Sunday, December 14, 2014

Lorelei's birth story


A few days before Lorelei was born I started feeling a bit unsettled.  I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what was wrong but I was just really emotional and couldn’t sit still.  I had this crazy urge to just clean!  I was cleaning windows and dusting cobwebs from the ceiling in the days before she was born.  I remember I’d planned to wash everyone’s sheets on the day I went into labour and I was really excited about that (crazy!!).  I met with my midwife Jacqui on the Friday before Lorelei was born and we both thought that this ‘unsettledness’ might mean something was going to happen soon.  Lorelei was also engaged and really low in my pelvis too and I was starting to feel really uncomfortable. At this stage I wasn’t even quite 39 weeks but my babies have all chosen completely different times of gestation to be born so it didn’t surprise me at all to get these ‘signs’ at this stage. 

On the Saturday night before she came I had a bit of a cry with Chris, telling him that I wasn’t ready to have this baby.  I was worried about the pain and of not coping.  I was worried about throwing up during labour (which, ironically, I never have for any of the other kids!)  He comforted me and told me that it would all be ok, that I was always amazing giving birth.  I sat and read in bed for a while and then Chris came to bed.  Me, being obsessed with having all things clean, asked him if he’d cleaned the kitchen ( I just had this ‘thing’ where I didn’t want to go into labour with the kitchen a mess – it was a huge mess when we had Gideon because he came so unexpectantly and I didn’t want it to happen again!)   He hadn’t so I made him go and clean it (yeah, I feel kind of bad about that looking back at it now – the things my hubby puts up with from me!) 

At about 2am that night I woke up.  I lay there for a while wondering why I felt so wide awake all of a sudden and then I felt a pain.  It was almost like an intense Braxton Hicks but there was something a little different about it.  I decided to just lie there and see what happened.  About 10 minutes later, I had another of the same pains and 10 minutes later, another.  Something was definitely happening!  For an hour they continued about every 10 minutes and then from 3 onwards they started happening every 5-10 minutes.  Even though Gideon’s birth has been quite quick (three hours) I wasn’t concerned about waking Chris or calling my midwives yet. The pains were frequent but they weren’t intense yet and I could get through them lying down. 

Just after 4, I had a pain that was a bit more intense.  Then I realised that the ‘trickling’ feeling I was getting was possibly my hind waters breaking.  It was a bit of a novel experience having my waters break before I got to the pushing stage – in four births this was the first time it had happened!  Luckily, I had thought to put a waterproof sheet on my side of the bed still.  I decided that it was time to wake up Chris and tell him that things were happening. He was awake pretty quickly and straight into organisational mode – filling birth pool, getting the urn on to boil, moving the car up the top so our midwives could fit in the driveway!  I had a couple more intense pains but they seemed to slow down a bit once we were actually awake.  We took the opportunity to get some last minute naked tummy photos – I wanted to remember the last few moments of my last pregnancy!

About 4:30 we thought we should probably ring our midwife, Jan and tell her what was going on – she wanted to know as soon as I went into labour in case things moved quickly.  We rang her and had to leave a message on her mobile.  After about half an hour with no call back (very unusual for Jan who always answers middle of the night calls very quickly!) we tried her pager.  Still no response!  That’s ok, we’ll try Jacqui instead.  So we did and had to leave a message on her phone too.  And still no phone calls back again!  Chris and I had a little laugh about not being able to contact anyone.  I wasn’t too worried about things moving quickly and besides which, I knew we’d be capable of doing this by ourselves in it came to that!  At about 6, we got a frantic call from Jan.  ‘What’s happening?  I’m on my way right NOW.’  Apparently she’d left her pager in the car and didn’t hear her phone ring. 

On her way Jan sent a text to Chris asking him what was happening.  I told him to text her back and say that it was probably nothing (contractions were not as regular now and I was really questioning whether I should have called everyone!) Her reply: ‘So I should slow down then?’  Chris sent one back saying ‘yes, don’t get pulled over!’.  Jan ended up arriving just after 7.  It was reassuring to have her here and made everything seem a lot more real.  She checked what was going on with me, by that stage contractions had slowed quite a bit with only the occasional intense one.  The kids were starting to wake up now and came into the bedroom to see what was happening.  They were excited to hear that the baby would be coming soon (although I think Esme expected it to come very soon, she’s not the most patient person!)  Jacqui arrived shortly afterwards and then my Mum arrived a bit later to look after the kids (we’d left it to a civilised time to ring her!)  I went downstairs to have some breakfast and to organise breakfast for the kids. 

Once I was upright and moving the contractions started to have a bit more ‘bite’ to them.  I had to stop and concentrate when they came.  I laboured downstairs for awhile while my Mum read a million and one books to the kids.  Jan and Jacqui were discussing whether they would go out to get some breakfast but in the end Jan decided that they would stay ‘just in case’ even though I tried to convince them to go, I still felt like there was ages to go until I had this baby.  Jan suggested that Chris and I go upstairs by ourselves for a bit.  So we did, it was nice just sitting together on the bed and talking with Chris supporting me when the contractions hit.  I remember complaining about being bored during the gap between contractions and feeling like I needed something to do.  The contractions had gone back to not being as regular and intense and I was in this weird headspace where I wanted them to get a lot stronger and painful so I knew that the baby would be born soon but also being a little fearful and apprehensive about what was to come. 

Jan would come in sporadically and see how we were going and do some checks on me.  She watched me go through some contractions and suggested that it was probably pre labour and that I needed to do something to get it started properly.  The first thing she suggested was nipple stimulation.  Apparently Chris wasn’t aware that this could be useful and he thought the idea was quite a novel one.  Before the words were even hallway out of Jan’s mouth I said to her, ‘don’t tell him that’.  Needless to say, I was not in the mood!  Jan’s other suggestion was for me to go for a walk outside.  She felt that I was distracted by the noise of the kids downstairs (who were playing very nicely – but loudly! – with Mum and Jacqui).  Esme had also been in and out of the room.  I think she was feeling a bit anxious about the noises I was making and what was happening.  For all her bravado, she’s actually quite tuned into our moods and emotions and is very sensitive.  She insisted that she wanted to come for a walk with us (not part of Jan’s original idea!) but eventually we convinced all of them to go outside in the cubby with my Mum to give us a bit of peace and quiet. 

Chris and I went downstairs and I started to walk around the kitchen.  By this stage it was around 9 or a bit later.  Contractions ramped up a lot now.  Chris was filling buckets from the urn and taking them to the pool upstairs but he kept having to stop and support me through another contraction.  It got to the point where he couldn’t even get a bucket filled between each contraction.  They were really intense now and I was having to vocalise during each one.  We made the decision to move upstairs to the bedroom and get the bed set up for the birth.  Jan, Jacqui and the student midwife came up too. 

I started on the bed, kneeling , with Chris in front to support me during contraction.  Then I moved to standing by the side of the bed.  That’s when I started getting the urge to push.  We stripped off my pants in preparation.  Standing up just felt wrong though, my legs were shaking and I didn’t feel like I had the strength to keep standing.  Jan asked me where I wanted to be.  She told me that if I was going to get in the pool now was the time.  We had talked previously about using the pool.  With my other two homebirths I had a pool but didn’t end up using it.  Even though, I love the idea of a water birth for some reason it never felt right to me with the other two births.  The thought did cross my mind to get in the pool but for some reason I thought it might slow the labour and I think there was a fair bit of denial on my part that this baby would actually be born sooner rather than later.  I said to Jan ‘you know I can’t make decisions when I’m in labour’ – she has been with through enough births to know how I ‘do’ them!!   In her usual style, she said to me that she thought that I would birth this baby in the same position that I had birthed my other three babies, that once I was in that position my body would know what to do.  That was when I abandoned any attempts to get in the water and I got up on the bed, kneeling, with Chris (as always) in front to support me. 

As soon as I was in that position, as Jan predicted, my body just took over.  I had a couple of really strong urges to push and as I did, I felt the baby move down.  The kids had come in a little earlier and now Gideon and Esme were standing to the side with Jacqui and Jacob was standing by the door (he was adamant that he didn’t want to come too close)  to watch the baby being born.  The pushing seemed to take forever to me but in actual fact she was out pretty quickly.  During one of the contractions, I remember this overwhelming feeling of not being able to do it.  I actually cried and said to Chris, ‘I can’t do this’.  I physically felt like I couldn’t push the baby out.  I don’t remember saying that during any of the other kids’ births!!  It just all felt so intense.  But Chris was great as usual, reassuring me that I could do it. 

Not long after, her head was out and her body followed pretty quickly.  The feeling of that little body sliding out and that sense of relief of getting her out was so incredibly amazing.  Jan told me to reach down and pick the baby up.  The feel of her little, warm body was so powerful.  I discovered as soon as I picked her up that she was a girl.  I had felt that this baby was a girl during my pregnancy and I had secretly hoped she would be, but to have her here with us was incredible.  I feel so blessed by the arrival of our little girl and to have shared this journey with such an amazing support team, my beautiful midwives, my husband and my mum.  Lorelei’s birth would not have been the same without them!  
My midwives play with the kids while I labour upstairs with Chris!

Chris, supporting me through contractions.
Getting through another tough contraction!

A bit of a break between contractions, they were getting more intense by this stage!















Esme and Gideon stand with Jacqui as they wait for the baby being born.










Jacqui hard at work!
Baby Lorelei is born!  Because of my position while birthing, Chris and I were the first to see her (my midwife Jan was standing behind me)
Picking up my baby for the first time!
A precious baby girl.
Family of six!
All together with our support team - both my midwives and my Mum.
First breastfeed!
Skin to skin time with Daddy.
Daddy with all the kids!
Pregnant with Lorelei
Now she is here!

Monday, December 1, 2014

Footprint Reindeers


I love making footprint reindeers with the kids at Christmas.  They are so quick, easy and fun for then to make.  They also serve as a lasting reminder of just how little the kids were at the time.  All you need to make them is some red and brown paint, a red pom pom for the nose, some googly eyes and some cardboard.  The kids do their footprint in brown paint for the reindeer's 'face' and then two handprints in red paint for the reindeer's 'antlers'.  Glue the pom pom on for a nose and the googly eyes on when he is dry and that's it!  Easy!  It is, however, a little messy so make sure you have a bucket of soapy water nearby for the cleanup.  I got the kids to write their names and the year they made them (we made these ones last year).  Here's Jacob's and Esme's reindeers too...



Monday, November 24, 2014

Introducing Lorelei Alynne!


So, it's been awhile since I have updated this blog (start of this year - eeek!  Where does the time go?!)  Just thought I'd share this photo of our newest addition.  Baby Lorelei was born at the start of November.  I guess you can say that's what I've been doing for the past 9 months instead of blogging - gestating ;)  She is just gorgeous and we love her to pieces.  I'm working on her birth story at the moment so hopefully I will get that up on here soon. 

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Another one off to school!


This week we waved Esme off to school for the first time!  She was super excited to go.  She's been hanging out to start Prep since Jacob started school a couple of weeks ago (our kids go to Steiner school and they start Prep a bit later than regular schools).  It's a little strange sending the second child off to school.  For some reason it seems a little easier.  And we've also felt that she's been well and truly ready for a long time! 

There were no tears when we dropped her off (from her or me!) and she settled in very quickly with her friends.  It helps a lot that most of her group from Kinder have continued on to Prep.  The program itself is very similar to the Kinder program as well so it makes for an easy transition for all the kids.  She had a great week at school and has been asking all weekend when she gets to go again!!


Thursday, January 23, 2014

Some recent sewing...

I've been busy, busy, busy, sewing lately.  I'm really happy with my latest creations.  Here's some pictures...


This twirl skirt with built in shorts (perfect for Esme who is always on the move!) from Tie Dye Diva

 

A reversible cross over dress for Esme.  I used this pattern but changed it around a bit to include buttons at the shoulder.  



Appliqued tops for both Gideon and Esme.  I also made two pairs of Big Butt pants for Gideon - one with an owl theme and the other the very hungry catepillar - the same as the ones from this post.  Gideon is almost too big for the big butt pants now which is a bit sad! 

I couldn't not include some pictures of the kids showing off their new clothes!  I love that they are always so excited about the things I make for them!





Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Kombucha


Meet our Scoby! I know, it doesn't look very attractive does it?! But it's actually very healthy.  Scoby stands for Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast and it is used to make Kombucha which is a fermented product.  We have been brewing our own Kombucha for a couple of months now.  We haven't always been consistent with it but this year we are planning to put a bit more effort in and experiment with some different flavours as well. 

I quite like the taste of it and happily drink a small amount of it each day.  The kids seems to like it in small doses as well, which is a bonus.  It tastes kind of like fizzy apple cidar with a bit of a vinegar-y kick (I think I really only like it because of that - I'm one of those strange people who love vinegar!)  Chris is not so keen on it at the moment! 

It is very easy to do.  We were given our 'Mother' (original Scoby) by a friend and have gone from there.  We generally leave it a few weeks to ferment to get it to the right 'flavour' and then start a fresh batch.  A fresh batch simply means brewing up a litre of tea with 1/3 cup sugar, leaving it to cool then taking the 'baby' scoby that has formed on the top of the old scoby with a cup of the liquid and adding it the new tea.  Easy! 

Monday, January 6, 2014

2013 - the year that was!

I'm rather a little late writing my summary of last year (although I'm sure if you look back at the blog you will notice a similar trend in previous years!)  2013 was a very busy year for us.  I knew it would be but I didn't expect it to be quite as bad as it was.  I feel like I never had a moment free!  It has been an amazing year though.  We have had some unexpected surprises along the way that have us excited about the future. 

Jacob started Class 1 this year.  He started at a different campus this year and we were all a little worried about how he'd settle in.  But it's all happened so smoothly.  He has the most amazing teacher.  She is gentle, kind and compassionate.  She understands the kids she teaches so well and knows exactly what they need.  She has made the transition to the new campus so easy for Jacob.  We feel truly blessed that she will be Jacob's teacher for the next 5 years.  When you see Jacob alongside his peers these days you would never guess that he has Autism.  He made some incredible changes in 2013 (again, largely due to his teacher).  You may see a boy who is a bit reluctant to join in new activities or who doesn't always join in on group games in the playground but really that is not so different from some other kids.  He has his special friends in his class and is happy to play with them.  We still get the meltdowns at home but I think that's just the way things go with Jacob.  Hopefully, as he gets older we will be able to teach him appropriate ways to deal with these. 

Esme had her last year of Kinder this year.  For the first time in 4 years we will not have a child at Kinder in 2014 which feels a little strange!  She has loved Kinder this year.  She is the real little social butterfly.  She loves to play with all the other kids at Kinder and has made some beautiful friends, all of whom will continue on to school with her next year which is great!  She loves to play with all the boys too, getting involved in all their rough and tumble games and getting as dirty as possible.  She's very much looking forward to going to school. 

Gideon has grown and changed so much in the past year.  He is a real little boy now.  He loves to chase after the two big kids and terrorise them (he's getting his own back now for the many times they annoyed him!)  I've enjoyed having some one on one time with him this year when Esme has been at Kinder and Jacob has been at school.  He seems to be growing up far more quickly than the other two did which makes me a little sad.

I continued working one day a week in 2013 and have enjoyed my little bit of time away from the kids.  I will continue working one day a week next year as well, with a class that is mostly the same (which is a good thing as I've really enjoyed teaching the class I currently have). One day or work a week is perfect for me at the moment and I have no intention of increasing my hours anytime soon.  I am no longer the group leader of my local ABA group.  It's given me a bit of extra time and space and I have been able to manage going back on helpline once a month.  I enjoyed completing some craft projects although did not have as much time as I would have liked to this year (perhaps in 2014?!)

The most exciting thing that happened in 2013 was to do with Chris' chocolate business - FunKey Chocolates.   He started off the year making chocolates on a small scale - mainly for family and friends.  We thought it would all be too hard to get our kitchen approved by the Council to use for chocolate production.  He looked into hiring out commercial kitchens but that proved too expensive and too hard to do.  Towards the end of the year though we decided to just get someone out and see what we would need to do to our kitchen to get it up to 'standards'.  Imagine our surprise when the health inspector told us that our kitchen had passed and that Chris was able to trade!  He has since done two markets (one our school market day and one a big market in Upwey) and done quite well.  Easter this year looks like it's going to be a busy time in our household.  While it's been a lot of hard work especially given that Chris still has a full-time job and is making chocolates in the evenings/weekends, I'm glad that he has found something he loves to do.  We're both very excited about the future of the business. 

Happy New Year!  I hope that 2014 brings everyone great happiness!  

Friday, January 3, 2014

The new cubby!


Well, here it is!  The new cubby house is finally up.  The kids are loving their new space.  Yesterday they were dressed and out the door to play it in well before 8am!  The cubby house was a Christmas present from Santa (actually a second hand cubby house we bought on ebay).  We cleaned it and stained it (still a work in progress) and it has come up great.  There's still a few things we want to do on the inside but the kids are enjoying playing in it in the meantime.  I got a little wooden oven and sink to go in there as well (also from ebay) which the kids love.  Now to figure out what I can take out of the house and store in the cubby instead!! 

Holes dug and posts go in (not an easy job to dig holes here!)
The floor goes on. 
Eating lunch in their new cubby house!



One of the best Christmas presents yet I think! A huge thank you to our family who helped us put it up!

Homemade Washing Powder


We've been making our own washing powder for well over a year now (and it's probably been about that long since I've been meaning to blog about it too!)  Anyway, I am finally getting around to posting the recipe.  It works really well.  Sometimes I find that the soap in it doesn't dissolve entirely but that is because we generally wash in cold water.   The original recipe calls for borax but I prefer to use bicarb. All our family has very sensitive skin usually due to the extra 'perfumes' and added nasties in commercial washing powders so this homemade powder works really well for us.

Homemade Washing Powder

Ingredients
2 cups grated Velvet soap (2 bars)
1 cup lectric soda
1/2 cup bicarb

Method
Grate soap finely in Thermomix (about 30 seconds on speed 8).  Add in lectric soda and bicarb and buzz in Thermomix until evenly combined.  Use one scoop per load (I use a scoop that is roughly 25gms) 

One batch of washing powder lasts me a month.  I do at least one load of washing a day.  At roughly $3 per batch it works out as a much cheaper option than most commercial washing powders! 
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