I Slept In!

For the first time in years, I had a bit of a sleep in today. Sort of. Actually, Aaron woke me up at around 6am and I started the day as usual. But, after breakfast and after making his bed, we sat down on his bed to listen to the tape of Brothers Grimm Stories. Thats when I fell asleep. I was asleep for over and hour and he let me! Thats the amazing bit - Aaron actually left me alone to sleep while he went off to do something else.

Recently, Aaron has been 'growing up' a lot and my life has become easier. 'Easier' in the sense that I don't have to watch him every second of the day, be physically carrying him or constantly entertaining him. Obviously, this has been happening continuously for months but I never noticed it as much until recently when I've started imagining endless days that merge into nights with the new baby. That cycle of feeding, putting baby to sleep, changing nappies, and then feeding again is looming for me.

I keep trying to think that every baby is different and that things might be easier this time around since I have done it before but, I know it will have its own set of challenges. Aaron is probably going to be a huge factor in the new challenge too.

Its not all doom and gloom though. I'm just trying to set some realistic expectations for myself. The first time around, I thought it was going to be all about cuteness and had no real idea about the hard work. Although, I'm looking forward again to all the cuteness coming our way. The new baby smell, tiny toes, baby skin, gummy smiles...

A World Of Differences

I went for one of my routine pre-natal visits with the midwife today. It was my third time there and still, I'm amazed at how different the experience is from what goes on in Malaysia.

Firstly, since I'm going through the public system, it was absolutely free. And each visit, my waiting time was no more than 15 minutes (this morning only 5 minutes).

Just over three years ago, when I first got pregnant with Aaron in Kuala Lumpur and went in search of a good obstetrician, I ended up waiting 3 hours or more for a mere 10 minutes with the doctor each time. And, it regularly cost over RM100 per visit. (The public system there is definitely not where you want to be hence the hunt for a doctor.) The majority of doctors there are still very old school in terms of birthing practices with episiotomies still routine and mandatory delivery in the supine position. Thankfully, I did find a doctor that was much more supportive of natural birth and definitely more reasonably priced.

Also, midwives in Malaysia play a very small role. In fact, I only interacted with the midwife during the final 30 mins of labour with Aaron. And she wasn't all that much help even then. I like what I hear from the midwives here so far. They have been very helpful and friendly during the routine visits and supposedly, they stay with you throughout labour and provide a lot of guidance. Imagine that! Well, I'll reserve any more raving about them until after I have the baby but it certainly sounds like a more helpful situation to be in than what I had with Aaron.

The thing that makes me most happy about the system here is the emphasis on breastfeeding and the support around it. Today, I asked if I could have some time with the baby after birth to nurse before they take it away to do whatever, if the baby could be kept with me at all times they need to do and about how much they 'pushed' formula feeding. She just looked at me with what I imagined to be an expression of disbelief over how silly my questions were. She was nice about it though and explained that they will hand over the baby and encourage you to nurse, and the baby stays with mum at all times. They have lactation consultants on hand and also available at no charge for the first month after birth. They were also promoting lots of skin-to-skin contact with the baby. All the things that I had to specifically request when I had Aaron!

Anyway, my experiences with the public health system so far certainly makes me feel better about the taxes I have to pay in Australia. I hope it stays that way....

A New, Old Toy

We're still at the stage of introducing all sorts of 'new' things to Aaron just within the confines of the house here. Even something as mundane as the letter box has been amusing to him because we didn't have one in Palembang. The only problem is that he's starting to get bad tempered about never getting any mail. I've asked Richard to send him a letter and hopefully, it will arrive before he does!

Cassette tapes have also been providing all sorts of enjoyment to him. I never bothered to show him one before because I just don't play them these days. However, I came across some of my old favourites from childhood and he seems to enjoy them too. The two at the corner of the photo below are 'A Maiden's Prayer' (a compilation of famous piano pieces) and 'Brothers Grimm Fairy Stories'. He also likes my old 'Grease' soundtrack and a mixed tape of jazz favourites. The sound on both are still pretty good to me.



The little radio/cd/cassette player has a lot of travel miles under its belt!

My father bought it for my brother about 15 years ago. He bought it in Ipoh, Malaysia and brought it over here to Brisbane. We used it here for awhile and for some reason, accumulated several other variations of it. Eventually, there was only my mother in Brisbane and too many for her to use. So my father took this little guy back to Ipoh. When I moved back to Malaysia and was looking for something that could play tapes, I took it with me to Klang. And when I moved to Palembang, we took it there too. Once again, because of that tape player.

I've always had it in the back of my mind to introduce some of my old tapes to Aaron, thats why I keep lugging this bulky mini compo around. So now, you guessed it! We brought it back here to Brisbane and Aaron is finally fiddling around with it.

Its really cute to watch him use it. I always think of it as old and rough technology and don't really take much care in putting tapes in because they seem so sturdy. For Aaron, its something new and 'precious' and he appears to take so much care in putting the tapes in the right way or turning them around.

So, does anybody else out there still play their old mixed tapes?

Aaron's New Pets

When we got to Brisbane, over a month ago now, my brother gave Aaron an Ant Farm Kit. They tried looking around the house for ants but all we had were bull ants and at that time, my brother thought they were too dangerous for Aaron since they bite.

Well, for the past few days, my father and Aaron have been hunting for ants around the neighborhood but in the end, today, they decided that it was going to be a Bull Ant Farm.

Back in July, I did a Photostory Friday post on ants and had an incredibly fascinating time observing them at work. Now, we can observe them even closer and they truly are very captivating.

I feel a bit bad about 'imprisoning' them this way so maybe we can rotate this batch of ants with another batch in a week or so. I wonder how long they'd last anyway....





I've told Aaron that he needs to give them water and food every two to three days. Lets see how responsible he is :)

What a gimmick!

This weekend, we went for the 'Inaugural Thomas & Friends Family Fun Day' - organised by politicians! It certainly was a clever crowd drawer on their part because hundreds of little kids, their parents and grand parents turned up. I didn't see much 'political' stuff there and there weren't any speeches or anything like that. In fact, I'm not really sure what the whole message of the day was which makes me wonder how they are measuring the success of the Thomas gimmick. Although.....I do remember the name of the MP that organised the thing so, maybe that was all he was after.

The bulk of the crowd there were all under six years old! Many were dressed in their 'Thomas' clothes, wearing their 'Thomas' hats and carrying their 'Thomas' backpacks. It wasn't a huge event but I can fully understand that to the target market (and their parents), this was a big day.

They organised for a live sized Thomas to be there. Even though it was a stationary model (that didn't talk, whistle or chug along the tracks), I saw little face after little face light up as they noticed it. The Fat Controller was there for storytelling every 30 mins. They also had a jumping castle and a 'train' that drove around the park.

Aaron got there at 9.30am, 30 mins before it officially started, and we stayed until about 1.30pm. This was way past his nap time and he had woken up extra early at 5.30am so the poor little guy was completely crabby, hot and sweaty by then. The amusing thing was that at around the same time we left, I heard lots of other little kids starting to have breakdowns. Guess they all missed their naps for Thomas. And as we drove out, we saw the next batch of littlies arriving - the after-nap crowd I guess.

Here are a few photos:







This final picture is of the park that the event was held at. I can never get enough of seeing beautiful parks like this after having lived with no parks to go to for so long.

Ever had an ECV?

I've mentioned that the baby is currently breech. At 30 weeks, this is apparently not a problem and supposedly about 18% of babies are breech at 32 weeks anyway. By the time they reach full term only 3-4% are breech so most of them should turn around.

Early on in the pregnancy, somebody asked me if I was going to have another natural drug free delivery. I said 'Yes' of course. I mean, its what I believe is right for the baby (and my recovery). BUT I also told my friend that part of me (secretly) wishes that I would have no choice but to have a C-section because 3 years and 3 months later, I still have the vivid memories of the natural drug free birth. *I hate thinking about it*

So, if I did it for Aaron, how could I not try my best to do it for this next baby too? Anyway, the baby's position is constantly on my mind and I'm always imagining I can feel his legs in my side or his head poking about. The doctor mentioned that at 36 weeks if he's still breech, they can try an ECV - External Cephalic Version. It seems safe but some women have mentioned that it is extremely uncomfortable.

This first video with the happy music cheered me up a little. Put my mind at ease.



And then I had to go look at another one!

External Cephalic Version

+ Jenny + | MySpace Video

I'd better go try all the other natural ways of turning a baby before 36 weeks.

Thursday Thirteen - Breathing and Laughing

I worked through one of my yoga DVDs in the afternoon, supposedly making me breath properly for 40 minutes, and felt a lot happier afterwards. I guess I just needed some extra endorphins released.

I also managed some reading time today and had a good laugh. Its sometimes strange how simple acts, like breathing and laughing, can make one's day 'happy' again. So, for today's Thursday Thirteen here are thirteen words from an anonymous mum's dictionary.

1) Amnesia: Condition that enables a woman who has gone through labour to make love again.

2) Dumbwaiter: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.

3) Family Planning: The art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to kee you from killing them.

4) Feedback: The inevitable result when your baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.

5) Full Name: What you call your child when you're mad at him.

6) Grandparents: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they're sure you're not raising them right.

7) Hearsay: What toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.

8) Impregnable: A woman whose memory of labour is still vivid.

9) Independent: How we want our children to be, as long as they do everything we say.

10) Ow: First word spoken by children with older siblings.

11) Show Off: A child who is more talented than yours.

12) Sterilize: What you do to your first baby's dummy by boiling it and to your last baby's dummy by blowing on it.

13) Two Minute Warning: When the baby's face turns red and she begins to make those familiar grunting noises.