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[iluvcarats]

You are in the home stretch (pun intended!)
Getting the kids off to school...will check back in later

 

[LaraOnline]

erk...

''stretch''
I''m loving - and hating - your way with words, lady!!

The best thing about late pregnancy is that everyone is nice to you.
You can be a sloven.
You can hang on the internet for HOURS a day, and nobody says a WORD.
You don''t pick up toys.
Even your man says things like ''Let me get you a cup of tea, Gorgeous''...
And then the baby comes...
You work night and day.
Nobody appreciates you.
You''re ginger on your tush, blisters on your boobies, and everyone''s patting the baby on the head because SHE did so well (!!!)
And, right on cue, your husband reverts to type and starts asking where his tea is when he comes home!!

Gad, I think I need a hair cut. I''m starting to feel that I look like a lady who might keep dozens of cats...

 

[LaraOnline]

I wanted to post my wedding photo, from the Hangout thread...
ETA: I was wearing very high heels!!! (not platforms though)

 

[iluvcarats]

What a lovely picture! You are a gorgeous couple!
Funny, from the lighting in your avatar, I thought you were a redhead.

Your description of the final month is spot on (unfortunately)

You can always Fed Ex me the baby for a few months while you get some rest

What are you going to name her?

 

[LaraOnline]

Date: 4/5/2009 11:57:14 AM
Author: iluvcarats

You can always Fed Ex me the baby for a few months while you get some rest

haha funny.
I''ll send her over at about three weeks - just when a decent volume of milk is hitting her tummy... helLO COLIC!!!
Love that early-hours comedown - which you just know is going to continue for another, oh, say four to six months or eighteen months or more.

Just days earlier you were busy telling EVERYONE what a good newborn she is! Sleeps right through the night, too!!!!
the older mothers just smile (through gritted teeth), but they never actually tell you the truth to your face, do they?!

My aunt, who has had eight children, told me that giving birth was ''better than my wedding night'', because it is ''so exciting''.
That is so surreal - did I dream that?!!

 

[LaraOnline]

Yes, that photo is late afternoon, at the zoo... that''s why my children look so angelic!
I do put rinses through my hair though, it might really be a bit redder in the shot...
The wedding photo is natural colour, if I remember rightly.

My husband is really hung up on the name ''Miranda''. Shshshsh, don''t tell him I told you!!
He doesn''t want anyone to know! He has never seen Sex and The City (which he hates), and was floored when he found out his own mother loved the show!!

I just have this nightmare that she is going to be called ''Randy'' or some such - does Randy have a sexual meaning in the US?
So if we do go with the name - which I think must be the case, as all other suggestions are falling on stony ground - I will have to get in early, and start calling her a more elegant pet name, such as ... Mimsy, or some such...

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Date: 4/5/2009 12:14:27 AM
Author: LaraOnline
I wanted to post my wedding photo, from the Hangout thread...
ETA: I was wearing very high heels!!! (not platforms though)

Lara what a beautiful photo... looks like a nice old church too, was it at fairbridge?

 

[LaraOnline]

Actually, that is a really beautiful Anglican cathedral in my (our!)

hometown on the North Coast of NSW. Yes, I married my highschool / uni crush!!!

I was very lucky, I had a tiny wedding (like, around 30 guests, from memory!) but I didn''t have to do much organising - being over in the WEst - and it was really perfect! Loved the minister too!!

 

[iluvcarats]

Hi Lara!
Just checking in to see how you are feeling.
Sending you a virtual cup of tea and a vegemite sandwich. (Sorry, but my knowledge of Aussie cuisine is limited to that Men at Work song

)
Hope you are doing well! Keep us posted.

BTW Randi does not have the same connotation here, although Miranda does make me think of SATC. It is a nice name

(Of course, I was under the impression that if you grow the child in your body for essentially 10 months and deliver it one painful way or the other, that you get to pick the name....

)

 

[LaraOnline]

Date: 4/15/2009 8:02:58 AM
Author: iluvcarats
Hi Lara!

Just checking in to see how you are feeling.

Sending you a virtual cup of tea and a vegemite sandwich. (Sorry, but my knowledge of Aussie cuisine is limited to that Men at Work song

)

Hope you are doing well! Keep us posted.


BTW Randi does not have the same connotation here, although Miranda does make me think of SATC. It is a nice name

(Of course, I was under the impression that if you grow the child in your body for essentially 10 months and deliver it one painful way or the other, that you get to pick the name....

)

I like Sophia. He''s really hanging on to Miranda, though.
Originally, Miranda was my idea. It was the back-up name for my boy, T.

Vegemite on toast is very good for morning sickness! It has loads of B vitamins and folate.

I have been blinking an and off like a lightbulb for days. I can hardly move. I am not due until the end of the month, but I am huge - this baby feels like a monster!! If I walk or stand, the brankston hicks (sp) start up. And they don''t feel all ''nowhere'' like the first two times, either. These brankstons feel definite, and the urge is ''DOWN''... I can''t go shopping... don''t want to bear down in the supermarket...

I''m not as brave as I used to be... niavety can be a wonderful thing, no?

But I''m assuming ''wonder woman'' will kick in as the contractions amp up! She has so far. Drug free both times previous(that''s why I''m gunshy!)

 

[whitby_2773]

lara -

what town from northern NSW? tim is from casino and his parents own property up and down the coast from there to brisbane, so i''ve spent a lot of time in far north NSW. his sisters went to somerville house for high school in brisbane; i dont suppose there''s any chance that you....?

 

[LaraOnline]

Hi there! Am I outing myself completely if I say I lived nearish to Casino, At Grafton?
We both went to the ordinary public school there, I''m not a Somerville House girl, that''s for sure (unfortunately).
We both went to Uni of Qld, in St Lucia.

It''s a small world, is it not?

 

[whitby_2773]

i love grafton! i used to be friends through uni with a girl called penny douse (doust? i cant recall exactly) who was also from grafton. she would have been in year 12 when you were in yr 7 tho.

we used to drive through grafton every time we went to casino - used to leave the pacific highway there and split off to the summerland highway. (now this really IS a small world!) tim''s family also owned a holiday unit at evans head - not exactly close to grafton, but not that far away either.

i''ve always been fond of that part of the world - it has some very happy memories for me.

 

[LaraOnline]

Doust is a name that rings a bell!
It''s a beautiful part of the world, that''s for sure, ''Big River Country''!!!

 

[LaraOnline]

Whitby, you wouldn''t know of a Michael Doust, would you? He was a wicked tap dancer, I always wondered what happened to him? I used to do tap dancing classes with him when I was a kid. He was really good. It''s just I''m wondering if Penny Doust was a family member...? The name ''Penny'' rings a bell...

 

[whitby_2773]

lara -

i dont know of michael, but i do know that penny had siblings. i looked up the white pages for grafton, and there''s only one doust there; unlikely that they wouldnt be related....

kinda nice, dont you think? the woman from australia via new york currently sitting in arizona, and the woman from northern NSW currently living outside of perth, talking about the same family in grafton NSW?

the world is shrinking...

 

[LaraOnline]

Michael was much younger than his siblings, also, in fact I think he was brought up by his nan...
Gad, now I want to know *everything* about New York.
(whispers)*But the locals are listening*

 

[whitby_2773]

lara!! one thing i remember about penny was that her parents were deceased! so i''m guessing your michael and my penny were siblings.

(what do you want to know about New York? i can whisper if you like...)

 

[LaraOnline]

Yes, I had that feeling as well...
Michael was a REALLY good tapper! He also seemed very sweet and nice, and the name 'Penny' is DEFINITELY familiar!!!!!!! I'll have to ask my mum.

Maybe now's the time to confess that my 'real' name isn't Lara. That's my beloved fluffy dog's name. (hangs head in shame). My name also begins in 'L' and ends in 'A'.
Because I've got my photo on my av, I'm uncertain about putting my proper name out there. I guess I've sort of outed myself by having the photo anyway. My sister (who also tapped) is called Danielle... I have a little brother much younger with cerebal palsy called Luke.

Just if you ever hear from Penny Doust!
typical small town conversation

'Do you know xxx?'

 

[whitby_2773]

(lauhgingggg)

well hallo lara/laura/lavinia/lydia/josephine

i''m kareyn. no - really. it''s on my who''s who page also. i just don''t think anyone will see my photo, hear my name and...well, what? i *have* had problems with people online - but no more than people in normal face to face life, and i''ve managed to fend them off the same way i''ve fended off problematic people IRL. i''d happily post my surname and/or my maiden name, but i dont know if it''s allowed here. i''ve seen people do it on a couple of occasions, but i''m not sure if you need some sort of PS special dispensation. if you lived in brisbane my husband''s family name (and business too, possibly) would be familiar to you, and if you lived in victoria you''d probably know my maiden name, cause there''s a mountain named after that side of the family, plus various streets and housing estates in the blue mountains. i find it''s virtually impossible to hide who one is, even online, and i''m not much fussed with being outed. i do want to respect the rules tho, so there you go.

funny that we''re prepared to discuss penny and her family, but hide ourselves...

non-lara, i love your wedding photo. you look so happy and gorgeous! i''m about to start a thread for women who are NOT of ideal proportions but still comfortable in their own skin. we are the minority, i think. you, on the other hand, are probably the ideal - and that''s a straight out compliment.

i write children''s books too - and i was interested to read about your previous forays into that line of work. i suspect that you and i have quite a lot in common....if not in life''s logistics, then in the ''make-up of the soul''...

 

[LaraOnline]

Ooh, Whitby! You have called me out!! I did put my name in that post above - it''s Lisa - and then I took it down again!!!! Now I feel so silly.

 

[LaraOnline]

My grandma wrote children''s books. her name is Lydia!!!
Sharpur the Carpet Snake, and Dan McDougall and the Bulldozer, were my two favourites, but she wrote quite a few others.
Have you had success at this stage? Apparently her first book took about 20 publishers to get going, but after that it was smooth sailing!

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 4/16/2009 10:41:15 PM
Author: LaraOnline
Ooh, Whitby! You have called me out!! I did put my name in that post above - it''s Lisa - and then I took it down again!!!! Now I feel so silly.

laughing again...

goose! and lisa is such a lovely name!

i wrote The Terror of Prism Fading and am currently writing book 2, The Deeper Darkness. unlike a lot of people, i''ve had agents and publishers approach me because i have been self marketing and have had a surprising degree of success. i get the feeling, tho i dont know this for sure, that publishers somehow are able to track the sales of online marketed books and approach those people they think they might be able to market. i did send my book to two agents - big ones - and was accepted on both counts. but i''m just not sure which direction i want to take with my books, so i''ve held off accepting any offer at this point in time. i dont need the money, and i wrote the books largely to teach children about dispute resolution and how to work with people we dont really like. as a child''s psychologist who worked in dispute resolution, i learnt quickly that mediation and disp res. was only ever going to be retrospectively putting out fires. i decided to try to write books that might give kids skills or suggestions on how to avoid conflict and how to grow up peaceable.

i''m in the process of working with a web designer - an expensive and baffling task for a techno-moron such as myself. i''m hoping this might push things to a whole new level; i dont know if you know of philip pullman, but he was offered the biggest first children''s novel contract of all time after his own self marketing approach. i dont see why that can''t be emulated and equalled. (i''m not aiming small here!)

and how are you feeling? you''re due in a couple of weeks, yes? i''m kind of mentally ticking off days with you...

 

[LaraOnline]

Had a false alarm last night - my DH is really jumpy - got the shivery pains down low, and contractions and started to ''pace'' - then my mum rang up in the middle of it all and I had to talk to her... the contractions went away

it was a bit emotionally draining... you kinda gee yourself up for the ''big event'', do you not?

 

[iluvcarats]

You still haven''t popped yet? (you poor thing!)
I think it is time to give that girl an eviction notice

 

[LaraOnline]

She has settled in for the winter... not happy! I''m certain she is bigger than my previous two... my man is really moddle coddling me, and will hardly let me leave the house... I need to take a brisk horse ride or something!!

I''m even thinking that induction doesn''t sound sooo bad!

Now DH says I''m not allowed to have the baby until at least tomorrow night, because he has two big jobs on tomorrow... and he is quite definite about that...
also, end of school hols tomorrow, back to the usual runaround *sigh*

 

[Jas12]

Lara--i like your new avi--we need a bigger version of it!

Best of luck with the new bebe--very exciting!!

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 4/27/2009 2:30:13 AM
Author: LaraOnline
She has settled in for the winter... not happy! I''m certain she is bigger than my previous two... my man is really moddle coddling me, and will hardly let me leave the house... I need to take a brisk horse ride or something!!

I''m even thinking that induction doesn''t sound sooo bad!


Now DH says I''m not allowed to have the baby until at least tomorrow night, because he has two big jobs on tomorrow... and he is quite definite about that...

also, end of school hols tomorrow, back to the usual runaround *sigh*

lara -

ask him to rub your feet for 20-30 mins - and don''t tell him that it induces labor...

still counting off days with you!

 

[LaraOnline]

Date: 4/27/2009 12:27:15 PM
Author: whitby_2773
ask him to rub your feet for 20-30 mins - and don''t tell him that it induces labor...

Really?? I''m doing it!!! Wish me luck tonight girlz!!!

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 4/27/2009 9:09:22 PM
Author: LaraOnline

Date: 4/27/2009 12:27:15 PM

Author: whitby_2773

ask him to rub your feet for 20-30 mins - and don''t tell him that it induces labor...

Really?? I''m doing it!!! Wish me luck tonight girlz!!!

yes - really. reflexology is actually pretty effective for inducing labor. and even if he doesnt know what he''s doing, he''s still bound to hit the right spots so long as he sticks to the bottom of your feet, rubbing firmly - aiming for all the spots beneath the skin - as opposed to just drawing on your feet.

good luck!