Kholakat.net Dissociative Ramblings

Wow! It’s been just over 12 weeks since Zoe was born and that time sure has flown by! Well, maybe not all of it has passed that quickly (especially not the sleep depriving nights) but I suppose that is part and parcel of having a baby.

So, the quick summary version – Zoe was born just a little past her due date, and was welcomed into a warm birthing pool at home, surrounded by her daddy, doula, midwife and our beloved dogs. Labour was an interesting experience – not as full on as I had imagined. No drugs, no interventions, no serious pushing. It took about 8 hours all up which is very fast, especially for a first birth. Having said that, I think I might wait a bit before going through that again!! The most fascinating thing to me was the way that the hormones in my body compensated for the discomfort of the surges/contractions as they increased in intensity. This made everything very bearable and I remembered thinking that I might hold off on getting into the birthpool for a bit longer until things get really serious. Lol! I think I surprised my doula since I would have been in transition at that stage, when things are at their peak. I must say, I have a lot of respect for women who are medically induced (ie syntocinon/pitocin) and don’t go with an epidural. Ouchies!

Since then, life has been on a rollercoaster involving lack of sleep, crying and lots and lots of feeding. It’s all been a shock to the system but one that is worth it especially now that Zoe is gurgling and cooing (and now I know what those sounds are supposed to sound like!!). The smiles are so cute and I think she is now close to laughing too. We are still on a very steep learning curve but I think we are getting better at it, while Zoe is getting used to being on the outside.

Well, I am now patiently expecting our little girl to make her appearance any day now. I am currently 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant, which means that her estimated due date (EDD) is in 4 days time. Babies generally are born anywhere between 38 and 43 weeks so I’m getting very excited!

I’ve just been taking things easy lately since everyone tells me to get as much rest as possible during these last few weeks in preparation for the madness that follows. I’ve gotten the nappies washed finally (3 times each for the bamboo fabrics) so I am in a much less stressed frame of mind than I had been. Our washing machine had broken down and the part was taking forever to arrive. Luckily Nath had a brain-wave and we decided to hire a front loader machine in the meantime, which arrived the next day.

Things I am looking forward to after the pregnancy (apart from being a good parent/loving mother/relatively sane person etc)?

- I can’t wait to get back into a fitness routine especially with my barbell and hand weights, with my Cathe dvds

- To be able to turn around in bed without having to hold my belly, hear my bones crack or be apprehensive about other aches/pains that might occur

- Be able to drive our car without wearing platform shoes (so I can reach the clutch)

- Eat soft cheeses and deli meats, and drink some tizzy alcoholic beverage, oh and have lots and lots of sashimi

So it looks like I will have another 7 weeks or so to go until lil Munchkin should arrive into this world, hopefully via a waterbirth at home. The nursery is nearly all ready to go with the walls now a calmer cream colour, furniture assembled and placed, curtains replaced and now we just have some smaller touch-up jobs to do, some more kids books to unpack from Nath’s childhood ‘library’, some gorgeous pics to hang up and a whole load of baby clothes and MCN’s (modern cloth nappies) to wash. Yeah, not much to do there I guess!

At the moment I am planning to start my parental leave about 4 weeks before my due date although that could change considering recent events! On Wednesday night we went to hospital after I felt some pretty strong abdominal pains on my right hand side. I was rather nervous that it might be appendicitis so I thought it might be best to get it checked out. After spending a couple of hours at QE2, we got sent to the Mater Mothers hospital for further observation. They ended up keeping me in overnight just to monitor me and to have an ultrasound. I was freaking out thinking that I might need to have an operation (my first!), and that also possibly meaning that little girl might have to come out at the same time. I definitely did not feel ready to meet her just yet!! Anyway, it turned out to be a fibroid (which I had known about), and which is manageable with paracetamol. So now I am having ‘bed rest’ for a week or so, until it calms down. This means I go back to work for 2 weeks before taking 12 months off. I’m pretty excited about that!

Lessons learnt? Hospitals might seem scary but there are so many lovely people there (nurses/midwives/doctors/other patients!) that it doesn’t have to be a negative place. If I need to go to hospital for this birth (complications or pain relief etc), then I am definitely ok with that. At this stage I am hoping that this won’t be required, and that all will be well. I am keen to be flexible with whatever happens, and I think that’s very important in these types of situations. ‘All is happening as it should…’

So now it’s back to reading a plethora of books on birth and parenting, now that I have finally finished my struggle through the Twilight series. Maybe it’s time to start on the new Robin Hobb series to try and re-balance my mind again!

For those of you not on the Facebook bandwagon, our latest news is that I’m currently 16 weeks pregnant with our first baby. We’ve had one ultrasound so far, and are looking forward to the 20 week scan which will show a lot more detail (and hopefully some awesome 3D images!)

So, introducing Baby Keynes (aka Munchkin), who we look forward to meeting in March 2010!!

In other news, I’m still enjoying my night classes for the naturopathy degree, so that’s a positive. One of my classes, intro to communication and counselling, has just blown my mind with the way it has gotten me to view things in my life, and even change things in my life. When something like that happens, you know you are on a good thing