2009: the big year that brought us a big baby

2009 has been a big year for Bryan and I, most obviously with the arrival of Liam.


Liam is now a little over 4 months old, and growing like a weed. He's doubled his birth weight now, at 7.2 kg and 67 cm in length. This puts him in the 75th percentile for height and 90th percentile for height among baby boys his age. I suppose this is to be expected though, given his Daddy's stature. He's still got his gorgeous big blue eyes, with lashes that any girl would kill for.

For Christmas and New Year this year we came to my parent's house on the south coast of NSW. A very relaxing place to be, which is just what we need. Not much to do other than read books on the balcony and walk on the beach. Here's a photo of Liam in his beach gear.


2010 will see me return to work, part time at least. And no doubt it will be a big year of changes in Liam. I can't wait.

Welcome baby Liam

Better late than never. Bryan and I welcomed Liam Robert Coad into the world at 6.02 a.m. on Tuesday August 18th 2009. The labour had to be induced since he was 13 days late, showing no signs of wanting to leave my comfy womb. Other than that though, the whole birth process went well (as well as you can expect with all that pain and stuff) with no complications.

Liam weighed 3.68 kg (8 lb 2 oz), measuring 52 cm in length, and (most importantly) a head circumference of 34 cm. This is really quite moderate when you consider that I met a girl in the hospital who gave birth naturally to a 4.5 kg baby - poor thing!


We chose the name Liam because it was pretty much the only name that Bryan and I both agreed on. And we chose Robert because its a strong name on both sides of the family. Robert is my father's and great grandfather's name, the name of both Bryan's grandfathers, as well as being Bryan's middle name. Bryan likes the idea of sharing a middle name with his son.

Overdue

It's August 11th, and baby has not yet arrived. I will have words with the courier about this. Tomorrow I will be 41 weeks pregnant, which is intolerable. I've been on maternity leave for almost 6 weeks now and am bored out of my brain. However, I lack the energy to do anything with my time other than take showers and naps. Tomorrow we are going to the doctor to talk about getting me induced.

I did manage to get out of the house today to waddle around Toys R Us for a bit (note that I said this was Toys R Us, purveyor of quality products for kids and babies - not some cheapo dollar store full of crap made in Taiwan). And I saw this:


Surely they are implying that any "little angle" that wears these booties is acute baby!!

Sorry. The 41 week old bump where my flat stomach used to be has done strange things to my sense of humour.

A change of pace

I started my maternity leave yesterday, four weeks before the Coadlet is expected to arrive. That means 4 weeks (hopefully) of doing nothing. I feel a bit guilty, but people keep telling m to make the most of it, and to get as much sleep as possible.
To ease the guilt, yesterday I cleaned the house from top to bottom, filed away the stack of paperwork that's been building up for months, bought some groceries, and did a bit of work that can't wait until I go back in January. By the end of the day I was pretty exhausted and I let Bryan (who had been at work all day) do the washing up after dinner while I lazed on the couch.
Today has been a bit more leisurely. A Preggi Bellies class in the morning, followed by a grilled cheese sandwich while watching Desperate Housewives that I recorded last night. It's a lovely day outside so I might take a gentle stroll (waddle) this afternoon.

Preparations

We have 6 weeks to go until the baby arrives. Yikes! Here's a photo of me taken this morning.


But we are surprisingly prepared. Prepared in the sense that the nursery is ready and the 'go-bag' is packed. Unprepared in the sense that this is going to hurt more than ripping off a band-aid! We've been going to antenatal classes, which have advocated the benefits of whale music, aromatherapy and massage as pain relief. I'm thinking more along the lines of a general anaesthetic. Wake me up when its over!

Anyway, here are some photos of the nursery. Please don't inundate me with comments about what the decor might mean in terms of the baby's gender. I'm not telling (because I'll get in trouble from Bryan if I do). We've tried hard to go for fairly gender neutral decor anyway, if for no other reason than to save redecorating in the future if a baby of a different type comes along.

The cot was given to us by my boss, who's 3 children are all grown up now. I painted it white, to make it look as good as new. The sheets have a Noah's Ark theme, and we've used an animal theme throughout the room with the mobile and various other bits and pieces. Above all else, we intend for this baby to grow up loving animals.


I made the animal pictures on the wall by stretching some fabric across a wooden frame. I think they look great.

Apparently hanging a mobile above the changing table will distract the baby for long enough that it won't try to put its hands into the contents of a dirty nappy. We'll find out if this theory is true soon enough.

A nappy stacker, containing 109 tiny nappies.


And that's just a cute little storage unit from IKEA, to keep baby's tiny clothes in.

My, haven't you grown

Its been more than 8 weeks since I last posted. Work has been crazy, and I have submitted two research grants. But things are a bit more relaxed now.

You just wouldn't believe how much my belly has grown since I last posted. From this:
To this:We had our 20 week scan a couple of days ago, which was quite exciting. And I couldn't help but exclaim (in the manner of a someone's Aunt) "My, haven't you grown!"

The little Coadlet has gone from this:
About 5 cm long from head to bum, weighing about 14 grams - about the size of a lime apparently,

To this:
About 16.5 cm long head to bum, and weighing about 300 grams. This is about the length and weight of a banana. Its now far too big to fit on a single scan image. I was very relieved to see that the Coadlet has really grown into it's facial features - I was worried about that enormous nose and forehead at the first scan, but now it looks all lovely and cute. We found out what sex it is, but Bryan and I have decided to keep it a little secret between us.

In the last couple of weeks I've been feeling some kicking, which is nice. Bryan is a bit frustrated that he can't feel anything when he puts his hand on my tummy yet, but I think that will happen soon.

So far I'm feeling good. The very mild waves of nausea that I had in the beginning are completely gone now. I do have the occasional dizzy spell, one of which left me plummeting to the floor recently while attempting to stand on a train. This is caused by low blood pressure, and according to my doctor its completely normal. "Greeeeeaaaattttt", I groaned in response. On the bright side though, its a great way of getting someone to offer you their seat.

We're expecting!

Goodness me, I can hardly believe it. There's a Coadlet on its way, due to arrive by Express Stork Delivery in early August. Do you think it looks like me?

The art of a good sandwich

I know I should eat a sandwich for lunch each day. I just get so bored of the standard fillings you buy in the supermarket. Ham and cheese, tuna, peanut butter, vegemite, etc. Bleurghh.
But when I buy lunch at work, often it will be a sandwich. What's with that? Well, in the yuppy-trendy area where I work, cafe sandwiches tend to be quite far more delicious than anything most people would make themselves, with delicious fillings that I can't possibly be expected to have in my fridge at any given time. Or can I?

A few Sundays ago we had tandoori chicken for dinner, and I had the idea to make way too much tandoori chicken. Then, while I was making the other stuff for dinner I popped some red capsicum/pepper in the oven to roast, enough to last for the week. So here's what my delicious and healthy sandwich was like on Monday, and every day that week (which took no longer than 5 minutes to prepare, by the way): whole grain bread, slices of the tandoori chicken thigh, roasted red capsicum, rocket, a smidge of minced coriander/cilantro, and a drizzle of natural yogurt for the finishing touch. Then I toasted my sandwich just before eating, and boy were my lunch-mates jealous! In fact I was so excited about my sandwich, I had to call my sister in Sydney to tell her about it. Unfortunately she was busy trying to remove a mouse from her kitchen at the time, so she wasn't as excited as I'd hoped. But that's another story.

Anyway, I was so pleased with how this sandwich making went, that I decided to try something equally delicious the following week. On Sunday night, while preparing dinner, I roasted some pumpkin/squash and some more red capsicum (I really like red capsicum, ok). Then on my sandwich the next morning, I used whole grain bread, slices of roasted pumpkin and capsicum, a few pieces of fetta cheese, toasted pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, and a drizzle of natural yogurt. Again I toasted the sandwich before eating, and again my lunchmates were insanely jealous.

Now, how am I going to top that this week?

New and downgraded

Customers of sarahkidd.com, for your convenience the management has removed the crap piled up in the corridor. Now you won't fall over it or be annoyed by its unsightly gathering of dust and rodent infestation.

sarahkidd.com has become a mess over the last few years. I moved from Canada to Australia and changed ISPs several times. A lot of the site content became irrelevant after the move and tons of links were broken. Not only that but I was getting alarming visible in a Google search, and work colleagues and international collaborators known only through email were starting to know far too much about me and my choice of wedding decorations (and my appalling web design).

So I've had a spring clean. It's looking a little minimalist right now, but its easier for me to manage with the tiny amount of spare time that I have.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

I hate you Fate!!

As I was climbing on to my bicycle this morning, ready to head off on the 12 km trip to work, I said to Bryan, "I think the rain will hold for a couple of hours yet". Obviously, it started raining 10 minutes later and I got soaked. That's fate for you, and I mentally rapped myself over the knuckles for tempting her as the rain trickled down my neck.

But I said absolutely nothing about flat tyres as I was leaving the house! Not a whisper. I clearly did not say "Gosh, its been ages since I last had a flat tyre", or "How much would it suck to get a flat tyre in the rain?" But a flat tyre I got, and I had to walk the last few blocks in the rain. How could you do that to me, Fate? You suck!

Oh dear, I've angered her. I'm probably going to get struck by lightning now.

I can laugh about it now

Here's a funny story.

It was my parent's birthdays this week. They're both at a stage in their lives where they really don't need or want anything, so I decided to get them a gift voucher for their favourite fancy restaurant, Bannisters. I called Bannisters and ordered the gift voucher (of not inconsiderable value), and organised for it to be mailed out to my parents in plenty of time for their birthdays.

Last weekend (still a couple of days before their birthdays), I casually asked if they had received anything interesting in the mail. They said no. I got a little icky sensation in the pit of my stomach, realising that something could have gone horribly wrong. My credit card had been charged, but had I given the correct address for delivery? What if it had accidentally been delivered to someone else? (I mean, I'm always receiving mail for people who live at the same unit and street number, one street over from us) What if it was lost in the mail? What if some underpaid mail sorter had intercepted the envelope and taken the gift voucher? But since the birthdays hadn't happened yet, I decided to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and wait a few more days.

This morning, three weeks after I had organised this gift voucher, I called the parental unit again, spoke to Dad, and asked if they had received anything birthday related in the mail. And again, he said no. OH NO!!!!

Immediately I called Bannisters and told them that something had gone awry, the gift voucher was MIA, and what were they going to do about it? The lady who I spoke with was very polite, but really couldn't grasp the concept that the voucher might not have reached its intended recipient. She kept telling me that it had been charged to my credit card on April 10th ("Yes, I know that") and it was mailed out the same day ("Mmmhhhhmmm, yes I believe you"). We confirmed the mailing address had been correct and the names on the voucher were correct. Then she helpfully went and checked the desk where they kept the out-tray to make sure it hadn't fallen behind. It hadn't. She really didn't have any helpful suggestions for me. I had to help her with that. I suggested that she reassure me that the voucher hadn't yet been cashed in. It hadn't. Then I asked if it was possible to cancel the voucher and make a new one. She thought about it for a while and decided it might be possible. Good, we were getting somewhere. Anyhoo we sorted it out and arranged for a new gift voucher for my parents to come and pick up.

So I rang my parents and this time spoke to my mother. I told her the story, that she should have received something for her birthday from Bannisters and that it had clearly got lost in the mail. At this point she screamed. Yes, she screamed. I thought that she might be being over-dramatic about how nice the birthday present would have been if they had got it and how great it was that I was so thoughtful. But I was wrong.

After a brief silence, my Mum started telling me, semi-hysterically, that there had been some mail from Bannisters last weekend and she had thought it was junk mail. So she threw it away.

Sometimes I can't believe I'm related to these people.

Climate change is real!

I can not believe how hot it has been this week. For about the last 10 days, Melbourne has had temperatures hitting above 30 degrees every day. And it has stayed quite warm through the nights. Last night was ridiculous though. The temperature didn't drop below 28 degrees all night. Its March and I'm sleeping in an oven. Its all making me feel quite ill. Oh I wish I had air conditioning.

This is nothing compared to Adelaide's weather though. They have had 15 days straight of temperatures hitting above 35 degrees.

This might explain why I haven't been doing much on my own blog lately

Its been too long

Are you still there? Yeah. Not a lot going on. Not a lot to say. You probably noticed.

Oh, I'm not in my twenties anymore. That's something new. Oh and a couple of days after the departure of my twenties, I found a grey hair. So there was no mistake about my age. I still have less grey hair than my 3 year old dog though. Which I suppose might be reassuring in a way.

Sooooo...what else....let me seeeeeee... oh I'm going to Hong Kong in a few weeks. That's exciting. And someone might be getting some belated birthday presents while she's there...of the sparkly variety, since sparkly things are far more affordable over there than in Australia.

Oh and I have a conference in lovely warm Queensland coming up very soon, for which I am presenting a poster. I don't yet have any data to put on the poster, but I'll just make the font really big and no one will notice. At least my poster didn't get upgraded to an oral presentation by the conference organisers. So impressed were they by the fancy words (like PCR..wooooo!) in the abstract of one of my colleagues that they're going to stick her on the podium for 15 minutes. My colleague also has no data at this stage and you can't bluff the audience with big fonts and fancy pictures in an oral presentation, so she's crapping herself. Don't blame her.

That's all.

:-(

My doggy is very sick today, and I am sad. Poor Molly-Chops has been struggling to breathe since yesterday. We're not exactly sure why yet, but it may be due to a collapse in part of her airways. Apparently this is not uncommon in brachyocephalic dogs like her.


Its going to cost many thousands of dollars to help her get well, but I'll eat beans on toast for a year if that's what it takes. I simply couldn't bear to lose another doggy just a few days before Christmas.

Get well soon Chops. We love you.

Gossip mag posts correction

At last, a tabloid that's not afraid to admit when it got its facts wrong.

CORRECTION: PEOPLE.com's Nov. 12 report on the London premiere of Beowulf inaccurately stated that Angelina Jolie's pants split on the red carpet. This report was based on photos and newspaper reports showing what appeared to be a split seam. Jolie's stylist says it was a zipper and the pants did not, in fact, split. She wore them home after the premiere. PEOPLE.com regrets the error.

However, much as I enjoy seeing a tabloid grudgingly apologise for making stuff up bending the truth, this revelation has RUINED MY LIFE!

Prior to this correction, I was overjoyed that someone so skinny and lusted over as Angie could split her pants, just like ordinary everyday muffin-topped people. But now I am distraught. I wish they'd just kept quiet and allowed me to continue in the false belief that I things in common with her (and, ergo, that Brad Pitt may one day want to adopt babies with me).

No, but seriously, does anyone else feel that this is the funniest correction in the print media, like ever?

Not much to say

I haven't been blogging much lately, mostly because I've been insanely busy with work, wedding planning and getting ready to move house (the worst is not yet over).

I started writing a post a few weeks ago about how I was giving up fizzy drinks, particularly Diet Coke - due to yet another study revealing links between soft drink consumption (including diet soft drinks) and various manifestations of poor health. I didn't get around to finishing the post for a week or so, and by the time I got around to it I had fallen off the wagon and was back on the bubbly. So needless to say, I didn't bother posting that one.

It's a good thing I don't smoke or do drugs, because I have absolutely no capacity to overcome addiction. Seriously, I'd be just like Lindsay Lohan. I'd be fresh out of a luxury Resort Rehab for the second time in a year, showing off my Diet Coke ankle bracelet. I'd be having a really good time at a party until someone made a snide remark about my ankle accessory, despite the fact I perfectly colour coordinated it with my Jimmy Choos. Provoked into a violent rage I would down a few cans of DC (But officer, I swear it was decaf! Somebody must have spiked it) and argue with this person about the pressures of my life. Then I would follow them out of the party, borrow a SUV and chase them at speed...

Hell hath no fury...

...like Sarah being kept awake in the night by a chirping smoke alarm. There are people who will vouch for this. There are other people who have tried to distract me from a chirping smoke alarm by making other noises in the night. The less said about that night the better.

Luckily for Bryan, the smoke alarm starting chirping last night just before bedtime, and when I told him that the battery would have to be changed before bed, he agreed. He knows what's in his best interests and what's not. We didn't have a spare battery so we just took out the original and although it still chirped for a while, Bryan was more than happy to wrap the offending smoke alarm in a towel and hide it under pillows in the spare room with the door closed. I might point out that we did have another fully-functioning smoke alarm in the house when we chose to remove the battery from the malfunctioning one. I might also point out (because I have been questioned in the past about the stupidity of removing batteries from smoke alarms), that if the alarm is chirping it means it ain't going to work even if there is a fire because the battery is dead.

The question I have is why do smoke alarm batteries always fail in the middle of the night in winter? Why?

Oh here's why:
Batteries produce electricity by means of a chemical reaction. Like almost all chemical reactions it proceeds more slowly in the cold. That’s why even ¾ charged batteries can cease to function in the snow, as many tourists have found out to their dismay.
At night it’s colder than during the day and the charge in the battery falls correspondingly triggering the low battery alarm. It’s very obvious on days when daytime temps are mild and the nights are cold and almost invariably the alarm stops the following morning as the temperature climbs again.

Little things (its what makes this blog tick)

I've had nothing big to post about for a while, just a few items to put on the news bulletin. So here they are.

This past weekend was the Queen's Birthday holiday weekend for most states in Australia (WA celebrates this event in October for some reason). Most people in Melbourne had Monday off work. But not me. Or Bryan. We work for Monash University, and they do not recognize many non-religious public holidays. This is to prevent disruption to classes - if half of the students taking a course have a lab or tutorial cancelled because it falls on a holiday then they are at a disadvantage to those students in the course who have their class later in the week. It makes sense, but it still sucks to have to work on a holiday. Its not all bad though, we get awarded 1 ⅔ days off for every public holiday we work, which we can take over Christmas, giving us almost 2 weeks off at Christmas without taking any annual leave. But the whole system makes little difference to me, because I work on a campus that doesn't actually hold any classes, but we still have to follow the rules. At least Bryan and I are in the same situation- it would really suck if I had to go to work on a holiday, while Bryan stayed at home.

I just spent $100 on postage for wedding invitations, which is more than it cost us to make the invitations (not that you'd know it to look at them, they are clas-sy!). I am a little shocked at spending that much on stamps, but I should have expected it since 90% of the invites were going international.

I had a cold about 6 weeks ago, which was horrible for about 5 days but was bearable after that providing I didn't leave home without putting some tissues in my pocket. Well it hasn't really improved since that blowing-nose-every-5-minutes stage. I still can't go anywhere without tissues. But this morning I felt like it might be regressing back into the sore throat and slightly congested stage. Which sucks.

And while I'm whining about the state of my health, that fun run I did a few weeks back was a big mistake. I've got plantar fasciitis in my right foot and shin splints in my left leg. That means that walking any significant distance is off limits (it's lucky I like cycling).

My sister has been poised to give birth to her first baby for about the last 3 weeks and it still hasn't happened. The edge of my seat is getting worn out from me sitting on it all this time.

If I hear one more word about Paris Hilton and her freaking jail sentence, I may just hurt somebody. Just kidding, I'm loving it! The whole being sent home from jail because of a "life-threatening" skin rash, and then being sent right back kicking and screaming "Mom, its not right" was pure gold! Now she's a changed woman and wants to work for charities, bless her.

What am I doing to save the planet?

What I'm doing that's helping the planet

1. I don't own a car. If I were to buy a car tomorrow, it would be a hybrid.
   
2. I ride my bike or walk almost every where I go. I use transit the rest of the time.
3. I recycle as much as I can, although Melbourne's facilities for recycling aren't a patch on Vancouver's.
4. I try to buy only free-range or organic animal products.
5. I keep a bucket in the shower and then use the contents of the bucket to water the garden. This is the legal requirement for garden watering here in Victoria right now.
   
6. I take my own shopping bags with me when I buy groceries.
7. I air dry my laundry.
8. Most of my appliances are considered energy efficient for their type.
   
9. There's a lady at work who has a desk fan on most of the time, despite the fact that we have A/C. She leaves the fan on all day, even when she's not at her desk. I turn it off when I see it blowing air at an empty desk.
10. My boss leaves her computer and monitor on 24/7. I turn it off whenever I get the chance.
    
11. We don't have A/C at home.
    
12. I turn the water off when lathering with soap while hand washing. I do this at least 20 times a day because I have to wash my hands a lot.
13. If I'm running the tap waiting for the water to turn hot or cold, I use the water to fill the kettle or similar.
    

What I'm doing that's not helping the planet

1. My showers are too long. I've tried to cut down, but simply cannot figure out how to get wet, shampoo, condition, wash with soap and rinse off in under 10 mins.
   
2. I still use incandescent light globes, because they are cheaper and I have been reluctant to invest in expensive globes for a house that I don't own and will probably move out of soon. Although Australia is phasing out incandescent globes by the end of the year, so soon I will have no choice.
   
3. We don't have solar water heating, but then we don't own the house. If I bought a house tomorrow I would more than likely install solar heating.