Well.
Here we are.
T-minus 10 hours until departure.
We have been out of our apartment and staying at a hotel since last Wednesday. All our belongings are sitting in a shipping container in Marseilles. The pack up and uplift actually went incredibly smoothly except for one hormonal and exhausted pregnant lady who had a bit of a break down/cry that led to her kneeling over the toilet vomiting about 10 minutes before the removal team arrived. Classy.
We've also sold our car - the Blue Bomber who has taken us through Slovenia to Croatia, to Italy several times, around Switzerland, up to Germany and Austria across to Spain and all over France and managed to get me to and from work every day with no hassles is no more. She was a good car.
We've had several farewell dinners and parties with our colleagues and friends. My work one was last Saturday night at the beautiful home of my friend Michele. I was honestly quite overwhelmed by the warmth and friendship M and I were showered with. There were incredibly moving and flattering speeches, overly generous gifts given (Longchamp Bag! earrings!) and some of my talented colleagues led us all in a rousing rendition of Slim Dusty's "Love to have a beer with Duncan" with the lyrics hilariously changed and then Sean played a beautiful acoustic version of "Auld Lang Syne" which everyone sang along to. It was a magical night that I'll never forget.
I've taught my final lessons and said goodbye to all my students. My primary theatre kiddies have drawn me gorgeous pictures (mostly of a blonde lady with a baby ..... and rainbows) with unintentionally hilarious messages such as "I think you should leave your baby in Australia and come back and visit us" and "I think your baby will be beautiful because you are beautiful and I think your baby will be a girl because you are a girl". There were also tears from lots of the girls and one of the boys. My older students all signed cards and wrote surprisingly thoughtful and kind messages - lots mentioning how funny I am which stroked my ego no end. My Terminale class even went so far as to buy me a present - well, Raj a present, a gorgeous little outfit! And this is from my sullen 18 year olds!!
And so here we are. Suitcases ready, carry on liquids in their plastic snap-lock bag and a long-ass flight ahead of us.
It doesn't quite feel real. I doubt it will till we are on the plane. And even then, will these 3 years in France feel like a dream??
It is certainly with mixed emotions that we say goodbye.
Looking forward to seeing our friends and family - of course.
Excited to be starting a new chapter in Melbourne and getting ready for Raj's arrival. Bien sur.
But sad to be saying goodbye to so many lovely, unique, wonderful friends and an amazing, adventurous life. So much travelling and so many crazy experiences - many of which I've documented here on this little ol' blog - which brought me to a handful of those lovely, unique, wonderful friends.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to live in this great country.
Is France perfect?
Hell no, but nowhere is, and we've had a blast and can honestly say that we achieved what we set out to do.
And gained so much more from the doing than we ever could have expected.
I will try to keep blogging back in Australia
Until then - au revoir
B
xxx
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Bits and Bobs
Well, we are getting there.
With less than 2 weeks to go before we leave France the seemingly never ending checklist of things to do and organise is slowly, slowly getting whittled down.
I wont go in to the number of phone calls we've had to make or the number of trips we've made to La Poste to send official Lettre Recommandées but suffice to say I think it's easier to sign up for things in France than get out. M has been amazing, handling the lion's share of awkward french phone calls and writing up official letters to send to every single agency and department but it does feel like we're getting close.
We had an extremely productive day yesterday and our apartment is almost completely sorted and packed. I actually finding cleaning and sorting quite cathartic and I've been rather ruthless with throwing things away. I think it also helps that our apartment is fairly tiny so we haven't actually accrued that much junk - if you don't include almost an entire drawer full of random postcards and small prints I've been squirreling away for 3 years - I'm determined to make some cool (and relatively inexpensive!) art out of all these groovy cards.
We're also at that stage where it's all the fiddly little bits that don't really belong anywhere - random pens and stationery, half used hand creams, small torches, about a billion bobby pins, wrapping paper.
I also keep finding small toiletries bags that have virtually identical contents: a half empty pack of tissues, 2 hair ties, a hair clip, a nearly empty lip gloss, about 84 cents in change, a card from a restaurant somewhere, a pen and a few mints/tablets of paracetamol rolling around. I've found 5 so far. hehe.
Packing up our clothes has been less fun.
We will be living out of the one suitcase from now (well ... Wednesday) until our shipping crate arrives in Melbourne hopefully by late February. That's 3 months. I have enough trouble deciding what to pack when I go away for 3 days.
It's also complicated by a few factors:
1. It's autumn/winter here and thick coats and scarves are necessary
2. It will be summer when we get back to Australia
3. My rapidly expanding baby belly
I spent a fair bit of time yesterday layering and then un-layering my clothes and sticking a throw pillow under my tops to see if they'll make it through to February or not!
M has already packed his suitcase. Almost his entire wardrobe fits. Minus his 300 running T-shirts. Bastard.
I have got all my clothes together but haven't tried to pack yet.
It's going to hurt my feelings.
Baby Raj is going well - very active in the evenings with lots of movements and kicks and I'm feeling good.
Last night M and I were singing together (a little bit of Lionel Ritchie, then some Mumford & Sons followed up by some Christmas Carols ) and M had his head on my belly and Raj was having a Disco in there - huge movements and kicks.
So either Raj likes it when Mum and Dad have little sing-a-longs (we harmonise and everything, old school Choir geeks that we are) OR the kicks are Raj's way of telling us to shut the F up!!!
We choose to believe the former.
Alright - I'm off to clean the kitchen shelves. Blah.
To help get through the cleaning I keep reminding myself that this time in 2 weeks I will be sitting at a cafe in Melbourne in the sunshine with friends eating bacon and eggs.
Bacon makes everything ok.
B
xxx
With less than 2 weeks to go before we leave France the seemingly never ending checklist of things to do and organise is slowly, slowly getting whittled down.
I wont go in to the number of phone calls we've had to make or the number of trips we've made to La Poste to send official Lettre Recommandées but suffice to say I think it's easier to sign up for things in France than get out. M has been amazing, handling the lion's share of awkward french phone calls and writing up official letters to send to every single agency and department but it does feel like we're getting close.
We had an extremely productive day yesterday and our apartment is almost completely sorted and packed. I actually finding cleaning and sorting quite cathartic and I've been rather ruthless with throwing things away. I think it also helps that our apartment is fairly tiny so we haven't actually accrued that much junk - if you don't include almost an entire drawer full of random postcards and small prints I've been squirreling away for 3 years - I'm determined to make some cool (and relatively inexpensive!) art out of all these groovy cards.
We're also at that stage where it's all the fiddly little bits that don't really belong anywhere - random pens and stationery, half used hand creams, small torches, about a billion bobby pins, wrapping paper.
I also keep finding small toiletries bags that have virtually identical contents: a half empty pack of tissues, 2 hair ties, a hair clip, a nearly empty lip gloss, about 84 cents in change, a card from a restaurant somewhere, a pen and a few mints/tablets of paracetamol rolling around. I've found 5 so far. hehe.
Packing up our clothes has been less fun.
We will be living out of the one suitcase from now (well ... Wednesday) until our shipping crate arrives in Melbourne hopefully by late February. That's 3 months. I have enough trouble deciding what to pack when I go away for 3 days.
It's also complicated by a few factors:
1. It's autumn/winter here and thick coats and scarves are necessary
2. It will be summer when we get back to Australia
3. My rapidly expanding baby belly
I spent a fair bit of time yesterday layering and then un-layering my clothes and sticking a throw pillow under my tops to see if they'll make it through to February or not!
M has already packed his suitcase. Almost his entire wardrobe fits. Minus his 300 running T-shirts. Bastard.
I have got all my clothes together but haven't tried to pack yet.
It's going to hurt my feelings.
Baby Raj is going well - very active in the evenings with lots of movements and kicks and I'm feeling good.
Last night M and I were singing together (a little bit of Lionel Ritchie, then some Mumford & Sons followed up by some Christmas Carols ) and M had his head on my belly and Raj was having a Disco in there - huge movements and kicks.
So either Raj likes it when Mum and Dad have little sing-a-longs (we harmonise and everything, old school Choir geeks that we are) OR the kicks are Raj's way of telling us to shut the F up!!!
We choose to believe the former.
Alright - I'm off to clean the kitchen shelves. Blah.
To help get through the cleaning I keep reminding myself that this time in 2 weeks I will be sitting at a cafe in Melbourne in the sunshine with friends eating bacon and eggs.
Bacon makes everything ok.
B
xxx
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Food glorious food
As I mentioned (briefly) in my previous post, M and I have made the rather large decision to leave France's fair shores and head back to Australia.
A number of factors went into making this decision, not the least of which was wanting Raj to be closer to his/her family.
We will have had three (mostly) glorious years in France and although we are excited to be heading back down under and are looking forward to the new adventures that Melbourne will hold for us, it is with a lot of sadness that we will say Au Revoir to Cannes and the lovely life we have here.
Naturally everyone asks us what we are most looking forward to about Australia and also what we will miss the most from France. Outside of friends and family (and the friends part applies for both sides!) and the ease of travel the answer, unsurprisingly, is food.
While M waxes lyrical about all the Australian Meat Pies, Barbeques, Kabana, Cream buns, Thai food and Double Cut Rolls he's going to enjoy, I'm salivating over Dumplings, Allens lollies, Twisties, Scones with Jam and Cream, Indian food, Fish and Chips on the beach and Summer Fruits.
However, there is a lot about French food we will miss too!
Having some of the best baguettes I've ever eaten available 500m down the road will be pretty hard to beat.
And of course .......... the cheese......... the less said about how much I will miss the cheese, the better.
One of my favourite things about France - particularly this region, is the markets. And it's one of the things I will definitely miss about living here.
Don't get me wrong, Australia rocks a market too - and I intend on spending a lot of time (and money) at the South Melbourne and Queen Vic markets. However, there is something about a Marché Provençal that's uniquely French and kind of wonderful. The produce is exceptional and the lively atmosphere, local colour, fragrant (and not so fragrant - fish stalls - ew) aromas that all combine together in a formula that has probably stayed much the same for decades.
I will miss our local market and I will relish the memory (and tastes!) of all the various markets we have either stumbled across in our travels or made a point of visiting.
When we were in Lyon we chanced upon a Sunday market along the banks of the Rhône river.
We snapped a few photos, already nostalgic about our time in France.
M was having heart palpitations over this bad boy
Whereas I was stuck over with the apples.
I LOVE apples but am so fussy.
It doesn't have to be sweet but it DOES have to be crunchy.
These apples were the bomb-diggity
Hello lovers ......
Is there such a thing as too much cheese?
Survey says No.
Meaty goodness for M
To continue our French culinary education (beyond just watching Masterchef!) we have purchased/been given by our gorgeous French teacher three Le Larousse Cookbooks - one that is like THE bible on French food and cooking (similar to Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion I find) and then two smaller cookbooks - one that is chock-a-block full of all our favourites such as Pot-au-feu, Daube de joue de boeuf, Tomates farcies and M's bestie Choucroute. The other is all Pâtisserie. There are like 25 pages of chocolate recipes, it's awesome. And it's all in French which should keep us on our toes!
In fact, at this very moment, M is putting the finishing touches on a Tarte Tatin which is tonight's dessert.
I tells you - this boy is worth his weight in Gold.
Bon Appétit (and Raj says hi!)
B
xxx
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Lovely Lyon
Last weekend we enjoyed a wonderful 3-day break in Lyon.
It will probably be our last trip before we head back to Australia in December so we wanted to go somewhere we haven't been and I'm so glad we picked Lyon.
We caught the train and arrived on a slightly overcast but dry Saturday afternoon and after walking to our hotel it was off to explore all that Lyon has to offer.
First stop - FOOD
Lyon is well known as a gastronomic paradise and there were so many lovely chocolate shops, patisseries, restaurants, bouchons, markets etc to explore. One of our first pit stops was Pignol for a warming and reviving hot chocolate and a truly excellent lemon tart.
The Musée des Beaux Arts
M very much enjoyed his enormous plate of Choucroute - the boy seriously goes gaga for pork knuckle! The plate was so large it came with it's own warmer and took up half the table! It was also originally a brewery and they continue to brew their own beer - which M assured me was very good.
Picturesque scenes at night time:
Finally - I have earned a new nickname from M:
Happy Feet
He kept calling me Happy Feet and I couldn't work out why, and then it hit me:
My darling husband thinks I have started to waddle like a penguin.
Charming.
Raj is definitely starting to pop out more, which is cool and I certainly found I had to have a few more sit down breaks when stomping our way around the city. M also felt Raj moving/kicking from the outside for the first time the other day which was pretty special.
If you get a chance to visit Lyon, I would highly recommend it!
B
xxx
It will probably be our last trip before we head back to Australia in December so we wanted to go somewhere we haven't been and I'm so glad we picked Lyon.
We caught the train and arrived on a slightly overcast but dry Saturday afternoon and after walking to our hotel it was off to explore all that Lyon has to offer.
First stop - FOOD
Lyon is well known as a gastronomic paradise and there were so many lovely chocolate shops, patisseries, restaurants, bouchons, markets etc to explore. One of our first pit stops was Pignol for a warming and reviving hot chocolate and a truly excellent lemon tart.
We had some great meals during our time in Lyon but I was sadly incapacitated when it came to tasting much of the Lyonaisse fare as cured meats, quenelles, soft cheeses, tripes, blood sausages and rare meats are no good for pregnant ladies. (I wasn't too devastated that I couldn't eat the blood sausage!) You'll be pleased to know that M gamely took on the challenge for both of us and put away a whole lot of meaty goodness every meal. To be fair I think he did have a salad for lunch one day ........
There are lots of lovely and interesting things to see and do in Lyon, photos below are just a snapshot of some of the things we did:
The Fourvière basilica
The view from the Fourvière hill looking over the city
The Roman theatre in Fourvière, the most important remain of the Roman city of Lugdunum.
Check out the beautiful autumnal colours (you know how I get about autumnal colours!!)
SQUIRREL!!!
(Probably only funny if you have seen the film Up!)
Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon)
The Musée des Beaux Arts
and the view from one of the windows out on to the square
Lots of walks along the Rhône (to the East) and the Saône (to the West)
A visit to the dining "institution" Brasserie Georges, which is the oldest in Lyon (established in 1836) and one of the biggest in Europe! It seats about 800 people - and it was absolutely packed when we were there on a Monday night. The service was still pretty good though and the people watching was excellent.
M very much enjoyed his enormous plate of Choucroute - the boy seriously goes gaga for pork knuckle! The plate was so large it came with it's own warmer and took up half the table! It was also originally a brewery and they continue to brew their own beer - which M assured me was very good.
Picturesque scenes at night time:
Finally - I have earned a new nickname from M:
Happy Feet
He kept calling me Happy Feet and I couldn't work out why, and then it hit me:
My darling husband thinks I have started to waddle like a penguin.
Charming.
Raj is definitely starting to pop out more, which is cool and I certainly found I had to have a few more sit down breaks when stomping our way around the city. M also felt Raj moving/kicking from the outside for the first time the other day which was pretty special.
If you get a chance to visit Lyon, I would highly recommend it!
B
xxx
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
An Idiot Abroad
M and I have watched a few episodes of this show An Idiot Abroad and have been killing ourselves laughing.
Unlike any travel documentary I've ever seen, this show was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and the series follows their "friend" Karl Pilkington as he travels around the world visiting the Seven Wonders.
However, Karl doesn't like travel. He doesn't like being put out of his comfort zone. He's only ever been to Wales and didn't really like it much.
Essentially, Ricky Gervais describes him (fondly) as a typical little England moron who is fun to poke with a stick. Which they do by deliberatly sending him to places that he will find challenging and uncomfortable.
It makes for pretty funny TV as Karl's reactions are genuine and unscripted.
Trailer below:
Ricky Gervais' laugh kills me.
xxx
B
PS: Raj says hi!
Friday, 21 October 2011
Quickie
2 quick things before I forget them:
1. One of my primary students pee'd on my foot yesterday.
She came up to ask me if she could go to the toilet and by the time I'd said yes there was a puddle on the floor and on my foot.
My bare foot.
Nice.
When I told my sister this story today she said it was probably good practice for parenting where my life will revolve around poo and wee and vomit.
Valid point.
moving on ....
2. As I was driving home today I pulled up next to a man on a motorbike/scooter (one of those weird ones that has two small front wheels instead of one big one - have you seen these? I hadn't until we moved here. They look a bit golf-cart/motorized wheelchair-like ya know?)
Anyway - this gentleman of a certain age was:
- wearing a helmet - ok, good - normal
- smoking a pipe - a little odd, especially while wearing a helmet
- had a bag full of groceries at his feet that I could see included about 5 baguettes and a few bottle of wine -right, ok, so a logical thing to transport on your motorbike
- and had a huge wreath of GARLIC wrapped around the handle bars - WTF??
If only he had a little mustache and was wearing a beret (which he might have been under his helmet, I couldn't verify this) he could have been a perfect - if slightly disconcerting - French stereotype!!
But what do I know - maybe he is actually a Vampire Hunter. That could also explain the garlic.
That's all I wanted to say!
It's Toussaint Vacation time here - which means a week and a half of sleeping in, wearing my super comfy yoga pants every day and watching a whole lot of crappy TV.
And on that note - Project Runway awaits.
P.S - Raj says hi!
xxx
B
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Pregnancy = a lack of style!
I was nominated by my lovely friend Sara for the Stylish Blogger Award – an honour I’m sure I don’t deserve given the utter lack of style ‘round these parts and my pitiful lack of blogging but I am very grateful.
The ever stylish Sara made her list about the 7 things she is looking forward to about autumn.
I tried to think of 7 autumn related things I was looking forward to but all I came up with was not being sweaty and being able to say “Autumnal” all the time. So that was a bust.
Instead I thought I’d talk about a few of things about being pregnant that I was slightly unprepared for.
Thus my Stylish Blogger 7 things list is Seven Unexpected things about being Pregnant!
Just as an update - we’re at 20 weeks – so officially the half-way point.
Other than the sickness, I have been so, so lucky thus far and am actually enjoying this whole process quite a lot.
I love feeling the baby moving – which is happening more and more, and I’m so excited about meeting this little person who I love so much already.
But here are some things I’ve found curious about the journey so far:
1. Endless nicknames
We have taken to calling the baby ‘Raj’ which is a shortened form of Ra-Ju (the start of our surname + junior). It has kind of stuck with us and it has lent itself to a whole host of other names – mostly from M.
For example, since I am hosting Raj, I am therefore Raj-istan. M and I are the Entou-Raj. When I am feeling unwell M asks if I am feeling Aver-Raj. When Raj is moving about we call is Raj-y-bargy.
The options are rather endless and it makes us both giggle like loons.
Pity the poor child, especially if it ends up being a girl and her nickname for the rest of her life is “Raj”!
2. Hormones make my cry. A LOT.
At the moment I seem to cry over everything and nothing.
Things have that have made my cry include (but are not limited to): The film Bridesmaids (which is a comedy and very very funny btw!) M arriving home from work, M leaving for work, a poignant moment on Masterchef, Gossip Girl, a particularly moving story on CNN, the dishes being dirty, not being able to find my black leggings, being tired, watching sad Glee videos on YouTube, having to wash my hair.
Yeah. I’m losing the plot. Blame the hormones!!!
3. Food has lost its regular appeal.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but for a food lover this aversion and ambivalence to one of the greatest joys on earth (which would be eating) is slightly disconcerting. For a long time I think it was due to the nausea and morning sickness which seems FINALLY to have left the building but even still – I’m so “meh” about food.
It’s like having the opposite to cravings. There is still a list of things I don’t want to eat but other than that, it’s just fuel to get me through the day.
It’s tragic people! I can’t even get excited about chocolate! Who am I??
4. Horror stories
Everyone has heard a horrible story about a 45 hour labour. Or tragic stories of still-born babies. Or nightmarish tales of surgeries gone wrong. I know that these things can happen, I’m not naive. What I don’t understand is why everyone feels the urge to share ALL these stories, whether their own or something that happened to a friend or their cousin Belinda, with a newly pregnant woman??!!??
I've learnt about “incompetent cervixes”, foetal abnormalities, 3 day pain-relief-free labours, incontinence, scarring, inverted nipples, silent reflux, miscarriages at 5 months, failed epidurals – ENOUGH!!! Stop scaring the pregnant women!
5. Body changes
This one wasn’t unexpected – obviously your body changes when preggers, duh. But some of the changes are still curious. Hair in unusual places and changing colour and texture, fingernails that grow ridiculously fast, bigger boobies, skin sensitivity and itchiness, a slowly changing centre of gravity that affects gait and movement – I’m not waddling yet but I’m certainly not striding normally.
And best of all – a belly that is slowly starting to look less “who ate all the pies” and more “baby on board”. This bit isn’t a surprise but it is totally brilliant.
6. Mummy Battles
I’m not quite sure what it is about women but we sadly seem to feel the need to out-do one another and prove ourselves as superior to other women in a whole variety of ways. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of babies and children where women can be incredibly supportive and kind or judgemental and condescending.
Oh holy heck, there are a lot of opinions out there and people seem more than willing to share with you theirs, even if you didn’t ask for it. My wise mother always says “Opinions are like Assholes. Everyone’s got one”.
I haven’t been personally bombarded with “advice” as my family and friends are awesome and chilled but as soon as you start researching or looking online or reading through forums - Wowza. It’s a jungle out there and the claws are out. 3-wheeler prams v 4-wheelers. Cloth nappies v Disposable. Breast v Bottle. Natural birth v C-Section. Everyone has an opinion (which they are often happy to present as FACT) and it makes the whole thing rather headache inducing.
Which is a pity. As trying to decide on a pram is freaking hard! There are literally 100s of choices out there!!
7. Becoming a family
We’re still a long way from Raj making his/her appearance into the world but already I am surprised and awed by how much closer this experience has brought M and I. Suffice to say, I haven’t been the most useful wife the last 4 months or so and M has more than picked up the slack doing about 90% of all the cooking/cleaning/shopping etc. Quite frankly, he has been amazing.
He is also so excited and involved in everything – making sure he attends all my appointments, reading the chapters in the book, making sure I’m eating/resting/sleeping enough and asking me every day “how is my Raj doing?” As my belly is getting bigger he also spends time rubbing and talking or singing to the baby (who I don’t think can hear him yet but ..... don’t tell M that!)
While his song choice leaves a lot to be desired, his love for our baby and for me is something to behold. Raj and I are very, very lucky to have him.
So there you have it.
Not terribly stylish I’m afraid!
Raj says hi
B
xxx
The ever stylish Sara made her list about the 7 things she is looking forward to about autumn.
I tried to think of 7 autumn related things I was looking forward to but all I came up with was not being sweaty and being able to say “Autumnal” all the time. So that was a bust.
Instead I thought I’d talk about a few of things about being pregnant that I was slightly unprepared for.
Thus my Stylish Blogger 7 things list is Seven Unexpected things about being Pregnant!
Just as an update - we’re at 20 weeks – so officially the half-way point.
Other than the sickness, I have been so, so lucky thus far and am actually enjoying this whole process quite a lot.
I love feeling the baby moving – which is happening more and more, and I’m so excited about meeting this little person who I love so much already.
But here are some things I’ve found curious about the journey so far:
1. Endless nicknames
We have taken to calling the baby ‘Raj’ which is a shortened form of Ra-Ju (the start of our surname + junior). It has kind of stuck with us and it has lent itself to a whole host of other names – mostly from M.
For example, since I am hosting Raj, I am therefore Raj-istan. M and I are the Entou-Raj. When I am feeling unwell M asks if I am feeling Aver-Raj. When Raj is moving about we call is Raj-y-bargy.
The options are rather endless and it makes us both giggle like loons.
Pity the poor child, especially if it ends up being a girl and her nickname for the rest of her life is “Raj”!
2. Hormones make my cry. A LOT.
At the moment I seem to cry over everything and nothing.
Things have that have made my cry include (but are not limited to): The film Bridesmaids (which is a comedy and very very funny btw!) M arriving home from work, M leaving for work, a poignant moment on Masterchef, Gossip Girl, a particularly moving story on CNN, the dishes being dirty, not being able to find my black leggings, being tired, watching sad Glee videos on YouTube, having to wash my hair.
Yeah. I’m losing the plot. Blame the hormones!!!
3. Food has lost its regular appeal.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but for a food lover this aversion and ambivalence to one of the greatest joys on earth (which would be eating) is slightly disconcerting. For a long time I think it was due to the nausea and morning sickness which seems FINALLY to have left the building but even still – I’m so “meh” about food.
It’s like having the opposite to cravings. There is still a list of things I don’t want to eat but other than that, it’s just fuel to get me through the day.
It’s tragic people! I can’t even get excited about chocolate! Who am I??
4. Horror stories
Everyone has heard a horrible story about a 45 hour labour. Or tragic stories of still-born babies. Or nightmarish tales of surgeries gone wrong. I know that these things can happen, I’m not naive. What I don’t understand is why everyone feels the urge to share ALL these stories, whether their own or something that happened to a friend or their cousin Belinda, with a newly pregnant woman??!!??
I've learnt about “incompetent cervixes”, foetal abnormalities, 3 day pain-relief-free labours, incontinence, scarring, inverted nipples, silent reflux, miscarriages at 5 months, failed epidurals – ENOUGH!!! Stop scaring the pregnant women!
5. Body changes
This one wasn’t unexpected – obviously your body changes when preggers, duh. But some of the changes are still curious. Hair in unusual places and changing colour and texture, fingernails that grow ridiculously fast, bigger boobies, skin sensitivity and itchiness, a slowly changing centre of gravity that affects gait and movement – I’m not waddling yet but I’m certainly not striding normally.
And best of all – a belly that is slowly starting to look less “who ate all the pies” and more “baby on board”. This bit isn’t a surprise but it is totally brilliant.
6. Mummy Battles
I’m not quite sure what it is about women but we sadly seem to feel the need to out-do one another and prove ourselves as superior to other women in a whole variety of ways. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of babies and children where women can be incredibly supportive and kind or judgemental and condescending.
Oh holy heck, there are a lot of opinions out there and people seem more than willing to share with you theirs, even if you didn’t ask for it. My wise mother always says “Opinions are like Assholes. Everyone’s got one”.
I haven’t been personally bombarded with “advice” as my family and friends are awesome and chilled but as soon as you start researching or looking online or reading through forums - Wowza. It’s a jungle out there and the claws are out. 3-wheeler prams v 4-wheelers. Cloth nappies v Disposable. Breast v Bottle. Natural birth v C-Section. Everyone has an opinion (which they are often happy to present as FACT) and it makes the whole thing rather headache inducing.
Which is a pity. As trying to decide on a pram is freaking hard! There are literally 100s of choices out there!!
7. Becoming a family
We’re still a long way from Raj making his/her appearance into the world but already I am surprised and awed by how much closer this experience has brought M and I. Suffice to say, I haven’t been the most useful wife the last 4 months or so and M has more than picked up the slack doing about 90% of all the cooking/cleaning/shopping etc. Quite frankly, he has been amazing.
He is also so excited and involved in everything – making sure he attends all my appointments, reading the chapters in the book, making sure I’m eating/resting/sleeping enough and asking me every day “how is my Raj doing?” As my belly is getting bigger he also spends time rubbing and talking or singing to the baby (who I don’t think can hear him yet but ..... don’t tell M that!)
While his song choice leaves a lot to be desired, his love for our baby and for me is something to behold. Raj and I are very, very lucky to have him.
So there you have it.
Not terribly stylish I’m afraid!
Raj says hi
B
xxx
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