My sick little girl

Grace is bloody sick again. Poor little thing is laying listlessly beside me on the couch, which is all she has been able to manage for the last 2 days.

It all started on Tuesday. She had been coughing Monday night, but nothing too bad and wasn't showing any other symptoms. When I picked her up from school both of the carers said that she wasn't herself, and that she had woken from her sleep distressed and upset. They said that she was quiet in the afternoon and only wanted to be resting or getting cuddles. She seemed ok when I picked her up, but both teachers thought that she was probably coming down with something.

She was ok that afternoon, excited to show us the lantern that she had made that day and eager to light it for dinner that night. We had a lovely dinner by candlelight, she was happy and ate up most of her dinner.

Tuesday night she slept fine, coming into our bed early in the morning as usual. When she woke she was quite warm and just asked to lay on the couch. She was complaining of stomach pains, then about 10am she started vomiting. From then on she hasn't stopped. The poor thing has nothing left to vomit, but still her little body is heaving and nothing but bright yellow bile is coming up. She hasn't eaten since Tuesday night, only wanting to drink water. I've tried to get her to have hydrolyte icy-poles, but only managed to get her to take 2 so far over the 2 days.

I took her to the Dr today as she was so lethargic, hot and still vomiting. My normal Dr surgery was fully booked, so after calling around 5 others I finally got an appointment for 10am this morning. Grace really didn't want to have to move. Every time she wasn't laying down she would vomit. I finally managed to dress her and put her in the car with towels all around to catch the vomit.

She was ok in the car, just drifting in and out of sleep, but luckily not vomiting. I had to carry her from the car, which was a little difficult as a) she is 18kg & b) I still had to carry bags and wrangle Xav. I hate Dr's surgeries at the best of times, but with the swine flu epidemic they are just over-run, feral and germs being spread everywhere. I walked in, took one look and wondered whether she would get sicker just from being there. I managed to find a quiet corner that didn't look too feral and set the kids up. Grace had a few more spews whilst we were waiting, which I'm sure the other people waiting were impressed with.

Finally we got to see the Dr. Xav insisted on being the sick person "Doctor, see sore arm...Owie." The Dr amused him and had a quick look, then moved on to the more obviously sick patient. She checked her all over and asked about any medical history. I told her about the recurrent uti's and gave her the urine sample that I had taken this morning. She did the dipstick test, which came back 2 + ketones and 1 + protein, exactly the same as the one a few weeks back. The culture wont be back until Sunday, but given the past experiences the Dr insisted that she had Ab's just in case. Although I am reluctant to give them until it is confirmed, I will in the hope that they will make her better.

She is still so unwell. Her face is pale with a slight tinge of green/yellow. Her normally plump face is sunken and gaunt, with dark black circles surrounding her hollow eyes. She is not well and I hate seeing her this sick. She slept with us last night and spewed 6 times, which did not leave much time for sleeping. She has spent the last 2 days laying on the couch, only moving to be sick and only crying out in pain when her tummy hurts. She wants me to sit with her constantly, which I am happy to do but the 2 y/o doesn't fully understand why I am not at his beck and call. He has been fantastic though, probably due to the free for all TV viewing he is indulging in. Back-to-back episodes of Playschool is keeping him very happy. Little terror has been mimicking Graces spewing noises though, which is not pleasant.

I just hope that she isn't getting dehydrated. She is drinking lots of water but I worry that it isn't enough, especially when she jsut vomits most of it back up. I have an appointment for her at my regular Gp, but hopefully she is on the mend by then.

Xavs 2nd Birthday and party

What a weekend! We have just come off a 3 day celebration in honour of my littlest baby turning 2.

Every year Duane takes the kids birthday off work, this year Xav's fell on a Friday which meant a lovely long weekend together.

I tucked my little boy into bed on Thursday night with a little tear in my eye. I spent the rest of the night annoying Duane, starting every sentence with "This time 2 years we were....." I am still amazed that the last 24 months have gone so quick, and yet on the other hand I really can't remember our family without Xav..strange hey!

I was planning on taking a photo of Xav at 4.07am, but just in case I missed it I took a quick one at midnight, just as the clock tuned to the 17th July.

Xav stirred when I took the pic, so I asked him if he wanted to come into our bed. Ungrateful little sod just told me "NO" and promptly rolled back over. He did come staggering in about 3am though, so I got to have my warm, snuggly cuddles in the end.

Grace had snuck in about 5am, then we all woke for the morning about 7.30am. Nothing better than lazy mornings in a big king size bed with 2 little people snuggled in the middle.

The kids were both so excited that Daddy was here in the morning. Seeing him of a morning is a real novelty for them, he gets up at 4.30am for work during the week and then early on the weekend for golf.


We lazed around on the bed, singing dreadful rendition of Happy Birthday to Xav. I snapped a few sleepy pics, then we all got ready to head out for breakfast.

We headed up to Duane's work for a lovely breakfast. It's become a bit of a tradition to go there for special occasion breakfasts. Its such a lovely place, and usually we are the only ones there so the kids don't annoy too many people! I had a yummy vegetarian omelette that has the most deliciously crispy outside, just devine! Duane had his usual big breakfast and the kids chose fresh fruit salad with raisin toast, washed down with babycinnos and copious amounts of Marshmallows! Yum!

After breakfast we headed home for a quick change into warmer attire as we were heading up the mountain. We were planning on going to O'reilleys to show the kids the wild birds and have a wander through the rainforest, but on the drive up we decided to detour and head to Mt Tamborine instead.

It was a windy trip up the mountain, Grace was looking a little pale a few times, but luckily no heaving was had over the back. We had a quick drive through the village, but pretty much headed straight to the Botanical Gardens.

It was a beautiful clear day, albeit cold and a little windy, but the kids were happy to run around in the brisk mountain air. I used the beautiful backgrounds and happy children to my advantage and went snap happy with my camera. It was a bit tough at times as the lighting was a bit bright, but I still managed to get some good shots. I should have taken my tripod as I was getting a little nervous balancing my pride and joy precariously on uneven benches. I desperately wanted to get some family pics though, I always seem to miss out on being on the "cheese" side of the pictures. However I have marsted the remote control on my camera, so there should now be no excuses!

The kids had a blast going from one section to the next. Xav zoomed by in a whirl of excitement, but Grace the little nature lover, took her time to stop and smell the flowers. There were lots of little seats, winding paths and wooden bridges, and the kids had a great time exploring everything.

After we had been around the whole area, we headed back to the car and made the trip back down the mountain. Both of the kids were buggered and promptly curled up in their car seats and fell asleep.

That night Duane's parents came over for dinner and to give Xav his present which was a wooden 3 storey car garage. Xav loves it and has spent every day zooming his cars up and down the ramps, winding them down the lift and squealing the tyres around the corners. It was a big hit!

~~Cupcakes decorated in melted chocolate!~~

Saturday we spent the day at home cooking, baking and organising for the party on Sunday. We had held off giving Xav his present from us until today, figured we could stretch the gift giving over the weekend! We gave him a shiny red metal ride on car, and he loves it! Grace had picked out some crayons that her school sells, pure beeswax block crayons that make the most beautiful colours. She excitedly gave him her present then promptly took it back, unwrapped it and then gave it to him!

Sunday was party day. I had only wanted a small get together, which was made even smaller by a few people cancelling from being sick. So even though there wasn't any kids Xav's age, he still had a blast playing with everyone.

Making the kids birthday cakes is one of my most enjoyable parts of their birthdays. I love picking out with them what type of cake they want, and then researching how to do it. As Xav wasn't exactly insisting on any particular cake this year, I narrowed it down to a few of his favourite things. It was a toss up between a clock, car or digger. He is going through a very obsessive clock phase though, so in the end we decided on that.

Slight problem though, Xav is still learning how to pronounce the L in clock. I had to stifle laughter when I heard him ask his very straight-laced Poppy where his C*ock was! I figured we had a week or so to teach him how to say it properly before the big event, otherwise it could have been interesting when someone asked what type of cake he had for his party!

Anyway, I know that a straight round clock would have been nice, simple and over and done with quick. However, he does seem to have a thing for Grandfather clocks, so in all my excitement and eagerness I committed to making a Hickory Dickory Dock cake. I searched everywhere online, but couldn't find any that were made out of fondant, only iced ones. So with a bit of creativeness I baked, cut and shaped 3 cakes into a 3d Grandfather clock. I froze the cakes (easier to ice that way) then on Saturday got to work doing the decorations. Fondant is a pain in the butt to work with. I had dyed 3 different colours, enough to make the outside of the cake and also 2 little fondant mice. Every time I went to roll out the brown, it would go streaky and stick to the board. It was a no win situations, I needed to use icing sugar to stop it sticking, but every time I used it the fondant would go streaky. Finally I worked out that if I used icing sugar mixed with cocoa, it would be fine.

~~Grace putting the candles on the cake~~

~~Hickory Dickory Dock~~

Of course I can find a million things that I don't like about it, but overall I'm happy. Xav loved it, so that's the main thing.

Xav was spoilt with lots of lovely presents. A giant wooden floor puzzle, lots of lovely books, 5 much needed t-shirts, a very special car with doors that open, an Iggle Piggle book, a wooden clock and also a car track soft mat. Everything was a hit and has all been played with by both kids.

It was a wonderful weekend, a perfect way to celebrate the youngest member of our family turning 2!

**Stupid Blogger is not putting my photos where I want them. Also took me FOREVER to upload the pics, so not all the ones I wanted are here.

Update on Grace

I just wanted to follow-up on Grace's sickness a few weeks ago.

We took the urine sample to the Doc's, who ran a quick check of it and confirmed that she had a trace of protein and 2 pluses of ketones. Wasn't anything too bad, apparently the ketones are just an indicator of muscle mass breaking down from not eating much.

However, once the urine sample was cultured they found that there was e-coli in her urine - which means UTI. The poor little thing must have been in so much pain, but because she was better before the urine sample came back she fought it all by herself - No Ab's. I really should have figured out that it was a uti, but she wasn't showing the normal signs. She wasn't weeing all time, she was having tummy pains and also the chest pains. I really think that the chest pain and everything else were separate, maybe she did have a bone stuck in her throat as well as the Uti.

As she has had a few, the Dr has requested that we get her kidneys/stomach ultrasound to see if there are any problems. Recurring Uti's can sometimes mean Kidney reflux.

I took the 2 kids along last week for Grace's ultrasound. The appointment was at 10 am and they had asked that Grace only eat her breakfast and to drink as much water as possible. Her bladder must have been full to the brim and just before we were called in she was asking to go wee. Lucky the girl has fantastic pelvic floor muscles and kept holding on.

We walked into the room, and I instantly recognised the Sonographer as the one who had done my 20 week scan when I was pregnant with Grace. She's a very tall, broad (think Amazon!) woman who I remembered as being a little gruff. I had already explained to Grace what was going to happen, but once she was in the dimly lit room with a strange woman and lots of medical equipment around she was a little scared. I explained everything again and then she hesitantly got up on the table.

She was perfect for the rest of the exam. All up it took about 20mins for the sonographer got all her measurements and checks. It all seemed good with no signs of any problems.

Xav was wonderful through it all. He was totally mesmerised by the screen and all the dials and buttons that he was refraining himself from touching. They both were given a sticker at the end becuase of there impeccable behaviuor.


So now we just wait and see if it happens again. If it does she is off for a test that involves dye and an x-ray, so I'm hoping that we can avoid that.

Good night my baby Xav

I've just tucked my little boy into bed for the last time as a 1 year old.

In a little over 5 hours my second born baby will be officially 2 and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for his babyhood. It felt like I blinked and it was over, one day I was birthing him and now he is a little person - it all has happened way too quickly.

I'm loving the kids stages at the moment, but I'm also finding it hard to wrap my head around not having a baby to look after. Tomorrow I'll have a 2 year old and a 3 1/2 year old, it's all a little strange.

Anyway, tomorrow should be a fun and exciting day. We are heading out for breakfast with the kids then either up the mountain or down the beach, depending on the weather. Xav will be so excited to see Duane when he wakes, it's a very rare occasion that Daddy is here of a morning! Duane always takes the kids birthdays off work, which we all love.

I'm off to bed, I think I might scoop the little boy out of his bed and into mine. I need to have him near me tonight as I try to steal his last hours of babyhood.

I'm also going to put the camera beside my bed and Duane's set the alarm at 4.07am so I can take a picture at the time Xav was born. Slightly pathetic, but one of my rituals as I remember their birth day.

My special two

My 2 little kidlets are just being so adorable lately, my heart sometimes does little flip flops just watching the 2 of them interact together.

They are just so in love with each other, its sometimes sickening to witness. Of course the love is balanced off with plenty of fighting, but most of the time it's just a big love fest.

Our mornings start with 2 little midgets snuggled up to either side (Duane gets up at 4.30, so plenty of room my morning visitors), and a long cuddle in bed when we wake at around 7.30am. The 2 little ones spend a good half hour cuddling up to each other, planting big kisses on each other and having a tickle fest. I get a look in every now and then, only ever as an object to fight over though. Oh, and I am also apparently good for reading them 10 or so books before they want to get up and greet the morning, hence the reason we haven't been rising out into the cool winter mornings until around 8am.

Once we are up the terrible twosome are still joined at the hip. Running around laughing and giggling, playing chasies up and down the hall. One usually calls out to the other, then all I hear is cheeky cackling as they rush past in a blur. Way to much energy for me, I'm more interested in wiping the sleep from my eyes and organising my morning cup of earl Grey tea.

They both have perfected the art of "egging" each other on, most of the time to do something naughty. They stifle laughs as they each encourage mischief to happen. Grace usually instigates with a "C'mon Xav, lets go stand on the table, chase the chickens, jump on Mum & Dads bed, find something really high and dangerous and launch our self off it" They are usually quiet for a bit, then I sit back and enjoy the peacefulness until my curious side takes over.

By now the 2 of them are a quivering mess, way too excited by there naughtiness to listen to any discipline. Grace will finally calm down and stop, but then little Xav pipes up with, "More, go more *Walrus?"

Apart from mischief, they do have a lot of fun playing together. They both crave being outside and the more time they spend out there, the better every ones sanity is. They love organising pretend birthday parties in the sandpit, complete with cakes, treats and presents all wrapped up. I went to the op-shop last week and bought a heap of intricate wooden bowls and stainless steel cooking utensils, which have been a huge hit. I've taken out all the plastic sandpit toys, they prefer to play with real things so all the new stuff is being well used.

They also play this cute little game at every meal. Xav pretends his fork/spoon is a person and trots it up to Grace, saying "Hello" Grace then gets her fork/spoon and stands it beside Xav's and they have long, crazy conversations. It's just adorable and I love watching their imaginations grow together.

I love watching the 2 little souls that we created enjoying each others company. I love watching their love for one another grow, and the genuine compassion they have for each other. Of course they have their moments, but most of the time if one is hurt the other is right there rubbing their "owie" and giving cuddles. That is after automatically saying "It wasn't me, I didn't hit/kick/push/hurt them" Or Xav with his instant "Sorry Walrus", even when he has done nothing wrong!

It's like watching a beautiful friendship as it develops right from the start and I get to witness every moment.

I am really enjoying both of the kids right now. We are having fantastic days, rarely scattered with trying moments. I'm not sure if I'd be jinxing myself, but can I dare say that they are both relatively "easy"? They really are, and I am finding our days run smoothly and we are all having so much fun together! Maybe I'm just getting better at this parenting gig? Or maybe I'm just in a false sense of security, and soon it will all come tumbling down? Who cares, I'm just going to keep enjoying this beautiful time of my life.

*Xav has chosen a very strange nickname to call Grace - Walrus. I have absolutely no idea where he got it from, it's not even a word that I ever remember saying to him. It all started when we were in Tas and he kept saying it all the time. I was baffled as to what he was trying to say, then finally he pointed to Grace when he said it. Since then whenever he talks about or to Grace he calls her "Walrus" and sometimes "Ace" If he calls her Ace, I ask him what the other name he calls her is and he ALWAYS says Walrus. It is very cute as he runs around looking for her saying, "Where's Walrus, Walrus is gone" It's right out of the blue, but the nickname is slowly starting to grow on me, I even find myself calling her that sometimes, and she refers to herself as "Walrus". I wonder if it will stick? Or maybe Xav is channelling my obsession with The Beatles, they have a song called "I am the Walrus"??

Hmmmm.....

So, my husband has bought me this new (well new to us, but still 2nd hand) set of wheels.

**Excuse the crappy photos, they are taken on my little digital which Grace just informed me she dropped. Explains the haze that is all over my pics at the moment.




I drive a Rav 4 at the moment, but it's becoming a bit of a pain if we have an extra passenger as there is only room in between the car seats for a very teeny-tiny bottom. So if Mum comes up or we take Duane's Mum out anywhere, my NOT teeny-tiny bottom gets shoved VERY uncomfortably in the back. I usually only last 5 minutes or so before the complaining starts, so maybe this is to hush me?


Or is it a conspiracy? Maybe my "I only really want 2 kids" husband is getting clucky, and he has a desire for a car with more anchor points? Doubt it, but at least now he can't use the excuse that the car is not big enough.

I mean, check out how huge it is:

Look how much room is in the middle row, enough room between the seats for a humungous bum OR another car seat!

Oh, and what do you know! Another seat that could potentially be vacated by a cute little baby:

Wow, really that other seat on the left can be folded down too? You mean there are 5 spots for car seats, dear husband?

Hmmmm.....you do the math. Currently we are only using 2 of the anchor points. So that leaves me with another 3 car seat spots & then a spare seat, but I'm willing to compromise and just use another 2 of the anchor spots.
I'm generous like that.

Every Woman, Every Choice

In light of the proposed legislation regarding Homebirth, Maternity Coalition are holding a National day of action on the 4th July. I was originally going to go to the rally in Byron Bay, until we decided to hold our own on the Gold Coast. A few girls from the Friends of the Birth Centre & I are organising a rally to be held in Broadbeach tomorrow at 10am.

We've sent out invitations to as many people as we could (good 'ol facebook!), alerted the media and also our local politicians. I wrote to my local MP, who also happens to be one of my good friends husbands - so slightly awkward. I was tossing up whether to go with the casual "friendly" approach, or keep it formal. Astra did suggest I just wrote, "This is crap, oppose it", but I thought I should be a little nicer than that!

I'm a bit nervous about how everything is going to go tomorrow. We spent yesterday making up some banners and signs, then today I decided to quickly make up some bandanna's with "Our Birth, Our Choice" embroidered on them. They turned out well, so I'll had them out to a few people tomorrow. We wanted to do a walk, but as it was a last minute decision to hold the rally, we wouldn't have been able to get council approval in time. So we are just going to set up an area, with some banners, our signs, some information and just hope and pray that people turn up. I'll be happy if we get more than 20 people.

I'm taking the kids, and Grace must have been taking notice when we were making signs yesterday, she's been yelling out "My Birth, My Choice" and "Have a Homebirth". Very Cute. Duane's playing golf in the morning, but has asked how much bail money he thinks he will need to get us all out of jail!

I just think it's a really important cause. If the legislation goes through, it will be a very sad day for women's rights in Australia. I still can't believe that the Government is wanting to make it Illegal for Homebirth with a midwife to happen, for it to be a criminal act. It is so wrong that the choice of where to birth is taken out of our hands and being decided by a bunch of suits in Canberra.

So I'm channelling my inner 70's protester, and doing my bit to put a stop to this outrageous proposal.

Here's the letter I have sent to my local MP, Nicola Roxon (Health Minister) and K-Rudd.


Dear *****,

I am writing to you in regards to the proposed legislation that is going to make homebirth with a qualified Midwife in Australia Illegal.

Recently, draft legislation has been released that affects the ability of women in Australia to birth at home with a registered midwife in attendance. The title of the draft is “Health Practitioner Regulation National Law 2009” and can be found on the website: http://www.nhwt.gov.au/natreg.asp.

The legislation states that from July 2010, health practitioners will need to be registered, and have insurance in order to do so. Unfortunately, no insurance has been made available to Independent Midwives, so they will not be able to register.
The legislation also includes a proposed fine of $30,000 for people who “incite or direct” unprofessional conduct. I can only assume, not being a lawyer, that this would include a woman who offers money to a midwife to attend her birth at home.

I am outraged that Homebirth will be a crime, and that those participating will be treated as criminals. I have had 2 hospital births and was planning on homebirths for any future children; my choice may soon be illegal. I am also planning on studying a Bachelor of Midwifery next year, with the hope of one day becoming an Independent Midwife. If this legislation is passed, I will have to rethink my career choice.

I wonder, if the choice to homebirth is taken away, will women still birth at home, but without a Midwife? Surely this is not a situation that the Government would like to encourage, considering Homebirth with an Independent Midwife has been proven to be a safe option.

This legislation is anti-women, anti-choice, indeed, anti-human rights. Please help prevent this backward step.

I also wanted to let you know that Maternity Coalition is conducting a “Day of Action” to send a message to Canberra that we do not accept being told where we can birth our babies. These rallies will be happening all over Australia, including one in your Electorate.

The details are as follows:
Day: Saturday 4th July
When: 10am
Where: Pratten Park

I urge you to oppose this legislation. Homebirth is not a crime.

Yours Sincerely

Kirsten Penney