Chook, family, J Boy, Joey, Missy, T-Star, Toddler T, triplets

Introducing My Family

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Let me introduce you to my family. It’s hard to fathom that we are now a family of seven plus one canine (and a few guppies).

Travelling into the hospital during the early days to feed the triplets, The Accountant would drop me off on his way to work. The first day we got in the car together, both of us had a sense of
déjà vu. There was once upon a time when each morning and evening we would travel into work together and when we got home, there was no one in our little home apart from us. I remembered all the trips to and from town when I thought lifetime of infertility was a very real possibility. I remember countless discussions, tears, obsessing, prayers and wondering whether we would ever have children.

And here we are. Jeremiah 29:11, a scripture that has long been stored in my heart is so true.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
I never would have imagined in those days that we would have not only just one – but five children! And that three would be triplets, no less!
I am a blessed mother indeed.
He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD.
Psalm 113:9

Without any further ado, let me introduce you to the major contributors of my happy heart. **

Alex – Otherwise known as “The Accountant”
Alex is my first and only love. We were married in January 1998, and what a life we have lived together! We have grown up together, travelled, laughed, cried, fought, talked (and talked, and talked), become parents, and fallen more deeply in love with each other (after the fights, not during) as each year of our marriage progresses. Methodical and precise, with a touch of caution – like any good accountant should be, Alex also has a quirky and engaging sense of humour. He loves being around people and socialising. Alex is a sensational father. His patience with our children is as unending for them as his unconditional love. I love him with all my heart.

“Bronco” – “The Dog”

In chronological order – our next ‘family member’. In the spirit of every purebred Labrador, Bronco is a super friendly dog and the best of family pets. He doesn’t mind at all when children roll all over him, pat him profusely, drag him around the yard or even take food from his mouth. (Well, he does mind that, but he’s too well mannered to do anything about it.) He will do anything for food, and he will eat just about anything offered to him. He’s even so obliging to try and chomp on the clods of dirt and sticks the boys feed him.

“J Boy”

My firstborn entered our family in July 2006. J Boy is an energetic boy loving life and enjoying playing and spending time with family, especially his cousins. J Boy loves construction – from earth moving equipment to constructing with toys such as Lego and blocks. Even though he loves being around people, J Boy enjoys his own time and will be satisfied for hours playing on his own. He has a very strong personality which isn’t always easy to parent. However this strength of character will become one of his greatest assets one day, because as his will is lovingly molded and he grows, his determination and persistence to stand firm in his beliefs will help him in so many areas of his life.

“T-star” – Formerly known as “Toddler T”, and prior to that “The Baby”

Another bundle of energy, T-star will melt any heart because he so, so, so cute! Born in November 2009, this little guy is so loving and nothing beats his excitement when he greets people he knows and loves, running up with great excitement making all types of excited exclamations! The T-star is our outdoor boy. Nothing warms his little heart more than traipsing around the backyard exploring. He is also very I.T. savvy. He watches carefully and learns how to operate DVD, CD’s, microwaves, phones, etc. He also employs this method of learning to get into child locks over the house. With his inquisitive nature, this knowledge and access to all areas is of great satisfaction to him.

“Joey” – Otherwise known as “Triplet 1” or “The Blue Triplet”

This little Aussie baby is happy to snuggle up secure in his loving arms, just like a joey kangaroo snuggles in it’s mother’s pouch. Illustrating size is no barrier, Joey was smallest, but first triplet to make an appearance in this world. Born at 1:23pm. little Joey weighed in at 4lb 2oz/1895g. He was 43.5cm long with a head circumference of 31.5cm. Joey is a contented baby, although he can certainly let his opinion be known if he feels strongly enough about something!

“Chook” – Otherwise known as “Triplet 2” or “The Red Triplet”

“Chook”, (An Australian word for chicken), was our ‘big’ baby. Weighing in at 4lb 13oz/2205g after he  hatched. Despite his impressive size, he did need assistance with oxygen for the first day, whereas the other two did not. Before long he was at the same development as the other two. Also born at 1:23pm, Chook was 46cm long with a head circumference of 32.5cm. He appears to be the most laid back of the triplets, fairly content to let the world just drift by. So long there is plenty of milk and cuddles, you can’t really ruffle Chook’s feathers.

“Missy” – Otherwise known as “Triplet 3” or “The Pink Triplet”
Our ‘youngest’ child, born at 1:25pm, 2 minutes after the boys, Missy is our only daughter, and the fairest of them all. She weighed in at 4lb 6oz/2160g. measured 43cm in length and had a head circumference of 31cm.  We suspect our little girl is no shy retiring violet, she already has displayed quite a feisty little personality! She seems to rule the roost with the triplets, being the most vocal and also constantly jumps the breastfeeding queue, waking up before the boys regularly to get first dibs at the breast. You can already tell she is perfectly equipped to grow up in a male dominated household and will probably be classified as our ‘pink boy’.
** These are not the real names of my children. You know, in case you were wondering. I’d love to share their real names with you, but not everyone who is on the internet is as nice as you are I’m afraid.
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Birthday, cakes, Toddler T

Toddler T's 2nd Birthday

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Now, in other news not relating to triplets. Yes, I know you are patiently waiting, and believe me, I’m trying to do something about it. All in due time.

In the meantime, I thought I’d write a post updating another milestone in our family. Toddler T is officially two, as of yesterday! And as you can see, this means his cuteness factor has double now that he has doubled his age. Even in his sticky, post cake condition.

I was just going to write: “On your child’s birthday as a mother you always pause and reflect on the day your child arrived in the world.” And then I was going to post a photo of the day Toddler T was born. Then I realised that yesterday was so busy, and I was so scatterbrained, that I didn’t reflect at all. Whoops. I’ll pause and remember now as I post a photo!

Oh yes. And that is why we do stop and remember these precious moments. There’s nothing like those first hours/days of life with your children. Don’t you love J Boy’s possessive hold? It says: “This is my new little brother and I will protect and defend him for the rest of my life. (Unless he messes with my things, touches my stuff or if I consider his behaviour annoying).”

So, two years later and what a pleasure it was to celebrate our little boy’s birthday. Toddler T is a simply gorgeous child who is guaranteed to melt the toughest of hearts. When he knows you, he is the best welcoming committee ever – even if your absence was a brief as a trip to the shops. He will see you return. Hi face lights up as he yells out your name, jump up and down with his clumsy toddler jump, (don’t tell him I said clumsy, he has worked very hard to accomplish two feet simultaneously jumping off the ground, it’s not easy, do you know?), come running to you and cuddle the first body part he can gain access to – normally your knees. These greetings are given generously to grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, even our cleaner!

Of course, first thing on children’s birthday agenda’s is of course presents.

Thomas is in vogue in our house now, so from Mummy and Daddy, an early engineers set.

From the triplets, a snapping crocodile.

But the absolute fav of the day, was a simple little Duplo motorbike from J Boy. (Hence why it appears in both of the above photos.) He told everyone he saw on his birthday about the bike! It was very cute, and a good indicator of future obsessions. Daddy is very proud.

The plan for the rest of the day was to keep it simple and end the day with a quiet birthday dinner with family only. Even though Daddy had a day off work, there were a couple of factors which prevented the simplicity and peacefulness factor.

1. Life with triplets is not simple.
2. Life with a large extended family is not quiet. Particularly when this includes 6 children 2 and under!

My day is now based according to the triplet’s feeding schedule in four hourly allotments. The block of time will begin with the first triplet’s feed. By the time all have been fed and burped and put back into their cots, 2 hours has passed. So then, all going well. I have two hours to do something.

Yesterday my day disappeared as such.

Session 1: Feed, breakfast, shower, general tidying up around house.

Session 2: Feed, make jelly with J Boy, grocery shop, You will be surprised how exciting this can be when you haven’t done if for a long time. Even if you are tearing up and down the aisles hoping that you won’t receive an emergency “Need triplet assistance” phone call.  I felt almost normal again somewhere in between the fruit and vegie section and the cereal aisle.

Session 3: Feed, Tried to get a power nap. Unsuccessful. 15 minutes total thanks to being accompanied into the boudoir with the birthday boy. Emerge from boudoir, still with head spinning in that sleep deprived state resembling jet lag. (I had been up since 5 am. with only four hours sleep, which combined with similar sleep patterns from previous days, has an accumulative affect.) Start issuing instructions to my long suffering mother who had arrived to help out. Iced birthday cake. (Another simple creation, in order to save time.)


A Birthday Train, Track and Tunnel Cake.

 Ignored triplets because they were still sleeping, despite a feed being due. This allowed me to continue to rush around desperately as people arrive doing all last minute jobs.

Session 4: Issue any empty handed adult relative a bottle of expressed milk and a triplet to feed. Continue to rush around. (I’m not sure what I did) Breastfed a triplet. Eat The Accountant’s speciality – gourmet pizza, made from scratch! Mexican Pizza was delicious last night. I was disappointed I didn’t get to taste his supreme, because The Accountant claimed it to be his best ever supreme creation.

(Pizza production had occupied The Accountant the past two sessions, while also caring for the big boys.) Give children jelly to eat. Well received.

Did the birthday cake thing. Well received. Especially from Toddler T! He treated it like a toy, driving the train through the cake. Poor Thomas had very trying conditions, with his wheels getting a little bogged in green icing.

Afterwards Toddler T opened some more presents. He’s enjoys ripping the presents open, although he often needs to be convinced to open them in the first place, since he’s often got other things on his mind/agenda. Once the project is underway he embraces it fully and gets very excited by the new toy.
It’s unnecessary to continue explaining what occurred in the remaining two sessions of this 24 hour period. Pre-dominantly because once everyone left, it consisted of my daughter crying constantly from 9pm until 3am.
Toddler T loved his party with his most favourite people in the world. He is such a blessed child to be born into such a loving extended family.
A big 2 year old looked after by his big cousin!
And so this next picture was the last picture of the day. In the contradictory world of childhood, it shows just how Toddler T has had a particularly brilliant day (or two!)
Because tears are easily evicted from your tear ducts when you’ve had a wonderful day keeping busy with your Daddy and big brother, and a previously active night celebrating your cousin’s birthday. And then after you’ve spent a few glorious hours running around in the pitch black backyard with your cousins and siblings at your own shin ding.
So when your brother takes your brand new dragon costume to look at first, tears signal that it is time for this particularly brilliant day to be closed by instantly falling into the satisfying deep slumber when Daddy carries off the birthday boy to bed.
Happy Birthday my little one. Welcome to the Terrific Two’s.
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Birthday, family, Toddler T

The Boys Trip to Cairns

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I started to write week 29 of my Triplet Pregnancy Journal, and then realised that I spent a page writing nothing about the pregnancy. I always write the journal in a word document for myself first. (Which is why if you look carefully in my first draft, I often have dropped gender/names that I forgot to adjust!) So, because the journal is a record for our family, I’ve decided to keep it there, but for this blog, I thought I’d still include it as a separate post, since it was a good tale to tell.

This week began by waving the boys and their Daddy goodbye.  They all travelled up to the warmer climate of Cairns in North Queensland to celebrate his sister’s 40th birthday. It was a shame I wasn’t able to go also, but completely out of the question, for obvious reasons. Not to mention the plane probably wouldn’t have become airborne with the triplets and I on board. Yep, the kilos keep piling on! Mind you, keeping a plane grounded would be preferable to going into labour mid-flight. But then again, it would be one way to make the national news.
After waving the boys goodbye, I received a phone call in a couple of hours time to say they had missed the flight. Since I wasn’t travelling with them, I had forgotten about our pre-flight routine.  It’s the one where The Accountant predicts the time it will take to travel to the airport. Then I go and do my own prediction and disagree with him, saying it will take longer. We will then argue the merits of our suggested time frames for a couple of days until The Accountant will extend the travel time and concede to leave a little earlier, just to make me happy. (Or shut me up.) We will then often arrive early to the airport and The Accountant, who is very fond of sleeping in will lament the fact that he could have stayed in his cosy bed a bit longer.
So this time I had left the timing entirely up to him. He left the house 10 minutes later than he planned. (To be expected. Especially when he had allowed 25 minutes from the moment the alarm went off to when he was supposed to walk out the door with two children.) I had packed a lunchbox for both the boys with some breakfast things like fruit, muesli bars and dry cereal for the trip down. Apparently right after Trent drank the juice he vomited. (Not expected) So Alex had to stop and clean that up. Then he got stuck in Brisbane traffic for another half an hour. (To be expected.) By the time he dropped the car at the car parking facility and arrived at the terminal he was 20 minutes late for check-in. Therefore he had to book a flight four hours later in the day. Soon afterwards I received another phone call. Trent had diarrhoea. Oh dear, the poor boy had caught my tummy bug. My unfortunate husband was trapped in an airport for four hours with a sick kid. I suggested there was a park nearby that might help waste some time and gave my commiserations to him for having to change the nappies. He went to the park, where Trent proceeded to fill a nappy which took my darling husband half an hour to change.

It was sometime during the afternoon that I suddenly realised that in the communal cabin luggage I had packed ample nappies for a two hour flight, but not nearly enough for a two hour flight + four hour delay + diarrhoea. I also hadn’t packed a spare change of clothes. I felt awful. They just made it to Cairns but needed to crack open the suitcase as soon as they were able to retrieve it from luggage carousel.

By all reports the trip was enjoyable for the three of them. Admittedly, Toddler T was at a disadvantage in the reporting back process, given his inability to construct sentences. Were he able to do, the report may not have been as glossy when he expressed his dissatisfaction with being left with a unknown babysitter for the first time all day and night on Saturday in an unfamiliar place. A did admit that he was crying quite a bit that afternoon. At least Daddy had returned during the afternoon for a cuddle was able to bath and tuck him into bed. And the next day at a family barbie on the beach, the T-ster stuck to his Dad like glue.
It did allow The Accountant to celebrate his sister’s 40th birthday at the Cairns Amateur Race Carnival during the day and have dinner with the family that night. I’m so disappointed that I wasn’t able to get dressed up for the race day! I don’t care so much about the horses, but it would have been cool to wear a hat, heels and a fancy frock. Their ride, a Stretch Hummer looked pretty cool as well!
The Accountant has received compliments on his brilliant fathering skills looking after the two boys with absolute patience and attentiveness. This I don’t doubt for a moment. He really is a marvellous Daddy. It’s not all Dad’s that would be brave enough to take a 1 and 5 year old on a plane alone and be responsible for them for four days. The boys came home loving the time they spent with cousins, aunt, uncle and grandparents – not too mention the sunshine, beach and lots of playtime.
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family, J Boy, The Accountant, Toddler T

Reunion

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My man and my boys are gone.

They’ve been gone for four days. They ought to be home at midnight, I’m heading to bed now. Hopefully I hear them when they come in, even though the boys are sure to be asleep and their Daddy will gently carry them to their beds, it will be nice to kiss the foreheads of my sleeping cherubs.

It was my sister-in-laws 40th birthday in Cairns. They’ve been celebrating with all the family up there. My bulging belly and I stayed at home. I’ve enjoyed it. I like the time by myself. Although, I must admit that for an hour or so each day I’ve caught up with friends and family. But I’ve also read a book, had lots of sleeps and spent Saturday in my PJ’s, until I had to get dressed for a nice dinner with my Dad and sister. It’s been lovely.

But the single life is not my allotment in life, and I will welcome back all my boys with open arms!

I can’t wait for cuddles in the morning!

How long has it been since you’ve had the house to yourself? Do you, or don’t you like being at home alone?

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family, J Boy, Toddler T

Why Great Nanas are so Great

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My 93 year old paternal grandfather and 79 year old maternal grandmother live in town. (She was young when she had Mum & Mum was young when she had me) Twice a week my mother visits them. My boys now go with her which gives me the opportunity to rest.

Nana’s place is a big favourite. Having always been a grandparent who spoiled her grandkids, she hasn’t changed her tactics for the next generation. She has a big biscuit jar full of cream and chocolate biscuits and if Mummy isn’t looking the kids can pretty well stuff themselves with as many as they like.  (Before Mummy starts looking again.) One day Nana had soft drink in her fridge. She was so delighted with J Boy’s excitement about consuming this special occassion liquid, that now whenever they visit there is always a can of soft drink in the fridge for him. Toddler T isn’t so enthusiastic about soft drink. He finds that bubbles in one’s beverage is rather alarming. Then Nana discovered that Toddler T has developed a complete obsession with juice. Of course she has not got the same concerns as me about the nutritional value of water over juice. Neither does she endure tantrums when water is presented instead of “duice”, mainly because now there is a nice line of children’s juices sitting in her fridge.

In Australia, bananas are a bit of a luxury at the moment. Due to the floods wiping out most of the crops, the few surviving banana’s are extraordinarily expensive. I no longer buy bananas, although, this has been such a source of consternation to Toddler T, that occassionally I buy him one if he spots them when we are shopping. They are more expensive then a chocolate bar, but by far healthier, so it’s a little treat for him. Nana has always bought two bananas a week and continued to do so after the prices inflated. Until Toddler T discovered her fruit bowl. Now she buys four a week, and strawberries. (She discovered he has a great love for this particular fruit also.)

Last week J Boy went for a drive with Grandad to do some work at on one of his properties. On the way back Grandad decided he no longer required J Boy’s services for the next job, so proceeded to meet Grandma at Nana’s to do a child exchange. (As in where no child is exchanged, but one is passed onto the next person.) When J Boy heard that they were heading to Nana’s he was naturally delighted and proceeded to describe why he liked going to Nana’s. Suddenly he asked Grandad, “What’s your favourite food, Grandad?” Grandad paused trying to gather his thoughts in what appeared to be an abrupt change in the conversation.

“You just think about what your favourite food is Grandad, and you’ll see. It will be at Nana’s. Nana gives everyone their favourite food.”

The boys eating their favourite foods. Unfortunately J Boy has been working on a new camera smile.
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motherhood, Toddler T, toilets

Mum's on Toilets

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I once heard a Mum complaining that she never gets to go to the toilet alone. In fact, sometimes, she complained that she is often too busy that she doesn’t get to use the toilet at all until her husband comes home. I can’t say that being a parent has changed my toileting behaviour as much as that. I am guilty of choosing my bladder over my children, even if that does mean being watched. And my children are decent enough to let me go to the toilet on my own at least 70% of the time, or I’ll just shut them out and let them bang on the door while I have some form of privacy.

Toddler T can now open doors. Which means he can view my calls of nature with enormous curiosity whenever he chooses. This means my stats are probably down to toileting on my own 50%-60% of the time.

This morning was a new experience. I had Toddler T crying at the door and J Boy yelling requests combined with the incessant whining he seems to be specialising in at the moment. I heard the door opening and pleaded with them to leave me alone. When J Boy heard my reason for being in the loo was for the more potent kind of business, he quickly decided to postpone his whining for 10 minutes and disappeared.

Which left me with Toddler T wandering around while I was trying finish the task at hand. What is it with the smallest of children? Are their nasal passages not fully developed under the age of 3? Other people’s smells don’t seem to worry them at all. It’s weird.

Unfortunately for me Toddler T found a spray bottle I’d used on my hair. So there I was, chained to the toilet while being sprayed. Best joke ever, according to Toddler T.

Just another day as a stay at home Mum.

Has having children changed your toileting procedures?

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Toddler T, TV

The Indiscretions of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

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18 months is a magic age. All of a sudden Toddler T became interested in TV. I don’t care if that makes me a bad parent, to use Thomas terminology, TV/DVD’s can be ‘really useful’ to distract the kiddy’s while you run around like a madwoman trying to catch up on a variety of tasks.

Toddler T has developed a strong attatchment to Thomas the Tank Engine. It is a true addiction. He will often wander up to me with the TV remote saying “Dain, Dain” (Train, Train)  and then will sit up to 15 minutes glued to the telly. (Pretty good for a 19 month old) There are other bonuses too. His nappy changing behaviour has greatly improved since I put a Thomas poster next to the change table. He now will allow me to get on with the job while he compliantly lies there and points to the engines.

Thomas Tank Engine 1.JPG

I fully support his adoration of trains. I like Thomas, truly I do. The quaint little stories, the proper British accents, the various engines and the innocence and simplicity.

However, sometimes I really need to wonder about codes of conduct on the Island of Sodor.

For instance, the boys were watching Thomas the other day when I overheard this in the story. It appears that the class system is thriving at Tidmouth Sheds.

Diesel the Engine had problems completing his jobs because the trucks were being troublesome. (Makes sense since they are called the ‘Troublesome Trucks’.) Diesel accused the steam engines of telling the trucks to make his job difficult. Their response was:

“Nonsense!” said Henry, “We engines have our differences but we never talk about to the trucks. That would be d-d-d-disgusting”
“Disgraceful” said Gordon.
“Disgusting” said James.
“Despicable” finished Henry.

I can’t help wondering whether the truck’s behaviour might improve were they given half a chance and treated with some dignity. Even J Boy spent the evening last night wandering around saying his newest Thomas quote, “Trucks are nobody’s friends.” In my very best modern parenting, politically correct motherese I tried to adjust this mindset. “I’m sure even trucks have their good points. Maybe the trains should be kinder to the trucks you should try to be friends with everyone. They might find the trucks aren’t so bad.”

But, no. There is apparently nothing good about trucks. It’s impossible to be friends with them.

No difference to many peoples attitudes towards teenage delinquents?

And then sometimes I need to question The Fat Controller’s management techniques. Really, I think Sir Topham Hat can be a pompous old crumpet loving, (in a recent episode I watched, Thomas was pressured to deliver on time so Sir Topham Hat and Mrs. Hat would have their crumpets in time for brekky.), who does not administer justice. It seems that if you are sneaky enough to pull a trick on another engine, you will not get punished for it. In fact, quite the opposite. I’ve seen trucks bump others, yet The Fat Controller will punish the engine that made the damage, not the engine that bumped them!

And then there’s the whole issue of being “Really Useful”. It seems that the engines are petrified of being sent for scrap metal if they no longer are really useful. The engines purpose in life seems to be connected to their usefulness. Of course usefulness is highly beneficial and hard work is a commodity not valued by enough people thse days. But, I’m sure that the trains living in this usefulness frenzy  should not be the case. I am quite sure that the good Rev. Awdry lived his life according to the Biblical principal, that by grace you have been saved, not works. (Rom. 11:6; Eph 2:8) Surely the engines have a higher calling that is greater than their accomplishments?

So, has anyone else had issues with Thomas and his counterparts. Or am I the only supercritical over analysing mother out there? (I probably did enjoy my course on children’s critical literacy a little too much at uni.)

Having said all this, I repeat. I do like Thomas and his friends. (You may sing that last line.) The fact that it can be a trifle politically incorrect probably makes a little more endearing to me in some ways! Toddler T is getting Thomas for his 2nd birthday, and it is going to be a sad day in our house when this lovable little engine is no longer ‘cool’ in our house!

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infertility, IVF, pregnancy, Toddler T

Toddler's T's Pregnancy – An IVF Success Story

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I’ve decided to graduate “The Baby” to the status of “Toddler”. It’s inevitable once they hit 18 months that they start losing their “babyness”. It’s sad in many ways to see your baby disappear, but exciting to watch your child continue to develop and gain increased independence.

I’m continuing my gestational posts with my reflections on my pregnancy with Toddler T.

9 months pregnant. Saying goodnight to J Boy, 9 hours later Toddler T arrived!

Once J Boy was born, we knew we wanted another family member for him to grow up with. Of course with our history to date, we knew that the sibling scenario wasn’t a certain thing. We never did anything to prevent a pregnancy, we had agreed that if it happened earlier then we would have planned, it would be a blessing, and better then the alternative. (Proved to be sound reasoning) After almost three years we knew we were dealing with secondary infertility and considering the amount of time it took to get pregnant the first time around before it happened naturally, we weren’t liking our chances.

We went back to our fertility doctor who confirmed our fears, and also helpfully noted that our chances of conceiving were getting slimmer due to my age. Ouch. Prior comments (Before J was born) on my age by him were to say that I was still young and it was good I hadn’t left things too late. Because we had already unsuccessfully tried every fertility treatment available, apart from IVF, the now audible tick of my biological clock helped us decide to proceed straight to IVF treatments this time.

And so began the medications, the daily doses of needles, the internal ultrasounds, (yick), and the ever present feeling of nerves, anticipation and dread.

I was feeling like a human pin cushion after all the needles

Finally the day came for the egg collection. I had to go under general anesthetic for the doctor to harvest the eggs. It turned out they had harvested 18 eggs. It was a mammoth collection. I was very tender and sore and couldn’t walk for the rest of the day and spent the day in the recliner at home watching the Academy Awards live. (Something I’d never done before or since!) 3 days later we were in for a much quicker and far less painful procedure, the embryo transfer. It was such a wierd feeling watching the scientist walk into the room with a cathater, and know that a new life, even thought it was smaller than a full stop, was within it.

Little did I know that while I was in day surgery for this procedure, my pregnant sister had gone into labor with her 4th child. I think we were pregnant together for an hour before my charming little neice was born.

With my new neice and J Boy, Toddler T safe inside multiplying cells!

The two week wait was very anxious for me. The Accountant had no qualms whatsoever and was positive that it was successful. We had been away in Bundaberg for a week, and I had to delay the blood test by a day until we got home. The extra day was agony, and I was tempted to do a home pregnancy test, but I was a good girl and did what I was told and came into the doctor’s office for a blood test. Another nervous 20 minute wait until the nurse beckoned us to come and look at the test with the positive symbol! Hooray! It had worked!

We hadn’t told my parents we were doing the test, so we swung into their house on the way home to show them the results. Of course, as you can see in the photos below, they were estatic to hear that another grandchild was on the way!


Mum was trying to work out what it meant, Dad knew straight away.



A happy moment, even though Dad is hugging me so tight it’s squashing my nose.

 I had written a letter to several people who have supported me in prayer over this time with very specific prayer requests according to what happens during the IVF process. It was such a good feeling writing and telling them of our success once we hit the 12 week mark.

Here’s the letter:

Alex and I would like to sincerely thank all of you who have remembered us in your prayers over the last several months. We thought it was definitely time to give you an update of what has been a very eventful period in our lives!
I shouldn’t delay any longer, but tell you straight away, that Praise the Lord I am pregnant! We had a scan last Friday and were so blessed to see our 11 week old baby’s heart beating and everything right on target. What a great God we serve! This whole journey has definitely had His fingerprints over it every step of the way.
My body responded very well to all the IVF medications. So well, that when we harvested the eggs, I had 18. This is well and truly an above average number of eggs to harvest.  All these eggs were described as ‘perfect’, they were all of the highest quality possible, also an unusual phenomenon. As planned, we only fertilized 1 egg. Before the egg was implanted, the scientist came to speak to us about the egg. She told us that “all our stars were lined up as we couldn’t hope for a better result”. At that comment, both Alex and I looked at each other, and we both knew that the other was giving acknowledgement to the one who made the stars for our good results, rather than simple astrology!
The scientist said that we had beat all odds by fertlising only one egg and having the cells divide perfectly. She said that if she could ask for anything else for that embryo, she wouldn’t be able to, it was so perfect. During the procedure, she once again told the doctor how perfect the embryo was at which point the nurses told us that the scientist “has been drooling over this embryo”.
That same day that I became pregnant, my sister K gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  After us being both pregnant with C and J at the same time, it’s a nice thought that for a few hours we were also pregnant together again!
Then came the nervous, (well for me, Alex was always confident),  two week wait, but the pregnancy test came up a clear positive. There was no need to be nervous, since everthing has been the fulfilling a prophecy that I received just prior to beginning taking the meds.  A prophetic lady (who doesn’t know me, so she had no idea of my circumstances) had told me that she saw a picture of me hopping around in a field and being nervous, waiting for an explosion, because this had been my experience in the past. She went on to say that I was to forget the past because at this time there were “no landmines” and she could see a picture of me running  freely through a beautiful field of flowers and not having to worry about what may happen, but rather enjoy the moment.
Well, me being me, I have occasionally succumb to nerves, but it was a beautiful image that stayed with me, and when I did start to worry, I kept praying that there would be no landmines.
Another answer to prayer has been in the areas of finances, as the medical bills were putting a huge strain on our budget. God is good, and we received two cheques of $5000 which has both covered the cost of the procedure and assisted us in being able to go to China as we planned. We had a fabulous family holiday there. (Although maybe next time we go overseas with a two year old, we might ask for intercessory support for that too before we leave!) I also had no morning sickness during our time away, which of course is also a huge blessing.
Our baby’s due date is November 17, so over the next 6 months, if you think of us, please continue to send up prayers for our precious child’s safe arrival. We look forward to sharing with you all the joyous occasion of it’s birth towards the end of the year!!!
Thank you so much for those who have been supporting us in prayer, we know without a doubt that our extraordinary results have been the result of much prayer and intercession. We are also aware very much of other women who are out there and who have been praying fervently, and are still awaiting their miracles. In all our own excitement, we are also thinking of those who are still in the midst of their own struggles and we pray that our very big God will also fulfill the desires of their heart.
With all our love,
A, C, J and the Perfect Baby!

I had a straight forward pregnancy and Toddler T surprised us all by coming 15 days early. (That’s when you regret that you haven’t properly packed your hospital bag.) Once he was on his way, there was no delaying, he was out in 2 1/2 hours which was intense, but there’s always that sweet moment when you gather your newborn baby in your arms for his first cuddle.


First moments with son number 2.



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J Boy, Toddler T

Assault by Glitter

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Sometimes, when I’m rushing around at night trying to get dinner ready by a reasonable hour, I will let the baby boy get into mischief, just to keep him out of my hair. Bub currently has an obsession with pulling things out of my handbag. It’s a pretty harmless past time, He pulls all my bits and bobs out, makes a huge mess, (particularly if he finds a packet of tissues), then crawls away. It can keep him occupied for up to half an hour, so this is a huge bonus. When I saw him checking out the bag during my dinner prep rush, I was relieved and continued crumbing the fish. The thing is, if you can get dinner ready by about 1815h, then you will leave plenty of time for the food to be consumed, the child’s teeth brushed, baby fed, books read, including the customary pleading, and eventual relenting, for “just one more”. So that should all go well, we OUGHT to have 2 sleeping boys by 1930h. The reward being grown up time for me with husband dearest.

This time, when the fish was crumbed, the vegies cooked and table set, I bent down to throw all the stuff back into bag and was very astonished, horrified, and a little amused to find gold glitter all through my hand bag. I had no idea how baby boy had got a hold of the glitter, I thought I’d left it up high, but instead it was scattered through the bag, covering every crevice and corner.

What was a lot less amusing was when I was out in public the next day searching for something in my handbag and glitter was puffing through the air. I apologetically said to the nearby person who just got a sprinkle of glitter on them, “Sorry, the baby tipped glitter into my handbag.” The glittered stranger started chuckling and being very forgiving. At that point, J bomb decided to get full credit for the glitter incident, and confessed that it was in fact he that tipped it into the bag. Whilst it was funny for the random stranger to watch the drama unfold, I was less than amused to discover that this was the antics of a four year old who really ought to know better. His only reasoning for the glitter gag was that he was bored.

Maybe it’s time to take him on an excursion, maybe a wedding where he can throw a lot of glittery confetti will suffice.

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