Uncles

Here's a new picture of Maya Sky with her uncles Jason (who came up this weekend to visit from Melbourne) and Seth. She's 10 days old today! The other photo is of Maya lying on her new lambskin rug, from Uncle Jase.

Baby's been getting lots of visitors throughout the week - so many lovely gifts, flowers and yummy things for Mum and Dad to eat!

bath time

Maya Sky Nielsen

It's day 5 now, and we have a name.

Our little girl is Maya Sky Nielsen.

Maya: Latin: 'great one'. Greek: contemporary form of Maia: 'maternal one'. Mythology: Mother of Hermes or Mercury and the goddess of growth after which the month of May is named. Also, Mayan Indians of eastern central America and La Ruta Maya - a special place for me where I have spent quite a bit of time!.

She is getting cuter every day. I have a photo of her first bath yesterday, with Dad, but am having trouble uploading images on this site today, so will try again later.

Our midwife, Jillian, has been making daily visits out to us here, and she says all is progressing well - a healthy little baby. I'm doing well also, though a little sore and tired, but to be expected. Noah has been a fantastic support, so haven't had to do anything except feed, eat and rest.

Love, Erica, Noah and Maya

It's a Girl!

Noah and I are now holding our baby girl, who was born at 8.20am on Friday, 19th May.

She is gorgeous and healthy. I had a very long labour (pre-labour started Wednesday 17th at around 2pm!) - but most of it at home with an amazing support team of Noah, his mum Ruth, and our midwives Jillian and Andrea. However, dilation was just too slow and I got exhausted. In the end, and after trying everything we could once at the hospital, little baby Nielsen came out with the assistance of forceps at Lismore Base Hospital. Noah and I are both thrilled that she is safe and beautiful - that's all that matters in the end.

We are now at home and recovering, getting some sleep, and enjoyed waking up with our baby in our own bed this morning.

No name yet..but will keep you posted. In the meantime, enjoy the photos!!

Love, Erica, Noah and baby.....

Nothing Yet...

No baby to report yet, so life carries on as usual. I am either 3 days late or 1 day early, depending on which ultrasound report you look at. I missed your birthday, sis, on the 16th, so will try to aim for Grandpa T's on the 20th! But, doesn't matter to me - as baby will come out when it is ready.

In the meantime, a couple more photos. One is of the 'sacred birthing room' - or rather, the office/studio we have turned into a flat for the moment until we move into our house. The other is for you, Granny, to show you that the special breastfeeding rocking chair did indeed arrive, after its long trek from Townsville, and has made its place on our new paved verandah (Noah did the paving last week).

Most of you in the family would recognise this chair, as it sat in Grandma and Grandpa T's pergola. This cane chair was especially made for Grandma almost 30 years ago - I believe it was in either Borneo or Singapore?? The famous pasttime with this chair was to prove that it really could NOT tip over backwards - I don't think anyone ever did it, as far as I can recall. Anyhow, it means a lot for me to have it here, as it is a beautiful chair, and I look forward to spending many hours reclining in it with the babe.
Until next post, Erica

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers out there.

Guess I can't quite qualify yet, as no baby - and today is the 14th here in Australia. The second ultrasound date of the 18th May looks as though it may be the more accurate one.

So, nothing too exciting to report, I'm afraid. Went to 'town' on Friday (perhaps the last time for awhile?), and thought we would see a nice lighthearted movie, now that we have the time. I chose the new Woody Allen film, 'Match Point', expecting the traditional Woody comedy with neurotic dialogue. After about the first 10 minutes I knew something was different from usual. I won't give it away, but this was definitely a movie breaking from traditional for Woody Allen (it wasn't even in Manhattan and didn't feature him at all) - it was an intense psychological thriller that didn't end too nicely. My advice is - good movie, but don't see it when you're about to give birth!

On another note, I think Noah and I have taken the 'stocking up' business a little too far. This may be because we live a long way from the shops and know that getting to town again might be difficult after the baby arrives. Our freezer, fridge and kitchen shelves look as though we are preparing for Y2K, rather than the birth of a baby. We must have a million tins of food, plus we have cooked and frozen enough to eat for the next 2 weeks. I wonder how many soups I can make in the next week if the baby is later than expected? Oh well, if the world comes to an end suddenly, we will be well prepared.

Love, Erica (not quite yet a mother)

Waiting, Waiting

No news yet, but then I'm still 5 days off the 'due' date. Our midwives, Jillian and Andrea (assisting midwife), came for a home visit today. Jillian reckons that most first babies come 5-10 days over the due date - she says not to be surprised if it happens in the 20's of May!

In the meantime, I'll just keep trying to lean forward or lie on my left hand side - good for encouraging the baby to present in the right position for birth, and to avoid a posterior 'back' labour. Apparently scrubbing floors is a perfect activity, but since when would I do that?

A recent photo of me, since many have been asking - this is at 39 weeks. Noah took it just a couple of days ago. love Erica

Parenting Skills 101

I guess if the childbirth classes didn't sink in, we can always learn from our animals around us! Here's a photo of one of our pigs, Peggy Sue, and her 7 little piglets. The key word for breastfeeding is....surrender. And here's another photo of Noah practicing holding a newborn - this is our last foal born on the farm, Pise.

Love, Erica and Noah

Due Dates and The 'Birth List'

It's May 1st today, which means 2 weeks to go until 'expected due date'. I should point out that I had two ultrasounds, and both gave slightly different due dates. The first was May 14th, and the second was May18th, but apparently the earlier ultrasound gives a more 'accurate' date. Realistically, baby will come when he/she is ready, which could be anytime now or within the next 4 weeks. Nothing different to report, though am noticing quite a few Braxton-Hicks 'rehearsal' contractions over the last few days; this is quite common apparently in the 2-3 weeks before birth.

Going back to my last post regarding the home birth decision, I thought you may also be interested to know what is involved in preparing for a birth at home. Sure, going to the hospital involves having bags packed and ready, but there were some rather interesting items on our midwife's 'Birth List', eg:

• one large plastic sheet. A cheap shower curtain will do, or even a painter's drop sheet
  
• 2 buckets with lids
  
• one large saucepan - for boiling midwife's instruments
  
• 3 old nappies to be used as hot towels and pair of thick rubber gloves
  
• 1 pair of tongs
  
• ice blocks (fruit juice)
  
• 2 hot water bottles, for warming baby's receiving blanket in winter and for you in labour
  
• any pure oil (eg wheatgerm olive, almond) for massage in second stage and for baby massage later
  
• container for storing placenta (eg ice cream or 2 ltr fetta bucket) + tree for planting
  
• 1 packet of incontinence pads (eg Depends)
  
• 1 packet of frozen peas (small, in freezer)
  

And the list goes on...But I thought the last 3 might need some explaining. Around here, a lot of women ask to keep their placentas - amazing trees of life that they are during the pregnancy. The placenta goes in the 2 litre bucket, you dig a hole in the garden and plant a tree to commemorate the birth - I would think placentas would make great organic compost as well! Re the 'Depends' - incontinence pads are great for post-birth bleeding, apparently, but would you believe Lismore Woolworths has been out of stock of these for almost 2 months? Believe me, I've been trying to find them, but the only ones on the shelf were the underwear/diaper kind, and there's no way I needed (nor wanted) those. The only person wearing nappies will be the baby. Finally I got Noah to find the proper, less complicated ones in another supermarket. And for the peas? Well, apparently a bag of frozen peas can work wonders as a cold pack for the woman during labour - the little peas are like the beans in a bean bag and can roll around to get to where you need them most.

So, there you go. There was obviously a lot more to get ready, so it seems preparation for the birth has become almost a full-time occupation. I think we're ready now, though I do need to find a tree for planting.

Erica