It is tough being a baby

Especially when you get your first cold/cough at less than four weeks of age. Poor Tristan. He has come down with the lurgy that we're all suffering with. I have been crook as a dog, and, being a breastfeeding mother, unable to take anything other than paracetamol. My throat's been up for nearly a week now, and I am keeping Butter Menthols in short supply across Canberra. We finally remembered yesterday that we had a jar of Vicks Vaporub in Romily's cupboard, so all of us (except Tristan) got that smeared across our chests and throats last night - it really helped! I am feeling marginally better this afternoon, so let's hope we're all going to improve...and soon.

So, life is tough for Tristan - he has a terrible cough and has been sleeping only in my arms for a good part of the day - he's been very hard to settle between sleeps and I've had to swaddle him for day sleeps as well as night sleeps. He's still feeding quite well, so I'm not too worried about him. He's too young for any medicine - the best I can do for him is keep feeding him whenever he looks like he might take a feed. Thankfully the projectile 'possets' have decreased in number - although I did cop a huge blert right down my top this arvo!

Unfortunately our illness coincided with my father-in-law's visit this past weekend. He was very happy to finally meet his much-longed-for grandson, but we were not exactly scintillating company!
Romily of course loved having him come to visit. She loves all of her grandparents :)
Very little in the way of crafting going on here. I did manage to start cutting up some of this Amy Butler Midwestern Modern fabric for the throw.This Moda Porcelain fabric is destined for throw #2. Hopefully I'll get a bit more done in the next few days. The deadline for throw #1 is Monday, so I have a week!
And last, but definitely not least, look what the postman delivered this week! Helen made this gorgeous miniature wall hanging for Tristan - it is a beautiful as it looks. The stippling is TINY! Helen it's wonderful and Tristan loves looking at it on the wall above his change table while I'm getting down to the business end of things! Thank you very much!

Best dressed boy in town and Happy Father's Day to Carl

Tristan is certainly going to be the best-dressed boy in town! He has been well and truly spoiled with lots of lovely outfits. Look what arrived in the mail from Little Starfish! Isn't it gorgeous? I can't wait for the warmer weather and when he's a bit bigger to show this gorgeous onesie off. Thank you Gabrielle - you are very kind!And my auntie sent me this adorable little outfit - Tristan wore it today for our Father's Day outing today (life's tough when you're a baby, isn't it?). Romily, Tristan and I took Carl out to his favourite cafe for brunch, which was very nice (apart from the useless idiot taking our order - he managed to muck it up three times! But the manager stepped in and helped to put things to rights - somewhat redeeming the newish cafe's reputation!!). Then Carl went and did the grocery shopping and had some much deserved time out. Yes, grocery shopping on Father's Day - he really is a wonderful man :) Happy Father's Day to my gorgeous husband.

I made some brownies for playgroup tomorrow - that was the big achievement for today! I seem to spend most of my day either feeding Tristan or cuddling him. No wonder I don't get much else done! But, as we know, that's the most important thing I need to do every day. That and give Romily as much attention as I can. She's got a bit of a cold at the moment - caught from her dad, who managed to catch it on his very first day at work - )it didn't show up until Thursday, but we are attributing it to being back in airconditioning again!) so Romily needs a bit of extra TLC at the moment. She's settled down into the new regime pretty quickly, so we are feeling very blessed right now.

Anyway, enough rambling. Time to go wake up the sleepy baby for a feed before hitting the hay for the night.

Guzzle guts

Hello! We are still alive and well and all is going very well with my two children :)

I haven't been online much this week though - our computer blew up last week! I was upstairs trying to have a kip when I heard 'crack, bang, CRACK' reverberate up through the floor. I leapt out of bed and ran downstairs to find out what had happened. I came into the 'office' (spare bedroom which also houses our computer and peripherals) and there stood a dazed Carl standing in a room that smelt like gunpowder. Turns out that the power supply had exploded when he tried to turn the computer on. We were unable to have it looked at until Saturday, when the technician was visiting Canberra for personal reasons. Let this be a lesson to us to arrange for local technical support next time! It was all very exciting at the time. Fortunately we lost no data!

However, being unsure when our pc would resume operations, I had to rewrite my assignment, which was due today, from scratch. Not so easy when you're sleep deprived! Fortunately I could remember most of it and had taken plenty of long-hand notes, so it wasn't too bad, and I submitted it in time. I don't think I'll repeat the excellent results I achieved for the first assessment, but it should rate a pass!
On to more beautiful things - Tristan continues to thrive. We had our home visit today from the maternal and child health nurse, who checked him out from head to toe and declared him a very healthy little bub. He is still slightly jaundiced, but only a little. That will continue to clear over the coming days, as he's feeding like an absolute champion!

In fact, he's feeding so well that he's already above his birth weight. Not bad going for a 12-day old baby :)

He's also settled into a most welcome nighttime feeding pattern - waking around 1-2 am and then again at 4-5am. He then sleeps till around 9am! What a star! It means I can just about cope and am nowhere near as zombie-like as I was with Romily. Makes a big difference - especially when you have an overexcited 3 year old in the house!

Romily is just wonderful with Tristan. She is so gentle. She, of course, has turned into a sneaky little devil around Carl and I - getting up to all kinds of mischief - mostly involving playing with water in the downstairs bathroom...BUT I would much rather her acting up be directed towards Carl and I than Tristan. I am learning not to lose my temper with her, which is causing her to be even more sneaky - I'm just trying to head her off at the pass and distract her with less messy pursuits! It's been a huge couple of weeks for Rom - Carl also went back to work yesterday, so her world really has been turned inside out. She's actually coping remarkably well!

Of course nothing remotely crafty is going on in this house, but I hope that will change over the next week or so, as things start to settle down. I did manage to slip into my favourite fabric shop yesterday, as I owe a birthday FQ to one of the girls in my online quilting group (sorry Kylie!). While there, I managed to pick up some 30cm strips for two lap quilts I want to make - one for my father-in-law's companion, who's recovering slowly from major abdominal surgery, and one for Romily's playgroup teacher - Rom's going up to 3yo playschool next term and I thought it might be nice to give Marina a parting gift, as she's been really good with Romily.

I'm going to use the same Denyse Schmidt pattern I used for the table runner I made for mum for Mother's Day, so both lap quilts should come together really quickly. I hope!

I hope you're all well out there in blog land - I'll eventually get onto Bloglines and manage to catch up with all your news! And thanks again for all the lovely comments on the arrival of Tristan :) You really are the loveliest bunch of ladies!

Introducing Master Tristan

Thank you all for your lovely comments!

We are home and he is beautiful. All is well.
Unfortunately I didn't get the spontaneous labour I was hoping for! I went in to hospital on Thursday morning, had my waters broken at about 8.30am, and despite Carl and I going for lots of walks (and me having waters gushing every where), absolutely NOTHING was happening. At 11.30am I was hooked up to a drip and the midwives started a low dose of syntocinin. They kept increasing the dose until, finally, at 3pm I was officially in labour. After two hours of increasingly rapid and painful contractions I was checked and the midwife and I were both dismayed to discover that there had been no progress whatsoever.

At this point I decided it was time for an epidural and the midwife and my doctor agreed. At 5.30pm the anaesthetist arrived and delivered the blissful relief I needed. After another two hours I was checked again and had dilated from 2cm to 8cm! The doctor was called and told to get there quickly as this baby was coming out!

As soon as my obstetrician arrived he did another examination and found I was fully dilated. At this stage the baby's heartbeat started dipping and dropping erratically, so it was decided that they'd need to speed things up and get him out of there ASAP. So poor little Tristan was assisted out with a vacuum extraction after only 10 minutes of pushing. A very speedy arrival in the end!And yes, at 7 pounds 14 ounces he was smaller than we thought! But still a good size and absolutely divine...of course, I am completely biased, but he is a beautiful bub.

He has a bit of jaundice, but that will disappear over the next few days. He's a champion feeder and I have more milk than he can handle! He's a lovely, lovely boy. Here are some more photos, because I can't get enough of him and everyone loves a newborn bubba!
With Grandma, Huppa (my parents) and of course his very proud big sister Romily:And finally, a big thanks to mum & dad for coming up from Melbourne and looking after Romily for the entire day on Thursday! We're also looking forward to Carl's dad arriving in a few weeks time to meet his much longed for grandson.

All is well with the world :)

New Baby

Tristan Riley Mulholland Johnson has finally arrived, weighing 3.58 kg (7 lb 14 oz) and measuring 51.5 cm, at 8:06 pm on 21 Aug 08.

Mother & baby doing well.

Posted by Carl.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

What's a girl to do when waiting? Get busy of course! Romily and I made a delicious banana chocolate cake (inspired by an episode of Dora the Explorer, naturally!), which turned out very nice indeed - we finally had our oven fixed and it now cooks at normal temperatures. I might even attempt some biscuits soon!
And I whipped up two pairs of red corduroy pants and matching appliqued tops - one set for my little guy and another for yet another baby boy, born to one of the girls in my online mums' group. The sets are sized for around three months - both Kylie and I have healthy sized babies, so no doubt they'll both be wearing these outfits in no time at all.

I am feeling very full and very over being pregnant. I am having lots and lots of Braxton Hicks contractions - some rather uncomfortable - which is hopefully a good sign that the labour, when it finally gets under way, will be a lot shorter than the 16 hours I endured last time!

I've had lots of comments from other mums who've had multiple inductions - it seems it's a lot more common than I realised - thanks for the reassurance ladies. Let's hope once my obstetrician breaks my waters on Thursday morning it's only a couple of hours before I have my bubba in my arms :)

(Carl is primed to post the good news, so stay tuned!)

Sewing for tiny babies while waiting for the big boofa

While awaiting the arrival of my big boofa boy...I'm now resigned to the fact that it will be Thursday...one of the girls in my online mothers' group put out the call for some handmade clothing for premature babies. She's forming a support group up in Darwin, which will provide not only emotional support for parents coping with the early arrivals of their precious bundles, but will provide tiny clothing made with love - it's the small things that can make a difference.

She posted a couple of links to online, free preemie patterns and I whipped up a couple of dresses. They have snap shoulders and are open at the back, to enable easy changing of the bubbas without disturbing all the tubes, etc. They're lined and completely reversible.My god they're tiny. I was moved to tears when looking at them - they are so small. I know that my big boofa will be three times as big as the little babies and it gave me the opportunity to reflect upon the knowledge that while I am inconvenienced by his late arrival, I know that he'll be a big, robust and healthy boy, without any of the health worries that often come with early arrivals.

Canberra Quilters' Exhibition 2008

One upside to the baby being 'not early' was that I made it to the Canberra Quilters' Exhibition last Friday. There were some lovely quilts there and here are a few of my favourites (Click on the image for a larger a view):

Diane Firth - After the Rain

Beth Miller - The Girls of Tyrone Farm

Jenny Bowker - Hakim (Best in Show)

Pauline Reynolds - Doggies in the Window

(Polly is a mate from work and first time exhibitor. I tried four times to get a clear photo of her hand-pieced attic window quilt, but there were always people in the way looking at all the different dogs!)

Jenny Cook - Sadako's Rainbow (hand quilted and sashiko - stunning)

Jenny Wild - Fire

Brenda Smith - Acacia Bloom

Lynn Cribb - Fantabulous Night (first time exhibitor and all hand quilted!)

Margaret Rolfe - Crimson Cranes I and II

Lorelle D'Arcy - Japanese Wedding Quilt (double sided!)

A very hungry caterpillar

Woohoo, I finally worked out foundation piecing and, once I did, this quilt top came together amazingly quickly.
I am really happy with how it turned out!Of course it won't actually get quilted until after the baby arrives, but I managed to get it sandwiched today - with flannel as backing - nice and cosy.

I saw my obstetrician today. Things are slowly starting to happen, so I might get that spontaneous labour after all...but, if not, we are booked in for an amniotomy (breaking the waters) next Thursday morning (21 Aug). Fingers crossed baby #2 makes his arrival before then!

Back online...and still pregnant!

Our evil phone and internet provider company 'lost' our phone and ADSL connection on Thursday last week. Our phone was reconnected on Sunday afternoon, but we only got our internet connection back this morning! Five days without net access was akin to losing a limb! You don't realise how much you rely on the net until you lose access.

We are still pregnant - I am 40 weeks and two days today. My obstetrician warned me I was likely to have another 'overdue' baby and that's where we're heading. Hopefully my body will do the right thing and labour start naturally, but, if not, another induction is on the cards, probably in the second half of next week.

In the meantime, I've been busy with studying and ... oh my god ... some quilt-making! I finally started making the baby's Hungry Caterpillar quilt, finally working out how to do foundation/paper piecing! I'm really happy with how it's turning out and will post some pictures today or tomorrow.
I also FINALLY got around to making some small and overdue thank you gifts, as well as finishing off my nephew's birthday present (apron below - I teamed it with a kids cook book as well as a book for school projects on Australian explorers). I used some cool Alexander Henry fabric and matching homespun from Quilt Fabric Delights.
It was nice to get behind the sewing machine again.

Four Seasons Quilt Swap summer quilt received

A big thanks to Calico Cat for the darling little quilt she sent me for the final 'summer' round of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap.

It's beautifully pieced and the retro fabrics are really cute. I've never worked with 1930s prints before, so this is a really lovely, fresh and different quilt for me. Check out that tiny piecing! She also sent me a huge piece of the border/backing fabric, which will come in handy for other projects to do with 'the baby'!

Also a huge thank you to Margaret, aka Supermom, for organising this mammoth swap. She's done such a great job over the past year.


PS. All quiet on the baby front!

My heart's desire...or...Romily is 3!

Grapping a nap beside my 2-year-old-for-one-moreday daughter yesterday, I lay there gazing at her precious little face completely mesmerised. There is nothing like watching your sleeping child to make you realise how lucky you are to be a parent. She really is an absolute delight and I could not have asked for a more wonderful daughter.

She turned three today and is having a great time being a big girl!

Yesterday we took cupcakes to playgroup - all the kids were impressed and so were their parents/grandparents, as there were enough to go around.

Romily helped to make these, although she was, of course, more interested in licking the spoon than anything else!Today she woke up as a big 3-year-old and was very excited to discover some presents awaiting her sleepy head. She loved her presents, big and small, and, most gratifyingly for her mother, loved her Iggle Piggle cake!
We also did a 'treasure hunt' in our courtyard, where she was very excited to discover bags of loot!
So, indulge her mother and look at how Romily Margaret has grown and blossomed over the past three years.
Happy birthday my darling angel Romily xxxxxx

All is well here - we're just in a holding pattern, waiting for the arrival of #2 (due on Sunday). We're staying pretty close to home and I'm resting as much as I can. He doesn't look like he's in a hurry to go anywhere - no doubt he'll make a late and fashionable arrival like his big sister! Hopefully I'll manage to get the Canberra Quilt & Craft show this weekend!