Well I have been stressing for a few days because the local  Collie hospital was planning on cutting on-call for theatre staff. My husband is a nurse at the hospital and he was not prepared for me to deliver the baby there if there was no emergency theatre available incase something went wrong. We were going to have to book into Bunbury 60km away. We were thinking we may have had to stay down there for a week or so before the baby is due as my husband does not drive (due to his epilepsy).

Well once word got out into the community that they were cutting the theater services there was - quite understandably an outcry. The decision to cut emergency theatre services has been postponed. Not thrown out, just postponed.

One of the reasons we chose to move to Collie was that they had a hospital with emergency theatre and obstetric services. Given our experiences living in a town without these things we felt they were very important.

We want to have our baby here in town. I figure that we will get excellent care at the local hospital, especially as my husband is on the staff. I will join the fight to keep these services even after our baby is born. I think it is important in a town of 10 000 people, especially with as much industry (coal mining, power stations, refinery etc) as we have that we keep these services. It is crazy, on the news each night they tell us that the state is booming and then they cut the services at the hospital in a town that is booming.

 

I am 26 weeks pregnant and I have to keep pulling my trousers up. I had bad morning sickness earlier in the pregnancy and lost my extra weight. My bottom went with it so now I have nothing to keep my trousers up. I can't stand anything tight around my belly so a belt is not the answer. I have had problems with my neck so can't stand things around my neck or heavy weights on my shoulders so overalls won't work. It really is like trying to keep trousers on an egg!

My belly is not really that big for someone of 26 weeks but I think it got bigger overnight. I told my husband that this morning and then when I went to pottery one of the first comments I got was that my belly had grown.  It's exciting really, especially when the baby kicks.

I wish I could sleep properly, last night I took over an hour to fall asleep and then woke early this morning. By the time my husband got up I was ready to fall asleep again. I didn't actually crawl out of bed until 10 and then I was in a fog.

I have been Minti-ing again when I should have been doing things around the house. Like clearing out the baby's room. Still lots of junk to finish sorting.

Today I found bellybelly's website. Lots of good articles. I read some and bookmarked the site to go back to later.

These our two little dogs Zac (the black one at the back) and Zali. When I got Zali I had just left my first  husband and was never going to get married again so that meant my dreams of a baby were over. Zali was my substitute baby (spoilt brat only child of a single working mother!)

I met Haydon nearly two years later just before my mum found Zac through Poodle Rescue. Zac was three and a half years old and had had 3 previous homes.
Zali has become a Daddy's girl and Zac is a Mummy's boy. I am a little worried about how Zali will react to the new baby.
Haydon tells me that they are not dogs, they aren't big enough.

Haydon has just had his third of 4 days off. Most times he just gets 2 days off but every 6 weeks he gets 4. He has been really busy outside, digging trenches for the plumber to move the sewerage pipe, pruning trees, adding a tap to the water tank etc.

I tried to dig some weeds yesterday but my tummy muscles protested loudly so I had to stop. I am now 26 weeks pregnant. Not big with it but boy do I get puffed easily. I have done some housework (not as much as I should because I keep finding myself on Minti -I really must get some self control) and keeping him supplied with food and drink. .

We have just got back from taking two loads of green waste to the tip. It is raining so the other loads will have to wait until tomorrow.

Tonight Haydon is working afternoon shift so I get to eat dinner on my own. He was home last night so I cooked a small rolled marinated kangaroo roast (you can buy it that way in the supermarket). I managed to get the potatoes crispy for a change.

I think Australia is the only country that eats it national emblem (you can get emu sausages too in some places). I quite like kangaroo meat, it has quite a strong taste and is generally leaner than beef. It is quite a dark meat which I suspect may mean that it is higher in iron than lighter meats. The other advantage is that it is usually cheaper than beef.

Dinner tonight will be a very lazy meal I will probably just chop up some vegies and microwave them. I have not been sleeping well the last two nights and have run out of steam about midday. Another of the delights of pregnancy.

Well it's 'cheap Tuesday' at the local pizza shop so we thought we'd have 2 pizzas. I rang and ordered them and then when I went down to get them the girl behind the counter was friendly and efficient as she took my money as gave me the pizza. What surprised me was that she then said "I'll get the door for you" and moved out from behind the counter to hold the door open for me. How is that for service? I was really impressed.

Well as I said in a previous blog I have discovered the Flylady website for those of us domestically challenged persons. I have started a control journal (I think that is what she calls it) where you write down the routines (baby steps to start with) to follow for getting organised. Today I ran out of energy and time to get all of my Monday household chores done. My husband says that I have achieved quite a bit today so that is good. I dropped him at work at 2:50pm and only just sat down with my dinner about 6:30. the problem is that I wasn't finishing my housework during that time I was paying the bills, doing the banking, buying the groceries, picking up the ute from the garage, arranging for it to go to the autoelectrician later in the week and taking the dogs to the vet and making a healthy meal for myself. I am just too tired now to do anything else tonight. Guess they will have to wait until tomorrow. And hey I did do the dusting and part of the sweeping.earlier in the day and my kitchen was clean until about lunch time. Baby steps, especially for a pregnant lady.

Well I am 25 weeks pregnant and Ziggy (our nickname for baby as we don't know if baby is a boy or a girl) has discovered the delights of bouncing on my bladder. I must admit it is very comforting to feel the baby kicking and moving around. When I haven't felt it for a while I start to worry. The other night we had just switched out the light and Ziggy kept hitting painful spots. My poor husband was trying to sleep as he had another early shift in the morning but every few minutes Ziggy would kick and I would say ouch. It's quite an exciting time really. I am over the morning sickness and have a reasonable amount of energy. the back pain is slowing me down a bit, and the heartburn.

We moved to Collie for a better quality of life. The shire is 80% state forrest so lots of lovely places to walk, picnic, ride bikes etc. Unfortunately we have been very busy since we got here (and with the pregnancy I haven't always felt up to it). We have been on a few walks etc but not many. Anyway this morning I suggested to Haydon that we take the dogs and go down to Mininup pool and go for a bush walk. It was really lovely and the dogs loved it. So did we! Some of the wildflowers are out so it is really pretty.

Haydon is on an afternoon shift so he has just left for work now but tomorrow he starts at 3pm. If the weather is still nice we have agreed to go to Harris River Dam for a bbq with the dogs at lunch time. I am really looking forward to it.

I am trying to follow Flylady's suggestions on getting organised and cleaning the house. This morning I swished and swiped (give the toilet and bathroom handbasin a quick wipe over before hopping in the shower) actually given the state of my bathroom it was more of a scrub and wipe. I have still got to unload the dishwasher but I really wanted to go for the bushwalk so that had to wait. Wish me luck, - this house cleaning and organisation thing is something I have never really got a handle on. I would really love to be organised in the house (and the rest of my life) so I hope this Flylady thing works for me. Haydon is being really supportive which is great. He works full time and does so much work in the yard etc that I really want to learn to keep the house clean and de clutter it.

Well now I can stop stressing for a bit.  We (I'm pregnant so really I mean Haydon) needed to pull down the old carport leanto on the old shed so we have room to built the new shed. The other day I came home and he had been on the roof of the old shed bringing down the corrogated iron sheets from the carport --while no one else was home!  Then there was still the problem of the frame. This meant cutting through 6 old railway irons 12 -15 feet in the air and bringing them  and the rest of the frame down safely. My husband discussed at length how he would do it. I was scared. But he hired a scaffold and a 9 inch grinder and today he got them down safely. Now I am relieved. He laughed at me sitting in the car (reading the manual) so I could keep an eye on him. He may think he's bullet proof but he is very important to me. We have been through a lot together and I couldn't bear to loose him.

Well after 37 years of total disorganisation I am again attempting to get organised. i have joined the Flylady website recommended by Frontier in his advice "Getting things done (a bit at a time)".
My first task was to shine my sink. Lucky for me I have a dishwasher to take care of the dishes! I used to joke that a dishwasher saved my marriage. But that marriage ended in divorce. My new hubby agreed to the dishwasher a few years ago when I had whooping cough. He was working away, I had whooping cough and morning sickness together. I had a month off work lying in bed too exhasted to do anything even watch tv. He used to come home to a bombsite!
Dishwashers are wonderful but you still have to load and unload them.
Anyway back to Flylady. Her next commandment is to get dressed everyday including shoes preferrably laceup. With my pregnant belly, bending long enough to lace them is too uncomfortable so slip ons will have to do. At least I am not wearing my green fluffy slippers.
 Fortunately she starts you out with 'babysteps' so wish me luck. Gosh imagine being organised and having a clean tidy well organised house! It would be almost as good as winning lotto - both have just been dreams until now. Maybe I can learn to organise a house. Hope so!

Well because of the baby we decided we need a bigger car. Try fitting a baby, two adults, two dogs, overnight bags and baby gear in a two door hyundai getz! My husband refuses to even try it so I have had to sell my little car. 

A nice young man is buying it. It was my first ever new car. Hell it was the only car I ever got that was less than 10 years old when I bought it! It is not even two years old! It is still in the driveway at the moment. I have the deposit and they are arranging to give me the rest of the money next week.

Now I have to go and negotiate with car dealers for a good deal on the new subaru forester. Why do I feel like I will not get a great deal because I am a woman? I live in a country town so my Dad has volunteered to go to two dealerships in Perth on monday for me. He bought the same car we are buying in December last year so he is going to talk to the same dealership where he negotiated his deal.

My husband does not drive because of his epilepsy. He had brain surgery ( 3 times in 6 weeks) at the end of last year. So far he has been seizure free and if it continues he will be able to apply for a learners permit in January next year. Too late to drive me to hospital to have the baby (due 30/12/06). We live about a 7 minute walk to the hospital so I have suggested he bring home a wheelchair so he can just push me there when the time comes. It sounds a bit more comfortable than the wheelbarrow!

When we moved we turfed out my old op shop lounge with the idea that we would buy a new one. Most of our furniture is second hand often from the op shop so this was a pretty big deal. We shopped around for one that was comfortable, neither of us is tall so we found many lounge suites too deep. Eventually we found one (twice what we were going to spend) but it was leather and it was comfortable and it was georgous! We ordered in mid June and were told it would arrive at the end of July. Then the ship was delayed (I hadn't realised it was being made in China!, at that price I thought it was Australian made) anyway eventually it arrived and they tried to deliver it yesterday. They got the two chairs in but the 3 seater would not fit through the door. Luckily for us the shop agreed to take it back. The delivery guys told us that if we had bought it from most stores we would have been stuck with it - they wouldhave just left it in the carport for us. So we were very lucky that "Souths" of Bunbury agreeed to give us a full refund.