the most fun way to burn a lot of calories :) I jump very simply and my favourite trampolines are the olympic ones as they give you more lift for your bounce :)

Cycling wise I started the term out at about 6km a week, and now I am doing about 28 km a week :) I am no longer the slowest of the five females that ride my route and I only need to shave off 20 seconds and I will be the third fastest! I am now five mins faster than Jules who used to be faster than me. I really recommend Strava. It really helps to see the progress you are making and it is so supportive with all the "Personal Bests" and "trophies" it gives you :)


Getting exercise in the school holidays is a bit harder. This morning I woke up at 7:30 and I realised that James doesn't leave for work until 9am. He sleeps for most of that, but he is in the house. Today he was awake and I asked him if he minded babysitting. Of course he didn't at all.

So I did a quick ride. It wasn't my normal hour, but it was still a good little loop. I hope to do this most days :)