Taking a Break For Now

Being online is taking up way too much time at the moment, and I'm not mentally, physically or anythinglly preparing for the huge life event that looms on the horizon. That's just plain naughty. So for now, I'll say a hearty sayonara to all on the big world wide web. I'll pop up online every once in a while until I feel a bit more stabilised to have a bit more time online.


Thankful!
For a change of pace every so often. It makes life interesting.

Too Tired To Care... Again?

This is kind of getting ridiculous. I only managed four hours last night. Four hours! It's hardly anything. But I'll stop complaining as, well, complainers can kind of grate on a person. 

I did manage to have an awesome day with Steven. We found some time to walk to the shops in search of a coffee grinder. Recently, I accidentally bought coffee beans to use in with a coffee plunger. Not accidental as in accidentally pushing the coffee beans through the scanner and accidentally having correct change falling out of my wallet. Just accidental in that I was not reading the label properly and just picked up any flavour which sounded good. 

We found no grinder but my mother phoned me to tell me that her blender can grind coffee beans as well. Problem solved. 

As it was around lunchtime, we looked for an oasis. Finding none, we settled instead on a tiny pancake place. It's a place that sells pancakes and you can sit at a table, so yeah, pancake place is the best name for it I can come up with.

I was craving a shaken (not stirred) milk with strawberry flavouring so I ordered one. Steven opted for a chocolate one. And for filling our stomachs, I asked for toasted white bread with salami and cheddar cheese. Steven, who actually likes pancakes, went for... pancakes. Expected a twist did you? Sorry.

I really enjoyed the milkshake and the toasted sandwich was not the best ever, but still quite good. But sadly for Steven, one of his pancakes caught the attention of a passing bee. She was probably quite hungry or whatever bees experience, as she took it upon herself to tuck right in. Steven was not too happy with her cheekiness. And it's not really like you can politely ask her to leave. Impolitely asking her to leave is an even worse idea. Bees are to be treated with respect, one wrong move and she'll kamikaze her stinger right into the offending person. All we could really do was watch her eat. In a way, it was kind of cute. Bees don't usually make a nuisance of themselves. At least, nowhere near the level that flies do. The bee ate happily and we ended our dining experience.

We did manage to grind some coffee a bit earlier, have our eyes roll back because of the glorious smell, and use the grounded coffee in the plunger. And, as I always say, coffee tends to smell much more awesome than what it tastes. But it's fine, we're going to perfect it. I should just keep an eye on my caffeine intake...

Thankful!

For sugar. Without it, coffee would not taste as good.

Epidurals?

Another glorious day out there, just look at all that sun. Well, you can't look, sorry that I go about suggesting such things when you can't comply. ...I can take a picture? I didn't hear you, la la la la la. I'm too lazy right now to get up, take a picture and upload it.

Um, well that was random. I apologise yet again.

Little Long is moving about so much. I hope that he's already upside down by now. It's going to get cramped in there so I'm expecting I'll be getting a little less kicks and punches before he comes out to meet us. Or am I just a little naive?

I'm very excited to meet him finally. We have bought more clothes and all the other things the hospital asks for and I already packed it all in a bag. But with the excitement comes a growing feeling of cold hard fear. Look, I'm not the toughest cookie out there. I can stand some pain, but from what I hear this will be sheer agony and I'm not really all that into sheer agony. I keep hearing about epidurals but, to be honest, I don't know if agony can be worse than having a needle and tube placed into your back. There are some success stories, but just as many that say about it being the worst decision. I'll stay away from the needle and deliver without, I think.

Thankful!
Food. I can eat so much nowadays.

Dream A Little Bigger, Darling

I'm telling you, there's something wrong with me. I try to stay strong every time, but I fail and tears stream down my face. I am, of course, talking about my weeping whenever I watch the last two minutes of Inception. I bawl like a little baby. Steven doesn't say a word, but he always gets that grin on his face which tells me that he loves me through all my strangeness. 


Yep, that was our movie last night. I thoroughly enjoy it every time. It's exactly my cup of dried leaves brewed in hot water. Mostly because I am highly interested in dreams and, more importantly, lucid dreams. You know, those dreams where you "wake up" and realise that it's all just a dream. Most people, when faced with the realisation that they are dreaming and can do whatever they want to, do just that. But during my few lucid dreams, I've come to the conclusion that my subconscious hates me and wants me to fail. Whenever I try to change a dream to my liking, it ends and I wake up. So, instead of trying to change things, I decided to observe the dream. And so I did on a few occasions, and I learnt a few things.


You know how you can only vaguely remember a dream when trying to remember it? One might come to the conclusion that dreams are all hazy as a result of that. Not so! Dreams are incredibly vivid. In fact, you never realise something's off because it never looks off. In one lucid dream, I found myself in one of those underground parking garages that some buildings have. There were a lot of cars and the area was lit up by fluorescent lights. So I said to myself "Pay attention." and I listened to myself for once. I kid you not, those cars reflected the lights as it would in the real world. Everything in dreams are as they would be in real life, and it's quite spooky. In other dreams, I paid close attention to my other senses to see if they would also say that dreams act just like reality and all five senses were happy with what they found. A piece of chocolate cake tastes like real cake, a can of green apple flavoured deodorant smelled exactly like green apples would smell. I was once in a humongous field and felt a most pleasant breeze blowing all around me. Not to mention voices and all other sounds are like the real thing. The next time you have a lucid dream, try it for yourself. Commit to memory how your senses react to everything your mind creates. I'm positive you won't be disappointed with what you find.


Now that I've rambled due to tiredness, I can say about our Anniversary! 


It's been three awesome years that Steven and I celebrated today. The usual sunny SA is quite cool and cloudy. And here's what happened at the restaurant where we had our coffee...


Our waitress looked like she would much rather fall into a snake pit than serve us. But I keep smiling as friendly as I can. (I see more and more that it doesn't help. But anyways.) We ordered our coffee and dessert and she brought it. And then she brought the bill right after. As she walked away, I raised my eyebrow at Steven and asked "Did we ask for the bill?". He answered in the negative and I was quite happy that I wasn't losing my memory very rapidly. It was too bad for her, as I might have wanted another coffee. But she made up my mind for me. After a while, she came back to our table. "Do you want to order anything else?" I said no thanks to which she replied "Because I want to go on my lunchbreak now." I just smiled friendlier and said that we're all peachy. 


I understand her wanting to take a break, perhaps she had a really tough morning, but at the same time I could see that she was being unprofessional. I used to treat all my customers with the same level of respect and friendliness, no matter how awful my day was. And trust me, some days were downright disturbingly awful. At any rate, before I ramble on, I'll go on with the actual story. I told Steven what was said as it was all in Afrikaans. He just sat back drank the rest of his coffee in his own time. I usually tip a little more than 10% as I know how awesome it is to get that little extra for all the hard work you do. But this lady didn't deserve her ten percent or whatever percentage more I usually choose to give so she got considerably less. 


In the end, I'm not complaining, even if it seems like it. I was hoping for a great time out with Steven, and through all that, I did enjoy being with him. And in the end, that's all that matters.


Thankful!
For coffee. Sometimes it can be quite bland and sometimes the smell is better than the actual taste. But all in all, quite an awesome little bean.

Tomorrow's Our Anniversary...

I've never been less prepared for any important date as I am tonight, on the eve of our Anniversary. Actually, no, that's a lie. I usually didn't care much for any important date. I guess I slightly take after my mom, she goes to sleep early on New Year's. Every year. Her excuse? It's just a day like any other. I suppose she's right. The world never imploded on New Year's, Christmas, Valentine's Day or Taco Day. See, that would have been a day to remember. "Christmas '94? Ah, yes, the day the world was destroyed. The turkey was slightly overdone that time."

It's just that I really want Steven to know that I can't live without him and the day we got married will always be a day I want to remember. Corny? I don't care. All of us have something that we are strange over. For me, it's my husband. I need him to know how much he means to me. So, for tomorrow... I don't know what to do! But he's very relaxed about it all, which is really awesome and makes me less stressed about being so clueless.

And if anyone's wondering about my learning a new language, I still want to but the website wants to push "friends" onto me! I'm too picky to make friends with just anyone. I need a long time to get to know someone before I can call them a friend. It makes life slightly less complicated. Does it make me a bad person? I wonder about that.

Thankful!
I am thankful for Steven. He's the most awesome man I've ever met. He's so good at everything he wants to do, which makes me quite proud.

Sleeptyping...

Warning: The following blog post contains way too much information of the author. Only read if you dare or don't care, I guess. 


I suffer so badly from tiredness right now, I might just end up typing gibberish. I just get worse and worse at this sleeping thing. I know you can die from lack of sleep, I just wonder how much sleep you have to lack...


And in other news and the reason why I warned my public: I... uh... Leak. Milk. It only happened twice now and it started this weekend. The first time I leaked a clear fluid and only noticed after I started feeling wet on my right arm. I was laying on my right side so it leaked onto my arm. I suspect my arm and other breast were squeezing it out of me.


I woke up last night to go to the bathroom and when I got back in bed, I noticed a strange coarse feeling on my left arm, it almost felt like saltwater that dried up. I immediately knew what it was, and switched on the light to check the bedding and such. It was dried white crystals on my arm, so this time is was proper milk colour. Apparently it's called Colostrum or something along those lines. I got a little worried as I've not yet seen about lactating before birth, and so I assumed that you only start after meeting the tiny milk-drinker. But the internet said it's normal to start during the third trimester so I feel better about it now. I also saw someone saying it's a good sign for getting on well with the whole lactation thing for the time that the baby needs it.


And there we go, gibberish typed and I'm feeling even more tired than I did before I started. I bid thee good night at 3 PM. 


But before I go...

Thankful!
Even while gaining weight and inches where the baby's at, I seem to be losing inches everywhere else. Seriously, I think I look really good for a pregnant chick.

Languages!

Oh dear. If I don't become a bit more interesting very soon, I'll bore myself to death. I don't think I've ever heard of "Death by boring oneself.", but I do start to believe it can be achieved. I should get a hobby. A proper hobby. I know a lot about this one online game and try to help out people on the forums there, but it's not all that productive or conversation-starting now, is it?


I do want to learn a new language or six. I have it all planned out. First I want to learn Dutch and German because my native language, Afrikaans, was derived from other languages including Dutch. I can understand most Dutch words. And I can understand some German as well purely because of my Afrikaans background. Then I'll move on to French, Spanish and Italian. And right at the end as I believe it might be difficult: Cantonese or Mandarin. I still have to figure which one out those last two. 


So, how exactly? I found a website called Livemocha.com that seems to have beginner to intermediate courses for free. I just tried a bit of the Dutch course. But they do want me to speak words out loud, record them and then have random strangers judge my speech. I manage to come across as an idiot in my own language, do I really want to be making a fool of myself and bore others in multiple languages? Is it really worth it? Hmmm...


I'll go through with it and see. I am doing this for my child, after all. Yes, I want little Long to have a great advantage in life. I want my tiny future pacifier-user to be able to talk to everyone in the world. I thought it was a brilliant idea when first I watched The Boondock Saints and I still think it's a brilliant idea. So, little Long, mommy will make a fool of herself just for you. I think I'll be saying that a lot for the next 70 - 80 years... 


My word, it's a long time to commit yourself to a person, isn't it? I've fully committed myself to my husband for that duration, but in all fairness, I knew him quite well at the point of commitment. This tiny little person growing inside of me is still a stranger in a lot of ways. I'm stumbling blindly into a new relationship, probably one of the biggest, most challenging and yet most fulfilling relationships of my entire life. But I know nothing about this ickle kick-boxer. All I know is that I can't wait to get to know him better. 


Thankful!
I'm thankful for diversity. Sure, we humans can hate those who are different, but is there any point to it? I want to celebrate the differences instead. In fact, life would be awful if we're all the same. 

A Good Day

You won’t believe how grumpy I can be nowadays. I blame the pregnancy hormones and lack of proper sleep. So Steven decided to have me walk yesterday, it is good exercise.  We walked the 15 to 20 minutes to a shopping centre close by. It’s nothing big and definitely nothing fancy, but we had so much fun just being together and looking at everything. We got ourselves some cereal, chocolate and washing powder. Wild combination of goods, I know. Then we looked around inside a DVD rental spot and, I kid you not, Steven can elaborate on any film I point at. I was amazed yet again by this wealth of knowledge he has on all types of film. He even pointed out a version of The Shining in which he says has the main character actually do some caretaking unlike the most known version where he doesn’t. But that it’s a bit of a boring version even if it’s a bit more faithful to the book.

We then looked at a computer shop to try and see how much they charge for language courses. It’s still a lot of money, that didn’t change since the last time we looked. It’s more than we should spend right now with little Long on the way. So Steven suggested I look online for any language course.

As we walked out, I mentioned that I wanted to see a movie we don’t have. We decided on the A-Team. It bored me stiff the first time around, but now that I’m older and wiser I told him I would try to watch it again. So we went to a second hand shop very close to the computer shop, because we saw the movie in there cheap before. First Steven found Lakeview Terrace, which is high on my “To Watch” list for some odd reason. And then we found the A-Team. The latter was R10 cheaper so we went with that.

When we got home, Steven did some work and I watched TV. There was a talk show on and the topic was sleep disorders! So I watched intently and a wonderful lady who works at the Wits University described me perfectly. She said about how someone that doesn’t sleep well during the night will feel very tired at around 4 or 5 in the afternoon and then again at 9. So come 9 o’clock, the person will say to themselves: “This is bedtime as I’m tired.” and then sleep only to wake up during the night and be awake for hours. Her advice was to keep awake past 9 until about 11 or 12. I decided to try her advice last night already to see if it would work.

It became time to make dinner and watch something we find entertaining and silly at the same time. It’s called 7de Laan, a South African soap which I always think of as amateur. They did get a bit better over the years, but some actors still grind on me. They would be fantastic as stage performers, but alas, they don’t seem to know that stage and film are two different types of performing arts, and that film (or telly) don’t require over the top acting as everyone in the living room can see you. No best seat in the house, unless you have one of those awesome recliners which you can kick back and relax on. No contest there.

After 7de Laan, I washed dishes while Steven made hot chocolate to go with our chocolate. Chocolate overload? Maybe. But we don’t do it so very often, so it was all good. And then we went on to watch the film we got. I enjoyed about 10% of it this time around and the rest bored me stiff yet again. I did also enjoy seeing Sharlto Copely, but because he’s an awesome South African. Fun trivia: You know the part where Sharlto talks in an African language to a passport checker? That’s Swahili. And oddly enough, it’s not one of South Africa’s 11 official languages.

At the end of the film, I was quite tired but had to wait some more before going to sleep. So Steven put on G.I. Joe. I always think it’s a fun film and can’t understand the nay-sayers. So I was a half-dead zombie on the floor, trying desperately to stay awake. A while into the film, I turned to Steven asking him what the time is. He said that it was 11 and I said “Buh-bye.” and zombied off to bed. Blissful sleep fell over me in, I’d say, about one minute of putting my head on the pillow.

How’s this story end? Did the tactic work? Was the chocolate any good? Find the answers to all these questions… well, right now:

Yay! The tactic seemed to have worked. I woke up during the night for the bathroom, but when I went back to bed I fell asleep again! I did wake up at 5:40 but the lady on TV said that it will happen like that. She really knows her stuff. And yes, the chocolate was good, thanks. But I must admit. It gave me stomach ache. I really don’t have it often, and it shows by getting ill from it.

Thankful!
My feet are cold right now. Before I got pregnant, I used to always have cold feet. In so many ways… But it’s like pregnancy creates an internal oven.
So why are cold feet so welcome right now? Because I’m quite tired of walking around without socks. I didn’t realise that your feet can get so dirty by walking around barefoot or even with flip-flops on. Interesting. So yeah, I’m thankful for cold feet now so that I can wear my socks again and stop that weird feeling of dirt all over my feet.

Too Tired To Care

I didn't write a post yesterday as I didn't even have the strength to phone it in like I did the last few times. It was the third night in a row for being horizontal in bed and yet wide awake for hours. And I couldn't even blame my bathroom needs this time around. Oh no. This time it was due to some neighbour having the need to put music on really loud whilst being drunk and shouting all kinds of nonsense out of her window. All this at 2:30 am. Mind you, it wasn't even St. Paddy's Day, which might have made a bit more sense.

I shouldn't want to pay her back, but I do. I hope she will be the only person other than myself that my baby wakes up at all hours of the night. I reckon that if you want to act like a moron to other people, you should get exactly what you do to them in return.

But anyhow, enough about strange neighbours.

This morning I went with Steven, my mom and her sister to my grandma's brother's Golden Anniversary. (Yes, I did just want to put a lot of family members in one sentence.)
I didn't know the people at all, having only met the happy couple when I was a tiny baby. So the rest of them didn't even stand a chance of being met before today. They are all good ol' Afrikaans people. But with Steven and I not being good at mingling, we ended up sitting in the corner while going through an Afrikaans magazine. I figured the magazine was a great opportunity to help Steven learn more Afrikaans. We should actually go to more parties, it's a fantastic time to catch up with old magazines and study new languages.

Don't get me wrong, the people we met there are all quite awesome and interesting. It's just that we're never good at socializing. Steven won't be happy about me saying this, but he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome when he was a child. For those who don't know, it's on the autism spectrum. He's highly intelligent but can't deal very well with social situations. And to be honest, I'm so sure I have that too. It would explain all of my life so far. I was never able to fit in at school, always had my thoughts elsewhere rather than focusing on the people around me and, if ever I met you, be sure that I will never keep in contact. Facebook makes life a little simpler for keeping in touch, but even then it's just a quick "like" here and there with occasional sentences to make things a bit more interesting. But people not on my Facebook won't ever know what happened to me. And it does make me sad, thinking about all those people every once in a while and feeling horrible about not keeping in touch.

Now, here's where it gets a bit more tricky. According to limited internet research, Asperger's is hereditary. A word here meaning "Good luck, little Long, you'll need it.". When I think about everything that's ever happened to me because I was "not normal", I cringe. I suppose other kids will be mean and nasty no matter what, but it's almost like they can sense social awkwardness and really gun such a person down. Hopefully not literally, as that kind of anarchy is frowned upon and rightly so.

I should really get diagnosed by a professional, though, as I would like to know for sure. At least then I can explain myself when a person talks to me and all comprehension just walks off, leaving my head unattended. Trust me, it's no fun looking like a goldfish when someone asks you a simple question. There's no way to look normal with bulging eyes and a mouth opening and closing with no words floating out.

Thankful!
Raise your glass to parties, huzzah! Here's to tiny amounts of socializing! I believe it keeps me sane. Everyone, no matter how socially awkward, needs a bit of interaction with other human beings. Which makes me thankful that there's so many of them on this planet. You can't swing a stick without hitting one. Which you really shouldn't as they won't like it so much.

Hopefully a Good Start

Right, I suppose I’ll have to start writing this blog post instead of just staring at the blank page. But what shall I write about?

Oh, what’s quite exciting is that I thought up a story last night. And I believe Steven perfected it for me. So, I’ll be writing a story and we’ll see if I can get published. It would be awesome to get published. Oh, and I’m not stupid, I know it’s a very tough industry to get into. Lots and lots of rejection. But I can try, right? ...Right?

Anyways, I am sorry for a short blog post, but I must start typing this story before it leaves my head again. That has happened way too many times before.

Thankful!
I’m very thankful. I didn’t sleep well again last night, but I did sleep better than last night. Which is awesome!

Taking Sides

Right. A very cranky and tired person is typing now. Let's hope it all turns out well for humanity. I didn't sign up for insomnia when I got pregnant, and yet I suffer from it. Curses.

Yesterday, I mentioned about worrying what side to sleep on. And with my very limited research into the matter, it really sounds like the experts are all for sleeping on your left hand side, especially later on in pregnancy. From what I can understand, there's two big reasons. The first is that the baby is encouraged to take a good birthing position when you sleep on your left side. And the weight of the uterus can be too heavy if you sleep on your back or right side and cause blood flow problems and such. Who knew? Well, the experts and others who have been advised about this, but still. I just wonder how mankind made it this far without all this knowledge...

I've just been amazed by a film I barely watched. It's about owls that look for guardians or something, but the part which really impressed me was their feathers. It was so gorgeously animated!

Thankful!
I didn't sleep well last night. At all. But I did get some hours of sleep, which I am very thankful for.

Which Side is Best?

I’ll freely admit it. I opened this program to type a blog post and have no idea what to write! It’s a blank canvas that I can’t paint on. I have the paint, but nothing creative in my head. Weird. And I always thought I was so prolific. Tsk tsk.

I do think that maybe I’m just a little too tired. Maybe inspiration will strike as I type.

Little Long is kicking me at the moment, which is great as I worried about his safety during the night. I woke up a few times and noticed that I’m on my right hand side.
I’ve read somewhere on the internet that you shouldn’t lie on your right hand side while sleeping as it can obstruct the flow in the umbilical cord! I’m sure I must have read it wrong, or not read what else you should do to have that happen. Actually, I should look that up today and see if I can get closure on this whole thing. I like being on my right side, I fall asleep a lot easier that way. Maybe I just worry too much over nothing, right?

There, I did have something to write about. Something pathetic on my part, but nevermind. And I do feel a little more awake now. I looked outside a minute ago, and it looks like it will be another glorious day in sunny South Africa.

Thankful!
Well, as said, it’s going to be sunny and warm in Pretoria today, which I’m thankful about. I used to not care much for sunlight, instead preferring cloudy weather. Until I got it all the time in England. Now I know that you really need a balance. So be happy when the sun shines and when the rain pours. One without the other gets awfully boring.

Unborn Musical Genius?

I learned something new about blogging yesterday. I looked at my stats and saw an unknown site that seemed to have brought me traffic. My paranoid self freaked right out and did some digging. It’s actually something called Referrer Spam. In some complicated way, it looks like you got pageviews but instead it’s a way of getting unsuspecting website owners to click on the website of the spammer! Clever, sneaky spammers. 

First rule of Referrer Spam. Do not talk about... No, wait, that’s not it.
First rule of Referrer Spam. Don’t click on it. It encourages them.

Now that my public service announcement is done, it's time for the actual blog post!

I love to wake Steven up in the morning. But it feels like a full-time job, it takes him quite a long time to respond. Last week, I managed to get him slightly awake and I decided to lie down next to him as I was still a little tired. A few seconds afterwards, I felt the baby move. But it was strange as it felt like he was kicking every three seconds. “Here, feel this musical genius!” I told Steven as I put his hand on my abdomen. We both smiled happily as the baby kept doing his impressive drum solo for about half a minute. A few weeks back a similar thing happened. I was quite sure little Long was kicking on three drumbeats of a song we were listening to. But it could just have been my imagination, right?

I wondered what it all could mean. Did I really have a little drummer boy growing inside me? I felt like I should investigate and see if there could be a different explanation.

And investigate I did. I opened Google and typed in “baby kicking rhythmically”. No-one seemed to have asked that specifically, but I did manage to spot something while looking at the search results. I said “No way!” and clicked on a site that seemed to have an answer.

What I found was something I never would have expected. My little one is not some undiscovered, unborn musical genius. He was just experiencing something all other humans experience from time to time. Hiccupping! After I got over the surprise, I told Steven and we both agreed that it was too cute for words. Not even born or breathing and already his tiny diaphragm was throwing little tantrums. Welcome to life, little Long. It’s a mixture of good and bad, pleasant and annoying, joy and sadness. Hiccups are just the beginning.

Thankful!
I can’t remember all the details, but I do remember hearing of a person who can’t stop hiccupping. For years this person lives with his/her diaphragm going mad and nothing can stop it. So I am thankful that whenever I do hiccup, I know it will stop after a little while.

Baby Clothes: Little Cute Bundles of Washing

Oh dear, tomorrow turned into the day after the day after tomorrow! Well, here's the next post:

Steven and I are quite anxious to buy baby clothes. Whenever we walk around in a shopping centre, we look in clothing shops to see what adorable little clothes and shoes they have in stock. Alas, the shops don’t have any Winter clothes in stock just yet. And that’s what we’re looking out for as our wonderful little dependant will need warm clothes when he comes into this much colder world.

It’s really hot inside a human being. An incredible 37 degrees Celsius when you’re healthy! I once camped with my sister and her family at a place that felt the need to be very close to 40 degrees. And I can honestly say that I have no idea how I survived. I can’t remember much about those days, leading me to believe that I must have been passed out for most of it. I can imagine that if I was to step out of such an environment into a place with a temperature of about 15 degrees Celsius, I would immediately reach for a jacket, warm socks and a warm oversized blanket and still feel as if I am freezing. And that’s exactly what I can imagine little Long will feel when he decides to stop hiding and comes out to see us. I do pity him already, it must be awful to leave your hot, dark and wet world for a dry alien environment with cold temperatures and blinding lights. I don’t know how any of us weren’t tremendously traumatised by that insane transition.

We did manage to get little Long’s first clothes recently, though. Steven was walking through a big baby section in an Edgars (a South African clothes franchise) while I was dealing with a structural failure of one of my shoes. He came back excited, telling me he found something great. Firstly, what you need to know about Steven is that he’s a huge fan of comic books. So, as you can probably guess, he found a tiny shirt and trousers with a comic book character on it. Namely Spider-Man. Our child won’t even be a day old and already wear a Marvel character on him. Like father, like son. I can’t wait to see them together and bonding.

After the first set of clothes we got, we’re still excited to buy some more clothes. In fact, the hospital I’ll be delivering at gave a list of things to bring with on the day of delivery. Among other things, they ask for six sets of baby clothes! I don’t even have six sets of clothes for myself. But I’ll do that anyways, I suppose they know from experience that babies can soil all of those clothes within the first hour or so. You can probably tell that I have no idea how many times a tiny baby has bathroom needs. But it’s all good, I’m sure I’ll learn soon enough.

Thankful!

As I was typing that last part, I saw shocking security camera footage on this breakfast show I have on in the background. A pedestrian walked slowly and casually onto a pavement as a minibus taxi came into view, not even looking like he slowed down for the man walking. The taxi driver was angry at the pedestrian. I could tell he was as he proceeded to run the man down on the pavement! They skipped the footage forward a bit, showed how the driver got out of his taxi and assault the victim even more. Oh, and all this was happening in front of witnesses who just stood there doing absolutely nothing, almost as if they weren’t seeing anything strange happening! The people presenting the show said that the driver was let go by the courts… What can we do? I only hang my head in shame for my nation.

Which brings me to why I am thankful today. I am thankful to not being the poor victim, of course. But I’m even more thankful that I’m not that driver. He will get his comeuppance and I’m sure it will be quite nasty. I almost feel sorry for him, he’s so ignorant about his own fate.

UTIs: How To Avoid It

This morning I woke up at about 4:30. So I got to see what some TV channels get up to too early in the morning. I was quite amused to find last night’s news repeating on one channel. Apparently, old news seems to be the only thing an early riser can expect from them. But I do forgive them, because they have a mildly entertaining breakfast show right afterwards. And with this being a free television channel in South Africa, mild entertainment is the best you can ask for.

Let’s see if I can take all this waking early stuff and not snap at all and sundry during the day...

Now, as promised, this entry will contain some tips and such on how to avoid urinary tract infections. Please do note that I am nowhere near being a health care consultant, doctor, nurse or any other medical person of interest. I’ve not even been to university! But I have worked in a university’s library once. That was awesome. Enough about me, here’s what I found while researching the subject.

Let’s first look a bit at the micro-organisms that want to cause UTIs. No need for a microscope, I’ll just name and shame them:

A small amount of internet research on Wiki reveals E. coli to be the usual suspect. This I didn’t know. It says that E. coli occurs naturally in our intestines and most types are generally harmless. Amazing! Well, I just really didn’t know that so I’m amazed.

Another bacteria that could cause a UTI is called Staphylococcus saprophyticus. Quite the mouthful, right? Wiki says that it causes about 10% of UTIs.

There are others as well. But those two seem to be the main culprits.

Now getting to the tips on what you can do to avoid it:

Cranberries aren’t just for American Thanksgivings, you know. They really help with the health of your kidneys and other related organs. Look out for unsweetened 100% cranberry juice. In my experience, it does cost a little more than other juices, but your health is priceless so go for it. The taste might threaten to put you off, but I got used to it and so can you.
Do note that, while cranberries can help to avoid it, you shouldn’t rely on them to get healthy again.

Learn from me and make sure that you go to the bathroom whenever you need to. And definitely as soon as you need to. You don’t want your bladder becoming weak now.

Also, very important, drink loads of water. I’ve been known to drink more than two litres a day and I do feel healthier because of it. It rinses you out, which is exactly what you want to do in your delicate state.

Apparently showers are better for your hygiene. Wash every day, but I would suggest not to use harsh soaps. They can disrupt the delicate balance you have going quite naturally.

Symptoms you should not ignore:

Burning when going to the bathroom.
Needing to use the bathroom frequently.
Pain in your abdomen and back.
Not passing enough water when you go.
Blood in the urine.

Do you suspect you have a UTI? Don’t waste time, rush off to the doctor immediately so they can check it out and help you. It’s not something you want to mess around with when pregnant.

Well, this has been a fun two days for me, delving into a pregnancy health problem. But this is not what you can expect every day. I can really talk about other things, honest! And tomorrow I shall.

Thankful!
As I’m sitting here typing this, I’m grateful for the cool wind coming in through my window. It’s been a hot Summer, so I think I’ll appreciate the slight cold of a South African Winter when it comes around. You need some contrast in your life in order to appreciate what you have.

UTIs: Scary Stuff When Pregnant

Warning: This post has a little too much information about the writer's internal organs and bathroom habits. Reader's discretion is advised.

This morning I awoke early again. This pregnancy bladder thing really messes with my sleep patterns, I just can't seem to sleep again after I wake up at 5:30. But I'm not complaining, even if it seems like it. I'd much rather get up for the bathroom than hold it all in and get an infection. Again. So, I want to write to all pregnant ladies (and non-pregnant ones, too) about how to try and prevent Urinary Tract Infections. It can be dangerous to your precious unborn noisemaker, so it's best to try and avoid it completely.

I see I'll need to give some background information about myself before I hand out warnings to others. Maybe you are just like me and can learn something from my experience. Let me take you back in time for an overlong flashback sequence...

Since I was about sixteen, I've worked in retail on and off. My first job was at a Superspar in Port Elizabeth. I've been there for a few weeks and I worked from 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, six days of the week. And I can say with complete honesty that I have no idea where the restrooms were in that building. I also remember working in a Spur Restaurant in Cape Town and only going to the bathroom at work once in that whole month of slavery. Horribly shocking, I know! Maybe even hilarious, it all depends on your sense of humour. I can only shake my head in disbelief when I think about the damage I must have cause to my kidneys and bladder.

A few weeks back, I went with my mother to her doctor closeby. And I was fortunate enough to have a job handed to me when I asked him if he needed someone to work in his new office. I worked there from Monday to Thursday, a total of four days, before becoming really ill. I had to phone in sick Friday morning. I felt like a zombie, but a zombie with an illness that makes it groan even more and have it crawl around the floor instead of slouching around slowly.
As Friday went along, I noticed some pains in my back where I figured my kidneys were. I got a little worried and when it got worse on Saturday, I went to the hospital's emergency unit.

I explained my symptoms to the nurse and gave her a sample of offensive fluid. (I have huge respect for nurses, they have to deal with a lot of... stuff.)
The doctor on duty came around to me and poked at my abdomen with her stetoscope. Really deep too. The baby responded after she was done, I thought it was too cute how he tried to get the prodding to stop with one giant kick. The doctor told me that I did have an infection and that she would give me antibiotics. She also said that I should return if I start getting pains in my abdomen, which made me wonder if she had any faith in the antibiotics.

My dear mom got me the antibiotics at the pharmacy while I was waiting for her in the car. I only remember feeling like a tacky animal skin draped all over the car seat. As soon as I got the medicine, I drank the first two pills as prescribed. I've never took any medicine as diligently as I did with that entire course. I had to drink the pills every 8 hours, and I made sure I had alarms going off for every set of pills. Especially for the ones I had to drink late at night.

It was a five day course, and on the fourth day I felt little pains in my back again, just like the pains I went to the hospital for. But worse yet, I felt pains in my abdomen, just underneath where I figured my uterus was. Naturally, I got extremely worried. The doctor must have been right not to trust the medicine, I thought to myself. So the day after the end of the course, I went to the hospital again.

That time I went to have my urine sent to a lab post haste. They told me to go tell my usual doctor that I had a sample sent away. So I went to the office of my doctor, which is in the same hospital, and I explained it all to her receptionist. She asked me with eyes wide open "Why didn't you come back yesterday already?" which scared me even more. Surely she knows more than I do about all this! Why didn't I come back earlier? Why, why, why?!

After the receptionist assured me she will have the doctor phone me IF the results come back before the weekend, I went home with a broken and worrying heart. I kept thinking of a person somewhere on the internet saying about how she lost twins due to a UTI. And I realised more and more how much this tiny diaper-filler hiding inside of me really means to me. I realised that if I was to lose him, I would miss him every single day for the rest of my life.

That evening, my mom came over and noticed that I kept going to the bathroom every two minutes. She told me to put on my shoes, we were going to take a trip back to the emergency room. She waited with Steven, my husband, in the waiting room while I told my symptoms to the long-suffering nurse and gave her the awful gift of urine yet again. I waited for the worse, hoped for the best, and tried to avert my eyes from a chart on the wall that quite casually lists "Death" in a red column. After eternity passed, a doctor came into the room.

She looked at me and uttered the following phrase: "Your urine is clear." The relief I felt at that moment was so immense, I felt a strange warm liquid forming at my eyes. I asked about my symptoms, and she said that my uterus was just pressing on my bladder. And that the pains I experience in my abdomen was just ligaments stretching. I thought it was quite cruel of my ligaments to start stretching while I was paranoid about any pains that might show up in my abdomen. And the back pain? Also a normal pregnancy symptom. I did feel a little sheepish about rushing to the hospital for normal pregnancy pains, but I was over the moon to know that I didn't have to worry anymore. I went to tell Steven the good news and we just held each other for a minute. I decided right then to take excellent care of myself for my baby's sake.

So what caused this awful episode? I believe it was my inability to take care of myself when I am working. It's really not that I ignore the feeling of a full bladder, it's that I don't even feel it. I receive no warnings from my body when I work. No hunger, no thirst, no toilet need. For a few hours I'm not even human, instead I'm just a robot that just keeps working with nothing to stop it.
I suspect that I may just release way too much adrenaline when I work, making all my body's needs a very low priority while I'm in fight-or-flight mode. It sounds like a good theory, at least.

Next time, I will give tips and tricks to prevent Urinary Tract Infections. We have to keep healthy for our tiny unborn ones. They depend fully on our bodies to function properly.

The Thankful Part!
As you already saw, I’m thankful for the proper function of my urine system. Well, two nights ago, Steven and I watched Titanic. So I’m also thankful for being on dry land and not in water which can freeze one to death.

Introducing... Me!

Hello, dearest reader. This is quite obviously my first blog post, with it just being created and all. So I would like to take the time to introduce myself and tell you what I want to write about every day or so.

My name is Susan and, thankfully, it was a female name given to a female. I was born and raised in sunny South Africa and I’m now inching ever closer to being thirty years of age. But there’s a reason I am here and writing to the world. That reason is my being pregnant! 

I've been in this delicate state for a little more than six months now. I want to share this joyous occasion with you, dear reader. But why stop there? I'll share the years that come afterwards, too.

I would have started this blog a few months ago but, alas, I suffer from something that most aspiring writers suffer from. Good ol’ fashioned procrastination. Oh, that’s my other reason for writing these letters to the world: To become a committed and diligent writer. Let’s see if I can overcome procrastination, the fear of failure and just plain laziness to be able to update every day or two, shall we?

As you can see, this blog is called "Baby Bumped and Kicked". I have a lovely big baby bump and I keep expanding every day as the tiny one grows. And does he kick! At times it feels like he's attacking a whole army in there.

Other fun facts about me: I think I’m quite friendly, and yet I can’t seem to maintain friendships. (More on that in another post.) 

I’m also quite paranoid, yet slightly naïve when it comes to people I trust. I come from a creative family, so I do attempt a drawing or other art projects every once in a while. 

My head sometimes takes up residence in the clouds, when I should really be paying attention to the people around me. And I really enjoy switching off my brain with a little bit of movie watching.

I’m also a very happily married woman. Honestly, I can’t imagine life without Steven. I had no idea men like him existed, so I’m quite thankful to have met him and for the way things have worked out. How we’ve met is actually a really fun story, so I’ll most probably write about that one day.

And with that word “thankful” in the previous paragraph, I want to start a way to end every blog post of mine. I want to name at least one thing I can be thankful about. I believe that looking at the bright side of everything will make one into a positive person. And positive people tend to be happier, healthier and gain immortality. Well, maybe not immortality, but they do seem to be better off with the time they’ve got on this planet.

Of course, if you’re one for being grumpy and not too fond of happy people, you will have the option to skip the Thankful insert as it should be at the bottom of the posts. To each his (or her) own, so it’s all good no matter what you choose to read.

And so ends my first post. Please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you!