Amber Cherry Photography

Amber Cherry Photography

My dear friend Amber is an amazing photographer. She's captured some precious moments for me during my pregnancy and beyond! 

Babe at 2 weeks. Amber and Clint were patient beyond measure and have the midas touch when it comes to keeping babies calm and sleepy. Baby whisperers! I want them to be around at bedtime every night!

Check out her Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amber-Cherry-Photography/114917662033204

My first month of Motherhood

Life has changed forever and for the better! Little Boston Scott Walker was born June 24th at 10:38pm.. conveniently on the day Wimbeldon started. Late night feeds in hospital were a breeze! The second State of Origin clash fell on the Wednesday with a glorious Queensland victory... and of course Krudd is back. So when I could prise my eyes off our little creation there was some good viewing on the tele.

Back to baby. He weighed 7lbs 15oz/ 3.6kg which was a lot bigger than expected! All my trips to the bakery paid off ;)  He has tons of hair.. My heartburn was well worth suffering through. I can't stop brushing it so it gets really greasy everyday. I was in complete shock for the first 24 hours of his life. I couldn't believe he was ours and that everything went smoothly. I secretly feared that because I had an easy pregnancy that my labour would be a nightmare. Thanks to a delightful dose of Pethadine and a timely epidural I had a mostly pain free 6hr labour. Although I did have to get my waters broken which sounds awful and IS awful. WORST thing EVER. Things started looking up when the anaesthetist wandered in and asked me what my plans for pain management were... "You're my plan!"  The whole experience felt surreal, it was like a dream I was waiting to wake up from. Four weeks on and I still haven't woken up, I have a sweet little boy who I love more than ANYTHING! He looked like Simba from The Lion King when they passed him up to me.. eyes wide open.. big blinks.. It was awesome. . 

I spent Sunday to Friday in hospital which was great because there was soooo much to learn. We did go to antenatal classes but I'd pretty much forgotten everything. The nurses at the Mater Mothers were incredible. Their motto "Exceptional people, Exceptional care" is an understatement. Props to the cooks too... every dessert was swimming in custard and cream. Stunning afternoon tea cakes as well. They even served scones with jam and cream for Wimbeldon! I'm glad I still brought my own snacks because there were several occasions where I became ravenous in the middle of the night.

About to have a bebe

Hair Do's courtesy of A.Slade and P.Harman

So Motherhood... If you don't get your hair and make up done in the morning it most likely won't get done at all. I have never been so excited about someone burping. My burping technique must suck because I very rarely get a burp so when I do it's cause for celebration! There's a lot of room for improvement when it comes to nappy changes too. I either seem to change him during his business of just BEFORE big business. It's as though he's waiting for a clean nappy to soil. Makes sense though.. I wouldn't willingly walk into a dirty toilet cubicle..I'd hold on at all costs. I'm over whelmed at the thought of nappy changing for up to 3 years. I thought his poo smelt bad until I was changing him at the mall when another, much larger baby was being changed next to us. WOW. Not looking forward to introducing solids. I need an L plate for my pram. I've had several collisions into people and pot plants at the mall. One lady even rolled her eyes and said "That's the second time today" Let's just say.. she was a rather wide target. I made the depressing mistake of trying on one of my pre-pregnancy dresses. Too soon ..way too soon.. On a positive note my belly button has gone back to normal. I survived the first big vomit. Sure I shed a tear or two but managed well.. I caught the second big vomit with my bare hands so that was quite an achievement. I love being a new Mum! It's been the best 4 weeks of my life. I love this little kid like crazy. 

Coming home from hospital! 

xoxo

Babe Beats

I just spent about an hour making a playlist in the event I want to listen to music during labour. 19 songs, duration 1.2hours. Wishful thinking. This babe better not make me repeat it. I guess it's a work in progress....

Bunnings Baby

So my nesting instinct may have manifest itself through "home improvements" Although I've always considered myself a Janet of all trades. Recently our main shower started leaking...I thought given my current condition I should get a couple quotes. The 1st one was for $595.00.. which I thought was outrageous... the second quote almost induced labor at a whopping $895. It was time to take matters into my own hands. There are a million things I'd rather spend $895.00 on! I furiously drove to Bunnings for DIY supplies. I spent $100 on all sorts of tools and crap...I love Bunnings because you could go there in your PJ's covered in paint and food and no one would look twice. I'd watched a few Youtube videos and was now an expert in the grouting/shower sealing business. I cut away all the silicone with a stanley knife. At this point I realised I might have bitten off more than I could chew.... I took a day off.There was a big gap where I'd ripped out the existing silicone so I just blasted the hole with more silicone! Dad helped with that part...I took another day off. I re-grouted between the tiles on the floor then caulked the remaining silicone around the edges. The corner tape I bought gave a very professional finish to the job which I was pleased with. I haven't turned the shower on yet but I know if I see any leakage whatsoever I will probably want to kill myself. Just as I'd completed the shower the toilet started running.  It's best that I leave that one up to a plumber... I almost cried when I got that quote too. I think I should become a tradeswoman. 

Hello Hospital

At 37 weeks baby could arrive any day now. It's time to pack hospital bags. I was overwhelmed by the prospect of packing for such an occasion. I spend my life packing and unpacking but this is a specialised pack I've never done before. Luckily my angel friend Amber came to the rescue and wrote me lists upon lists and made it super easy to get myself together! Bag for labor, bag for me, bag for Baby and bag for Husby. If it wasn't for Amber I would have taken up all my available space with snacks because I've read that you can get hungry in hospital.. (nightmare) She assured me that my hospital stay wouldn't resemble the 40 hour famine. So here's what I've got... Yes it may seem like I'll need a semi trailer to transport it all but... average labour is 10-12 hours so I'll be needing entertainment to take my mind off things... Mum laughed when I told her this.. not sure why. I will mention, I am planning on getting an epidural so hopefully after the first half I'll be able to relax and enjoy the rest! Admittedly I did recently look up a few breathing techniques on Youtube. I've been foolishly thinking the epidural will do everything for me... it won't. 

Labour Bag

• Panadol (for partner in case I break his hand.. the hospital only gives me drugs! Hooray!)
• Socks - I got 3 for $10 at Cotton On ;)
• Rescue Remedy
• Fans (I bought a giant one from Loot) 
• Slippers/Flip flops 
• Lavender Oil
• Paw paw ointment
• Bose 
• ipad (Scrabble, Pinterest, Civilisation)
• Camera
• Medicare & Private care card
• Hair bands/ bobby pins
• Phones and chargers
• Toothbrush/paste/mouthwash.
• Power Ade, juice
• Nuts, fruit, muesli bars, barley sugar, Cobs popcorn. 
• Deodorant (Not that I will sweat at all)
• Vanessa Megan Birth Ease spray (I'd buy any product that featured the words birth and ease)

My Bag

• Make-up 
• Hair iron 
• Big warm cardigan
• 4 lounge outfits
• Robe
• Hairbrush
• Shampoo/Conditioner/ dry shampoo
• Plastic bags for laundry
• Body wash
• 3x PJ's
• Lansinoh/nipple pads
• 8x  XXL undies
• Bonds feeding singlets
• Sanitary items
• Belly Bandit http://www.bellybandit.com.au/bamboo/bamboo-nude.html
• Baby Journal
• Chai latte/hot chocolate sachets
  

Baby Bag

• Socks 
• Beanies
• 5x Onesies
• Mittens
• Singlets
• Bibs
• Dummies
• Wash Cloths
• 3x Warm wraps
• 2x Muslin wraps
• 1x warm blanket
• Take home outfit

Ready for you babe!

Step away from the Wahl

I don't think I can blame pregnancy on this occasion. I have always possessed a " Bull at a gate" type mentality. Over the years I've gladly volunteered to barber my friends hair.. Or shall I say.. butcher it. It started at a young age, Mum noticed my love of cutting and bought me the "Cut & Style" Barbie. I vividly remember the tune to the ad.. It went a little something like this. "Now you can do what you've never done before, you can snip, snip, snip and snip some more, for the very first time cut as much as you dare! Then just like magic she's got long hair"! Sadly this isn't the case for humans. I know Ashley and Martin hair-loss studio would disagree with me.

My last couple of cuts have been less that perfect. First victim was my brother. Once he picked up on the vibe it wasn't going well he said in a depressed tone "Just shave it all off" and was probably wishing he'd gone to Just Cuts. Then came my husband.. I insist on cutting his hair because last time he got it cut professionally we practically had to refinance. Not quite, BUT it was outrageous. Money well spent in his mind, especially after my recent effort. I fired up my Wahl clipper and as a time saver went straight for the number 2... there was no going back. I actually dropped the clipper a couple years ago and it makes a really horrific sound so I always try to work quickly and my results shamefully show it. The cut lacked both blendage and evenness. He felt he looked like a member of the Gestapo then proceeded to put on his New Era cap when he sadly realized it was no longer "fitted" due to missing a substantial amount of hair. To make matters worse I laughed soo hard I thought I was going into labour. Service with a smile! He was good humored about it, but made it clear I would never be allowed to cut his hair again, at least not while I'm pregnant. His hair is soo short he probably won't need a cut for 6 months anyway. So I guess that's the end of my hairdressing career... although...my baby boy won't know I'm a bad hairdresser until he's at least 5 and gets teased at school. I won't toss out the clippers just yet..

Maybe a lot longer in this case.

Bird of Preg

I'm still waiting for my "nesting instinct" to kick into gear. For as much as I hate to admit it I'm not a domestic goddess in any way, shape or form. Actually I can bake...  but that's about it and I probably only persisted at it because I love eating cookies and cake. I have mixed emotions about this "nesting" business because I've had the wonderful excuse not to clean because of the exposure to "harsh chemicals", which my pregnancy app says are bad. Even though I bought all natural products... it's better not to risk it, JUST in case ;) During my midwife interview she asked me if I was feeling anxious about being able to do housework after the baby comes. I replied "No, not at all.." This is probably because I live by the motto "My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance" I'll leave the nesting to my husband if my own instinct doesn't come and even if it does.. I'm sure I can suppress it and focus on my other talents.... like crafting and making mess!

Another symptom of nesting is cooking, I'm NOT in a mental state to cook at the moment (or ever). Recently my brother in law came over for dinner and I thought to avoid disaster I'd do a Mrs Doubtfire and just order some frozen dumplings from The Oriental Tea House... I would simply just have to defrost & steam them.. Voila! Nek minnit I smell "camping" and yes my bamboo steamer is catching on fire. Then my husband didn't eat the chicken ones because he "can't afford to get food poisoning." Compliments to the chef! I have to admit.. they were totally raw when I served them EVEN though I followed the instructions. So I don't think I'll be hosting any dinner parties in the near future.. I'll just stick to microwave oatmeal until I can afford a chef (when I'm in a nursing home). My BFF noticed there was a fire extinguisher attached to the wall in my new kitchen... "You'll be needing that" she said... I had to agree.