You Do Not Name Your Baby 'Hashtag ' !

.....you just don't! For anyone who missed it, there is a report doing the rounds of the interwebs that a Twitter mad American couple have named their daughter " Hashtag ". I sincerely hope I've been duped by a fake news story because, if not, I feel really, really, really bad for that little girl.....

Having just had to name a newborn, I feel like I can be just a little judgemental on this one. I mean its one thing to give your child a name that maybe isn't very common or not quite everyone's cup of tea ( like Milo or Gretchen or Rusty ).... But to give them a name that ISNT EVEN A NAME is just cruel! Of course, children will pick on each other for all kinds of reasons - maybe because they have big ears, or are a bit on the chubby side or they eat boogers - but i don't think you need to contribute to that by giving your child a wackadoo name ( I'm talking to you Jason Lee and your little Pilot Inspektor ). Also, not that anyone really cares - but I am also not a fan of "original " spellings.... Like Jaksyn or Iizak or Aymie. Don't over-complicate things prospective parents! If your child has to spend the rest of their lives saying ' no no.... Its spelt .... Blah blah blah " then you've made things too hard....

For the record, we went with " Tully Maree " because we wanted something that wasn't overly common but wasn't super weird either; we thought it went well with Flynn ( both names are of Irish origin ); I liked the meaning ( its a unisex name but the female form means ' peaceful ' ); and Maree is my mothers middle name. ( Also, as an aside, we had liked the name Tilly but after ' Underbelly: Razor ' last year we decided against it! )

So - is it just me or is naming a kid ' Hashtag ' all kinds of wrong or are you all for freedom of parental expression?

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!

Things I Realised Just Today

Do you know how there are something things that you know, somewhere in the back of your head, kind of all vague and greyish, and then all of a sudden they just dawn on you ? Thats happened to me twice today. Those funny little moments of realisation where you take a mental step back and go " Really? No, seriously.... really ? "

1. The word " elaborate " as in " to elaborate on something " and the word " elaborate " as in " the room was very elaborate " are spelt the same way, but prounounced differently, and mean vaguely different things? Dont ask me i thought about that but let me tell you ... spin out!

2. My counsellor asked me how many more weeks i have left at work. When i replied that i only have 8 weeks left ( or 25 working days! ) it dawned on me that in 8 weeks i'll be stopping work because i'll be expecting a baby not long there after.

Of course i've been following along and counting weeks and everything like that but it just kind of hit me full force that in a bit less than 12 weeks ( or hopefully less ) i will be holding a new bubba in my arms, welcoming new life into our home and accepting full responsibility for that little life for the rest of mine. If the scans are correct and i do welcome a baby girl, i'll be gifted the reponsibility of raising a strong, self assured, ethical, smart, capable daughter into womanhood. I'll have to  give her the strength to see through nasty bitchy bullshit, to ignore societies ideas of what is and isnt beautiful, and the confidence to see there will be plenty more fish in the sea. God knows there is no way i can ever shield her from those things, and nor would i want to - i want my daughter to be a girl, and then a woman, of grace and confidence, to know who she is and who she can be, even when she isnt quite sure of the whys or the hows.

So much to take on board, to ponder and plan, in the next 12 weeks. Or less. Heaven help this child should she decide to appear late!

Getting Crafty With My Bad Self

So tomorrow my sister boyfriend, The Builder, is coming to turn our current garage/junk storage space into a new " big boy " room for Flynn. Even tough it will be another week at least before we can move Flynn in there ( we have to paint next weekend, get carpet layed and then put together his new furniture first... ) i'm kind of excited. Its not exactly as exciting as moving house - nor as time consuming or expensive! - but it does mean a bit more living space and hopefully the chance for a tidier home. See, in theory, the new room will be bedroom/playroom - Flynns bed and tall boy at one end, a futon, bookcases and tubs of toys at the other - so i'm anticipating not having as much mess to clean up in my loungeroom everyday. Of course, thats just the theory... i'm sure in reality there will be just as much mess, except i'll be able to shut the bedroom door and pretend the tornado-like destruction doesnt exist!

The mini-reno also means that Flynns old room will be free to set up for the new baby. Like most clucky ladies before me, this is the part i'm most excited about because it means re-decorating! Somewhat unfortunately, when expecting Flynn and knowing he was a boy, we went ahead and painted that room blue.... but this time around i have neither the time, energy nor inclination to repaint. I figure a baby girl can quite easily live in a blue room, as long as i give it a few feminine touches! And, seeing as in my head i'm a totally awesome crafty mama, i've gone ahead and started the re-decoration by making a bunting to go above her cot. As i dont actually own a sewing machine, anything i make will have to be hand sewn so i'm only part way done, but the finished product will be alternate plain/printed triangular flags with the letters to spell out her name ( which, yes, has been decided on but is a closely guarded secret til she arrives! ).

I'm also planning on using the same plain and printed materials to make some "art " to go on the opposite wall of her room. Its something i've never done before but i figure if i can source the right type of backing board and astaple gun i should be right! So - what do you think? Is it easier for a little girl to live with blue than it is for a boy to live with pink? And are you a wannabe DIY-crafty lady like me or is it pre-made/shop bought all the way for you?

(Un)Guessing Game

Please, play along at home, guessing from these images:

Give up? ( Or read my Facebook already and know the answer ) ?

The answer is: i got called in by my radiology place yesterday, asking if i'd like to fill a cancellation and after a good half hour of playing around with the 4d scanning system, jiggling, shaking and very gently threatening to ground my child for life, we finally got a a nice, clear, undeniable shot of our

BABY GIRL!!

Yes ladies and gentleman, after much effort - and a much nicer, happier, more satisfying experience than last week - we managed to get a good flash of Little Jelly's personal bits. We had tried on and off for half an hour: the first attempt bubby had its legs crossed, so we checked out the brain and face; the second time the umbilical cord was quite clearly in the way, so we did the limbs; the third time the hands that had previously been up in front of the face had migrated to the privates, so we got some nice clear shots of the heart. At the end of half an hour we got half a flash of something, enough for the sonographer and tech installing the 4d to both go " Is that what you thought? Looked like... ? Hmm... ". At this point the lovely sonographer suggested i go empty out my bladder and maybe give my belly a shake... so i went to the bathroom and i shook my money maker for all it was worth!

Went back in, lie back down and straight away - ta da! Full exposure! Both sonographers sort of did this nod thing, went " Yep, it is ", froze the pic on the screen and pointed out the " ...very definate lack of a " thing " - that ones a girl ... ". I dont think you could have wiped the smile from my face if you'd tried! It was fantastic to be able to find out the gender, and a double positive because Mick had admitted he wanted a girl, and Flynn would say " its a sissssster! " 9 times out of 10 when asked. So now we're all looking forwarded welcoming a little more oestrogen, and a whole lot more pink, to our house come mid-late August!

I'm So Excited....!

One more sleep, one more sleep....!

Ok, I'm a little bit excited - because tomorrow i get to go for my 18-20week morphology scan. The fact that i get to see Little Jelly wiggling, and kicking and possibly sucking their thumb or waving is exciting enough, but the possibility of finding out the gender is really whats got me impatient.

God help me if i have one like Bart....

With Flynn, Mick was pretty adamant that he wanted to find out the sex but i was a bit iffy - maybe i wanted a suprise? Maybe knowing would make things easier? But a suprise would be fun, right? You know that back-and-forth kind of agonising that you get with big decisions. Even waiting at the radiologists, bladder completely full and trying desperately not to pee, i still hadnt made up my mind. But, as soon as we were in with the sonographer and she asked " Would you like to know the sex? " i was the first one to blurt out " Yes! ". It kind of suprised me how easy the " yes " slipped out, and i know it suprised Mick.

This time around though we are both definately on the same page - we're busting to find out! I'm hoping bubby wont be too shy and will happily flash its bits to all and sundry at the ultrasound tomorrow. At the 12 week scan Little Jelly kept his/her legs crossed tightly enough that the sonographer couldnt get a good pic of the leg bones, so i'm hoping his/her inhibitions have disappeared since then! I'll be honest and say that my gut feeling, definately for the last few weeks anyway, is that its a girl but i'll be a happy mama no matter what we get.

What about you other ladies? Of those who already have kids, did you find out the gender ahead of time? And those yet to have bubbas, which side of the fence do you think you'd be on - find out or not?

I Have Gone M.I.A

....well, not really. Today i am actually guest posting over at Accidental Wonderland. See, the gorgeous Ames has finally had her equally gorgeous second bubba and is hosting a whole bunch of bloggers to talk babies, boobies and all things mama-hood related!

Pop over, say hi, leave me a comment and if you arent already a follower you should do so because Ames is just a wee bit awesome!

And Then There Were....

..... Four!

Oh yes, that there is the little baby person i have been secretly gestating for the past 12 weeks and 1 day. Or for those slow on the uptake, i'm pregnant and Mick, Flynn and i will be welcoming a new member to the family this year. Baby #2, already nicknamed " Little Jelly " ( because Flynn kind of dropped the " bean " part off the description of what the first scan looked like ) is due August 28th.

So, for those playing along at home, that gives me approximately 6 months to establish a business, toilet train my son, convert a garage into a bedroom and prepare myself for having two small people demanding my attention. That can be done right? Wish me luck!

Godspeed, Little Man

Today was little Brody's funeral, and it brought me completely undone.

I can only imagine how incredibly hard it must have been for his mother - to wake and prepare for the day that she will be putting her 6 week old child to rest forever. To deliver a very moving eulogy, to share her babies story with a church full of people without collapsing in tears. To hug every mourner as they left the church, to smile and accept their condolences without wanting to scream at them. To nurse her other child on her lap, to hug him and squeeze him as they lowered her baby's casket into the ground. I know for sure she is a much braver woman than I.

I would have been a bawling, weeping, moaning mess. You know the Muslim women you see on the news, the way they howl and paw at themselves, throwing themselves to the ground? That would have been me. And i wouldnt be finding comfort in religion of any kind - i dont mean to offend anyone but i hate the hypocrisy of Catholicism. I hate how when good things happen it is Gods glory, his miracle, his wonder; but when babies are stolen away from wonderful kind people its all " God works in mysterious ways " or " He must have needed that angel back ". God gets all the glory but never the blame. Frankly, i think thats absolute crap ( and a whole other post ).

So i went, and i wept for what my friend had to go through. I wept for the thought of what i would do if it were me and my child. And wept for what my parents would have had to do almost 22 years ago. I wept for the little boy they had to put in the ground. And when little Brody's burial service was over i went to my brothers grave and i collapsed onto the grass and i cried there, with him, privately. I cried for all those things and more. I spoke with my brother and i told him how Flynn knows his name ( even though he doesnt pronounce it properly ) and how he can point him out in photos. I told him how Flynn is built like him, small and nuggety, and how our Dad says Flynn reminds him of his son. I promised to bring Flynn to his grave and tell him that we love Uncle Eli. And as i wept and talked and tried to arrange my flowers as best i could, two crows flew overhead.

I dont know what you, out there, believe - but i know what i believe, and i know who those two crows were and why they were there, watching over me. I carry them on my shoulders ( quite literally, tattooed there forever ) at all times, and today they came when i needed them....

Itchy

You know that feeling of wanting something, and wanting it now, now, NOW? That unscratchable itch? Yea, well i've got the itch, and i've got it bad. Its like my brain is stuck in fast-forward, and the more i dwell on thoughts of the future, the "itchier" i get. I'm wanting three things:

1) I want to get married
2) I want to build a house and
3) I want to have another baby.
And i want all these things to happen tomorrow, or at least thats how i've been feeling the last few weeks or so.

He's definately got an itch....

Its crazy really - each of those things are very realistically on the cards, its just that i cant shake these feelings of wanting to have it all happen tomorrow, next week, next month... not next year, or the year after that. I mean, our wedding is now only just over 4 months away ( which, in reality, is crazy/scary soon ... ) yet night after night i run through the plans in my head and secretly wish that everything was already organised and we could just say the " I do "s this weekend. After the wedding, Mick and I are planning on having another baby - and by planning i mean i've sat down and figured out how to manipulate the Pill so i have my last period right before the wedding and we can start baby-making on the honeymoon. And when we have another child, a two bedroom duplex is just not going to be enough room, so the want for another house will be more like a need. And, rather than buy an established home ( which is still a great fallback plan ) what we'd like to do is buy a block of land in a village just outside of the town we live in and build. I'm not talking anything fancy - no giant McMansion for us - just a 3 or 4 bedroom home, with built-ins and a nice big kitchen. We've even looked at the option of having a kit home/transportable home built by a local company and have found that it makes things pretty affordable for us, providing we sell the duplex before borrowing money for the build. Realistically, all this selling and borrowing and building cant happen til at least the end of this year, and all the timing becomes a bit trickier if you throw a pregnancy into the mix.

I guess what i'm saying is - who wants to give me $250 000? No, no, thats not it ( athough, if you have deep pockets... ). What i really mean is even though i have this crazy urge to have it all, and have it NOW, i also know that the more i focus on the future, the less i'm concentrating on the now. I'm living with my head in the proverbial clouds, which means i'm missing so much of whats happening down here in the real world. The real, tangible, its-happening-right-now... well... now. So - its not just me is it? Tell me i'm not the only one who is itching to get things done, and to do it all without resorting to massive credit card debt or an astronomical mortage?

Polly Dolly - Baby Love

So - its time again for another Polly Dolly challenge, brought to you by the lovely Dani over at Danimezza. This week Dani is getting a bit clucky, because she'd like to know what we would wear to a ....

I had my baby shower in November, which meant that i was hot, sticky and had some major swelling going on. We had a lovely afternoon tea at my mum and dads, and i wore denim maternity shorts and a sweet, floral print, maternity cami. However.... i would love to have worn this maxi dress. It has plenty of room for a bump and would keep me nice and breezy. Sensible flats that also allow room for my swollen elephant feet, a funky wooden bangle and some aviators to keep away the sun. We'd have cute cupcakes and other delicious pastries, and a ( non-alcoholic ) pink lemonade. Someone would have bought me the Pandora pram charm, and no doubt i would have received some cute baby clothes and lovely baby bath products ( including multi coloured rubber duckies! )
What would you wear to your baby shower?

Baby Lovin'

Welcome to another Blog This! challenge...and yes, i know its been ages since i've participated in one but i thought, seeing as i'm a member of the writing staff over there, it was about time i put my hat in the ring in a challenge again. ( If you're an Australian blogger, and you dont know what Blog This! is, please go click on this linky right here and check us out - and sign up! ). This fortnights challenge is a photographic post - the Blog This! team want has gotten bit clucky and we want to see babies or kids - whether the pic is of you, your kids or some random children you borrowed off the street....

Aww.... look at that chubbins right there....aint she cute? ( The correct answer is " yes " ). Yep, that chubby cheeked little muffin there is me, Baby Amy, when i was about 6 months old. And yes, I am sitting in a flower basket, because it was the 80's and thats what Pixie Foto thought was cutting edge back then. Please not the awesomeness of my fluffy hair, my toasty home-knitted cardigan and my great big baby smile. Apparently my mum had this picture taken and entered me in a baby competition - which i did not win. But come on, look at Baby Me? How could you not vote for cheeks like that?

A Quick Read

I stole this from a friends Facebook - i'm not sure how long its been doing the rounds but i thought the my fellow mummy bloggers out there might enjoy it. Click on the pic for a larger version - you know, if you dont want get all squinty to read the fine print there....

Just as an aside, i dont actually have any friends like this, it just struck a chord, ya know?

Why No Effort?

One of Mick's friends have just had the honour of becoming first time parents. C rang last night to let us know that they had welcome a baby boy a few days ago and, amongst the usual enquiries of weight, length, and how the labouring went, he mentioned that the new baby is being bottle fed. When Mick asked why, C explained that because Bub had trouble attaching in the first 24 hours the nurses had told mum " ah, just put him on a bottle ".

What?!? Hearing this made me both sad and angry. Why didnt the nurses at this hospital make more effort to help a first time mum have a loving and nurturing connection with her son? Very rarely does any baby master attachment in the first 24 hours, so to say its just going to be easier to bottle feed is a huge cop out. I'm angry that the nurses and midwives, who are there to help mums and their new bubs, didnt think it important enough to sit down and help her out with attachment issues, to explain to her that it can take days, weeks even, for bubs to get the hang of breatfeeding. Angry that they didnt offer a comp feed while they perservered with the boob, and angry that they didnt offer an breastfeeding aids ( such as a nipple shield, which Flynn and I have been using successfully for 6 months now ). I'm sad that because of this lack of effort that this new mum and her baby boy may miss out on the joys of breastfeeding, and the wonderful and, undeniable, nutrional benefits.

Thats Flynn having his boobies right there. Oh, and me and Mick.

Of course, i understand that nurses in maternity wards are busy. Over-worked, yes, and certainly under-appreciated much of the time. But surely, on a maternity ward, help with and advice on first-time breastfeeding must be one of their most important duties. I also acknowledge that bottle-feeding is not the Devil and is not the absolute worst thing in the world - i just think that for a mum who wanted to breastfeed to be told " just put him on a bottle, its easier " is a huge cop out and, frankly, a damn shame.

Kudos to all those hospital in my state - including the one where i gave birth - that are breastfeeding friendly. ( They do have an actual term for it, i just cant remember it ). These hospital advocate breastfeeding over bottle feeding - if you want to bottle feed thats fine and they're not going to nag you into changing your mind - but for everyone else they will do their damnest to make sure mum and bub can successfully breastfeed. Because of the wonderful midwives at my local hospital, Flynn has happily been having boobies for over 6 months, and hopefully for another 6 months more. I'm just sad that C's wife, unless she seeks out a local lactation consultant that will help, is going to miss out, all because people who are charged with her care and paid to give her help, couldnt ( or wouldnt ) make an effort.....

When Does Existence Count?

Thats the question that I, and many others in Australia, am pondering today? It comes on the back of the case of a couple who, after having been hit by a drug driver on Christmas Day, lost their unborn child at 32 weeks ( " NSW to review unborn child laws " ). This poor woman, who was hit whilst out taking a walk, had to endure the pain and suffering of having to birth her child even though they knew the baby, already named Zoe, would be stillborn - and now, because of laws regarding what constitutes " human ", she cannot even get justice for that loss. See, here in New South Wales, a baby is not considered human until it has taken a breath and, thusly, this drug driver cannot be tried for either murder or manslaughter.

This, frankly, is ridiculous. Is the law saying a baby does not exist until it breaths? So you can have a baby growing inside you, evidence of their existence available on any ultrasound screen, available to any passer-by in the street - yet, in the eyes of the law, that baby doesnt exist until it takes its first breath of air. What a load of rubbish! I know this poses all kinds of moral and ethical questions, but surely a baby at 32 weeks, that could be born that early and survive, which kicks its mother, and gets the hiccups, and can suck its thumb - surely that MUST count as human?

The problem, as its been described to me, is that it raises the question of when would abortion become murder? I dont know at what stage abortion becomes murder - and therefore illegal - in this state, but i'm damn sure its well before 32 weeks. Not that i want this to become a debate on abortion but, for the record, i consider myself pro-choice - although i dont believe that abortion is the right choice ( for me, or anyone else ), i do believe that each individual woman should be able to choose for herself. But abortion is illegal in this country beyond a certain stage because the law regarding abortion must recognise late stage abortion of a fetus as murder. Mustn't it? Otherwise abortion would be legal at any stage. So why is it different for the loss of a child through other criminal means?

I just dont get it. And i'm sure this poor couple mustnt either. My heart goes out to them, their living daughter, and their angel baby. I just hope this legal loophole can be rectified soon so that other families need not suffer the same....

Baby, Baby...

Flynn and i hosted mothers group at our house this morning - and, to my delight, it actually went well. See, i had this dream last night that absolutely nobody turned up, so i was panicking just a little when, 15 minutes after the scheduled start time, nobody had arrived yet. But - phew!- people were just a little late because little babies dont like to let you get anywhere on time. They're either:
a) still sleeping when you need to go ( and you DO NOT wake them up )
b) needing a feed ( and you cant hurry a feed or bubs gets grumpy )
c) they do what is popularly known as a Number Three ( poo poo blowout! )
or d) its actually you running late because your just a frazzled new mum.

We only had a small group today ( Flynn and I and four other pairs ) but thats ok because I only have a small house. We live in a 2 bedroom duplex which, although its kinda on the small side, suits us just fine. For now. Lately i've been daydreaming about the time when we can get a bigger place - a house instead of a duplex - and ( gasp ) having another baby. Yep, Flynn is only four and half months old and i'm already daydreaming about another bubba. Is that weird? Even with the trouble he's been having with his digestion ( which we are going to see the paedatrician for on Monday... ) the last four months have just been such a delight, i cant imagine having only one. And i've always wanted to have at least two, possibly three. Of course, when i mentioned all this to Mick he kind of went white.... thinking about another baby so soon kind of sends dudes into an internal mini-meltdown.

So watching my son interact relatively well with other babies ( i say relatively because he did have a little sook for a while there ) - the little people we already refer to as his friends - just makes me think what it would be like having two kids to look after. Two boys or one of each? How jealous would Flynn get? Would he be a good helper? Is he gonna share? Lord, the things that go through my head and, in reality, another baby is at least 2 years into the future. One thing i know for sure - that bubba is gonna be loved....

Back.... To The Future?

So, cast your minds back to this post, dated October 12, 2009. For those of you who werent around then, or just could not be arsed clicking on the link, the post concerned was about a reading i had with a pyschic. I had seen this particular woman in the past and she had been pretty damn accurate the first time around ( again, go to the link for details... ) so i thought i would visit with her a second time to see if she could get things right twice in a row. I also promised i'd do a post a few months on to see if her predictions came true or not. So, how'd she do?She predicted ( as quoted directly from the previous post ):


* That at some point in the next 6 to 9 months, i will have to make a choice between two ways to travel. Not physical travel, but more like two different paths my life can take. I'll be stressing, but i shouldnt worry: there is no wrong decision, and everything will work out no matter which road i take - could this be whether or not to return to work after maternity leave ?
Ok, so this one isnt exactly resolved yet. I still think that returning to work after maternity leave is what she's talking about, and i still do have that decision to make down the road. At the moment my heart says i really, really, REALLY wanna be a stay-at-home-mum ( SAHM ) with my bubba, but my head and my hip pocket say i probably cant afford to do that. I still need to explore whether returning part-time is an option for me. But hey, like she said, I couldnt make a wrong decision if i tried so its nice to know ( or have a really strong inkling ) that i'll be fine - that i will survive - no matter what road i take.


* This baby is coming early.... in around 9 to 10 weeks ( or 3 or 4 weeks early ) in fact.She also says she feels it will be around Xmas ( great ). In wont be because of complications or an emergency, simply because its just my bubbas time - ok, so this one is very specific, so i guess time will tell.
Like i said, this one was pretty specific - she didnt give me an actual date the baby would arrive on, but she did give me a very specific time frame. And ? Flynn was due on January 11th, 2010. He arrived..... on December 27th, 2009. Fifteen days ( or 2 weeks ) early, and two days after Christmas. I knw what you're thinking - holy guacamole! - and your right: that is spookily accurate.

This lady had previously predicted that i would be married, have had a baby and bought a house before i turned 26 and at the time of my last post, on October 12th 2009, i was pregnant and had bought a house. For those who have since been paying attention, Mick and I got engaged only two weeks after i made that post. So, does this particular woman have crazy pyschic powers or what ? I suppose it depends on what you believe but in my case i can only go on the evidence, and all signs point to YES. With that in mind, the pyschic expo is back in town next weekend - should i go and see, firstly, if she's there and, secondly, whether she lightning can strike thrice ?

Why Are People of My Generation So Stupid?

Not all of us of course - I mean i dont think I'M stupid, or any of the wonderful Gen-Y bloggers that read. Nope, i'm talking about the apparent majority of people who participated in the survey reported on here: " Breastfeeding embarrasses Gen Y ".

They are kidding right ? Apparently, aswell as finding that the majority of respondents have no idea about the benefits of breastfeeding, according to a survey conducted by the Queensland University of Technology :

More than 50 per cent of women believed it would be uncomfortable to breastfeed in public, and a majority of men and women did not want their child to be breastfed in public for fear of embarrassment.

Why - why should breastfeeding be embarrassing ? And are we talking its embarrassing for the women who is feeding or for the people around who may be able to see her ? It just exasperates me that these people of my generation, aged 19 - 29, who if they dont already have kids may be having them sometimes in the near future..... it just frusturates me that they would respond that way.

Breastfeeding is literally the most natural thing in the world - a womans body is genetically engineered for it. Nature intended for a woman to breastfeed, and for a baby to get the best nutritional benefit from being fed this way, so why is somehing so natural and so good for us considered " embarrassing " ? I can understand perhaps if you were an overly shy woman you might feel a little strange getting your breasts out in public, or a modest bystander may blush a little seeing a woman with a breast out. But lets face it - we're not talking " Girls Gone Wild " exhibitionism here: we're talking a display of flesh so slight you may aswell not see anything at all. It takes maybe 20 seconds to slip your shirt strap and bra down and once thats done the babies head is in the way of anything titillating.

So maybe i can understand how breastfeeding could be embarrassing for a mother ( i still fail to see how its embarrassing so much for bystanders ). What i cant not, and will not ever, be able to wrap my head around is how it can possible be found offensive ( NOTE: offensive is never mentioned in the article; its just a bug bear of mine ). I was listening to talk back radio the other night - at 4am whilst breastfeeding - and some old woman had called in to say that she finds it offensive to see women breastfeeding in public. Its indecent, she said. Seriously, i wanted to either call the radio station and berate this lady or find the old bird and give a good hard bitch slap. How can it possibly be offensive to feed a child the best way possible? Nobody is at the mall just flopping their boobs out for all and sundry to see; none of us breastfeeding ladies is doing it for some pervy, kinky reason, or see how many people we can upset by flashing a bit of nipple as we lift the baby to our breast. Nope, breastfeeding is simply about nutrition and bonding with your child, i dont know how you can find anything offensive about that.

Its people with the same attitude as crazy radio lady that make it embarrassing for some women to feed their children in public. So what do you guys think - embarrassing ? Offensive? Or just plain natural?

Sleep, My Pretty, Sleep

Ok, so i may have spoke a little too soon in my last " mummy " update. Yes i said i wasnt finding it too rough YET - yea, well, yet arrived last week. However, i think i still had it pretty good in comparison to a lot of other new mums...

See what happened was - Flynn decided he wanted to start what is known as " cluster feeding ". So instead of being awake/having a feed/going back to sleep Flynn was waking in the morning and then having a feed - and staying awake, wanting another feed around 45 minutes later and then still staying awake. He was averaging four feeds in four hours of awake time and then he would fall asleep for maybe 2 hrs and want to do the whole feed/cuddle/grizzle/feed repeat thing again. My only blessing is that he was doing this during the day time, when i am supposed to be awake anyway, instead of at night. At night he was sleeping for 5 or 6 straight hours before wanting one feed and then back to sleep. Thank. Gawd.

But i'm not going to pretend the cluster feeding thing was easy, even during the day. Hell no - it was exhausting. I mean imagine if you will a four to five hour period where you had a baby on your boob ( ok, sorry, theres no other way to put it ) for 25 minutes and then the baby wanted to snuggle ( which is lovely ) but then they wanted to grizzle ( which is not so much lovely ) and then within the completion of an hour he was back on your boob. I couldnt do anything other than sit on the lounge and watch midday television - " Ellen ", " Dr Phil ", " Oprah ", " The View "... take your pick .Crazy as it sounds i wanted to get some housework done, which i couldnt because i cant wash dishes or hang the clean clothes on the line with one hand. I'm sure as my mummy caper continues i'll develop this skill but right now its sorely lacking.

Also - i couldnt help but feel like a dairy cow.

But now that we've had a cool change in the weather the cluster feeding thing has backed off a bit and, so far, it hasnt been replaced with anything else too strange.

Yet.....

Oh.My.God - There's Poo On My Carpet!

Ok, firstly, let me just get the whole post title explanation out of the way. Its kind of self-explanatory really - theres poo on my carpet. Why? Because my adorable 11 day old son shot liquid poop at me. It was kind of horrifying at the time: there i am, changing his nappy and then i hear this telltale squelchy fart sound and.... poo shoot! There it was, pumpkin yellow liquid poo squirted straight of his little bum and i'd only just managed to jump out of the way. Which meant that i was spared a spray all over my shirt, but also that the offending poo ended up on the carpet. It was horrifying at the time but now its hilarious. Seriously, imagine ( if you will ) seeing something similar on " Funniest Home Videos ".... yep, hilarious.

Ooh, also, i got thrown up on for the first time today. Ace!

Aside from these little misadventures, things are going quite well with mini Flynn-y and I. I'd heard all the horror stories about getting zero sleep and high-pitched sqalling crying that never ends... but i havent had much of that. We had a horror evening last night - to the point where i got all teary and felt like the worst mum ever because i couldnt figure out what was up with my baby - and i think he's having an early growth spurt because he's had a period everyday for 3 days where he feeds, sleeps for around 40 minutes and then feeds again, but on the whole the first ( almost ) 2 weeks have been a little easier than i thought. Not that i'm gliding through motherhood like some kind of superwoman either - my boobs are sore and heavy sometimes, i havent had a proper time-to-myself-shower since the birth and my back is killing me by the end of the day - i'm just saying that it hasnt been the nightmare some women made it out to be.

But God love those poor new mums who do have a rough time of it - i get a cranky crying bub for 4 hours and i get upset, so anybody whose doing it tougher than that gets a round of applause from me...