The last day of 2007

It is the last day of the year and the little baby is still happily enjoying its time in the belly. I have had a few mild sensations on and off the last few days but nothing near to what is yet to come when the labour kicks in.

We have made no fancy plans for tonight, even though it will be our last New Years Eve without kids for a very long time. We will just pack a picnic bag and head up to Kings Park when it cools down tonight.

This morning we had a lovely brekky with different fresh fruits. See the picture below, what do you reckon the white area of the kiwi looks like? It's almost like a map of Australia!!!

Aren't kiwis from New Zealand ;-) ?

Also, posting a picture from this morning of the tummy, last pic taken of it for the year.

Yes, I do have pants on....

To all of you, have a lovely NYE and all the best for 2008!!!

Christmas Day and the heatwave

Perth residents could be excused for saying "this was the hottest Christmas Day that I can remember", because it was for some. By 1pm the temperature had risen to 39 degrees Celsius, nine above average, making it their hottest Christmas Day in 39 years!

I'm happy to announce that we survived the heat by spending the late afternoon on the beach, with what felt like the rest of Perth's residents. As the AC at home couldn't keep up, we decided that the best place to spend the evening was in the cinema!

Lunch at Shawn's parents was a relaxed event with the usual exchanging of gifts and lots of food.

Christmas Eve

As most of you know, Christmas Eve is when the Swedes celebrate x-mas. This year was no exception and even though it was a hot day we could enjoy a nice seabreeze in the garden in the late afternoon.

As Liza's parents are currently in Perth visiting, we decided to spend the evening together at our house. So Liza, Adam, Nisse and Lill came over in the afternoon and we enjoyed some glogg and gingerbread cookies.
Later we had a small version of a Swedish x-mas buffet with meatballs, potato dishes, pickled herring, eggs, beetroot salad, crispbread, sausages and of course snaps. Drinking snaps is an old tradition in Sweden! Snaps is a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal. Dozens of songs are to be sung during the meal, and every song demands a round of snaps, ensuring a fun and sometimes quite tipsy event :-).

It was a great evening with lots of fun (even though the closest I came to the snaps was to smell the empty bottles)...

Almost X-mas...

I have done my last day at work (to embark on the journey as 'stay at home mum') and Shawn has played his last game before Christmas = holiday mood!

The meatballs are rolled, the fridge filled up with foods and drinks and the Christmas tree is finally dressed.

The weather Gods are in a good mood too because the temperature is slowly rising. It seems like the weather man will be correct about the expected 36 degrees tomorrow...yep, it will be a HOT day. Hopefully the food and the heat won't get me into labour, we would love a few more relaxing days before bub arrives! But it's just a matter of time now until the baby decides to come out and introduce him/herself. Judge for yourself by the pictures below...

Go Lionel, Go Lionel!!

The elderly always says that time goes quicker and quicker the older you get. But I already find that time flies so I'm wondering how I'll be when I'm old....

4 years have passed since Shawn and I got together, and last Sunday we celebrated our anniversary.

At brekky, Shawn gave me a little present, a pearl neckless for mummy to be.

Later in the arvo, he packed a picnic bag and drove us to the Sandalford winery in the Swan Valley 45 minutes outside Perth. It was a special night in the valley this Sunday as a major outdoor concert event was going to be held at the winery. There at the vineyard next to the lake we enjoyed the picnic, whilst watching a very mixed crowd with old fans starting to drop in.

At 7.30 the concert kicked off with one of our old favorites, the incomparable Lionel Richie!!! (For those who have no idea who Lionel is, you can sum up his resume with a close to 100 million albums sold, 22 Top 10 hits, five Grammy Awards, an Oscar and a Golden Globe! )

Joining Lionel as special guest artist was Australia's disco diva, Marcia Hines, nowdays probably mostly famous as the "kind judge" on the TV hitshow 'Australian Idol'.

It was a awesome concert with lots of singing along and many laughs! What a great surprise my sweetheart had up his sleeve for our special day!

Thanks for a lovely evening on the green Shawn!!!

A tiring and crazy week...

...as I ended up spending a few nights in the hospital!

After celebrating "Lucia" with the Swedish Club on Sunday afternoon, I found myself with no appetite and feeling uneasy. On Monday morning I started to vomit. At first I thought it was just a bit of morning sickness but I couldn't keep any fluids down at all. So got a bit worried and called the midwives who said it's quite common for women in the later stage of pregnancy to get tummy bugs. They said to call back if I still couldn't retain any fluids by 6pm.
By 4pm I was really dehydrated, disoriented with fever and sore kidnies. For these reasons I ended up in the hospital with IV therapy.

At one point the doctors were a bit concerned as the baby's heartrate was too high and their monitor showed that I had contractions two minutes apart. But after a few hours with the drip and antibiotics, bub and contractions settled as the fever declined.

I had to stay for a few nights as they wanted to keep us under observation and to do some tests. I had no clue that certain tummy bugs can cause nasty urinary tract infections and even premature labour! Thank God, I'm feeling much better, however, I'm extremely tired from this little drama and the drugs that were pumped into my system the last few days.

I had never stayed in hospital before but as I started to get better, I felt as I was in prison and was so unhappy. The ONLY thing I could concentrate on was that I wanted to GO HOME! I missed Shawn soooooo much and our own home with all the comforts.

When I was discharged and came home, the house was spotless and upstairs in the bedroom was a little surprise....Shawn had put together the babycot!
I was stunned when I lay my eyes on it. I sat down on our bed and just stared at the cot. The reality of the baby's arrival hit me and I was overwhelmed with feelings. Very soon, someone, a little person that we yet don't know, will move in with us and moreso, he/she is here to stay!
I love the cot, I think it's so pretty and looks perfect next to our bed...

Peace at Birth

Our thoughts and conversations about how to prepare for labour are popping up more frequently now as the tummy gets bigger. It's only 5 weeks to the estimated delivery date and as we all know, this is an e s t i m a t i o n only and little bub will arrive whenever he or she is ready. Therefore, it's well on time to start thinking about what's coming...

Tummy picture taken yesterday, 5 December 2007

I want to trust and believe in my body and the job it is designed to do but am well aware of that the confidence in the body can quickly be thrown out of the window if the pain gets to me!
One of the midwives at the Birthing Centre talked warmly about a woman who works privately with a non-medical approach to childbirth. She has designed a CD that can be played over and over in the labour room. It is created to assist the release of all prior programming about labour and birth which can then enable a woman and her partner to establish an inner confidence and trust in the labouring and birthing process.
Many might say this is all just bull**** but considering that the Birthing Centre's strongest drug is gas...we have decided to get the CD :-).