Category: The Life of Lara

It’s all here. Adventures in extreme knitting, the house of poop, and suburban permaculture. You may also find rants about politics, ecology, humanitarianism, responsible living, toe floss, and other topics not covered here. Expect profanity and irreverence. You have been warned.

News of a sort….

Last friday, Inigo was head down, and the midwives were happy – at least it’s possible for him to be head down, there is no obstruction preventing the position.

Yesterday, the ultrasound confirmed his position, and I almost cancelled the appointment with the Doctors today. Everything was normal, normal, and great. He is big, but not freakishly so, and has good blood supply, good fluid levels, 4 chambers in the heart, and huge testicles (just my observation on that one).

I thought I’d better go to the appointment anyway, and dragged Mark along with me. Thank goodness! We had a bit of a surprise – he has turned since yesterday, and again between the doctor having a look and the “boss” doctor having a look.

On monday I have another appointment for a procedure to turn him. I get injected with a drug to relax the uterus, and then (with the aid of the ultrasound) they poke him and hopefully get him to turn head down again (where he was yesterday). There are some risks associated with the procedure, but it roughly halves the number of caesars that have to be performed – so I figure it’s worth a shot. They will only do it if he is breech – head up, bum down. But if he is transverse, and spine up (like he was for the first doctor today), they will admit me and keep me in until he settles in a safer position, or comes out. And if he doesn’t settle, I’ll be booked in for a caesar at 39 weeks. The reason for keeping me in hospital, is that with his spine curved up, the chance that the umbilical cord will prolapse and cause a problem is quite high, so it’s safer for both of us to be in the hospital in case my waters break, or labour starts.

Which is all a bit scary, but better than the first option – which was to be admitted today, and observed. Better pack my hospital bag then 🙂

So, nothing really new, I just have to be a little bit more mentally prepared for medical intervention, and meeting Inigo sooner rather than later. Just in case.

And now I am off to hug a bunny and eat cake.

Help!

Some idiot (that would be me) started using a news aggregator (NetNewsWire Lite), and didn’t keep a backup list of all the blogs I read.

Considering that lots of the blogs I read are recommendations from other blogs, or blogs belonging to people that comment on my blog, this list is not only a very groovy and precious part of my life, it’s irreplaceable.

And apparently, Rhubarb (the laptop) had a wee brain fart, and lost all my feeds.

So as well as asking everyone to make an intelligent vote in the senate (and if you live in NSW, vote for Kerry, she rocks!), I am also asking you to send me your favourite blogs – knitting and non knitting!

Thanks Andrea!

Mypicture-3
Mypicture-4
Still haven’t sorted out the camera thing. Mark has hidden the little point and shoot camera, my good camera is still AWOL, and my old camera uses a card that I don’t have a card reader for (well, I can’t find the damn thing since the move). So please forgive the dodgy webcam shots.

Picture #1 is of the organic merino soaker kit I ordered from ecoyarns thanks to a generous gift voucher from Andrea, and picture #2 is the adorable bunny hat she knitted for Inigo/Ampersand/The Passenger. Who I was convinced had turned in the night, until I got kicks and punches on both sides of my belly about half an hour ago. Life remains interesting.

The supervising midwife made a comment that she didn’t think that having a totally passive baby would agree with me. I was thinking that a totally passive baby would be a godsend, but now that Alex is getting more and more charming by the day, I am starting to see her point. I have amended my order for a passive baby to a healthy and happy baby that sleeps enough to prevent insanity in the maternal unit.

I have always said that the secret to happiness is low expectations…

A Wonderful Start to the Election Campaign

Thank goodness for the federal election campaign – always something new to keep me entertained in the lead up to labour day (if I get that far, the recalcitrant one is still refusing to perform to other peoples expectations).

Thanks to The Other Andrew for this link to an article about the member of a prospective member for Reid (our new electorate).

Which reminds me – I must update my resume to add EX UNION BOSS to my list of job experiences. I was the shop delegate for the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Union (the SDA) when I was 17 and in high school. But Ex Union Boss sounds so much more impressive.

In Inigo news, we’re scheduled for another ultrasound tomorrow week, and then for a “chat” with the hospital obstetrician afterwards. If the passenger still hasn’t “assumed the position”, I get to find out what my options are. Apparently he is currently a “footling transverse oblique” lie. I am still relatively comfortable, and am taking advantage by throwing a dinner party tonight for the parents and parents in law. It’s quite likely to be my last dinner party for quite some time, so I am planning a 3-4 course extravaganza. And tomorrow, the built in wardrobe should be installed!

All in all, preparations for the big arrival are on schedule – and once the wardrobe is done, all I have to do is pack a hospital bag. Perhaps I should do that sooner rather than later – if I go into labour now, I have to race to the nearest hospital (because of Inigo’s position). So having my bag packed is probably a good idea!

Stay tuned for the continued adventures of Daisy, the long suffering feline…

Melbourne Knitters?

The following is a message from a Melbourne artist, looking for knitters to collaborate of a really cool sounding project. She is particularly interested in working with queer Melbourne people – but I think she would love to hear from anyone who is interested in the project (even a breeder from Sydney 😉 ).

I found you through Bex blog (Subversive Lesbian Anarchic Knitta). Hope you don’t mind me contacting you.
I am a Melbourne artist, and I’m creating an installation for an art exhibition for the 2008 Midsumma Festival (which is the equivalent of Mardi Gras in Sydney).

I’m looking for Melbourne based knitters who would like to collaborate on this project with me and my artist partner Justine Wallace.

In a nutshell, I am creating a satirical political installation that involves 50cm high models of world recognisable architectural structures, such as Big Ben, Empire State Building, Dubai Clock Tower, Taj Mahal, etc and I need clothing knitted for these structures, such as jumpers, beanies, scarves, ear muffs, etc. As I’m not a knitter, I’d love to work with queer folk that would like to create these gems.

Would you be able to help me source people (preferably in Melbourne) that may be interested in participating in this project.

Please email me if you can.
I look forward to hearing from you.
cheers
Danielle Karalus
0402218073
danielle@madman.com.au

Inigo the Recalcitrant

At my last ante natal appointment, they got out the little ultrasound machine to confirm his position – he’s lying back directly across my front, like he’s lying in a little hammock. He’s apparently very long, and because I am so tall, he has lots of room – which he isn’t using to turn around ready for exit.

This morning I woke up with a feeling that he had moved, and had kicks in different places – I think he had moved to be head down. But it didn’t last – as of about lunchtime, he was back in the hammock, and kicking in unmentionable places.

So now I’m on weekly appointments, and next week if he still hasn’t turned – we have to talk about him coming out the sunroof.

Josephine has gone home, and we’re putting the finishing touches on the nursery – apart from the changing table mat and the nappy service, we have pretty much everything ready for our new family member. So I’m going to try to get out and do a few things that I won’t be able to do when he arrives – like spinning class, movies, and visiting friends.

So if you’ve got some time to hang out during the next few weeks, give me a call!

Party Wrap Up

Thank you to everyone who came to the party. I had an absolute ball – even though we didn’t have a chance to talk to anyone all day! Mark and I were so busy being social butterflies, there wasn’t a moment to just sit and enjoy the love. And there was a lot of love. So many people turned up that we ran out of chairs in the first hour, and we probably ran out of food too (not that I was capable of noticing!).

Apparently, we do have more than nine friends 🙂

There were knitters, and non-knitters. And they even talked to each other.

And since I completely forgot to take pictures, check out Donna’s post for some great pictures of the beasties, and Kate’s extensive coverage.

Once again, thanks to everyone who made it such a special day.