Then & Now

38 weeks with Griffin in 2001 vs 34 weeks now....

  

Maternity Shoot

So I did a maternity photo shoot on Saturday. It was not a proper 'official' professional shoot, since a friend of mine did it and he is not a pro, it's just hobby he has been experimenting with. But I think he is damned good and I have really liked the photos of his I have seen in the past year or so. We did hire a studio and good lens, and I got someone to make me up a bit though...

I am not a natural model, and in fact I have never even had a real photoshoot before. I didn't even hire a photographer for my wedding (way back when) and just got a friend to take snaps. So it is not something I have any experience or knowledge of at all. But I knew I wanted to do this as it is definitely, my LAST pregnancy ever. I have very few pregnancy photos for my previous pregnancies, and I kind of regret that. Also this time the pregnancy and birth are 'mine', but the parenting journey is not, so I want to cherish and remember this part of this very special journey I am on. I know I am going to cherish these memories and I wanted photographic reminders of it.

I spent a lot of time googling images of maternity shoots and for the most part I didn't really like them. I didn't want anything cheesy or too saccharine lovey-dovey, or the diffused lighting, lace and bows and ruffles so many of them have. Not to say the 'classic' maternity photos are not pretty, but they just didn't feel like ME. I wanted to do something authentic to me, who I am, what I am doing, and that show me as real and natural. I found I was most drawn to the black and white nude shots, especially the ones focusing on contrasts, lines, shapes, light and shadows.

Looking at all our local maternity photographer's sites, no one captured exactly what I was going for. So I contacted Joey. I used to work with him years ago. He has taken some stunning shots in the past few years, some quite edgy and boudoir-esque, and often of drop-dead gorgeous models (I think subconsciously I was hoping he could make me look like one of them HAHAHA). He had never done anything like what I was looking for in terms of lighting, and had not done any maternity shoots, but was open to giving it a try.

A was keen to be involved too - it is his baby after-all - and so we set it up, and decided to just do it and see what happened.

On the day I was a bit late getting to the studio (I was home getting make-up and hair done by the gorgeous and lovely Michelle), and A and Joey were at the studio getting it set up. There was a booking clash, so when we got there we thought we had very little time. So instead of arriving and being awkward and shy as I had expected, there was barely time for a hello, before I was told, "Get your clothes off and get in here!". So instead of warming up with some clothed shots it was straight into the black room and the nudes. Weird that worked well as I just had to drop my guard and go with it immediately. Also because the room was dark (except for when the flashes and lights lit up) I didn't even feel that exposed.

So all the nudes were done first and then I got dressed and when to the white room for the clothed ones.

 Note they are not yet edited or retouched at all. We still need to chose a few for post-processing and 'polishing'. These are a few that I have cropped and tweaked myself quickly - scars, stretch-marks, cellulite and all! 

The shoot was done at 34.5 weeks, and as you can see I am not that tiny at all. Something about my in the mirror selfies is a bit deceptive... Also in some of these they were telling me to try to accentuate my belly, so I was literally letting it all hang out...

Pregnancy Progression

Pregnancy Progression from 13 - 34 weeks

Goodness and Graciousness

Quinn is going on a scout snow hike this week-end. He obviously needs proper bad weather gear for this, and due to growing about 4 or more shoe sizes in like a year (ok maybe 2), he now wears a size 10 shoe and doesn't have very many. He has running shoes, but nothing sturdy or waterproof, so we had to get him some decent hiking boots...

Having had a look at Cape Union Mart I discovered that would cost anywhere from R1000 to a LOT more. Yikes.

So I took a look on Gumtree and found what looked like a perfect pair of New Balance suede leather hiking boots in Size 10 advertised for R250! (They had apparently been advertised for higher initially, but the price had been brought down). They are second hand but never worn, as they did not fit the owner, who'd apparently got them as a gift from his son.

We need them by tonight and they were in Simon's Town, which is quite a way away and not a quick or easy journey... and I am working full time. We had 2 days to make a plan. The boys are on holiday though... So I contacted the seller and I told him I'd pop my boys on the train so Q could go try them on and buy them if they fitted him. 

He very kindly offered to drive through to Fishhoek to make it quicker and easier for them. As only every second or 3rd train goes right through to Simon's Town and there's only one returning about once every hour.

He met them there on Tuesday afternoon around lunchtime and was so sweet and kind and interested in the hike and scouts etc. Quinn loved the shoes and bought them for the agreed R250. Apparently they had a good chat about scouts, school and the area Quinn will be hiking in etc. The man then gave them R50 back for lunch or ice-cream or whatever. So they only actually paid him R200 in the end! 

Quinn made a point of telling me all about him and how nice and kind he'd be so I could thank him. I mailed him yesterday to express gratitude and let him know that I knew the shoes were a major bargain (and had saved me LOADS of money already) and thanks for his incredibly kind and generous gesture to the boys, but now I feel I haven't paid a fair price and can I reimburse the 'bonus' he gave the boys back to him..? He was so sweet about it and said he just felt compelled to 'reward' them for being so happy, courteous and friendly to him. He said 'Their beaming smiles were reward enough for my wife and I'. I was so touched by it, and of course proud of my boys too. It may be a small thing but it's really warmed my heart!

Gushing about midwives again...

Can I gush again about how awesome midwives are..?

I just had another appointment. 75 mins long. It's like having coffee with a friend, except without the coffee. We caught up about what she and I have been up to since we last saw each other (5 weeks ago), and everything is so relaxed and flowy and conversational. The medical checks are so gentle and in the background I barely notice they are happening.

She felt baby and confirmed that he is indeed head down now. YAY!! :) (I was suspecting it, but wasn't sure. His movements are quite weird and cryptic sometimes).

She also felt a fibroid on my uterus. And I had a +1 glucose reading. Neither seem to be issues though and I'll watch my diet and reduce carbs and sugars and up protein till my next visit to ensure there's no sugar issue brewing.

Then she massaged my belly with her divine smelling aromatherapy oil. I had told her my one hip/sacroiliac joint was tight, so when I rolled over she massaged that. Next thing after I sat up she started massaging my feet too. *BLISS*

I always leave feeling calm and happy and healthy. She is awesome.  

My next visit is in 3 weeks which will be the homebirth planning homevisit!!

Eye Eye Eye

So I took Q for an optometrist appointment on Saturday because it's been about 9 months since his last check up and he's run out of spare contact lenses.

He's actually been pretty slack/naughty with them - leaving them in for daaays at a time, sleeping with them in, not cleaning them as often as he should and wearing them for too long, like 1.5 months - basically until they break. I should have realised he was due for more, but with preggy brain I wasn't really focused on it. I have been asking him occasionally how his eyes are and if he is taking care of them, and I get a yes every time... so I guess it was a 'yes' same as the response for if he has studied...  

Well, his eye sight is not in a brilliant state now. He has basically made his cornea swell and become cloudy and so they can't actually find a prescription that gets his vision perfect now. They could only get to about 60%. He can heal his cornea but he NEEDS to rest is eyes and give them a break from the lenses - and wash them properly. So from now on he has to wear specs too, and keep contacts for school and sport only, and MUST take them out for evenings, while sleeping and week-ends etc.

So we've had to order new stronger contacts, and then a new pair of specs - and because his sight is now so bad (-7.0) he needs the super-duper expensive material which allows for thinner lenses and not the thick-coke bottle look... And also he didn't want any of the cheaper frames and insisted on a much more expensive 'cool' pair. So the specs alone are - wait for it R7600!!!!!    Thankfully we got several discounts so it's 'only' costing R4100. And then +-R2000 for the contacts once we know which ones to get.

If that wasn't bad enough, while there I asked them to do a quick check on Griff, just to make sure his eyes are still good. Joy of joys his eyes are also short sighted (no astigmatism though) and at -1.0 no he is also getting specs for distance work. Luckily he still (just) qualified for the healthy eyes programme, so this round is free. But - here we go again! 

The new specs

Proud of my boy...

Griff is an amazing child he just quietly gets on with whatever needs to be done, and while he can sometimes seem to be a lazy obstinate shit (he'd gladly spend alllll day playing pc games), he really has an amazing sense of ethics and principals.

He'll get up every day when I get home, to come and greet me and see if I need help carrying stuff from the car, and he'll even come help me take my shoes off if I am struggling (or being lazy myself). In the morning he'll pack my lunch for me and is just generally helpful and nurturing.

He self-studied this term managing his own time and schedule and deciding what he needed to focus on and when. He's been bringing his exams home in the past week so I can see them and his marks have been really good, all between 75 (Geography) -96 (Maths)%.

Anyhow, yesterday they got their Geography papers back and while the teacher was going through the exam with them - so they could write in corrections for the things they got wrong - Griff noticed he'd been awarded a mark on one question, where he's actually got the answer wrong. He took it back to show the teacher and got a mark deducted.

The teacher was so impressed at his ethics and honesty, that he got rewarded 10 merits.

I love that he has this deep level of integrity and sense of wrong and right. Too many people focus on what they can get away with...

POP FIT fun

Last month I happened to see a FB post in passing about a Mother's Day Competition on the Mommy Matters site. The prize was 8x POP FIT sessions at Virgin Active. 

Now I am a Virgin Active member, and had seen the posters and flyers about POP FIT (which apparently stands for Prepartum Or Postpartum fit. Ie covering pregnancy and the recovery and recuperation time thereafter. I was interested but the classes are semi-private and need to be booked, and cost extra, and also from what I could tell were all in the middle of the day, like 10am or 2pm, which is not convenient when you are working full-time. So I kind of wrote it off as something I wouldn't be doing. Also at the time I was still running and feeling completely 'normal' and able-bodied...

As pregnancy progresses though you feel more aches and pains, your feet get further away, walking up a flight of stairs gets you out of breath, and even if you could physically run your bladder would make sure to keep that run very short. In a nutshell a lot changes and you simply can't throw yourself around like you used to. You have to adapt your movements and that includes your exercise routines too.

So I find myself now in my 3rd trimester (and in the throes of winter) really not getting out for a walk much (never mind run) and even my usual weekly yoga class is getting more challenging. Also, ahem, I got a notification that I needed to increase my gym visits again or risk my membership lapsing (oh how the mighty have fallen - I was going about 3x a week not so very long ago). Oops.

Anyway so when I saw the competition I was quite excited and quickly entered. As luck, or good  fortune, would have it, I won! WooHoo!

I was duly contacted by a Virgin Active consultant, who turned out the be non-other than Maylen, one of my favourite kata-box instructors. And who has seen me being able to do 2x kata-box classes in a row and go for a run afterwards. So when I arrived for my first session I was a tad sheepish, explaining that I was a rather different size and shape than last time he saw me.

We set-up a 17:15 session for 8 weeks. Last week there were 2 of us. Basically it is a special class and service offered according to demand. Classes are kept small, to allow for personal attention, but since it is so new and still taking off the classes are so small you are very likely to actually get your own 1-on-1 personal training session right now. Score!

The focus is on safe for pregnancy, and for the most part gentle, excerise foscusing on a combination of balance, strenth and flexibility. So there a bit of weight work for arms and shouders, some core toning and balance on the physio ball, and some squats and stretching etc. I found the first class last week a tad mild to be honest, and ended up doing a 90-min yoga class straight after to feel I'd done a complete work-out.

This week though I was the only one there, and we'll as I said Maylen knows me. So all I can say is he showed no mercy. Sure he was kind and suitably cautious (well within the bounds of safety), but between him being prepared to push me a little, and me not being one to give in easily it turned out to be quite intense. Including some recumbent cycling (GREAT idea for when you are pregnant, I hadn't even though of that) and whatevere that arm cycling is called. 

By the end of the session I was sweating and puffing and panting and had certainly worked out! My legs actually felt a bit wobbly.

So with 2 down, and 6 to go, this is fabulous and exactly what I needed. Thanks Mommy Matters, Virgin Active and especially Maylen!

(that's not me with him in the pic, in case you are wondering!)