hey meg! hey neet!  ive hardly had time to scratch myself, let alone read all the threads on forums anymore...  We have had a hell of a lot happen in the last 6 months. Hope u are both well and happy!  X X

Sophie is now 6 months, and i havent given her any food yet, even though she seems like she wants to grab what I am eating. I am conscious of starting solids later on, to reduce the incidence of food intolerances and allergies etc   X

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii joss!  welcome back love   

happy late birthday joss!  if you are reading this, please get in contact with me, as i still have you eco-eating book, and no address to post it to!   x x

hello hello hello  ... 

here we are, living in brisbane now   X  X

Hey guys,
We are moving to Brisbane mid July, as Gary has got a new job! He starts in Brisbane on 21st July, and its a minimum 2 year contract.
We are staying in temporary accomodation for the first 4 weeks, while we look for a place to rent.
Has anyone got any ideas of good inner suburbs to rent in?
We had been looking at New Farm, Teneriffe, Indooroopilly, Milton etc.
We are looking for a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment/unit, close to public transport, for about $250 to $450 per week.
Once we get settled in, we'll come to the raw picnics!
X  X

hi neet, i have been thinking of you ...   
X  X

the harness is now off, but sophie has been diagnosed with laryngomalacia
apart from that, all good
gotta go feed X X
good luck georgia!!!

This is just a brief run down of my birth story as I wrote it on the joyous birth forum:


"Its has been one hell of a ride. I will post my birth story later, but a brief summary is:

I laboured actively at home in the birth pool and shower etc for a full 48+ long hours (I feel I was in labour for 3 days). Had major pain in back, so midwife thought bub was posterior, but we kept going. The pool was great, and I ROARED and roared for seconds, minutes, hours and days. It went on forever and an eternity.

My midwife Vanessa was great, really quietly supportive and unobtrusive. The backup midwife not so great, and changed my birthspace vibe.

After refusing an internal exam the whole pregnancy, i got to the stage where after no sleep and continually standing up for 3 days straight as with contractions I could not sit or lie down, I was knackered mentally and physically so decided to say yes to an internal to see where I was at.

The midwife said what we had all thought was a head well down and engaged for months, was in fact bub's bottom, and she was undiagnosed breech. With the internal also came a HUGE gush of fresh meconium.

Those two factors combined, plus my total exhaustion of 2 days of active labour and 4 minute contractions, resulted in a transfer to the backup hospital, where it was found I was 8 cm dilated.

I decided to have a c-section.

For various reasons, some personal including complications of previous vaginal surgery I had, total exhaustion, and being 'over it and wanting the baby to just be out'. I am completely working through this decision at the moment, but for the most part, I feel it was what was right for me.

The hospital experience was no where near as bad as I had expected.
I have just got out after spending 5 days recovering from surgery.

I am SO glad I got to experience labour.
And I am grateful that I drew on my strength and power as a woman to get through a longggg and painful labour.
I trusted my instincts and went with it.
I surrendered and ROARED in the birthpool!

Sophie was born at 7.18pm on Wednesday 5th March. She is 3.5kg, and 51cm long. She is gorgeous.

Because she was breech, we have had compilcations however.
Sophie has been fitted with a harness for the next 12 weeks to fix her legs in a certain position so the hip joint doesnt keep dislocating. We also have an appointment at PMH next week for an ultrasound scan to assess her congenital hip dislocation. She may need to aso wear leg casts, or have surgery if the harness isnt enough.

This to me is the most devastating part of the whole process.
Wearing the harness and keeping her legs in such a position means I cannot wear the pouch sling that I wanted to, and have had to resort to a Baby Bjorn, so her legs can be outwards (her kness are not supported to come together, or move her legs straight). Although, having had a c-section, it will be hubby wearing the sling for the next few weeks.

This also means I cannot have complete skin-on-skin contact with my precious girl. This is the most devastating part, and I am quite emotional about it. I have shed quite a few tears. She has to wear the harness all day every day, except if we bathe her. It is stratchy and made of plastic and velcro, and is the most unnatural thing to put on precious new baby skin. But what will be will be, and we have to fix her hips now so that she can walk normally later on.

Breastfeeding is going well, and she is attaching like a dream. She is feeding very regularly, and its all I have had time for. The harness does make it quite difficult to hold her in a good position though, and I cant really lie down to feed when she is wearing it.

My midwife froze my placenta and I have been having tiny pieces daily. I am so sleep deprived I cant tell yet if its making a difference or not!"

thanks for the well wishes guys, i will write my birth story when I get a few minutes x x

hey kebbster, welcome to the forum, and thanks for sharing your story.

take a look around at the topics discussed here, do a few searches, you will find some great information  X X

Thats all well and good rudolf, but combined with the stress of a wedding, possibly a hot day, lots of people around,..  could spell disaster for one hell of a dizzy fainting bride!

Yes, but as Greg has already said numerous times, he wanted more athletes other than durianrider to comment...

Greg - Perhaps the superathletes you are hoping will provide you with answers by responding to your post here, are too busy training their butts off to be sitting on an internet forum.

( for non-vegans....   lecithin is also found in egg yolks and butter too. )