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.