Mums - as mags see them

What do you make of these - all pics from recent European fashion mags?







I saw them on a blog last night and my first reaction was to guffaw and roll my eyes. I guess I never have, and never will, take fashion seriously. It's mere frivolity - and in no way important to anyone's life.

But then I thought a bit more: are these images deliberately controversial? (Maybe in an attempt to provoke an outcry like not so long ago when Vogue - I think it was Vogue - showed super-expensive accessories being held by Indian slum children.) If so, yeah ... OK, they tick the 'controversial' box.

When you look at them are you genuinely outraged? What do you make of their inferences about women - and mothers in particular? Personally, my outrage is mostly reserved for the fact that they show a woman smoking. How vile and stupid in this day and age.

Maybe some people will find these pics fresh and artistic. Perhaps it's good to push the envelope...

Anyway, what do you think?

Countdown on...

Here I am at almost 32 weeks and the countdown till D day feels like it is well and truly on. On Tuesday I had a check-up at the hospital. I saw the obstetrician first and mentioned I'd been feeling a bit headachey and nauseous. He booked me in for a day stay. Then I saw the blood pressure specialist who said, "you don't need day stay". So I went to work instead!

It does feel to me like my blood pressure is a bit borderline, but it's hanging in there. Yesterday I went to labour ward on the advice of the midwives there. You see, the movements of the baby had dropped right back and that combined with high-end-of-normal blood pressure meant a quick admission for a check of the baby - all good - and my BP (fine). Was a big relief.

I'm still not sure when to finish up at work. When is a sensible time to stop working? Considering E was born at 36 weeks, I'm reluctant to go past 34 weeks. But then again, this pregnancy hasn't had the same issues as the first one, thankfully, so perhaps it's best to earn a few bucks while I can? I really don't know ... just don't want to push my luck.

We have rearranged the house a bit to cram the cot into E's bedroom, but there are lots of small jobs still to be done. Today I got all the nappies out from storage and I'm giving them a hot wash so they're ready to use. But I need to wash and air out the pram, move into the booster so we can give E's car seat a GOOD clean (filthy!) before we turn it back into a capsule.

We also have a few big (monumental!) tasks too, like deciding on a couple of names we like. Not getting far on that front...!

Sunshine

At last! A sunny day! I even managed to convince Mr 'I Want To Stay At Home' to come over to the park to eat our afternoon fruit salad in the sun. I took this pic with the timer while we were there. It occurred to me the other day that we have virtually no pictures of this 'bump' - I wonder if that means there will be fewer pics of Kidlet #2 as well?!! Hmmmm...

So I have been trying to remember to record the existence of this pregnant belly while it remains so. I love this pic because it is quite candid and lovely but - oh my goodness - I look absolutely enormous ... and for that I hate it.

The camera does lie, right?!!...

Thirty +

Here we are at 30 weeks. It's good to be at this point, and so far all is going so smoothly. I'd forgotten just how heavy and awkward things get in the final trimester. I'd also forgotten just how much housework involves bending! And as much as I nicely ask my other half to please pick up the bath mat it seems this is not something he places too much priority on ... sigh! I have, however, abdicated responsibility for changing the sheets on the beds and he's been cool with doing this.

I guess the thing I've noticed most of late is just how much my hips and ribs ache at night - are ribs supposed to ache in pregnancy? I really can't remember if they did or didn't last time. I guess this makes sense, since everything is being squished upwards and outwards. Rolling over is bed is soon about to require a crane.

Another odd thing I've noticed is an increase in tearfulness - the littlest things will make me upset. And a touch of morning sickness-like nausea appears to have come back. Bleurgh... as if 14 weeks of it wasn't enough! I suppose all this is pretty normal.

I am thankful that all's been well and that I am feeling well. Now, if only it would stop raining here I'd be positively chirpy...!

Twenty nine weeks...

The thirty week mark of my pregnancy is so close now, a few mere days away - and what a relief that is. I remember the blood pressure specialist congratulating me when I made it to 30 weeks with E. As she told me, a baby born at 28 weeks (when I struck problems with him) has an 80% chance of survival. At 30 weeks, it's pretty much 100% (though of course that's not to say the baby will be healthy - just more likely to survive).

Pre-eclampsia is such an unpredictable beast.My blood pressure has been holding steady - for now at least. It's been sitting at the high end of normal, but apparently none of the doctors I see are bothered by that. It's only when it breaks the 140/90 barrier (currently on about 132/85) that they worry.

So on we roll.

One evening

Last Thursday evening went like this:

4.45pm: leave work as usual to pick E up from preschool. MUST get the 4.59 train or it's impossible to make it there by 5.30, which is when they lock the doors and deliver your child to the local police station.

4.55pm: Shaun happens to be heading home early, we meet outside the station, go down the escalators, jump on the waiting train. Too good to be true!

5.10pm: Train goes shooting through our stop ... it WAS too good to be true. We were so busy talking we didn't check the boarding before getting on the train. We are on the one BEFORE ours ... the Wollongong train. First stop about 20km from where our car is parked.

5.15pm: Apologetic, grovelling phone call to preschool promising we'll be there ASAP.

5.30pm: Get off train, wait for train back the direction we'd just come from

5.45pm: Phone rings. It's the preschool. I think they're going to ask where we are. Instead I am greeted with "E's had an accident."

5.50pm: Run (as much as seven-month pregnant woman can run) from the station to the car.

5.55pm: Walk in to preschool (puffing) and see small boy happy but bleeding. The staff explain that he was "spinning around" and collided with a table. His eyelid is gashed.

6pm: Bundle bleeding boy into car, go straight to our GP (who thankfully works late on a Thurs).

6.20pm: GP takes one look and says "That will need stitches, it's too deep to glue." Followed by "I can't really do that here, he needs to be sedated."

6.40pm: Scoff quick takeaway and get changed into trackies for long-haul wait at local hospital ... one of the city's busiest.

6.55pm: Realise the fuel light on the car has been on for 3 days...

7pm: Fuel car, drive to hospital. 40 or so people ahead of us. Swine flu masks. Antibacterial hand gels ... oh SO gross.

8pm: See triage nurse. She pronounces: "Oh, they'll probably glue that." Huh? Then why couldn't the GP.

9pm: Go through to paediatrics, who confirm he WILL need stitches and therefore sedation. We are asked if he's eaten anything recently. The answer (stupid, stupid us gave him a banana in the waiting room without thinking) is yes. Much fretting.

9.10pm: Advised we may need to bring him back in the morning.

9.15pm: Paediatricians confer and decide that since E is so quiet and calm they will attempt to stitch. Topical anaesthetic applied.

10.20pm: Called in to small room. Child gets on table happily. Is administered laughing gas - most intrigued to watch the balloon on the apparatus go up and down. Lays perfectly still as two stitches are put in.

10.50pm: Allowed home.

10.55pm: Having not cried a single tear, boy melts down (well, he had been awake since 7 that morning) because we're apparently "not listening" to him. Cries at top volume. All the way home.

11.10pm: Walk in the door. Read obligatory bedtime stories as quickly as possible.

11.30pm: Fall into bed, both wrecks....

Interlude at the museum

Sunday was a pretty grey day in these parts. The sky had come over all Euro, which planted the seed of an idea in my head. At about 3pm I decided I needed to get out of the house. I know! Let's go to a museum!

We thought about going to the Powerhouse, but given the lateness of the day and the $10 each to get in, and the parking ... nah. Then I had an idea: a colleague of mine had told me about the museums at Sydney University. A few minutes' drive from us. And free. Perfect in this situation...

So we were there by about 3.30pm, wandering around the Nicholson Museum. It was surprisingly good. I was impressed by the quality of the artefacts - after all, it's essentially one man's collection. We saw a couple of Egyptian mummies (which naturally caused the 3yo to ask a billion questions: "But why is it called a mummy, Mummy?")

The Greek urns and jars were impressive, as were the tiles and relics from Pompeii. My favourite part was checking out some of the 'letters' (well, fragments of) from Egyptian times.

I wouldn't recommend anyone drive across Sydney to visit this place (it is small) but if you've a 3yo with a, ahem, limited attention span and you just happen to be in the 'hood, it's worth a look.