My Pregnancy Scrapbook [in Full]

I've made this post public for two reasons: 

1. To share with my family and friends who have listened to me talk about this project for a long time now; and

2. To inspire anyone who happens to find this post through search engines that there are many ways to document a pregnancy, and digital scrapbooking is one of them. :)

Just after Christmas, I finished working on my pregnancy scrapbook which had been over two years in the making. I taught myself digital scrapbooking when I was pregnant with Rowan so that I could undertake this project, and when I look back over my earlier layouts to the more recent ones in the book, I can really tell the difference. I thought about remaking a few of them before printing, but resisted the urge because I have memories associated with these earlier pages. So instead I tweaked the shadows and fixed up any glaring mistakes, and sent it all off for printing.

I printed with an Australian company called 123Cheese, as I had a coupon I'd bought earlier during 2012 with this purpose in mind. Basically, I got a $100+ project printed for $30, including postage/shipping. I was impressed with that, and had printed with the company before (photobooks, not digital scrapbooking projects) so I could vouch for their printing quality. Blurb are another printing company that I recommend, their quality is phenomenal but they are more expensive (you can search out coupons online pretty easily though, there are generally 15% coupons floating around; even up to 25% off before Christmas).

Anyway, back to the book... it was quite literally a labour of love and although I've shared pages here and there from it before, I've never posted it in its entirety before now. So without further ado, here are some pictures of the printed book itself and all week-by-week layouts. Lots of text (mainly for me to look back on, plenty of belly pictures and all the things I deemed important to tell at the time. I've had people ask me if I'd go to this much "effort" for subsequent pregnancies and I've said no, though I'd probably do a more abridged version if time allowed.

Some of the text/pictures might be difficult to make out, but that's due to the compression and resizing. In the printed book, everything looks crystal clear - even the thin journalling fonts. :)

The book itself; hardcover and linen-bound, printed in 12x12".
Hand for size comparision!

An example of layouts in the book (weeks 16-17)

The printing quality is exceptional, though a stitch-bound album would have been lovely,
glue-bound was only available from this company.

Following the week-by-week pages, I have his (lengthy) birth story, and a spread of 10 photographs of Rowan's first week in the world

ONTO THE ALBUM!

To view all pictures at a better size, click on one of them and it will take you to a full-windowed gallery (displaying bigger than in this post)

Inside front cover

Rowan at 21 Months

Rowan has been going through big changes since I last wrote a 'developmental' entry. Here's a little of what has been happening:

He was initially becoming frustrated with communication. It was obvious to us that Rowan was wanting to tell us more but he didn't really seem to know how. Perhaps this meant his speech wasn't keeping up with his brain. It resulted in a lot of toddler meltdowns up until just before Christmas, when he suddenly woke up one morning and was able to string 2-3 word sentences together (yes, it literally happened that fast...!). Our extended family commented on how his vocabulary suddenly expanded, and we were amazed too. We're hearing phrases such as "door open Mummy", "key door Rowie" and "food hot blow".

Rowan refers to himself as "Rowie" (it must be easier for him to say?) and goes between calling us Mama/Dada and Mummy/Daddy. He's learning new words every day (or so it seems at the moment).

A phrase we're hearing a lot is "Rowie do it!", and that means EVERYTHING. Rowan is wanting to be fiercely independent at the moment and we're trying to encourage safety and boundaries (as in gentle discipline) a lot more than in previous months. We know that he understands, there are plenty of toddler tantrums involved, and last night when he refused to settle down for milk or books before bed and instead wanted to open the door to the loungeroom, he was put to bed without the regular comforts. He howled/screamed for about two minutes before passing out cold and sleeping for 12 hours straight (and here I thought I'd traumatised the poor boy; it was me who was more affected!)

Rowan is interacting with books and television more lately, telling us "uh oh" when objects/people crash or fall over (for example). When the closing credits to a show are on, he tells you "buh bye" while waving. His sense of recognising brands is a little frightening to me - we don't shop a lot (as in non-grocery shopping), and I didn't think I had commercial TV stations on much in our house, but Rowan recognises ads for Target, Hungry Jacks and Big W.


Some of his recent favourites are:

Books - Too Many Pears (Jackie French) / There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Having a Birthday Party (Hazel Edwards) / anything from the Hairy Maclary series (Lynley Dodd).

TV - Peppa Pig, Giggle and Hoot.

Foods - Rice Bubbles, blackberries, strawberries, canned peaches and pears (but won't touch fresh peaches this year!), toast, hard-boiled egg (only the white, egg yolk is the only food he physically gags himself with).

Phrases - "Rowie do it" / "Ohhhh yeah!" / "Mama car beep beep".


After Rowan managed to do a small poo on the toilet by himself the other day (!!!), I decided a teachable moment might be upon us and purchased a seat insert for our toilet. Proudly Rowan walked with the seat around the shops (it has a carry handle) and told the cashier “Rowie poo poo”, which was just as hilarious as it was sweet! :D

We haven’t started the real learning yet, but Rowan’s definitely making the connection between the toilet and how you use it. I don’t want to make a big deal of it, as I’m guessing he’s still a bit young yet and though he has more control over his bladder/bowels than what he used to a couple of months ago, I’m not expecting anything. Since the toilet seat purchase, he’s been getting into the novelty of the seat, and is watching us both very intently when we use the toilet, commenting a lot on what he sees (ie, “paper dry dry” and “Ohhhh.... Mama poo. BIG!”). Alas, life with a toddler. Check in your privacy forever. ;)

Our Christmases

We celebrated Christmas with my husband's family interstate this year (we do alternate years in Melbourne and Hobart, especially important now given that grandchildren are involved!), and it was a busy, whirlwind of an adventure filled with family, food and time spent in the inflatable pool that Rowan received. He was a tad overstimulated on the day, not thinking much of opening presents (though exclaiming with joy about clothing with tags on it!) and taking a couple of bites of Christmas lunch before turning it away and asking for strawberries. Very typical Rowan. 

Here are some pictures from our Christmases (the week before we celebrated with my family, who live in Melbourne)

Rowan with my Mum (his Nana)

He served himself up Christmas dinner with my family and was ever so proud!
(biscuits and dip) Needless to say, a plate of 'proper' dinner was also added to his tray.

He was absolutely ecstatic about getting his very own police car
(Rowan had been trying out the buttons on one for several weeks at a shop apparently)

Playing peekaboo games with my Dad.

This picture (and the ones following) were from our Hobart Christmas.
Rowan received an electric car which he had fun 'driving' all around the decking.

Bath time adventures (we don't have a bath at home, so this was a novelty)

Fun in the sun, in the pool. :)

Walking with Daddy on Christmas Eve in Richmond.

Drinking water out of a goblet on Christmas Day (before abandoning his dinner in favour of strawberries).

A family picture, also taken on Christmas Day.

Plane-spotting before it was time to leave Hobart.

Rowan at 19 Months Old

Our little man is now 19 months old, and getting cheekier, more inquisitive and surprising us more every day with what he is discovering about the world. Rowan is talking up a storm lately, and is stringing together two-word sentences regularly (such as "weetbix bowl" or "Ro-Ro nigh-nigh).

Speaking of nigh-nigh, pretending to put himself to bed is Rowan's most favourite game at the moment. Now that he has the height and body strength to get up onto our big bed, he moves the pillows and squirrels down under the blanket and sheet before declaring "nigh-nigh!" and asking for a kiss. And then it repeats itself... over and over again. And the tantrums that are had about our bedroom door being closed and the bed off-limits, yikes! Needless to say, the evening routine that involves getting to read together under the blankets is one of Rowan's favourite parts of the day.

Rowan has figured out the concept of yes and no during the past month, and responds appropriately to things he likes/dislikes. "Yah!" is a common word we hear enthusiastically said, and "noooooo" ranks a close second. Similarly, he also says "ta" response to giving you something, or wanting something you have. All of these new concepts make him seem so much of a mini-adult at the moment.

His fascination with number and colour continues, and most mornings are spent with at least some time looking over the balcony in the search for blue cars (Rowan's favourite). Trucks, taxis and buses also make for much excitement too.

Toys and other items are beginning to get lined up haphazardly, and Rowan will pretend to count (usually "tooo.... toooo.... toooo" to indicate that he wants to count; really cute!).

After a spate of colds, Rowan's sleep is pretty good at the moment - he's regularly sleeping from 8.30pm-7am (even though he likes to play in his cot at night before falling asleep; you can hear him chattering and/or kicking the wall). He is seeking out more water and less breastmilk at the moment, swapping sides regularly when feeding and I have to convince him to continue on the first side before taking the second.

He surprised us recently by asking for milk and when I lifted up my top in preparation for feeding him, he said "noooo" and ran to the fridge and said "milk... cold". As it turns out, he wanted cow's milk in a sippy cup, which astounded me as I didn't know he liked the taste of it by itself (my guess is that he'd had it at childcare at some point? Rowan has cow's milk on his cereal most mornings but never sought it out by itself before). Since that day a couple of weeks ago, he asks for "cold milk" almost daily, usually during morning or afternoon tea time.

A family picture on our 4th wedding anniversary (Rowan pressed the remote shutter!)

Applauding himself after patting a baby goat at the farm.

Contemplative face.

One of my current favourite pictures of Rowan, playing with my handbag.

Mastitis

So after feeling yucky and terrible for over 24 hours, I started expressing yellow-green pus from my right breast after Rowan boycotted eating from that side. No wonder he wasn't interested in it. And no wonder I was feeling so ill. I've had my fair share of blocked milk ducts in the past (almost) 19 months, but this was in a new league... hello mastitis!

I chowed down on raw garlic, rosemary and hand-expressed what I could over an 18-hour period and, after hand-expressing milk several times last night and this morning (Rowan slept 11 hours straight), the lumps in my breast are a lot smaller and not feeling engorged/tight, and only mild tenderness remains. The red streaks across my breast are also gone today – and the colour of the milk is more normalised too. By tonight, Rowan fed normally off that side, so I’m guessing that the taste was back to his liking too. I haven’t felt so flu-like either so, while I wouldn’t consider myself in the clear just yet, I’m feeling a damned-sight better than I was 24 hours ago.

Rowan has been going through a pinching phase lately (not in anger/frustration, but experimentation; just touching skin and saying “ouch” – my breasts included. He pinched/pulled quite hard a couple of days ago, so I’m wondering if that had anything to do with what I have been going through?).

One of the women in our Mums Group announced that she is pregnant again (she is 11 weeks, her daughter is 18 months old and the youngest in the group; the rest of the babies are between 19-21 months old at the moment). I’m thrilled for her but understandably have a little stab of envy. While pregnant and parenting Rowan, it was/is easy for me to forget our fertility struggles at times... but knowing that more pregnancies are likely to be announced by the other ladies in the next year or two makes me a little apprehensive about our own next step. Yes, we want to have (at least) another child in the future, but I have no idea what form this will take. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to go through month after month of disappointment, or appointments, needles, hormones, medication, procedures and waiting. Oh the waiting. Yes, we were incredibly lucky to have conceived Rowan on our first attempt of IVF but who’s to say that we won’t be so lucky next time? Going through this all the first time I had nothing to compare it to. But now? Being older, wiser and with more life experience I know how hard it can be. And I’m scared. Even things such as riding the IVF rollercoaster and going to appointments without work/family knowing (ie, arranging care for Rowan) so at least we could keep things more of a surprise next time if/when pregnancy happens. 

Sleep is for the Weak

So here is the situation... Rowan has been early to hit a lot of his milestones (physical and developmental), sleep has been no exception. He dropped to 2 x daytime naps at 5 months old, and was down to a single nap by 12 months. Now, at 18 months, I suspect that he may be preparing to cut the daytime nap out altogether.

At 10-12 months old, when Rowan was starting to take shaky first steps (walking full-time by his birthday), he went back and forth on 1-2 naps. He was getting more tired as he used more energy during the day being so active (while calm and placid in his personality, physically he is a very active child). Once walking got easier he stayed at the one nap per day - and it has been a decent-length one: 2-3 hours most days. 

With the other nap-dropping, there was warning because previous naps got longer or the second/third sleep got shorter, but it's different this time. There's toddler defiance (wall kicking/banging; so I'm unsure whether it's stubbornness or what), and more consistent night sleep. Our pre-nap routines are the same so I'm not sure what it happening here.

Time will tell, I suppose. I just wanted to make a note of it in here so I can look back in later weeks/months in case there's a "a-ha!" moment somewhere. ;)

For the time being, I shall lament the loss of the daytime nap/tea break!!

Teething

Rowan has been teething over the last couple of weeks (so what else is new?!), I finally got a look in his mouth yesterday before work and noticed two of his canines are coming through at once - tooth #14 and #15. Rowan has been more of a one-tooth-at-a-time teether during his life (and doesn't take teething in his stride, despite wearing his baltic amber necklace and using pain relief where necessary), so I can imagine this is rather painful for him.

I thought he had a tough time with cutting that first set of molars, but the canines have been just as bad for him, if not worse! I'd heard about this from other parents, but didn't really believe it as the canine teeth appear to be much smaller than molars (ie, cutting one point as opposed to four). Famous last words, hey?

We've all been tired as a result of disjointed night-times, so what a surprise to have him sleep from 8.30pm-9am this morning. What a massive sleep! We all got to play a little catch-up. ;)

The elusive dark brown eyes that are difficult to capture with my lens,
the same shade as mine.