Get rich quick!

Just send this photo to grandpa with the caption "Saving for my first Benz" and make his heart melt!

(Ok, so now I need to think about some non baby (Abi) related posts!) 

Dear Abigail (ONE month old!)

Dear Abigail,

You are one month old today! Where has the past month gone? It has flown by so quickly.

Your daddy and I love you to pieces and love you just a little more each day.

You are an amazing sleeper! (Although you do have your moments) and we do love to have you in the big bed with us! 

You are growing more of your personality each and every day, you smile and are starting to make little sounds other than cries.

You are a tiny little thing, and we get stopped everywhere we go! People just want to Ooo and Ahh over you and it takes twice as long to do things!

It's been a big month! You have been to so many different places. Most of the time you are sleeping and would have no idea you were even there.

You have changed our lives so so much, but all for the better and we feel so much more a family for having you in it.

We can't wait to see what the next month brings (a plane flight to Melbourne!), but please stay little for just a little longer.

Lots and lots of love,

Your Mummy.

xoxo

Baby in my arms...

]Today I went to the movies!
I went to see 'The Help' with some of the other mums and babies from my mothers group!

Mothers Group... I was very skeptical of going... Most of my girlfriends that have been in the past 24 months have not enjoyed it and only gone once or twice.
I have had a much more pleasant experience and have got to know a few of the girls quite well and really enjoy their company.

It's a big group, 15 in total. It's the last 'organised' session at the Childhood Centre next week, but I wont be going because I will be in Melbourne.

Now, back to the movies! It was great! Abi was great and well behaved. I couldn't believe how busy it was!
I liked the movie, it was pretty good. But honestly I would only give it about 3 stars (out of 5)


If your around the Sydney area and looking for something to do on a Thursday, check out the Babes in Arms at the cinema in Liechhardt HERE.

Thank you

Just a short little post today for everyone's wonderful comments on yesterdays post.
It's so nice to not feel alone along the breast feeding road.
If you haven't please find a chance to go and read all the great comments of advice, support and knowledge left by others.

Kisses and Hugs to you all.
xoxo

my saving grace

Breastfeeding is hard.
It can be time consuming.
It can hurt.
It can be frustrating.

Sometimes I am so over it, I just can't bare the thought of another feed...

Thank goodness for my breast pump!

The Medela Swing. I just love this thing! It makes things so much easier and makes for a happier baby and a happier mummy.

I personally think that breast feeding is really important. But I also understand that it is a real personal choice. There has been many a time that I just want to give up (and Abi is only 4 weeks old!), but I am  going to keep going with it and see how long I can last. I'm aiming for 6 months.

Did you breastfeed? Or are you currently breastfeeding?

Why did you choose to or not to?

I couldn't resist!

The other week I posted some shots we had taken of Abi and us. HERE.

Well Kath called me two days later and said she didn't for some crazy reason have any photos of just Abi and I? Strange? We couldn't work out what had happend? We were sure we had taken some...

Anyway, she arrangeed to come to me to take some more shots, and it just happened to be when my family were up...

Anyway, I couldn't resist sharing just a few more!

I can not wait to see them all and TRY to choose the ones we want!

Love Love Love them all!!!

Cooking Queen's!

On the weekend my family were up visiting from Melbourne.
We went out to dinner on Friday night. YUM!
But decided to stay in on Saturday night. A trip to the fish markets to pick up supplies and we were all set!
It was decided that I had everything at home to make a pavlova for dessert so we headed on home...
Fast forward a few hours to dessert making time... NO white vinegar... Oh no! Can't make a pav.
What else??? Think think...
Mum had pulled out my 1000 Best-Ever Recipes from AWW cookbook to look up the pavlova recipe... My sister decided to look in the book for something else... On the same page there was a recipe for chocolate Souffle... No Way! I said... Souffle is way too hard to make and takes FOREVER...

No it doesn't! Look at this! my sister showed me the page...
We made them together. It was fun! I don't get to do things like this very often with my sister because she is in Melbourne and I'm in Sydney.

So chocolate souffle for dessert it was! And a success they were! Delicious! Yummo! Can't wait to make them again! - Sorry no photo of our own, but they did look something kinda like this

they were only slightly risen over the sides, but the taste was great! It was exactly what we needed to finish off our dinner (well that and a well deserved glass of wine!)

If you feel like giving the chocolate souffle a go, here is the recipe:

1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar

50g butter

1 tablespoon plain flour

200g dark eating chocolate, melted

2 egg yolks

4 egg whites

1. preheat oven to 180 C / 160 D fan forced. Grease four 3.4 cup (180ml) souffle dishes (We used 1 cup ramekins) Sprinkle inside of dishes with a little of the sugar. Shake away excess. Place on an oven tray.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan, add flour; cook stirring for about 2 minutes or until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat, stir in melted chocolate and egg yolks. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. Beat egg whites in a small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar. Beating until sugar dissolves. Fold egg white mixture into into chocolate mixture in two batches. Divide mixture amongst the dishes.

4. Bake souffles for 15 minutes (we baked for 20) 

We made 1.5 of the mixture... We were cooking for 6. 

If I was to make this for 6 again I would just double the recipe because we have 1 cup ramekins not 3/4 ones like the recipe asks for.

If you give it a go, let me know how you go!

Bottoms

Poor little Abi got a nappy rash not long after we got home from hospital..
I was devastated... What have I done wrong! Bad mummy... etc...

Then I had a good think about it... In hospital you are given wipes and told to use water...
Come home and it was straight to using Huggies wipes (or another variation)

Maybe these things are too strong for a new borns bottom? Maybe not for all, but for my babies bottom?

I hopped on the internet and did some searching and found the Wotnot baby range.

From their website:

Wotnot baby range has been developed by our mums to cleanse, moisturise and soothe your baby naturally. We use the finest and most gentle natural extracts. Our products are free from sulphates, petrochemicals, parabens, artificial preservatives and fragrances – we know WOTNOT to put in. WOTNOT formulas are so close to nature we know your baby will love them as much as you do!

Great! Lets order some and give it a go!

So with the help of Hydrozol cream and using the Wotnot wipes, we are clear from nappy rash! I don't feel like such a bad mumma now... 

We will keep using them for a little while, but then go back to the Huggies (I have packets and packets!) but I will now know where to turn if/when nappy rash re-appears.

A wonderful weekend

What a wonderful weekend we have just had!
Mum, dad, sister and bro in law came to visit!

Abi was in her element! Lots and lots of cuddles and attention
And she got to meet her pop! (my dad) for the first time! (And her uncle Chadd)

Meeting uncle Chadd for the first time

Catching up with aunty Emma again and some Zzzz's

And pop! And seeing nana again!

Abi instantly recognised my mum's voice again. You could see the way she looked around and listened to her! It was so nice. Mum was there for the birth and for the 6 following days, and had lots of chats with Abi.

My dad didn't come to Sydney when I had Abi. I totally understood. Dad hates hospitals. HATES them. It was nicer that he could come up and spend proper time with us all.

Now there is only my two brothers (Abi's uncles) for her to meet! - plus the extended family...

We have had a great time, not doing much, but having lots of cuddles and spending time with Abi.

(I also wanted to make mention of a really special post on Emmie from Desert Darling's Blog from yesterday... On co-sleeping... You will even see you comment if you take a look)

Meeting Friends!

It's been a busy couple of weeks in our household!
We have had visitor after visitor after visitor!
It's been lovely.
Abi has been showered with yet even more gifts and super super spoilt.

Some very special visitors included

Abi and Arkie (Abi just looks hungry)

One of my best girlfriends Samantha (yes same name) and baby Arkie.

Arkie was born on the 23rd of December. I found our I was pregnant on the 23rd of December!

Abi was born on the 23rd of August! So there is exactly 8 months between these two babies!

And then there was cousin Lily! Lily is 10 weeks old! Look at her! I posted about her birth HERE

Lily and Abi with their 'I Love Daddy' tops on!

My nana came (Abi great nana) on Sunday with Lily too, but we didn't get a photo!

Unfortunately, the one visitor that we really want to see and really really want to come visit too are our very very close friends Rene, Philippa and little Hania.

They are all really really super sick at the moment, so we have put it off for a while till they are better.

My mum, dad, sister and her husband are up on the weekend!!! We are all very excited and can't wait!!!

Then we have our first flight booked to go to Melbourne to visit the family on the 28th of September! I'm a little scared! But hopefully we will be fine.

Praying for good weather this weekend! PLEASE!

The Middle (Part 2 of Abigail's Birth Story)

Finally I'm back for part two.
Sorry. But I only was discharged last Monday night and couldn't get out of there quick enough!
Count... Yes... That's 6 nights I was in hospital.

Why? Not Abi. She is doing well! Really well. And settling into home life with us (we love it!)

The reason... Pre-Eclampsia.

After Abi was born we were given such a long time to bond.
We had lots of skin on skin time. She cried a lot! I had no idea a new born could actually be so loud! WOW!
Erin didn't want to cut the cord. I didn't mind. Mum was asked if she wanted to? She asked both of us if it was ok? and we were happy for her to do it.
The first time I looked at her, although yes, it was love at first sight, I really didn't know what to think? Was she a pretty baby? Was she really ours? Mixed emotions and elation all at the same time.
I was stitched (I tore) OUCH. Now I'm not sure what's worse! Child Birth or Stitches. This time the gas did really seem to help. kind of sort of. Who knows?
Abi was weighed. Erin got to help with all that. I am sure he loved every moment of it. then she was cleaned up, and wrapped (wow! A midwife really does know how to wrap a baby! They are awesome!)

We were given some more time together. We weren't rushed. I had a shower. That was strange. Looking at my body, seeing how it had already changed so much. The weird feeling I had all over.
Trying to decipher what I had just been through.

Finally at 2am! We arrived on the post natal ward. Room 1. That's us.
Mum and Erin didn't hang around for long. It was 2am! They really needed to eat and get some sleep. We all did.

I remember waking to Abi stirring. I looked at her for such a long time. Unsure what to do.
Then I picked her up. she was awake now. She started to cry. She was hungry. I didn't know what to do.
I called the midwife. And all I remember saying to her was "I know this sounds silly, but what do I do now?" And unfortunately, I don't remember waht happened after that.
I am pretty sure the midwife stayed with me and I tried to feed. I know I was unsuccessful. I was for a few days. I had to have the midwives help me to express colostrum.
Having the midwives hand expressing for you is not great. I found it very painful.

The next day, my BP started to be monitored and checked to make sure it was going down.
The whole point of having this baby out was to fix that problem.
Well the BP was playing up, it was up, it was down. It would spike at all crazy times (Mainly at night)
I had no idea just how serious this problem actually was!

I was all for looking into the early discharge program at RPA, I had heard that they really pushed this in the hospital too.
I didn't get that impression at all! I was told no, this is your first baby, your here for 4 nights and that's that.
We decided to organise a small BBQ at home with a few couples and their children for Saturday night.
I always said I didn't wait visitors in he hospital so that's what we would do and then slowly catch up with everyone else as we went along.
Mum went ahead and booked her flight home for the following Tuesday, so she would be home in time for my dad's birthday and to go to a good friends mothers funeral too.

Saturday rolled around... No, sorry your not going home. BP is still not good, we are adding another medication to the list of ones you are already on.
Maybe tomorrow. Sunday rolls abound... Sorry. No. Your not going home. Your BP went crazy overnight and we can't risk it.
I was devastated. I cried and cried and cried. I looked like I hadn't slept for a year. I jsut wanted to get out of there. I was so over it. Being in Room one, right next to the nurses station, on a ward full of C-Sect babies and mothers you can imagine the buzzers going off a million times a day and night. Not to mention the screaming baby next door to us.
Thank goodness for private health insurance and covering my room (my private single bed room)
I had a new midwife that I had not seen before start that morning. She saw me in a state and had a good stern but motherly 'chat' to me about hypertension and pre-eclampsia and all the issues and figures and facts about it.
Basically, I could have had a fit and died I was that bad. (I had no symptoms at all - frustrating)
I calmed down. A little. It's not fair. I have a prefect baby, sleeps well. Hardly cries. It's not fair!
I then begged and pleaded with her to be allowed to take Abi out from the ward for a little while...
First answer - NO. I begged and pleaded a little more... We got the OK! we were not allowed to leave the hospital grounds, we could go for an hour and my husband had to bring the pram in as we were not allowed to carry her around. YIPPIEE!!! I was elated.
We went and ate lunch in the cafe.

Sunday ended and mum and Erin went home.
Sunday night the other good midwife that I loved came back on. She was sorry for me. We had a good long chat and I told her I was going to start Abi birth story. I have her details, she wants me to send it to her!

Sunday night my BP was doing ok, kind of behaving...
Monday morning rolls around... Dr. Top Dog comes to see me with his little follower... I was to be monitored for the rest of the day and that would make the decision later on...
That meant rest, rest rest. I took it really easy. I calmed down and did as I was told.
Later that day, much later that day the little follower came back to see me... I was worried. There had been a small spike or two during the day...
I made a bit of a deal with them... It wasn't that bad. They were kind of happy... Rather than stay in over night again, I promised that I would come to the hypertension clinic the next morning...

We got the ok! I couldn't pack quick enough! We were breaking out! We were going HOME!
We were so quick that I totally forgot that I haven't had my whooping cough vaccination! Who cares! I'm going HOME!

And that we did! Monday night we arrived home at about 7pm. Abi well over due for a feed, but we were home!
Mum had a curry in the slow cooker, we opened champagne!

So we have been home a week (tonight)
Abi is doing well.
I'm doing well.
Taking 3 types of meds and back off the the hypertension clinic tomorrow, but we are HOME!

Will have to get around to giving a we are home update soon.
I think this was the hardest post to write, even harder than the actual birth.
I don't think I have written it at well as I would have liked, but it's done all the same...

Here's a few more very early (still in hospital) photos.

One VERY proud dad

Being weighed and measured

Pround Aunty Emma who luckily was coming to Sydney for work & got to come visit!

Super excited and proud nana who was at the birth too!

First bath (by dad) who now has taken over bath time at home. Abi LOVES the bath.

Teaching dad to change a nappie. That's right folks... never changed a nappie before. Abi HATES nappie change time.

Breaking out! We are going home!!! So tiny, none of her clothes fit! (Especially the going home outfit we had picked)

I decided to call this post "The Middle" because there is no end.
Abi's story to me will be never ending.

Model Baby

Sorry... I will be back with Part two of Abi's birth story soon.
It's been pretty busy around this part of the world.
(Hopefully the wait is worth it???)

Oh! And I really really need to catch up on everyones blogs! I read them on my phone in the middle of the night when I'm feeding, but it's way too hard to comment - so my comments are coming!

But for now, I wanted to share some beautiful photos of of my divine daughter!
These were taken today, by the one and only amazing Kath Ellis.
These are my preview shots!
The shoot was a gift from my work colleges, and although I did need to travel all the way out to Rouse Hill, I do honestly believe it was well worth it!

Kath was amazing and such a pleasure to have take our photos. 

She takes her time and is in no rush at all. I think we were there for about 3 hours!

AND! Didn't care at all when Abi did a wee on one blanket and then 2 poos on another!

If your interested in having some photos done please do contact her...

Her website details are KATH ELLIS

And I just wanted to say that although I know Kath (I work for her husband) I am paying for the photos. 

This is NOT a business plug. I just think her work is amazing and would even if I didn't know her or have any association to her.