Mother's Group - Play date for Oscar

Every Tuesday afternoon Oscar and I meet with the mothers' group that originally was held in the nurses health centre as education sessions (this ended before Xmas), but some of us have kept meeting every Tuesday for catch ups on how it's going with our babies.

Normally we have been meeting at a cafe to catch up, however at a cafe the babies are not able to play on the floor, as we have to sit with them on our lap or have them in the pram.

So Tuesday this week we decided to meet at one of the mother's homes, as we are a solid group of 5 that meets up every week, whereas some of the other mothers have only been to the meetings sporadically. This way, the babies could play on the floor and have some more interactive time together. 

Leah, the lady who held the meeting this week, had dished up a massive spread of fresh fruit, home baked apple cake, home baked olive bread and a selection of tea, coffee and fresh/sparkling water.... so now the standard is set!! :-) 

We also decided this week that we will take pictures of the babies every month so we can see how they are growing and have something fun to look back at when the kids are a bit older.

Below are some pictures of the babies playing, and the monthly photos...

Monique and Oscar having a little chat

Holding hands - Boyfriend & girlfriend??!

Oscar having tummy time with Monique

Tummy time - on the move

Monthly baby photo (star), clockwise from L-R is Oscar (in striped cardigan), James, Lila and Monique

Here they are again - Oscar is the youngest, then Lila is 1 day older than Oscar,
Monique is 3 weeks older than Oscar and James is 7 weeks older than Oscar

4 little babies in a row :-)

from L-R: Lila, Monique, Oscar and James

Finally, Leah took a great picture of me and Oscar :-) Finally a picture with Mummy!!!

Oscar 4 months old

Moving soon.... to Saltwater Coast

We have had a busy month which is why there has not been much activity on the blog...

Since having Oscar (actually before having him) we have been contemplating moving to a single storey house instead of the double storey we are in, as we had an idea that it would probably be easier not to carry Oscar up and down the stairs all the time. 

So it has been no surprise that we have actually found that to be a bit of an issue. It has been OK so far, but as Oscar is growing bigger and heavier, we sure would like to avoid all those daily trips up and down stair with a little wiggling baby in the arms!

Also with the arrival of summer and Oscar's room facing west, it gets incredibly hot in there in the afternoon/evening, so it is difficult to get him to sleep for his afternoon nap time and for bedtime at night.

So house hunting started after Xmas. We had a few requirements to fulfill;
- 4 bedrooms (Oscar's room, parent's room, home office and guest room/Julia's room)
- 2 living areas so our TV room is not in the kitchen area
- doors between master bedroom and ensuite and walk-in-robe
- nice quiet location with access to similar facilities we have now (pool, gym, tennis courts)
- fast internet
- nice functional kitchen (ideally with butler's/walk-in pantry)
- undercover alfresco outdoor area

So with a list this long we started looking at houses. We probably managed to have a look at 7 or 8 houses before we found one that fit the criteria (actually we found one quickly, however they wanted someone to move in straight away, and we still have a few months left on our current lease, so we did not want to do that). 

Because there were quite a few groups walking through the open for inspections, we actually did not expect to get the first house we applied for, but we were lucky enough to get it :-)

So we are now set to move on 6th March. We will be staying in the local Point Cook area, just a bit further south of where we are now - in a new estate called Saltwater Coast, which is close to the beach as well. You can see more about the estate here: www.saltwatercoast.com.au 

Our new address will be 25 Surrey Grove, Point Cook, however we will keep our PO Box for any mail, so that will stay the same.

Here are some pictures from the new digs...

Front of house

garden

Undercover outdoor alfresco

Big white kitchen - the door in the corner leads to walk-in pantry!!! :-)

kitchen from another angle

kitchen with sliding door out to alfresco

dining area

Family room next to dining area

park across the street - we have no houses opposite our house :-)

Little Mr Chatterbox

Happy New Year everyone!

We had a nice quiet Christmas and New Years period this year. Actually a bit too quiet. Kasper was so unlucky to get a bout of gastro just before Xmas, which resulted in him only being able to eat yoghurt and drink juice for 4-5 days, including Xmas Eve. So that was a cosy Christmas Eve :( Luckily he had recovered enough to have a few potatoes with a little pork roast and gravy, but no crackling and no red cabbage salad or anything.

While Kasper had gastro, we also had to keep him away from Oscar to make sure he did not give it to him... that of course meant that I was on full 24 hours duty with feeding and everything, so around 3rd Xmas day I was VERY tired!!

And just as we thought Kasper was fresh, he then caught a cold with lots of sneezing and coughing, and had that over New Year's Eve up until he went back to work Monday 5th January, so again he could not help with Oscar! In fact he is still coughing a bit, so it's been a tough holiday for him...

Oscar has grown a lot over the last month or so. Saturday the 3rd January, he was 13 weeks old, which is 3 months old. This also means he is now growing out of the triple 0 (000) clothes, which is in a way sad :-( but also good! I was at the community centre yesterday to weigh him, and he now weighs 6.3kg, so he is now heavier than Bailey, she again has the title of being the smallest one in the house :-)

Oscar has also begun to "talk" a bit more now, especially in the morning, but he can certainly also test out his lungs the rest of the day. There's no doubt there is a little one in the house :-)

Below is a video from yesterday morning of his morning "talk". So cute!

He is also starting to be a bit harder to settle at night, which means it usually takes between 1/2 to 1 hrs from putting him to bed until he is asleep with lots of screaming and crying in between :-( I think he reaches the point of "I don't want to miss anything" by evening so that's why, because during the day he is happy to take his naps. 

As he is also getting too big for his bassinet, we now have to get him used to sleeping in his cot instead, and we tried that for the 1st time yesterday, which did not go so well, so I think that will be a weekend project...

Special Xmas Gift - Oscar's 1st giggle

And so it is Christmas, and this is a very special Christmas for us as it is our 1st Christmas with Oscar :-)

And Oscar was a little gem, delivering his 1st ever giggle as a Xmas present for his parents. Yasmin, who was in the middle of peeling potatoes for our Xmas dinner dropped everything to get the video camera and catch it on video, and succeeded!!!

Result below;
Happy XMAS from giggling Oscar :-)

Videos of Oscar

Oscar is now 9 1/2 weeks old, and is starting to be more awake during the day, so we have to keep him active in his activity gym and play chair.

Last week, we had the 8 week health check up with the childcare nurse, and Oscar is now a big boy weighing in at 4.9kg and measuring 56cm, so he is growing fast!

Last week we also had great weather on the weekend, so the whole family was outside to enjoy the summer weather.

Oscar certainly felt the heat, so he was lightly dressed for a few days. It is also good to have cuddle time with daddy on the couch :-)

The weather is still changing a bit, so even though we had 30 degrees and could sit outside and enjoy the weather 2 weekends ago, last weekend it bucketed down and we had plenty of thunder and lightning.

Luckily, the weather cleared up enough Saturday evening for us to make a butterflied leg of lamb on the BBQ as the Spratt Family was visiting to meet Oscar.

Grillmeister putting extra marinade on lamb

The Spratts meet Oscar, L-R is Martin, Cher, Oscar, me (Yasmin) and Hannah.

The last week or so, we have also got the video camera going, and below are a couple of videos with Oscar. --- ***three days later: there were supposed to be a couple of videos of Oscar, however because of our shockingly slow internet connection, there is only 1 video. I will try to upload the other video by breaking it up into smaller clips later... 

Oscar playing in his bouncer, but then needs to attend to other (pushing) business > <

Oscar has also become a very good boy, and now sleeps almost through the night, waking up between 5 - 5.30AM, so mummy is getting a bit more sleep as well :-)

Welcome Oscar

Even though I was set to be induced on October 8, Oscar had other plans....

Kasper and I had a nice "last weekend without child" planned for the 4th and 5th of October with Yum Cha lunch Saturday and brunch at the local cafe Sunday before the arrival of our little man.

But Oscar had other plans - at 4.30AM on Saturday 4th October, my waters broke while at the toilet, and then we prepared to go to the hospital after a shower and breakfast (the midwifes advised to take it easy as first time mums usually take 10-12 hrs to give birth). 

We arrived at the hospital around 6.30AM, and after initial assessment, the midwife offered us to go home for a few hours and come back. However, as I was having contractions about 5 min apart, I wasn't going anywhere. And luckily we didn't, because Oscar was in a hurry to get out. By 9AM I was in so much pain I asked for an epidural, however when they examined me again, it turned out I was fully dilated and it was too late to get any pain relief, so I just had to suck it up and push the baby out!!!

After a lot of primal screaming (I'll spare you any further details), Oscar arrived at 10.16AM Saturday 4th October, weighing 2805g and 47cm.

Oscar newborn 4th October 2014

We stayed in hospital for 2 days, and was then allowed to go home Monday afternoon. It was really nice to get home, as it was not easy to get any sleep at the hospital with midwifes running in and out of your room and noise coming from other rooms and the hallway.

The first week at home was all about just finding a routine with Oscar. Having to feed a little one every 3 hours is tough, as if you are lucky you get a max. of 2 hours sleep in between. Luckily, as Oscar grows, we can slowly increase the time between feeds, and after week 2, we are feeling much better and getting a bit more sleep :-)

I am also slowly recovering from labour. I was quite sore all over the first couple of days, but feel so much better now. I think most of the fluids have gone now as well, and as a bonus (perhaps of following a specific diet due to gestational diabetes during pregnancy), my post-pregnancy weight is current 8 kg less than before pregnancy!! So I am quite happy with that :-)

Below is a video of Oscar after a feed. He usually gets a bit sleepy, but he is making some cute faces :-)

Below are a selection of pictures from the last week or so.

Cuddle time with mum

Oscar after his bath with adorable spiky hair

Oscar bonding with dad after his dinner

Ready for an afternoon nap

Pregnancy and Baby related stuff

It has been a while since we have updated the family blog. As we have a family extension on the cards shortly, I'd thought we'd post a pregnancy/baby related post, so you can all see how the pregnancy is progressing and how we prepare for the little new man arriving soon...

Since we are so far away and most family/friends don't see us regularly, here are some images from my pregnancy...

About 4 months pregnant (mid May)

About 5 months pregnant - on holiday in Hoi An, Vietnam in June

About 6 months pregnant (mid July)

About 7 months pregnant (mid August)

A bit over 8 months pregnant (20th September)

As most of you know, I've had gestational diabetes during my pregnancy, so the doctors have advised me that they will induce labour approx. 2 weeks before my due date to prevent baby getting too big, which means our little man should arrive in 2-3 weeks time... Very exciting.

Apart from the diabetes thing, the pregnancy has been pretty good without too many issues, so I consider myself pretty lucky. In most cases the diabetes should disappear after giving birth, so hopefully that will be true in my case.

Kasper also thought he would participate in the picture diary 

(no he is not that fat, he is blowing out his tummy ;-))

The last 2 weekends we have been attending birth preparation classes at the hospital. As part of this we also got a tour of the maternity ward at Werribee Mercy Hospital, where I'll be giving birth. Bonus is the hospital is only 10 min. from our house :-) We were pleasantly surprised at how modern all the facilities at the maternity ward is. I've found a few images online to give you an idea (of course I forgot to snap my own photos during the tour).

Werribee Mercy Maternity Ward

Werribee Mercy Maternity Ward - 

this is the type of room we will stay in for a couple of days after birth

Of course, we have been getting a room and baby gear ready for the little man as well, so unfortunately our usual guest room has been turned into the nursery.

The cot in the nursery

a transportable bassinet bed (which we will probably have downstairs for day-time naps)

Wing-back chair and ottoman for night-time (and day time) feeds

The bathroom has been turned into change room with change table and baby bath

After a lot of looking around, I finally found a pram (barnevogn) that had all the features that I wanted. The seat is removable and can face either outward (seeing the world) or facing the parent. The seat can also be converted into a bassinet so baby can sleep lying down when out and about. 

Seat in sitting position facing parent (can also be turned facing away from parent)

Seat has been converted into bassinet, so baby can sleep lying down

When removing the seat, I can add the car seat capsule with the adapter frame, which means that I can move the car capsule directly from the car to the pram without waking up baby if he's asleep, so I'm very happy with all this functionality.

Seat has been removed and I've added the car capsule adapter

Car capsule clicks right in, so I don't have to move baby if he's sleeping :-)

I think this is all the news for now.
We are getting very excited about meeting our little man. I should get some more information over the next few weeks regarding what day they want to book me into the hospital for inducement of labour...