A little life catch up…

I felt like sharing a little life catch up over here – it’s been a while since I’ve just blogged for the sake of personal chat. Back when I started blogging (WAAAY back in the day when it was indieberries.blogspot), it was all about random lols and personal anecdotes. As instagram grew in popularity it seemed the place for random lols and personal anecdotes was really for the domain of instagram stories – which (as you may know) are rather fleeting. And, once you’ve shared your personal little catch up on the gram – it feels like a bit of a re-hash to type it all out again for the blog – and with the immediacy of instagram stories anything published on the blog then felt a bit behind the times.

So, what I’m trying to get at is I’ve felt like being a bit chatty over here – so settle in with a cuppa and I’ll fill you in.

Firstly I’m happy to say that Warren and I have settled on a name for our unborn child. We have a thing where we have randomly been throwing names out into the ether to gauge the others response. I usually bring the left-field names and Warren has to shut it down. However, this morning Warren led the charge with –
Warren: “What about BoomBap?”
Me: “I like it”
Warren: “Second name: Sauce.”
Me: “Done.”

We did coincidentally go out for BoomBap burgers last night, so I think we have been influenced.

Anyway, name, sorted.

We are very excited for the arrival of little BoomBap, I hope he (?) comes with fries.

Speaking of which, I had a call with the St George’s midwives yesterday and I was asking them what happens if for some reason no midwives are able to get to you on time. The lovely Kylie reassured me that this was a very rare event – as births are usually staggered and (for first time moms especially) can be quite long. However, just to be sure I told her that I’ve already been priming Warren on what to do in the event that it’s just me and him having this baby alone (hollla!) and she did say that well, if labour is really happening and the baby is truly coming, then there is nothing really to do except catch the baby. This is great news, because Warren actually plays wicket-keeper – so he is very good at catching things. I will tell him to prepare his wickie-gloves.

Birth, SORTED.

Yesterday morning Warren was struggling over a short-term investment decision – the stock market has been rather an anomaly in the face of Covid so it’s an interesting/tricky one to try and make calls on. When one is unsure about major life decisions involving ones life-finances, one should always revert back to the magical pendulum for advice. So that is what I pulled out yesterday. Magical pendulum said hold. And so there we go –

BoomBap’s tertiary education fees, SORTED.

We are really nailing parenthood I feel.

BoomBap has been keeping me awake at night with his nightly stretches. I have decided that either this baby takes after his mother entirely – and is a night-owl READY-TO-RAZZLE after 10pm OR takes after his father entirely and is so deeply asleep after 10pm that it’s doing the classic Warren-sleep-twitching. Time will tell.

Other than that I’ve been feeling good lately – my regular appetite has returned after the deathly-throes of the first trimester. IF you consider a regular appetite to include donuts, coco pops and a few good lashings of vegan cheesecake. Speaking of vegan, it’s been approximately 5 years since I ate chicken or meat, and yet this pregnancy is bringing out the odd meat-craving in me. As in, “Could I get the veggie burger, but could you add bacon please?” It’s an interesting and freeing time of hard-held identities and shedding layers of myself. Maybe this is preparation for motherhood.

I’m feeling really excited about birth if I’m honest! I’ve done so much reading and research into the wonderful benefits of the type of birth I want – so I feel incredibly informed and empowered in this process so far. Although I know I cannot control anything in this birth experience, I can absolutely plan and practice to put myself in the best position for things to progress in a straightforward way. I have been practicing different hypnobirthing visualisations, breath techniques and affirmations daily and am really loving the journey and the time spent each day tuning inwards. It’s like the meditation practice I’ve had just for myself for the past few years, is actually now for me and someone else. Union.

One of my main concerns over the pregnancy is this little mite arriving super early. (I was born 20 July and my due date was in September – if that’s anything to go by!). Obviously this is one of those puzzle pieces over which I have zero control – we will deal with this if/when it comes – but I’ve realised the importance of speaking out loud any fears or concerns you may have around birth after delving into Ina May Gaskins work – in her guide to childbirth book (linked above). She shares the story of a woman who was in labour – where after several hours, the labour had completely halted and it appeared that things were well and truly “stuck”. In a regular hospital setting this would likely have been classed as a ‘failure-to-progress’ with the resulting cascade of interventions (amniotomy, induction, caesarean etc), routinely doled out. However, as this was not in a hospital setting and with Ina’s incredible experience/wisdom/intuition – she simply asked the woman what was on her mind. From what I remember in the book, the labouring woman was actually completely confused by the question (Why are you asking me this, can’t you see I’m in the middle of labour?!) and it was only after some intuitive-prodding from Ina the attending midwife – that it poured out from the labouring mother (from a place that she had no conscious awareness of) that she was actually very fearful of her partner leaving her once the baby was born. Having this deeply-held fear spoken out loud, released and opened up something in her and the baby was born within the hour. It is much more than a belief to me that the mind (and therefore language/words/affirmations) has a deep subconscious impact on the body – it is something that I KNOW to be true. Coupled also with the connection between throat chakra and sacral chakra and both centres needing to be open as sphincters (physically and energetically) for a straightforward birth.

Speaking of chakras and energy centres and the body – I’ve also been planning and preparing for the Voyage to the Soul – yoga and creativity 6 week course which is starting Sept 13th. I’m so excited to help women around the globe open up their bodies and minds through the Chakra system and reconnect to their innate creativity and intuition through yoga, writing prompts and creative exercises and to seeing the world in an inspiring and innovative way, in this intimate online group setting. I’d love for you to join me on this journey if you are called to! (More details are linked above)

I’ve been thinking about what our lives will look like over the next few years and have been testing the waters with what this will look like in real life. An actual scene from two nights ago where Warren was pouring some tomato sauce on my plate for me:

I throw these type of mind-games in every so often, as well as “unintentionally” waking Warren up every few hours at night, so that we are fully prepared* for babyhood and toddlerdom. (*Ha, lol.)

Other than getting our heads around this new realm of parenting that we are entering nailing, Warren and I are doing really well. I’m not sure if it’s quarantine and all the extra time we’ve had hanging out with each-other, or the fact that this baby is coming, but I do feel that we are in a very connected, supportive and grounded place with each other. It feels like the best start we can give this baby.

In fact, Warren came through the other morning and spontaneously proclaimed, “I love you so much!” – to which I responded,
“But I LOVE YOU TOO!” with all the emotion only a pregnant woman can muster.
“No” he replied, “I was talking to the baby.”

It’s ok though, I get it, Warren –

It’s very hard to compete with BoomBap Sauce.

* * * * * *

PS. If you are interested in joining the 6 week yoga and creativity course starting 13th September – pop me an email here. We will meet every Sunday at 9:30am – 11:00am via zoom for a yoga practice and creative tutorial/enquiry. I’d love to have you.