It’s been more than six weeks since the last proper blog entry, so I’d better do a quick catch-up post:

• Sara finished work just after Christmas to concentrate on daytime TV baking Boo Boo. Maternity leave in Australia is very poor by British standards; Sara is allowed up to a year off work but it’s completely unpaid. We do, however, receive a one-off “baby bonus” from the government. I’m allowed to take some unpaid leave, but even that’s at the employer’s discretion. :-<
• We’re booked in at the Angliss Hospital. Last weekend we attended the ante-natal class, which was interesting and informative but the videos were a bit grisly. I can’t begin to tell you how much Sara is looking forward to the actual birth. ~:>
• We’re also booked on the “parenting” class this week. :-\
• Sara’s “Nesting” phase is now out of the way. The whole house has been cleaned from top to bottom and the nursery room is ready for action. #:-s
• Thanks to generous gifts from family, friends and colleagues, Boo Boo has a fantastic selection of clothes for the first 3 or 4 months. In fact, she’s got more outfits than Sara and I combined. I’m sure she’ll get through them though.
• We obviously still haven’t thought of a name for Boo Boo. 😕
• Sara hasn’t had any real cravings. Although she’s been quite partial to a bowl or three of ice cream and the odd bag of imported pickled onion Monster Munch, I don’t think this is pregnancy related. But we’ve certainly been to Sweet Meck in Bayswater a lot more often than usual. :@)
• We’re still looking at houses, on and off, but can’t seem to find anything we like. Melbourne house prices have rocketed by 25% in the past 12 months, so we’re actually looking at worse properties than we were a year ago. Following this trend our landlord has just increased our rent too. :((
• Andy & Johanne have sold their house in Ferntree Gully and bought a huge place in Boronia. It’s only about 1.5kms from us, which will be handy for barbecues etc.
• My hands have now healed nicely following the accident on New Years Eve. If you look closely you can see my left hand is paler than it should be, but I’ve got to stay out of the sun for another 2 months. I’m just relieved there was no permanent damage. #:-s
• You might remember me saying I was going to write to appeal against a speeding ticket I received in December? Well it worked, they decided to let me off with a stern warning instead of the points and fine! <:-p

We’re now only two or three weeks away from the big event. :-ss

Sara is now having weekly checkups with either the midwife or her doctor in Boronia to make sure things are progressing smoothly.

Last week they had a bit of trouble deciding whether Boo Boo was the right way up or not. Although she’s been head down for weeks, they thought she might’ve changed positions because her heartbeat didn’t seem to be where they expected to find it. As a precautionary measure, they sent us for an extra scan.

So here’s the video clip — it’s 88Mb so might take a while to download.

Thankfully she’s the right way up and everything looks OK.

The images aren’t as good as the previous scan because there’s less fluid surrounding her than before. There’s not much room in there, but she looks quite comfy.

They took all the measurements (see 9:30 on the video) and were even able to estimate her weight. She’s quite small right now — which isn’t surprising considering Sara’s size — but she should gain a few more ounces on over the next couple of weeks.

Right, we’d better get the hospital bag packed in case she decides to make an early appearance. 😮

Edit: It’s been six weeks since I last blogged properly, lots has been happening. I’ll try my best to do a catch-up post in the next few days.

“Oldhamers don’t like Oldham”, according to this article on the Manchester Evening News website recently:

“OLDHAM is a backward-looking town where people are tightfisted and outsiders are not welcome, says a new report – comissioned by its own town hall.

Council bosses are spending £50,000 on re-branding the town, but first they wanted to find out how local people view it.”

Maybe a bit harsh?

I always said he was a good player. 😉 :^o