♥

Hello, Zombie in the mirror!

Just right before the Easterholidays we're down with some sort of flu. It's a nasty one: comes with a massive headache and fever and a cough, that sounds like moose's barking. So for now we're hiding in our bed, under blankets. I truly hope, it'll get better really soon, 'cos i've been looking kind of forward to this years holiday, since we can spend it together as a family. Juss, luckly, is right now in the best condition, while me and Martin are pure zombie-material. 

So, you stay healthy and have a great Easter!

♥

 

 Some time ago, when we were at my moms place i looked up my old bookshelf and found some old favourites. I remembered the illustrations immediatly, altho it has been more than 10 or 15 years since i looked at them, or read them. While the plot is forgotten. I took a few with me to show friends and ask if they had a similar response to them :)

Lilli Promet has tree poems and the first one is about a village where nobody likes to clean and cook, so one day comes a man, who offers pancakes for dust and rubbish. Illustrations by Asta Vender. 

Hope to share some other ones with you soon.  

Have a nice weekend and stay healthy!

♥

I guess i like lists too. It's kind of nice to do them. Since yesterday had flown by under the star of sharing experience and tips about pregnancy,  i'll just keep on going. These are some thoughts that i had about my first pregnancy:  what helped me, and things i wish i had done more or differently, and pointers, that i will keep in mind for the future...

1. To drink more water. Athletes say, that the point where you get the feeling of thirst, is actually already the point where you are "late". 

2. Use good moisturising"tools". Waiting for Juss i really couldn't stand the smell of creams, so i got some natural almond oil. But, as i asked my mom about strechmarks, she cooly said, she didn't get any. Well-well-well. As i thought im blessed with some great genes in that point, i got lazy using the oil. As a result i got a mark per day just a week before labor and i could feel the skin being tight and being torn just like fabric. Ouch. Then i asked my mom again.... and then she remembered "yes! there were these!... but they faded away after a while". Hm. Okay.  So i really recommend using almond oil or sheabutter, or even both, since they feel differently on the skin and preferances can vary, per day. Anything that doesn't have petrol in it, is fine. Since we don't really know how much of it, what we put on our skin finds its way to the baby, it's better to stay it in the safezone with more organic stuff.

3. It's so nice to start a day with warm lemon-water. Some midwifes say, that lemon-water helps the body to lower the pain-meter. And it's just such a delight, since many pregnant women love anything citrusy. 

4. Eat beetroot! "You look so pale, are you alright?" - i get that alot, pregnant or not. And it's not that kind of thing you want to hear, when you just thought you look strikingly good and feel quite fine. But, i lose iron so easily, that i need that extra boost and it's better to get it from food, than from tablets. Then again, if the iron is really low in your bloodtest, it's too late getting that beetroot out, then it's time for the pills. 

Beetroot, strawberries, radishes, pomegranate - anything red, really. And sprouts!

5. Breakfast: Porridge! I can't count how many benefits a breakfast has or how healthy it's to start a day with porridge. And it doesn't have to taste like clay, if that's what worries you! There are many recepies out there and if you've got some berries in your fridge: use them not only for desserts but also for your breakfast! Here's just one good looking one :)

People with cruel morningsikness might disagree here. I accept that.

6. Invest in a couple of good maternity/nursing bras. This one needs no explanation. You Just Need Them.

Now im out of drawings. But a few things pop up in my mind:

7. Hairsalons are a bad idea. As are beautisalons. It's a hard one, i know. When you feel like a ship, a nice pedicure can do wonders, but it's also such a toxic environment. As the senses are extremly cautious, you might even get sick from all the smells. And with all this brazilian blowout going on, giving hairdressers headaches and bloody noses... it's better to just stay away. In my opinion. It is a hard one to follow. I know.

8. Eat regulary! A bit of cure for my morningsickness (that was present not only in the mornings, but through out the day for the first three months!) was to eat regulary even something small, like an apple, or some raisins and nuts (every two hours). I couldnt look at food, more over cook anything because, when feeling sick, it made it worse. But when i ate something, i felt better. So... you cant look at food, but you need to eat, to feel better - how did that happen? I had some good help from a fellow pregnant woman, who had past that stage already. So i'd pop in for lunch sometimes and she'd advise me to carry always something edible in my bag. It was a dear advice, that helped through that time.

9. If it smells bad, it tastes bad. I remeber going out to lunch to celebrate a friends birthday and i ordered a saffron soup. Later i found out, that saffron is even on the no-list for pregnant women. The soup arrived and it was... i knew right away im not gonna enjoy it, but i still ate a spoon or two, just to kind of be polite, but still sent it back. And the same thing happened with aloe-juice. I was super thisrty and bought one liter of aloe juice and one liter of pomegranate juice. At home after i opend the one with aloe and put it on my lips and it was a clear no from all my senses. Here's a list i did some time ago about things that are not safe to eat while pregnant. The body is really smart and needs to be trusted. Of course, it might not say no to fries and chips :) that's when the willpower needs to step in. But nobody's perfect ;))

♥

Today i thought i'd write a bit of a different kind of post, just to summarize some thoughts and advice to myself and maybe for someone out there, may-be. Also, i just want to point out that not all mindsets appeal to everybody and that's okay. Mine is just like.. well.. mine.

This post got rolling after a friend of a friend asked for advice about whom to pick as a family doctor (we have this kind of system here, it means no pediatricians, which is totally sad). She got many responses about peoples experiences, some really shoking (as like "women are not like cows, so after 4 months is nursing just absurd"), but also about some nice and cool up-to-date doctors out there.

I changed my doctor after i had a cold while prengnant, because that was when she just couldn't give me the usual anibiotics and was kind of struggeling to find something to help me. And if you get advice like "well, it contains some alcohol, but a little doesn't matter, does it? Ya know, like wine.. :P", it's just a big "NO" sign, on freaking fire, for me.

Later that friend of a friend asked, when would be the best time to get in contact with the new doc, and i replied as soon as possible, as her due-date was just a month away. Since in the hospital at any time, they need to know, whom to send various results and stuff about the new little person. In a way i was surpirised how uninformed she was, not knowing about the baby-nail-scissors, or "the bag" (you know, the one you take with you to the hospital), but then i realized, i was just the lucky one to have such a big circle of women around me, who didn't tell horrorstories, but offered support and information and even spiritual strenght. But it also recuired some personal growth.

I visited since the 9th week of my pregnancy a breathing and yoga-class, driven by a mother of five. Her way of life and her philosphy is some kind different than you get by most common people you know, but it's the acceptance and knowledge, that she really does know a thing or two (or hundred), that you don't. As model students, i guess, we were taugth to follow our teachers straight away, but there i learned, i could and had to make choices. And that is a big part of being a parent and having responsibility. The easiest way people take, is by not taking the class anymore, because some views don't match up. But you woudn't stop being friends with someone who's vegan, when you yourself are not, do you? More over, you just learn to respect that and take it in account, when asking them over to dinner, right? :))

Being pregnant is not easy. You find yourself staring at your lovely partner and saing words like "fries! now!" at midnight, or even if you don't, there are still those big changes and journeys that the body and the mind must take. And yes, no beam of light will come from outerspace to make you "the mother" (i kind of expected that :) ) but it's all you, that actually and miraculously can handle it, just fine.

edit: feel free to note me on spelling- and grammar-mistakes, i'd like that :)

♥

Fragments of our August.

I hope to find some time soon to write a longer post.

♥

Writing without a spell-checker feels dangerous and exiting; and makes you check the dictionary more often, which isn't bad, i guess. But mistakes keep coming never the less.

I think we have never had this kind of vacation like last year around this time. I'll be a bit nostalgic. :) Italian paradise: Sardinia 2011!

♥

The April-update (vol. 1?)

En Avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil!

The long easter-weekend had people shaking their heads: it was snowing like as if it were february.

We really didn't get much time to celebrate anyway: monday was the duedate for M's paper, so he went to work, and i had my hands also full with sewing: only to find out that all i had done on friday-saturday, i had to undo on sunday and start all over. As i headed out to buy at least an chocolate-bunny for consolation, there were no easterthemed items left. But we still had our little easter-time on sunday evening along with coloring eggs with onionshells. (Here's how to do it, if someone's interested).






















(Apr. 2011. Nantes)


Actually something really good happend at that weekend aswell: we found an appartment! In a quiet neighborhood right between centercity and M's workplace in the univesity. I can't wait to move (especially as im hearing my neighbours trance track through the walls). Living right in the centre of everything had its bright sides, which, as a student, i will miss :) : the mainbuilding of uni. inspiring me every day, the one minute walk to lectures, to Cafe's, Bars, to Gallerys, Concerts, movies, guitarsounds in springtime from the nearby park - ohh, such times.













(Feb. 2012 Tartu, Ülikooli street, our street, for yet two weeks.)




On the 10th we went to Tallinn, to see Dylan Moran's stand up show. The trip there was for me a bit exhausting (2,5 hour bus ride), but so much worth it. The moment he came on stage... w o w ! Dylan was well-prepared as for having made his homework about estonia and estonians, so he won everyones hearts immediately. Im happy to be his fan. We spend the night at our friends place and both dreamed smilingly about mr. Moran. Mine was about him signing our Black Books dvd with a green pen :) and M was having a beer (or coffee) with him in a Cafe. I guess we were just so infatuated.



The spring-explosion is anyways around the corner, maybe just two weeks and some degrees more and then puff! - all is green and blooming. Talking about spring, here is a nature camera of a black stork family and there are rumors, that on sunday, we might expect to see an egg ♥!















I've been watching them since this morning, also while writing this post. The male stork arrived ca 3 days ago and since then they're busy ( preparing the nest and so) :P. The webcam is also useful to just listen to the sounds; a lot of birdtalk! Nice.

Starting from next week i'll take it easy on the seminar, my colleague will now take over completely. After the two days in Tallinn, i was just too tired and not really well concentrated to run a seminar, altho, it seemed that we managed just fine, having a good conversation with the students. But still, it is time now to take it easy. Sitting at home is not quite what im planning... i have to figure that one out yet. I will miss lectures and seminars so much more than expected, being around people, talking about interesting things. What will i do to keep my mood up afterwards? Yes, maaany quiestions.

Hope you'r all doing well and enjoing the springtime fully!

Bisous!