5 strange facts about me...

1. I physically cannot write with a blue pen (I love black pens - it has to be black)
2. I will not buy toilet paper with pictures on it - it has to be plain white
3. I cannot whistle
4. I don't like oranges but I love everything orange flavoured
5. I have a photographic memory for numbers (I know them all - my Drivers Licence, Tax File Number, Medicare Card, Phone and Internet Banking Registration, Frequent Flyer etc etc I even remember my primary school friends phone numbers)

Grandparents

I've been thinking a lot about the way that young people today behave and the differences from when I was a teenager and when my parents were teenagers. Mostly I am always wondering why it's gotten so bad and generally lamenting the total disintegration of society (heavy stuff huh).

There are lots of seemingly obvious reasons such as accessibility of technology and all the horrors that opens up, plus the loss of stay at home mums and the general breakdown of the family unit through high divorce rates.

It made me start thinking about whether due to the fact that people are having kids later and later kids are not having as much influence from their grandparents. Grandparents are so important for kids and vice versa. I wonder whether in the next couple of generations nobody will have grandparents?? I mean if everyone waits till they're 35 to 40 to reproduce - you do the maths.

Australia Day

Have you ever wondered why some Australians celebrate the founding day of this beautiful country by getting drunk and obnoxious and littering our gorgeous public spaces beyond recognition? Is that what we're all about?

It's not Disneyland - that's for sure

3 times a day I have to give myself progesterone. Rectally!!!

I'm tired..

The kind of tired where your brain shuts down and you feel nauseous.

The problem is for the last few days I can barely keep my eyes open and then when I go to bed at night I can't sleep.

It's a mystery to me.

Pictures of all my gorgeous kids

Leuca on Melbourne Cup Day

Reuben at Hillarys Beach

Reuben and I at the Beach - Christmas Eve



Declan and Reuben on a play date at Riley's house

Rob, Cleo and Declan having lunch in the hammock




Olivia in her new cubby house

Good Parenting??

I'm a pseudo parent so I have those days like everyone when I wonder to myself if I'm doing a good job. If you're ever having one of those days just think about this story. Yesterday I saw a group of Mums and Dads give their babies and toddlers bottles they had just filled with Coca Cola!!!

Christmas Photos

Rob Getting in the Festive Spirit!!

My beautifully laid table for the De Roach/Garton Christmas Dinner

The Beggs Family Boys & Girls

Boxing Day at the Beach - 44 Degrees C

Getting Pregnant

Even though I have been through a lot to get pregnant I've been thinking how lucky I actually am. Obviously I can't get pregnant naturally and that sucks but once I found that out and got on track with IVF (After 2 endometriosis surgeries) it has turned out to be quite easy to get pregnant.

IVF isn't easy - daily trips for blood tests, giving myself injections, surgery to harvest eggs not to mention the enormous cost but it works for me. The upside is I feel some sort of control is in place through the procedure - giving you the best chance each month to fall pregnant.

The reason I've been thinking about all of this is because I have friends who have been, and still are, trying to get pregnant naturally. I was thinking about the anxious wait to get my pregnancy test results after each of my 2 cycles and it dawned on me that my friends have been going through that wait every month for a year or more!!!!

I cannot imagine having that stress month after month and especially with well meaning people giving you platitudes like "Don't worry it will happen" "These things take time" "You're young and healthy what's the rush" etc etc

Obviously this can also happen to people going through cycle after cycle of IVF too but I've been lucky and I'm very grateful.

To all of you trying to get pregnant whether through natural or artificial methods- my thoughts and prayers are with you and I hope it happens soon.

Yippee - Morning Sickness

Today I had my first real "Oh my God I'm going to throw up" dash to the bathroom and it felt great. It felt great to have morning sickness - because that means it's real.

I am almost 8 weeks pregnant and as is to be expected it's all quite a stressful experience this time around. It was bound to be a bit nerve wracking but just to add some extra stress they found a bleed in my uterus at my ultrasound last week.

I have been on blood thinning medication called Clexane due to a Protein S Deficiency which can lead to issues with blood clots. The Doctors have this as a bit of a theory about why Banjo died so they decided to put me on these injections. As you can imagine having to give myself a needle every day for the whole pregnancy is quite demanding. In any case this may be the cause of the bleeding so now I'm off them until further notice. Fine by me.

Seemingly the bleed isn't anything to flip out about and now that I'm off the Clexane it should fix itself up (I had another ultrasound today and the bleed has gotten slightly smaller). The main thing is that I'm supposed to take it really easy and not do any lifting, bending or stretching and especially no exercise.

No exercise may seem like my idea of heaven (let's face it I don't look like the athletic type!!) but I'm actually really annoyed. I was really looking forward to getting back into my pregnancy classes - yoga, aqua aerobics etc. Hopefully soon I'll have the all clear to be a 'normal' pregnant woman.

Things to be Grateful for...........

As it's the new year I thought I would take some time to list all the things I am grateful for in my life...

I have a wonderful husband who is the man of my dreams.
I have really supportive family and friends who have stood by me through recent ups and downs and for many years previously too.
I have the cutest puppy and cat in the whole world and every day they greet me at the door with absolute joy to see me
I have a fantastic job which I enjoy every single day
I live in a beautiful home that I absolutely love
I (usually) have enough money to pay my bills and live an enjoyable life. (I'll gratefully receive more money into my life if possible but I do alright!!)
I am mostly fit, healthy and able bodied.
I live in a country free of political or cultural unrest
Oh Yeah and I'M PREGNANT :)

I'm sure there are many other things I should be grateful for but those are the top of my list.