32 week pregnant belly, almost 33.

32 week pregnant belly, almost 33.
Originally uploaded by jodicze.

We have had a wonderful time in Christchurch for the wedding. Brian and Vicky look really happy and all went very well. The weather was really cold but the days had clear crisp blue skies. As long as you had a good jacket and a hat it was perfect weather.

It was great to catch up with our friends and we enjoyed a really nice breakfast together on Saturday. I had French bread with bacon and fried banana with a generous drizzling of maple syrup. It was sooooo good.

I had hoped it would snow while we were there, I have been in the snow but never in falling snow. (It does not snow in Auckland where I live.) apparently it snowed a couple of hours after our departure (go figure!!!)

There was a rugby match between the All Blacks and the Lions while we were there. Talk about rugby fever in Canterbury. There were balloons and people dressed in their colours everywhere. I have never seen Auckland get quite so pepped up, no wonder Canterbury have such an awesome side of rugby. There were heaps of Lions fans but with all their travel and cheering, it did not pay off, Go the All Blacks, YAY!!!!
We happened to be returning home and were in the air during the game, I am not a huge rugby fan. I like it but am not the type to rearrange my life around a game. I must say though, after being in Christchurch and all the hype, I actually was keen to see the game.

Talking about flying, it was the first time I have flown at 8 months pregnant and it is a strange sensation to take off and land with a passenger in your belly. Bubs became quite riggly and it definitely caused contractions to happen. I was all to aware that baby was well down in the pelvis. I also found that sitting in restricted space without being able to change position did get my back a bit and even now it is still sore. It may be a combination of flying, sleeping in a different bed and getting in and out of a low car. I am used to my van and now appreciate it much more than I did. Maybe a long soak in a hottish bath will help tonight and even a wishful thinking back rub. My back has been so good up until now so hopefully I can get back to normal again. It's my only winge so I guess I am not doing too badly for this stage of pregnancy.

32 weeks

Kiora, ( that is Maori for hello)

I have just returned from my midwife appointment and all is looking good. As I had thought, this baby is well down in the pelvis which is why I do not feel too short of breath and pretty comfortable. As I said in a previous blog, I am getting the odd groin twinge and I cannot walk at full stride but am not feeling REALLY pregnant, I don't think I have too much of a waddle going on.
My Iron levels are the best they have been during any of my pregnancies.
There was a student midwife at this appointment and as my midwife was running late she came and chatted in the waiting room. I had considered what I would do if asked if a student could be at the birth and had thought, no, as I was looking forward to a quiet home birth but after meeting this student I would consider her being there. I would need to see what David thought as well. She was a mature student and had 3 children herself. She had fun feeling my belly for babies position and had real trouble locating where baby was lying ( I'm glad I'm not the only one) She was not expecting the baby to be so low in the pelvis already. My midwife suggested that maybe baby was low and then she managed to feel what she was after. My midwife had no problem finding baby and said it was in LOA, perfect!!!!! Now to get it to stay like that until the birth. My fundal height was a little small measuring between 29-30cm but due to babies decent it was fine. There was a slight trace of protein in my urine but nothing to be alarmed about. I am very happy with how things are progressing.

David and I leave for the wedding tonight, in about five hours. I still have not packed or even decided what I will wear. I should be doing that rather than blogging but I thought I should put my feet up for a while before getting stuck in. I still want to vacuum my bedroom for my folks to be in but everything else is ready and clean and the dinner has been slowly cooking all day in the crock pot. I love walking back into the house to the smell of chicken and herbs and Veges cooking in their own juices. Yum!!!

Caleb woke up this morning with a bit of a temperature this morning but seems O.K at the moment. I hope he does not come down with anything while my parents are looking after him.

Quick update

Nothing too much to comment on but decided that I should do something productive tonight rather than going to sleep at 8pm. I have been ready to call it a night earlier and earlier at the moment. If I have something to keep me occupied or have people over then I can stay up for longer but as soon as I wind down for the day I could just crawl into bed and shut down for the night. Its winter here in New Zealand and the sun goes down about 5:30. My body definitely determines bed time by the sun.

I have finally sorted all my accounts to go to our accountant. It is tax time and the first time we have done this with our own company. I really don't know what I am doing so am just winging it at this stage.

I recently put Ned stat on my blog page to see if anyone ever read my blog. I didn't mind if no one did as I really began doing this for my own record. I have been amazed to see that people are actually viewing from the USA. I don't have hundreds of viewings but its fun to see which countries people are viewing from.

Bubs has made a descent today, I can tell as I get the odd groin twinges from time to time. Its kind of like small electric shocks that ping quickly and give you a wee jump. You feel like everyone must know what happened and that all eyes are upon you but more often than not no one is aware of your intimate moment with your little one unless you can't hold back a wee yelp.

David and I head to Christchurch on Thursday night, I look forward to a few days away. It's a quick flight, just one and a quarter hours. We can fly any domestic flight in New Zealand until your due date as long as there are no complications. The flights are so short that I guess they think the plane will land before any baby is born. I'll try not to give them any surprises.

No problem Mum, I'll get it.

Caleb our fouth
Originally uploaded by jodicze.

I just had to add a little note about my wee lad Caleb. I wanted to record it more for remembrance sake than anything else.

I had called all the kids to the table ready for dinner but before I dished up my eldest daughter called out to me as she was vomiting with a migraine. ( she has had these since she was tiny but they are not so frequent now, I may blog about that at a later stage.)
After coming back down to the kitchen I found Danielle and Samara patiently waiting at the table but Caleb had obviously decided to take matters into his own hands. He had pulled a chair over to the kitchen bench (a task in itself) he had found a serving spoon and was dishing up the rice into three bowls. He had such a proud look as I entered the kitchen as if to say " Look at me Mum, I'm helping you out." I called David as it had to be seen to appreciate the moment.
He really is a thinker this boy of ours.

Ultra sound quiz

JODIE_22
Originally uploaded by jodicze.

I realize that I never actually said what the sex of this baby is on my blog. I said I succumbed to the temptation of finding out and had a shot taken of bubs gentiles but then never said any more. Have your guess, I think it is kind of obvious but I'm not going to say for sure until after bubs is born.

31 weeks

31 weeks
Originally uploaded by jodicze.

Down to the single digit countdown now, Yay!!
I still have not got into the babies room to sort it out but I'm sure I'll get around to it before too long.
I keep telling myself that maybe I should start to slow down a bit and not have everyone else's children over to look after but I don't have the heart to say no and really I am managing fine. I am still able to sing on the worship team at church and don't really want to stop at this stage. It is something that I love to do and also something that David and I do together. The kids are great and enjoy coming down to the church for practices. It also exposes them to music and they get to catch up with friends.

Bubs is still very active but not uncomfortably so. I get a lot of movements on the top right hand side and also in various places on the left. Don't ask me what position the baby is in based on these movements as I have never been good at identifying body position and limbs. I don't know how the midwives can tell. You would think that after having 4 babies already I would have some idea but sadly no.

I am still enjoying being pregnant and feely very fit and well.

Caleb is full of energy but the girls help a lot with getting drinks for him. It really is easier the more kids you have.

My last paragragh reminded me of being told not to use the word kids when referring to your children as they are not baby goats but I think it is a cute name for children and use it anyway.

I bought some chocolate bars today from a friend at our Mums group. She was selling it for her son who was fund raising for his soccer team (I had to help him out.) I gave one bar for the kids to share out and have just scoffed a whole bar down while I have been writing this, what a glutton. It was pretty yummy though I must admit and there is still one more bar left for a later stage.

I have my midwife appointment next week and will be every 2 weeks from then. I can't believe how quickly time is passing by. I usually find this end part of pregnancy is slow but I think bubs will be here before I know it.

I think I have said all I need to for now so will sign off. Bye.

30 weeks

30 weeks
Originally uploaded by jodicze.

The count down is now on. With only 10 weeks to go I feel like I want to get a bit organized. I guess the first thing will be to get bubs room sorted properly.

Looking at the photo I don't look as big as I feel although I must admit I definitely felt bigger with Caleb at this stage. It will be interesting to see what weight this baby ends up at. I have had a big variation with baby weights 1) 7.10lbs 2)9lbs 3)6.15lbs 4)8.7lbs. My third pregnancy had some problems with a placental abruption in early pregnancy, I think that is why she was so small in comparison to the rest. My husband David was a 10lb baby so I have been waiting for a whoppa, I don't think this one is shaping up to be that at this stage but with 10 weeks to pile on the pounds, anything could happen.

I have really enjoyed reading the pregnancy.about.com calendar. The early stages were great to look at with the kids as there is a scan to see for each week and a bit about what is happening to bubs and to Mum. Here is a link to 30 weeks at pregnancy.about.com.

We have a new tenant moving into our flat next week. It has been a time of pulling in the purse strings lately as we no longer have a boarder and the flat was empty. It was a good time of fully relying on God. Its amazing what wonders you can come up with in the kitchen when you think there is no food. God really is a great provider. It is too easy to fall into the trap of self reliance so it has been good for us to re-evaluate who is our true provider.

Gardening with grandpa

Gardening with grandpa
Originally uploaded by jodicze.

I am getting a bit carried away here but I have just worked out (shown by David) how to put a photo from flickr.com directly to my blog. It is so easy. From now on I will be able to put my belly shots on full view without needing to link to them. How cool is that!!!! You probably all knew about this but at least I am now up with the play.

This photo was taken when my Dad came to help the girls get our winter garden ready. They took photos of each stage and then made a book of it in iphoto books. I love the way Macintosh/Apple make it so easy for kids to get a great looking finished article. It really looks top notch.

28 weeks almost 29

28 weeks almost 29
Originally uploaded by jodicze.

Well, I am rapidly approaching the end of the 20's and will soon be heading into the 30's. By this I mean that I will be on the final stretch of this pregnancy and will soon hit the single digit count down. This pregnancy has gone very quickly and I am usually feeling fully prepared and eagerly awaiting the arrival of yet another Czepanski. I feel a bit different this time as I am not nearly as organized. I did have the babies room ready but as it used to be our office, things seem to have found their way back there as we don't know where to put them. The baby would be a computer wizz if left to play with all that is in its room.
I am beginning to clean out areas that have been needing a good clean such as the dead flies behind our very heavy couch and just generally getting various rooms into an orderly state. I want to feel that the house is clean and tidy for when this baby comes. I would love to get some more painting of walls done but I'm not sure that is going to happen. Maybe when nesting hits and everything else is done I may find the uncontrollable urge to paint walls.

I saw my midwife last Thursday and bubs is head down, Yay!!! Everything is looking good. My belly measurements are the right size. I had another blood test to check my iron levels but I think they should be fine. I have been taking the Healtheries organic iron with Vitamin C and B. It has been great as it does not upset the digestive system like ferrograd does. I have decided after talking to Debbie (my midwife) that I will not hire a pool for the birth. It takes hours to fill them and my last two labors have been 2 hours. It would be a shame to pay all the money and even get to use it. I will just make do with my trusty old bath tub. At least I'll have enough hot water to fill it.

On a completely different note, my busy weekend went well. I ended up doing all the suppers for the concert as well but I really enjoyed doing it. I think that once the pressure of feeling like I had to do it was gone, it seemed to work out fine. David was not too impressed that after being so upset about it all last week that I suddenly ended up doing everything anyway. ( I don't know who would have if I hadn't) It all worked out in the end. Davids brother Brian and his fiance went to Davids sisters for the afternoon and dinner so I didn't feel like I was abandoning them.

How frustrating is this: I have just tried to publish my blog that is way longer than what you have just read but it did not publish it all. I then thought how clever I was because I had done as David had said and copied it. I went to paste it but it only pasted part of it. Oh well here I go again.......

Danielle was baptized on Sunday, it was lovely. ( I had said alot more about this but can't be bothered writing it again now.) Two things were said 1) she had an anointing of singing and 2) she had the heart of Ester.

Caleb redecorated his room by tearing off a strip of wall paper. I was not seen keen on his new found interior decorating fasination.

Danielles baptism

000_0001
Originally uploaded by jodicze.

Danielle wanted to be baptised last Sunday and we decided to let her as she wanted to be obedient to God. Its very exciting as parents to see your kids wanting to follow Christ.