Callum

Here we go, my little Callum clapping his hands, what a cutie. He just started doing this yesterday and turned a bit OCD, wouldn't stop doing it all day and half the night, even while he was breastfeeding, it was nice to receive the applause, LOL!

Its Baden's birthday coming up at the end of this month. He will be 4. So I have told him that he can have a birthday party this year and the theme we have chosen is "Pirates".

So we have sent out the invitations and now I need to figure out what is involved in a child's birthday party. He has been to a few but I never took much notice and I certainly can't remember what they involved from my own childhood memories.

Apparently its all different these days and if you don't have a clown and a jumping castle then it just won't cut it, well that's a damn shame because there won't be a clown or a jumping castle. I do hope I am not going to scar my childs psychological development for life!

I was thinking more along the lines of cupcakes, (Baden LOVES cupcakes, with little pirate flags in them - thank you Ebay), and of course I will have to figure out how to make a pirate ship birthday cake. Hopefully it won't be too wonky, and then we have cheerios or whatever the heck Australians call them, those little red saveloy things anyway, you dip them in sauce you know the things, and sausage rolls and um, party pies, and fairy bread (yuck! but its not for me so s'allright).

And there's Pass the Parcel and a pinata and ...I dunno, we'll figure it out.

Anyway, in other news I am knitting a cardigan made with some beautiful handspun that was given to me by my friend Zel who bought herself a spinning wheel. Its very very beautiful and as soon as I got it I starting thinking of what would do it justice. I ended up ordering some matching yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills, it wasn't the right texture but it was the right colour. Then I went to Spotlight to buy 'pirate related merchandise' and ducked upstairs to the yarn (of course) and lo and behold there was some Patons Helix in the exact shade with the perfect texture. I walk around the corner in the shop and see the sign that tells me that its also ON SALE!! ah, its the little things.

So I have done the yoke, I am copying an idea of a pattern but not following the pattern, just the concept. So we'll see how we go.

And in other news again, Callum has another tooth, popped through the other day. So that makes a grand total of two!

Well, homebirth has been in the news alot this week. Mainly for the purpose of getting slammed by people who don't understand what homebirth actually means.

Its not a case of staying at home crossing your fingers that nothing goes wrong and if it does go wrong just waiting till a dead baby comes out. But it seems that some people think this is the case. Why would anyone do that?

Homebirth is starting your labour at home and then instead of jumping in the car to continue the labour at the hospital, you continue the labour at home. If there are no complications you stay there until the baby is born, same as you would in the birth suite in hospital. Planned homebirth, (as opposed to 'whoops the baby came too quick and was born on the bathroom floor') is attended by a trained professional midwife who is paid for her services, has full qualifications as a midwife and often also works at the hospital delivering babies. In some cases (including my own) there are two midwives in attendance from the start to the finish and then they visit postnatally for a few weeks afterward.

So, once you go into labour, you call your midwife and she calls the backup midwife and they come to your house. In my case it was four o'clock in the morning. These midwives have seen you throughout your whole pregnancy, for every visit, they have made every note on your card, they know your history, they know your birth plan, they know your family and have a thorough knowledge of your pregnancy. This is unlike hospital where you get the midwife who happens to be on shift and she stays for the duration of her shift and then you get the next one, and so on. These are usually different midwives than those you have seen throughout the pregnancy. Some people are lucky enough to get a caseload program where they are assigned a midwife, but sadly, this is the exception rather than the rule in Australia at the moment. For my pregnancy with Baden I saw over ten different midwives during the pregnancy, plus a GP because I did GP Shared Care and then I had three different midwives during the labour.

Homebirth includes a 'plan to transfer'. This is in the case of complications that mean the labour is not safe to continue without obstetric intervention. Same as in hospital, if there are complications requiring a transfer to theatre for a caesarean then that's what you do.

In HOSPITAL a midwife will spot the deviation from normal and arrange the transfer to theatre where the obstetrician will take over.

At HOME a midwife will spot the deviation from normal and arrange the transfer to theatre where the obstetrician will take over.

In hospital this usually requires that the obstetrician on shift comes in to confirm, or in some cases the obstetrician is called in from home. In homebirth this call is made by the midwife, and then the transfer is made straight to hospital.

A homebirth midwife is unlikely to get it wrong - she is trained in spotting the deviation from normal childbirth and she will have seen many many many normal childbirths in her career. So she knows what is normal, and what isn't. Occasionally a trip to hospital will be made for further monitoring, sometimes the birthing woman decides to transfer because she wants more pain relief, sometimes the complications mean she needs to stay in for an instrumental delivery, sometimes she will return home to continue the labour.

My homebirth included a plan to transfer. Of course! I trust my midwife, she knows me, she cares about me, I am paying her to take care of me. If she could see my labour wasn't progressing as it should then she would have told me, same as in hospital.

So, in the news this week, all over the telly and in the newspaper Dannii Minogue has been criticised for her decision to trial her labour at home. She used her back up plan because it was needed due to complications. This isn't "homebirth gone wrong". This is homebirth using the back up plan that is always in place. It was always a possibility, it would have been agreed upon and discussed. Transfers aren't necessarily 'an emergency dash', most consist of a drive to hospital, sometimes in the midwife's car, sometimes in your own car, or if there is heavy traffic, in an ambulance to be able to get there in good time. There is no more "drama" than there would be at the hospital.

Once the call is made in hospital for a caesarean then this is discussed, forms are signed and then there is the transfer to theatre. Many emergency caesareans that really are an emergency are caused by an induction that has gone haywire. Induction doesn't happen in a home trial of labour, it only happens in hospital trial of labour so in a homebirth that complication is eliminated completely.

A prominent obstetrician (I won't say his name) who has never attended a homebirth, openly hates midwives and is actively trying to prevent women being able to access homebirth. He has stated this during a recent review of maternity services. He is on the telly spouting figures about a baby being four times more likely to die in a planned homebirth. In the next TV interview that figure had jumped to seven times more likely. No one asked him where he got those figures so lets examine what he is actually saying and where he got the figures from.

Note he said "planned homebirth". So this includes births that were originally planned at home but ended up being in hospital BEFORE labour began. The PREGNANCY was transferred to hospital based care. The outcome of that is that the babies were four times more likely to die than other hospital births. But thats the crux of it isn't it? if your pregnancy is considered risky before the labour even starts, then you are considered a 'high risk pregnancy'. Homebirth is only recommended for 'low risk pregnancies'.

If your pregnancy turns high risk then your midwife will no longer recommend (or agree) that you have a trial of labour at home. Its off to hospital for you from the get-go, same as everybody else. Babies born from a high risk pregnancy might be four times more likely to die during birth buddy, but that's not what you are trying to get us all to believe are you??? Or is it seven times? make up your mind. These babies die in hospital, but because the original "plan" was to homebirth all those months ago at the start of the pregnancy then they are "planned homebirths". Ugh.

Incidentally when this 'switch of care' happens during pregnancy this is not the 'transfer rate' that this obstetrician is spouting about for transfer from homebirths. He is saying 50% of women transfer from homebirth to hospital. That particular figure is from one government funded homebirth program where half of the women who ask for a homebirth are 'risked out' of the possibility during their PREGNANCY. But he wants us to believe it means that half of all the homebirths being attempted at home are rushed to hospital during the labour. Not true. Sneaky. Lies. The government program will risk women out to many factors, gestational diabetes, strep B positive, over 40 weeks+10 days gestation, first time mothers, older mothers, mothers with a high body mass index. Most of these women would be perfectly fine and have a natural delivery anyway, but its their program and they run it how they want to.

And why is that when other countries who readily accept homebirth and have homebirth programs with every maternity  hospital show that outcomes of homebirth for low risk pregnancy (remember its not recommend for high risk pregnancy anyway) are the same as outcomes for hospital births? Countries such as the Netherlands (where a third of women birth at home) and the UK, and NZ. The studies have been done using a proper sample size of ACTUAL homebirths. The facts are there in black and white. Homebirth for low risk woman attended by a trained midwife with a back up plan for transfer is completely safe.

A baby born by caesarean after an attempted vaginal birth that started in hospital isn't considered a "hospital birth gone wrong". So why say it after a trial of labour at home?

I am sure Dannii Minogue is disappointed that she didn't get the natural delivery she obviously wanted, that disappointment is completely normal and "allowed". Women who end up with caesareans after a labour that started in hospital feel this way too.

A healthy baby at the end of a labour  is never "wrong" and in this case its a 'homebirth using the back up plan' gone absolutely right.

Why do I care? Well, obviously I had a homebirth and I don't particularly enjoy people saying I am irresponsible, an idiot, selfish or saying that I care more about candles and music than I do about the safe birth of my baby.

Who, incidentally was born after a four hour labour, into the water and caught by me. Nobody rescued us, nobody put us in danger and then saved us from it, and yes it was lovely, and ecstatic and beautiful and I did have candles (but no music, just silence please) but most of all it was the SAFEST way for my baby to be born. No interference because none was needed.


Thank you.

The Shalom is a hit, I have worn it nearly every day. I love it, its so warm and snuggly and comfortable and it looks nice. So I have cast on for another, slightly different but the same concept. Pink.

I also cast on the Featherweight Cardigan using some cashmere wool that I got at Spotlight that I bought to make something else but for the life of me I couldn't get the tension stated on the ball band which was the tension I needed for the pattern. Sooooo, I have been wanting to make the Featherweight for a while now so I decided that now was as good a time as any. After a few rows I realised that I am in for endless stocking stitch, it is small stitches and its all stocking stitch and I am going to die of boredom, so I am going to knit it at the same time as other things and pick it up when I can only do stocking stitch rather than be able to actually think as I knit. These opportunities crop up quite a lot. When Callum is being fractious and I have to keep stopping and at knitting group when I start yakking and don't watch what I am doing (I have often said 'you can't knit at knitting group!' because I talk too much and end up coming home and unpicking everything I did). I can't knit anything with lace or cables at knitting group, or do anything that requires increasing, decreasing, counting rows or basically anything but...endless stocking stitch!! as I said.

And I have knit another three rows of Teal Cardigan, woot woot, at this rate it will be finished by 2020. The main problem with it is that the sleeves didn't fit properly after I followed the pattern exactly, so I have lost a bit of trust in it. Every time I start to knit I wonder if its all going to be unpicked later. Which makes me feel like I am wasting my time. So I pick up something else.

In other news, the dentist was awful. But Callum enjoyed spending his first time being babysat by my friend Ains and he looked very happy and loved up when I picked him up. I left a bottle of milk just in case and I was fantasising as I drove to pick him up that Ains would show me the empty bottle and tell me that he had drank the lot. LOL. Yah right. So, still no luck on that front. He really is hilarious. He just has no idea what he's supposed to do with it. He just chews on it and talks to it and then finally gets a bit annoyed that this thing in his gob is getting in the way of him whingeing about being hungry! derrrr!!

I offered him some solid food during the week. He wasn't overly interested. I am doing Baby Led Solids which is 'real' food once they can sit up on their own and reach for it and grab it, but he just played with it. I decided to see what he thought of baby mush spooned in his gob, but he wasn't overly interested in that either. Oh well. He's fat and content for now so, meh.

Shalom, she is done. I need to reinforce the button holes that's all. The buttonholes on the last cardi have stretched a bit. I couldn't get the other two buttons I liked so I had to go with these ones, orange. They're okay I suppose. I like the others better though.

In the weekend I knitted up a pair of booties for Callum and then I was going to start something new, but I decided to give Teal Cardigan #19 another visit and have started that again. I am sticking with the pattern but I am not going to go against my instincts if they don't match up. Last time I did that and the sleeve turned out weird and I have to unpick and reknit it. That's the reason it got dumped in the first place.

I have been feeling the urge to study again. I don't know what. Just something. I am thinking of enrolling at the community college to learn how to upload and make home movies on the computer.

The top picture is me. If you are wondering what the circles are next to my head they are my earrings. You thought they were my ears didn't you? Uh uh, you were wrong!

The bottom picture is my sons. The cot in the background hasn't been slept in by Callum for months, I can't even remember the last time, but last night it did get used, by Baden. He decided he wanted to sleep in there. At least it gets some use, other than having washing dumped in it.

I finished my Shalom cardigan, just cast off about half an hour ago. I have two buttons, I need four, but I was at Livo Spotlight (possibly the worst Spotlight in Australia) the other day and I saw the perfect buttons, so I grabbed the two they had and I am hoping my local has two more. I will post a pic shortly. I am very very happy with it and think I will wear it alot. I have been wearing my 'Favourite Cardigan' regularly as well.


Next on the needles will be another little jumper for Callum I think, out of some Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 10ply that I have here. Baden has a million jumpers now, I don't think he needs another for a while. I noticed the other day that he is filling out his jumpers more now. When did that happen? I have been so busy noticing Callum growing at the speed of light that I didn't realise that Baden has been too. Callum is six months old now and I weighed him the other day and he is 10kg. I didn't think he would make it because he was sick the other week, but nothing is stopping this little tonka truck! I haven't started him on solids yet, its on my list of things to do, probably this week (did someone say 'second baby'? lol). I am doing Baby Led Solids this time and I think we will start off with a bit of pear. If he can pick it up he can have it.

Knitting group is on a break now, for the school holidays. :(

I have a dentist appointment next week. I is scared. I know I need at least one filling. I had to make an appointment before 30 June because we are over the medicare threshhold this year because of the midwife fees, so I thought I might as well jump in and get some more back since I have to go anyway. eek.

And in other news, Australia has a new Prime Minister. A woman. They are finally catching up to New Zealand which has been there and done that. Twice in fact.

I decided to skip knitting group and had another day in bed with Callum. He was running hot and was generally just a misery-guts, he rallied and then seemed to relapse a bit. I didn't take him to the doctor, I could see it was viral and there was no secondary bacterial infection in his throat or ears so no antibiotics would be any use, just lots of rest and mummy's milk and let the fever and the antibodies in my milk do their thing.

So normal transmission has resumed, he has made a full recovery and everything is hunky dory once again and I am able to continue my knitting of the Shalom Cardigan. So far I am really pleased with it, every time I try it on it feels warm and soft. Its knit from the top down so you try it as you go.

After spending most of the week stuck at home I am busting to get the hell out of this house so I have organised a few of my laydees who lunch meetings, the first is tomorrow, then knitting group is on Tuesday, another lunch meet on Wednesday, we are visiting a friend at her new house on Thursday and then it will be Friday all over again. Time flies when you are having fun!!

Steve made a weird comment to me during the week. He said he thinks I will never go back to work I will just stay home and have babies. wtf? where did that come from? I don't know why he thinks that, but its not true! Getting a bit old for that anyway!! geez.

Oh, and it was our wedding anniversary the other day, two years already. Time really does fly.

I have been in bed all day with my littlest bloke who has a bit of a cold. He's not too bad, just a bit hot and a bit miserable, so I decided to snuggle up with him and let him feed and sleep all day. I only got one row of knitting done, he wouldn't sleep unless he was laying on me or had a nipple in his gob, so I was kind of stuck there. I hope he feels better tomorrow. He's so cute, poor little thing, he looks miserable but still really cute. I just love his baldie little head, it just cracks me up. He had a confused look on his face, like he couldn't figure out why he felt so awful. My poor baby.

I am currently knitting a short sleeve jumper called Shalom. Its going well. I really like the colour, its a teal sort of thing that I got from Spotlight. We have knitting group tomorrow so I hope Callum is feeling better. He looked like he was feeling a bit better this evening. He had perked up a bit and started babbling a bit, which is a good sign. He wasn't off his milk, which is a good sign as well, he's such a guts, I think it would take more than the sniffles for him to be off his milk!

Baden has a bit of a cold at the moment as well. He will shake it off in a few days, and in the meantime I will probably catch it and be knocked on my backside with it, that's usually how things go around here.

After knitting group last week Baden said "Mum, I like ginger beer, do you like ginger beer?" when we hopped in the car. I absentmindedly said "hmm, yep I do". Then he mentioned ginger beer in the conversation a few more times and I wondered when he had last tried it. I remember buying it when I was pregnant to help with the nausea but I didn't remember him having any but he seemed to be pretty convinced that he liked it a lot.

A few night's later we were having a bath and he was looking at my wedding ring and he goes "Ginger Beer has lots of rings" and I said "what?...like the ring pull on the bottle you mean?" and he goes "no, on her fingers" and I said "Ginger Bear? Who is Ginger Bear, is that a cartoon on the TV?" and he goes "no Mum, you know Ginger Beer, at knitting group!".

Penny drops. "Virginia" is the new creche lady at knitting group!!

Okay, I finished Favourite Cardigan (shown in the plum colour on the left), and also finished the purple tunic thing that I have put down and picked up a few times. It has taken a whole year from when I first cast on. I think that's the longest project ever for me.

I have also been working on the teal cardigan. I have been working on the front today. I was going to start something else and then I picked up the teal thing and it felt so warm and soft. The weather here is frozen at the moment so it inspired me to get this thing finished.

Nice warm feet in this miserable weather. He has a red and grey pair as well. Its my favourite bootie pattern, knitted with larger needles and thicker wool than usual, for unusually large feet.

I have nearly finished a jumper for Callum, called Five Fruits. I only have one sleeve to go. Its knitted top down in the round, sleeves are magic looped last.

If you understood all that you are obviously a knitter, LOL, it must sound like a foreign language to anyone else. I will have a pic soon, I am just a bit lazy at the moment, besides which, I have one child in the bath a few feet away and one on my knee.

I have also nearly finished Favourite Cardigan, just got the button band to go and then I need to find some nice buttons. I just cast off the second sleeve this morning. I really really hate knitting sleeves in the round. I have only recently learned how to do it, but I don't enjoy it at all. I magic looped the first one and then found a really short circular needle for the second one, which was slightly less un-enjoyable but still not my favourite part.

Then I want to finish my teal blue cable cardigan #19 (that's the name of it) which has been on the needles for absolutely absolutely ages. I really want to finish it. It looks at me all the time, from across the room, with sad eyes. Every time I start something new I hear a sob from that corner of the room. Poor little thing. I will finish you I promise. I have to re-knit the sleeves from scratch and finish the fronts and button bands.

I tried Callum on the bottle again. No joy again. What is wrong with this kid? Surely he can figure it out by now!! I have some things coming up that I want to go to. The main one is the Bledisloe Cup game, its not till September so he will be able to have some solids by then so he won't starve. Because I AM going Callum, whether you think I am or not, you little control freak! I missed last year because I had the flu (whilst pregnant, oh what fun). I sat and watched it at home, tucked up in bed. This year I will be there!!

Next week is Worldwide Knit in Public Day, WWKIPD. I want to go to that. I think we are all going to go into town and Steve will take Baden off to do something and I will see where Callum is at, he might come with me, he might go with Steve for a while.