Week 33, Day 7 (Verbal diarrhea) (aka spot the deliberate error, LOL)

(It really must have been an off day, because I screwed up the date system. Kept thinking all day it was Wednesday, nearly fell over in shock to discover it was Thurs!)

Sorry about this.. I'm having one of those days ;-) I'll toss around a few random musings that have occurred this week, and hopefully might even be somewhat succinct.

* I've swapped from thinking that this pregnancy is too long, to feeling quite the opposite. Just on six weeks to go, and so much to do.. (and so she sits here on the blog, LOL!)

And now for updates from the final Antenatal class:

* Cloth nappies are making a comeback (yay), and these days smart mothers don't use pins. There's are some very clever varieties of fluffies/pilchers/overnaps out there, with velcro fastenings and gathered legs. Apparently the best way to use them is to fold your cloth nappy in a ridiculously simple way, then line the overnap with it and place on the baby. Voila! Even fumble-fingered Dads can change nappies without stabbing anyone with the pin!

* Apparently it's the law that all children under one year of age (and preferably beyond) must be in a rear-facing child safety seat. The seat bit is not exactly news, but I wonder how many parents knew about the length of time the kids are supposed to face backwards? Take a glance around next time you're out and about, and see what I mean.. It's a good idea - their little necks aren't strong enough to deal with sudden applications of the brakes, but the first we heard of this was at class, despite all our previous forays into the world of car seat comparisons.

* Car seats on sale in NZ do not usually fit easily into European cars. Well, that's what we were told (yay for my Jap import!) Speaking of fitting - our *new* seat has been fitted to the Toyota, and only JUST bloody fits! I'm talking a Camry here, not a teensy little hatchback or anything. The carseat is precisely the same size and shape of most the other ones on the market. I wonder how folk with smaller cars are going to get on?

* Realised the other day that the nagging need to smoke seems to have vapourised into thin air. Or is that 'clean' air? Wahoo... we did it :-))) Haven't had an apnoea attack in over a month, too. The thing that helped the most was knitting... which reminds me..

* Realised today that I'm going to have to go hell for leather to get all this knitting finished before baby arrives, as it's a fair bet I won't have time afterwards. Between me and #1 Grandma, kidlet has a lovely selection of goodies to take him through the first two years. I'm presently finishing a mint green cotton jersey in a delicious pattern, size 2 yrs. Love knitting in cotton.. wonderful stuff!

* Have no idea if Brooster survived, hope he did, but don't miss him. I'm getting quality sleep at night now, and the hens have suddenly exploded into egg production. Nine eggs yesterday.. wow! (A week ago there were none.)

* I'm always surprised when people look at me and exclaim in amazement "You're looking WELL!!" Um, yeah... thanks? It's lovely to get good feedback, but can everyone please rein in their shock just a bit? Am I supposed to look utterly dreadful, or did I look utterly dreadful before? This is happening so regularly that I'm actually coming to expect it each time I see someone for the first time in a few weeks..

* Those few days of Indian summer we enjoyed this week reinforced with a full brass band how incredibly grateful I am not to be carrying in the heat of summer. Can I time it, or what ;-)

* And finally, from the "In Your Dreams" Department, comes the amusing expectation from our antenatal instructor that that very disparate group are actually going to keep in touch from here on in. We were given a phone list, in due date order (we're fourth from the top) and the muffled instruction that when we each have our babies, we're to ring the instructor and also the person at the top of the list. Apparently the list then converts into a phone tree, and the top person rings #2, and they ring #3, and so on.

Ummm.. I don't think so. #1 is likely to have their hands full of their own baby by the time the list swings into top gear, and I doubt they'd want to be bothered. #2 on the list only gave a cell phone number, so all the less reason #1 would want to ring them ;-)

Also, we're not exactly a tight bunch. I noticed two friendships spring up out of the sixteen of us, but everyone else seems to regard everyone ELSE as "Not Our Type Dear".

We're expected back in early November to coo over each other's babies, and I guess we'll mostly do that, but I don't see any lasting friendships happening in this mob. Maybe if the age differences hadn't been so vast it might have been more likely...

Gods, but I'm glad class is out. Wayne got quite nervous when I filled out the feedback form, but I used as much tact as I'm capable of, suggesting more *physical* demonstrations (ie things that books don't teach well) rather than paper-based games, and asking for a good book/website list to support the subjects covered. See? I can be good ;-)

One last thing.. we all entered a sweepstake (one entry per couple, drat it), guessing when our own babies would be born, and guessing the sex. I wanted to write down "Due 6th Oct, will probably arrive 18th Oct, giraffe" but on consultation with the father I actually wrote "Due 6th Oct, probably arrive 8th Oct, boy."

If we win we get a (singular) chocolate fish ;-)