Isnt it exciting when bubby takes their first steps?

Our little man has been standing on his own and pushing himself into a standing position from the floor for about a month now. He always gives himself a clap when he stands up which is just so cute. He took 2 steps in our living room 3 weeks ago to our Pastor, but hasnt tried since. He loves walking holding my hand or daddys, and he kind of runs which is cute. Last week he was walking around the house holding onto furniture and walls and when he got back to the living room he let go of the table and walked 2 steps to me.

Wont be long now, I dont think   

At a local Westfield shopping centre they decided to start a mums and bubs group which is held on the last Tuesday of each month, the first one was in February.

To be honest it is a ploy to get you to listen to sales pitches from retailers in the centre (alot of it isnt even baby related) but its only $5 and you get an hour of relaxing with coffee and cake while your little ones play supervised or listen to stories. They do give you a little goodie bag which is mostly advertising junk but the magnetic photo frame from Pumpkin Patch is cute.

Anyhoo, after the first event which was hugely popular, I was contacted by marketing staff at the centre and asked if I would do an interview for the local newspaper about the group. I said yes not realising what I was getting into, Im kind of shy. A few days later a photographer arrived at my house and took some photos of bub and myself for the article and I was interviewed about the group by a journalist from the paper.

The following week I chased up a copy (it isnt the paper in our local area) and was a bit taken aback by the size of the article. The front page of their Life section had a huge photo of me and bub with the caption A Star Is Born and what an awful photo of me it was. Bubby looked gorgeus though. Inside was the article and yes they edited it and changed slightly what I said but too much and another smaller photo.

At church on the Sunday a few copies were floating around which was kind of embarrassing, Im not much of an attention type person. But the nice people at Westfield sent me a $30 gift card for doing the interview and spreading the word about the group which was nice of them.

I believe this is the only Westfield doing it at this time but you never know, its so successful I dont think it will be long before the others start them up too.    

I suppose the best blog to start with would be my first birth experience, it wasnt ideal for the first pregnancy but it all worked out in the end. My GP had insisted my baby was very large and the antenatal doctor at the hospital insisted he was too small. In total I had 5 ultrasounds for this pregnancy and they couldnt agree!

I'll skip the preliminaries and get to my 41st week of pregnancy. I went in for my check up at the hospital and the doctor I saw said he would try and stretch the cervix to bring on labour. OW OW OW. It did nothing but hurt alot (not to mention the indignity of a heavily pregnant woman trying to get off the examination table LOL)  and he also booked me in for an induction in 2 days time. I went in for the induction at 6pm like I was told. Luckily I had dinner at 5 before I left. I was put on some machines and left on a bed where I stayed for an hour waiting for a doctor. She said the cervix was ready and would be back shortly. An hour later a differant doctor came and said the cervix was tightly closed and this baby wasnt coming out tonight. They attempted another cervix stretching and said they would get me a room for the night and try the induction at 6am. I had a room all to myself with its own bathroom which was nice. At 9pm the midwife on duty told my husband to leave and come back at 6am. She left and I got into my PJs and settled onto the bed, feeling a little nervous but very tired. At 10 the most indescribable pain (we're all mums here so you all know what I mean)  hit me and it came every 5 minutes. I rang the bell nobody came. The pain in my back was the worst and I couldnt stand, sit or lie down with comfort. I rang the bell again - nothing. I finally walked up the aisle of the corridor looking for a nurse. I found the midwife who ordered me back to bed, she followed me with 2 panadol (paracetamol for those not in Australia) and a sleeping pill. I spent the night trying to sleep but the regular contractions were just so painful. I discovered the shower took the edge off a bit so I spent alot of time in there waiting for the next wave of pain. I went back to the bed and leaned over it trying to ease the pain in my back mostly. The contractions became more and more regular and I went looking for the midwife again who told me quite rudely to "go sleep it off". I stayed in the room and watched the clock waiting for the next wave of contractions and counting the hours until my husband arrived. I saw nobody for the rest of the night, not one nurse or midwife. And to answer the question some of you may have right now - the midwife did not ring my husband to tell him I was in labour that night.  At 5:30am the midwife came in and asked what time my husband was coming and I told her 6. She grabbed my bag and said follow me and I had to follow her to the birth suite with contractions coming every 2 minutes. She dumped my bag and left. There was a doctor there who instructed me on the gas, I didnt ask for gas! In fact I was yet to be asked what pain relief I wanted. She then left. The gas made me sick and really did nothing. My husband eventually arrived and he was not very happy nobody had rung him the night before. A nurse had to try and find me by going from birth suite to birth suite because the midwife had gone home and nobody knew where she had put me. The pain was just unbearable. The midwife assisting me arrived and after a chat with hubby was horrified what happened the night before. So far my labour had lasted 8 hours. For the next 5 hours I tried to give birth to my baby but nothing was happening. When I asked when I could have the epidural the midwife was disgusted nobody offered me pain nrelief the night before, it was now too late. I had to stand because of the back pain  (back labour is horrible isnt it?)  Finally after 5 hours of pushing he called in a doctor who did an internal. I stand corrected - that was the most painful thing!  I had no idea when my water broke but she said it was long gone which wasnt helping matters, I guess it was sometime when I was in the shower so I didnt notice while I was hanging off the bar in agonising pain! She checked my blood pressure and said we need a C section NOW! My blood pressure was through the roof, I hadnt eaten in 17 hours, had not one wink of sleep the night nefore and my baby was severely distressed. I was wheeled in and they - believe it or not - gave me a pethidine shot for the pain until I got to the theatre for surgery. Bizarre things C sections.......you are wide awake and aware of everything yet you cant feel a thing. Hubby had to wait outside until I was prepped and they gave him a disclaimer about death being a possibility. Great thing to give a worried first time dad! He came in and could see the whole proceedure in the lights above me. My beautiful son was born and promptly peed on the surgeons.......couldnt have done it better myself LOL He was a healthy 4kg and 55cm long. Aftercare was terrible. Because of surgery I had to wear heated massage pad things which had me strapped to the bed and meant I couldnt get out of bed plus I had a catheter.  I was in a single room again which was nice and quiet but the nurse on duty not only put my babys little bed on the other side of the room but also my water!  I rang and rang and finally someone would come and be quite annoyed all I wanted was my baby or a drink of water. I cant get out of the bed! Most calls were ignored altogether but come nightime they came every 2 hours (on the surgeons orders) to check my blood pressure. I missed out on my first meal which was lunch after surgery and by the time dinner came that night I was starving!  All I could have was custard and stewed fruit. I am starving here! I asked for a sandwich and was told absolutely not its dangerous. I got one anyway from a nurse who felt sorry for me and I am just fine. I endured the next 2 days with the midwives who believe the way to solve breastfeeding difficulties is to grab your breast in one hand and the babys head in the other and try and force them toether. I told them I thought there was something wrong with my supply. They said there wasnt. In fact for several weeks after he was born I spoke to childcare nurses and midwives and they all inisisted its normal to have very little milk, just keep feeding it will come in. My son was starving. I gave him formula to supplement and was promptly reprimanded for it. Just before he turned 9 weeks I ran out of milk altogether. I had to write down every pee and poo he did and I also my own. How embarrassing. 2 days after my son was born I was told to go home. Didnt have to tell me twice!

Not the movie type births I had based my knowledge of childbirth on and not the ideal first experience but not the worst and at least we are both okay. And I know what to expect for bubby number 2.

Today is day one on this site for me, I found it quite by accident and thought seeing as I have some spare time while bubby is sleeping I would check it out more. Before I go off exploring the site though I just wanted to hello to everyone out there and I hope to get to know some of you a bit better.