31 March 2006

staying sane and cutting the clutter...

Geez I’m tired this week. Asleep by 9:30 most nights, and usually fall asleep on the couch waiting for C-chan to get home from Uni. Just exhausted by it all. On Saturday, I had to have 2 naps during the day. Mind you, I am frequently waking up during the night now (needing to swap sides or go pee), then my ridiculous internal alarm clock goes off before 6, at which I groan and think “too early”, but know I won’t get back to sleep properly before it’s time to get up.

Walking to work the other morning, I passed a woman on a scooter, hooning around the bend, laughing maniacally! C-chan was just saying to that morning that he knows he’s going to break into maniacal laughter at some point soon, and not be able to stop. It’s only a matter of time. There is just so much going on in our lives it's ridiculous.

However, despite the physical difficulties, preganancy seems to lull me into a tired but happy "don't worry about anything too much" mood most of the time. Work is giving me the utter s**ts at present, however. Can't wait to not be there, but getting through my workload this month is going to be stressful.

One thing we are struggling to do is to reduce the amount of things in our house to make way for essential baby requirements (space + gear). Not much room in a 2br unit, but we are constantly battling to not accumulate things. Just went thru our bookshelves and got rid of some books - gave some away, sold some, some are in boxes under the bed for when we are in a bigger house one day. I joined the library so that I can borrow books and not accumulate them. But we are already running out of book space again. It's not just books - we keep accumulating DVD's also*.

Am resisting buying everything under the sun for baby also - figure if I really need something we don't have, we can get it after bub is born without too much drama. I know people who have survived without things like change tables, and damnit, I'm going to try too rather than have a largish bit of superfluous furniture that I have no space for.

Funny how insistant people can be with advice, even when you have demonstrated that you have read up on things or talked to recent parents in similar circumstances to yourself before making a firm decision on something. My parents and in-laws are being great in this regard - they're backing right off and waiting for us to ask for advice - I think that so much has changed in the past 30 years that they realise their role is to support, talk about their experience, and be a sounding board, rather than to give un-asked-for advice. Mum was telling me that her first pregnancy was fraught with worry. She says it's important to put your health and happiness first, and babies are so sensitive to your emotional state. You can't let little things bother you too much - I've got to stop caring about things I can't do anything about or that are unimportant to me in the big scheme of things.

* anyone interested in a "loan" of either the 3 hour Russian Space epic Solaris or the "classic" Italian film La Strada? Given to us while overseas when someone we barely know felt obliged to give us presents without really knowing our tastes. Both movies look stunning, but lack engaging plots. And Italian "humour" isn't something I've ever really cottoned onto. We've had them a few years and never got further than 30mins into them, but don't let that put you off - YOU might enjoy it.

28 March 2006

Whale of a time

An odd part of our recent visit by a Norwegian and Japanese was talking about whaling. I’m sure you know that both Norway and Japan are commercially whaling* despite the International Whaling Commission banning it for 40 years.

I’m nor entirely sure how the topic came up, but we frequently tease my sister-in-law (also Japanese) about having tried whale once, so it might have come up in the same sort of manner. I know that the Japanese claim that whale is a traditional food is a crock of s**t – they never had the boats to effectively go deep sea whaling until the 1900’s, and even then, didn’t really resort to it until many people were starving after WW2. Otherwise, some coastal villages used to eat whale from time to time, but only if one washed up on shore.

It is more that some of the baby boomers now in power in Japan sentimentally remember whale saving them from hunger in their childhood, combined with Japan’s lack of land and ability to produce only 55% of the country’s caloric needs, which is driving some of the society to fight for continued commercial whaling. A parallel story is that my Auntie’s husband, who grew up in Germany and migrated soon after the war, won’t eat stuff he was forced to eat during the war (turnips, pumpkins etc) and dismisses it as pig feed. Not endangered animals, I know, but funny that the opposite mindset can exist when it comes to facing things that you were forced to eat things during times of hardship. I don’t understand the history behind Norway utilising whale and eating whale meat, but find it hard to believe it’s that important to their culture.

So here we were in our lounge room with our guests calmly and dispassionately discussing the taste of whale meat as others would carrots or beans. They asked if there was any whaling going on in Australia, and said no, it’s been banned here for several decades due to whales being endangered species.

I know that a lot of people are ignorant about ecological issues – they don’t have to study biological sciences or geography beyond year 10 at school, and never really care enough about species being endangered to look into it. It seems our guests had been sheltered from this issue in their lives in Norway or Japan. This couple who stayed with us are religious – I’m talking being a Lutheran minister religious. The bible doesn’t strictly cover environmentalism, and this is one of the things that I find doesn’t sit well with me and Christianity. Christianity preaches looking out for the common good, treating others as you would yourself etc etc, and in my mind, a large part of looking out for the common good is ensuring there is enough for everyone to live without poverty and preventing greed from taking from those in need INCLUDING future generations. Bizarre in my mind that sustainability and christianity don't very often go hand in hand. But then I don't mix much in religious circles so how would i know?

*or “catching them for scientific research” or whatever they call it

23 March 2006

Visitors from abroad and possibly some cravings...

Until now, I have denied having cravings of any kind during my pregnancy (and not just to be different - I really haven't craved anything more than what I consider to be normal eating behaviour for me). I will confess to eating ice cream (good for the indigestion), but the pickles have been untouched in the fridge since we used them in an antipasto platter before christmas. But today there have been some hankerings that I have felt more strongly than the normal urges... Crepes with lemon and sugar (mmm!), and beer. I've had the odd sip of C-chan's beer from time to time lately, and the taste has been so good. I possess enough self control, it seems, to not drink more than a sip. I should say at this point that chocolate hazelnut spread (you know the brand) is EVIL evil stuff, and should not be bought even if packaged with attractive free fridge magnet on lid.

Crepes with lemon and sugar
4 Oz plain flour (just < 1 cup)
1 egg
300mL milk

Mix into batter and leave for an hour. Cook in fry pan greased with butter (mixture should be poured in and spread around pan quickly by tilting it). When edges are beginning to get crispy, flip and cook other side for a short while. Serve hot with a good squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar, then roll up and eat!!

Easy peasy. This mixture will serve 2 not very hungry adults for breakfast, or give 4 people 1.5-2 pancakes each for dessert (this was a dessert we had frequently when I was a kid). Crepes could also be served with maple syrup, blueberries cooked up in light sugar and lemon syrup, or even savoury style, filled with cheesy chicken casseroley filling for example.

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We just said good bye to some visitors from abroad yesterday - the Japanese exchange student who stayed with me in 1990 while at high school, and her Norwegian parter and 2 year old. They have just spent 18 months in Norway, and visited us on their way back to Japan. Their little boy doesn't say much compared to other 2-year-olds I've met, and I don't blame him... I'd wanna sit back and not say much too if my parents switched freely between Norwegian, Japanese and sometimes English (at least while in Australia). But at the same time, I'm jealous of these multilingual kidlings I know around the world, growing up with fluency in more than one language. All I can do is play language CD's borrowed from the library and hope it sinks in.

Had 30 week check up at the hospital on Thursday. All is reassuringly normal: blood pressure: normal, position of baby: normal, baby activity: normal, size of me: normal. 3/4 of the way there... Most of the large items that we need for first 5-6 months of baby's life taken care of, except a suitable thing to bath it in (laundry sink too hard to access whilst holding a baby). Now just need to buy some little things... Nappies, muslin wraps, rugs, more bibs and a few clothing basics, possibly some baby products of various kinds (thanks to Seagreen's Mum, I have a whole suitcase of bub clothes that will fit in first year of bub's life!! Thanks Seagreen's Mum, and Seagreen, can you send me her address?)

19 March 2006

Sat my swim teacher exam yesterday. Realised it's the first exam I've done in over 10 years. Exam covered all aspects of the course, from modules on how beginners learn, safety in aquatic environments, negligence and the law as it applies to swim teachers, right through to how to teach the swimming strokes. The national body that overseas swim teaching training and accreditation is really quite impressive. For a body that seems to be run mostly voluntarily with some full time staff in a few offices around the country, they really do have a comprehensive teaching program. I suppose it is serious when you are primarily operating in aquatic environments and you have a duty of care for little kidlings and other people who could drown in your care.

Swimming is something I've been doing since I was at least 3 years old, so had to rack my memory a bit to recall my early lessons, as well as dissect in my mind how one might put together a swim stroke in steps when it's something I do without thinking. I did learn something new... I have never been properly taught side stroke, it seems. No big loss, but I did always assume sidestroke was just breaststroke on your side. Seems I was wrong, and sidestroke requires a lot of wierd movements, where both legs and both arms are all doing independent things. Requires the same sort of concentration as driving a manual car, or juggling whilst programming a video recorder. Think I might just find a swim school that doesn't focus on sidestroke - seems like a waste of time to me.

Despite my rant about sport in general below, I am a swimming enthusiast. I had some sort of talent, because I got talked to by my coaches on a few occasions... you know the sort of thing... "If you really wanted to train hard, you could do well - you've just got to make that decision and put in the training hours." etc etc. I couldn't help but think of my poor parents getting up at 4.30am to get me to swimming 6 mornings a week and trying to sleep in the car, and never thought about it much more than that. It was really nice that they took me and my brother swimming 2-3 times a week - quite a drive across town to the only indoor 50m pool Adelaide had at the time. I got to the state championships one year as a teenager, but I don't think competitive sport was ever my thing. Winning a race didn't ever seem that important a pursuit to me.

However, swimming as a form of exercise is something I have grown to love in the past 5-10 years. Now that it's not a chore, and I do it by choice. That regular exercise I did throughout my childhood has programmed in me the desire to exercise regularly as an adult, or risk feeling like a slug. It's a great sport... gentle on the limb and ligament. I get a buzz afterwards, and usually treat myself to a hearty meal. Here's hoping I find teaching it just as rewarding. Let's hope I got enough marks in my exam to progress... stay tuned!!

whoopdee doo, let's extend daylight savings...

It's pitch black outside as if it's mid-winter... 6.20am with street lights on and not a sign of the sun rising in the east. You'd think it would be time to put the clocks back an hour and grant us all that extra hour of sleep we've been missing since last October. But no, folks. Somewhere in the south of this big land, there is a sporting event called the Commonwealth Games, which some genii somewhere decided was reason enough that we should all keep our clocks on Eastern Summer Time a bit longer than usual.

(oooh! the birds just started chirping... dawn mustn't be far off!!)

I mean what's the big deal... 99.99% of the population not actually involved with the Games is going to be inspired to entertain in their backyards and have Commonwealth Games parties? This is no major sporting event, really. Sure the Queen visits, and we put on an opening ceremony with a boy and his duck, but is it really that exciting when Australia races NZ, England, Wales, Scotland, South Africa and occasionally India and kicks butt because of the huge injection of cash that sport gets in this country?

I am growing (even more) tired of the obsession this country has with sport, and wish the big media machines would direct their attention elsewhere ("wishing" isn't enough, I know). What about all the other things we are "achieving" that routinely misses out on press coverage? My "local" paper actually has a "Health and Science" section, but it is highly skewed towards the Health side of things, as if the general public (or journalists?) can't relate to anything that doesn't affect their bodies or those of their loved ones. What about major achievements in soil science, engineering, biological science, chemistry, physics etc etc? Apparently you have to win a Nobel Prize to get any scientific press coverage in this country beyond the ABC. This is not because of a shortage of media releases in the area, I can assure you...

11 March 2006

Happy women's day

Happy international women's day, all. (it was 8th March). If you get a chance before it's taken offline, go here to listen to the podcast/mp3 of the 8/3/06 edition of late night live on Radio National. Interesting discussion on women & equality in society and government in the UK.

Me, I spent my IWD taking a day off from work, going to the Dr's to drink sickly solutions and then getting my blood sampled for glucose tolerance (ie my routine test for gestational diabetes), and checking out the range of baby goods and storage options at various stores.

This week at prenatal course, we covered breastfeeding (very cute to watch video of newborns latching on!!), then had a tour of the labour ward. My hospital has a very recently done up mothers and babies ward (I'm so lucky to live so close to this facility). Each delivery suite has a sofa bed for support person to crash out on if need be, and an ensuite with a bath!! There is a slight risk I'll get transferred to another hospital, because there seems to be a baby boom going on, and some days recently, the labour ward has been full. Seems my persuit to be average is going well - I'm exactly the average age Australian women are giving birth, every famous woman I could possibly think of seems to be pregnant (even one of the Hilton sisters is rumoured to be pregnant? or so I read in a gossip mag in the Dr's waiting rooms). Feel a little upstaged when I should be feeling special!!*

One of the farmers I'm working with at present greets we with "how are you both?!" each time I seem him. Very funny! Bosses finally met this week to discuss advertising a replacement for when I am away on mat leave. About bloody time. 1.5 more months of work to go... (thank god)

*don't worry, am overdramatising this whole sitution for something to write

10 March 2006

Sleep cycles, and getting to the business end of preganancy...

Had a really good sleep last night after what seems to have been forever not getting enough. Not going to bed early enough, or if I am, I'm lying there awake thinking (about work, unfortunately) or I'm too hot to get comfortable. Still seems like I need more sleep - I feel a deep tiredness throughout my whole body - but gone is the crotchetty, on-edge feeling that has penetrated through the surface over much of the last week. Burst into tears yesterday for the first time in a while, but it didn't feel like a release, just frustrating. Am so looking forward to an early night and sleep in. Have no idea how my mother functioned on the permanent jet lag effect of night shift - she's being doing 1-2 nights a week regularly since 1978.

The baby has graduated from regular kicks to squirming in my belly - elbows, heads, feet - you name it, it moves it against the walls of my uterus. Sometimes have to tell it to settle down. Seems to be most active after I have eaten... when I am sitting down after breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes it is still going strong when I go to bed. Feel so big that I don't know how I can get much bigger, but clearly I can - the women in my pre-birth and parenting class (who are all further along than me) are starting to look huge. Am now over 6 months along!!

Speaking of pre-birth and parenting class... an interesting experience. I guess I was hoping to meet some interesting people, but not really in our class - all we have in common is pregnancy. You'd think with 9-10 expectants + support people there'd be someone you hit it off with.... Maybe we're all so exhausted with thinking about what's ahead that we don't have the energy to be interesting or interested?? (that is actually quite possible) We share what we have to, then get home to have dinner then sleep. The Midwife who takes our course is well qualified - 9 years on the job plus 2 kids of her own before that. It has been most useful for learning what happens during labour, what aids or drugs can be administered and when they need to be used (only 25% of this public hospital's births in 2004 were completely unassisted by equipment or procedures). So that dreaded epidural may be required despite my intense dislike of the idea. I realise that you can only plan so much - the rest just unfolds and you have to deal with what's thrown at you. This week we have a tour of the labour ward and start to get onto the postnatal stuff - feeding, parenting etc etc.

There is one guy in our class who is prone to bringing up gruesome questions or facts. A few of us drop blatant hints that we'd rather not know some things (I'm particularly squeamish), but he is insensitive to it. I think he missed his calling to be a nurse or doctor, but rather wish he'd control his mouth just a little bit. One thing in particular that he brought up I could have done without ever knowing, and will probably (hopefully) never have to experience it. I got cross with him that time and his partner squirted water at him! Then last week he mentioned he'd tried breast milk (his sister in law's) - at that point I think I wrote him off as a freak. Won't be able to look at him again without thinking of the Little Britain sketch where the grown man still demands to be breast-fed!!

06 March 2006

I'm gonna be a swim teacher, baby!

I'm jumping the gun there a bit. Completed the cd-rom and weekend workshop component the weekend before last with the accredited national body. Now have to sit a written exam in a couple of weekends time (first one since 1995 - wish me luck), take a cpr course, and have some supervised practical hours some time in the next year. Then I could be teaching your child, your friend's child or your nephew or niece to swim!! I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time, not sure how good a teacher I'll turn out to be - this is my first real crack at teaching. Now I will have to balance contructive and imaginative suggestions with my ability to see how someone isn't swimming properly.

Grumpet :(

Had a serious case of the grumpets today... cumulative effect of not having enough sleep (never seem to be able to get enough - would help if it cooled down...) and having had 2 really busy weekends in a row, on top of everything else that's going on. Will seriously need to limit activities this weekend, as the following weekend we have 3 guests from Japan via Norway including 2 year old. There is always so much to do, and it seems to be birthday season, which I'm happy for, but means the calendar is full of things to do and people to see.

The thing that made me most grumpetty today was my computer problems at work. My hard drive decided it'd had enough last week, and since then, I have been stranded in the city office when I need to be out west, and changing computers every day or so depending on whose desk is free. Lots of opportunities to lose computer files, forget what you should be working on, have someone set you up with the wrong login password so that when you come back from lunch, you're locked out of your computer until you can guess what your password might be etc etc My patience was stretched. Not the end of the world, but difficult with everything else that seems to be going on.

Met someone at a bbq on Sat night who knew someone who had more big issues to deal with whilst being pregnant than we did. I thought having: one of us studying with the other pregnant, 2 household "careers" likely to change direction in the next year, a certain household income cut and 3rd non-earning mouth to feed, and following that a need to move house somewhere cheaper (but that can't happen yet because we're too busy this side of the baby being born... and we're not entirely sure where we should look to move to....) was enough on our plate to justify feeling a little stressed. This other person (whom I'm not likely to ever meet) is 38, has complications with her pregnancy and twins on the way, a mortgage, and a partner who has just emigrated here and isn't too confident with english.

I felt marginally better. I now think "at least I have my health" - the rest will sort itself out one way or another. We're not extravagent spenders and we'll cope on lower income. I chose to be with C-chan because I could see we would get through challenging times together. Well now is one of those times - mostly because of the number of key decisions that we see looming ahead. It's hard to separate the looming decisions from those you need to worry about immediately. Need some quiet time to allow all this to soak in.

I could use a beer, damnit!! That'll just have to wait a few months. Or more, depending on breastfeeding patterns. Damnit again!!