Week 16, Day 7 (Midwife visit #3)

Tadpole didn't kick at all last night, despite some 'prods' from the pelvic floor exercises. By 3am I'd managed to convince myself of the worst (stupid old gloomy guts that I am!), so I was very pleased we had our monthly check-in with Robyn today, and could hear the heartbeat (or lack thereof.. told you I was a gloomyguts).

Good visit, as always. I've lost half a kilo in weight (huh??), and the pee stick result was apparently very normal. Blood pressure excellent (122 over 70). Robyn had a prod for the uterus, and it's up by my belly button now (ewww I hate my navel being touched, and they all laughed at my tortured expression and curled toes. I wish there was a way to turn off the ticklish-switch!)

Baby's heartbeat immediately heard the moment the stethoscope landed on my belly. Robyn commented that bubs is growing very well, and seems to be thriving. So brat child was just teasing me last night by having a night off from kick boxing, bless her :-) Ah well, everyone deserves a night off. Apparently I can sometimes generate a reaction by having a cold drink - I will remember that, little one ;-) Next time you give me the screaming panic whatsits at 3am, I'll get up and guzzle some ice water, heh heh heh!

(And then, being the perverse offspring of a perverse mother, she'd probably grin & hold off, just to enjoy my mounting panic and surf the adrenalin wave.)

I popped along to a major baby retailer today to have a good nosy, and check out going rates. That was an eye-opener! Remember that changing table I missed out on? Have a guess at what they're worth in retail - $199. Ye gods little apples & buckets of jellyfish! What I didn't realise at the time is that under the changing mat is a neat baby bath; talk about your one stop cleaning shop! All is not lost, however... I see there's someone selling the same item in an online auction for less than a third, and they're country based so might not get the same number of bidders as, say, a town seller. This is not the kind of item you can pop in a courier bag, after all!

Remember that Safe Sleep whatsit that I was given along with the box of goodies at that sale? Retail price for the exact same item was $94, and judging by the astronomical price that you pay for new baby clothes & nappies, my boxes of bargains look even sweeter.

All sorts of things to ponder.. do I buy a pram that converts to a bassinette & stroller? Seems like a good idea, but will I need to buy a 'proper' bassinette as well, or will a good combo do the trick until Bubs needs a cot? If so, great (because have you SEEN the price of cots and bassinettes lately??? Yowsa!)

So I reckon in the next five or so months, I'll be haunting Trade Me, and going to a few garage sales. If I buy wisely, and care for the items well, I should be able to largely recoup my investment when Taddy outgrows the items in turn. Call me weird, but anything that goes near her mouth has to be new, so I know exactly where it's been. (That does not apply to the mudder's udder, naturally.. I'm not upgrading in that area!)

I've picked up my knitting again because it will help give my fingers something to do instead of smoking, and at least now that my brain is back on board I can remember where I am in a pattern. Preventing the cats from 'helping' me knit is proving entertaining, however :-)