La Mama at 37 and a half weeks

Happy 1st Anniversary to Daddy and Mama G

On the 28th November 2009, Daddy and I got married in Melbourne before we headed to London to get married again and celebrate with all the family there.

Here's what happened...

We headed to town to get married at the registry office and invited our close friends Dev & Kavi, Bex & Steve, Frans & Fleur, Luke and of course Abuelita and Tata.  The ceremony was beautiful and Daddy and I were very emotional, we couldn't believe we were getting married!

After the ceremony we all headed to a pub nearby to have a couple of champagnes before going to have a lovely lunch at Breezers restaurant at Crown Casino. We had a great afternoon, lots of eating and drinking and then we went to the Limerick in Middle Park in the evening where Daddy and I hosted a bit of function so that all of our other friends could come and celebrate with us.  We hired the function room at the Limerick and we had all of our friends come over and share a drink (or two) with us.  The whole day and night was just so relaxed, and just perfect for us.

Then on the 20th of December we had another beautiful ceremony in front of all our family and friends in England, plus Abuelita, Tata, uncle Diego and Danny, Dev, aunty Jo Jo and also your aunties from El Salvador Ethel and Claudia.  We re- married at a place called Ufton Court which is just outside Reading and then had the reception in a barn that was attached to the venue and danced the night away with lots of wine and tequila! It was such a beautiful day...it had snowed the day before so on the day the snow had settled in and it was a bright sunny day...a truly winter wonderland! and the venue was just magical, being so close to Christmas there was a big Christmas tree in the barn and the place was just magical. We were so blessed to have been able to have a wonderful second wedding in England and again we danced the night away!

 The beautiful venue

 La Familia

 laughing and crying during the speeches

 Daddy's close childhood friends

Daddy's speech was excellent! 

My beautiful bridesmaids

So.... on our first anniversary we bought a bottle of champagne, a packet of crisps and we watched the wedding and honey moon video. We laughed and cried again and spoke about the fact that we can't wait to share our beautiful day (the one in England) with our children one day!

Baby moving!

To my family and friends who have not been with me throughout the pregnancy, here is a quick video of Bubba G moving in my tummy!

(couldnt upload the video so I'm afraid I could only insert the link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pATAp1UppZE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

xx

Lady of Leisure?

On Monday I officially became a lady of leisure. Felt a bit weird not going into work on Monday morning, in fact it felt like I was having a "sickie".

On day 3 however, I have completely switched off from work and I am enjoying the time off, although believe it or not I have been busy! (still have managed to do a bit of baby shopping and catch up for coffee with friends of course!).

Monday afternoon I had my usual obstetrician appointment and it seems that Bubba G is on the smaller side according to the average (she is about just over 1 week behind). So the doc sent me to the hospital to get the baby monitored and brought forward my ultrasound appointment just to double check that the baby was not in distress. Result? Bubba G is completely healthy and although on the small side its absolutely fine.  As of today (week 36) she is weighing approximately 2.5 kgs. According to the doc, if she continues to grow at the same rate then by the time she is born she should be about 3.2kgs. AND, if I haven't gone into labour by the due date (15th Dec) then the Obstetrician said she may have to induce me as she doesn't want me to go too many days overdue as the placenta won't be as effective and she wants to be cautious given the size of the baby.

Daddy was worried at first (of course!) but we have been reassured that our baby is super healthy, so that is all that matters!

Tomorrow.....a day of rest :)

x

Mama's birth

Today I went to my 35 week check up with the Obstetrician and it seems that Bubba G is in the posteria position  (http://www.spinningbabies.com/baby-positions/posterior ) So it has had me googling all day long about what I can do to get Miss Gallagher to start moving to the right position! Alas....I have plenty of exercises I should have  be doing get this baby to start moving around.


What it also got me thinking.....was, is this possibly karma? just because I was in the incorrect position when abuelita was pregnant and she had to have a Cesarean, does that mean the same thing will happen to me? apparently NOT people! the doc said that just because it happened to my mum it doesn't automatically happen to me (baby has daddy's genes apparently). 

Since this post is all about labour and birth, I thought I would tell the story about my birth.

It was Oct 12 1979 and the civil war had started in El Salvador. Abuelita started the contractions in the middle of the night but had to wait until 6am on the 13th to go to the hospital with Tata because the guerillas had put a curfew which meant that you could not be outside between certain hours of the day and night. So anyway, of they went to the hospital (very scared of course, and praying that the guerillas wouldn't stop them while they were driving) and when they arrived at the hospital the doctor quickly examined abuelita and gave her two options:

• Go back home as she had not dilated enough and I had not quite moved into the right position
• Or have a Cesarean that day. 

What were they to do?!..... Abuelita tells the story that it was very dangerous to be on the road because of the war, so they decided that since they had already driven all the way to the hospital they were best to stay there and have the Cesarean instead of risking their lives by going back home! So on the 13th October 1979 in the middle of a civil war, I was born in a hospital where there were hardly any midwives to help as none of them could come to work because it was too dangerous! Abuelita tells me that Mama Nena (Abuelita's mum) had to help her, as there was hardly anybody around! Imagine that....31 years ago the way Abuelita had me is very different to how bubba G will be born.

Bubba G: When you are older you will have to get your Abuelita to tell you this story, and hear from her how dangerous it was for her back then when she was in labour.

x

Emotional week

I'll have to say, this week has probably been one of the hardest since I have been pregnant.  My pregnancy has been great so far, I really can't complain...I haven't had any complications, my hormones have been normal (haven't snapped at Daddy or asked him to get me ice cream in the middle of the night), and my feet and hands have not swollen up (yet). But this week I have felt quite emotional and just want my baby to come out. My joints are hurting and I just feel really tired and emotional. I guess it was bound to happen, my body is working extra hard with all the weight and I just have to stop and not try and do the things I normally used to do. 

I am finishing work this Friday and thank god for that because even work is becoming a major strain...but soon I will be a lady of leisure for a short time before we meet our Miss Gallagher :)

The baby's room is just about finished, we just have to do the last few things such as buying the practical items (mat for change table, nappies etc) and also wash everything. The plan is to have everything ready two weeks before the due date just in case Miss Gallagher decides to come out earlier!