So much news so little time.

This is going to be the longest babble ever so get ready for an information overload.

First and foremost Reuben and Declan's mum Julia delivered her new baby on Monday July 14th at 1.10pm. The new baby girl is a teeny tiny 5.5 pound bundle of joy called Ivy. Mum and baby have had some minor challenges but are doing well and expected to be out of hospital tomorrow (Thursday). Julia was absolutely amazing and stayed at home labouring until midday then arrived at the hospital basically fully dilated then delivered an hour later completely drug free. She's officially my new hero.

While Jack and Julia have been in hospital Rob and I have had their gorgeous boys staying with us. It has been so much fun and great to get to spend so much time with them. Declan and Reuben are such amazing kids and they have been dream house guests for the last 3 days. Tonight Jack comes home to take over and although the break will be much needed I'll be a little bit heartbroken. They're my little buddies and I love them so much.

As far as Poppy goes - all is going really well and the time is flying by. She is passing all her tests with flying colours and is very active which keeps me happy. Last time I wrote she was in breech (June 26th), then on Wednesday July 10th she had turned in a lovely downward position. This made our OB very happy and she booked us in for our induction Tuesday August 5th. We had our last official scan today to discover that the acrobatics are continuing and we are back in breech. What a cheeky baby. There is of course still time for many more of these flips to take place but it makes our decision about a natural labour versus Caesarean a bit more tricky. I have a really good amount of amniotic fluid in my uterus (anyone who's seen my belly could have guessed that!!) so she could quite literally keep changing position on a daily basis. Because I'm on blood thinners and I have a history of being a bleeder anyway a complicated natural delivery would be very dangerous for me. I would really love to try and have a natural birth but it is looking more and more like a Caesar might be the better option. We have another OB appointment next Wednesday (July 23rd) so we'll discuss it with Margo then. In any case Poppy will be arriving on the 5th or 6th of August which means 19 sleeps to go!!

Rob and I have done our ante-natal classes over the last 2 Saturdays which were very informative and lots of fun. Of course all that breathing practice might not be necessary in the end but the classes are all a part of the experience and definitely made it all feel more real than ever.

I'll leave you with a risque photo of my semi-naked pregnant body!!!!!!!!

Pregnancy is a strange beast....

I've had 2 absolutely action packed days with no chance to put my feet up for even a second - you would think I'd be exhausted. However here I am at 3.15am completely unable to sleep. It's very frustrating.

Maternity Leave sucks!!

Don't get me wrong it's great having time to relax and I have been doing some relaxing but I'm really bored and I miss the kids. Quite unexpectedly this week my work schedule has slowed down and I'm finding myself a bit antsy for something to do. Of course there are jobs to do around the house and I have been doing some of them but there's only so many times I can vacuum the rug before it becomes an obsessive disorder. I'm sure if I was working I'd be longing for a chance to sit on the couch in peace and have a cuppa - what;s that they say about green grass??!!

I'm 32 weeks plus 1 day and Poppy is doing really well. We've been continuing our bi-weekly heart monitoring and she is an A+++ every time. We have our last ultrasound on July 16th and then a couple of weeks later we'll get to see our baby for real - sooooooooooooo exciting.

It's the final Countdown

Hi everyone, thanks for being so patient waiting for me to finally get back to my blogging. It's nice to get your emails and know you're out there thinking of Rob and I. Everything is going really great and at last the weeks are starting to fly by as you all assured me they would. On the weekend I had my baby shower which was so much fun and of course we were very spoilt with lots of great presents for Poppy. It was a beautiful sunny winter day and Laura made lots of yummy treats for everyone to eat. Kylie was the event organiser extraordinaire and the backyard was filled with balloons and looked gorgeous. The best present of all was that my friend Jen made the trip from Melbourne and we got to spend a lovely weekend together as well as having her at my shower.

Yesterday I had my 31 week OB appointment and we found out that Poppy has turned into a breech position. We still have a few weeks for him/her to turn back around but if not I will end up having an cesarean. I'm not too worried if that is the way things turn out but if I have a chance to deliver naturally I certainly intend to try. The countdown is definitely on with only 2 more OB Appointments booked. The last one is in 4 weeks and at that one we will be booking the final date for the inducement or C Section. Rob and I are so excited - it's amazing to finally be here about to have our baby.

While we were at the appointment we think the midwife may have accidentally slipped up and told us that Poppy is a boy. She backpedalled pretty quick and tried to convince us she didn't know the sex of the baby - but we know it's right there on the file. We will definitely be very surprised if we end up with a girl after all the indicators we've been getting at different appointments. Can't wait to meet this little person either way.

I am feeling in pretty good health for the most part and besides some lingering nausea and the standard back pain it's all pretty cruisy. I'm still working and thoroughly enjoying the company of all my kids - I'm going to really miss them when it's time to stop - but I'm sure I'll have my hands full!!

What's New??

As of today I could have as little as 6 weeks and 2 days until I'm induced. It's more likely to be a few days longer than that but what's the harm in dreaming.

Rob, Poppy and I are all doing well and getting very excited about the big day. Well I can't say for sure that Poppy is excited but Rob and I can't wait - it's so close now it finally feels real.

I'm still having very regular scans and checks and the doctors are still predicting that bubs will tip the scales at a good 9 pounds or more ( the earlier I'm induced the better!!).

I've started going to the labour ward twice weekly for CTG monitoring (CTG is the continuous or intermittent measurement of the baby’s heartbeat - Cardiocotography). They strap me up with 2 monitors across my tummy and measure Poppy's heart rate pattern for between 20-30 minutes. Today was my first visit and it all looked great. The theory behind doing this is mostly, I think, to keep my stress levels down and of course keep an eye on the bubs as we head for the finish line. Here's a link to some more info about the tracking if anyone is interested http://www.sanclinic.com.au/SUW/CTG.html

While I was there I heard a woman presumably in labour screaming blue murder. When the midwife came back to unstrap me she said that the sound I heard was the woman arriving at the hospital and getting out of the lift and that she literally delivered the baby within 10 minutes - Fantastic.

Rob and I had a lovely weekend and had Reuben and Declan for a sleepover Saturday night. It was so much fun and the boys had a great time playing silly games with Rob. This coming weekend I have my baby shower on Sunday so I'm looking forward to catching up with all the girls and having a nice afternoon tea. Then our next few weekends are going to be filled with ante-natal classes - busy busy.

Technical Difficulties

Hi Everyone

Sorry I've been MIA for a while - I had no internet access for a week!! It's amazing how much I have come to rely on it for most of my communication - it was terrible. Anyway I do have lots of things in my head which I need to write but not right now. For now I just wanted to let you all know everything is great and Poppy is absolutely thriving. I'm having some backache and trouble sleeping but nothing I can't handle. Especially since I only have 8 short weeks to go!! I'm sure that time will absolutely fly by because we have so many thing going on every weekend between now and then - baby shower, ante-natal classes etc etc. Stay tuned for some updated ultrasound pics soon.

XX KD XX