Introducing Teancum...

Teancum James Tai was born last week on the 28th of June at 10.28am. He weighed just under 4 kilos and since birth has been gaining weight rapidly!

So here we are on the big day. I'm just about to get the jab in the back. Although I was nervous about having a spinal, by this stage I was so excited to meet our little man as I knew the moment was only minutes away.

The anesthetist was awesome. I was afraid of the needle for nothing, it hardly hurt and worked really well. It didn't end up wearing off until that night......so pain relief for longer, woohoo!
I can't say enough about the registrar who performed the Caesar. His name was Luke and he was a little aprehensive going into the operation as I think I was his first '5th caesar woman.' He told me he was going to take things slowly to make sure everything was done properly. The whole operation took an hour and 20 minutes. A lot longer than my previous caesars which have only been between 30-40 mins. I was so happy with him as I recovered quickly and was up on my feet ready to go home the next day. I really enjoyed the whole experience. The hospital staff were so lovely. It was a very different experience from the ones I've had in Melbourne. I love how even the Tassie doctors are not in a hurry, it made me feel much more comfortable.

Here's our little man and his abrupt welcome into the world. I loved the sound of his cry which happened as they were pulling him out. I also loved how the doctors allowed Job to watch. It's the first time he's been able to see one of our children born. He took these photos...

                      This was my midwife Sally who cleaned him up and checked him over

                               It felt like ages before Job brought him over to me for a cuddle

I breathed on him, touched his face and he stopped crying

In recovery

I got back to my room around midday which gave me some precious time with bub. He had a feed and we had a cuddle. I was looking forward to the kids coming in, I knew they would have been hanging out all day to see their new brother. I love looking at their excited faces.

First cuddles...

We also had a visit from Joe during the day and Kym later that night. The Terrys dropped by for a visit the day after.

          One of the few times he was asleep in his bed, usually he was in my arms....cheeky boy.

It was nice to have one of my friends, Janelle, look after me on the morning I was discharged.

                            And here's a look at our new family just before leaving the hospital

 
                                        We even celebrated by getting new stickers for the car..

                                         Once we got home, Teancum had his first bath.

And then had a visit and a poke from the Rogers :)

Here are a few more of my favourite photos from the last few days. I'm not sure who took these ones of the boys. I look at this is and think "oh dear, this is what he'll grow into!" ;)

Benny loves to cuddle and kiss him non stop. We can always tell when Benny has been with him as Teancum will have a little mohawk on his head.

 One of my favourite baby things is the cute fuzz. I love to snuggle into his fluffy face.

                                I also love how as soon as he is undressed, he stretches out his legs

                                           My new three hourly routine......day and night.

                                       Definitley not a shortage on kisses and cuddles :)

                                                 Some bonding time with his cousin :)

He's even attended his first family movie night.

                                                    I could easily stare at him all day.

 He is so precious and we are so grateful that he has arrived here safely.

The day before..

In twelve hours time I'll be having an IV put into my arm. Shortly after I will be silently panicking as the anesthetist prepares to give me a spinal. I hate spinals.

In twleve hours time, I will be super excited and super nervous....simultaneously.

In twelve and a half hours time I'll be waiting to hear you cry.

In thirteen hours time, you'll be in my arms and nothing else will matter.

I would have a hundred spinals for you.

I can't wait to meet you in the morning.

I love you so much already.

Kids and Laundry

A few months ago, we decided to give our kids some more jobs to do....just general things to help more around the house. Part of the reason was my determination to squish the ingratitude out of them :) and the other was because frankly, the bigger my belly got, the more help I needed. So, in addition to being responsible for their own rooms and general mess making around the house, I also organised for them to take over the washing. I haven't hung out, brought in or folded washing now for a long time. It's awesome!! Job is enjoying it too :)  When Job and I sorted the washing, we'd always wait until we were tripping over the huge pile in the loungeroom, or until the day no one could find any clothes to wear because they were all in the clean washing pile. Now with the kids doing it all regularly, its done 3-4 times a week - so no huge piles anymore.

The first time Benny sorted the washing, he picked up a huge pair of grey undies and said "Who's are these??! They're HUGE!"

Well, they were mine. I said "Excuse me, do you mind??" Hahaha, he thought they were hilarious and wore them around the house for the next half an hour. Not only were they big, but they were full of holes too - and no I'm not showing you a photo of them ;) 

So it became Bennys ritual when it was his turn to sort the clothes and he found my funny undies, to put them on and we'd all laugh at them. I finally told him the other day to throw them in the bin. (Just to explain - I have a few pairs of baggy knickers in the house that I bought over the years to wear post-caesar.) 

               Now that my funny underwear has gone, he finds other things to wear instead. Silly Ben.

Sisi knew something funny was going down when I got the camera out and put on my underwear too (as did JJ but he wont admit it) I have some hilarious ones of Benny and JJ together that JJ has forbidden me to share.

I'll be saving them for their 21st birthdays ;)

A piano duet with my little girl

My kids are all still enjoying the piano and they're doing quite a good job at putting up with their teacher ;)
I believe one of the tricks to keeping them interested is allowing them to play music they enjoy. Sometimes they'll ask to learn a song off one of their favourite shows - or something they have seen on tv or youtube. Luckily the music I haven't been able to track down, hasn't been too difficult to figure out for them (so far!)

One of the songs Lani has loved learning is a modern cello/piano duet called 'wind.' I orginally downloaded it to learn it myself to play with a cellist friend. Lani heard me play it once and loved it. She decided it would be her next song. I explained that we'd have to play it together as it is a bit tricky for her two little hands :) She loves to play together anyway, so she was very happy with that idea.

I think she has done a really good job keeping the melody line flowing throughout while I play the left hand - especially as this particular piece is in 5/4 - A difficult time signature to keep. Lani has been blessed with an innate sense of rhythm which means she can handle the clashing rhythms between my hand and hers - it also makes my job of teaching her much easier.

                                               I love her face at the end. She is so cute.

A bun in the oven!

I am still trying to figure out whether I have a big bun...

...or a big oven.

                                Here I am.. (brace yourself if you haven't seen me recently)

That photo was taken three weeks ago, so add on a couple more centimetres and you'll get where I am now. I am laughing to myself as I look at this shot as it captures exactly how I am feeling today.

Since this is my first and probably last "I am pregnant!" blog, I'll go back to the beginning.....

hmmmm, wonder if I can remember the beginning (naughty me for not blogging this ealier)

I remember going grocery shopping with Job. We were walking up and down the isles when suddenly I needed to go to the toilet. The sensation left, returned and then left again. I thought it was a bit strange but just ignored it. Then we got to my favourite isle (where the chocolate is of course) and hubby said "Which chocolates are you going to get today?" I said "Actually I don't feel like any."
That's when we both stopped and looked at eachother, knowing that something was up. Job just said flat out "You must be pregnant! It's the only time you dont go crazy over chocolate." We bought a pregnany test and went home. I was pretty sure I must be pregnant, Job was right, I never turn down chocolate. With this quiet assurance and my excitement growing, I decided we should test when the kids got home from school so they could be a part of it too.

Here they are waiting for me to come out of the toilet - going a bit nutty with anticipation by the looks of it.

                                                           Job captured the result on video...
         
                                       

It a faint second line, but it's there :)

I also took a video of Benny and Lani  who were so excited..

It was so much fun, sharing the moment with the kids.

The kids have been great. JJ and Lani especially have been extra helpful around the house. JJ has been learning how to cook meals with me now so that when the time comes, he can prepare some dinners. Lani is happy to clean and pick up whatever I can't get to on the floor. Benny is usually pretty good too ;) - when he feels like it. They have all enjoyed feeling the baby grow and move. Job and I took them along to the ultrasound where we found out we'll be having another boy. I thought it was beautiful on that day how they didn't care in the slightest about the sex, they're were just so stoked to be having a little baby to look after. I'm hoping the novelty of helping me to change those dirty nappies wont wear off after the first week!

So once we knew we were pregnant, we told our families and I told my close friends. I didn't make it to the twelve week mark before everyone else found out. I popped right out at week 9 and had to start wearing baggy tops and lavalavas.  By the time I was 11 weeks, I was in maternity clothes:

Morning sickness continued on into week twenty...something and I had a few small hiccups along the way with stomach pain, reflux and lack vitamins. Speaking of hiccups, I've never had a baby hiccup so much in utero! He hiccups 2-3 times a day, each episode lasting a good 5 minutes. They are so easy to feel and see now, my tummy moves with each one. I think he may be a little piggy.

Its also really nice that I am able to be pregnant along with Kym and Mariah (my workout companions) This is us a couple of months ago I think, on a camping trip. As you can see they were not popping out as much as me.....yet! They are definitely starting to catch up now though.

Two of my best friends, Kristy and Kelly are also pregnant, as is my sister and law, Lois. I wish we could be closer together....that would be nice.

So here I am now (well, three weeks ago) I am currently 35.5 weeks pregnant and am measuring 40 weeks :) My dates are correct and bub is only a centimetre or so bigger, so the doctor has concluded that the rest of my tummy is amniotic fluid. Whatever it is, it's heavy!

                  Maybe it not all baby either ;)  Some of that fluid could be classic chocolate milk??

So... along with a few more bigger hiccups these last few weeks, we are well on the way to meeting baby number five. Job has been a life saver, rubbing my back when it gets too much :) My caesarean is booked for the 28th of this month. It will push me a couple of days over 39 weeks and is a later delivery than my other caesars have been.... so fingers crossed I'll make it until then without bub wanting to pop out any earlier.

My family are pretty much used to my big belly now but sometimes they look at me and exclaim "mum" or "honey"  "You're huge!" Especially when I park myself on the couch like a beached whale and let my tummy hang out in all its glory! It's funny to look at photos as Sisi is just the right height to get a belly nudge. My tummy seems to be constantly pushing her around :)

She is just as excited as the big kids are to meet her little brother. She plays with my bare belly every day, giving it lots and lots of kisses. (The black and white is to spare you from having to look at all my stretch marks!) 

       Lani also loves to talk to him each day. I wonder if he will recognise her voice once he's born.

 As I am typing this, he is hiccuping again :) I can't wait to meet him in three and a half weeks!

A very cute Mothers Day

So after my last post (titled 'A whinge') I am redeeming myself and my children with this lovely post all about my very cute Mothers Day. I did feel a little bit guilty after complaining about my cheeky monkeys, but the lovely Simone reassured me that sometimes mums need to have a good whine, and it makes other mums feel better :) If that's the case, I can think of lots of things to whinge about ;)

As gorgeous as my kids were on the special day, Job was even cuter. He set his alarm for some ridiculous hour of the morning - 5 or 5.30am, tip toed out of the bedroom (I pretended I couldn't hear him)..and quietly closed the door leaving me to sleep. It's very hard to sleep when you can hear the hustle and bustle of excited children in the house. It's one of the best sounds ever. I kept worrying that the kids would get cold as I could hear them coming and going from the house to the garage. I knew they had been working on a special project out there.....I just wished it didn't involve the cold Tasmanian climate.

They finally burst through the bedroom door in great excitement just after 7am. Job was armed with the camera and got lots of shots of them - (and lots of awful morning pictures of me too)

Here are the girls with their cute little presents. Lani painted me a beautiful loveheart at school while Sisi carried some chocolates and a small wheat bag.

                                              I got the cutest cards....everything was cute!

Then I got to see why they had been so busy hiding away in the garage for the two days prior....

After my sook about feeling unloved and unappreciated, Job thought it would be nice for the kids to pick something that they were grateful for and signpost it all around the house :) The poster above was made by Lani.

                              This is Sisi's - it says "Thank you mum for letting me sleep in your bed."

                                                                      Bennys..

and JJ's..

             And lucky last, one from Job that I didn't see until we hopped in the car to go to church...

   It was such a special morning. I was touched at all the effort the kids and Job had put into it. I don't care about presents, the cardboard posters are priceless.

As was the yummy cocopop/fruitloop breakfast :)

One of the highlights of the day was at church when the primary kids sang for the mums during sacrament meeting. I was smiling both inside and out when I remembered that the kids had been trying to keep the song a secret for the last two weeks. Everytime Sisi had began singing it at home, the bigger kids would quickly hush her up and I'd pretend I hadn't heard anything.

When we got home, I was allowed to relax on the couch while Job got some yummy chicken, rolls and salad for dinner. Him and JJ then made a chocolate cake for dessert.

So, I got completely spoiled with love.... and was reminded once again of all the reasons I love being a mum.

A whinge!

It's not often that I feel entitiled to a good whinge...... but I do today :)

..and I'm complaining about my children, so the rest of you are off the hook ;)

I'm guessing that sometime or another in a mothers life, she feels taken for granted. My turn came yesterday. Obviously it's not the first time I have felt a little unloved, but its the first time I sulked and felt sorry for myself!

For the last two days, the primary school has held their anual mothers day stall. For the second year in a row, my kids didn't buy anything (for me). I organised for them to have a few dollars each but JJ forgot to go and Lani didn't want to. Benny has been home sick so JJ was meant to get something for him too.

When I picked them up from school, they told me straight away that they didn't get anything. I joked with them a bit, pretended to cry and told them it was okay. I pushed away the tiny feeling of hurt, laughing at myself for even caring about something so little.

Once we walked in the door, I showed Lani the small pile of clothes I had put in her room for her to put away. She growled and grumbled and carried on as if I had asked her to fold the entire family pile (which on a side note is usually quite huge!) - My negative feeling started growing a little...

I noticed when I put Bennys pile of clothes on his bed that his room was a mess and asked him to clean it up before he went outside to play football. Another explosion hit; including lots of grumbling, complaining and something like "I don't like you!"  I remained calm and prepared them all something to eat.

They ate their snack and ran off leaving their plates and mess on the table. Nothing new to me but it got on my nerves this time.

The last straw was when JJ got angry with me for trying to help him correct a part of his music during his piano lesson.  - Which in all fairness to JJ, happened at the same time that Sisi was throwing a whopper tantrum.

I'd had enough, I went to my room, lay on the bed and sulked until Job found me. I also felt like being angry at him too but couldn't find a good enough reason ;)

I told him I was feeling unloved and underappreciated by the kids. He decided that during dinner (once I had finished my time in self pity) we would have a family meeting. That way the kids would be trapped around the table so we could fire away at them and demand that they stop acting like spoiled brats! - well, that's what I imagined but we ended up having a chat instead. I tried my best to be patient and loving while I explained to them that they had all hurt my feelings that day. I think they were a bit suprised to learn firstly that I had feelings....and secondly that they were resposbile for hurting them. The funny thing was that they all said in unison "It's because of the mother's day stall isn't it?" I laughed (and lied a little) when I said no.
It only took them a couple of seconds each to identify what they had done and how they had each behaved. They were very cute as they all apologised and promised to try harder.

Then the conversation took an unexpected turn and Benny and Lani took turns telling me how sometimes they felt like I don't love them. Hang on a sec - I thought this was about me!

Realising that my brief encounter in the 'me' spotlight was over as I took a deep breath, put my mother/nurturing hat back on and listened as they explained to me where I was at fault. JJ and Sisi are quite secure in my love for them. JJ found it a little comical that Benny and Lani couldn't see the all the evidence. The whole conversation taught me once again that each of us interpret 'love and acceptance' differently. When I asked them how they knew that I loved them, Benny said "Because you carried us for nine months.....and then you fed us." Lani said "Because you suprise us on our birthdays and sometimes you clean up our rooms for us." 

I was hoping they'd notice the more day to day things, but maybe I'm expecting too much at the moment. I was up with Benny who was feeling sick until 2am this morning. I slept next to him on the longeroom floor and settled him on and off throughout the next 4 hours sleep that I had. I am not going to hold my breath that he noticed!

Maybe next year they'll remember to get me something from the mothers day stall and then all will be right ;)