Charlie's Bird

Damn the consequences

charliesbird — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:58:26 +0000

…is kinda how I feel today, bring on a chocolate brownie or a cupcake or something, because crikey moses, even though I have been rather obsessive about my diet and exercise I have gained weight this week. Now I know it’s because of the injection and the raging hormones (welcome to the world of hot flushes and night sweats!), but it’s very demoralising when this happens. I mean I go to bed slightly hungry every night, and am very controlled about what I eat… Oh well, at least I am hopefully improving my cardiovascular health now.

And then just to top the weekend off, I am on call… so not much fun for Birdie this weekend, oh well, this too shall pass.

Last night Charlie and I had a mini date night, out for sushi. It was nice, not as nice as last week, but it was good to just sit quietly, watching the world go by, watching our perfect sleeping angel. It was quite weird, they had a whole lot of sushi, california rolls and the like, which they had tempura battered and fried – weird, I think it must have been the old stuff that they made at lunch time – not great looking! Anyway, the date time was more important than the food, I am such a lucky girl to have such a good man standing next to me through all this. Charlie is my hero!

Is that a fly in my ointment?

charliesbird — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:02:52 +0000

You know, lately I have been confronted by the seriously stupid. Not just mildly silly or blonde, but the ‘seriously, they’re allowing you to reproduce?’ stupid. Like when I ask if the baby is moving, I get told about the time she twisted her ankle and fell. Or when I ask who diagnosed your brain tumour, I get told, an MRI. Or the patient that expects an operation for her heavy period/painful side/leaky bladder, but won’t let me examine her? I know the gynae ain’t fun, but really now!

let the scale speak

charliesbird — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:34:36 +0000

….hmmm, this diet and exercise lark is hard! My goodness! It’s been 3 weeks now of almost perfect behaviour, a smidgen of wine has really been my only cheat, and while I am happy with the loss I have seen, I’d have loved it to be more.

Dietwise, I have bran flakes, fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, sometimes dring my morning I’ll have some fruit, lunch has been strictly salad, with occasional tuna added (no dressings/mayo). Dring the afternoon, there has been no time and no apetite for anything, and for supper its been protein and a salad of some sort or occasional veggies. Once we had sushi.

Exercise has been enthusiastic. Training with Gusto 3 times a week, and these sessions involve a 20 minute run, some core, some light weights (very light, and not every session) and then another 10 minutes of extra cardio, be it a run, a cycle or the elliptical machine. Over and above that I try to get 1-2 extra sessions a week in myself, either on the road or the treadmill. So I certainly am putting in the effort.

So since I had my suppressor injection, things have slowed rather rapidly, I know it’ll be water retention and all that, but I am also experiencing a very painful left knee, which I can only really attribute to the side effects of the meds, man, last night it kept me awake and I am needing anti inflammatories to get through the day, its blimmin’ sore! And I have to have some drugs before I hit the gym, and I know that isn’t ideal. I’m hoping when I re-introduce the hormones I will feel a little better, but, who knows?

Saying all this, it boils down to my frustration at the scale’s report, yes, if you look at my fatness file I am 4 kgs down in 3 weeks, which is great, but given the sacrifices, I would love it to be more… Patience, Birdy, slow and steady wins the day…

What we think of monday

charliesbird — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:22:18 +0000

This silly machine won’t let me upload a video of my cutest girl blowing a raspberry at monday, I’ll keep trying though, maybe you’ll get to see it later in the week.

The weekend was quiet, sushi friday night, chilled saturday and breakfast with friends on sunday, food preparation for Thandi and some triathlon watching. All quiet on the home front.

Milestones

charliesbird — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:24:59 +0000

This morning, while changing Thandi’s nappy, she lay there, clapping her hands together, palms open, very proud of herself! Little did she know her mom was almost bursting with pride! What a girl!

Frantic Friday

charliesbird — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:58:19 +0000

I am so relieved that it is finally friday. It’s been a really long week, I even on wednesday night, after swopping the TV channel expecting to see Body of Evidence, asked Charlie (rather grumpily, I have to confess) if it was Thursday, why wasn’t my show on, to be rather sheepish when he told me it was wednesday only, so you see, it’s been one of those weeks.There are no plans aside from a cup of tea with some girlfriends this afternoon, and maybe watching the crazy iron people on Sunday, so I intend to put my feet up, rest my extremely sore joints, and prepare for the next week on call. It appears that I am having some slightly different side effects from the suppressor injection this time (probably because I am exercising), but my joints, especially my knees are agonizing, and my muscles are far sorer than usual, which are all documented side effects. Yay, lucky me!

And today is going to be a spectacularly great day, becase today Jacqui and Pat’s little girl is being born, Olivia, we welcome you to this crazy village, and Thandi can’t wait to meet you, to tell you all about it. I know you are going to bring your mom and dad endless joy! Yayayay!

Traffic Ranting

charliesbird — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:17:53 +0000

…so I often compose posts (and letters to the newspaper) about the traffic and how much it annoys me, in my head, while I drive to work, but then by the time I am here, I’m over it, and never post them. Today however, I am not over it, so I write in annoyance!

There was an issue with the timing of a 2 traffic lights this morning. They are near 2 schools, and control access onto the freeway, so they are pretty important ones. They also are horribly busy and backed up at the best of times. Today was special though. The timing was out, which meant that the usual flow of traffic was just disrupted, and we all know that queues of traffic bring out the best in people. We will enter intersections, when there is nowhere to go, and nothing is achieved, other than backing it up for others who are trying to play by the rules. I have gotten quite aggressive now when it is MY turn, and will drive around people to get into my lane (which, because it’s a turning lane, is often empty) I know this sounds kinda odd, it’s difficult to explain, but if you know me, you’ll figure out exactly where this is. Needless to say, I often wonder if people would drive like such idiots if they knew who was in the cars around them, not that I think I deserve special attention personally, but I am a doctor, often on the way to an emergency, and when I get held up, it means that my patient might suffer. One day I was on my way home, when the traffic on the highway ground to a halt, clearly there was an accident up ahead, can you believe that some idiots even pulled into the emergency lane and tried to ‘beat the traffic’ that way, obstructing the access of emergency vehicles. I was so angry, I nearly climbed out my car and went to stop them physically. Imagine if that was your family member in the crashed vehicle, and as the minutes ticked away in the valuable golden hour, the ambulances couldn’t get there to help them. Mankind has become so inconsiderate and selfish, shame on us!

Almost as dangerous is the guy who drives in the fast lane, at 10-20km less than the speed limit, who won’t move over, behaving like the ‘police’. If I am speeding, you can be assured it’s because I am on my way to an emergency, and I don’t need yo to keep me in check. If I get a fine, I will pay it, I don’t argue with the law!

So next time you see a silver sports car speeding down a road, squeezing into the gap, hooting at you who has broken the rules, remember it might be the Bird, on my way to help someone…..

Yawn

charliesbird — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:19:17 +0000

…and I am a tired birdy today, 2 interrupted nights with deliveries, a daughter who decided she wanted to spend more time with mom, so woke an hour earlier than usual and a personal trainer giving me hell. Oh, yes, and busy rooms, with all its usual chaos…

Supressed

charliesbird — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:57:05 +0000

…my ovaries are. I can’t quite believe I am doing this again… All for you, my Thandi girl…

Reporting back

charliesbird — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:13:00 +0000

…yes, we’re back from our neighbours, with a plan, and we’ll see how that goes. We left crack o’ dawn on saturday and arrived at the clinic. As we approached I was astounded by the very visceral reaction I had, I had tummy cramps, felt nauseous, and as we walked into the clinic I was almost hyperventilating. It took a lot of positive reinforcement to calm myself down, and this was me ‘at peace’ about our situation, I mean nothing was going to happen that day, we were just talking. Those scars obviously run deep… Anyway, we met Dr DB, and after a discussion and a scan, the plan has been laid out – we will supress this week, and start stimulating early next month, and hopefully grow some eggs and make some embryos mid february. Left the games begin! I cannot say I am looking forward to being suppressed in this weather, february in our neck of the woods is extremely hot and humid, the thought of hot flushes…. Thank heavens for air con!

After our meeting with him, we had tea with an old school friend of mine, gave my goddaughter a cuddle, and then headed to lunch with a newer friend, another OBGYN, who I am hoping to be able to convince to move to my neck of the woods. He’s a great bloke, and I think I would work well with him, so here’s hoping that my picture painting will produce some interest, and he’ll come and check it out. We had a great lunch together at our favourite cafe in the neighbouring city, and after that it was home to relax and then a lovely casual supper with Angel. She was such a star, remembering we’re back on our health kick, she gave us cajun style grilled salmon (yum!) and some delicious salads, the boys got some potatoes too, and she rounded it off with some really yummy ‘slimmer’s choice’ sorbets – the stawberry one was lovely!

Sunday was really a non entity of a day, we relaxed, visited my parents and just recovered from a hectic saturday.

Yo know, my Charlie and Thandi are such stars. Charlie for getting me to the neighbours in one piece, doing his bit, holding my hand and just agreeing to be part of all this. It’s hard, and I think seeing me in some of those situations must be awful, so thanks, my love, you are my hero. I cannot wait to grow our family. And Thandi, she was a champ, slept quietly on the drive, smiled sweetly at all the relevant people, played nicely with my friend’s children ( well as nicely as a 7 and a half month can play) and still had a decent sleep that evening. Thank you, my baby girl, mom loves you, and can’t wait to make a brother or sister for you!