Jo O'Brien

dailyjo: #75 - Jo is now very full of baby (and hash-browns)....

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 15:15:36 +1000

#75 - Jo is now very full of baby (and hash-browns). We’re ready now. Time for her inaugural appearance.

The baby questions are all starting to sound suspiciously...

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:05:26 +1000

The baby questions are all starting to sound suspiciously similar, so, in the interests of good humour I’ve tackled the top three in a concise question answer format for your convenience ;)

This weekend was all about winding down and spending some time...

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 15:55:57 +1000

This weekend was all about winding down and spending some time together as a couple. It’s the first weekend in months where James and I have just been together without having people to see or places to be. I’ve been really enjoying it.

Today we set up the birth pool in the spare room. Seeing it sitting there is an unavoidable reminder that in the near future I’ll be pushing a whole baby out. Yikes!

It’s a really good feeling, having some time to prepare the space where I’ll be laboring and giving birth to our daughter. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the spare room recently, and that has helped me feel at home in there.

"The stone age didn’t end because they ran out of stones."

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 08:41:43 +1000

“The stone age didn’t end because they ran out of stones.”

- unknown

“Her Own Rhythm ” Fine Art Print by John Robb

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 08:39:42 +1000

“Her Own Rhythm ”

Fine Art Print by John Robb

“Dear Hunter V” Fine Art Print by Jessica Tremp

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:36:50 +1000

“Dear Hunter V”

Fine Art Print by Jessica Tremp

Today I grabbed the very last things on my list that are needed...

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:56:00 +1000

Today I grabbed the very last things on my list that are needed for the birth or immediately post-birth. The strangest items being some art supplies for making placenta prints.

I’m still not sure why I’ve become so emotional about our placenta, but I’d really like something to remember it by before it disappears into a rubbish bin somewhere or is buried under a tree. Placenta prints can be made using the existing blood, or with ink or paint. I’ve set us up with a pad of medium weight watercolour paper and some lush sepia toned artist ink. I guess the rest will come down to how much time, energy and creativity we have left after the birth!

“File under J” Fine Art Print by John Robb

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:25:52 +1000

“File under J”

Fine Art Print by John Robb

"The world is but a canvas to the imagination."

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:45:52 +1000

“The world is but a canvas to the imagination.”

- Henry David Thoreau

“from afar, where the wind sang your name…”...

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 07:25:50 +1000

“from afar, where the wind sang your name…”

Fine Art Print by Jessica Tremp

“Storm coming” Fine Art Print by Darryl A

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:09:51 +1000

“Storm coming”

Fine Art Print by Darryl A

Face of Birth extras - Sheila Kitzinger Face of Birth is a...

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:31:00 +1000

Face of Birth extras - Sheila Kitzinger

Face of Birth is a documentary about home birth in Australia, which is currently in production.

When we first became pregnant we rushed around like mad trying to find a good obstetrician at a private hospital and quickly booked ourselves in. That was all plodding along normally as I began to read and research birth. It wasn’t until half way through this pregnancy, after I’d digested half the library, that we canceled our hospital booking and began working with an independent midwife towards a home birth. Why? I’m a fairly logical person, so first and foremost I couldn’t ignore the research that has been conducted about safety and home birth. Having a “low risk” (i.e completely normal) pregnancy meant a properly attended home birth would give us the best statistical chance of avoiding infant death, infant distress during labor, an episiotomy, infection after birth and post natal depression. There were also a number of emotional reasons but I doubt we would have made the leap from private hospital to a birth pool in our spare room unless there was sound research and evidence of it being a safe choice, and being a safe choice in our particular circumstances.

I’m thrilled to see Sheila Kitzinger petitioning for more and better research. I know that when I went looking for it, it was incredibly difficult to find independent research and many of the documents I read had to be considered along with the bias of how the data had been collected or how the results had been interpreted.

Compaq Nougat Convertible Carseat

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:26:00 +1000

Today I ran a couple of errands after wrangling a few extra hours sleep last night. First on my list was picking up a car seat which my mother had very kindly gifted us for the new baby. I’ve been excited about picking it up all week, as it marked the last “big thing” we need to have ready and on stand by for when the baby comes.

James drives a very spiffy, but very compact convertible which made the whole car seat buying process quite a bit more tricky. I could only find two safety compliant models which fit in his backseat, and because I am avoiding the colour black like the plague right now, this left us with precisely one option.

On the drive home I couldn’t help but notice the plethora of ‘end of financial year’ sales and so parked the car for a quick look around. As though by fate, I finally found a large enough bag to use for hauling baby paraphernalia around. I’ve examined about 27266 billion nappy bags but was not able to find one that ticked all my boxes (big enough, light weight, compartments where I want them, not black etc.) Turns out what I really wanted was a large beach bag. And upon getting it home I spent my afternoon becoming better acquainted with it while getting it packed and ready to go.

Once I had bonded with my new nappy bag for long enough, it was time to attack the car interior with a brush and shovel. I started just before dusk, with enough light to work by, but ended up half squatting half reclining across the back seat poking into dark corners until they felt clean. Hopefully all my thrashing about did the job and tomorrow I’ll be able to take the new car seat in to be fitted properly.

There is still a whole bunch of frivolous bonus stuff on the wish list but now I feel like we have all the important items covered.

Photo

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:56:32 +1000

Full Term

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:05:00 +1000

We have three different due dates. I guess that’s what happens when you see four different care providers over the course of one pregnancy and everyone works it out a different way. But as of yesterday, the most in the middle of those due dates makes our baby full term. That means if she were born now we wouldn’t consider her mildly premature any more. She isn’t actually due for another two or three weeks, and if she has inherited her parents’ procrastination skills it could be as long as another four or five weeks, so I’m not holding my breath for anything to happen just yet and with so many things still to get done, I’m in no rush either! Nature might help me out here, because a preganant women who is stressing out about getting things ready is also pumping a bunch of adrenline around her system, and adreneline is a really good labor inhibitor. So, theoretically, labor is less likely to begin until the mother stops running around and fretting about things. It also explains why most labors begin at night, when the body is naturally starting to unwind and relax.

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and..."

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:15:49 +1000

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”

- Mary Lou Cook

"home birth is not simply the subtraction of medical technology from birth, but the addition of an..."

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:48:00 +1000

“home birth is not simply the subtraction of medical technology from birth, but the addition of an entirely new process that has substantial benefits for mother and baby”

- Stand and Deliver

“vertigo” Fine Art Print by Jessica Tremp

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:05:51 +1000

“vertigo”

Fine Art Print by Jessica Tremp

“Dine In or Take Away” Fine Art Print by Helen...

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:36:49 +1000

“Dine In or Take Away” Fine Art Print by Helen McLean [123996-13] - RedBubble

Clothing Winnie

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:22:00 +1000

We do our grocery shopping online, and so I ordered a box of baby wipes without really thinking much of it. Until they arrived with Winnie The Pooh plastered all over the container. Now before you think I am some sort of pooh-bear-hater, let me assure you that I am quite fond of the pre-Disney character. But there is something very strange about a bear who doesn’t even wear pants advertising nappy products.

Acknowledging that I had given this way too much thought and was almost certainly thinking irrationally, my mind was made up. Winnie had to go, or at least put some damn pants on.

Alas, I did not have any Winnie sized pants around the house. And even if I put pants on Winnie, what of all his pant-less friends mocking me from the side of the box? What I did have, was an off cut of fabric that has been in my hoarding pile for several years.

As if by magic, it was the perfect size for what I needed. The final dilemma was how to get it on. I have wanted to learn sewing since I was 14. Mum let me use her machine but it broke after just one day and that was the end of that. I’ve hand stitched a few bits and pieces since then, but the last time I moved house my modest sewing kit hit the bin along with nine tenths of my stuff. The choice was now between sticky tape or safety pins. I went with the pins.

Goodbye Winnie!

Mwah ha ha! I win. No more commercialised pant-less Disney characters adorning this box of baby wipes! Winnie has been clothed and silenced.