from the south 1

We’re back. We’re back in Victoria. Land of chilly mornings, central heating & jeans & jumpers. We’ve each worn a scarf! Land of having to be aware of the daily weather forecast.
Spent most of the time stamping our mark on our new house in Coburg. Settling in. Moving boxes. Cardboard boxes everywhere. Not much furniture. Yet. But a wonderful feeling of home & lots of colours & warmth & music & a new 4-burner BBQ. Unpacking boxes full of things we forgot we had. Like the Black Sorrows & the desk lamp on a moveable arm. Stuff.
We arrived in town on the Tuesday morning. Our car arrived on the Friday. Very impressed. Freighted boxes a week later.
Cath is off work now. Pregnancy is at 37.5 weeks. Apparently anything after 38 is considered full term. So we’re close. In changing from NT to Victorian care, Cath has had lots of attention from midwives. It’s been terrific. A scan at 34 weeks revealed that Little Litchfield had turned to breech position. This morning this was still the case. This, despite 7 days of ancient Chinese remedies to encourage the little one to turn. And so now we’re booked in for a Caesarean! Next Wednesday!

As CJ wrote: “Our little baby has decided to assert his/her individuality from an early age and is still breech despite our many requests for it to turn around. This means that despite pursuing a low intervention/ midwife led model of care through out our pregnancy, our baby will be delivered by caesarean next Wednesday 26 October (38.5 weeks) at the Mercy Hospital Heidelberg!
We were booked in next week as the following week was too busy due to the Melbourne Cup! I hope the planets are aligned auspiciously and all that...
So, we have Little Litchfield’s birthday marked on the calendar a week in advance! It has been a lesson in learning to take our hands off the wheel and that there is only so much we can control. At the end of the day, this little baby has made their own plans…”

Just as well CJ has already painted our kids’ cupboard. And that we’ve got a baby capsule buckled in the back seat of the car. And we’ve got a cradle. And 100 nappies. And a bath. And a baby bjorn. And a bounce-a-net. And filled the freezer with pre-cooked dinners for easy thawing in the sleep-deprived days/weeks following. Bolognaise sauce and curry galore. And a wardrobe full of size 0000 and size 000 clothes. And all this stuff either given to us or on loan. Very thankful.
Dinners & trips for dinner & visiting old mates & being visited by old mates & the excitement of the shared life. Everywhere.

I’m working from two bases: Monash uni and home. Working from home is tricky – there are boxes to unpack & food to cook & a neighbourhood to explore & a CJ to play with. Working from Monash is tricky too – 2 trains & a bus. Or 2 trains & a bike. 1 ¼ hours door-to-door is my personal best.
But work is tough to focus on just now.
It’s Tuesday night.
Next Wednesday a new life begins.
Paul recommended we sing Paul Kelly’s Nukkanya to Little Litchfield throughout the pregnancy. And we suggested Across the Universe for his & Clare’s little one-on-the-way.
I wonder what the unborn baby experiences.
We’ve had a large number of ultrasounds. Is that a problem?
We’ve played music quite loudly.
We’ve moved house. Lived in Darwin. Lived in Melbourne. We haven’t eaten much fish. Done lots of walking next to Fannie Bay & East Point. Are these things important? Activities seen now through a different prism. A new perspective developing.

A week remains until I’m a father.
So many little jobs to be done – rubber seals for the front door, mow the lawn(!), varnish the box, check out childcare, get a pusher/ pram, have the baby capsule installation checked… before our child is born. Next Wednesday. Read up on those ubiquitous references Baby Love & Kid-wrangling… Can you use a manual to look after a baby? What about instincts? We’ll see.
Next Wednesday.