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!

Heartburn Is A Blog Killer

So I've let go another week and a bit without a post - although it seems to me like some of my favourite blogs have also been a bit quiet of late. Suprisingly enough, its those written by women who have either just had a baby ( shout out to Ames  ) or are due to be pushing one out sometime soon ( I'm looking at you Holly and Polly ! ). I'd say there is probably a whole lot we al could be writing about, its just the lack of physical energy that comes with pregnancy and/or a new baby does not equate to a plethora of blog posts.

So, in the grand tradition of pregnant bloggers everywhere, let me just talk about the pregnancy again shall i? Since my last post - a list of stuff i still need to get done before Miss Jelly arrives - i've actually managed to complete 3 things: the cot mattress and bedding is out of layby, the baby clothes are washed, dried, folded and in the tallboy, and i have conquered the Big W Toy Sale.

Mind you, i did NOT conquer it at midnight with the rest of the crazy mamas. Oh no - not only is sleep precious to me but i didnt really fancy getting into a scrag fight over the last Dinosaur Train " Interactive Boris " left on the shelf. No, i did my 9am - 5pm Thursday at work and went afterwards. I was quite pleased that it only took me 40 mins to find everything on my list ( though i did have to substitute one or two things ) and a miraculous 15 minutes in the layby line. Plus, no scrag fighting and i only stole one toy from a child, so i'm pretty pleased. ( Long story short, there was only of the particular Barbie product i wanted left on the shelf, and it was being played with by a little girl. When she squealed " i'm going to go ask mum if i can have this! " and run off to find said Mum, i scooped up that Barbie, threw her in the trolley and wheeled on outta there! )

So the next two things on the agenda are set up the cot and the rest of the babies room, and start and finish my second piece of wall art. All i need to do is nag my husband enough that he caves in and puts the cot back together, and borrow a staple gun from my sister builder boyfriend so i can get creative stapling fabric to a canvas. A pregnant lady with a staple gun? Watch out world!

30 Weeks

So congrats to me - i'm officially 30 weeks pregnant today, which means this little bubba is 3/4 of the way done baking. As of tomorrow i can officially say i have less than 10 weeks til my due date, though i'm hoping that Miss Jelly makes an appearance a bit before that because i dont know if i can hold out another 10 weeks! Maybe my baby brain is preventing me from accurately remembering my pregnancy with Flynn but i dont recall being this achey, heartburn-y or uncomfortable at the 30 week mark last time. Dont get me wrong, the miracle of growing a baby is amazing and i feel very privileged to be lucky enough to do it for a second time.... its just i swear this girl loves shoving her bum right up under my ribs so i cant breath properly, or sit upright comfortably for more than an hour at a time! Just my luck, she's probably stubborn like her mother....

Apparently, thats what Miss Jelly looks like in there!

Anyhoo, aswell as being able to start the single digit countdown as of tomorrow, the 30 week mark is also a time to reflect on the things i still have to do before Miss Jelly makes her arrival. In no particular order:

* Get the cot mattress and pink bedding out of lay by - mattress from Flynns cot unfortunately got a bit mildew-y in the shed and had to be thrown out.

* Set up the cot and and reconfigure the furniture in the babies room. It all got moved around when Flynn went into a " big boy bed" so now i have to put it back into baby formation.

* Make the second piece of fabric wall art i'd like to make. I finished the bunting yesterday ( sooooo excited! I'd love to show you but seeing as it has her name on it i'm going to have to keep it a secret! ) and i'm going to use the remaining fabric stretched over a canvas to hang on the opposite wall to the bunting.

* Brave the Big W Toy Sale, where i may or may not use my burgeoning bump to get me through the hoardes of other crazy mums. I will not , however, be tripping up there at midnight... screw that, my sleep is far too precious in this 3rd trimester to be bothered shopping at midnight!

* Wash, dry and fold all the tiny clothes - i've gone through all Flynns old stuff and kept all the vaguely unisex stuff, but i'm kind of secretly excited by the new pink/purple/red cuteness....

* Pack 3 bags - one for me for the hospital, one for Miss Jelly, and one for Flynn, in case he has an overnight stay with Poppy during the labour.

* Get my chef on - i intend on cooking up some casseroles, curries and pasta bakes to freeze so that we have something nutritious to eat in the first few weeks after bub is born, just in case i dont feel like cooking. ( Which, lets face it, i probably wont, at least a few times ).

Plus, i'm sure there are plenty of other things i'm forgetting, things that seem so trivial that they'll slip my mind until the very last minute... which will, of course, send me into a flap.

Adult Appreciation

After months i've not finishing any novels, i read all three of the books in the " Hunger Games " trilogy in a week. I was a pretty voracious reader as a child/teenager but i think that may be some kind of record for me as an adult. I hadnt really heard of the " Hunger Games " until all the hype for the movie started, but after reading a few articles i'll admit the premise interested me and i promised myself i'd read at least the first one before i watched the movie. However, after starting the first one on a Saturday and finishing it Tuesday night i just couldnt wait to see what else happened so i bought the following two books and finished " Mockingjay " on Sunday morning.

Aside from the moral/ethical questions that the theme of the books throw up ( such as the usefulness of a nanny state, how many innocents lost as collateral damage is too many, and should Katniss choose Gale or Peeta? ) the other question that crossed my mind is - what exactly is considered " childrens fiction " these days? The " Hunger Games " books were, by all admissions, intended as young adult fiction. They were published by a childrens publisher even. But they certainly arent like anything i ever read as a pre-teeen and i read a damn lot. Sure, there are plenty of pre-teens/teens out there who have obviously loved and appreciated the books, but my question is can it really be considered a childrens/teen fiction if the themes are so very adult and fully grown intelligent adults can appreciate and enjoy the work? Yes, the 3 main characters are teenagers themselves, but that doesnt automatically make it a teenagers book. By that logic, " Lord of the Rings " is a Hobbits book and " Lolita " is a book solely aimed at paedophiles.

So, without being all, like, deep and stuff, i would argue that the quality of the writing has a whole lot to do with whether a childrens/young adult book will transition successfully to an adult audience. This clearly not always the case ( " Twilight " i'm talking to you - i flat out refuse to read any of those books because i read one random page in a book store and the writing wasnt, lets say, all that impressive. Plenty of grown ups out there who love them though... ). but for a series like " Hunger Games " or " Harry Potter " i think the combination of theme and quality writing would have a lot to do with it. Writing about a magical boy wizard, or a tough-as-nails teenage girl might just be enough to hold most young readers attention, but to get adults engaged i think its all in the way the story is presented. Lyrical, descriptive language, detailed passages, and the development of some kind of kinship between protagonist and reader is what draws me in.

What about you - are you a big reader? If so, have you read anything that has been considered childrens/young adult fiction and loved/appreciated as an adult?