DD Minus 28 - The Countdown is ON!

So, after another quiet fornight around these here bloggy parts, i intend on returning with a vengeance! So, if you couldnt tell from the title of this post, I am now 36 weeks pregnant which means there is 28 days til my due date ( hence the DD Minus 28 ). And, as i attempted to do when pregnant with Flynn, i am going to try and post every one of those days, until i hit my due date or the baby is born, which ever comes first.

To be honest, i hope the baby follows in Flynns footsteps and arrives before its due date. Its not like i'm in intense pain or suffering from complications, or feeling any more aches pains then any other pregnant lady, its just ... well... by this stage in the game i'm a bit over it. I'm tired of the waddling, the stiff joints, the pregnancy itch, the Braxton Hicks, the waking at night to either roll over or pee and the wriggling/stretching movements that make it feel like this Little Miss is about to pop right through my skin. I'm just super keen to meet our little bundle and bring her home to her family!

So with the countdown officially on, and with 28 days left to go, i'm not really sure that i have all that much left to get ready: all 3 bags are packed ( mine, babies, and Flynns in case he has to stay overnight at Grandma and Poppies ); the bunting, wall art and quilt i made for room are completely finished and all i have to do in there is vacuum; the car seat will be going in as of this weekend; and this Sunday just gone my parents came and gave us a hand to spring clean the house top to toe, ready for bubby to come home. I'm sure there is probably something small that i'm yet to do but i cant quite think of it right now.

So - what to post about on DD Minus 27? I might explain where i was for at least part of the last two weeks.....

Fifty Shades Of Should I Care?

Alright - so anyone who is anyone has either written a blog post, a Facebook status, or a Tweet about the " Fifty Shades " trilogy last week. I swear to you, everywhere i turn on the internet there it is, that " mummy porn " series that is supposedly titillating women everywhere. I, however, havent succumbed yet and i'll tell you why - everything i read, whether it be a professional review or just the opinion of one of my Facebook friends says that yes, its a little bit raunchy but that the writing is terrible. That the prose itself is not well written but that the erotic sex scenes make up for it. And i just cant bring myself to read something that is terribly written, no matter how sexy parts of it may be.

So does this make me a book snob? Am i really missing out because i cant bear to spend hours of my precious freetime trawling through pages of rotten prose? Am i one of these pretentious wannabe literary types who will only read " proper " literature, and not just any old pulp? Like i said, i only have a few precious hours a week free to just sit and read, and i just can bring myself to waste them on page after page of bad writing so i can read a few paragraphs about anal sex and BDSM. 

So - thoughts? Reviews? Should i read it, or shouldnt i ?

Its All In The Perspective

Its funny how things effect you differently after you've become a parent. Things that might have just slipped under your radar when yoiu're child free just seem to get at your more once your own children are in the picture. Case in point : Mick sends me a text today telling me that a young man who was king hit by a stranger in Sydney on the weekend has had died in hospital, and " that shit hits home " with him now - I mean, what if that happened to our Flynn? It snot like either of us were unfeeling bastards before we had children, but a story like that might have illicited some sympathy when initially seen on the tv, and be forgotten about by the next day. But now that we have a son of our own stories like that dig in deeper, hang on a bit longer, and when the outcome isnt so good it hits home that one day that could be our child. Its upsetting.

I've been feeling the same way about the child molestation "scandal " hitting the Catholic church in the past week or so. In the past of course i was upset for children who had fallen victim to paedophiles, and angry that justice just never seems to be served. Now that i have my own children ( or at leasti will have very shortly ) i'm not just upset and angry, but find myself full of vengeful rage when reading these stories. I like to think myself a calm, rational personal, not especially prone to violence - but i swear to you if ANYONE ever touches one of my children inappropriately i will hunt that person down and castrate them my bloody self. All my humanity would go straight out the window and the ferocious MamaBear would come out in defence of my children and their dignity.

Even things as small as the way young girls seem to be dressing and acting these days ( gawd, i sound like i'm 80 yrs old! ) evokes more of opinion that it would previously have had. I already feel a strong urge to protect my unborn daughter from all the bullshit of the world - from the bullies, from the societal pressures to " fit in ", from the nasty boys who might break her heart. I couldnt see the harm in some things before that i can most definately see now, from a mothers perspective.

Kind of makes me want to go and hug my parents and say " thank you " for rasing me the way that they did.....

Wiggle It!

Twice in the last week i've been sent up to our local hospital to be checked over - once because my blood pressure was way too low, although i felt fine; the second time i felt dizzy, hot and short of breath but my blood pressure was fine! I'm happy to say that on both occasions i was monitored and found to be okay, and sent home after an hour - it just i cant wrap my head around this whole pregnancy gig sometimes! I had no complications at all with Flynn ( unless you count need my appendix removed... ) but after these two minor " scares "i'm being paying extra attention to how i'm feeling from day to day.

Not me - i totally stole this from weheartit! ( http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=430427890322276&set=a.218950... )

The other thing i've been asked to keep on is that Miss Jelly is moving around - i have to admit, thats the fun part! This girl child moves around a LOT more than i remember her brother doing. I swear half the day she's in their doing tumble turns, or dancing, or just generally punching around. I've been told she's head down, bum under my ribs ( back along the right hand side ) so i get of little punchy movements and the hiccups down low, and bum wiggles above the belly button. Sometimes they're mor than a tad uncomfortable but at 32weeks and 3days i guess the poor little thing is almost running out of room!

I keep saying to everyone that i'm more than happy for Miss Jelly to arrive a bit earlier than her due date, the same way her brother did - but i will admit it will be a bit lonely without the wiggles and jabs that have been keeping me company the last few months. However i console myself with the fact that (hopefully ) by the end of August i will have a squirmy, wormy, beautiful pink bundle to keep me company all hours of the day instead!