One small step for Rubens...

99cm

2009-05-31T17:05:00.001+10:00

Rubens is 99cm today!

i can..

2008-02-04T06:04:00.000+11:00

Ruby is 2 and a 1/4 and can

* talks in almost complete sentences of 3-5 words.
* loves reading books, can read his favourite books without us
* love repeating simple rhymes, playing with sound combos as found in Dr Suess
* pharaphrases simple stories from pictures or books
* loves singing and can carry a simple tune: B-I-N-G-O, rolly polly, Old Mac Donald, Mary had a Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle, Three Blind Mice, Sleeping Bunnies
* picks up on sentimential emotion of songs like 'some where over the rainbow' and mimics it as he sings
* understands "now, soon, and later"
* stacks blocks and toys
* can put together his tricky wood puzzles of 6-12 pieces puzzle
* matches shape silhouette to object, such as silhouette of a animal to the animal
* knows basic shapes: square, heart, circle, triangle, diamond
* loves drawing and painting draws a circle, but likes detailed text likes drawing with fine pens rather than crayons
* matches an object to a picture of that object
* identifies colors such as red, blue, yellow, green, pink, purple, white, black and can often tell you what colour something is
* can count to 12 in english and 7 in spanish
* is very interested animals, he likes picking out their tail, feet, ears, etc. etc. likes showing you what makes them different form another one, like a Moose and a Reindeer or a gorilla and a chimp.

He is amazing

Twinkle Twinkle Old MacDonald

2007-11-27T01:34:00.000+11:00

I can sing a gaggle of crazy songs now, twinkle twinkle the was first, but zoom zoom zoom we are going to the moon, see the sleeping bunnies, old Macdonald has a farm and A B C D are now part of my repertoire. I also like making up my own songs.

I can make 3 - 5 word sentences which is pretty cool. And can recognize basic colour (red green blue yellow) with out Mum and Dad's help and can count about three to five objects which I spot them).

I love swimming, Mum and I just found the Park Road pool, which is SO much fun. I quite happily throw myself into the water and Mum's arms.

T-Rex, Ahhhhhhhhhh!

2007-11-24T07:01:00.000+11:00

I met a T-Rex today, ahhhhhhhhhh! I am very glad my dad was holding me tight and telling me everything was alright. I don't know what animatronic means, but I can tell you that it roared, snarled and looked like it could eat me without chewing. I was amazing that dinosaurs come from eggs, an dmore curious about the eggs that I help mum crack open for my breakfast

We also stopped at a Christmas Fair and ice skating rink. I got to ride the carousel all by myself, which may not have been a great idea, as it didn't have anything to keep me in the car that I was whirling around on and I did it all by myself. Phew I made it, which seemed to make ma and pa relax a bit.

London

2007-11-11T18:53:00.000+11:00

London is amazing. Our second weekend in London included wandering through the woods bumping into a huge Remembrance day parade (with tanks, marching bands and lots of bag pipes), seeing a huge crack in the floor of the Tate Modern (Shibboleth by mum's art hero Doris Salcedo) , popping into St Pauls, see an amazing Christmas fair complete with olde fair ground rides.

Good bye Canada! We will miss you all

2007-11-02T13:10:00.000+11:00

We have thoroughly enjoyed living in Canada for the last year and a half. We will sadly miss many things, but most of all:

Ashely - our amazing girl Thursday, a ECE trained child care worker extraordinare who came to us once a week for a year with out fail and gave Ruby the same love and attention that I would! A truely extraordinary person

Karen and Fool (read Phil - Rubens is working on the pronunciation) Amongst the gems: Saturday morning adventures with Karen and Phil that always start with eggs and fire trucks ans usually end with a walk down Queen Street West. Exceptional friends who I hope will always be with us some how.

Twinkle Twinkle LIttle Star

2007-11-01T13:35:00.000+11:00

Our little star has started to sing the words of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with me when I sing him to sleep at night. Part of our little sleepy time ritual is to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Roobs has heard the song almost every night for his whole life, last night, out of the blue, he sang the whole thing with me.

Gosh he is clever

30 seconds of no fun at all

2007-10-27T11:43:00.000+10:00

Tonight Rubens was choking on a mouth full of rice cake and camembert cheese, and I mean seriously choking. The whole thing took about 30 seconds, but that was 30 seconds of no fun at all.

He was hanging around my legs and I was cooking him dinner, it was later than usual and he was mega hungry so I was feeding him chunks of food as I went... he was wolfing his pre-dinner treats down, when I look down and he has tears pouring down his cheeks and was trying to get a breath opening his mouth like a fish. So I wacked him on the back twice, he coughed, I clawed stuff out of his mouth (he did to) then starts breathing properly. I dont think his airway was completely blocked but...

I was shivery all over afterwards. Afterwards he got a treat of playing in the sink and making a huge water and bubble messy.

I looked this up afterwards

Step 1
- Determine if the infant can cry or cough. If not, proceed to the next step.

Step 2
- Give 5 back blows.

Step 3
- Give 5 chest thrusts.

Step 4
- Repeat steps 2 & 3 above until effective or the infant becomes unconscious. If the infant become unresponsive perform CPR, if you see an object in the throat or mouth remove it.

D is for daddy

2007-10-21T22:00:00.000+10:00

Hello, I am 2

2007-10-09T10:35:00.000+10:00

My favourite things are: trucks, fire engines, ice cream, cake, duddles/cuddles, Dora and Diego, Daddy and Mummy, Karen and Phil, Poppa and Grandma, pressing the bubble button in the bath, my green train, yellow tow truck and red Canada car - which must be placed into Mum's bag whenever we are leaving the house

Small sentences I like to say: "this way" "not that way" "come on" "hot, very hot" "sad, is sad?" "happy?"

I like to eat: ham, egg, cheese, meatballs and spaghetti, anything that mum buys at a restaurant, corn on the cob, almost all fruit

I love to eat: ice cream and birthday cake

I don't like to eat: what ever I loved last meal, vegetables, grapes

My favourite outings are: watching soccer, watching and listening the university choir and orchestra practice, muffin and coffee trips to the park, collecting rocks, going to see the man and the horse

Things that puzzle me: emotions, sad and happy, why Mum calls the ice cream truck the chicken truck when we pass it

Thinks I do not like: Sad looking people or characters in books - it makes me upset, Bob the builder is too scary

New things I can do: take my shoes and socks off, buckle my self in to the stroller and high chair, repeat the last phrases of sentences in my favorite books.

Fall in T dot O

2007-09-13T10:41:00.000+10:00

Roobs and I are enjoying the beginning of Fall on campus. We have moved into some fancy digs in Hart House. We have been running from one end of the house to the other, hiding in the antiques and posing in front of the amazing art. Roobs in enjoying the nightly bubbles 'on demand' bath (the jacuzzi), I am just lovin the two headed shower and the dishwasher. I am so happy to have this opportunity to stay at UofT for two more months, it is an amazing opportunity.

Rubens is loving the football and soccer games that we see as soon as we leave the house. He is so eager to join in, it takes a lot to keep him out. We are also stopping by to watch the university orchestra practice, he is so amazed that music can comes out of the trumpets, flutes and trombones. Oh and the pretty weddings on the weekend. He calls them 'pretty' which is cute.

But... we miss Aaron alot. A real lot. He has been in London for I think almost 25 days. 49 to go until we move to London to be with him. He is coming to visit us soon at the end of the month. Yay

Rubens new fav music video

2007-09-11T10:24:00.000+10:00

Home is where... mum and dad are

2007-08-29T11:44:00.000+10:00

Mum and Dad have been madly packing boxes and moving stuff including me!
Apparently Dad is moving to London a little a head of us, Mum and I are staying in Toronto for two more months. You know it is kinda nice here, but I can't wait to see our new place near Queens Woods in London.

A day at Riverdale Farm

2007-08-18T08:57:00.000+10:00

84 cm tall

2007-07-22T23:43:00.000+10:00

I am 84 cm tall

Ruby chatting

2007-07-07T01:40:00.000+10:00

Rubens reading his mum his favourite 'Dora' book.

He says: Sit, Butterfly, Bird, Cow, Horse, [Ba]nana, Fishes, Frog, Chicken, Boots, Snap snap crocodile, Bird, Swiper ( a book character), Choo choo train, Dora, Hat, Bug, More bug, More bug, More bug, Diego( a book character), Ball, Swiper, See, Swiper, Backpack (a book character), Map (a book character), Hat, Octopus, Apple, Ball, Elephant, Fishy, Swim, Ice cream, Star, Dora, Jellyfish, Owl, Hoot hoot, Rock, Hat, Boots ball, Star, Horse, [ba]nana.

Learning the art of bush walking

2007-07-06T06:07:00.000+10:00

After Mum and Dad got married, we went to the Bruce Peninsula, on Lake Huron, for a week, where I learnt the art of bush walking with a really big stick.

words rubens can say

2007-06-16T11:51:00.000+10:00

car, truck, ball, yellow, ham, home, two, three, hat, hair, hand, shoe, dog, cat, turtle, cow, fishes, horse, boots, swiper, dora, sheep, duck, dinasaur, bottle, stroller, nanna, banana, orange, cheese, apple, ham, apple sauce, up, down, no, yeuh, bike, zoom, truck, truck, truck, bird, pig, squirrel, frog, tree, plane, helicopter, chair, ambulance, hi, bye, bye bye, MOLE, sky, poppa, MaMa, Caroline, Dad, Muma, phil, poo, teeth, choo choo, baby, nose, eye, ears, toes, elbow, rock, flower,

Mum and Dad got married!

2007-06-01T12:00:00.000+10:00

Bug Bug, mama, Bug

2007-05-11T05:25:00.000+10:00

"Bug.... mama, bug"

This bug is scarier that any redback, funnelweb or white tail spider in Australia. It might just be a house centipede, but it moved so damned fast and has such long ickky legs... Apparently they can even bite... Rubes loved spotting it though.

New word: Dinosaur

2007-05-10T06:19:00.000+10:00

This week's new word is dinosaur. Ruby is collecting Schleich animals (http://www.schleich-s.de) and he has a Stegosaurus (which goes "grrrrrrr" like almost every toy) which he has just leant to call a die-na-s-orr. It is such a cute word.

Dinner time

2007-04-15T18:16:00.000+10:00

Dinner time in our house is messy, but fun!

I am 80 cm

2007-04-13T23:43:00.000+10:00

I am 80 cm tall

Apple delight

2007-04-10T06:06:00.000+10:00

Family fun on the ibook..

turtle

2007-03-09T01:24:00.000+11:00

"turtle" is rubys new word of the morning. He picked up a puzzle piece and brought it to us and said "turtle"! Two wonderful syllables, we hadn't said the word that day, he just remebered it from previous games and linked it to the turtle puzzle piece. Then he said "ball", opened the pop-up puzzle piece and the turtle emerged from his shell, he said "turtle"

now that is clever!

and... some more words

2007-03-08T08:04:00.000+11:00

Ball - balls in books, balls to throw, balls are fun!

Baby

Truck - an the latest word was this morning. We got trrrrrk (like tr-uck but without the u).

More words

2007-03-03T05:40:00.000+11:00

Tiger (tiiiie-ga)
Car - the world is full of cars. Cars on PJs, cars digging in the ice and snow out the front of our house (well trucks and trackers but they are cars to ruby).
Laura - a sweet girl in his day care group, they cause mischief together
Snow (ssssnoow)
Sssssssssssss (for snake)

after Christmas....

2007-03-03T05:33:00.000+11:00

Post from Mum: Is is well after Christmas but Rubens current favourite book is 'The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas'. It was a lovely gift from Kelly and Jim, but ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

The kooaburra up a gumtree, two pink galahs, three little penguins, four cuddling koalas, five Kan-Ga-Rooos, six playing possums, seven sharks a swiming, eight flys a feasting, nine crocs a weeping, ten wombats sleeping, eleven emus kicking and twelve devils fighting... are drving me slightly crazy...

(I can remember the whole book, and I dont have it with me...)

2007-03-02T06:13:00.000+11:00

Day trip to the Toronto Island

2007-02-17T06:13:00.000+11:00

So one crazy Saturday, after many months couped up in the house, we decide to take a nice trip to the Toronto Islands. OK so it is like -10 today, but I had heard that the ferry was still working.

The lake water is frozen solid, as you can see from the pictures, except for a channel the the ferry has been taking back and forth.

2007-02-14T01:42:00.000+11:00

Apple, Apple Apple.

Rubens world is full of apples. Apple is his first offical two syllable word, it is so cute. He says Aaaa-pull, then smiles and claps his hands.

2007-01-24T15:11:00.000+11:00

Post from Mum: Ruby is of course as cute as ever. He has three new tricks: blowing kisses, waving hello and the 'high 5' slap.

The cutest is blowing kisses. Ruby happily blows kisses to mum, dad, his carers and family on Skype. The high five slap makes him so happy, he seems really proud he can do it.

He is mastering winning friends and strangers over with big hearty hand waves. Usually he spots a person, on a street-car, through a shop window or standing near him, he starts with a small wave to grab their attention, they then usually smile and wave back, he grins, pretents to hide then starts waving full force.

Snow!

2007-01-23T12:44:00.000+11:00

Lately I have discovered snow. At first it was a bit strange, this stuff falling from the sky, but the other my dad took me to Trinity Bellwoods Park to play in it. Although it was -2, I had my big blue snow suit on, which makes me look like an odd waddling bundle but keeps me warm. I would take a few steps, look down and then waddle on some more. Then we found a big mound of snow, although it had frozen into ice. I loved bashing it with my gloves until they fell off, then I would do it again. Its is cold, and my cheeks turn red but I like watching the dogs slide around as they run on the frozen grass!

New Words, made up words & signs

2006-11-19T12:07:00.000+11:00

I have a few new words and a whole pile of crazy madeup conversations that I have earnestly with ma and pa, I just don't get why they cant understand me! In english I can now say: hi, hello and I am trying to say dog or doggy.

I understand most of what Mum and Dad say now, things like: "Rubens, can you see the squirrels?" I can say yes and point to them. I also know when people say 'hello what a cute baby' to me, I say 'hi' and 'goodbye'. I really like saying hi and goodbye to everyone, sometimes I do this on the street car when no one is talking to me so I can meet new people.

I am pretty good at my sign language now too. I can say more, and bottle. When mum asks if I am hungry using signs I use the same sign to show that I am. Mum has made a few signs up like "bottle" and "we're all done" which I use to ask and tell her when I want a bottle or when I have had enough veggies.

Aunty Victoria comes to visit

2006-11-10T23:17:00.000+11:00

My first words

2006-11-04T15:25:00.000+11:00

I am starting to be able to say a few words. Of course I can say mamamamamam and Dad Dad I have been able to say for a while but now I can say Book when I want a book and Bye-Bye to the girls in my baby class at school. I am pretty clever...

The Family Photo Booth

2006-11-04T15:23:00.000+11:00

Click on this photo to see the family in action...

My Birthday party....

2006-10-09T22:50:00.000+10:00

First thing in the morning here I am opening a couple of presents from mum and dad: monster puppets made in Quebec.

My first cake and my first little party in our local park... We spent a few hours in the park, enjoying a 20 degree sunny day with big blue skys with Mum, Dad, Mary-Ellen, Dave, Tully, Kevin and my little mate Isabel.

Hanging in the Park

2006-10-08T10:48:00.000+10:00

Learning to slide on the slippery slide all by myself!

And just hanging out the front of my house and in the park, just before my first birthday.

I am nearly one

2006-10-07T00:52:00.000+10:00

11 months today

2006-09-10T06:25:00.000+10:00

Here I am with my new truck walking and talking in my own special language. I love this truck, really truely love this truck.

Today is Saturday and Dad and I are playing chases outside our favourite food market, St Lawerence Markets. Look how well I can run now, I almost get away!

I am 10 months old today

2006-08-10T09:10:00.000+10:00

And I can...

WALK: well I am starting to. I have taken 10 whole steps up the hallway. The trick to it is determination, I just focus on the thing that I really, really want and my legs just seem to (drunkenly) carry me along.

SAY: fergule gurgle. Mum and Dad don't know what it means...

EAT: Well... dirt and sand is still number one. Anything mum cooks is number 100 million zillion (right at the bottom). I have tried to eat a slater, but mum fished it out (I was pretty proud of myself for catching such a small, quick bug).

My first few steps

2006-08-02T00:11:00.000+10:00

Ruby is not yet 10 months old and is starting to walk. Here he is near Niagara Falls playing with Dad adn walking five whole steps all by himself! Wow. He is getting move and more confident each day. He is so game and of course we are sooo proud.

I can stand!

2006-07-19T12:24:00.000+10:00

I can stand, yeah, yeah yeah... for about 20 seconds, as long as I am very distracted or interested in something. I am very clever :D

I am 9 months today and I can...

2006-07-09T22:41:00.000+10:00

Say... "mumumumumumumum" and "dad" "dada". I am contsantly surprised when using these words get me attention or even better, what I want. A little 3 year old girl I meet playing in the park told my mum that I said "hi" to her, and she was quite definite, so we can add that to the list too.

Eat... dirt. And rocks. And those funny twirly seed pods that fly of oak trees. And sand. Sometimes I like mum's organic vegie surprises, but I really love yoghurt. I like to try everything that mum eats, but gerkins/pickles puzzle me.

Crawl... very very fast. People always say "gee, he moves fast" as I try to escape the baby play area to get to the bigger boys and their noisey monster truck games. I can crawl up about 20 stairs to the apartment and I can crawl in the wading pool at the park - with my bum in the air, so I dont scrape my knees on the concrete. If I crawl too deep in the water I get a face full of water, which surprises me every time.

Walk... holding onto one hand of someone close for about 20 steps. Or if no one is about I walk my box or my giant block truck.

Stand... almost. I can pull myslef to standing on anything, including other babies, but they are a bit squishy and tend to cry a bit...

Baby you can drive...

2006-06-22T06:42:00.000+10:00

Sweet baby Rubens is learning to drive. Our shipping from Australia arrived so the house is full of boxes he likes to drive (or hide in). He has just found out that he can drive the high chair too - see the video. (sorry it is 10mb). He is a cheeky monkey.

Ruby bears all

2006-06-21T19:00:00.000+10:00

My new best mate, the super large teddy bear (no name yet) has arrived from Australia. While he was a bit scary at first Mum showed me that he giggles when she tickles him, just like when she tickles me :D I like ot jump on to him when I have finished my bath becuase he is super soft and warm.

Monkey swingin

2006-06-20T12:29:00.000+10:00

One little monkey’s swinging in a tree
teasing Mr. Alligator can’t catch me….can’t catch me
along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
and snapped that monkey out that tree

I am 8 months old today

2006-06-09T10:23:00.000+10:00

Hello everyone,

I am 8 months old today, I have learnt so much just recently and I can do so much more than when I arrived in Canada. I have learn how to say 'Dad' to Dad, which makes him very happy. I can crawl in three different styles (comando, traditional and a funky variation with one leg raised at 45). Comando is the fastest indoors, but my own funky style gets me across a playground pretty fast too. I love standing and running. I am just beginning to stand holding on to only one of mum's hands and I can stand up by pulling my self up on almost anything. I still have three naps a day and love sleeping face down and kind of sitting on my knees with my sweet baby butt in the air.

The pram is my favourite standing toy at the moment cause it moves and is a little like walking, just without Mum. I love the park where I chase the noisiest kids. Because I cant run without Mum yet my running style is a little unusual, my legs move faster than my body so I kinda bend.

I love the Children's place I go to with Mum to sing songs a play. My new mate Reese, who is 12 months old, has taught me how to climb up the baby gym stairs, crawl over the top and slide down the over side. Mum taught me how to crawl through the baby gym tunnel. I meet lots of other babies in there. Two different baby girls have given me kisses in the park and I have kissed my new mate Fergus on the forehead. I actually gave him a raspberry, but those toddler girls kissed me on the lips. Yuk!!

Our Street in Toronto

2006-05-11T07:37:00.000+10:00

This is where we live in Toronto. Spring has sprung so the leaves on the trees budding and the flowers are a poppin.

Day in the park

2006-05-01T23:02:00.000+10:00

Today we spent getting to know our new neighbourhood in Toronto. We are very near the Trinity Bellwoods Park which is just so nice. Here were all are in the park, it is about 20 degrees and wonderfully sunny. Spring has sprung. Ruby is asking to walk more and more, he can walk to the tulips, follow Daddy, probably about twenty steps or more! We are very proud.

wanna bite?

2006-04-29T06:27:00.000+10:00

At first he dribbled, then he slobbered and cried and needed lotsa cuddles...

guess what happened, two lovely teeth...

We tried a lot of teething remedies like teething rings, but Ruby loved gnawing on cucumber and hated Bonjela - even though it got him to sleep in less than 60 seconds flat!

With his new found teeth he likes to gnaw and my arm then rub my arm with his hand, it is like he is checkingto see if his teeth work :D

welcome to Toronto

2006-04-27T01:34:00.000+10:00

We have been in Toronto for almost two whole weeks now, thankfully jetlag is behind us and Ruby is sleeping well. We have already seen the CN tower and we have just found a great little apartment to rent. Our apartment is in Little Italy and I am very excited about setting up Rubens' nursery in the new apartment.

We are learning the Canadian language pretty quickly. For example: Ruby's mom is so sweet, she can change his diaper and put him in his crib to sleep without so much as a squeek."

Ruby is loving the condo that Aaron's company put us up in. It is so hot (centrally controlled heating) that Ruby sleeps in just a diaper and singlet. He loves scooting around on the floor (it too is heated). He isn't crawling 'techincally' but he can cover the lenght of a queen bed in seconds. Which he did much to mom's surprise and landed head first on the floor. So we had our first experience of the Toronto helath system, I called 911, and was put through to Telehealth, a 24hour phone line staffed by nurses. There we great, and Ruby was fine. Very scary though.

Little Animals

2006-04-19T21:55:00.000+10:00

Ruby said goodbye to his little animal friends Leila and Zilzie, and his big friends Al and Bernie at Fox their Mummy and Daddy's work.

Goodbye Australia

2006-04-09T23:47:00.000+10:00

We said goodbye to both families at a get together at the Waring's house in Canberra. Here are some pictures of the Barclay clan, and cousin Kayla feeding Ruby his first piece of corn.

Ruby's 1st foods

2006-04-06T05:33:00.000+10:00

At mighty 5 months old Ruby started playing with rice cereal. By six months Grandma could feed him smashed veggies like squash, pumpkin and sweet potato.

Ruby's favourite things

2006-03-09T08:13:00.000+11:00

Rubens is 5 months old today!!!!!

He had a nice big meal of rice ceral and advocado last night and sleeped from 7.30 to 7 am (with a 20min feed at 3am), we are so proud of him. I feel on top of theorld. I am pretty sure our little one needs the food on top of breastmilk now, and it is so much fun feeding him!

So at 5 months what a ruby's favourite things?
1. Playing in the park under the big trees is definately at the top of the list. He likes to roll around and chat to the leaves while I drink coffee and read the paper. Or after a jog we lie down in the park and he is my weight training toy. He loves it.
2. Rasberries, on him, under his arms and on his belly. It gets a quiet little giggle out of him. Sooo sweet.
3. Blowing his own rasberries, it normally means he is super happy. It is kinda messy as drool goes every where.

more tommorrow...

Just another day at the beach

2006-03-05T18:04:00.000+11:00

We spent another lovely Sydney day laping up the sunshine and surf in north Bondi. I am really tring to soak it up as we are off back to the UK so very soon. Ruby went for a swim in the baby pool, while the older kiddies ran through the water catching the blue bottles that were being thrown into the pool by the surf. He just loves the water, he is a real water baby

Aaron's north to south Bondi swim was aborted 1/2 way through because he was stung for the second day running!

Ruby First held...

2006-01-02T22:09:00.000+11:00

This is a photo of a special moment, the very first time Ruby held something. It was about 7am, and his mum was up playing with him. She handed him the rattle and he rattled it, and shook it and waved it, and his mum was very proud

Baby's First Christmas

2005-12-25T21:29:00.000+11:00

Ahhh, Christmas: toys, wrapping, squealing, and lots of fun.

Sorry Ruby we thought that outfit was super cute!

Ahhhh!

2005-12-25T00:00:00.000+11:00

Off to sleep

2005-12-11T15:22:00.000+11:00

Three Sweet peas

2005-11-05T10:31:00.000+11:00

Here are three sweet peas, Zilzie, Leila and Rubens the day after Jim and Kelly's wedding, sunning themselves by the pool.

It was a big, wonderful, exciting and exhausting wedding, as you can see...

My first days in this world

2005-10-10T09:53:00.000+10:00

How I came into this world

2005-10-09T21:04:00.000+10:00

Here is Rubens Alexander Barclay, less than one hour old...

Mum's Labour Story
My lovely sister was going to be staying over for the night. I knew 'something was different' on Sunday night. Before I went to bed I thought about the fact that she was going to be with us for the start of my labour and how special that was, but nothing had happened yet, i just had a feeling. I was pretty relaxed, but excited going to bed. I am not sure if I mentioned my gut feeling to Aaron yet. Anyway I woke up around 2 am and thought, wow, I think this is starting. We had had a big false labour ’wake up call’ about two weeks before, so I was trying to not get too excited… I paced a bit, then decided to wake Aaron to tell him and then try to sleep. We did sleep until about 8.30 which was great, Caroline was up getting ready to go around the same time. Aaron and Caroline chatted and made breakfast and alternated giving me back massages.

We called the Birth Centre to let them know where we were up to, at this stage it all seemed pretty easy. I jumped into the shower a few times. Caroline headed off to work and we called the Birth Centre. I wanted to be at home for as long as possible. Before midday we had called the Birth centre again, I think we were have contractions every minute for 20 seconds - oh I don't remember - but it was ramping up and the pain was getting more intense. It seemed like it was time to get moving before the drive became uncomfortable. We jumped in the car and drove up King Street in Newtown (while it is a main street it was my chosen route as it didn't have speed bumps). I remember a wave of a contraction peaking as I was watched passers-by shopping.

Aaron and I went into the Birth Centre together and we were shown to a room with a courtyard. The room was a bit like a plush hotel room, I was thinking that I would enjoy this, then another contraction hit, maybe not! Aaron started texting and phoning and I started groaning. I was about 5 cm dilated, so we stayed. Aaron went to start taking photos, but, oh no we forgot the camera. So I sent him back home and soldiered on by myself. He came back pretty fast, by that time I really needed him and wouldn’t let him leave my side again. The next hours just rushed by for me, but I think they stretched out for Aaron. In this photo I seem happy, Aaron seemed to get lots of happy labour photos of me, funny becuase by this stage I thought I was in lots of pain.

At some point the midwife got the bath ready and in between contractions I got in. I wanted to give birth to Ruby in the bath. It was all going along well, but the pain was increasing so I tried the gas. I was determined that gas was going to be my only pain relief. Oh boy, I loved that gas. As each contraction came I inhaled as much as I could possibly squeeze into my lungs, and it was gooood. I still thrashed around in pain like a beached whale, sending water all over Aaron and the midwife. Hahaha, they complained they were wet, from where I was I didn't care. I thrashed about in the bath and really wacked my head, I ended up with tender bruises the next day.

While I was in the bath and on gas I told what I thought we the funniest jokes I had ever made, got cranky with the midwife while she told me not to push (although every fibre of my being said P-U-S-H), and tried to give aaron an arm wrestle, I was finally allowed to push. I started, but my contractions and urge was going, my contractions lessened but I keep trying to force them. I think I pushed for two hours in the bath. Nothing much seemed to be happening, and i was getting tired. So we got out onto the floor with cushions, and again, nothing much was happening.

Right at this really difficult point I heard Aaron’s family calling out just out side my room. I had been screaming and groaning at the top of my lungs, it was so funny that in between that we heard them. I panicked and Aaron ran out to head them off.

After 2 1/2 hours of pushing nothing was happening, so we had a choice, keep trying or have a hormone injection in help speed up contractions. I agreed to go to the labour ward and have the injection. So I walked out of the Birth Centre and across the hallway to the Labour Ward. On the way I collapsed to my knees and had a huge urge to push, in the foyer of the hospital. Then I had another as I waited at the midwife station for them to admit me to the ward. The nurses in the labour ward seemed to think that I was progressing fine (given the fact I was sitting on the ground in the hallway pushing and screaming). I just didn't care by that stage, the walking had kicked the labour into gear, I thought that someone had better make up their minds and give me a room or Rubens was coming out in the hallway. We were shown to a room, I was given the injection through a drip, and was able to continue labour actively on the floor using a birth stool. Rubens was out in about 1/2 hour. God did it hurt! I was being encouraged to push but I could feel myself ripping in two. I just tried to ignore it and pushed.

Out slipped a tiny shiny purple and red bundle about 9pm. Aaron was right there, and I had Ruby in my arms straight away. As we held him we saw that he was a boy. Aaron cut the cord has we held him in our arms and I tried to breastfeed him within seconds - which I was glad because I didn‘t get to hold him again for about ½ an hour because of what happened next.

I was exhausted, I don’t remember getting into the bed. But I watched Ruby being measured and I was given a list things I must do, including have a shower. Before I got into the shower both families arrived and were very excited. It was so incredible to have both our families drive 4 hours to get to see us. The last part of the story was the only medical scary part of the labour, after everyone left, I struggled into the shower, tried to pee as instructed (on the threat of a catheter) then everything went black. I had called out to Aaron as I collapsed. Aaron caught me and struggled to hold me up as he pressed the emergency button. I woke up in a wheelchair, then again in bed with a drip in my arm and some concerned looks… After stitches, and the drip Aaron and I went to the maternity ward about 1.30am. We stayed awake smiling and glowing about our new little bundle. Aaron slipped home for some well earned rest while I tucked Ruby into bed with me (a lovely nurse showed me how) and we went to sleep.

Writing this several months later, I can look back and say that the labour was easy peasy, but looking at this photo I now remember that I was so shattered when Aaron clicked the shutter for this photo. Someone looking at this photo suggested that my pose is kind of glamorous, actually I was in so much pain this pose it was as close as I could get to getting out of the bed and over to where Aaron and Rubens were.

But really it was easy, we have a wonderful baby and I would do it again in a flash!