Introducing Ryan Joseph Storer

Born on the 4th December at 9.50am.
It was a doozy of a labour, but I'm trying now to focus on the outcome. His first hours on land were pretty tough, had to go into a humidicrib for the first six hours due to respiratory distress caused by a KNOT in the umbilical cord. It was such a good knot that the doctors took photos of it! The photo above is at 2 days old on the ward at the John Hunter Hospital

Excuse my nudity, but we were having the "skin to skin" time that we missed out on at his birth. So this is me with my two sons. Gee I like the sound of that. Always wanted to be a mother of multiple children and its finally happened.

This is my two boys together. Mark is still very unsure of holding Ryan. He is a wriggly worm that is for sure.

Well its actually late on Christmas Eve. Ryan will be awake soon for a feed, so I guess I should head off to bed. I'll share the gory details soon.

Happy Wednesday.

I've noticed on lots of blogs that it is often "Wordless Wednesday" well stuff that. As if I haven't got anything to say.

But to be truthful, I'm still just waiting. We got some renovations done on the weekend, my mini cupboard was made, its so cute, its gonna be for glad wrap etc. We had another dust storm so couldn't paint the doors (again) but its ok. The major problem with the renovations now is that it brings all the tools back inside and I hate having all of the tools lying around.

Mum is arriving today. She'll be here about 1.30pm which is pretty exciting. I'm so looking forward to seeing her. Haven't seen her since my birthday 3 months ago. So much has happened since then, sort of weird actually. Still feel a little bit guilty about not having family at our wedding as we are really a family orientated family. But I can show her the pictures.

Gotta tidy up a bit, but last night I had *period pains* for most of the night, making it quite difficult to sleep, the heartburn was pretty horrific too.

Marky is doing his speech for House Captain today. Fingers crossed. He's quite nervous.

Still not taking photos yet, waiting for the bub.

Sleep

Wikipedia says:

Sleep is a naturally recurring state of relatively suspended sensory and motor activity, characterized by total or partial unconsciousness and the inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles.^[1] It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and it is more easily reversible than hibernation or coma. It is observed in all mammals, all birds, and many reptiles, amphibians, and fish. In humans, other mammals, and a substantial majority of other animals that have been studied (such as some species of fish, birds, ants, and fruit flies), regular sleep is essential for survival.

The purposes and mechanisms of sleep are only partially clear and are the subject of intense research.


I say:
I need more of it. Every single night for a couple of months now, I go to bed just a little bit nervous. Will it happen tonight, or am I desitined to walk the passage saying 'just go to sleep.'

Once again, I'm extremely tired, I can relax in bed by myself, but when my dearest husband arrives to go to sleep that is when I start "playing up", it is not deliberate, but can't get comfy, legs start to twitch, become EXTREMELY restless and then just give up and get up. I think I'll go to the spare room soon. Just finish this post first. I just adore 4am... from then to 8am I tend to sleep the best, unfortunately 5ish is when Jamie;s alarm goes off, he usually has some drama at that time (can't find his wallet/shoes/keys/laptop), so I'm disturbed.

On a lighter note, got a whole heaps done in the reno today, Jamie cut out the surrounds to the island bench, made the tops for the cupboards, fixed a few issues that have been bothering him. A bit issue is the scratches on the bench top, its essentially brand new, well taken care of, but alas there are some pretty obvious scratches.

Shit.. the dogs just howled, its 11:44pm and usually there is no one walking past at this time. Might send Jamie out to investigate. But they have stopped should someone be breaking into our car.

Marko is a happy kid, we informed him of our new plan. He can catch the bus to school next year and then does not have to go to a new school. It will be so much better for him to remain at Mayfield West for year 6. Hopefully he will become house sport captain(makes sense, he is into all sorts of sports, goes to every zone event). He has made a list of promises - what he will do to remain at MWDS.

• Not being so bossy!
• Not arguing when asked to do chores (room/feeding dogs/having showers etc)
• Reading more (plan to read Treasure Island before Christmas)
• Doing all of his homework WELL.
• Trying out for the Aim High program next year
• Doing the selection school academic tests
• Joining clubs and extracurricular activities at school (Star Stuck/Tournament of Minds/choir)
• there were a couple of others, but the list is in his cricket pants and its late and I can't remember.

It made for a nice weekend having him so happy. He keeps coming up to me, saying thank you and giving me a kiss. The kiss part isn't unusual, but thank you is!

Quick Trip to Hospital

It was very unexciting.

I was the only one in the Antenatal Day Stay Unit.

Toni was the midwife on duty, she took my blood pressure (143/84) a little bit elevated.
Popped me on the fetal heart rate monitor and I got visions of giving birth to Mark... hooked up to a machine, not being able to get off the bed. Junior Mr Storer's heart rate bounced between 120 and 155 beats per minute and there were several times he got quite active, I had to press a button whenever I felt him move.

Another blood pressure, getting better, still a tiny bit elevated, but that appears to be quite normal for me... my wee (despite Toni telling me was fine) I heard her tell the doc had a "trace of protein" in it.

Foetal monitor came off. Headed upstairs to the pathology for a blood test and another wee test.

Back downstairs for another blood pressure, then the doc came to see me. She was quite nice, said I had "spectacularly swollen feet" and they were quite impressive. My reflexes in my ankles suck because of the swelling. But to go home, rest up, and call is there are any changes in movements, headache, contractions (duh), or flashes in front of my eyes.

Dr Sam will call me with my blood results, if they are normal, back to the midwives on Friday, if they are abnormal... she will devise a plan!

Altogether an interesting day.

Hard to see ultrasound pictures

These are actually from the 30th October almost a month ago now. For some unknown reason we didn't have a "morphology scan" and didn't actually know where the placenta was lying.. now we do.

These are bubby's little arms...



I'm interpreting this to be the "thumbs up" sign.



Ummm... legs I guess, I hope they are not as problematic at his mothers. No RLS for this little chicken.



As it says - heart reate - I'm going with heart rate.




Coloured in picture of the chambers of the heart. I mentioned Roy's heart defect, and the ultrasonographer spent a lot of time looking at my baby's heart. If only it made sense, but I'm guessing its ok.





Other news from today:
Went out to lunch with Toni and Gai from work. Very nice, but Toni and getting home for kids pick up are not quite on the same wave length. The place we went to was ok, service actually sucked. Had to ask twice for coffee, really SLOW and the portion was much too big. I had a pumpkin and pancetta pasta which was lovely, it also had some feta cheese in it, which truth me known I have NEVER tried... well now I have, its bland and not something I'm very interested in. But I can now say I have actually tried it. Its one of those foods like olives or fresh beetroot that I'm just too scared to try! Weird eh?

Collected Mark from school, set out some new rules, had a huge help from a blog reader *Jo* and we have almost agreed to the rules. He managed to go for a bike ride and do it all (except for homework, which is a constant battle) without too much of a fuss.

Nicest sound from today - Mark laughing whilst watching Hamish and Andy today Those two guys have a similar sense of humour to Mark.

Jamie played cricket - they lost - more people from his outdoor team are unhappy with the way the team is being led. I wish they'd just oust the guy and then they can go back to having fun. I'm sick of every part of Jamie's life being difficult... makes all of our lives difficult.

Now for my baking part. I had lots of not so nice apples, so I carmelised them, had some puff pastry in the freezer so made an apple tart. It was very yummy, I just wish I'd made a bit more caramel sauce as the apples ended up a little dry, but a big scoop of ice cream did the trick.

Sunday

HOT HOT HOT.

I got my own way though.... turned the AC on at about 11am and left it on all day.

Mark and I had a bit of *Psych* fest, Jamie surpisingly enough spent most of the day at his computer and because of the extreme heat we had the dogs inside for most of the day.

My main issue at the moment is Mark. He is wanting to be on the internet 24/7. He is on Facebook all of the time, chatting to his school friends, playing Farmville and other varied games on the internet. I had (in my pathetic current state) let it slide, Jamie has been SO busy with work, MyNetHost and web designing that he has not really been very present for the past month. Last night we (J&I) discussed his internet usage and how to curtail it a bit. We came up with about 1 hour per day. Of course when I told Mark this was the new rule, he balked, he balks at everything. He was online quite a bit today, but when going outside is NOT an option and leaving the cool of the lounge room is NOT an option, I think we went quite well, he stopped and started. Did some minor changes to his farm, but not a huge one. Managed to help tidy up the lounge and kitchen and spent a bit more time engaging with the family. Plus I think he enjoyed having the dogs inside.

My challenge is going to be thru the week. As you may or may not be able to see, it is currently 1.10am on Sunday night/Monday morning, so I tend to sleep in. Mark still wakes up about 7am, and lately has not even come in to say good morning, but goes straight to the computer and logs on! When I get up about 8ish it a challenge to get him dressed, breakfasted, lunches made etc. Everything is a drama. I've tried saying OVER AND OVER to be completely ready for school before touching computer. Doesn't work. I know I'm a softie, a huge push over. But short of yelling all the time and threatening, how do I enforce the rules? To be totally honest, I get no help from Jamie. He'll just ban him from everything and then go to the computer and zone out. Its me that has to cope with the tears, the "OMG I hate him", life is so unfair and what can we do?

Jamie is always saying he'll take him over to the nets to practice cricket... but there is always some drama with the computer that takes his attention away. FRUSTRATING.

So my hope is tomorrow for it to be MUCH cooler, that way after school, Mark and I can walk the dogs and unleash some energy before he goes onto the computer.

Now don't get me started on cleaning his room, showering, cleaning teeth, picking up clothes, putting clothes away, going to be on time, feeding the dogs without being told (despite it being his main chore for the past two years), helping around the house in any way shape or form. But looking at his male role model... well I'm not surprised.

Any suggestions out there on how to instill a sense of self and helpful attitude in an 11 year old boy whose life is about to change completely because of a baby brother arriving some time in the next three weeks????? Please help.

Puff the Magic Dragon.

Ok, maybe not....

More just *puffiness* and being totally OVER it. I have odema! My feet up to my mid shin level are filled with fluid and very uncomfortable. My original thoughts were this horrible heat, and it would go away. Heat went away temporarily, but feet remained swollen. I have called the delivery suite suggesting maybe a blood pressure issue (ummm, no), pre-eclampsia (ummm, no), just keep your feet up and keep on drinking water.

My weekly midwives appointments we have long discussions about the swelling and the fact that my blood pressure is slowly and incrimentally increasing.

My appointment on Friday showed a greater than normal increase in BP, some protein and glucose in my wee! OMG. Needed a blood test (has come back normal)

So on Tuesday, I have to go to the antenatal day stay unit for blood pressure checks over a 3 hour period... kinda hope its up so they might induce me.

I hate not being able to function properly, not being able to walk properly, having almost constant reflux and sleeping really poorly without having a baby to feed or change.

I know I'm a bit morose at the moment but it is how I feel.

TWILIGHT

I'm all for a bandwagon. I'm usually pretty late to jump on. If I think its cool, it probably was about 6 months ago.

But this time, my timing is right. I got the Twilight books about the middle of last year. I read the first one in about 2 days. Couldn't put it down, dreamed about Edward, wished for a vampire to bite me to have a romantic story. To be truthful, couldn't stop thinking about it. It took over my day and night for a period of time. Luckily all four books had been released, so on finishing one book, I could rush out to my trusty BigW and get the next one. Loved the first three, HATED the last one. I felt it was TOO long, the characters got so boring and the relationship between Jake and Renesmee was just too creepy. Its quite funny, my sister is currently reading them, and she's on book 4 and finds it very tedious.

Anyway, when the first movie came out late last year, Jamie and I dutifully went along to it. Found it pretty good, embarrassing in places but a good romantic, melodramatic story. Got it on DVD and have watched it a few more times. To be honest I would prefer to re-read them, rather than watch it.

Now the world is in the midst of New Moon fever, it was released at midnight last night. Quite a few I know went to see it at the midnight screening. I think I won't bother until next week. My self esteem issues won't allow me to see a movie on its opening week. Don't ask...

I'm not expecting much from it, but don't think I could see it with true blue Twi-hards.

Just Waiting.

Well I've been home on maternity leave for two almost three weeks now and I'm bored.

Baby is moving beautifully, room is all prepared.

Enthusiasm for life is at an all time low. Not sleeping well enough and that makes Christy a very cranky, uninteresting person.

Anyone up for some pregnancy news.

Well I'm almost 37 weeks preggers now. Although this is what I have wanted for ages, its bloody uncomfortable. My issues are: reflux, dizziness, heat, swelling of ankles, and huge RLS. Quite tired as I'm not sleeping.

The good parts are: feeling him move, the shape although huge is quite beautiful (my fellas don't think so though, "put that away Mum")

I have all the baby stuff I could possibly need, the most gorgeous outfits that I can't wait to put on my new son. He's got 5 towels especially for him. My lovely nappies from www.peapods.com.au that I just love (my goodness I hope we use them well, they are quite exxy but heaps cheaper than disposable).

The room is all set up - just need to move the trundle bed out, and the cupboard.... hmm maybe not quite set up.

My bags for the hospital are all packed.

Our list of phone numbers have been made, so Jamie knows who to call.

Babysitting for Mark is organised.

Health is supposedly good (except for the crap mentioned above)

So there we have it, I really want to meet this baby, and would like to give birth quite soon. Need to come up with a plan to bring it on sooner rather than later. All good though.

What I'd like to be able to do.

This is seriously a just for fun post... whilst waiting for my sunflowers to grow. Not sure what I'll get to, but I'll number them.

1. Wear high heels. I'm a flats girl, but love the look of heels, but I get the wobbles and its thoroughly embarrassing, so I choose not to be taller.



2. Write a book. Not a great literary feat, but just a book of some description. Maybe I'll do it one day, will have to attempt it first.


3. Be tidy. Well this one is a possibility, not a probability.

4. Be able to sing. I hate the sound of my voice, but really enjoy singing to myself. Even Mark tells me to be quiet when I sing. He will have to get used to it again when Junior arrives.

5. Be able to sew. I'd love to patchwork, make clothes, understand the mechanics of curtain making, knit and crochet. I'd love to be artistic.. but alas just not me.




So there you have, just for fun. Some stuff I'd like to do.

Preparations.

Trust me, I'm not doing very well.

Good:

1. Baby's room is almost done (just need to get trundle bed out of the room), but the cot is set up, change table set up.
2. Clothes washing is almost under control.
3. Dinner for tonight is planned.
4. My bed is made.

Bad:

1. Need to make curtains for the kitchen and baby's room, no enthusiasm to do it.
2. Need to pack "going to hospital bag"
3. Need to organise baby's clothes and give him a chest of drawers (ie finish kitchen)
4. Need to vacuum / mow / clean bathroom
5. Need to move telly out of bedroom so baby can have chest of drawers

Actually that doesn't sound too bad.

Today involves going to the physio... two weeks ago I fell over at Jesmond Shops and twisted my left ankle and most likely landed on my right knee as well. I remember the pain in my ankle, but residual pain in knee is worse. Well I was hoping it would recover on its own, but alas no. Two weeks later it still hurts to kneel, doing everything else is ok, but kneeling is a problem. This has potential to be a huge problem as I am due to give birth soon and really like the look of kneeling whilst birthing.

I want to finish up my curtains - the kitchen ones only need hemming, but my cutting technique is pretty wonky. Baby's room curtains need to be cut out and made from scratch.

I want to tidy up this office, its a total OH&S disaster. I'll allocate myself to be the OH&S officer for MyNetHost and fix it up.

I'm attempting to learn the family business, so that all of it is not on Jamie's shoulders. If I can answer the easy questions it will take the pressure off of him.

Hopefully our new camera will come today and then my blog will be more interesting with lovely photos. Yesterday we got our buffet for the kitchen. These two items are wedding presents :)

I tagged myself. How sad.

What to do to get our emptying the dishwasher!!

1. Where is your cell phone: On the kitchen bench being a cake timer.

2. Your hair: Its in a really daggy pigtail today.

3. Your mother: Love her dearly. Talk to her several times a day. Is my confidante and most probably my best friend.

4. Your father: Is a strange man, has improved so much with age. He's an avid walker, reader and sport watcher! He is just the most amazing grandfather, so much patience.

5. Your favorite food: As I said in my antenatal classes, my favourite food is sweet, I don't care for savoury.

6. Your dream from last night: That would mean I slept.. which I didn't. I dozed.

7. Your favorite drink: Coke Zero. Of an alcoholic variety, I'm dreaming about Cointreau next month.

8. Your dream/goal: to be a stay at home mum and lead an interesting life.

9. What room are you in: the horendous computer room. Otherwise known at dumping paradise.

10. What is your hobby: Currently baking. I have a pink buttercake in the oven at the moment. Its by far the easiest cake in the world to make. Want the recipe??

2cups sr flour

2cups sugar

250g softened butter/margarine

4tablespoons custard powder

4 eggs

1 cup milk

dash of vanilla

Mix with beaters for 5-10 minutes. Put in a big rectangle cake tin and bake at 180C for one hour.

I added some pink food colouring, just to keep me entertained.

11. What is your fear: Night time, my insomnia is pretty horrendous at the moment, that I'm starting to dread going to bed. Oh and the usual of being assaulted.

12. Where were you last night: On the couch, watching telly and playing farmville.

13. Something you are not: Extroverted.

14. Muffins: yes I have a muffintop. Oh I guess I like muffins.

15. Wish list items: To have baby asap. Not be pregnant anymore. Have two healthy, handsome and nice boys.

16. Where did you grow up: Downtown Templestowe... oh I miss it.

17. Last thing you did: Made cake as mentioned previously. Played Farmville.

18. What are you wearing: Really???? Dorky maternity top, 3/4 pants, no shoes and an apron (I wash my hands too much and need to dry them)

19. Your TV: I love my big screen plasma. Wish our set top box was in the lounge, I really don't like watching telly in bed, I can't get comfortable.

20. Your pets: I have two great dogs, Charlie the lab and Skye the half blind kelpie. We have fish, but I'm doing my best to kill them (oops I mean not to kill them, we had an alkalinity issue in the past week)

21. Your friends: Mainly my family and I have some fab work friends. Must do my best to keep in touch, I have a big issue of not trying.

22. Your life: Quiet. I'm a homebody. Loving being Jamie's wife, Mark's mum and carrying #2 (but want him to come SOON)

23. Your mood: A bit fragile at the moment.

24. Missing someone: My mum. Miss the fellas when they are not around as well.

25. Vehicle: piece of shit Commodore which got egged on Halloween (despite giving lollies to everyone know knocked even if they weren't in costume and it being a North American holiday, not Australian), keyed and screwdrivered in the last week. 4WD which has run out of AC gas and today is 38C according to my computer temperature gauge.

26. Something you’re not wearing: Shoes

27. Your favorite store: Target!

28. Your favorite color:

Pink

29. When’s the last time you laughed:

Mark makes me laugh daily.

30. When’s the last time you cried:

Yesterday... actually this morning about 5am, see I'm fragile at the moment.

31. Your best friend:

Mum.

32. One place you go over and over: School???

33. One person who emails me regularly:

My dad, but his emails are too big and block up my inbox, so I told him to stop.

34. Favorite place to eat:

Home

35. Where do you want to be in 6 years: At home with my then 17year old son (holy shit), my 6 year old son and our other random child that has come along. Jamie is working in our business full time and we're rolling in money! yearly holidays would be lovely.

16th October 2009 - Jamie and Christy got married..

Life has sure changed (but remained the same) for me around here.

16th October, Jamie and I got married. I should record the details for prosperity. To be totally honest, it was very anti-climatic. We eloped, booked into the registry office about 6 weeks prior.

I was working heaps leading up to the 16th, did 5 late shifts in a row, including the night before!

Jamie's family had been visiting, they helped tweak my dress, Margie made the wedding cake, we got some flowers from Jo for the kitchen table to make the room look festive. It was actually very nice. On the Thursday, I realised I had no shoes, just assumed I'd wear the shoes from being Connie's bridemaid, but as I was actually 7 months pregnant on my wedding day, my feet have swelled up a bit, so those shoes didn't fit. So an emergency trip to the 24hr KMart on my way home from work, saw me pick up some very cute gold ballet flats.

Woke up on my wedding morning with all the usual jitters, it was such a strange feeling. On a side bar, I think the main cause of the jitters has to do with my previous almost wedding which was 12 years prior and in very similar circumstances. All was planned, just needed some witnesses, then I rang my sister to tell her what was happening and she talked me out of it. Vincent couldn't find anyone to be our witnesses and we called it off just minutes before hand. I think in the back of my mind, maybe I was expecting Jamie to do that same thing... all I can say is sorry Jamie, you two are not carved from the same stone.

Got myself all made up - and I'm not good at make up at all. We then realised that maybe we'd like some photos of the day (brain power is not our strong point). My digi camera is a pissy little 3 megapixel which takes dodgy photos and kills batteries by looking at them. So we decided that Jamie's canon SLR would be a better option.... FILM, who sells film these days??? The wedding was booked in for 10am, so we left just after 9 to find a shop that sells film (not in the service stations, but found a camera shop on Beaumont Street). THEN we were over half an hour early. The registry office said not to bother showing up to just a couple minutes prior, otherwise we'd just have to sit in the waiting room with the people registering their kids births etc... often ferals.

So the three of us - Jamie, Mark and I - went to Gloria Jeans on Beaumont for a coffee. Well Jamie had a coffee, and I just felt sick. Thought I was going to throw up and time just stood still for half an hour.

Our witnesses - Jason and Terese and their two boys from our football club - were running a little late, because very surprisingly there was traffic in Newcastle!!!

We crossed the road, bumped into our friend Rebecca. Then went into the registry office. Then we went into the tiny office and Kerrie the marriage celebrant calmed us all down. We had to check some documents to make sure the spelling was all correct (it was), then we had to stand and face each other and to the "repeat after me" portion. Mark got the giggles during Jamie's part, but I must agree it did sound weird. It was very nice, shame I can't remember the vows we made to each other, but it was in the spirit of partnership and loyalty. Jamie was asked to kiss the bride in front of other people, something we just don't do! Then we signed (as Jamie would put it) our life away. I finally became Mrs Christy Storer.

15 minutes later, we were out of there! Went back to Gloria Jeans had another coffee, I had one this time. Had a huge chat and laugh about how quick it all was and much more cost effective than a huge shindig. Then we headed for the foreshore for a little walk, followed by lunch. Being the school holidays there was a fair on at Nobby's beach, so the boys had a ride on the Dodgem Cars and we had a little walk around.

The Wedding Breakfast (as mum would like it to be called) was held at the Paymasters Cottage which was very nice, but maybe just a little bit "restauranty" for us. Jamie had fish, I had a super yummy salad of chicken and Marko had the "best meal of his life" garlic prawns. The waiter was lovely, and made it a nice occasion.

And then.... it was over!

Illness - of a canine variety

What a stressful weekend. ** Warning graphic content in parts of this post**

As you may (or may not know) we have two lovely dogs, that is Charlie on the left, we got her as a puppy back in 2001 for Christmas when we first moved in together as a family. About 6 months after we moved to Newcastle we *acquired* Skye on the right from a work colleague of mine who was moving to an apartment in Sydney. Jamie and I were both working full time and Mark had started school so it was time for Charlie to have a companion. They have been inseparable since. They are both now 8 years old and are really good dogs, don't fight, behave themselves, eat well and are very healthy.

Over the last couple of years they have been a bit of an after thought. They are truly outside dogs, amuse themselves and get exercised... well sometimes. I keep thinking that we should give them up to the RSPCA, but then vow to walk them more and spend more time with them. We always decide that we love our dogs and they are apart of our family.

This past weekend has proven this. Skye got sick. Saturday morning at some point his eye became inflamed. We all went out in the morning and when we got home, Mark went into the back yard to find something and told Jamie that Skye's eye looked yucky. Jamie was busy cutting wood for our kitchen, so didn't really react. I came outside soon afterwards and Mark told me, I took one look at the eye and my immediate thought was "YUCK" followed by what the hell can I do, I'm not good with human eyes, (I hate doing eye drops at work, have had a couple of patients with glass eyes and they disgust me), so off to the emergency room for animals on Saturday afternoon we went. ($150 to walk in the door and then it goes up).



The vet was 39 weeks pregnant!!! She gave it a good look at, followed by some antibiotic cream, and we had to go home to bathe it in saline and put the cream in twice a day. Skye got progressively sicker, hardly able to lift his gorgeous head, every time I went outside, he came and rested his head on my knee with a look that said "Help me mummy". Phoned the vet again last night (Sunday about 8,30pm) cos it was looking worse, really red and very painful looking. She didn't think it was an emergency, but to go to the local vet on Monday morning.

We were able to get the 8.30am appointment at my local vet this morning, he looked very concerned. He felt it was a retro-orbital abscess (ie, infection behind his eye) and that he'd need a general anaesthetic for a better look and that he may lose his eye altogether. Dr Smith called back about midday saying there was no obvious cause of the infection at the front of the eye (scratch, injury, seeds) and that his original thought of it being the retro-orbital abscess was the most likely. We could treat it conservatively with antibiotics with a 10-15% chance of success (they are NOT good odds), but the likelihood of it tracking back causing meningitis and ultimately death was too high. The best option he thought was to remove the eyeball and clean out behind it. So that is what we have done. Dr Smith called back about an hour later saying that we had made the correct decision, the infection behind his eye was HUGE, and he would have lost the eye at some point. He is on the way to a full recovery. He has stitched up his eye socket and should be good as gold again soon. Supposedly dogs do very well with vision only in one eye (the only one he has now).


My poor puppy, what a weekend. Its amazing how your thoughts turn to cost when faced with a vet bill. It will cost about $1200 all up by the end of it (I hope), but the thought of losing him is just a bit much. If it had been cancer, and he'd need radiotherapy or chemo... well that is a different story. Dr Smith says he'll be back to his old self in a few days, may be a bit disorientated until he realises that he can't see out of his right side, but will recover well. Need to call them back in about an hour to see how the anaesthetic is wearing off.

09:09:09

How totally cool is that?
I was part of the ABC radio up here's listener event of taking a photo of whatever you were doing at 9.09am this morning. Hmmm.... I was Facebooking. But I took my photo of it.
I remember recently when it was 12:34:56pm on 07/08/09 once again the numbers lined up 123456789 (albeit with some zeros)

Today I've been baking, made a small batch of cupcakes as I'm gonna miss Friday morning tea at work this week and Jamie has a football meeting, so I'll provide a few cakes. Also made a spagetti bolognaise. Hopefully it will be nice, starting to smell pretty damned good.

Nothing else to report.

Internet Haunts.

I think I mentioned that I'd talk about my favourite blogs/internet sites on my last post.


1.

This one is very new to me, actually from my ski holiday and I'm totally addicted. So pleased that Alicia posts very regularly. My favourite thing about this site is the cupcakes! She does a poll each week asking what flavour cupcake she should make the following week, and is working through the alphabet. Last week she made an Anzac Biscuit type one using Quick Oats, this week will be Raspberries (looking forward to that one), must remember to go back and make the lemon ones. She also looks through Flickr and Etsy and picks out gorgeous things to look at. Quite jealous of her drive and dedication to her blog.







2.
This one by Elsie Flannagan is an old favourite of mine. Elsie is sort of a scrapbooker, that is where I first found her, but now she is an independent artist and altogether odd girl. She is quite eccentric and I really enjoy that about her. I'd love to have one of her paintings, which are cartoon girls, she could make it of me... I keep thinking about getting one commissioned but as she lives in Missouri, postage to get it here as well as its actual cost might be a bit exxy. When we do our USA road trip, I hope to her shop Red Velvet Art is still going so I can pop in!







3.
The next two are my sister's blogs. Sheena Time and Roy Time. Not sure why she doesn't just combine the two and keep it more regular. I will have to get her to make a banner! I like keeping up to date with the kids photos, I know what's going on in their life, just like seeing them. Cute little munchikins.







4.This is a picture of Olivia Wild (she's on the OC) but the website is called "Go Fug Yourself" and I think its brilliant. Its written my two american girls who critique celebrities clothing/style. It can be bitchy, but really its just what we are all thinking. Another reason NOT to be a celebrity. There are about 4-5 posts each weekday (American Time) so there is always something to read. This week the Daytime Emmy's were on, so all the soap stars got a real flogging. FUN.






5.Another oldie, but favourite. The message board at Blue Bazaar has slowed down heaps over the past year, but I still check it out about once a week. Put my two cents in. Its all about scrapbooking and other paper crafts. But it is more about the friendship and the community. They are a bunch of women who I know, but have never met. I was able to talk about my problems with fertility and then spread the good news when I finally became pregnant, they are all very supportive. There have been some good stoushes at times, but that was only to do with politics (quite funny). I dont' really care much for scrapbooking any more, but still enjoy the community.







6. This one is a real heart breaker. Tammy is the mother of Parker a boy with multiple special needs and health concerns. Makes me so happy to be Australian and have access to health care. Its quite emotional reading, and to be truthful she can be a bit annoying (very Mormon and *thankful* of everything) but a good read just the same.





I'll have to leave it at six. I also haunt Facebook (obviously) and the ABC Newcastle website, but they don't really need any reviews. When shows such as the Biggest Loser or Masterchef are on, I hang on those sites.

10 Things I Love

As I have no original ideas...


1. My lovely new iPhone. I'm totally addicted to it, well to be exact, I'm totally addicted to Solitaire. Mark is enjoying downloading free applications which is very fun. Keeps him amused and reduces my battery life BIG time.
2. My growing belly. Totally in love with my pregnant body. I don't have any photos of me yet, but I'm now 23 (or 24) weeks preggers and certainly look it. (That is NOT my stomach, but a picture I found on Google Images)

3. Looking for baby supplies. All I really need is a cot. I want a white one and the decor will be our white wardrobe, and our blue painted chest of drawers, which shall double as the change table to start with.

4. Cloth nappies, I'm pretty certain that I'll use cloth. Still checking in with people I know as to which sort I'll get. I used fold your own cloth ones with Marko and he turned out ok. Our summer is really hot and good drying weather, so I reckon I should just bite the bullet and do it.

5. Facebook. Not necessarily a love, but a true addiction. I really enjoy reading everyone's status update and checking out their photos. Every so often I shall partake in a word game, which I'm REALLY bad at.

6. Food. Not just any food, but really bad food. Current loves are chocolate milkshakes, peanut butter and jam sandwiches and cake. Really need to get into fruit again. I went to the Jesmond Fruit Barn this morning and got some strawberries and apples (along with other stuff), so hopefully I will enjoy them as well.

7. Baking. Mainly cakes and cupcakes, along with the occasional slice. Still not a fan of savoury cooking, possibly because my family is not very supportive of what I cook. Everyone likes cupcakes :)

8. Our growing business. I'm SO happy that MyNetHost is going so well. Jamie has put 300% into this business for the last two years and its going so well at the moment.

9. My new kitchen. This is a labour of love. Anyone who knows me in real life knows what trial this one has been. As I have been bypassed of all renovation genes, its up to poor Jamie to do it all himself. He has built cupboards, redesigned the configuration, regyprocked walls and polished the floor boards. Finally we can see the end, all left to do is actually a huge list but its nearing the finish line. Main jobs include getting the new cupboard doors and finishing off the island bench. Already its beautiful and completely functional, just need those finishing touches. Hmm... to find a photo of our kitchen could be quite problematic, so I'll go with another Google image that looks nothing like our kitchen, but is black and white :)

10. Television. Yes it remains something that I love. I think I have cut down a bit which is a brilliant thing, but really do enjoy *my programs*.

So there you have, I found 10 things that I love and found pictures to match. That is really quite time consuming and I really don't know how Elsie does it every few days. Must trawl the net more frequently for it. I'll do a post next on the blogs I love.

General Updates.

The ski holiday was pretty damned good.
We went to Merrijig which is right next to Mt Buller. We had a lovely house that we shared with the Storer-Dunn family and the Waters family. The guys and the Waters family went skiing most days and had a good time. I hung out at the house with Connie and Toby. It was lovely spending time with her again and meeting the new nephew. He's a great little fella.

Jamie attemped to snowboard, after a day and a quarter he decided it was too painful and went back to skiing. Marko did really well with snowboarding... i loved his comment "I'm so good at snowboarding, I can do everything except stop". His version of stopping was to fall over (I beleive that it is quite common for boarders to fall). He improved out of sight once his instructor informed us his board was too big for him and got a smaller one (I told Jamie it was too big, but what do I know???)

I went walking on the first day when it was raining and sleeting. Absolutely awful. But now it is just a memory. So I'm so glad that I went up Mt Buller, just such a shame that I couldn't ski. Maybe next year I'll be able to. We have already sort of planned next year's ski trip to possibly Mt Hotham.

Then had a few days down in Melbourne with the family. Nice to be with Mum & Dad. Seeing Jo, Sheena and Roy again. The kids are growing up so fast and are terribly cute. Unfortunately they both had pretty icky colds... there sure was a lot of snot!

Coming home was a bit of a drag. LONG drive only with Mark. We drove the first day all the way to Canberra. LEft Melbourne at 7am and arrived in the capital about 4ish. We were so tired we just stayed at the motel, in bed at 6pm and watched Foxtel! The next day (Friday) we went to Telstra Tower, a look out over Canberra, it was actually very very nice. Then we went to the War Memorial, much more emotional than I would have thought. I think having a child makes war more real... if it was 100 year ago, it is only 6 years away from the first world war, there fore I was thinking Mark would have gone to WWI, made me almost cry. Only stayed for just over an hour but was still very emotional.

Still sick.

Yuck.

I'm fed up with coughing. I'm tired and exhausted.

We're leaving soon (well in the next 7 hours) to go to the snow. We're almost all packed. Just need to get a few more clothes, gloves and well not much else.

On holiday.

Seriously not much happening. I have cold, a nasty one, mum keeps saying its "Swine Flu". Gee I hope not. We're off to the snow in a couple of days. I need to recuperate so the house is satisfactory before going away, plus I need to pack.

Today I collected our bench top for the kitchen. Can't wait for Jamie to come home now so we can bring it in and look at it. Its quite beautiful. It was only $625, so bloody cheap too.

Our car was detailed on Saturday, its gorgeous as well. Well worth having done.

Jamie bought Marko a snow board on the weekend. Not really worthwhile as it doesn't come with bindings and bindings are very expensive. I wish he'd discussed it with me first. But he did get some gloves, thermals and goggles. He's a happy little camper.

Not doing anything at the moment, just being sick.

All is good with "little Gilford" the amnio tests all came back very good, no chromosomal problems at all. Seems to be growing well, just waiting on some movements... damnit little fella kick your mother.

Leaving for our road trip on Friday, the lovely Kathryn is caring for our dogs and we'll be heading down the F3 to Sydney then the Hume to Melbourne. Very much looking forward to it.

Well just a little catch up.

3rd April 2009.

I'm late! I've been late for about a week. Do I risk it and do a test? Every time I do that my period comes later that day. But today I caved and bought a test. Went to the loo at Jesmond Shopping Centre whilst Jamie was having a haircut. THERE WERE TWO LINES!!! I've only ever had one line before (except for when I had Mark of course). That's when I started shaking. Jamie didn't respond too good, I think I shocked him by showing him at the shopping centre. Its so exciting, quite unbelievable actually. After 2.5 years of trying, thinking about IVF, it finally happened, and naturally too. I know I'm only 3 weeks pregnant, but I hope it will all be good. No miscarriage, no health issue. A happy and healthy pregnancy followed by an easy birth then a great baby!




5th April, 2009.

What do I do about my drugs? In my heart I know its safe, but is it worth the risk? I don't think so. I'll go on Monday to Dr Singh and talk with her. No issues so far. Haven't felt sick - nothing.


Fast forward to today 12th June, 2009.
I'm now 14.5 weeks pregnant and I forgot to do any more diary entries... oh dear I won't make a world renowned diarist. I think later on the day of writing the 5th of April post, I actually checked on the internet and found that gabapentin is quite harmful during pregnancy, causes bone defects. Stopped it that day (actually got Jamie to hide them from me). I suffered with my restless legs for about a week, and then it disappeared. No real problems. Now I have the RLS for about 1 hour each night, but it goes away once I'm in bed - weird.
I've told most people that I'm preggas and have had some really great reactions. The best were my dad (WOOHOO) and Marko he was so excited.

I've had two scans now, got the very cute profile photo from the ultrasound. Bought a couple of baby books. Have booked into the Yemaya midwives group at John Hunter. Yemaya is something to do with the Caribbean and childbirth (will have to do some research about that and get back to you) and its essentially for women who've had a cesaerean section previously to get all the facts on birthing the next time.

does one require another list of randomness?

Just stealing some ideas from Elsie's blog.
So, here we go......

Q: Where do you go shopping? All your fun clothes and hair accessories?
A: Ok this does not apply to me at all. My main clothes are from Hunter Health, my uniform.

Q: Here's my random question...what is your favorite emotion other than
happiness? :) Very random, huh?
A. Excitement, like the night before Christmas, my birthday or going on holiday. Like when you can't sleep, but that's ok cos you're excited.

Q: hmmm... What is you favorite flavor of ice cream? the moment of
truth ;]
A: I had a Chocolate Mousse Royal tonight from an ice cream shop in Hamilton, it was sublime.


Q: In your travels, what is one of or the funniest thing you've ever seen?
A: Not sure if its funny, but being in Dubai back in 2000 and seeing women walking through the airport in full hajib and the sexiest shoes I have ever seen... what is that about? I'm a woman and I was turned on by her feet, didn't need to see her hair.

Q: A random question: where did you fit in in high school?
A: I loved high school, still do. I certainly wasn't a cool kid, a sporty kid or a nerdy kid. I was just plain ordinary I think. Always wore jeans to school, I had the canvas bag with graffiti all over it (gee I was cool). I was remincing the other day with Mark about how we used to sit in the corridor with our legs stretched out... talking. Having chip rolls for lunch and neenish tarts. Ahhh school was great, shame we have to grow up.

Q: What is your favorite Autumn (Fall) tradition or activity that you did as a kid or now?
A: NO idea. I guess kicking leaves.

Q: if you could have a comic-book-style *superpower* what would it be?!
A: Flying, who would want to fly. One day I WILL fly an aeroplane.. Jamie says he's gonna build one (this year, but he says that every year)


Q: If you can choose one (famous) person to take a photo of, who would
that be and why?
A: Who would want me taking pictures??? As an excuse to meet Jon Bon Jovi, I'll take his picture.


Q: Caramel apples or candied apples?
A: I like the idea of caramel apples,but have never tried.

Q: If your going to choose one scrapbooking -brand as your all-time
favorite, and one as your favorite right now, what would it be?
A: I like the classic style of 7 Gypsies and really enjoyed using Basic Grey. But I haven't scrapped in about 2 years now. Quite sad really. It was a hobby that I loved. Hopefully I'll go back to it one day.

Q: What's the one song that you just LOVE to jam to while you're driving in your car? ;)
A: I have to sing FULL VOLUME "Pictures of You" by The Last Goodnight

*** HOW DO I PUT A YOUTUBE VIDEO IN? ***

Q: do you prefer solid undies or patterned undies?
A: Anything pink with a patterned

Q: What is your perfect day?
A: Having fun as a whole family. It doesn't happen terribly often, but when we are all laughing. I don't care if it only lasts for 5 mintues, its a beautiful feeling.

Q: If you were to give birth to twins today- (1 boy & 1 girl) What would
you name them??
A: Hamish and Audrey. But I can't do that, cos it sounds like Hamish and Andy... crap I will have to come up with a new boys name. I have always liked Edward, but can't use that because of Twilight, I really like Harry, but Harry Potter... I think I can live with Harry and Audrey.

Q: What is your life word? The word that defines your life.
A: Unfortunately it seems to be STRESS. I would like it to be INVITING.

Q:This is always a fun one, especially as an ice breaker... What was the
first music concert you attended? 
I would share mine, but it is a
A: I'm so proud of this one. I was 13 and totally loved Bon Jovi. I convinced Mum & Dad to let me go, so I went with Anneliese Freidl and we were chaperoned by Ruth Sandy, who was a music teacher and a member of our church. She thought it would be a good musical experience for her. We were right up the back of the Melbourne Entertainment Centre which in hindsight is quite a small venue and it was marvellous. I am actually picturing it now and it was brilliant. I'm so hoping that they will do another tour to Australia and I can take Mark to see them.

Q: Did you have a career before nursing?
A; Would never call it a career, but I was a Medical Laboratory Technician. I spent my days from when I was 19-23 either sorting urine or preparting poo or vaginal specimens. I became the poo queen, well me and a totally scary witch called Allison, she was so tiny and scary. I would "plate" the specimens onto a culture medium and then look at them under a microscope looking for parasites, yeast or blood. Gee it was a good job. I was moved into the immunology depeartment looking a blood sample for pregnancy screening of rubella, syphillis, arthritis type illnesses and some herpes. None of which is good to talk about over dinner. My family (Dad, Jo and I) owe quite a bit to Melbourne Pathology.

Q: if you could live any day over, and change nothing, what would it be?
A: The romance and excitement of meeting Mark's dad. Despite the outcome for me personally, it was a magical day. Without that day, I would never have had Mark, or gotten to meet Jamie.

Q: do you like hedgehogs and/or gnomes?
A: Freaky creatures both of them. Can't stand gnomes.

Q: What has influenced/inspired you the most in the last month or so?
A: The Biggest Loser. These people have lost 30kg+ in two months, why can't I lose 5kg in 3 months. I'm off track at the moment, I must get back on. I don't like my size and want to have the results of training. Maybe I should do some exercise? I'm so excited this week is MAKE OVER WEEK.

Q: What do you eat for breakfast?
A: This week I'm eating a new All Bran. Its surprisingly YUMMY. I love porridge, eggs, muesli with yogurt, pancakes. I'm a big fan of breakfast.

Q: So, do you have plans to come out with any idea/inspiration books?
A: Why what a strange question. I'd love to write a book, I reckon I could do a murder mystery. But it I were ever to actually write a book, it would be a conversational one with some recipes. Maybe I should start wriitng now..

Q: What is your favorite type of food.
sushi???
A: Meat and salad. CHOCOLATE. I'd love to like healthy stuff, but I don't.

Q: Early Bird or Night Owl???
A: Well it is 1.34am, so I guess night owl, comes from chronic insomnia and restless leg syndrome.

Q: Which T.V. show are you looking forward to the most this week?
A: The Biggest Loser! Underbelly, Packed to the Rafters and All Saints (loving the re-runs that i missed when I wasn't into medical dramas)

Q: What is your guiltiest pleasure?
A: Nutella off the spoon. Heaven.

Q: Do you go looking for funky colored walls as backdrops for your photos?
A: Must go to Kotara and take soem funky photos. Maybe we'd look good. Hmmm maybe not.

Q: name 3 random things you've bought from a store recently
A: Today I stopped at K-mart. Bought a small suitcase, warm parka for Mark and tissues. All for his school camp to Canberra that starts tomorrow.


Q: What is your favorite cupcake flavor?!?!?! :D :D
A: Plain vanilla, but can't wait for my new kitchen so I can cook up a storm and make HEAPS of cupcakes.

Q: Where do you get your photos developed??
A: Not for ages, but Hardly Normal gave good photos and BigW was totally shit.

Q: What's in your handbag? 

A: Tonnes of receipts (I never throw them out), lots of pens, my phone, wallet, prescriptions, handcreams, my ipod *I hope* keys, coins, safety goggles, work ID. So much shit and I can never find my keys.

Q: coffee or tea???
A: Coffee, but when I'm sick I'd love a cuppa tea.

Q: what is your favorite fast food?
A: McDonald's. I know, I know.

Q: What's making you the happiest right now?
A: Mark's new attitude. Talking to my mum. Jamie laughing. My tidy house. Planning our skiing trip. Improving our home.

Q: If you were given the choice tomorrow to live anywhere in the world for one month your only requirement is to learn the art of that culture where would it be?
A: Italy, by art can that mean the cuisine? I'd love to have the enthusiasm to cook italian from scratch

Q: Where is the one place that you feel most inspired?
A: Ikea or Bunnings.

Q: What television show was your favorite when you were a little kid?
Like about 5 or 6 years old.
A: Maybe The Brady Bunch. To be truthful, I don't know.

Q: Is your life exciting, fun, adventurous? Tell us a little bit about your day to day life that
we don't see!
A: SO boring. I watch far too much TV for a human being to actually admit to. Is there a club for addicts? Facebook. Making tea. Thinking about food and whether I should have another glass of water. Some days I fit shift work in as well. Doing these night shifts totally fuck me over. Oh well, such is the life of a nurse.