In denial

I decided last night that I'm not that hormonal this time round. Then why did I cry this morning when I heard that Paul Newman died??!

((THANK YOU))

A massive thank for all your wonderful comments and messages.As I can blog and recieve comments from my mobile phone I feel more in touch with the outside world despite having no other Net or PC access.It makes such a big difference especially as we will be at the clinic until Friday.But I must admit that it is more like a hotel here and the food is amazing.And come Friday I will be begging to stay...

Millie

She is here at last!

Photos to follow as we forgot to take any with our mobiles.But she is the spitting image of Annie at birth...so bad luck Kenichi but the western genes win again:) She was born on Saturday at 3.10am and kudos to Annie for getting that right.She was 3,152g,just 2 more than Annie and 48cms. Kenichi was with me for the whole ride and Annie is on her way now with her grandparents and then it is sleep time all afternoon .Hooray! Well thats all for except the name...bet you thought I forgot eh! Her name is Emilie and Millie for short.Hope you approve:).

We are not amused...

She looks just how I feel right now.....

DUH...

Forgot the photo.

Back to the beach again.

Annie has changed her predication date to Saturday which is a bit cheeky.But you get away with a lot when you are 3 and your mother is clutching at straws.
So here we are at the local beach again.It is another hot day but there is a nice breeze.Annie is making me a sand cake and I am blogging using my mobile phone.We are both content:)

The Oracle has Spoken.

We asked Annie when the baby will be born.

She had a think and then slowly said "Tuesday".

And the scary thing is that I so believe her.

I need some hope for goodness sake ;).

A Friday Post....for Lily;)

Cooeeee...Yep,I'm still here and no signs at all that the baby is on her way! Except that after a big old moving fest yesterday she is very quiet.I think she is getting pissed off at the lack of room.Which is a good thing as it may be the enticement she needs for her to come out;)

All in all I'm feeling much for laid back now thanks to my good friend K who I spoke to yesterday.She had her second baby just 3 months ago so could commiserate beautifully with my feelings.And she told me to just relax.And hey presto,when I put the phone down,I was suddenly totally relaxed about everything.Amazing!

I have been more energetic.I spent a good few hours tidying yesterday,concentrating on the areas that have been blatantly ignored for the last few months.And I even made kuri-gohan(chestnut rice) which is delicious but a bugger to make as it is rather time consuming if you use fresh chestnuts.But such was my jolly mood that even that was a fun thing to do.And this morning I have had another clear out of a few danger areas and cleaned the house.So am all smug now.I even dusted on and around my hospital bags....

And as for the typhoon,well ,yesterday afternoon,we had some strong winds.And that was that.Thrilling eh! We were very lucky as the thing changed course and is heading for or is already over Shikoku.We have blue skies and very warm sunshine here to stay which is lovely as I managed to do lots of washing after 4 or 5 dreary days.

Annie was a little disappointed that the typhoon didn't come this way.She was all ready to catch and tame it as she is convinced that she is "Milky-Rose" a girly super-hero type anime character from her favourite Japanese anime "Yes!Pretty Cure 5".I would have loved to see Annie vs the typhoon so I have to say I was a little disappointed too.Maybe next time!

Wordless Wednesday.

All is quiet.

Thank you so much for the wonderful comments on my last post.I do apologise for being such an old misery guts but that's how it is! I know that the baby will come out when she is good and ready(or else we both go through the "joys" of induction together;) ) and that this is the calm before the storm and I should just sit back and enjoy the peace and quiet but even so,I still hate the wait.

I was thinking about it again last night and think that what gets to me most is saying goodbye to Annie each morning at daycare and not knowing if I will see her later on or not.And knowing that even though we have prepared her as much as possible for the birth ,that she is going to be pretty upset when I am suddenly not there.As my mum said the other day,one spends a lot of time worrying about the older kid(s) in this situation which makes it more stressful.I have had to leave Annie before for a couple of weeks; when dad was dying I went back to the UK see him alone without Annie.It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do and it still upsets me to think about it (but I will never regret having made that trip!).She was just 2 at that time and in some ways it was easier as she didn't really understand what was going on.This time,she knows I will be gone for a week and on bad days it upsets her.The other day she said that she wants to come and sleep with me in the clinic.She cried and cried when I told her that she and Kenichi will be sleeping at home.

Anyway,enough emotional talk as it does me no good! I went for my check-up this morning and the good news is that the baby is still head down.Yesterday,after a few tough days of lower pain and trouble with walking,the pain and pressure suddenly eased and she was really active again so I half wondered if she had flipped up again.The doctor said it was quite possible but that she is down again TG.He was talking about starting to induce me if my body was getting ready but after an internal,he said that everything was still shut if you KWIM;) So no induction and we will leave her there for another week.

In the meantime,a bloody great typhoon is slowly moving this way just to add to the fun of things.The slow ones are nasty as they are with you for longer.It keeps changing it's course so hard to say if we will be on the direct path or not.As Kenichi is in charge of bad weather,typhoon and earthquake damage and patrols at work,we are very much hoping that the damn thing will not mean that he is called out when I need him most.Oh ,we do live exciting lives,don't we;)

Oh,and for the FWC girls,I hope one of you hits the jackpot.I have managed to disappoint quite a few so far but I am sure I will be forgiven at some point;)

Kicking my heels.

For me,this is the worst bit of this pregnancy lark...the waiting.It was the same with Annie and during the last weeks I got so grouchy and just wanted the baby to arrive.And Annie was born slap bang on time which is pretty rare for first timers.So now I am grouchy,moody and fed up.I want to go outside and walk and move but it is Sod's Law that we have had rain for the last couple of days and it is really hard today so no chance that I will risk slipping and slidding as I tramp along the muddy roads.

So with No 2 you hear from everyone(it seems) that the baby will arrive early.Even the doctor said it.Since the end of August I have been ready mentally and for the last 2 weeks,I have had those bags packed;hell,I have even shaved my legs,done my eyebrows,filed down my nails(chalk-based indigestion tablets during the last 9 plus months have made my normally weak nails so strong that I got to grow them for once),and made sure my dear husband knows what Annie needs for daycare every morning and when he needs to make onigiri(rice balls) for her lunch etc.

Yes,I AM READY.But the baby is not.And my due date is the day after tomorrow.Lots of cramps,painful and not painful but that is all.I am going for my check-up tomorrow and let's see what the gyn. thinks.The baby was ,last week,just about 3,000g(6.6lbs) which sounds a good size to me as I am the one who will be doing the pushing;)

Luckily I am surrounded by wonderful friends who have been texting and mailing every day but not asking that oh so annoying and should be banned" Have you had it yet then?" question but just asking how things are and if they can do anything to help.My friend Mattea popped in with some freshly cut pineapple which didn't sadly work but the thought was so nice.And we have had offers to look after Annie for a few hours whenever I need a break.The little things mean so much and do make me smile.But tell you what will make me smile even more?Indeed,meeting my second daughter for the first time.So HURRAY UP !!!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Where does the time go?

The weekend

Had a good one but busy.Akane-chan came to play again,we took Annie to the park after seeing an old friend who lives about an hour away by car, Kenichi took Annie to the pool and the library so I had a little quiet time.And the weather was perfect,albeit it a little on the warm side.And Annie didn't get stung by jelly fish at the beach which is a good thing.

And now I have even managed to upload a wee video of Annie jumping in the park.And it didn't require any brain power.Which is another good thing.

.

Animal Crackers

Title of this post is blatantly stolen from one of Annie's favourite songs at the moment which is one of a CD compilation sent over by my lovely friend Sophie in Seattle.

I digress.A question for you.What have the following creatures all got in common?

* An octopus
* A penguin
* A hedgehog
* A snail
* A bee
* A giraffe
* A hippopotamus
* A fish
* A worm
* A rabbit
* A butterfly
* A seahorse
* An elephant
* A spider
* A polar bear


Any idea? As I hate guessing games I shall be kind and tell you.These are all the creatures that Annie has recently pretended to be upon waking up in the morning.We co sleep so at around 6.30am we gently wake her up and after a few moans and groans,she snuggles up to me,squeezes her eyes shut again then suddenly take on the "persona" of her chosen creature.It doesn't last more than a few minutes and usually ends after she has pretended to have the breakfast of whatever she is that day but that can take time if I don't come up with the menu of let's say,a seahorse,fast enough.She seems to know when I lie which is a nuisance but I have been researching the facts a little.

They say you learn something new everyday and recently,have to say it's true for me;)

FYI: Seahorses feed on small crustaceans floating in the water or crawling on the bottom. With excellent camouflage and a lot of patience, seahorses ambush prey that float within striking range. Mysid shrimp and other small crustaceans are favorites, but some seahorses have been observed eating other kinds of invertebrates and even larval fish.So now you know.

Update

Thanks to you all for your "Spin Baby" vibes as they worked and the baby was,on Monday,down again although still not "locked in" there.She has been very active again during the last few days so I am hoping that even if she has been bobbing up that she will settle down again.Next check is next Monday....