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Previous Blogs
1. Another Fairy on its way!
2. Baby Brain
3. Discovering Maternity Wear…
4. Confession Time
5. 20 Weeks
6. Hoping for a little angel
7. Mini Sized Stuff
8. Nesting
9. Just one baby on board but thanks for passing comment..
10. Name My Baby
11. Indulgence
12. Change, Guilt and Hospital Bags
13. D-Day
14. IT's A BOY!
15. Child Wrangling
16. Green Eyes
17. Sleep
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Green Eyes
Wednesday 010212
And by Green Eyes, I mean the dreaded Green Eyed Monster. Turns out, my ahem, challenging toddler had lulled me into a false sense of security over the first 5 weeks that she was perfectly happy
to have a new addition around the house, taking up a lot of Mum's attention. We're talking FULL ON tantrums here, swiftly aimed kicks at darling brother's head on the way past, and many many afternoons spent going to and from the naughty spot. I knew it was too good to be true. This is all frustratingly timed with her needing to cut back on her day nap (someone just loves to sit up til 9pm in her cot, ripping all her books to pieces and sprinkling the pieces all through her cot) and hubby (conveniently!?) having his busiest time at work in ages. So my days have been taken up with child wrangling all day and then tackling the evening bath/bed routine all by myself, going from room to room and naughty spot then back to bassinet. Thankfully Harry continues to be a pretty laid back fellow, and is learning how to cry himself to sleep when I'm too busy dealing with the aforementioned challenging toddler. Poor wee man.
Finding time for myself is nigh on impossible, but I did manage to squeeze in a post pregnancy massage last Sunday, which was absolute bliss. My blissfulness was swiftly destroyed however when my husband decided that he needed to head into work on a Sunday afternoon, leaving me to cope on my own with the two darlings for the rest of the day. Thankfully Harry is now feeding on a 3 hourly cycle (previously 2 hourly) and I'm starting to get the hang of things.
Thank goodness for family and friends to help me through these early months is all I can say. And full respect to all those solo Mums out there, you are doing an amazing job!
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Child Wrangling
Sunday 150112
This blog entry may be written in several parts. In between feeding the newborn, entertaining the toddler and desperately trying to keep some sort of order about the house.
Harris (Harry) John Palman was born on 11.12.11 and he is a delightful wee chap. He made his entry into the world EXTREMELY quickly, with a total labour time (and I'm talking first twinges to baby being born) of 1 hour 45 mins. Just enough time to get to the hospital and jump into the birthing pool. This time around there was no time for drugs of any kind (with Milla I used gas) and I vividly recalled how painful it is pushing out a baby and this time there was nothing to take the edge off! Especially with an 8 pound 2 baby. Luckily it was such a swift birth that there wasn't really any time to dwell on it and before I knew it, I was holding my darling wee boy and a new chapter of our lives has begun.
So far poor old Harry has proved to be the patient type, especially when his sister clambers all over him, smothering him with love and affection and also when she gets a case of the green eyed monster, thankfully not too often. He's feeding up a storm, putting on loads of weight and is doing some good stretches in between feeds at night time, which is nice for me. He's not what I would call a perfect angel, but on the whole I think I'm much more relaxed this time and am really enjoying spending time with my wee newborn. I love cuddles on the couch at night before bed and even those middle of the night feeds when he's fallen asleep on my chest after a feed.
Now, if only I could reprogramme my 2 year old's vocabulary to not include the word 'no', then all will be perfect!!
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IT's A BOY!!
Sunday 111211
Harris (Harry) John Palman
54 cm, 8 pound 2
1 hour 45 minute labour
Red Light run getting to the hospital in time!
Shelley and little Harry is feeling good.
Tune in for the 15th of Jan for more updates!
Meanwhile, have a look here at some of the photos from the photos-shoot with the talented Emily Raftery!
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D-Day
Thursday 101211
T minus 4 days to go and we are ready for take off Houston. Toenails looking beautiful, check. Hair cut and coloured, check. Made it in one piece to my good friend's engagement party on the weekend, check. OK Baby Number 2, time to make an appearance now!
I can hardly believe I am sitting here writing this, as with Milla arriving 2 weeks early I was convinced this baby would be the same, if not earlier. Just today I have hit the physical barrier I think. A few terrible nights of sleep and the whole carrying of a pretty enormous bump, have left me feeling pretty over it today. I was going so well up until this point too, keeping really positive and feeling physically pretty strong, so I'm a bit disappointed that its starting to get to me today. It's definitely a lot different this time around, having to run around after a busy toddler, getting in and out of the car, playing horsey rides. Not exactly conducive to a restful last few days. Luckily I have kept Milla's carer on for 2 mornings a week, so at least I am getting a wee bit of time to myself. Hopefully if I am still pregnant in a week's time I'll get my mojo back a bit, as going into labour right now seems like a very daunting task.
It's a very surreal, very bizarre feeling in these last few weeks/days, making plans but not knowing whether I can keep them, saying goodbye to friends after a catch up and not sure whether I'll actually be catching up with them again before I have the baby! The 'any news?' texts and phone calls are coming in on a daily basis now too, at least 3-4 per day. I may have to start posting 'no news!' on my Facebook status each morning to keep them at bay!
Anyway, chin up, no complaining from me, as I can vividly recall my words to my midwife earlier in the pregnancy about hoping to go right to term if not overdue this time, so I only have myself to blame! Let's just hope I'm not sitting here STILL in 2 week's time, at which point I would be 10 days overdue and probably ready to kill someone.
Watch this space!
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Change, Guilt and Hospital Bags
Tuesday 151111
The last week has, for me, been one of the more emotionally challenging. I hit the 36 week mark and reality came crashing down on me that I could have a newborn any day now (my first was born at 37.6 weeks). I had to give final notice to my work of my leaving date, rearrange childcare for Little Miss 2 and generally force myself to confront all the big changes that are about to happen. I’m not great with change.
It all culminated with me bursting into tears at pregnancy yoga on the weekend. What threw me was that our lovely, caring, compassionate yoga teacher announced that it was her last day, she had sold the business, and next week we would have new instructor. Whoa back! For someone who doesn’t cope with change very well, to have this sort of change thrust at me, while not such a big deal for most people, was not the sort of thing I needed to cope with after an emotional week. Cue pregnancy hormones and tissues during the class. Anyway…after a good cry I felt much better and am looking forward to meeting the new instructor if I make it through til the next class!
The other reason for my wobbliness this week is the guilt that I’m feeling about all this change impacting on Little Miss 2. We’ve been having such fun times together recently and we are just like peas in a pod. I know those first few months are going to be super hard for her too and I can’t help but feel really really guilty and sad for her about how much her world is about to change.
In other news, I finally packed my hospital bag on the weekend. I think I felt that if I packed my hospital bag that it would mean I was ready for baby to arrive and I’m still so not ready! But it was getting ridiculous, what if I went into labour and had to stagger around the house trying to find the nipple cream and surfboard pads in between contractions. Considering my first labour was all of about 6 hours long, I may have been pushing it (excuse the pun) to get everything packed and ready to get to the hospital in time!
For I now feel like a ticking time bomb as I’m staggering around like I’ve got a head between my legs (funny that), so this could well be my last blog post before the little one arrives. Wish me luck!
Shelley
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Indulgence
Tuesday 011111
I felt very cheated with my first pregnancy. Firstly, I was working full time in quite a stressful job in the City, at a firm that didn’t really understand the value of family. So I was working quite big weeks leading up to my maternity leave at 36.5 weeks. Plenty of time I thought. Until baby decided to make an appearance at 38 weeks! So while I’d had time to get my roots done and a quick pedicure, I really didn’t have more than a week and a half to wind down and felt that I wasn’t quite ready for Milla’s early arrival.
This time round I’m determined to make the most of my final weeks.
The trouble is, having a 2 year old isn’t exactly conducive to winding down and relaxing. So I’ve been finding alternative ways to treat myself and connect with baby number two. I’ve been having pregnancy massages (TOTAL bliss), doing weekly pregnancy yoga classes and with regular pedicures I’m making sure that my toenails will be looking at their pretty best when I have my feet up in the air in the delivery suite! I figure that all the hard work I’ll be doing to push this baby out (not to mention the sleepless nights that follow) should be pre-rewarded with as much indulgence as possible.
Now to book that reflexology session…
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Name My Baby
Saturday 151011
I need help! Nearly 33 weeks along and we still have no idea of a name for this baby. We actually need two names, as we don't know the gender. I've been trawling internet sites, looking at the credits at the end of movies and I asked almost every person at the Parent and Child Show what their child's name was. But still nothing.
So given my predicament, Jess and I have hit on the idea of enlisting the assistance of our lovely group of subscriber Mums to put together a big list of names I can choose from. So please, email us at
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with your absolute favourite name (boy or girl) and we'll list these all on our "Name My Baby" page and hopefully I'll get some inspiration and finally find a name for our little angel. Who knows, we may even find room for a prize for whoever picks the name that we end up going with.
Of course that's just the first part of the equation as I have to get whatever name it is past my incredibly fussy husband!!
I may end up just handing him the list and saying CHOOSE!!
So...get your thinking caps on ladies.
Shelley
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Just one baby on board but thanks for passing comment...
Saturday 011011
Ummmm no I'm PRETTY SURE there's only one baby in there! Thanks supermarket checkout chick/random old lady/well meaning relative. OK so I realise that I'm much bigger this time round than last time, but the comments I get when I say that I still have 10 weeks to go are bordering on the rude now! It's not like I have control over the 5 meals a day that I'm chowing down on and yes I've just had to buy the next size up in maternity jeans, but I'm sure that I'm not alone in being much bigger with my second baby? I also love how people feel quite free to pat my belly with scant regard for personal space (I'm not the 'touchy feely' type) and pass all sorts of comments about how difficult I'm going to find life with 2 kids.
As I write, Jess and I have just completed our first day at The ASG Parent and Child Show in Auckland. What a day! It was so lovely to meet so many of our lovely Mums and luckily I'm pregnant otherwise I would have gotten very clucky over all those gorgeous wee angels that we met too. Both of us are exhausted but had a total blast and are looking forward to the rest of the weekend. In an inspired moment of forethought I booked myself in for a pregnancy massage tomorrow to help me get through two more days of standing and talking. Bliss!
Some stats from the first day:
Number of tummy pats: 3
Comments about belly size: 10 (to be fair, quite a few of you lovely ladies actually said I looked tiny! bless you!)
Trips to the toilet: 6
Paper Cuts: 1
Here's hoping the next two days go as well as today did. Hope to see more of you there!
Shelley x
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Nesting
Thursday 150911
The past few weeks I’ve had an overwhelming urge to make our house look really really nice. I’ve been buying scatter cushions, new duvet covers and putting my long suffering husband to work on digging a vege patch for me. I actually started digging said vege patch myself one fine day last week in a fit of enthusiasm, only to realise that with a 28 week belly, niggly sciatica and a 2 year old pointing out every dug up worm (‘Oh look! Purple Worm! Cute!”), that it probably wasn’t such a good idea after all. So poor hubbie had to finish off the job under my “expert” supervision! Followed by doing the lawns and tidying up the sleepout just for good measure. Now to get him on to creating the new patio area and painting the fence…
Nesting is a strong, sometimes irrational, instinct that can take over a pregnant lady’s usual sensibilities and it looks like I’ve definitely got a case of it! I can’t sit still, the house has to be perfectly tidy at all times and I’m feeling mildly panicked that I haven’t already started making meals for the freezer!
A quick internet search of pregnancy nesting behavior brings up stories aplenty of women down on their hands and knees at 39 weeks scrubbing the grout in their bathroom, rearranging the whole house (and then back again) and generally overdoing things on the cleanliness scale. While I haven’t quite reached the grout scrubbing stage, its surely only a matter of time. With around 3 months left (oh my how much more stretching can my stomach do!) there could end up being some more interesting stories to tell.
I’ll keep you posted!
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Mini Sized Stuff
Thursday 010911
This week I have been sorting through all of Milla's baby clothes and trying to cobble together a gender neutral newborn wardrobe as best I can. Problem being that Milla was a winter baby, so most of the gorgeous little onesies that i had with Milla are all long sleeved and will just be too hot come December. The other problem with her is that she was a refluxy baby so there's a distinct yellowish tinge around all of the necklines of her clothes! Ergh. So most of it has been handed down or clothing binned. I have been lucky enough to get given a gorgeous little summer set from Eeni Meeni Mini Moh's Pureborn Range, just gorgeous, so that should start me off.
It will be quite nice, I think, to not have to worry about baby being too cold and cranking up the heating inside the house to tropical levels. I'm sure we probably overdid the heat the first time round, its a wonder the poor child didn't suffer from heat stroke. I remember one afternoon I had her in my room with the heater cranked up high, but didn't realise the winter sun was streaming into the room, making it rather toasty! She was nice and quiet, sleeping for an hour or so and I hadn't checked her until I had a visitor over who wanted a quick peep. Well it felt like we walked into a sauna! I think I even had a beanie on her and had her all swaddled up in merino wraps etc, so its no wonder she was sleeping so well! Bit of a fright really.
I'm also looking forward to being able to breastfeed out the side of a bikini rather than heaving up all the layers that you have on in winter. Much easier access! Although I guess that does involve actually wearing a bikini, which is quite a scary thought at the moment! I have been trying to get to the pools for some light exercise but the very thought of exposing my tender (and increasingly stretched) flesh to the elements is a bit much to bear. I did a yoga/pilates/tai chi class this week too and have been feeling so much better as a result, will definitely be trying to do more of those. Fitting in exercise around a 2 year old isn't always easy.
This week The Sale Fairy will be at the (Family and Baby) FAB Market in Takapuna, so could be a good opportunity to stock up on clothes for baby! Would be good to see lots of you there.
Shelley
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Hoping for a little angel
Monday 150811
As the weeks slip by I am beginning to turn my attentions to getting through those first months with a newborn. Reflecting back on how we coped with a newborn last time and what 'methods' we employed for dealing with our screaming bundle of joy during those restless, sleepless nights that were so plentiful over the first 6 months of Milla's life.
We were unlucky enough to have a child with reflux and looking back now, probably colic as well. She would scream and pull her little legs up to her chest, tight as a rugby ball while we panicked about how we would settle her back down to sleep. We employed the hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, rocking, shushing, swaddling, walking around jiggling, sitting on the Swiss ball bouncing up and down with her on my shoulder, the list goes on. Any method that anyone suggested, any parenting book or DVD, we had tried it. Nothing would settle her. Not until at 12 weeks I finally put her on Losec for her reflux and even then it was an uneasy calm punctuated by frequent bouts of sleepless nights and bad days until she finally grew out of her reflux at 6 months.
It's no wonder then that I'm wondering what kind of an angel we are going to be blessed with this time round. Will they have reflux too? Apparently there is a high probability that if you've had one baby with reflux the next one will also have it. So I'm bracing myself.
On the positive side, we'll be much more confident this time round, I know exactly what the signs are and I won't muck around so much this time with trying ineffectual remedies for a problem that I now know is mechanical, so should be dealt with in a certain way. I'll know that it's probably not 'wind' when the baby is screaming its lungs out due to a burning throat and I'll know it probably won't do my back any good by holding the baby up on my shoulder for hours a time. Above all, I'll know that whatever the issue is, it will most likely pass, and I WILL get more than 2 hours sleep, its just a matter of 'all in good time!'.
So here's hoping for a little angel!
In other exciting happenings this week, I had a fantastic photoshoot with Emily from Emily Raftery Photography to record the first half of my pregnancy. We spent a fun couple of hours posing and child wrangling to get some absolutely wonderful shots (as below). In an earlier post I mentioned my super comfy and gorgeous blue maternity top from Mama More Maternity, well you can see me wearing this in the shoot - so flattering and easy to wear!
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20 Weeks
Monday 010811
We're officially half way there! Hubby and I went excitedly for the 20 week scan last week and are pleased to announce that its going to be a...........................................secret! Sorry folks, but we didn't find out the gender, so you'll have to wait until December to find out.
I constantly get asked the question "do you know what you are having?", and so many people can't understand how we don't want to find out, but I think its one of those surprises that is so anticipated and so beyond compare when you finally find out after such a long time and after such effort! When Milla came out a girl I was absolutely flabbergasted, I had fully prepared myself for the fact that I was having a boy and was just blown away that after 9 months of 'feeling' that I was carrying a boy, not to mention Chinese gender predictions and the old wives tale of how I was 'carrying low so it must be a boy', that she was a gorgeous little girl. I even grilled the doctor when she told me the sex "are you SURE??" and made her check again, but yep, definitely a girl.
I always love it when my pregnant friends leave the gender and name a secret too, as I sometimes feel cheated when you already know the sex of their child and especially when they've told you the name, so when bubs is born you feel that the only question to ask is what the birth weight was and of course find out all the gory details of the labour in due course.
Having said all that, I think if this baby is another wee girl, that I'll be leaning toward finding out the gender for number 3. More from a practical point of view as in being able to give away all the pink stuff or whether I can keep the hand me downs going and from the perspective of hubby getting used to the idea of living in a household of oestrogen. Can you imagine the cat-fights?? I never had a sister myself, so the only fighting in our house was of the physical, rough and tumble nature, rather than the catty hair pulling and bitchy comments type of carry on. Three girls would make for some very interesting and challenging times come the teenage (read: hormonal) years.
Whatever happens to pop out this December, be it of the girl or boy variety, there is one thing that is guaranteed and that is it will be so loved and wanted no matter what. Watch this space!!
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Confession Time
Friday 150711
OK its confession time. I’m 19 weeks pregnant and still eating sushi. I can’t help it! The sushi at my local sushi shop is amazing, so fresh and tasty, I just can’t get enough of it. Of course I’m careful about what type of sushi I buy, so steer clear of the raw fish and caviar ones. Plain avocado or vegetarian ones are my favourites and I LOVE the ones with that stringy Japanese seaweed stuff piled on top – delicious! I have been eating at my local sushi shop for a few years now, and it is always packed, with massive turnover of stock and an ‘A’ food grade rating. So I figure the risks are pretty low compared to the benefits.
I am lucky enough to be spoilt for choice when it comes to buying lunch out on the days that I work, as Devonport is full of fantastic cafes and eateries to choose from. Of course I could bring my lunch from home, but as far as I see it, it’s my little treat for having to go to work 2.5 days a week!
However the options when it comes to buying lunch can be fraught with thoughts of ‘how long has that salad been sitting in the cabinet for?’ or ‘did they heat my lasagna up enough or is it a bit cold in the middle?’. So I guess you are never safe, no matter what choice you make for your daily sustenance.
It’s funny though – with my first pregnancy I was super careful with everything, I didn’t drink alcohol or coffee, didn’t eat sushi or anything with mayonnaise in it and worried that when I had a hot bath I was cooking my baby. This time around I’ve been partial to a small glass of wine with dinner on the odd occasion, I’m eating sushi like it’s going out of fashion, and haven’t given a second thought to giving up my morning coffee ritual.
I guess with subsequent children you realise that they are actually resilient little things. That said, I really hope that this time round I’ll be able to put my baby to sleep without checking on them every 5 minutes to make sure they are still breathing!
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Discovering Maternity Wear…
Friday 010711
OK this week my pregnancy is going really fast!! I am now nearly 18 weeks and can't believe its nearly the halfway mark. I have a few friends who are having their second babies and the reality of it is totally setting in now.
My bump is absolutely HUGE too. I have been in maternity clothes for weeks. Ah how I remember the first time round when I wore 'normal' clothes pretty much the whole time. The best thing I have discovered this time round is maternity jeans and maternity tops. I have been lucky enough to receive a gorgeous Fun Mum maternity top from Mama More and have been absolutely thrashing it. The support it gives my bump makes wearing it a total dream and it looks fantastic on. I highly recommend investing in one of these. Check them out here.
Today it is a stunning winter's day so I am off to the local park with my darling little toddler and some friends. I have been potty training the last few days in the hopes that it will be all sorted by the time number 2 arrives. Fingers crossed!!
Til next time...
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Baby Brain
Wednesday 150611
Ah yes, now I remember. This is the part when your brain turns to fudge and you become extraordinarily indecisive. Difficult concepts to contemplate include “should I have the date scone or the sultana scone?” or “black footless tights or black stockings?…hmmm”. Walking down the hallway and finding yourself in your bedroom scratching your head in complete confusion as to how you arrived there. Call it baby brain, nappy brain or pregnancy brain. It’s real and its rife. Well in my life at the moment anyway. I found myself drifting along the road the other day towards a friend’s house for lunch, forgot to stop at the supermarket on the way and turned up completely empty handed! How embarrassing. The worst thing is that you feel like a total cop out blaming it on the ‘baby brain’ as if it’s some sort of plausible excuse. Some studies support the theory that baby brain is a very real thing, while others debunk this as a ‘myth’. Possible causes cited are hormonal changes and sleep disruption. Well I’ve got both working against me – the hormonal changes that are giving me horrendous breakouts (so much for ‘glowing’) and the 3 times a night I wake up for visits to the loo! However the sleep deprivation I’m dealing with now is NOTHING compared to having a newborn so I’m not complaining one bit.
In other news, I can happily report that the bump has slightly slowed in growth rate, which is quite reassuring as I was concerned before the scan that there may be more than one hiding in there. I guess the second time around your body knows the drill and your stomach muscles flop into position with very little prompting!
Little Miss First Born has also been testing my patience recently and the only thing I can think about is how much of a shock she’s going to get come December! Oh how her little world is going to change. I think I’ll have to go through and confiscate anything in the toybox which resembles a baton for hitting younger siblings over the head! It’s going to be veeery interesting and perhaps just a little bit trying. Time will tell…
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Another Fairy on its way!
Wednesday 010611
We’ve been keeping a big secret in The Sale Fairy camp for the past few months…there’s another little ‘fairy’ on the way! Yep, I’m 13 weeks pregnant. (Shelley that is, not Jess!) So little Milla will be getting either a little brother or sister come early December. Jess and I thought it might be cool to write a blog tracking my progress until the big day!
I have to say I don’t know how I got so lucky the first time around with morning (read: all day) sickness but this time it’s been awful! Throw in a clingy attention-seeking toddler, moving house and resettling said toddler with a new carer and you have a recipe for one very wiped out Mumma. 7.30pm was my new bedtime (straight after Shorty!) for those 6 weeks when it was at its worst. Happily it seems to have abated but unfortunately the ‘detection of bad smells from afar’ stage has now kicked in. Poor hubby gets made to put his football gear directly into the washing machine post game or face the wrath of the pregnant lady!
Now that the initial 12 weeks have passed I am gradually beginning to turn my attention toward how things are actually going to work once number 2 arrives. Like, how on EARTH does one get anything done? And how will the aforementioned clingy toddler cope with Mummy’s focus not being 100% directed toward her? So many questions rolling around in my head and I don’t think there are any easy answers. Luckily my due date is fairly close to Christmas, so that means hubby being off work for a good month and my teacher Mum being on school holidays all summer! So I’ll have lots of help and entertainment for little Miss 2. Lots of visits to the local park will also be in order I’m predicting, so all in all I’m pretty pleased with the summer timing. Milla was a winter baby and I recall those long cold months where visits to the mall were all I could manage to retain my sanity during the transition from career woman to full-time Mum with a refluxy, colicky newborn!
So here’s to our future addition to the family. I hope the next 6 months go extremely slowly as I have suddenly found new appreciation in my uninterrupted sleeps and the long evenings to ourselves. Any advice from those Mums with 2 (or more) on making the most of the time before your family goes from 3 to 4 would be greatly appreciated.
Shelley & Milla.
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