What a busy August we had!

August has to have been the busiest, most stressful month of our year so far & Master Read had lots of medical appointments to attend too! As it seems such a long time ago now, I thought I'd mix the format of this post up a bit & do it in 'diary' form:

Tuesday 2nd August 2011 - the dreaded return to work - I wasn't looking forward to this after having had 3 lovely weeks off but it wasn't too bad in the end - especially as I had been checking & keeping on top of e-mails whilst I was away

Friday 5th August 2011 - our 7th appointment with Dr Boyce and the 27th week of pregnancy. He gave me a referral for my 3rd Trimester Ultrasound - to check growth etc - and also another for a 'Glucose Challenge Test' to check for Gestational Diabetes. I was a bit worried about the latter as I have had such a craving for sweet stuff throughout this pregnancy - despite the old wive's tale that sweet cravings indicate you're having a girl - and I was devastated at the thought of having to cut down on my sugar intake!!!

Friday 12th August 2011 - the Glucose Challenge Test. This involved going to the Pathology clinic at North Shore Private and drinking - as quickly as possible - a small bottle of what seemed like pure glucose... tasted like sickly sweet lemonade. The bottle I got was clear not orange but a similar size to the pic below. Thankfully it was ice-cold otherwise I think it would have been really horrible! Once down the hatch a stop-watch was started and I was sent to the waiting room to sit it out for an hour... not fun... made Master Read go a bit hyperactive & me feel a bit peculiar - try sitting still for an hour when you're on a sugar high!!! After the hour was up I had to go and have a full set of bloods collected. About 5 vials if I remember right. The purpose of this test is to check for Gestational Diabetes which can be harmful in pregnancy - not to the mum but to the baby as it can make them grow really big and their little lungs & heart won't be able to cope with their size. If Gestational Diabetes is diagnosed it can be controlled with diet in most cases but Insulin is required with some. The results for this test would be available at my next OB appt - unless an unusual range was detected...

Saturday 13th August 2011 - the big move!!! The time had come to say good-bye to the beautiful house we built at Elmstree Road & move back to the Northern Beaches - a much easier commute for Adam to Darlinghurst & a much nicer place for me to be on maternity leave - near friends, near the beach - lovely! As you can imagine I wasn't able to do much to help with the big move - just packing really & driving car loads (pre-loaded  by the gang) to & from the new place. It was a long day & we were so grateful for the help of Rob, Heather & Garry. We were exhausted by the time the last run for the day was over & sank into the haphazardly-arranged sofas for pizzas & beers (for them not me!)

Here's a pic of the new place from the outside... having been here for nearly a month now I can tell you that I LOVE it here - it's a very different - much smaller  house than before but just big enough & the outside space is amazing for Rocky. He doesn't seem to have suffered too much from not having his daily visit from the pet nanny anymore... only a few more weeks til he's got me full-time anyway!!!

Thursday 18th August 2011 - 3rd Trimester Scan (growth scan). This was a much shorter affair than usual - prob took 25 mins tops - and we had an older, more-experienced sonographer who flew through the measurements in a very efficient, no messing around kind of way. We were also in a different room this time and I was absolutely over the moon when she changed the software on the ultrasound machine to the 3D/4D technology. Master Read was very obliging & apart from putting his hand near his face a few times was sooo super cute - opening & closing his little rosebud mouth (blowing kisses I like to think) & we got a couple of amazing photos of his face. It's scary to know so soon what the little man is going to look like - scary but exciting too. Here he is - the little chubba - I don't know where he got that pout from cos neither Adam or I have particularly full lips!!!

Thursday 25th August 2011  - settlement!!! It had been a stressful couple of weeks moving out of Elmstree Road & into Larmer Place & getting Elmstree Road empty, clean and ready for the new owners. The whole house was scrubbed clean from top to bottom by myself, Adam & even the cleaners who did the bathrooms & the oven... I actually think it was cleaner when we moved out than when we moved in after it was first built. We had to get rid of a lot of furniture for our down-sizing - one bedroom suite & all the study furniture went on eBay - and the rest was put out the front of the house for council collection. Funnily enough, however, the locals picked it all up (bar an old Christmas tree & some pallets) before the council could even get there. Thursday dawned - the day of settlement - & the conveyancer advised that it was all due to go through at 2pm and to be ready for her call. 2:45pm arrived & I was feeling distinctly panic-stricken when the phone rang & it was done! We were no longer house owners - sounds odd to be pleased about that but it's the right thing to do for us right now & a bloody good time to sell as the market is getting tougher & tougher out here. We'll think about buying again in a couple of years when we know where we want to be... who knows - could be Sydney, could be Adelaide...!



Friday 26th August 2011 - 8th appt with Dr B. I passed my Glucose Test - wooo hoooo! That's all I can actually remember from that appt - oh & that the results from my growth scan the week or so earlier showed that all was well & that baby was bigger than average for 29 weeks - no kidding!! Dr B also did his own little scan as usual & I was pleased to be advised that Master Read has moved so his head is down towards my cervix... getting ready for his great entrance into this world - I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Next post... the nursery & starting to purchase properly now there's not so much time left to go.

Hope you enjoyed this summary of our hectic August!!!