Chilling

There’s been a pause on babies. But don’t worry. I can feel them out there, lurking.

Those little gems are waiting, calmly chilling, till the powers that be at the start line say “GO”. Then no doubt

they will all set off at once. One will spend some time deciding if it really should put the effort in and run all that way, one will sprint straight to the end, another will trip and stumble and need a rest early on, the next will amble down at its own leisurely but consistent pace and the last one will get stuck at the end and need a hand across the finish line.

Yes all six of them, all running at the same time, hopefully all giving me a short respite in the middle but with my norm of babies coming in twos and threes I doubt it!

I don’t know how I ended up with six babies due in a two week period. It’s very poor maths on my part. It was probably down to someone getting their dates wrong, or nine months ago I must have been very distracted. Also a major contributor to the October rush is always due to New Years celebrations. A relaxed, happy (possibly drunk) atmosphere seems to set the right mood for baby making!

Their mums are a range of excited, anxious, and just plain over the waiting. So my last couple of weeks have been spent giving the birth talks, doing pre birth acupuncture, reminding the first timers that pregnancy end symptoms are normal, setting a second timer up with a plan if baby comes fast in the car during their 90 minute drive in. The Care plans are all finished, they know what to expect and what to do - until it starts and some of them will forget the lot! So it’s a nice waiting, sort of limbo time in the last couple of weeks. A transition really. I find that usually a woman has to feel ‘over’ being pregnant before a baby will come. She has to give up on when the day will actually be and just accept she has no control over it. THEN we have a baby. It’s such a mind #*#*

My postnatal crew are now all a couple of weeks in, all having good weight gains and past the initial hurdles. Although I did do the two hour round trip to see one client on Monday and she wasn’t home. Disaster! It’s wonderful to watch them all settle into being parents. The buzz of the second timers as they keep mentioning how easy it is this time round. How this baby is so chilled - when really from my outside view it’s usually just the same as last time - but baby is just reflecting how relaxed they themselves are this time round. Second timers will accept if they have fed, changed and cuddled a baby and he’s still upset that he might just be having a bad day. A plain bad day. Like we all do sometimes for no reason. A first time parent wants an answer for the unsettled behaviour, they want to fix it and a lot of sleep is lost in the process. It’s one of the battles of parenting I guess. We can’t always fix things for our kids, no matter what age they are. We just have to BE there, hoping that if they feel loved and secure they will come right, or eventually it will become clear what they need.

I’ve spent the rest of my limbo time doing normal people things! Horse riding, with a little bit of a ‘man from snowy river’ moment thrown in, but that’s another story. The dog‘s been loving all the quality time, the kids probably not so much. I’ve also been getting our Airbnb ready to open again. In these Covid times we haven’t had clients stay for quite some months, so the teenagers have been making the most of the space, now the kiwis are coming again so it needed a big clean up. We lived in ‘the shed’ for six years while I was studying when we were supposed to be building the actual house. But as hubby says he is an EX builder for a reason. Now we have lived in the UNFINISHED house next door to the shed for nearly four years. Just saying 😉.

I’ve been struggling with the lack of creativity in my life and it was time to fix it. I used to help support the family by selling my wooden puzzles and jewellery at markets during the shed years. As well as being a good little earner it was a great outlet for me. But now I’ve discovered Pottery! It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and after completing my weekly course (only missed one - thank you birthing goddesses - surely it wasn’t a vital one??) I am addicted. I love the process of hand building something when you have no idea what will be your final product. Then you glaze it and have no idea what you are going to get. It’s like unwrapping Christmas presents. But when it’s not what I want, I don’t have to fake gratitude! I just get to try again. A couple of girlfriends did the course with me, also addicted. So now we have been meeting up for clay nights. Think knitting circle - but slightly younger and with gin. It’s not quite Ghost as we are lacking in the Patrick Swayze department, but never say never! Our husbands are supportive as they turn up later on for a catch up too. They have learnt to order pizza as there’s no stopping us to do something as boring as organise dinner. We are artistes after all.

So that’s me, chilling, loving life but I can feel those lil babies lurking. Yes lurking. Always in the back of my mind, stay in coverage, take short horse rides, leftovers ready for a midnight dash in the fridge (actually no they’re not. But they should be), bills paid early before I forget about them, back up plans for kids transport in place, two cars to every function... you get the drift. All normal really!

Talk to you on the other side.