Amy and I had our 6 week check yesterday – well she did, cause the GP didn’t get around to me, there was so much to do with her! As she was checking her over, she got down to the groin area and noticed a lump. Yikes, every womans worst nightmare – finding a lump. At first she thought it was an enlarged gland, but them decided that it was more like a hernia, from a protruding ovary that had somehow gotton out of place. She assured me that this was more common than I thought, but that they like to operate on it straight away to avoid infertility issues. So off we headed to Emergency.

Now for those who know me really well, you would be thinking that I was a bit of a basket case at this point. However, I was so calm and non-flustered that it was shocking even me! Amy and I waited for 3 hours in the ward and were seen by the Paediatric Specialist who assured us that all was OK, and it was most likely a gland and not a hernia. Relief came and then the racing home to pick up the girls who had been shipped out to various minders, only to walk in the door at 6pm at the same time as Justin, who strolled in after a most leisurely day at the office – grrrrrr!!

Amy has been a gem over the past few days. Who is she and what has she done with my grizzly daughter? She has settled right down, to the point that I pop her into bed and she goes stright to sleep. No more of this groaning and moaning for an hour or so before a fitful, short sleep. Last night I fed her at 8pm, went to bed about 8.30 and she woke at 2.30am. I must have had nearly 6 hours sleep IN A ROW – unheard of. After the 2.30am feed she went right back to sleep with no fussing till 6am. I’m loving this new baby! Go Amy Go Amy.
She is also getting dreadlocks in the back of her hair from laying down. Time for a shampoo I think!

Got a million things to do today so better get cracking. Have a great day.

This morning had to have Amy tested for Hip Dysplasia. Holly had it when she was born and need to wear a brace for a month or so and then plaster for 2 months. Anyhoo, it looks like Amy has the same thing. At least I know what to do this time, but I am not looking forward to the umpteen specialist appointments etc that will now follow.

I’m still smiling so isn’t that good!

My sister in law sent me this funny little tidbit that I can totally relate to….

In this life I’m a woman, but in the next life I’m gonna come back as a bear.
When you are a bear you get to hibernate. You do nothing for 6 months. I could deal with that.

If you are a mother bear, eveyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If you are a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you have hairy legs and excess body fat.

Yup, gonna be a bear.

Everyone has been so supportive of my plea for help. I love my family and friends so much – they could never know how much a phone call, pop in or email can make my day.

You know you have a best friend when they come over, take the baby, rock her to sleep, then do the dishes without even looking like it was an effort. I’m so glad to have you in my life Rach – you make even the darkest days seem bright.

Ta.

Things settled down over the weekend, most likely because Justin was home to share the load and keep my mind occupied. I talked to him about getting some help and he agreed to start looking at getting some assistance for me. You know, it is the hardest thing to admit that you are not coping or that you can’t manage looking after your own home and kids. I decided to speak up and get some help rather than battle on, getting more agitated and worked up and teetering on the edge of, dare I say it, PND. I am helping myself now before things get out of control for me.

So today I placed an ad for a Mother’s Helper, 2 mornings a week, to help with the kids and some housework. I’m also looking into a house cleaner once a week. Even as I was writing the ad, I kept thinking of reasons why I shouldn’t be able to do this on my own, but stuff it, I’m going ahead and seing if it works out. I hope it does.

On the weekend we had a party for Lisa and Penny’s birthdays. My grandma was there and it was the first time she had seen this latest great-grandchild Amy (she has 12 of them now). Thanks Mum and Dad for putting on a great ‘do’ as usual.

Time to relax and catch up on Idol to see who gets outed tonight.

Head strong Amy – getting lots of tummy time.
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Look at these toes – those aren’t from my gene pool
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Cracking a smile
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We had a good day today, buyt Amy wasn’t really sleepng very well, so we went for walk around the mountain. That knocked her out, but then I had to wake her up and drag the other two, to pick up Holly. It is times like this that I really find it hard to manage – mainly becasue Jess wanted to hold my hand, so did Meg and then Meg and Holly had a fight and ended up in tears, and Amy was needing a feed etc etc. It just frazzles me out until I get home to safety – no wonder I never want to go anywhere 🙂

Just been for another walk around the mountain – to see it at sunset is great and so refreshing. I swallowed a bug though – singing along to Missy Higgins and gulped in a flying one. The kids were horrified when I told them about it.

Here’s hoping for a good night and lots of good sleep from Amy.

You can’t all fit on the one medicare card.

No wonder my wallet is bulging at the seams – and it isn’t from all the cash I have!!

Hello everyone, have a minute in amongst the chaos to do a blog update.

Justin was sick in the night, a lot – he ate a dodgy muffin at the mall and is still paying for it now. So we are even more bleary eyed than usual over here. He is all tucked up in bed, with Amy by his side, so hopefully they’ll both get some more sleep.

I have been scrapping up a storm of late. I did a great LO yesterday of Dash our dog. I had papers that were about 2 years old and so I just threw them altogether and it came up really well. I’ll take some pics today if I get a chance. I’m loving getting creative again and it is so nice and relaxing to pass the time away (well when I get the chance anyway!).

Yesterday we took the kids to the Caravan and Camping show. When I was a kid we loved walking through the Caravans at the Canberra Show, so I introduced my girls to the concept. The best by far was the $193,000.00 Winnebago which could sleep 6, had a queen size bed, full size fridge, washing machine and seatbelts around the table so that passengers could be safe while travelling. It was so awesome, but Justin’s idea of travelling style is decking out a Combie Van and having scooters in the trailer for short day trips. There must be a compromise in there somewhere!

Amy is going well. Today is definately the 23rd, so YAY she is a month old. How bizarre is it that I already forget being pregnant. It took up such a huge part of my year and yet it was like it never happened. Talk about living in the moment! Things are settleing down well and I am feeling better each day, but there are still times when I could pull my hair out in frustration. Today I am getting a huge garbage bag and chucking out all the little crap things that are lying around the house – bits of paper that the kids write on, toys that are broken and rubbish that just seems to accumulate before my eyes. Holly has a White Elephenat stall at school on Friday, so some items may even get donated to that!

Ok better get some school lunches made.

Have a great week

PS – Rach arrived safe and sound at her island holiday resort – how jealous am I? Hurry home Rach – I don’t know how long my sanity can last without talking to you!!!