Still pregnant. The Baby seems quite content to stay where he/she is. I'm five days from my due date and never thought I would make it this far. Of course I am happy that from now on no matter when the Baby comes he/she will be good and ready. No preemie for me:o) Only problem is that because of my prior C-section the Doc is not too happy about me going all the way to my due date let alone beyond it. If I don't go into labour naturally within the next three days or so she will have to consider planning another c-section as inducing labour is not an option for me.

The false alarms come and go and leave me disappointed just as I start getting my hopes up. Well I am ready, the Baby is full term the only question left now is "When?". I am hoping for a normal this time and so far things are looking good so I'm keeping optimistic. All of you out there say a little prayer for me that all goes well and that my next update is all about my new Bundle of Joy.

Thanks!

Then – 1st Trimester:
1. Severe morning sickness
2. Lost a lot of weight
3. Went off all milk products including cheese, paneer, ice-cream and chocolates
4. No food cravings
5. Did not show a bump for all three months

Now – 1st Trimester:
1. Virtually no morning sickness
2. Put on a lot of weight
3. Had no food aversions and on a healthy diet of milk and milk products
4. Craved meat, mostly red
5. Started showing in the second month

Then – 2nd Trimester:
1. Severe morning sickness
2. Started putting on weight
3. Still off milk products
4. No food cravings
5. Started to show at the end of the 4th month

Now – 2nd Trimester:
1. No morning sickness at all
2. No weight gain
3. No food aversions
4. Cravings for meat and ice-cream (not together thankfully)
5. Only slight increase in size of bump

Then - 3rd Trimester:
1. Morning sickness starting to wear off
2. Put on lots of weight
3. Still off milk products
4. No food cravings
5. Big bump, carrying high and around

Now – 3rd Trimester:
1. What morning sickness?
2. Put on weight, lost some weight
3. No food aversions
4. Craving lots and lots of meat
5. Big bump, carrying low and out front

PS: In the picture the Now is on the left and Then on the right.

Things to do after the Baby is born:

1. Sleep on tummy
2. Sleep on back
3. Lose weight
4. Get rid of all maternity clothes and all clothes that are either too big or too small
5. Shop for a few new clothes
6. Get a whole body massage
7. Drink the occasional glass of dry, white wine
8. Find a pool close to home and start swimming again
9. Touch my toes
10. Dress up sexy and wear high heels sometimes

Less than four weeks to go and I am getting so fed up with this being pregnant business. Yes it is true that the baby could be out any day now but for his/her own sake and safety I hope it doesn't happen for another couple of weeks at least. There is no respite from the heat and humidity and that makes things even worse. Everyday I wish for rain and everyday it is bright and sunny and hot, hot, hot...... Of course there is always the chance that the day I go into labour it'll be pouring buckets.

Erika starts school tomorrow and she is really looking forward to it. She enjoyed her first year at the the play school and is very happy to be going back for a second year. I have enrolled her for a four hour batch this time and am looking forward to sometime to myself during which I plan to lay in bed and do absolutely nothing.

Dad is back from visiting bluesmoon in the US so I am no longer stressed about what to do about Erika, the dog and the house if I went into labour a couple of weeks early. The maid has also been with us for over a year now and is familiar with Erika's morning routine and will be able to take over when I am in the hospital.

It is getting harder to sleep so I am updating my journal at 1.30am. My appetite is down because of the heat so I actually lost 3 & 1/2kgs between visits to the doc. I am not complaining, so much less to lose after the baby is born. Of course I am being careful about getting all my required nutrients for the health of the little one.

Right now I am dealing with hot flashes, Braxton Hicks contractions, shooting pain in my lower abdomen every time I stand up, some amount of breathlessness and dizziness and backaches..... The Joys of Motherhood.

Wish me luck.

Another trip around the sun
What can I say, it's been fun
It's nice to be thirty one.....

And in what is turning out to be a birthday tradition I cooked a nice meal for the family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Indian Summers are too hot to handle

The third trimester has started, all is going well

Wednesday is the last day of school for Erika before the summer vacations

Off to Igatpuri for a short vacation and desperately needed change of scene. Staying at the Golden Resort

The house is under renovations and we are living in make shift conditions, hope everything is ready before the New Baby arrives

On the bright side the children are getting their own room and I am very excited about decorating it

Waiting for life to get back to normal

Happy Easter One and All!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of You! Hope you are all feeling the love. We have nothing special planned for today, being Valentine's day and Saturday we're guessing that everything will be mighty crowded so are refraining from going out.

I went to the Globus (Bandra) sale yesterday. After going through the stuff for a while I was not surprised that there was a sale on. With racks and racks of crap it was no wonder they were trying to sell off the stuff at half rate. There was just so much bad design, awful colour combination and down right poor quality..... Yes there were one or two half decent clothing items but they were only available in two sizes; small and 'help I'm starving to death'. Not a very productive afternoon. rocknromuald did get me a pair of sun glasses (not from Globus) to replace my pair that broke and that was his Valentine's gift to me.

It was rather sweet to see so many guys in the ladies' section of the store though picking out tops, costume jewelry and bags for their lady loves. More than once I over heard some anxious guy ask a sales person if the item could be exchanged if required. Perhaps they were the ones buying all those small and X-small clothes to flatter their girl friends.....

Well love is in the air and I'm off to tend to the person I love the most in the whole world. Yes it is Erika's lunch time:o)

The fifth month has begun, almost halfway now..... Have started feeling the baby move, it is very reassuring. My back hurts like crazy and having to lift my 13kg two year old every now and then does not help but can not be helped. It is getting harder and harder to find a comfortable sleeping position.

Took Erika for a b'day party last Saturday, had to travel by 2nd class in a Borivali local at peak time to get to our destination. Anyone who lives in Bombay will understand when I say I went to hell and back. The party was great fun but I decided to come home by auto rickshaw after and was almost Rs.200/- poorer after the ride. The little one developed tonsillitis a couple of days ago and is now under treatment, she has not had fever for two days now. One of the first things the pediatrician asked me was if we had attended any birthday parties recently, I said yes, then he asked if Erika had had and soft drinks (Pepsi, Fanta, etc) I said yes. Well that was the cause...

Lots of my friends are having babies (mostly girls) and they are all calling me up for advice, tips and reassurances. I am quite enjoying it. I got through those tricky first few months with Erika mostly on my own, with trial and error and figuring things out on my own and if that new found wisdom can help others so be it.

Went to the market today and bought fresh fish. Dal, rice, fried fish and pickle is honestly one of the best meals I've ever had. Also got some lovely broccoli which we had plain boiled. I am happy to say that my daughter has gone past her phase of not eating well and has got back her normal healthy appetite.

I'm taking each day as it comes.....

The first four (4) people to respond to this post will get something made by me. It will be about or tailored to those four who respond first.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

* I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
* What I create will be just for you.
* It'll be done this year.
* You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a mixed tape. It may be fic, or a poem. I may draw or paint something. I might bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
* I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
* Additional caveat: I reserve the right to make something for your kid(s) instead of you. :)

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well, if you expect me to do something for you!

I'm pregnant. Yes baby #2 is on the way and due around 11th July. The first trimester went off smoothly and I am already a couple of weeks into my second trimester and everything seems to be going well. I have hardly any morning sickness which is a huge improvement since last time and with Erika around I am so busy and preoccupied that I have no time to obsess over this pregnancy. Overall things are much better this time round. It was no surprise finding out we were pregnant because it was planned. If at all we were a tad surprised that things happened so quickly.

Erika now knows that there is a small baby in mummy's tummy, whether or not that makes any sense to her I do not know. I am sure she will make a wonderful big sister because I have seen her around other children and she is very gentle. Also she is of a peaceful temperament and gets along well with anybody.

I have started to show relatively early this time but it's ok coz I already have sufficient maternity wear. The lack of morning sickness has caused some weight gain but I am managing to keep it under control for now. Eventually putting on up to 10 - 15 kilos will be a normal part of the pregnancy. Have done the first couple of tests and all is going well. Baby showed a good amount of movement and a strong heartbeat during the first USG scan.

I had a blast this past Christmas season because I know that come July and my life is going to change forever. What with two kids it will be a while before I get some decent time to myself. Luckily with rocknromuald, dad and a full time maid around I have enough of help.

I am happy, I am excited but most of all I am done making babies......

Any guesses on whether it is a boy or a girl?

Happy Birthday bluesmoon! We miss having you home.....

1X1 = 1+1 = 4

It's not math it's biology......

For the first time ever my baby slept without a diaper last night and she didn't wet the bed. I am a proud mama.

I love waking up every morning, walking into my living room and seeing all my Christmas decoration up. The tree in one corner, the wreath on the door, the Crib in it's special place and a little something on every wall to spread the Christmas cheer. The day itself passed all too quickly but the Christmas spirit is still here......

Hello there all of you on LJ, I'm still around. I have not posted for over a month and did not even get down to sending out my Christmas wishes but it has been a crazy past few weeks with no time to even breathe. As I vowed not to end the year without a blog post here I am.

I hope you all had a Happy Christmas, spending time with family and loved ones and enjoying great food. I know I did. Christmas was peaceful with mass at 10.00am on the 24th night followed by a small get together at a friend's terrace. Christmas lunch was with family with the traditional roast chicken and pork vindaloo. Awesome! On the 25th evening we were invited to a bar-be-que party at another friend's house but rocknromuald was not feeling too well so I went on my own for a short while and came back relatively early. The next two days were practically a blur...

On the 27th December was my school reunion, the culprit that has kept me so busy this past month. We formed our school alumni in July this year and I joined the core committee. Our very first event was to be a 'Grand Reunion' of all the batches (since 1953). As we got closer to the date we were all running around like headless chickens making sure everything was in place and tying up all the loose ends. We originally hoped to have a crowd of 350 plus another 20 complimentary invitees and so printed 400 tickets. Three days before the event we were completely sold out and the number of requests for more tickets prompted us to print a 100 more which got sold out in 24 hours and still people wanted tickets. We finally closed sales when our number hit 600 and our caterer threatened to pull out! The best part of it all was that the reunion was exclusively for ex-students and spouses/boyfriends were not invited. Yes it was a girls only night and we were sold out.

The day dawned and the committee members were in the school grounds nearly the whole day getting the lights, tables/chairs, stage and backdrop, sound, etc organised. And finally the evening came, we had given ourselves enough time to go home, get dolled up and be back before our guests arrived. They started to arrive first in a trickle and then in crowds. Emotions ran high as girls of all ages broke down in tears when entering the gates of their Alma Mater some after as long as 40 years. Grey haired ladies still young at heart were throwing their arms around each other in tight hugs and screaming like school girls on seeing their long lost classmates after a lifetime and the atmosphere was absolutely electric.

As part of the organising committee and someone responsible for getting the event together it was very heartening for me to see the joy we had brought to these ladies. I am happy to say that the evening was a huge success albeit with a few glitches here and there. We even had a sort circuit which caused a minor fire but thanks to our caterer who had the presence of mind not to panic and douse the flames with sand the disaster went virtually unnoticed. Our short entertainment bit was a hit, everyone enjoyed the dinner and compliments were freely flowing. All in all a very memorable day. Needless to say I was flat out for the major part of the next day.

2008 has been a rather good year for me except of course for the terror attacks on my beloved city and I pray that 2009 will usher in an era of peace.

Wishing You All a Very Happy 2009!!!

Peace.....

There are those who are saying, "OBAMA!"
And there are those who are saying, "Oh bummer!"