Peace Baby Blocks

Peace Baby Blocks
Originally uploaded by b boy.

It's never too early to teach Noodles about peace man!
I am sure this is the thinking behind Mel's latest purchase. Teaching love and tolerence towards fellow mankind......either that or they are just the new cool nursery item that she "just had to have". The baby hasn't even been born yet but has to keep up with the trends.

PS: According to Mel they were toy of the year last year. (that makes it all right then)

songs in the key of MEEP

Relax! That's what they told me yesterday. Relax!! Here, have another anti-D injection - OUCH
Right.
How does a highly stressed type A thilly thurgeon relax?
Hmmm

• Rediscover very silly ABBA songs. Case in point - "Just like that!"
  - Seriously, how can one NOT be amused with lyrics such as "..He walked into my house as smug as a cat, he was handsome and smart walked away with my heart..."
  It sounds much better when sung like a chipmunk though


• Comfort food
  - Darrell Lea Chocolate Nougat Easter eggs - Ben doesn't understand the passion I have for this shiny packaged treat and I guess he never will
  Melinda 2 Easter Eggs 0
  This aint a baby belly


• House MD downloads
  - Thank god for Hugh Laurie (current fantasy celebrity crush)

Things are a little better today - apart from having to sit around with my feet up and ensconsed in attractive beige grade 2 compression stockings.

Now... back to torturing Ben with ABBA

Unscheduled Doctors Visit

Just when everything seemed to be going well and Mel had started to relax about the pregnancy the unexpected happens. More bleeding!!!! We had started to almost get used to a little spotting in the first trimester but was hoping that this would settle by the second. And it had seemed to be. But this morning, out of the blue, and just to make sure that we were really awake, there it was.......more bleeding. Now I had said that we had started to get used to a little bleeding, but this was more than we had ever had before and of course set of the Mel's meep alarm. Actually it was more like the @*#% alarm followed by the inevitable worst case scenario thoughts racing through our heads. We tend to do this alot. Think of the worst outcome for a given problem and when it doesn't eventuate we are all quite relieved and pleasantly surprised. So after calling our specialist at 6:15 am (we have a good working relationship.....I hope!) she arranged to see us at 8:30 for a quick scan. Thankfully Noodles still looked good and moving around nicely. What to do from here? Anyones guess really. Not that there is much you can do but sit tight and wait and see. I hate that part....we like to be in control and this pregnancy is teaching us that we are certainly not in control! One thing we did decide to do was stop the aspirin that Mel is on. Double edged sword and all that. It makes mel less likely to get a DVT but also increases the risk of miscarriage. Anyway Mel is now at home on forced rest for a few days and on strict orders to wear those ever so stylish compression stockings full time now. We are crossing our fingers that all will be well.

Baby's New Clothes

Baby's new clothes
Originally uploaded by b boy.

It seems that with your first child to be, even the most mundane things (such as buying clothes) take on a whole new significance. It is amazing how a supposedly sensible adult can get excitied about buying baby clothes!

Cow!

Cow
Originally uploaded by b boy.

I like the Cow.
Mel doesn't like the Cow!

The Cow needs your help.....So if you, like Mel, don't like the Cow, text:

Don't have a cow man! to Mel's mobile

or if you have taste and like the cow, text:

Cows rule! to my mobile

PS the cow makes cute mooing sounds when you tap it.

D-Day Arrives!

Hugs
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Today was Melinda's dad's birthday and was also the day we had bookmarked to let the parents in on our little secret. We had a plan....you have to have a plan...and it mostly went off without a hitch. The plan was this.....Let Don open his present....then let him open the card. The card was strategically picked and read on the front " Happy Birthday Grandad". This seemed to faze Don a little but we had a backup. Open the card Mel prompted. Inside we had cunningly placed a picture of Noodles from the 12 week scan. And if this was not enough of a hint Mel had also written a little spiel about the impending grandchild and it's due date etc etc....
This did the trick and Don seemed overjoyed at the news and was relatively speechless. What was really amusing was seeing the rest of the family wondering what the hell was going on and why was it taking him so long to read a card and man it must have had a really touching birthday greeting to make him cry!. The card was then passed to Carol and the rest of the family was quickly filled in on the news. From here we gave them all a tour of the nursery just in case they were not convinced. All in all it was not too bad but hey.... a couple of Greg's tallies seemed to help. Poor Mel had no such comfort to fall back on. All is now good and the family know. Phew.....now it remains to be seen just how they handle the next 6 months.

The waiting game

Not much new this week. We are now well and truly into the waiting game. Mel thought she could feel some flickerings of movement this week but who knows (it could have just been a bad curry). It is a tad early for most first timers. Give it another few weeks and Noodles will definately make himself known. It is something to look forward to because then you really know there is something inside. This easter Monday is the day we are telling the parents. They are coming over for a BBQ lunch (it is Mel's dad's birthday) and we will break the news. Mel is a little nervous about what will happen after that but I guess you have to expect some noisy antics for the first grandchild. (did I say first? We will see how this one turns out before comitting to a second!) Two more Dr Suess books made their way into the collection this week but other than that I have shown remarkable restraint in the purchasing department. I am very impatient and like to buy stuff..... but having a baby is turning out to be expensive (who would have thought) so finances dictate a certain controlled splurge approach. Oh well...wish us luck for Monday :)

Bookshelf

Bookshelf
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Thanks to Paul going to live in London for the next......who knows how long.....we "borrowed" his bookshelves. They were unpainted MDF and lacked a little something. So in my painting frenzy involving the chest of drawers, I decided to make a few improvements to the bookshelves. Now they look just smashing and definately worthy of our nursery. Now we can spend some time and money filling it with books and the like. It is pretty empty at present but I am sure it won't take long for us to give the Visa a workout. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you can scroll the mouse over the image to get messages about the contents of the shelves.

Hey there!

Hey there!
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Today was the long awaited 12 week scan. This is the one that gives you an idea about things such as down syndrome and the like. Also the little one has grown somewhat since the 7 week scan and is starting to look more like a baby (or at least less like gnocchi). The complete DVD of the scan (directors cut) is quite exciting as the detail of everything is quite amazing (at least to our eyes). So at the end of the day we were quite relieved to find out that everything looked fine and our relative risk of downs went from 1:300 for Mel's age (she is getting old you know) to 1:6000 after the scan. Next landmark will be the 19 week scan on the 22nd of May for the final check that everything is in the right spot...so to speak (oh and probably find out the sex as well).

Lounging around...

Lounging
Originally uploaded by b boy.

Saturday afternoon and nothing to do...this is the life. It is another warmish day with the sun out in earnest and a temp of around 30 degrees. We went to the markets at James street for the weekly fruit and veg shop and now it's time to relax. We have a 21st to go to tonight (we are still trying to get over the fact that we know anyone who hasn't turned 21 yet!) at the Grange bowls club. We hope to catch up with little Felix and his parents at some stage this weekend. Apart from that....I think more lounging is in order.