Yes, it is a bit of a present for you too, as you’re obviously the one who will sit in it for the moment, but really it’s so I can have some bike freedom back! And your neck is now strong enough for safe riding as it will hold a helmet well without strain.

It’s a Wee Rider .. Which I spent a lot of time choosing but really who knows until you try it, right? So more on how it goes later.

Because before I can get you into the seat and we can pedal off into the horizon to explore the world to our heart’s content, we need to get it onto the bike and feel safe.

Getting Ready for Riding

• Step One: Open the box.

Check.  We did that a few weeks ago.  It has been sitting in the kitchen ever since.  In fact, when I went to look at it again yesterday I found a toy stash in there: you’ve been using it as a toy repository or toy box!

• Step Two: Get bike out from storeroom…

Ok.  Did that today.

• Step Three: Attempt to clean bike and make serviceable.

Ok.  I admit, I failed on step 3.  Got the bike cleaned.  Even managed to find the bike pump and pump up the tires, and the lube and lubricate the gears.  But failed on actually getting the gears to work smoothly and the brakes to be safe enough for me to put my body weight behind them on a hill and expect to stop. Let alone attempting to do so with you firmly planted and I imagine quite distractingly waving your hands around in glee as we careen down a hill [again, I'm assuming that you're going to love this. If you don't I think you're going to have to learn to].

Obviously I just needed some help!

While I was doing all of this, you thought it was the best thing ever and spent the time trying to help.  You were particularly fascinated with the bike pump and I must say made a pretty sound effort for an almost-one year old in attempting to imitate mummy exactly by affixing the pump to the wheel of the bike and pumping it up. (I should warn you that I don’t always let you roam about butt naked, but a bit of nappy-free time each day is good and it was a warm and sunny winter’s morning.) So:

Learning to do bike maintenance - we start them early in our house!

Obviously I just needed some MORE help!
So I gave up and just took it into the bike store for a good service. I figure I’ll be safer and so will you if someone professional who has the time (your dad would be fine but time is short at the moment) checks it and gets it in tip-top shape. And you needed a new bike helmet too, so killing two birds with one stone…

So. Soon to come: the bike will be revamped, baby-seat attached and we may attempt to cycle somewhere!!!

woooo hooooo!!!

love mum

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My bum is sore. The ‘comfort’ seat on my rental bike is a misnomer. It is the opposite. While the trail is beautiful the sore ass is affecting my enjoyment slightly. Also, you seem to be growing at an alarmingly fast rate. So my protruding belly is not quite fitting so well into the bike pants.

All otherwise though is good. You are happily (I assume) kicking away down there and I’m eating lots of good food along the trail. And we are staying in a huge luxurious apartment tonight in Ranfurly with a massive big spa. Good for you too: some floating.

Love you
Mum

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I had to go back to work today .  Your dad stayed at home playing house husband when I dragged myself out of bed in the morning and made the trek over the bridges (but yes, I cheated and drove) to the office.  But it wasn’t too bad!

And I told them all about you – and it seemed to go pretty well! yay! yay! yay!

I was a bit worried about telling them that you were coming (I figure that now is far enough along that you should be ok, and not just before I go on holidays which wasn’t perfect timing), but I did it.  And my boss was fantastic – he seemed more excited by the news you are coming than worried about anything related to work.   We chatted for about 15 minutes about you etc after which point he eventually said, “oh yeah, I guess that means a different plan for the work” that we were sitting down to discuss.  I take that as a good sign.  My work is pretty accomodating, but I was still slightly worried about the whole thing – it doesn’t go well for everyone, I’ve read a bunch of news reports recently about discrimination in the workplace against pregnant women which is apparently unfortunately still really common in Australia…  Not that I thought that my work would be like that – they are generally really progressive which is one of the main reasons I still work there! But, it does mean a bunch of changes to the way I work for them, including us deciding to move back to Brisbane to have you come along, which does affect my ability to go to the office in a rather large way.   All in all, not sure how it will turn out, but first indications are that my boss is happy for me and sounds like we can be pretty flexible, and try to make sure my workload cuts down a bit by April this year but keep on working after that.  I’m sure we’ll talk more about it as time goes on and we’ve both had time to think about it a little more, but first indications are that I’ll be able to keep working and we’ll try to work something out.  Which I’m pleased about!

The other exciting part of what seems like finally (though its really only been a matter of weeks since we found out about you it seems like much longer) telling my work is that I can now tell some of my friends from work-related circles.  And surprise, surprise, there are some other people I know who are having babies around the same time as you’re due to join us.  Its almost plague proportions actually!  So that is exciting too!!!

Going to run as its really hot today and I just feel like lying down.  I went for a walk to the shops with your dad when I got home but it was so hot I got really overheated and flustered and had to have a break at the shops for 10 minutes as I felt really awful, then had a cold shower when I got home.  I’ve started exercising on the bike set-up in the lounge room but it was too hot for that too.   I might have to postpone my daily cycle until later tonight when its a lot cooler.

Hope you’re well, and as your aunt & I are now saying, grow, grow, grow

love mum

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I am feeling particularly well today!  Slept well – we are in our own very comfortable bed in Sydney again.   I woke up and felt you having a ‘flutter’ this morning while I attempted to sleep in (but was thwarted by your Dad’s phone ringing.. aagh); then had a relaxed morning of reading my pregnancy books (I left them at home while we were away) for you week 14 and week 15 (’cause that is tomorrow).  Your dad came and did some reading of them with me.  His comments weren’t particularly helpful – like ‘your gums might start bleeding – you’d better floss better every day’ and ‘oooh – vaginal discharge – yuk…  Have you got that yet???… Phew it stinks in this bed’.  In his normal charming manner.   But apart from that, and feeling like a beached whale, I was happy.

And I’m ready to face the new year and going back to work and what not with you in the picture.  I’m not going to study this semester, so hopefully your dad and I will have some time to do some fun stuff together before you come along, and really enjoy living in Sydney over the latter half of summer.  Your dad set my bike up in the living room for me last night so I can get back into pedalling (safely without any cars around) whenever I like from now on – which is exciting. 

This morning we also started some pregnancy yoga exercises from Janet Balaskas’ “New Active Birth”…  And they were good!  Your dad read them out aloud and did some with me while I gently tried to stretch different parts of my back, abdomen, legs etc.  All in order to make this whole pregnancy thing more comfortable for me, and to try to make sure you slip out easily when the time comes.  They weren’t particularly crazy – just like regular yoga but concentrating on the pelvis quite a bit.  All in all I felt really good afterwards – after being in the car driving for the past few days things had got a little stiff and the release of the stretches helped.  Hopefully we’ll be able to make time over the next few weeks to work our way through all of the exercises in the book then I can do them on my own each day before work or something like that.  Hope you enjoyed them too?

I gave you a little massage afterwards.  Apparently you can perhaps feel my massaging at this point.  You’re almost 8.5 cm long, which seems big when I look at the size of my stomach.  Yes, its got more solid and bigger, but its not huge.  I just look a bit fat really, unless you know I’m pregnant.  I do feel beached whale-like, but since we’re back home I’m going back to healthier eating and exercising etc…

Must run – off to get ready to go camping tonight for New Years Eve.  We’re off to Cockatoo Island in the middle of the Sydney Harbour where some friends have booked a campsite and we will watch the fireworks herald the new year.

Love you

mum

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Hi, work today (I’m on lunch – and yes, I’m eating healthily – a hommus & salad sandwich).  Maybe I’m just overtired, but I am finding it more difficult than normal to concentrate & focus on what I need to do while I’m here today.  I’m pretty worried about what we’ll see when we try to take a look at you on Wednesday.  Are you in the right spot?  Have you got a head and a tail?  What will they actually see?

I caught the bus and train to work today.  I was originally planning on riding my bike again from this week (7 weeks after the operation) but all the things I’ve read on the internet and in books about exercise and what I’m allowed to do with you aren’t 100% clear.  Apparently if I overheat for a long time this can be really bad for you, so I should limit myself to moderate exercise.  Generally my daily commute over the Anzac and the Sydney Harbour Bridge takes a good 45 minutes each way and is a hard slog.  There are a lot of hills.  So I want to see how you are doing on Wednesday, then talk to the doctor about whether taking you on this daily journey is going to be ok.  Hopefully it will be ok at least for a little while longer – I enjoy my daily ride.  I’ve got an appointment with the GP on Monday.  So, for the rest of this week I think I’ll walk home from the city to get some exercise.

Funny I was talking to your Dad yesterday about cycling, and he was surprised when I suggested it might be difficult for me to ride because my centre of balance will change.  I guess he forgot that you are going to grow into a large round thing that protrudes from my mid-section.  He’s really keen for you to come and join us but I suspect he severley underestimates the impact you’re going to have on our lives.  A welcome impact, I should clarify, but I think it is going to be SO much bigger than he thinks.  I suspect this cause he’s not always that understanding of other people & the way they deal with their children – sometimes he’s a little quick to judge or say, “we won’t do that”, when I think you can’t know the whole story & also what is happening for them.  Perhaps thats just me being paranoid & judging him as a stereotypical boy.  But I think that its just different.  And maybe I’m being a bit oversensitive & over-the-top.  Anyway, you’ll love him, he’s a great person & he’ll be an amazing dad.   I’m a bit worried about you but you shouldn’t be.  If you do come out with 4 legs and 3 arms – your Dad will come up with a special game just for you – I’m sure of it!

So.  Lunch break over.  Going to go and do some real work…

love you!
mum

ps.  my stomach was sore last night, I think it was your fault – please desist from whatever it was that you were doing.  It felt like you were trying to climb out of my belly button. I did sleep better overall though so perhaps you’ll be better rested too and therefore gentler tonight.

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